F-35 News. 47 more EA-18G Growlers!

Thanks for the info William!

via Reuters

(Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) has reached agreement with the U.S. Navy on a multibillion-dollar contract for 47 more F/A-18 fighter jets and EA-18G electronic attack planes funded in fiscal years 2013 and 2014, and is "very close" to signing a contract, a top company executive said Monday.
Mike Gibbons, Boeing's program manager for both fighter jets, said the contract would include 11 F/A-18 Super Hornets funded in fiscal 2013, 21 EA-18G "Growlers" funded in fiscal 2014, 12 Growlers for Australia and three additional EA-18G planes included in a legal settlement with the U.S. government.
He said the contract could be finalized and signed within the next two months. Gibbons gave no details on the total value of the contract.

Uh...wow!

Didn't see this coming.   

Past time to sole source contract the Marine Personnel Carrier...

via Inside Defense.

AM General confirmed it is evaluating the requirements of the Marine Corps' Amphibious Combat Vehicle Increment 1.1 program and is weighing its options on whether or not it will participate in the competition.
Jeff Adams, spokesman for AM General, confirmed on May 1 the company is eying this new amphibious vehicle effort.
The company is competing for the Marine Corps' and Army's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program. There are three contractors competing for the JLTV in the engineering and manufacturing development phase: Oshkosh Defense, Lockheed Martin and AM General. The Marine Corps plans to purchase 5,500 JLTVs and the Army plans to buy 50,000 JLTVs. A single company will be awarded a contract for full-rate production.
The JLTV will replace the military's aging humvee fleet. AM General is the prime contractor for the humvee program and it is the only government contract the company holds.
AM General considered partnering with a Turkish company to compete for the Marine Personnel Carrier program, according to a defense official.
The Navy's fiscal year 2015 budget documents revealed a drastic shift in the service's ground vehicle modernization strategy by purchasing a wheeled assault version over a tracked assault vehicle in the future years defense plan. The MPC was resurrected and is now dubbed ACV Increment 1.1.
The Marine Corps awarded $3.5 million contracts in August 2012 to General Dynamics Land Systems, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Science Applications International Corp. to build MPC prototypes.
The systems demonstration and studies phase of the contracts included a water performance evaluation; limited survivability evaluations, or blast tests; a human factors and stowage capacity study; and a study with industry to see how much of the vehicle will be built in the United States.
Lt. Gen. Kenneth Glueck, deputy commandant for combat development and integration, told Inside the Navy April 29 after an event at Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA, the Marine Corps Requirements Oversight Council met and validated the requirements for ACV Increment 1.1 that day.
On April 23, the Marines released a request for information for ACV Increment 1.1. Some of the required capabilities the Marines are looking for include: operate in a significant wave height of two feet and sufficient reserve buoyancy to enable safe operations; a high level of survivability and force protection; operate in four to six feet plunging surf with ship-to-shore operations and launch from amphibious ships as an objective; land mobility, operate on 30 percent improved surfaces and 70 percent unimproved surfaces; ability to integrate a .50 caliber remote weapon station with growth potential to a dual mount 40mm/.50 caliber RWS or a 30mm cannon RWS; carrying capacity to include three crew and 10 embarked troops as the threshold, 13 embarked troops as the objective, carry mission essential equipment and vehicle ammunition; and the ability to integrate a command, control and communications suite provided as government furnished equipment.
The program office will evaluate the technical capability of the vehicles to include protecting occupants from an under body mine blast, reserve buoyancy, weight growth, water speed, transit seaward and shoreward, water mobility environment, sand slope mobility and ride quality. Another category the Marines will evaluate is program management and processes, logistics support and test support. Other important evaluation criteria include energy, small business utilization, price and past performance in both the realm of relevancy and confidence, the RFI reads.
The RFI describes a "typical program schedule" that includes industry delivering 16 prototype vehicles beginning nine months after contract award, at a rate of four vehicles per month. In the RFI scenario the service uses April 2016 as the contract award date. The Marine Corps anticipates hosting an industry day in early July and responses to the RFI are due June 23. -- Lee Hudson

An industry day in early June?  New manufacturers are looking to participate?  Another round of testing?

UNSAT!

It is PAST time for this to become a sole source, emergency procurement.  We all know who the top vehicles are.  Lockheed Martin/Patria's Havoc and BAE/Iveco Defense SuperAV.  

Pick one!

Evolution Of Sikorsky Heavy Lift Helicopters...

Note:  Sikorsky is going all out for the roll out of the CH-53K today.  As part of that effort they've put out a timeline of their heavy lift helicopters....pics via Sikorsky....

December 18, 1953
First Flight of the Sikorsky S-56 Helicopter (HR2S-1/H-37) “The Deuce”
Sikorsky’s first multi-engine, retractable main landing gear helicopter becomes the largest piston-engine helicopter ever built. 156 were built.

March 25, 1959
First Flight of the Sikorsky S-60 Helicopter
The S-60, Skycrane®, was a concept demonstrator. Design improvements increased the gross weight while utilizing the dynamic components of the S‑56. Only one was built.

May 9, 1962
First Flight of the S-64 Helicopter (CH-54 “Tarhe”)
Rotor derived from the S-56/S-60. This design expanded maximum gross weight capabilities by another 3,500 pounds in just three short years. The Sikorsky S-64 helicopter was the first production flying crane helicopter and the first helicopter with a fly-by-wire control system. 99 were built.

October 14, 1964
First Flight of the S-65 Helicopter (CH-53A "Sea Stallion")
Based on previous designs;The S‑56 and S‑64 models contributed the basis for dynamic components and the S‑61R provided a basic shape for the S‑65. This design was later modified to the CH‑53D, which had more powerful engines and added engine air particle separators to prevent ingestion of dust. 412 were built.

March 4, 1974
First Flight of the (S‑65) CH-53E “Super Stallion™”
Growth version of the CH‑53D which added a third engine and a seventh main rotor blade, drastically increasing maximum gross weight by 75%. It becomes the largest and most powerful helicopter outside of Russia. 227 were built.

May 5, 2014
Rollout of the Sikorsky CH-53K Helicopter
The Sikorsky CH-53K will be the world’s premier heavy lift helicopter. It is a new design leveraging the lessons learned from almost half a century of manufacturing and operating the CH-53A/D/E models of heavy lift helicopters.
Designed to triple the lift capability of the CH-53E to 110 nm in hot, high conditions, while maintaining the same shipboard footprint and reducing maintenance and operating costs.

Roll-out ceremony tomorrow for the CH-53K...

The good times continue for Marine Aviation tomorrow when the CH-53K is rolled out.  Pics will go up as soon as I can get them. 

Modest Proposal. The US Army should invite Marine & Navy Air (and simulated naval guns) to JRTC.

Many thanks to Paralus for this idea!

By now you've read the story by David Axe over at "War is Boring" Blog about how an Air Force Lt Col practically gleamed with the news that OPFOR kicked the Blue Force's ass and that the A-10 was the only way they were able to win the fight.

One of my readers suggested that the focus of the article was to show the importance of the A-10 to US Army operations.

I can't argue that.  But still....

The US Army is trying to get its feet wet in the Pacific.  I contend that this exercise is not only a wake up call to the importance of Air Defense Artillery (you can't plan on the air boys always being around) but also a notice to the Army that they should expand their horizons.

Its time to get Marine and Navy Air playing at JRTC.  Invite ANGLICO, JTACs and FACs to play simulating naval guns too.

Even if the scenario is landing a Stryker Brigade to push out of a beach head established by Marines or an Airborne Brigade holding prime real estate until they can be linked up with, the working relationships and tribal knowledge could pay off in the future.

Its a modest proposal but I doubt the Army would go for it.  Pity.  JRTC is close to several Marine and Navy reserve aviation and infantry units that could fill the need even if active duty units couldn't.  Naval Aviators would get valuable flight time and if expanded it would be a terrific opportunity for Marine/Army Infantry to start working together even more than ever.

It would be a win win.

STOVL: Short Take-Off Vertical Landing Aircraft

About those Harrier Upgrades....

via Flight Global...

Julie Praiss, Boeing's Aircraft and Weapons Support vice-president, says the USMC and the company are contemplating adding upgrades such as a Link 16 enhancement and variable message format datalinks to the aircraft.
Later additions might include expanded weapons capability, such as adding the Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile to the jet's arsenal and a helmet-mounted cueing system. Other possible upgrades include updated sensors, with particular emphasis on the aircraft's Raytheon APG-65 radar, Praiss says.
The USMC originally planned to keep the Harrier in service only until 2015, but in the past few years decided to keep the aircraft in use for far longer. The majority of the Harrier fleet will now remain in operation until 2027.

In an earlier post I didn't name the upgrades that might be possible.

I didn't need to.  Its already in the works.  AIM-120, helmet mounted cueing, updated sensors with an emphasis on the radar...not that surprising.

The purchase of the Brit Harriers was the deal of the century and will see these planes flying for more than another decade...easy.

Stormdrane's Blog. You should check it out....

One of the side "revolutions" of the prepping movement has been the interest in rope/paracord work.

One of the best at it is Stormdrane's Blog.  Its definitely worth a look.  The above pic is from his blog and you can get the story on it here.  

Wow. Axe beat me to it. The drama at the Bundy Ranch...

I stated in a response to a previous post that I was going to write about the happenings at the Bundy Ranch and the infighting between the Militia and the Oath Keepers.

Well, looks like Axe beat me to it.

Its a pretty decent write up so no need to reinvent the wheel.  Read it here.  I will add however that if you associate with either Oath Keepers or a Militia that you need to scrub your internet tracks to the best of your ability, get your head down and stay down.

I AM WILLING TO BET BODY PARTS that both groups are under some pretty serious and sustained surveillance and that the activities of all members will be carefully scrutinized.

If you were one of the people that actually went to the Ranch?

My advice?

Sell all your firearms, get out of debt and get a good lawyer.  You will probably hear your front door getting kicked in or a blacked out SUV following you home and you getting proned out real soon.

I'm almost of the mind that this was all a setup.  A provocative act was committed by an obscure branch of Federal Law Enforcement, people bit on the bait and cells (mean that to be groups of Militia and Oath Keepers) were exposed.  Its really some clever counter intel stuff disguised as police work.

Axe buried the lead. US Army not ready to fight conventional enemies...

Axe wrote a very interesting story on the A-10 at Green Flag that recently occurred at JRTC, FT. Polk, La.

He buried the lead though.  Read the entire thing but check this part out...

The March 9 to 26 exercise pitted Army units and the supporting Air Force squadrons against JRTC’s highly-trained Opfor. Firing lasers instead of live rounds, the two sides battled on the ground and in the air. Opfor uses Lakota helicopters painted to represent Russian-style gunships.
The Opposing Force quickly gained the advantage. “The Army got it handed to them,” Waring said. “No other way to put it.” Opfor “killed” the entire Army force twice, forcing it to “regenerate”—like getting extra lives in a video game.

SOCOM is big enough to handle the unconventional warfare role worldwide solo.  Time for the conventional force to swing back to dealing with the conventional threat.  It'll take about 4 years of hardwork to reorient the force to fighting the conventional fight....tons of rotations through JRTC, NTC and Steel Knight (or whatever the USMC is calling it these days) but it can be done.

This is a wakeup call.

I hope HQ Army and HQMC are listening. 

Sidenote:  One other thing I find interesting but can't know the details of till I can get my hands on the order of battle for this exercise, but did the OPFOR use or imitate fast attack aircraft?  Something like the SU-25?  The OPFOR Lakota's point to a glaring weakness.  The belief that we will have air superiority.  Even if the USAF, USN and USMC win the deep fight, if the enemy can gain even local air superiority over our forces then we're screwed...and we still don't have viable, mobile anti-air systems that can keep up with our armored formations.

White House Correspondents Dinner. We're all peasants....

I've been watching the White House's Correspondents Dinner coverage on MSNBC and it suddenly dawned on me.

You can blame the History Channel's Vikings for stirring an interest in Medieval History but when I look at all the celebrities and the correspondents assembled, it became obvious that all we're seeing is a modern day Medieval Banquet.

Instead of the King, Knights and Nobleman gathered together to celebrate a certain event we have the President, News People, Rich Businessmen, Actors and Actresses and others that consider themselves the "elite" assembled for fun and festivities.

We're all peasants.

When viewed in that light everything makes sense.

We are the unwashed masses.  Our interests no longer matter.  The modern day Oligarchy is here....much like the old Aristocracy but with a twist.  Birth is irrelevant.  Money is.  Welcome to the new America. 

The best comment on the "sunk cost" canard put forward by F-35 supporters.

My blog post titled, "The biggest lie ever told..." got a good response.  Many of them good, a few questionable but one of the best was from William James...

Irregardless of the capabilities argument, (the F-35 is a "silver bullet", etc.) I keep seeing the fallacy of "sunk cost" at play in many of the supporter's arguments. Many of the supporters of the F-35 argue that since we have spent so much money on the program already, we might as well go the distance. This is commonly known as "throwing good money after bad."
The correct economic decision should be "where do we go from here?" Irregardless of any money already spent, decisions must be made that only consider present and future costs, not just in money, but also in "opportunity costs" What are we giving up if we stay the course? What are the consequences? And, most importantly, what do we REALLY have to work with. If we had to go to war in 2015, what would the F-35s that we have in inventory bring to the fight? Could that same job be done quicker and cheaper with other assets?
Too many supporters have fallen in love with the F-35s potential based on paper projections. Big deal. My so-far unbuilt airplane that I'm going to pitch will be invisible in ALL wave lengths (if only the tech comes on-line in time) My point is that perhaps someday the F-35 will be capable of all that has been promised but can we, should we, continue to wait and bleed cash, time and goodwill. Can we as a nation even afford that luxury? Can our allies?
I think the best decision could be arrived at if we come to the conclusion that we WILL be at war within five years with a near-peer adversary. What assets do we currently have to bring to the fight and what can we get our hands on that will get the job done in the next five years if not sooner. Perhaps this will help sharpen the focus of our decision makers. Perhaps the events in The Ukraine and the South China Sea are already doing just that. One can hope.

Many said much the same but this comment by William James sings to me.  It takes the argument one step further than I took it and breaks it down cowboy style.

Reason no longer figures into this debate.

A reasonable person would say that enough is enough.  No, this isn't about reason.  This has become a matter of faith.  Despite evidence to the contrary the supporters of this program want to BELIEVE that the plane will deliver.  It hasn't since its been in development and the requirements have been steadily watered down but they fervently believe that it will turn around.

Faith is believing in something despite the lack of evidence.  How do you argue with that? 

SIDENOTE:  James Bacon (another one of my frequent commenters I'm proud to say) gave this link to a James Hasik article.  Read it here but the takeaway?  The F-35 will soon consume 40% of US defense procurement spending.  Let that sink in.  One airplane will gobble up 40% of the US defense procurement budget.  Amazing.  We are heading into dangerous territory.  If left unchecked Lockheed Martin will soon be the only US defense corporation.  I once shot down that argument but Hasik is compelling.  We're about to inaugurate a government sponsored corporate monopoly because of decisions being made by leadership today that will cost us dearly tomorrow.

Amphibious Forcible Entry forces courtesy of the US Army? American Mercenary thinks so!

I was making my spin around the internet when I came across American Mercenary's latest. Read it here, but consider this a hint at his thought process.

Think back to the experiments the Army did in the early 80's with Motorized Infantry (9th ID I believe...too lazy to look it up) but beef it up with much more firepower and much more lift and you have the idea.

Personally, I like it.  On a purely partisan note.  Imagine if the USMC had already proceeded with the Marine Personnel Carrier.  How hard would it be to get the Army to buy enough to equip its Infantry Brigades slated for the Pacific?  Not hard at all I imagine.  You can bet that the US Army is already making plans to get its forces aboard JHSVs or AFSBs with a quickness.  This plan by American Mercenary just sings to future possibilities for the big green.

Sidenote:  How do these forces get ashore?  According to AM by the Army's landing craft.  Read about it here.  350 ton capability! If the Army gets inventive and teams the JHSV with these landing craft to form some type of Army Amphibious Force and base it in Singapore or Guam or even Australia, then they'd be cooking with gas.

Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare

F-35 News. The biggest lie ever told...we have no choice.

I was tweeting with two other bloggers this morning and one of them, when confronted with the painful truth that the F-35 was hopelessly behind schedule and sucking all of the investing nations dry, retreated to the biggest lie ever told about why we should stick with the F-35.

We have no choice because we have no alternatives.

That is the most stupid thing I've ever heard in my life.  You always have a choice.  If you're walking on train tracks and you see a light coming in your direction you get off those tracks!

We've seen the light coming for awhile now with the F-35 yet we refuse to get off the tracks.  The alternatives are there.  We just have to have the courage to say that we made a mistake in continuing with this program even when we knew it was not worth further investment of time or money.

For the USAF, that can swing into a much upgraded F-16.  I won't go into what type of upgrades would be needed, I'll leave that to others.  What I can say is that such an airplane will be quickly developed, fulfill the majority of missions envisioned for the F-35 and be cost effective.

The USN and USMC can use the Advanced Growler.  The CNO has basically told us that NAVAIR believes that electronic attack is the wave of the future when it comes to aerial warfare.  Additionally he's a big believer in payloads.  Advanced missiles can be launched where we don't want to send aircraft.  For everything else and a little bit more, the Advanced Growler will get the job done.

For the LHD/LHA needs of the Marine Corps an upgrade to the AV-8B Harrier II would be in order.  As things stand now, NAVAIR says that it will be viable until 2030 and beyond.  For Marine Corps missions its all about putting steel on target.  That means improved missiles, rockets and bombs.  The laser guided 2.75 is a good start.  We should do the same with the 5in rocket and get other improved munitions to this airplane.

Our allies have a range of airplanes to choose from.  The Gripen E, the Typhoon, the Rafale or even one of the airplanes that I'm recommending for the USAF in upgraded form.

Its obvious but the supporters of the F-35 don't want to admit the truth.  This program is placing tremendous strain on not only our budget but also the budgets of our allies.

Canada has almost seen governments fall over this airplane.  The Netherlands have seen their air force reduced to almost nothing in order to maintain "commonality" with the US.  The Brits have reduced their order and so have the Italians....only the Italians aren't finished.  The Japanese bought fewer than planned and so did the S. Koreans.

This plane is unaffordable.  Cuts in number have already occurred and will continue.  Moving purchases to the right to keep the numbers "right" is just an accounting gimmick...one of many that the program office uses to hide how much is being wasted.

My blogging buddy was wrong.  We do have a choice.  We just need the courage to pursue alternatives to the blackhole known as the F-35.

NOTE:  Just got a note from my buddy.  He's saying I'm spouting fantasy.  I disagree.  The Advanced Super Hornet is here.  The F-16 Block 60+ is here.  The Harrier is said to be good past 2030.  WE HAVE ALTERNATIVES!  So do our allies.  Toss in the work being done on unmanned combat aircraft and you have an affordable, survivable, highly effective alternative to the super expensive, super late, and under performing F-35.

American Mercenary explains why the Pentagon is destroying all that ammo

American Mercenary gives you the real scoop on why the Pentagon is destroying all that ammo. Nothing sinister although I can understand the skepticism. Check out here.

Gun guys. We're our own worst enemy.

The above video is a teaser of some "firearms instructors" doing the deed against a 200 pound exploding target.

Uh excuse me, but you're into solid IED territory with a blast that big.

YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE SMOKING SOMETHING ILLEGAL IN MOST STATES TO THINK THAT THIS WON'T GET THE ATTENTION OF THE BASTARDS IN THE ATF!

Between nonsense like this and the infighting that's going on between members of the Oath Keepers and some Militias at the Bundy Ranch (I'll be blogging about that drama this weekend) gun guys are proving that we're our own worst enemy.

All I ask is this....think first before posting your shit on YouTube.  Why does the whole world need to know about your skills, abilities and resources?  Stop being stupid!

Note:  The problem is that they were able to assemble that much explosive easily in a form that isn't seriously regulated by the Feds.  It doesn't take much imagination to see how this could be used as a weapon against a vehicle, structure etc....Sometimes it doesn't pay to post these great ideas or broadcast once tightly held capabilities to the world....and yeah, I'm butthurt because this is now out for the whole world to see.

Corps doubles the number of MRAPS it will keep

Thanks for the link Jonathan!

via Marine Corps Times

In a move that reflects a changing Marine Corps mission increasingly focused on global crisis response, service officials have decided to double the number of Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles the Corps will keep following the end of fighting in Afghanistan.
The Marine Corps now plans to keep 2,500 MRAPs, said Lt. Gen. William Faulkner, deputy commandant for installations and logistics, rather than the 1,230 they had originally planned to retain. That decision, he said, was reached less than two months ago at the behest of Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Jim Amos.
“We revisited our number, and things had changed,” Faulkner told Marine Corps Times in an interview. “Over the last 12 months, as you know, [special-purpose Marine air ground task forces], every geographic combatant commander wants one. … Our commandant gave us some pretty specific guidance, and said ‘Hey, look, if we believe we have a requirement for this capability, which has been battle-tested and combat proven and saved a lot of Marines’ lives, I’d rather hold onto these items, get them reset and put them in an admin storage program, than dispose of them.’ ”

Sorry.  I just don't buy it.  Keeping even more MRAPs than planned flies in the face of the ground vehicle campaign.  The JLTV, an upgraded AAV and according to HQMC, the MPC (now called by the idiots in the puzzle palace the ACV 1) were suppose to provide protection against IEDs.

Additionally the SPMAGTF-CR are all aviation based and will not have the ability to fall in on MRAPs.  Even if the USAF stated that they would fly them in, it would still go against what that unit is suppose to be.  Quick reacting!

My guess?

I'm not sure.

It does seem that they're still trying to free up money.  If you delay the JLTV, the MPC is already delayed beyond recognition and add the so called upgrade to the AAV to the delay list then that's another chunk of money to provide the abomination known as the F-35 a little bit more cover.

5 months and we can get an accounting of how much bullshit Amos has been shoveling....assuming we don't get another administration ass kisser in the Commandant's chair. 

Over 200 years of hardcore Marine Corps reputation being pissed away by the new generation...

When are these new Marines going to realize that they look like idiots doing this shit?

The Marine Corps that THEY wanted to join has a reputation of being hard charging, hardcore, shock troopers.

The Marine Corps they're displaying is more like powder puffs, frills and cotton candy.

More importantly when is HQMC going to do something real.  Like crack down on this bullshit.  It takes attention away from what should be going on.  Don't believe me?  Remember the video below?



Yeah.  This vid was done months before the attack on the base.

Maybe if they put that energy and effort into doing Marine tasks (like security and not depending on the Brits) then we wouldn't have damn near lost a squadron of attack airplanes.

Over 200 years of hardcore reputation being pissed away by a new generation.  This shit makes me sick.

Retired USAF Brigadier General finally tells the truth about Benghazi.

via ABC News.

A retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general who was on duty in Germany during the deadly Benghazi terrorist attack told Congress today that commanders discussed “what we should do” as they waited for orders from the State Department to help the beleaguered Americans.
But the request for help never came from the State Department, Ret. USAF Brigadier Gen. Robert Lovell testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
“There are accounts of time, space and capability, discussions of the question, ‘could we have gotten there in time to make a difference?’” Lovell testified. “The discussion is not could or could not of time, space and capability. The point is we should have tried.”
Lovell was on duty at AFRICOM headquarters in Germany during the Sept. 11, 2012 attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. The AFRICOM command was responsible for region that included Libya. The Pentagon take steps to move assets as the attack proceeded, but they were aimed for Tripoli, not Benghazi.
“We didn’t know how long this would last when we became aware of the distress, nor did we completely understand what we had in front of us, be it a kidnapping, rescue, recovery, protracted hostile engagement, or any or all of the above,” he added.
As the attack unfolded, Lovell, who was not in the chain of operational command, said command held discussions “that churned on about what we should do.”
“The predisposition to interagency influence had the military structure in the spirit of expeditionary government support waiting for a request for assistance from the State Department,” he said.

Read it all here.

Why is this important?  Its very important for the following reasons...

1.  Several US personnel were killed.  No one has been held accountable and no one has been killed or captured following this attack.

2.  The USMC has participated in the lie that they didn't know this was an attack.  They knew it at AFRICOM HQ.  The USMC has established the bastard organization called the SPMAGTF-CR in part because of the fiction that we didn't have forces available to respond.  That means that the USMC has been politicized!

3.  In addition to #2, we have also heard members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff parrot the administration talking points.  It now seems that they lied before Congress.  This helps to erode confidence in the military and shows that they are political pawns.

4.  The idea that "information" was the missing ingredient in the decision making process in this incident is a lie.  The truth is that leaders vacillated and made a decision by NOT making a decision.  They chose to do nothing.

We have amateurs in the State Dept and because they were the lead agency, people died.  I hope that the American people remember this when Hillary decides to run for president.