BAE Naval Guns...

From Brigade Combat Teams to Army Combat Groups???

Thanks for the link Paralus!

  Macgregor Transformation Model (MTM: 19 November Briefing With Backup Slides by Douglas Macgregor, PhD; Retired U.S. Army Colonel

I don't quite know what to make of this.

McGregor is starting to rub me wrong.

It seems like every couple of years he wants to reorganize the US Army and now he's doing it in such a way as to affect the way the other services do business.

My biggest problem with this is that he keeps reinventing the wheel and I'm not sure that we're seeing bigger bang for the buck than using the old Division standard.  AND MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT!  His concept is evolving back to the Division!

I'll chew on this some more but one thing "change agents" always screw up is the fact that once change is implemented they must give these "living, breathing" systems time to absorb the change before they move forward.  The US Army just made the change to the Brigade Combat Team and now McGregor is pitching the Army Combat Group.  I think its much too soon.

Sidenote:  I just remembered why this concept seems so familiar.  Its just a butched up Regimental Combat Team!

Hey 2nd LT. stop making fucking excuses....

via the Washington Post.

So what’s held women back in the Marines Corps Infantry Officer Course? I absolutely agree that we shouldn’t reduce qualifications. For Marine infantry officers, mistakes mean risking the lives of the troops you are charged to protect. But I believe that I could pass, and that other women could pass, if the standards for men and women were equal from the beginning of their time with the Marines, if endurance and strength training started earlier than the current practice for people interested in going into the infantry, and if women were allowed a second try, as men are.
Female lieutenants aren’t as prepared as male lieutenants for the Infantry Officer Course’s tests of strength and endurance because they’ve been encouraged to train to lesser standards. Officer Candidates School, where all Marine officers start out, is segregated by sex. I was in an all-female platoon. We worked with the men on a few occasions but never competed with them. That was odd for me. As someone who grew up playing hockey on boys’ teams, I was used to facing off with the guys.
The Basic School, where I reported after graduating from Bowdoin College in 2012, has long been co-ed. But physical double standards persist. In the Physical Fitness Test, for example, a male perfect score is achieved by an 18-minute three-mile run, 20 pull-ups and 100 sit-ups in two minutes. A female perfect score is a 21-minute three-mile run, a 70-second flexed-arm hang and 100 sit-ups in two minutes. There was a move to shift from arm hangs to pull-ups for women last year. Yet 55 percent of female recruits were unable to meet the minimum of three, and the plan was put on hold.
I understand not wanting to discourage new recruits. But dual standards highlight and foster differences in a way that undercuts the goal of integrated military units. Women aren’t encouraged to establish the same mental toughness as men — rather, they’re told that they can’t compete. Men, meanwhile, are encouraged to perceive women as weak. I noticed that women were rarely chosen by their peers for some of the harder tasks in basic training.
Yes, men have biological advantages in tests of upper-body strength. But women can do pull-ups if given enough time to build that strength. (I did 16 in my last physical fitness test, and I have no illusions that I’m the most qualified female Marine.) Recognizing biologically based advantages and disadvantages and developing training programs that work to balance them are key.

Read the entire article here.

My advice?

You didn't pass the test so stop making excuses.  Life ain't fair, the Marine Corps didn't promise you roses and bitching don't make you better.

Get better.

Lead by example.

And shut the fuck up. 

Things for the next Commandant to fix....

With the reign of Amos rapidly coming to an end (THANK GOD!), its time to look forward at what the next Commandant will have to deal with.  Of course this is assuming that Obama doesn't decide to screw the Marine Corps for another generation by appointing ANOTHER sub-standard Commandant to the helm.

If we get another air winger...correction, if we get another politician in uniform (I really need to back off the wing bashing...Amos was an outlier...too many good guys swing with the wing) then all bets are off.  But onto the list...

F-35.
We've got to come to some type of reality about this airplane.  F-35 supporters all claim that the numbers are backed into the cake and that any adjustment is not possible.  I don't buy it.  The plane costs too much to purchase and all indications are that it will cost too much to maintain.  Too much capability has already been sacrificed at the altar of the F-35.  The next Commandant needs to cut purchase of the F-35C all together, cut the numbers bought of the F-35B, purchase Super Hornets for the carrier mission and decide exactly how many of the F-35's the Marine Corps needs AND can afford in the age of austerity.

AAV.
Its past time for a replacement.  Amos has fiddled, lied and dithered while wasting 4 years.  I don't have the information from the Test Branch or Land PEO but HQMC does.  Pick something.  Whether its a MPC, ACV, radically upgraded AAV or simple upgrades to the AAV, something needs to be done.  This should have been solved but while Amos monitored the F-35 program monthly, he neglected the ride for his infantry.

Women in the infantry.
Allowing women to serve in many of the combat arms will not cause controversy.  Women in the infantry will cause friction in the Corps like nothing else.  Once again Amos has punted and decided to do a study.  Its bullshit and everyone knows it, but it will be up to the next Commandant to do the right thing and ask Congress for an exemption.  Not even the Army is pushing to get this done and for good reason.  Bodies will break, unit cohesion will be broken and Marines will rebel.  Funny thing?  The decision might have already been made but they're waiting till after the 2014 elections to keep from stirring up Republicans or disappointing liberal Democrat females.

Marine Expeditionary Brigade.
Amos has an initiative to make the MEB the unit of operation, basically replacing the MEU.  It won't work, hasn't worked in this experimentation phase and is silly.  Quite honestly the MEF(Forward) is what we should be aiming for.  Get rid of the MEB totally, and during times when multiple MEU's are brought together you activate the already standing MEF to deploy its Forward command group to whatever theater.  You would take personnel from the standing MEF's and put either the CO of the MEF or his assistant in charge.

SPMAGTF-Crisis Response.
Seriously?  Really?  Small numbers of Marines being sent long distances aboard MV-22's to respond to rapidly changing events?  Can someone que charge of the light brigade please!  Too light to fight, too far to support and easily isolated and destroyed is the future of these units.  I notice that the darlings of the Commandant (Recon) is staffing these units.  Awesome.  The same thing applies as a regular infantry unit.  They can just do more pullups and have better run times.  SPMAGTF-Crisis Response needs to go the way of the dodo bird.

Does the Army even do Jungle Expert anymore?  I read about it but have never seen it on a uniform.

Jungle School.
Amos talked about establishing a jungle school that was more rigorous than the NTA.  Awesome.  With Marines now deploying to Australia and with Brits have locations in the S. Pacific along with the French running courses in S. America, the opportunity to finally get a training agreement is easily seen.  Pick one...hell pick two and rotate Marines through.  Additionally its time to finally get off the pot about developing "leaders" qualifications.  The Brits have Mountain Leaders and we need to copy that with the addition of having Jungle Experts, Desert Experts, Arctic Leaders etc....Training with allies in the appropriate environment should be easy enough to arrange and it will further professionalize our Infantry Battalions.

Chinese Coast Guard blocks Philippine Supply Ship....

PHILIPPINES, AT SEA : A China Coast Guard ship (R) and a Philippine supply boat engage in a stand off as the Philippine boat attempts to reach the Second Thomas Shoal, a remote South China Sea a reef claimed by both countries, on March 29, 2014. The Philippine ship finally slipped past the Chinese blockade to reach Second Thomas Shoal, where a handful of Filipino marines are stationed on a Navy vessel that has been grounded there since 1999 to assert their nation's sovereignty. AFP PHOTO / Jay DIRECTO

A couple of things....

*  Spare me the craziness!  A certain writer at Information Dissemination states over and over, uses insane statistics etc...that China is not "pushing" its neighbors around.  What is it going to take for people to be shaken out of the complacency?  Just because you want everything to be all right with the world doesn't make it so.

*  This outer base that the Philippines has on the derelict LST has to be abandoned.  It serves no purpose except as a point of vulnerability.  Better a floating platform with a sea search/scan radar on it than a bunch of Philippine Marines that can be taken out with the Chinese version of the Hellfire missile.

Our leadership has not learned the lessons of the past.

If you want peace then prepare for war.

Yee's arrest embarasses three organizations...

Yee's arrest for arms trafficking by the FBI gave three different organizations blackeyes...

Democrats.
So much for the public trust.  I forgot the name of the Congressman that got caught for indecent acts in a bathroom before a previous election but that swung voters away from the Republican party.  This will probably do the same.  Retain the Senate?  Fat chance.  On a military note, expect sequestration to continue.  Hope has been guiding the DoD.  That hope is fading.

Brady Campaign.
How do you give a guy an A+ for being a gun control guru and then years later he's caught by the FBI in a gun running scheme?  Brady, Mayors against illegal guns and others just keep getting sucker punched.  Gun rights is winning the day...more importantly the American people as a whole just don't care.  Gun rights advocates do...and we vote.

ATF.
Note that I refuse to call them BATFE.  They committed horrible crimes under the ATF moniker and I won't let them "rebrand" themselves.  Having said all that the FBI is proving once again that of all the federal law enforcement agencies the ATF is most redundant.  With the Republicans soon to take control of the Senate I expect a push to cut funding to this rogue outfit to gain traction....which is why you see so many questionable acts by the group being done now.  They see the writing on the wall so they're trying to justify their existence while they can.

Yee's arrest is disappointing but not unexpected.  

Blast from the past. Letourneau Snow Train

I continue to marvel at what was done in the past.  They did more with less computing power than we do today.  Is it a lack of imagination that we have? A lack of desire to do the hard stuff?  Whatever it is, they did more with less and got a bigger bang for the buck while doing it.

Amphibious Landing Ssang Yong 14 Video by Lance Cpl. Jacob Hug

Ukrainian Marine Corps vs. Russian Mechanized Infantry.

I was going to try and do a "order of battle" regarding how the Ukrainian Marine Corps would do against a Russian Mechanized Infantry Brigade.

Unfortunately, I can't do it.  Information is spotty.  Real spotty.  Additionally they only have one Battalion of forces....via Wikipedia...

Today, all of the marines Marines (SNAFU! correction) are organized into 1st Separate Marine Battalion.^[2][5]

• 1st Marine Company

• 2nd Marine Company

• 3rd Air Assault Company^[8]

• Mortar Battery

• Reconnaissance Platoon

They more I peel back the layers on the Ukrainian military the more I'm reaching a very uncomfortable truth.

The Russians could seep through the country in a week.  They could capture Kiev in a couple of days...and there is very little that Ukraine could do to stop them.

The idea of a peaceful Europe is something that the Ukrainian people and government bought into.

They were wrong.

I hope we learn the appropriate lessons from this fiasco. 

TOW Wireless Missile

S. Korean Amphibious Ships operating at Exercise SSang Yong 2014.

Superhuman courage. Warrior elite on display. UPDATE!

Thanks for the reminder of this Jonathan 

Note:  I've been chewing on this one for awhile now.  Jonathan told me in the e-mail that he sent that these two Marines SHOULD HAVE been nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor.  Maybe its CMH fatigue (since the President awarded 26 of them recently...maybe each was worthwhile, but a mass ceremony for that many of our nations top medal just struck me as ... odd ...) but while I was once cool to the idea, it now sings to me. Like the General said, these guys crushed their human instinct and laid it on the line to protect their fellow Marines.  No doubt.  No hesitation.  Just that savage, evil bitch called duty...and they answered the call.  They earned it and they should be awarded it.

Some call the Marine Corps a cult and not a military.  I like to think of it as a warrior elite.

Part of the traditions of bands of warriors is to tell tales of the heroics of its members.  Not only to preserve the history of those who fell while doing their duty to the last ounce of their being, but also to provide an example to all that come behind on what is expected of them.

General Kelly (one of those GOOD Marine leaders that will never see Commandant) tells the tale.  Read it.  Choke back those emotions and take it all in.  This is what "doing the Marine thing" is all about.

Two years ago when I was the Commander of all U.S. and Iraqi forces, in fact, the 22nd of April 2008, two Marine infantry battalions, 1/9 “The Walking Dead,” and 2/8 were switching out in Ramadi. One battalion in the closing days of their deployment going home very soon, the other just starting its seven-month combat tour.
Two Marines, Corporal Jonathan Yale and Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter, 22 and 20 years old respectively, one from each battalion, were assuming the watch together at the entrance gate of an outpost that contained a makeshift barracks housing 50 Marines.
The same broken down ramshackle building was also home to 100 Iraqi police, also my men and our allies in the fight against the terrorists in Ramadi, a city until recently the most dangerous city on earth and owned by Al Qaeda. Yale was a dirt poor mixed-race kid from Virginia with a wife and daughter, and a mother and sister who lived with him and he supported as well. He did this on a yearly salary of less than $23,000. Haerter, on the other hand, was a middle class white kid from Long Island.
They were from two completely different worlds. Had they not joined the Marines they would never have met each other, or understood that multiple America’s exist simultaneously depending on one’s race, education level, economic status, and where you might have been born. But they were Marines, combat Marines, forged in the same crucible of Marine training, and because of this bond they were brothers as close, or closer, than if they were born of the same woman.
The mission orders they received from the sergeant squad leader I am sure went something like: “Okay you two clowns, stand this post and let no unauthorized personnel or vehicles pass.” “You clear?” I am also sure Yale and Haerter then rolled their eyes and said in unison something like: “Yes Sergeant,” with just enough attitude that made the point without saying the words, “No kidding sweetheart, we know what we’re doing.” They then relieved two other Marines on watch and took up their post at the entry control point of Joint Security Station Nasser, in the Sophia section of Ramadi, al Anbar, Iraq.
A few minutes later a large blue truck turned down the alley way—perhaps 60-70 yards in length—and sped its way through the serpentine of concrete jersey walls. The truck stopped just short of where the two were posted and detonated, killing them both catastrophically. Twenty-four brick masonry houses were damaged or destroyed. A mosque 100 yards away collapsed. The truck’s engine came to rest two hundred yards away knocking most of a house down before it stopped.
Our explosive experts reckoned the blast was made of 2,000 pounds of explosives. Two died, and because these two young infantrymen didn’t have it in their DNA to run from danger, they saved 150 of their Iraqi and American brothers-in-arms.
When I read the situation report about the incident a few hours after it happened I called the regimental commander for details as something about this struck me as different. Marines dying or being seriously wounded is commonplace in combat. We expect Marines regardless of rank or MOS to stand their ground and do their duty, and even die in the process, if that is what the mission takes. But this just seemed different.
The regimental commander had just returned from the site and he agreed, but reported that there were no American witnesses to the event—just Iraqi police. I figured if there was any chance of finding out what actually happened and then to decorate the two Marines to acknowledge their bravery, I’d have to do it as a combat award that requires two eye-witnesses and we figured the bureaucrats back in Washington would never buy Iraqi statements. If it had any chance at all, it had to come under the signature of a general officer.
I traveled to Ramadi the next day and spoke individually to a half-dozen Iraqi police all of whom told the same story. The blue truck turned down into the alley and immediately sped up as it made its way through the serpentine. They all said, “We knew immediately what was going on as soon as the two Marines began firing.” The Iraqi police then related that some of them also fired, and then to a man, ran for safety just prior to the explosion.
All survived. Many were injured … some seriously. One of the Iraqis elaborated and with tears welling up said, “They’d run like any normal man would to save his life.”
What he didn’t know until then, he said, and what he learned that very instant, was that Marines are not normal. Choking past the emotion he said, “Sir, in the name of God no sane man would have stood there and done what they did.”
“No sane man.”
“They saved us all.”
What we didn’t know at the time, and only learned a couple of days later after I wrote a summary and submitted both Yale and Haerter for posthumous Navy Crosses, was that one of our security cameras, damaged initially in the blast, recorded some of the suicide attack. It happened exactly as the Iraqis had described it. It took exactly six seconds from when the truck entered the alley until it detonated.
You can watch the last six seconds of their young lives. Putting myself in their heads I supposed it took about a second for the two Marines to separately come to the same conclusion about what was going on once the truck came into their view at the far end of the alley. Exactly no time to talk it over, or call the sergeant to ask what they should do. Only enough time to take half an instant and think about what the sergeant told them to do only a few minutes before: “ … let no unauthorized personnel or vehicles pass.”
The two Marines had about five seconds left to live. It took maybe another two seconds for them to present their weapons, take aim, and open up. By this time the truck was half-way through the barriers and gaining speed the whole time. Here, the recording shows a number of Iraqi police, some of whom had fired their AKs, now scattering like the normal and rational men they were—some running right past the Marines. They had three seconds left to live.
For about two seconds more, the recording shows the Marines’ weapons firing non-stop…the truck’s windshield exploding into shards of glass as their rounds take it apart and tore in to the body of the son-of-a-bitch who is trying to get past them to kill their brothers—American and Iraqi—bedded down in the barracks totally unaware of the fact that their lives at that moment depended entirely on two Marines standing their ground. If they had been aware, they would have know they were safe … because two Marines stood between them and a crazed suicide bomber.
The recording shows the truck careening to a stop immediately in front of the two Marines. In all of the instantaneous violence Yale and Haerter never hesitated. By all reports and by the recording, they never stepped back. They never even started to step aside. They never even shifted their weight. With their feet spread shoulder width apart, they leaned into the danger, firing as fast as they could work their weapons. They had only one second left to live.
The truck explodes. The camera goes blank. Two young men go to their God.
Six seconds.
Not enough time to think about their families, their country, their flag, or about their lives or their deaths, but more than enough time for two very brave young men to do their duty … into eternity. That is the kind of people who are on watch all over the world tonight—for you.

The entire speech is below.

  LtGen Kelly Speech

FIDAE 2014. Textron, Otokar & Boeing make strong showings...

How many of you are aware that FIDAE 2014 has been going on in S. America this week?  That particular trade show has gained little attention in the military blogging sphere and I can't explain why.  Those small S. American countries are arming up like there is no tomorrow.

Having said that Textron, Otokar and Boeing caught my attention with their offerings down South....

Textron showed up with its Commando and is in my opinion providing an affordable, MRAP protected family of vehicles that can handle most military missions.  From Internal Security, Border Protection, Fire Support,, Mortar Carrier, Ambulance, Fire Control Vehicle, APC, IFV...this Family of Vehicles concept seems to be the wave of the future when it comes to lowering the costs, getting the biggest bang for you buck all while continuing to provide a competent and credible military deterrent.  I like it.

Otokar arrived with their ARMA 8x8 and a page out of the Iveco playbook. They're offering not only their formidable vehicle but also manufacturing at the host country which should sweeten the deal.  The ARMA 8x8 with Mizrak 30mm RWS will win orders.  Its just a matter of time.  Add in the manufacturing offsets and I can see a S. American country biting.

Boeing surprised many with the announcement that its going to offer 80 CH-47D's, which they will upgrade to the CH-47F standard, for sale worldwide.  The CH-47 is extremely popular so this will be easy work for Boeing salesmen.  Read about it here.  Thanks for the link Jonathan!

FIDAE 2014.  The most important show you aren't paying attention to.

E-2D joins the fleet, V-22 COD probably dead...

NORFOLK, Va. -- The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye officially became ready for tasking with Airborne Early Warning Squadron One Twenty Five (VAW-125) during a ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk Chambers Field, March 27.

“This is a revolutionary jump in capabilities,” said Capt. Todd Watkins, Commander, Airborne Command Control and Logistics Wing. “The E-2D serves as the eyes of the fleet. If it’s out there, we will see it.”

The “Tigertails” of VAW-125 are the first Navy squadron to become fully operational with the Advanced Hawkeye, the newest, most technologically capable variant of the venerable E-2 airborne early warning command and control platform.

The E-2D is expected to be instrumental to how the Navy will conduct battle management command and control. Able to sweep ahead of the strike, the E-2D can manage the mission and keep carrier battle groups out of harm’s way.

“We were very excited to be the first squadron to receive the [Advanced] Hawkeye,” said Lt. James Beaty, a Naval Flight Officer who has worked extensively with the E-2D. “It’s been a challenge, but I’ve enjoyed learning everything this aircraft is capable of.”

The E-2D’s advanced technology makes it a multi-mission platform through its ability to coordinate concurrent missions which may arise during a single flight. These missions can include airborne strike, ground force support, rescue operations and managing a reliable communications network capable of supporting drug interdiction operations.

This is the last thing that Marine Air wanted to see and probably spells the end of efforts to make the V-22 the next Carrier On-Board Delivery Vehicle.

Greenert is on a cost saving binge and I can't see how using the V-22 as the next COD makes sense from a financial point of view.  Additionally the end of the line for V-22 production is rapidly approaching.  I predict that the E-2 will continue in that role.  Maybe rebuilt and re-engined, but continue they will.

Amphibious Assault Certification. Vid by Lance Cpl. Manuel R. Benavides

What if Russia is after the entire country of Ukraine?

Reports have come out today that the size of the forces on the border with Ukraine has increased from 30,000 to over 80,000.

Everyone that I've read, has talked about them capturing slices of the country.

But what if they want the whole loaf?

What if they're after the entire country?

This weekend will be interesting.  I wonder if they've (meaning both NATO and Russia) war gamed the possibility and what it looked like.

This weekend might be interesting.

LAV-ATs test modernization upgrades

A Light Armored Vehicle Anti-Tank prototype is given a swim test at the Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch at Camp Pendleton, Calif. LAV-ATs are in the midst of developmental tests as part of their modernization program at various sites throughout the country.

Astros Multiple Rocket Launcher enters Brazilian service.

CFN receives first batch of ASTROS System Delivery of the first batch of Multiple Rocket Launchers System System ASTROS represents an important milestone by achieving a goal in the Plan Coordination and Equipment of the Navy of Brazil (PAEMB) and by strengthening . the national defense industry

It has begun. The social issues are pushing Sailors out...

via the Washington Times...

A Navy F-18 fighter pilot and former Top Gun instructor is publicly warning admirals that retention is beginning to suffer from the military’s relentless social conditioning programs.
Cmdr. Guy Snodgrass, until recently a Pentagon speech writer for the chief of naval operations, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, said sailors are becoming fed-up with the constant emphasis on social issues — an apparent reference to gays in the military, women in combat and ending sexual harassment.
“Sailors continue to cite the over-focus on social issues by senior leadership, above and beyond discussions on war fighting — a fact that demoralizes junior and mid-grade officers alike,” Cmdr. Snodgrass wrote this month on the U.S. Naval Institute website, an independent forum for active and retired sailors and Marines.

If this is hitting the Navy then you know its wrecking the Marine Corps.

Social issues.

The Commandant and many who have never had the courage to wear the uniform called it a done deal.

The rank and file say otherwise.

California State Senator Yee (D) was aiding Muslim Terrorist in the Philippines?!

Got this juicy tidbit from Tactical Gear Blog...

After reading the affidavit to the court provided by Special Agent Emmanual V. Pascua, we were blown away at the proportion of the charges against California State Senator Leland Yee. If it is proven in a court of law that he did what they alleging, then it is highly unlikely the Senator will ever taste freedom in this lifetime again.

On just one of the counts he allegedly was lining up a deal with Filipino Muslim Rebels (M.I.L.F.) to sell automatic firearms to an undercover agent he thought was a New Jersey mobster. The Senator specifically noted that these rebels were previously funded by Gaddafi, were not party to the current truce, and looking to overthrow the Philippine government. In return the "mobster" (undercover agent) would help fund his campaign for California Secretary of State. In this plan, the firearms were to be brought to the United States and then transferred to North Africa. Perhaps, Senator Yee was creating a ruse in order to keep garnering campaign funds, but the information given points to him being complicit in some form of criminal enterprise to illicit campaign donations.

I stopped reading after I hit that.

This guy is pure scum.  Aiding terrorist?  Being the biggest anti-gun guy in the state yet caught lining up deals to sell guns?

California is the cesspool I always knew it to be.  I guess I didn't know the dung heap rose as high as it does. If we really want justice we would extradite him to the Philippines and have them imprison him!