1,000 Jumps.

via British Forces News.

A pilot with 845 Naval Air Squadron who has clocked up 1000 flying hours has made it a double celebration with his 1000th jump.Lt Will Major is no stranger to skydiving, widely regarded as the ultimate adrenaline rush, because he's a member of the elite Royal Navy Parachute Display Team - the RN Raiders.He has jumped from various fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, including the Sea King HC4 of the Commando Helicopter Force.He said: “After my first jump I was totally hooked, although I have to confess that it takes a few jumps to get to grips with the initial apprehension. However once you are out of the door and in the air it is a truly thrilling feeling."Leaving an aeroplane at 12,000 feet might be considered utter madness but I’ve years of experience with this sport and providing you focus on what you are doing it remains a very safe activity. I’ve had the privilege of representing the Navy at some fantastic events, and standing in the door of a helicopter about to jump is mind blowing.”The RN Raiders normally jump at the parachute centre in Netheravon, Wiltshire which is home to the Army Parachute Association and base for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Sport Parachute Association.

I don't know what to make of this.  I remember some guys with the 82nd that would get in a bunch of jumps at the end of the month when people were trying to stay on jump pay, but 1000 jumps seems like quite a feat.

Costa's Operation Z is about zombies!

Wow.

I got into a bit of a mix with some guy claiming he was the producer of Costa's zombie training film.

Well guess what.  It is about zombies.  That lying sack of shit.  If you're interested in buying the vid, you can get it here...

If you want to see the original posts I wrote click here and here.

General Dynamics Amphibious Combat Vehicle meets IED blast requirements.

via GD.

General Dynamics Amphibious Combat Vehicle Hull Design Meets Marine Corps’ Survivability Requirement
Successful mine-blast test confirms hull design’s lifesaving characteristics.STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), recently conducted simulated mine-blast tests that confirmed the ability of its Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) ballistic hull design to meet the U.S. Marine Corps’ current ACV mine-blast survivability requirements.
Funded through General Dynamics’ internal research and development initiatives, the tests were conducted by National Technical Systems, Inc., at the National Ordnance and Ballistic Test Center in Camden, Ark. The successful tests simulated an underbelly mine-blast event on the forward and aft sections of the General Dynamics ACV ballistic hull.
The tests confirmed that General Dynamics’ hull design meets the Marine Corps’ ACV survivability requirement and provided an early assessment of the unprecedented level of protection against threshold and objective threat levels that the new hull design will provide to the Marines Corps.
“General Dynamics Land Systems continues to invest in support of the U.S. Marine Corps’ development efforts toward a modern Amphibious Combat Vehicle,” said Michael Bolon, senior vice president, Marine and Navy sector at General Dynamics Land Systems. “The successful results of these company-funded tests reinforce our confidence in our ability to deliver a low-risk Amphibious Combat Vehicle solution with mature and affordable technology, drawing on the industry’s broadest base of amphibious combat vehicle knowledge and experience to deliver solutions that meet the Marine Corps’ requirements.”

In addition to evidence of the hull design’s survivability characteristics, this test also provides empirical data to correlate survivability models that will be used to refine and confirm performance of the General Dynamics’ hull design, which will also be tested by the government under the ACV Hull Survivability Demonstrator contract.
“This testing is critical for General Dynamics,” said Bolon. “We are committed to providing a successful long-term, balanced and affordable solution, and the information we’ve gathered enhances our ability to do so.”
The ACV Hull Survivability Demonstrator contract, awarded in August 2012, is for the design, fabrication and test support of a full-scale hull to demonstrate crew-protection technologies. Work will conclude by May 2013 and will be used to refine ACV requirements for effective protection against threats from under-vehicle blasts and fragmentation devices.

Hmmm.  Interesting.  But the canary in the coal mine is the AAV upgrade program.  If improvements to that vehicle can be made that improve that vehicle enough to be adequate then the ACV and the MPC are both in trouble.

Our Marines are fabulous...Civilian leadership lacking.

Raw video of Marines doing the work up in Staten Island.  I just get the feeling that civilian leadership isn't worthy of their efforts or aware of the needs of their citizens.

My prediction remains but with a twist.  The Marines will get tremendous good will from their efforts.  They (along with the other services) will be recognized as one of the only parts of government that works.  Everyone else will be deemed a failure.  Careers will end because of this recovery effort.

Armored Airborne making a comeback.

via Tradoc Daily News.

Army Eyes Airdropping 'Up-gunned' Combat Vehicles for Early Entry Ops
By Sebastian Sprenger
Army officials are considering airdrops of Strykers or similar combat vehicles in austere locations as part of an initiative to boost the service's edge in expeditionary operations, according to a Training and Doctrine Command official.
The idea has yet to make it past the concept stage, Brig. Gen. William Hix, director of the concepts development directorate at TRADOC's Army Capabilities Integration Center, acknowledged in an interview. "We are doing concept development work in conjunction with 18th Airborne Corps [at Ft. Bragg, NC] to look at how we improve the punch of their forces if they have to do forcible entry operations," Hix told Inside the Army.
Options include "airlanding" -- by way of a landing zone on the ground -- or airdropping "some sort of up-gunned ground platform," Hix said. The deliberations entail discussions with the Air Force about the number of air crews qualified for airdrops, he said. A TRADOC spokesman did not provide information by press time about how many air crews now are qualified for that job, and how many there must be to make the Army's concept work.
Army concepts are used to identify capability gaps, which are turned into the requirements on which acquisition programs are ultimately based.
The idea of deploying armor to austere locations quickly, thereby achieving an element of surprise, has been an Army goal for some time. The multibillion-dollar Future Combat Systems program, canceled because of cost and a lack of immediate utility, envisioned aerial insertion of armored formations as part of its doctrinal foundation. At the time, the idea was criticized by some analysts for its potentially enormous price tag and its dependency on systems that ultimately failed to come to fruition.
Proponents of the concept point to the early days of the Iraq invasion in 2003, when Air Force and Army forces opened a northern front in that country by inserting troops and equipment with C-17s, as proof that such operations can be valuable. While no heavy combat vehicles were airdropped, the operation entailed unloading tanks from the cargo planes onto an airfield that ground troops had previously secured.
In the interview with ITA, Hix mentioned the operation as an example of what Army officials have in mind with the new concept. "These are options," he said. "We're just trying to work through how to employ them more effectively and make this more of a routine action, not an exceptional action."
A draft version of the upcoming Army Capstone Concept proposes beefing up the service's expeditionary capability, creating new formations for early entry operations. Asked for details about those new formations, Hix characterized their creation simply as the product of an "overall defense reposturing of the force" and an Army-wide reorganization of brigade combat team components.
"This is, I think, more importantly a re-emphasis on the importance of expeditionary operations, given the wider range of areas that we may be called on to respond," he said.

Bringing Armored Airborne back would be just outstanding.  Quite honestly between the US Marines and a robust Army Airborne over 90% of the small wars can be handled.  The only missing ingredient is a "real" Light Infantry Division or two.

This capability lagged once the US became entrenched in the Middle East.  Once forces became permanently assigned to the region then the need for Rapid Deployment Forces went away.  With the end of the War in Afghanistan, it appears that those same forces are being rebuilt.

IF the Army commits to developing a Armored Airborne Force, then the push to develop the Marine Expeditionary Brigade more fully will make a heck of alot more sense.  A couple of MEU's along with a Army Armored Airborne Brigade would fall under either a MEB or an Army Regiment (I believe that's the next step up from their Brigade).

One point of concern with this formation though.  If you make a max effort and drop 16 Stryker APC's in the middle of Africa...how are you going to keep them refueled and armed?  You're talking about a pretty robust air bridge.  I look forward to seeing what TRADOC and 18th Airborne Corps works out.

Another Tracked Stryker image.

via ADAM ASHTON; Staff writer, News Tribune.

26th MEU. They usually bring the pain, now they're bringing the relief!

Note:  More pics of the relief effort.  If anyone knows please get up with me, but I have yet to see these Marines having any type of weaponry.  If the nights are as dangerous as the population in the area is telling us then why don't our guys have a means to protect themselves.  Just an observation on my part.  I would love to hear the rationale behind it.  A totally different concern is how I'm seeing these Marines being used.  Remember the Marine Corps just provides Marines to assist, its up to the civilian leadership to decide how they're used, but I'm seeing Marines being used on the micro instead of macro level.  Helping an individual homeowner is cool, but helping a city would be better.  Taking out the trash is not how these Marines should be used.  How about removing boats from roads?  Repairing broken roads?  Providing security at night?  Understand this is not the Marine Corps fault but the fault of a confused and apparently overwhelmed civilian leadership.

Lance Cpl. Matthew Reynoso, an automotive organizational mechanic. with the 26th Marine Expedionary Unit and a native of Bronx, N.Y., helps take out trash on Staten Island, N.Y., Nov. 4. The 26th MEU is able to provide generators, fuel, clean water, and helicopter lift capabilities to aid in disaster relief efforts. The 26th MEU is currently conducting pre-deployment training, preparing for their departure in 2013. As an expeditionary crisis response force operating from the sea, the MEU is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force capable of conducting amphibious operations, crisis response, and limited contingency operations.

Corporal Thomas Cavallo, an airframe mechanic with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 366, and Lance Cpl. Corey Shaw, a cook with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, throw a couch on the street in Staten Island, N.Y., Nov. 4. The 26th MEU is able to provide generators, fuel, clean water, and helicopter lift capabilities to aid in disaster relief efforts. The 26th MEU is currently conducting pre-deployment training, preparing for their departure in 2013. As an expeditionary crisis response force operating from the sea, the MEU is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force capable of conducting amphibious operations, crisis response, and limited contingency operations.

Lance Cpl. Matthew Reynoso, an automotive organizational mechanic with the 26th Marine Expedionary Unit and a native of Bronx, N.Y., shovels trash on Staten Island, N.Y., Nov. 4. The 26th MEU is able to provide generators, fuel, clean water, and helicopter lift capabilities to aid in disaster relief efforts. The 26th MEU is currently conducting pre-deployment training, preparing for their departure in 2013. As an expeditionary crisis response force operating from the sea, the MEU is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force capable of conducting amphibious operations, crisis response, and limited contingency operations.

Lance Cpl. Thomas Gibson, a ground radio repairmen with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit and a native of Norton, Ohio, dumps trash into a pile in Staten Island, N.Y., Nov. 4. The 26th MEU is able to provide generators, fuel, clean water, and helicopter lift capabilities to aid in disaster relief efforts. The 26th MEU is currently conducting pre-deployment training, preparing for their departure in 2013. As an expeditionary crisis response force operating from the sea, the MEU is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force capable of conducting amphibious operations, crisis response, and limited contingency operations.

LVTP-6. The missing link in amtrack development.

LVTP-6
.  

The LVTP-6 has been a source of personal confusion for a number of years.  Marine Corps development of the LVTP series of vehicles in service always left off "6" and for the longest time I wondered why.  Luckily a look back at US Army Armored Personal Carrier development revealed the missing link.

While FMC was developing the M59 for the US Army, the Marine Corps also had a requirement for an amphibious vehicle with the same cross country and protection requirements.  The only caveat was that it needed to be amphibious.

Again, info is spotty so performance details on the LVTP-6 in water is unknown.  What I can tell you is that it appears that a number of these vehicles were produced and tested (including a fire support version). On a sidenote, the LVTP-6 is often confused with the LVTH-6...the fire support version of the LVTP-5.

Fire Support Version of the LVTP-6.

LVTH-6.  Based off the LVTP-5, it was perhaps the most successful of the LVTP-5 versions.

Update. Thunder Dome NY is already here.

Check this out from the New York Daily News...

  When night falls in the Rockaways, the hoods come out.
Ever since Sandy strafed the Queens peninsula and tore up the boardwalk, it’s become an often lawless place where cops are even scarcer than electrical power and food. Locals say they are arming themselves with guns, baseball bats, booby traps — even a bow and arrow — to defend against looters.
Thugs have been masquerading as Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) workers, knocking on doors in the dead of night. But locals say the real workers have been nowhere in sight, causing at least one elected official — who fears a descent into anarchy if help doesn’t arrive soon — to call for the city to investigate the utility.
  Further exacerbating desperate conditions, it could take at least a month to repair the the bridge that connects the Rockaways to the city subway system, officials said.
“We booby-trapped our door and keep a baseball bat beside our bed,” said Danielle Harris, 34, rummaging through donated supplies as children rode scooters along half-block chunk of the boardwalk that had marooned into the middle of Beach 91st St.
“We heard gunshots for three nights in a row,” said Harris, who believed they came from the nearby housing projects.
Carly Ruggieri, 27, who lives in water-damaged house on the block, said she barricades her door with a bed frame. “There have been people in power department uniforms knocking on doors and asking if they’re okay, but at midnight.”
And another local surfer said he has knives, a machete and a bow and arrow on the ready. Gunshots and slow-rolling cars have become a common  fixture of the night since Hurricane Sandy.
“I would take a looter with a boa. If I felt threatened I would definitely use it,” said Keone Singlehurst, 42. “Its like the Wild West. A borderline lawless situation.”
City Councilman James Sanders (D-Far Rockaway) said he fears the situation will devolve into anarchy.
“We have an explosive mix here,” said Sanders. “People will take matters into their own hands.”

I almost feel vindicated.  Authorities are not able to protect anyone when it really comes down to it.  They never have.  Its all been an illusion but this storm has shattered that.  I wonder how anti-gun New York is gonna be now?

Only one thing left to do.  Clean my AR-15's, scrub my AK-47's and buy more ammo.

I refuse to be like those poor souls in the New York area, afraid, alone and unarmed...hiding in a corner waiting for help that might come too late if at all.  The Utopian paradise that is a was the promise of a large US city has been forever shattered.  I wonder if anyone noticed.

More 26th MEU disaster response pics.

 NOTE:  Zebra Dunn made the comment (and it was totally in jest) that unless the situation improved in the New York Metropolis area (I include New Jersey) then we would see long pig being cooked on what remains of back porches.  He said in jest but I wonder how many pure dee crazies live in a population that large.  But as it now stands, we have a Marine Expeditionary Unit moving to assist.  Untold numbers of Sailors, Marines and Airmen (haven't been keeping up but I will now) moving to help.  The problem?  If you remember Hurricane Katrina (with a much lower population density) it was a long term tasking...we're talking about 6 months and it was made easier because the population was basically moved from the disaster zone. You can't do that with New York and surrounding areas.  This will get nasty.  It can't help but.  On a side note.  Remember the warnings that were issued?  They had a week to get ready and most didn't...what will happen when a bolt out of the blue strikes the US?  Can you say Thunder Dome?

Old Skool UDT

Russian Ministry of Defense Aviation Calendar

via English Russia.  I love that Yak-130!

Marines Help Save 14 New Yorkers

Something tells me that the peace will be much busier and possibly just as intense as war for the USMC in the years ahead.  Back to our roots indeed...more like the period between World War 1 and 2.

Friday Night Fights

Check this out from the Times-Picayune...

Just when you thought the Friday Night Fights boxing matches couldn’t get any more macho, founder Mike Tata has arranged to send in the Marines. The Friday, Nov. 9, event, known as the “Devil Dog Dance,” is a tribute to the 237th birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps and is free to all past and present Marines. Just show your discharge papers, dog tags or USMC tattoo and the folks at the door will waive the $20 admission. There’s even a place for future Marines. Tata, who served in the corps from 1980 to '86, has arranged for a Marine recruiting booth to be set up onsite. He said he plans to make it a permanent feature.
“You get drunk at Friday Night Fights,” he said laughing, “the next thing you know you’re in the Marine Corps.”

Read the whole thing...but its an interesting tool.

Jungle Warfare Training Center CASEVAC.

I knew Navy Corpsman were assigned to the JWTC, but I didn't know that an Air Force Rescue Squadron was also detailed.

Awesome.

Now that is real jointness.  Bring something to the fight that isn't organic to a service.  On a sidenote it would be nice if the Army got a couple of Jungle Schools up and running.

Super Storm Sandy Update. Marathon Controversy.

Marines and sailors of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit deployed aboard USS Wasp, Nov. 1, 2012, currently afloat off the coast of New York City, to assist in disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The 26th MEU is able to provide generators, fuel, clean water, and helicopter lift capabilities to aid in disaster relief efforts. The 26th MEU is currently in pre-deployment training, preparing for their departure in 2013. As an expeditionary crisis response force operating from the sea the MEU is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force capable of conducting amphibious operations, crisis response, and limited contingency operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Michael S. Lockett/Released)

via CNBC.

But Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said the race will proceed as planned Sunday. Runners have been jogging around the edges of Central Park, which has been off limits since the storm."The marathon will go ahead," New York City Marathon race director Mary Wittenberg told CNBC Thursday. Wittenberg vowed the race would not tax city resources.

Just plain wow.

The US military...all branches...USMC, Navy, AF, Army/National Guard and Coast Guard are all busting ass to get to this region to provide assistance.

Many Americans are looking toward that region wondering what they can do...many are digging into lint filled pockets to toss what ever they can toward donations to those in need.

And what does the "cultural elite" in that city do?  They hold Halloween parties and spit in the face of a concerned nation and throw a marathon.  Resources that should be devoted to the relief effort are instead turned toward a race.

Bloomberg is an idiot and this illustrates the danger of entrenched bureaucracy AND the thinking of an imperial mayor.

This decision will bite Bloomberg in the ass and he'll deserve every tooth mark.

Super Storm Sandy News.

A couple of new developments in the Super Storm Sandy affair.

1.  Military Trucks will be used as mobile polling places.
2.  The New York Marathon will still take place.
3.  Staten Island residents are still in a hurt locker.
4.  Military Aircraft are being used to fly in utility worker's vehicles.

Time will tell, but I'm still seeing misplaced priorities.  People are dumpster diving, going through the wreckage of their houses and the government is diverting resources to setup mobile polling places AND putting on a marathon?

I've always wondered how a super city would respond to a massive crisis and so far I'm unimpressed.

The places to watch are the ones that are getting little air time.  New Jersey is probably a tinderbox.  Staten Island likewise.  But the part of New York that remains in the dark should be watched too.

I don't know when the Marathon is set to run but that will probably be the final straw.

Super Storm Sandy--Marine Corps Update.

Make note all...the 26th MEU is being tasked with relief operations in the New York metropolis.

Good thing too.  Its getting little network attention but looting is supposedly widespread and the National Guard Units are being stretched thin.

The bad news?  Once the criminals realize that they have 12 hours or more of darkness (lights are suppose to be out for another week) to operate in, then we will probably see barbaric behavior.

I am amazed that they still haven't learned the lessons of Katrina.  Security first, Medical attention second and then food/water.  It really looks like they're ignoring security and rushing straight to providing MRE's.

My prediction?  By Saturday we're going to start hearing some horrific stories coming out of New York and New Jersey.  The relief effort started off good but this will turn nasty.

UPDATE 1:  My bet is that by Monday of next week we're looking at a full MEB being sent to that region.  Things are already dicey and it won't get better soon.

UPDATE 2:  Ok.  Let me modify my first prediction.  A cold front will move through the New York area in the middle or late next week.  Cold, hungry and mad?  That's when people are going to flip out.  Either way, its gonna get nasty UNLESS they can get the power back on.  The authorities know it too.  50,000 utility workers are suppose to be on the way...That's a Reinforced Marine Expeditionary Force...You're talking about two divisions plus of utility workers.  They're racing to prevent Armageddon.

3 amphibs to Jersey..a case of image over substance?

via Business Week.

The U.S. Navy is sending three large-deck amphibious ships to waters off of New York and New Jersey to assist in storm recovery and relief, according to the Navy’s chief of information.
“The Navy is moving ships to be closer to the areas affected by the hurricane,” Rear Admiral John Kirby, the service’s chief spokesman, said in a blog posting today.
The Pentagon said in a separate update on military assistance that 10,000 Army and Air Force National Guard personnel have been mobilized to provide support in the 13 states that were hit hardest by superstorm Sandy.
While the three ships haven’t been officially assigned to post-storm duties, Kirby said the moves “will allow our forces to be best-postured to minimize the amount of time it will take these forces to get on station if tasked.”
The USS Wasp, USS San Antonio and USS Carter Hall are being sent from Norfolk, Virginia. The San Antonio is the lead ship in the new $18.8 billion, 12-ship LPD-17 class. The three vessels are capable of carrying Navy helicopters or refueling Army choppers.
The Wasp was already out to sea riding out the storm when it headed north “to be better positioned,” Kirby said, and the other ships today were ordered to follow.

Ok.

This is gonna be controversial.  But here goes.  Is the Navy again doing an image over substance exercise?

I mean seriously!  I saw the same thing happen with Haiti.  The Coast Guard chest thumped for two weeks about being the first on the scene but in reality there was little that a couple of Coast Guard Cutter could do to aid the suffering.

Same with the Navy.  They rushed a carrier down to that island but again.  There was little that could be done.  It acted as a large helo pad and that was it.

Now we're seeing the same thing.  Amphibs are being rushed to the area but what exactly are they suppose to do without their compliment of Marines?

What could the military contribute that would be most appreciated?  The National Guard is providing troops so that box is checked.  Maybe (like John stated) we could send the AAV detachment at Quantico up the coast to assist in the search and rescue.  Amphibious vehicles along with a Rifle Company or two would probably be welcomed.

If the Amphibs are manned then the surgical department could help back up local hospitals.  An Engineer company from the Corps would be of use...or even better some Navy SeaBees, but amphibs?

Image over substance.  But looks are what counts here.  Not actual utility.

One more for Alabama's candy ass!

So I decided to start game prep a couple days early...get over it.