Pure Pain. And you still have to catch up. via Tac Blog.

So much for the US being welcomed back to the Philippines with open arms....

pics via Bantay Sprantly.

I don't know what to say.  I hope the rioter doesn't land that heel stomp on the officers knee or he'll be a cripple for the rest of his life.

Infantryman via GruntWorks.

The MV-22 as a Presidential Support Helo?

The MV-22 has been at HMX-1 for a little while now.

Yesterday they flew their first mission in support of the Commander in Chief.

Regardless of the President's politics or political party isn't this a waste?  I mean seriously!  Why couldn't a new build Army UH-60L or a MH-60R able to do this duty?  Instead we have a niche platform that is supposedly in short supply and recommended for cancellation used to ferry around cargo and extra personnel for the Chief Executive.  Instead of a 28 million dollar helicopter we are using a squadron of 70 million dollar planes.

And we're suppose to be heading toward crushing austerity in the military?  

Or is this simply a play by the Marine Corps to get the next Presidential Helicopter to be the MV-22?  It sure looks like it and if this is the case then the game is rigged. 

Old Skool Cool. F-8 Crusader of Fighter Squadron (VF) 202 via National Naval Aviation Museum.

Did we get an undercover price increase on the F-35?

via FedBiz.

Lockheed Martin Corp. landed another $852.3 million for the F-35 program by way of a contract modification for special tooling and test equipment that will support aircraft purchases from the Navy, Air Force and international partners.
The award will assist Lockheed in upcoming production of the next lot of F-35 Lightning II aircraft. The Department of Defense reportedly signed an agreement in principle earlier this month for initial production of lots 6 and 7, which includes 71 aircraft.
The special tooling and test equipment purchases will support production of the first 36 U.S. and partner nation aircraft in lot 6, which kick off by mid-2014. The modification is "critical to preserving the current F-35 delivery schedules and meeting future production rates," according to the DOD announcement.

I read this today and my jaw hit the floor.

Just last week we heard about some of the draconian cuts that were coming our way if sequestration continued.  I've read articles from "think tanks" saying that personnel exemptions being put on the Pentagon by the White House was the BIGGEST defense related failure of this administration.

We heard from the President saying that unless the Congress acted to kill sequestration that Veterans Benefits and Retirees Tricare could be affected.

Now I read that Lockheed Martin is suddenly getting another 850 plus million dollars for tooling and test equipment for lot 6 production?

I'm used to the Pentagon playing games.  The fact that portions of Lockheed Martin engages in a bit of skullduggery isn't shocking (it hasn't reached missiles or ground vehicles yet...hopefully those guys can hold the line).  But this roll out of contracts all to cover the production of the same number of aircraft is odd.

And on the surface it looks like a lie.

If you include these costs with the price of the airplanes that were announced, then any cost reduction just evaporated.  I don't have the numbers to crunch but it seems like if everything is factored we got an undercover price increase on the latest batch of planes.

I'll wait patiently to hear the latest reasons why I'm so off base with this line of thinking but something smells to high heaven on this.

26th MEU practices AAV recovery? Photos by Staff Sgt. Edward Guevara

Note:  AAV recovery my ass.  Those vehicles are breaking down so what do good units do when bad things happen?  They turn them into training opportunities. 

Open Carry gone too far. via The Truth About Guns.

via TTAG.

“At this point, I think if Starbucks reverses its policy, we have no one to blame except ourselves. We’re already seeing hints this may be getting pushed too far by our own side. Last year, when this issue heated up again, I thought our side was working too hard to help the antis keep the issue alive. I think the best way we can help Starbucks is not to fan the flames. Keep spending your money there, and when the antis make noise, drop a note to corporate saying you’re a regular customer, and you appreciate their decision to follow state law on firearms.” – Sebastian, Time to Give Starbucks a Break: 2013 Edition [via pagunblog.com]

Told ya so. 

What the fuck is going on with the Corps! Marine gets killed at Marine Barracks playing the "trust game"!!!????

via the Washington Post.

A week ago, Lance Cpl. Cody S. Schoenfelder invited his parents to see him at his new job in Washington. The 19-year-old Marine took his South Dakotan parents to the U.S. Capitol and showed them the Marine Barracks complex on Capitol Hill, where he stood sentry.
On Friday evening, authorities say, Schoenfelder shot himself in the head at the barracks buildings in Southeast Washington, where the Marine commandant lives. He died Saturday in what D.C. police say is being investigated as an accident.
Two D.C. police officials said Schoenfelder was shot inside a guard shack and there was a second Marine with him at the time. Investigators are exploring the possibility that a gun accidentally discharged as the Marines were playing the game “Trust,” in which one points a weapon at the other, according to those two officials and a third person in law enforcement, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
The Marine’s parents, Nick and Gena Schoenfelder, are waiting for his body to be returned to Huron — a city of 12,000 in South Dakota’s glacial lake and prairie region — where he will be buried. Gena Schoenfelder, 48, said they are awaiting delivery of a report and had not heard details of how the shooting occurred.
“Ever since he was 9 years old, all he talked about was joining the military,” said Nick Schoenfelder, 51. “It was because of 9/11, I thought. He was just a good Midwestern farmboy who wanted to serve his country.”
The D.C. police and Marines released few details of the shooting. It occurred about 6:30 p.m. in the 19th-century barracks complex known as 8th and I, for the streets that intersect at its main entrance. Police said the shooting happened near the 1000 block of Seventh Street SE, near a gated entrance to the grounds.

The Marine Corps is in a tailspin.   The fact that a Junior Marine could die in this manner is some 1970's bullshit.  This shouldn't be happening in todays Marine Corps.  Someone is dropping the ball.  We're not talking about a murder suicide where a Commanding Officer (who could not possibly know that this was about to occur) was relieved of command....This isn't some Marines on a gun line trying to cut corners so that they can get rounds down range faster.  This is a negligent discharge just a few feet from the Commandants Home.  Yeah.  This is bullshit.

Consider this.  Change Agents always push  change as the end result, never attempting to figure out how an organization gets to that end state.

The term "disruptive" is all the rage today.  Disruptive environments.  Disruptive planning.

What these Change Agents and Disruptive Gurus fail to tell the sheep that try and adopt their policies is that Change/Disruption is chaotic.

Maybe I'm being alarmist but take a look at what the Marine Corps has been hit with, and what its going and about to go through and tell me that it isn't approaching chaos.

We need new leadership.

Amos has to go.

Culberson+Real Housewives of OC & the USMC.

Ok.

I don't know this Culberson guy from Adam.

Don't want to know him.  But this "joker" showed up in my daily alert on the 11th MEU.  Why?  Because he's a goddamn celebrity on that truly great tv show, the Real housewives of Orange County!  Note:  Sarcasm pegged out.

I could careless but suddenly this guys actions are so over the top that supposedly other Marines have been bombarding the 11th MEU's Public Affairs Office demanding that the guy be placed on charges if for no other reason than for conduct unbecoming and bringing discredit to the Marines.

On this one, I don't want to know more but figured if you didn't see it you should at least know how to get to it so click here and follow up by doing your own web search.

Marines are now on TV reality shows.  The end of the world as we know it can't be too far off.....

Pure Craziness. Trying to make the most barbaric of human activities civilized.

via the Washington Times.  Read this "Colonel's" thinking in its entirety at their place.

An Army officer writing in a prestigious journal says the services should not overemphasize physical strength when deciding whether a woman qualifies for direct ground combat.
Col. Ellen Haring, on the staff of the U.S. Army War College, says commanders need to downplay obstacle courses and judge a service member’s ability to stay calm and think quickly.
The Pentagon has lifted its ban on women serving in the infantry, tanks and special operations, and the branches are examining all their physical standards in preparation for introducing women into these units in 2015.
Some military analysts fear the Pentagon will discard some standards to ensure that a significant number of women qualify.
“Perhaps it is time to take a hard look at what really makes a competent combat soldier and not rely on traditional notions of masculine brawn that celebrate strength over other qualities,” Col. Haring says in the current issue of Armed Forces Journal.
She cites World War II hero Audie Murphy and North Vietnamese insurgents as examples of small people who came up big on the battlefield.
“If the going-in assumption is that physical standards are the only thing that needs to be examined, then we are also assuming that we have everything else just right,” she wrote. “This is belied by our less-than-optimal performances in many instances during the past 12 years. Fixating on physical standards is a tactical-level approach that misses a strategic-level opportunity.”

This is craziness.

We are not at a point where physical strength can be separated from participation in ground combat.

This effort to civilize combat by making it a place where physical strength plays no role is to ignore the obvious.

I don't even know how to properly respond to this except to say that we're getting a sneak inside the goings on with the women in combat thinking.

If things were rosy and it looked like smooth sailing for a large group of women to start showing up in Marine Infantry, Tank and Artillery Battalions do you think we would be hearing this?

No.  We wouldn't.

I never expected it, but it seems that the JCS is actually attempting to be honest in this portion of things and isn't rolling completely over to satisfy their master in the White House.  Still it won't matter in the end.  By hook or crook, women will be in the infantry and they're going face a special kind of hell.  I say this with respect although some will view it as being racist.

We're heading back to the Pacific and will face some of the fiercest, most barbaric and most unyielding peoples on this planet.  Every war we've ever fought in the Pacific has been a bloodbath   From WW2 to Korea to Vietnam to even the Mayaguez incident the Pacific has always given us trouble.  I don't know the reason why, I just know that from my minds eye its always been true.  This will be the wrong place to test women in the infantry but if we end up getting into a fight there it will be something to see.

Off Shore Ranger/Coast Guard Station via Bantay Spratly.

Modern ranger station in Tubbataha to be built with new P40M grant

In two years, the remote Tubbataha Reefs in Palawan is expected to have a new state-of-the-art ranger station after the government's Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) provided a P40-million grant for the project Sunday.

"We have been asked by the Coast Guard if they can use the same design and we said, yes please do," said Tan, adding that it may also be freely utilized in other tourist attractions in the country.

The hexagon-shaped main center features a glass dome that will provide the rangers with a 360-degree view of the park, and overhanging troughs to collect rainwater. It will also house a visitor center, a mini-museum, and stepladder planters for growing vegetables.

Solar panels and micro wind turbines will be used to generate renewable energy for the station, which is located 150 kilometers from Palawan's capital city of Puerto Princesa, the nearest urban center.

Was the attack in Benghazi about weapons?

Thanks for the article Paul!

via Breitbart.

On August 12, Joe DiGenova, attorney for one of the Benghazi whistleblowers, told Washington D.C.'s WMAL that one of the reasons people have remained tight-lipped about Benghazi is because 400 U.S. missiles were "diverted to Libya" and ended up being stolen and falling into "the hands of some very ugly people."
DiGenova represents Benghazi whistleblower Mark Thompson. He told WMAL that he "does not know whether [the missiles] were at the annex, but it is clear the annex was somehow involved in the distribution of those missiles."
He claimed his information "comes from a former intelligence official who stayed in constant contact with people in the special ops and intelligence community." He said the biggest concern right now is finding those missiles before they can be put to use. "They are worried, specifically according to these sources, about an attempt to shoot down an airliner," he claimed.

This would explain so many things.  It would also bring up many, MANY more questions.  A couple of things....

*The Bush Administration was infatuated with the CIA and SOCOM.  The Obama Administration is following the same playbook.  The thought that while they waffled in public, they were running weapons through third parties to the rebels in Syria is totally believable.

*Again, the reliance on covert activities to further national goals is proven to be fraught with danger.  Don't get me wrong.  There is a place for covert actions...but it shouldn't be the main mover of policy.  During the Clinton time in the State Dept we've seen that agency lose more and more power to the Pentagon.  To be fair, that weakness started during the Powell era when he went head to head against Rumsfeld/Cheney and lost.  Ever since we've seen president's rely on military/intel agencies for diplomacy instead of the State Dept.  You want real reform?  You get the Pentagon out of diplomacy and you'll see instant money savings and a more robust foreign policy.

*The article mentions 400 missiles.  The fact that they give an exact number should be worrying.  Even if the correct number missing is half that, then you've got major problems.  A couple of anti-air teams outside an airport perimeter but in the landing pattern could cause chaos and several hundred lives.  This could be a major problem.

If and I mean IF this is true then things are pretty screwed up in our State Dept, Pentagon and Intelligence agencies.  We need a massive house cleaning 'cause we're being led by the gang that can't shoot straight. 

Gibraltar and the Falklands officially linked...

via SkyNews.

Reports in the Spanish media suggested that the diplomatic row could escalate to the United Nations, with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government receiving support from Argentina.
Spanish foreign minister Jose Garcia-Margallo is expected to propose that the two countries present a "united front" over Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands, the El Pais newspaper reported.
Mr Garcia-Margallo will sound out his Argentinian counterpart, Hector Timerman, during a meeting in Buenos Aires next month as he prepares for a "180-degree turn in policy towards the colony", the newspaper said.
Meanwhile, Spanish defence minister Pedro Morenes has said it is "totally normal" for British warships to dock in Gibraltar in what is a "routine visit", according to reports.
Mr Morenes reportedly told the Europa Press news agency: "Neither the British nor the Spanish government have an interest in there being bad relations."
He also said that aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious had requested and been granted permission to stop off at the southern Spanish naval base of Rota on August 18, proving that there was no military escalation between the two countries.

Hmmm.

I'm not quite following the thinking here.  Why is this going beyond the EU?  Why would the Spanish FM seek to link Gibraltar and the Falklands issues?

Why is this little dispute being allowed to grow?

I'm either missing something here or someone has an agenda.  Either way accidents happen and accidents lead to injuries.  If you're lucky that is.

Polyus. Russian Orbital Weapons Platform.

via The Living Moon website.

The Polyus spacecraft, also known as Polus, Skif-DM, or 17F19DM, was a prototype orbital weapons platform designed to defend against anti-satellite weapons with recoilless cannon. It had an FGB (the Russian acronym for Functional Cargo Block, similar to the Zarya FGB that was the first component of the International Space Station) space resupply tug, derived from a TKS spacecraft, attached to control its orbit. It was also equipped with a sensor blinding laser to confuse approaching weapons and could launch test targets to validate the fire control system.
Polyus was launched May 15, 1987, as part of the first flight of the Energia system.
According to Yuri Kornilov, Chief Designer of the Salyut Design Bureau, Mikhail Gorbachev shortly before Polyus' launch visited the Baikonur Cosmodrome and expressly forbid the on-orbit testing of its capabilities. Kornilov claims that Gorbachev was worried that it would be possible for the west to view this activity as an attempt to create a weapon in space and that such an attempt would compromise the country's leaderships' statements on the USSR’s peaceful intent. [1]
For technical reasons, the payload was launched upside down. It was designed to separate from the Energia, rotate 180 degrees, then complete its boost to orbit. The Energia functioned perfectly, but after disconnecting from Energia, the Polyus spun a full 360 degrees instead of the planned 180 degrees. When the rocket fired, it slowed and fell into the south Pacific ocean.
Parts of the Polyus project hardware were re-used in Kvant-2, Kristall, Spektr and Priroda Mir modules, as well as in ISS Zarya FGB.

It fell into the South Pacific Ocean.

There are some old skool sub crews and salvage divers (maybe SEALs too) that probably have some fascinating stories to tell...if they could without prosecution that is.

The DoD has a serious hard on for its submarines and the story about how the Reagan administration supposedly recovered this piece of Russian tech has to rank up near the top of that list.

I don't know the full story and the website is primarily selling a book.  This one, I might have to buy.  Read more at The Living Moon website here and wikipedia here. 

Old Skool Arctic Patrol.

Modified Firing Positions.

pic via TacBlog.

Ok.

I'm getting pissed and starting to lose my mind.  I'm hearing from established, reputable trainers about these modified firing positions.

Excuse me but why would you adopt this firing position in a real life fight?  Are you telling me that this is stable?  Are you telling me that its more accurate than assuming a good prone position and going after whatever it is you're trying to hit?

What amazes me even more is you're exposing regions of your body that are highly valued, but lightly (if at all) armored to the enemy as an area to strike.

The gun community is going to have a come to Jesus moment here pretty soon.

Too many competing interests that really go against the community instead of properly supporting it.  Some of these schools teaching this weirdness apply.  I'll be happy to be wrong but I have yet to hear the tactical advantages that are given to the shooter by adopting one of these radical, wildcat, grab your ass firing positions.

Arizona sheriff arming deputies with AR-15 style rifles to 'fight back' against criminals

via FoxNews.

An Arizona sheriff is arming his deputies with AR-15-style assault rifles to give them “enough firepower to fight back” against criminals who he says are carrying increasingly dangerous weapons.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio made the announcement on Thursday, the same day one of his employees, 27-year-old Jorge Vargas, was gunned down as he walked into his driveway to head to work.
"We live in a violent society, even here in Maricopa County, and across our nation, and the least we can do is to arm our deputies…,” Arpaio said, according to Fox 10 News. "My deputies will carry guns 24 hours a day, even off duty. If they see any incident occurring, they will take action anywhere in this valley."

Read the whole thing over at FoxNews.

I'll add a personal opinion too.  Something seems a little hinky about the Vargas shooting but to the bigger issue about deputies being armed 24/7 and responding to crime that they see occurring, I'll simply say wow.

That's raising the bar pretty high.  No.  That's raising the bar very high.  Consider the issues here.  A deputy is out with his wife and kids for a saturday outing and some idiots decide to start duking it out.  It turns into a shootout.  Does the deputy respond?  Is calling it in and waiting for backup enough?  If he is to serve and protect then that applies doubly to his family right?  If the deputy is switched on then he would probably see the signs of trouble before it actually erupts.  If he gets a 'sense' that trouble is coming (don't laugh I'm convinced we all have it..some just choose to ignore their primal senses) and leaves before hand has he violated the sheriff's order?

And last but not least.

I don't consider this to be militarization of law enforcement.

First issue is that deputies operate far from each other, often in single man cars and backup is many minutes away.  Next you're talking about this happening on the individual deputy level.  We're not seeing Combat Team LEO's getting together to kick doors.

Its simply deputies getting America's rifle in their cars.  Quite honestly they're probably behind the power curve.  If the Sheriff was being cutting edge he'd be getting his guys 300 BlkOuts.

About the Launch of the Indian Aircraft Carrier.

Let me say this first.

I'm a fan of a number of countries around the globe.  By that I mean I'm interested in what they're doing, and do my best to keep up with defense issues that they're dealing with.

Romania, Israel, Netherlands, Singapore, Japan, Brazil, S. Korea, India, Philippines, and Turkey (and those are just a few of the countries on my alert list) all bear watching. Having said
that I can't quite wrap my head around some of the definitions that are used on some of the projects.

Earlier this year I posted about the Indians getting ready to launch their aircraft carrier on the 12 of this month.  Sounds like a momentous occasion right?  I mean Japan basically launched a big deck amphib and the defense blogs/news sites were all atwitter...what would happen when India joins the carrier club and builds/launches its own?  Well check this out. via NDTV.

Idia will launch its first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, on August 12 from the Kochi shipyard. This will make India only the fifth country after the US, Russia, Britain and France to have the capability to build such vessels.
"About 83 per cent of the fabrication work and 75 per cent of the construction work will be over when the ship goes into water," said Indian Navy's vice chief, Admiral Robin Dhowan.
The rest of the work, including the flight deck, will be completed once the ship is launched, the Navy vice chief said. The aircraft carrier is expected to be inducted into the Indian Navy by 2018.
Admiral Dhowan also said that the 40,000 tonne indigenous aircraft carrier is one of its most prestigious warship projects and unprecedented in terms of size and complexity. It has been designed by Indian Navy's design organisation.
INS Vikrant will have two take-off runways and a landing strip with three arrester wires capable of operating a STOBAR (Short Take Off But Arrested Recovery). The main stay fighters positioned on board would be Russian made MiG -29k fighter jets. The naval variant of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) produced by India is also scheduled to be positioned on the warship. However, it would depend on how quickly and effectively Navy variant of the LCA is produced and cleared for active duty.
While nearly 90 per cent of the body work of the aircraft carrier has been designed and made in India, about 50 per cent of propulsion system is of Indian origin and about 30 per cent of fighting capability of the warship are from India.
"It will be equipped with a long range surface-to-air missiles system with multi-function radar and close-in weapons system (CIWS)," Admiral Dhowan said.
Apart from joining a select group of nations that build aircraft carriers, the major achievement for India has been the ability to fabricate weapons grade steel. "After our initial difficulty in procuring weapons grade steel, our own laboratories were able to crack the code. Steel Authority of India is now producing the requisite quality of steel" Admiral Dhowan said.
The ability to produce weapons grade steel is a big plus since majority of Indian warships will now be produced in India.n

Sorry guys.

I don't consider this a proper launching.  I don't know what you'd call it but to launch an aircraft carrier and the flight deck isn't even completed is craziness. To have it not even ready for sea trials....

I'm not sure but when I got details I felt robbed.  It sounds good but its like a half built house....good job on what you've done but you're far from finished.

I don't get the Open Carry Crowd.

I don't get the open carry crowd.

I've asked what the point of these type confrontations with police were about and why cause a disturbance and public shock by open carrying and the response is always the same.  Its my right and unless you exercise your rights you'll lose them.  I understand that thinking in the case of a mental exercise but reality is totally different.

But the worst part is that it does nothing to help the gun rights movement and as a matter of fact it hurts it.  Additionally I expect to see one of two things happening.  Buffer zones established around certain buildings where open carry is not legal, or an outright ban on the practice.

Long story short.  This kind of thing isn't helping and will hurt the cause.