Graciella Carvalho. Sunday Fitness Hottie.

NOTE:  I never heard of this lady before but she has some vids up moving an impressive amount of weight.  Between that and a tan lines that drive me wild....she qualifies for Fitness Hottie (FH).

Ukraine's nuclear power plants. This shit goes from bad to worse.

Thanks for the article Tom!

via GlobalResearch.ca

Reports allege that some 20 members from the armed Neo-Nazi front, Right Sector, attempted to storm the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, in Energodar city, Zaporizhia province. The Voice of Russia reported in an article titled, “Right Sector attempts to seize largest NPP in Ukraine,” that:
Policemen of the city of Energodar have detained 20 activists of the Right Sector, who tried to seize the Zaporozhye NPP. According to the leader of the Zaporozhye branch of the organization, the militants were afraid that the city would fall in the hands of supporters of federalization.

Man!

I hadn't even considered the nuclear reactors in that country....but now, if these reports are to be believed, they're now being targeted by Nazis.

Shit just went from bad to worse.

Ukraine can barely keep up with the insurgency and now if it has to divert forces to guard duty...and lets be real, they won't be top flight units if they're not directly fighting the insurgency, then we can expect an attempt to succeed.

Can you imagine what another Chernobyl will do to Europe?

Can you imagine the excuse that would give Putin to take over the entire country?  Hell, he'd even be cheered by the Europeans for saving them from a nuclear disaster!

This is some serious geo-political gamesmanship.  This is the ultimate in Special Forces A-Team type nation destabilization going on.  They read our playbook from Vietnam to Afghanistan and they're doing it to perfection.

Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines (BLT 2/1) conducts mechanized raid training. Photos by Sgt. Melissa Wenger

Note:  When I see this I cheer and groan at the same time.  I believe in the utility of the mechanized raid...especially from the sea, but the lack of heavy armor in the form of M1 Abrams tanks, the lack of a replacement for the AAV (or significant upgrades of that vehicle) coupled with the lack of a dedicated 120mm mortar carrying vehicle (like we see on the US Army's Strykers) points me to one undeniable conclusion.  We can do this better.

F-35 News. Behind the scenes it must be getting scary for supporters.

via Defense News.

In recent weeks, two senior Republicans have suggested the US should avoid buying fewer of the Lockheed Martin-made fighter jets or significantly altering the often-troubled program, which has been plagued by technical, development and testing problems.
The first instance of the new F-35 talking point came from Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., chairman of the House Appropriations Defense subcommittee, in an April 30 interview with Defense News.
Asked whether he believes the Pentagon and Congress should merely pay whatever costs the program rolls up, Frelinghuysen did not directly answer.
But the New Jersey Republican did say this: “We have an obligation to our international partners. We are not alone in this investment.”
In a further signal that the pro-defense establishment wing of the Republican Party is rallying around the program — and Lockheed, which funnels plenty of campaign cash to the GOP — Frelinghuysen accused critics of “taking some potshots” at the F-35 program.

Wow.

For all the sunshine and roses that the F-35 program puts out there, its becoming obvious that behind the scenes the program is in trouble.

The Representative put it out there.

Someone is talking about buying fewer of the airplanes.  Someone is talking about significantly altering the program.

This turkey is inches away from getting plucked.

About fucking time.  Maybe we can save the rest of the military once we put a bullet in the head of this abomination! 

2014 Ships and Subs of the US Navy. From Raytheon via War Machine Blog.

Semper Fi Bowl is back. Recruiting must be hurting....

via Marine Corps Times.

Marine Corps officials will reinstate funding for the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl, a high-profile recruiting event that brings together dozens of high school football players from across the country each year. Earlier, the Corps had announced the program would be cut due to budgetary constraints.
Marine Corps Recruiting Command received additional mid-year funding from higher headquarters, said Jim Edwards, a Recruiting Command spokesman. That will allow the command to execute the next bowl game in January 2015, he said.
Maj. Gen. Mark Brilakis, commanding general of MCRC, told Marine Corps Times in the fall that the command was weighing the benefits of the bowl as officials looked for ways to work through fiscal constraints caused by across-the-board budgetary spending cuts. But about five months after they decided to put the program on hold, a funding change has brought it back.
“The commandant has decided that this is one of those premiere events that he would like us to continue and provided the resources necessary to do it,” Brilakis said, according to a Marine Corps news release.

This is more telling than the USMC wants to admit.

I knew it was coming.  Hell I've been hoping that this was coming.

The Marine Corps and this Administration has made moves that have separated the Marine Corps from its audience.

Sorry but time for some real talk.  Gays in the military.  Women in combat.  A lying sack of shit in the Commandant's chair.

The Marine Corps has lived and prospered off the fact that the Marine Corps is a family tradition.  A southern family tradition.  Now?  Its embracing ideals and lifestyles that are in direct conflict with the belief systems of retirees, vets and former service members.  Recruiters might talk shit about making mission but the reality is a bit more stark.  They get recruits because those recruits are beating down the door to get in the Marines.  They've had to sort the substandard from those that are worthy.

Now?

People like me are telling young men to NOT join.  Telling young men that the threat to their future is too great in a Marine Corps that's lost its way.

Yeah.  Mr. Amos.  You might bring back the Semper Fi bowl but it won't solve your problem.  You've alienated those you need to support you.  Fix that problem and you'll fix your recruiting crunch.

Camp Pendleton Fires. This is getting real.

pics via Heliops Magazine.

155mm Field Howitzer 77B: The Bofors Gun

Thanks for the vid John!

Ignore the high stepping and focus on the gun.

As big as the US Army and especially the Marine Corps is on heliborne artillery raids...as big a threat as counter battery fires are....

Why don't we have an auxiliary power unit on our howitzers to give them a bit of independent ground mobility?

I don't think we're serious about the artillery raid concept (well the heliborne concept anyway) until we do the basics.  The ability to displace these units before the enemy can launch return fires seems like a no brainer.

Africa is about to get interesting. Chinese workers kidnapped.

via Wall Street Journal.

YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon—Suspected militants from Boko Haram attacked a Chinese road-construction company in this country's north, kidnapping 10 workers, driving away vehicles and stealing blasting material, an official in Cameroon said Saturday.
The Friday evening assault in Cameroon marked the latest cross-border attack from a Nigerian insurgency blamed for a spate of recent kidnappings. News of the attack surfaced Saturday, on the same day Nigeria's president, Goodluck Jonathan, met in Paris with Western and African leaders.
Participants at the meeting agreed to forge a plan for combating Boko Haram, after the Nigerian militancy abducted nearly 300 schoolgirls and killed scores of civilians in recent shooting and bomb attacks.
Ahead of Friday's raid on the Chinese road construction company in Waza, a town bordering northeastern Nigeria, gunmen cut off power to the workers' camp. The heavily armed assailants killed one Cameroonian soldier before driving away about a dozen vehicles loaded with explosives belonging to the company, according to a local official, Albert Obounou.

The response will be interesting.

Will China sit back?  Will they launch a twitter campaign?  Will they pay ransom?

Or will they launch a rescue operation?

We will get an indication of how China views themselves.  Either they're really a global player or they're just a regional bully.

We'll see.

300 ship Navy? Not if you count it correctly!

If you aren't reading Eric's ELP Blog then you're missing out.  I might not always agree (he has a hard on for the Stryker and I tend to like the vehicle) but he gives me something to chew on.

To the point.  He did an article that gives an alternate view on the number of ships in the US Navy...check this out...

The U.S. military services are at war with each other to battle for shrinking funding. We hear, time and again, that the U.S. Navy does not have enough ships. That the U.S. Navy's goal of 300 ships is at high risk of being out of reach. Things are bad. How will we fight future wars?
What you have been told is not true.
Here is the current breakdown of the 422 ships managed by the Navy (minus Pueblo and Constitution)

Commissioned (USS);
1 Afloat forward staging base (*see USS Ponce)
10 Aircraft carriers
9 Amphibious assault ships
2 Amphibious command ships
10 Amphibious transport docks
54 Attack submarines
14 Ballistic missile submarines
1 Classic frigate (*see USS Constitution)
22 Cruisers
62 Destroyers
12 Dock landing ships
15 Frigates
4 Guided missile submarines
3 Littoral combat ships
13 Mine countermeasures ships
13 Patrol boats
2 Submarine tender
1 Technical research ship (*see USS Pueblo)
Non-Commissioned (USNS);
1 Ammunition ship
1 Cable repair ship
5 Cargo ships (5 of 12)
14 Dry cargo ships
4 Fast combat support ships
4 Fleet ocean tugs
1 High speed transport
2 Hospital ships
2 Instrumentation ships
2 Joint high speed vessels
4 Maritime prepositioning ships
1 Mobile landing platform
5 Ocean surveillance ships
15 Replenishment oilers
4 Salvage ships
7 Survey ships
1 Fuel tanker (1 of 2)
19 Vehicle cargo ships (19 of 56)
Support (MV, RV - or no prefix);
2 Barracks craft
2 Cargo ships (2 of 12)
3 Container ships
2 Dry docks
1 Fast sea frame
11 Large harbor tugs
1 Oceanographic research ship
1 Self Defense Test Ship
2 Torpedo trials craft
6 Tugboats
2 Unclassified miscellaneous
Ready Reserve Force ships (MV, SS, GTS);
2 Aviation logistics support ships
5 Cargo ships (5 of 12)
6 Crane ships
1 Fuel tanker (1 of 2)
37 Vehicle cargo ships (37 of 56)
Totals;
Commissioned: 248, Non-Commissioned: 92, Support: 33, Ready Reserve: 51.


The U.S. Army has another 50

And the USAF has 3 which move around munitions. These are charted but useless without the job they were made for.
The United States Coast Guard? This is a valid count as this organisation has ships siphoned off supporting expeditionary warfare. It has about 244 cutters. Real "Littoral Combat Ships".
The United States has about 721 ships committed to National Security.
Many of these that are not traditional heavy hitters could be weaponized quickly to carry Tomahawk boxes or other similar missile-in-a box solutions.
The United States has a "Navy" scattered among many organisations doing national security work. When the DOD cries about not having enough ships to fight wars, don't believe them. And, lately most of those wars have been of the Operation:USELESS DIRT kind.

That's a common sense look at the US Navy's ships that many ignore.  I look forward to seeing how one of the Navy guys shoots down ELP's ship count.

The number that jumped out at me was the number of Destroyers.

We're talking about Burke class warships that have been called modern day battleships.  If that analysis is correct then we are well served by the Navy we have and the 300 number is not as alarming as many would have us believe.

AAVs launching from MPS ships is new? Update.

Check out the above vid and the attached story here.  What caught my attention?

Marines from California flew all the way to Jacksonville to participate in a unique training with amphibious assault vehicles. Blount Island Commanding Officer Col. Matt Crabill says nine AAV’s drove off of a Maritime prepositioning force ship and into the water and navigated back to land at Blount Island for the special exercise.
“It was ordered to refamiliarize the force with how to do this. We haven't done it since 1999,” said Crabill.

I'm not sure that's true.

If I recall correctly this was done as recently as the last Bold Alligator exercise.  I'll check to confirm.  

UPDATE:  Yeah, I was right.  Below is a pic from Bold Alligator 2012 where they splashed from MPS ships.  I don't know who is coming up with this stuff but the meme "getting back to our amphibious roots" is old.  Its past time to put that on the shelf and just get on with the business of fixing our house.  Reinventing the wheel needs to stop.  Just do the Marine thing and stop grandstanding.

MSC Maritime Prepositioning Force ship USNS PFC Eugene A. Obregon lowered its gunmetal gray stern ramp into the water Feb. 7, allowing 12 Amphibious Assault Vehicles, or AAVs, to enter the waters just off Camp Lejune. The AAVs, tracked vehicles that can carry three crew and 21 combat ready troops, splashed into shallow water in preparation for a massive D-Day style amphibious assault on the beach.

Blast from the past. General Shinseki's testimony before congress (pre Iraq invasion).

After hearing the general's testimony.  After knowing what the SecDef was selling the country at the time....and having to understand the risks of not towing the party line....

Ignore the Ranger Tab.  Forget about the combat action ribbon (or whatever the Army equivalent is) that's on his chest.  Don't consider the awards for valor (in combat, not in a staff assignment).  Dismiss his Purple Heart.

Do you really believe that he wouldn't stand up to some bureaucrat in one of his hospitals if he knew they were falsifying records?

Shin deserves our patience and support.

Sidenote:  Take the time to read General Shinseki's bio on Wikipedia.  This is not the record of a man that ignores problems.

American Mercenary provides the answers Big Army wouldn't....

AM stepped up for his home team and answered the questions that the Big Army wouldn't.

Quite honestly when I allow my rage at the Ft. Polk Public Affairs Office to subside a bit, it actually makes sense (well that and a few other comments he made)....but I'm still pissed and will not rescind that freedom of information request.

Read his take on things here.  Compelling.  Thoughtful.  So simple its elegant.  Ft. Polk PAO should take note.

Leadership can forget. Marines cannot...the need to improve armor is paramount.

You wonder why I bitch so much about the state of Marine Corps armor?  Its part of why I told you the story of Colonel Dowdy, and while I like Mattis, I also hate him.  What you see below is what Colonel Dowdy was confronted with when he received conflicting orders to push the assault through ANOTHER Iraqi city or bypass it.

Mattis got pissed because Colonel Dowdy took an operational pause to sort out the situation and relieved him of command.  But wait you say....Marine officers are suppose to be aggressive in the attack.

Take another look at the pics below.  That is aftermath of a hasty assault thru the shooting alley known as Nasiriyah.  8 vehicles melted down. Numerous Marines killed and injured.

Now do you understand?  Isn't it clear why I think the Marine Personnel Carrier to be so important?

Leadership can forget.  Marines cannot.  Improving Marine armor is paramount!

The General Shinseki Witch Hunt. UPDATE: Vets are about to screw themselves...

Can one man be screwed by the leadership of this country twice in the span of one career?

I didn't think so, but watching the General Shinseki witch hunt makes me wonder.

General Shin is a man of honor.

The idea that he needs to resign because of the actions of some bureaucrats in the VA who abused their authority is craziness!  Everyone knows the facts.  The VA is understaffed, over worked and is suffering because of some issues that I'm well aware but won't go into.

Another thing about this issue that burns me up is the fact that a "Vets organization" kicked all this off.  I mean seriously?  Really?  I hope everyone can see that for what it is.

A power grab.

To force the man that stood up to Rumsfeld on the number of troops needed to successfully invade and pacify Iraq, was fired because of it and then believe he would turn around and ignore problems in the VA is laughable.

He deserves the benefit of the doubt.  He deserves our patience while he investigates what happened and who's responsible.

UPDATE:  I've been watching the coverage of the General Shinseki testimony and the talking heads after it.  Vets are about to screw themselves and think that they've won while doing it.  This is the very thing that some liberals, penny pinchers and big government types have been looking for.  Kill the VA Medical system and dump everyone into Medicare system!  For all those vets that are bitching now, just wait till you're part of Medicare!  This seems almost calculated now.  I hope it doesn't happen but the calls to reform the VA are getting louder and I see trouble ahead.  Not solutions but trouble.

SOCOM is about to get pounded....

via Foreign Policy..

That SOCOM has assumed that they can do no wrong in the eyes of Congress simply because of the relatively recent successes in taking out high-profile terrorists is the same mistake that many with a position of power make: They overreach. People always overreach for the same reason -- because they thought they could. Money and equipment have never been better. Operational control of the special operations components of the regional commands is a dream come true for many. And special operations is the toast of the town: The take-down of bin Laden capped the result of a turn-around in special operation's fortunes that arguably began with Operation Eagle Claw in 1980 and the subsequent reforms that brought SOCOM into existence. Many have started to argue that the times are changing and SOCOM will need to be more humble and get along with others better. That admonishment, however, has fallen on mostly deaf ears: Many SOF personnel, especially at the upper levels, cannot hide their disdain for conventional forces, nor their inflated sense of themselves. This attitude is now coming home to roost.

Read the entire article, but I've said it before and I'll say it again.  SOCOM is 3 times the size it needs to be, requires too much fucking support, is filled with arrogant pricks and one day the bean counters will figure out that its not worth the money that is lavished on it for the missions it actually performs.

Pull perimeter security while SOCOM is having drinks and cokes with the principal while you're outside basking in 140 degree sun will jade anyone.

This is only the beginning.

SOCOM is going to get raped by the accountants and they'll only have themselves to blame.  Yep.  SOCOM is about to get pounded.

NOTE:  I'll also call a spade a spade.  McRaven brought a certain "attitude" with him when he took charge and that has tainted the entire organization.  Perhaps it'll change when he leaves but I doubt it.  Its a joint outfit so now the culture is one.  I doubt even Army Special Forces will be able to keep the SEAL attitude from infecting their ranks.

The story of Colonel Joe Dowdy. Mattis' greatest mistake and an indication that we were/are improperly equipped.

Its faded from memory but General Mattis made one mistake that I have difficulty forgiving him on.

He fired Colonel Dowdy during the invasion of Baghdad.

Officers get fired all the time.  Alot more often than the general public would believe, but this one was unusual...and for a reason that will stun the uninitiated.  He was fired because he cared about his men.

It was a hush-hush episode inside the Regiment...even inside the Marine Corps.  Few people outside of the head shed knew the what's and the why's. Check out this old article from the Wall Street Journal...

It was presumed the Iraqis had chemical weapons, so the plan was to avoid engaging them directly. Col. Dowdy's unit was to act as a decoy, diverting Mr. Hussein's soldiers and allowing the other U.S. regiments to rush in from the northwest through a gap in Iraqi defenses to get to Baghdad.
Col. Dowdy's route would take him through the city of Nasiriyah. Another Marine unit, called Task Force Tarawa, was charged with keeping order there. Pentagon officials assumed the city would offer little resistance because it had long been oppressed by Mr. Hussein. That assumption turned out to be wrong.
The plan began to unravel in Nasiriyah. When Col. Dowdy and his men arrived outside the city, they found their passage blocked by a massive firefight. Word filtered back that Task Force Tarawa had suffered casualties, including 18 dead. Adding to the confusion was a U.S. Army supply unit, which had mistakenly stumbled into Nasiriyah. Several soldiers in that unit were dead. Others, including Pvt. Jessica Lynch, had been taken prisoner.
Outside the city, Col. Dowdy and his staff debated what to do. Several hundred trucks in Col. Dowdy's train lacked armor, and squeezing through a fierce battle zone would be complicated, especially on Nasiriyah's narrow streets.
A potential 150-mile bypass around Nasiriyah didn't seem feasible. Col. Dowdy wasn't sure he had enough fuel and didn't know what resistance he might face. The First Regiment was stuck.
The halt was anathema to Gen. Mattis, a devotee of a modern military doctrine known as "maneuver warfare." Though Marines have practiced the technique for years, the Iraqi war was its first large-scale test. Instead of following rigid battle plans and attacking on well-defined fronts, this tactic calls for smaller forces to move quickly over combat zones, exploiting opportunities and sowing confusion among the enemy. The technique is summed up in Gen. Mattis' radio call name: "Chaos."

Its hard to explain, but for some unGodly reason the run into Baghdad seemed to turn into race.

Both the US Army and USMC had exposed supply lines.

Everyone involved was operating on ragged sleep, worries about being ambushed and the fear that chemical weapons would be used (that is stress on another level).

The USMC was not equipped for an extended assault deep into Iraq.  Even the US Army, that is designed for these types of operations, had to call a halt to its advance.

In the fighting around Nasiriyah the Marine Corps lost 8 AAVs in heavy fighting.  If you've seen pictures of AAV burned down to their treads it happened here.

But after the city was pacified the call to push forward at break neck pace went out.  This is when Colonel Dowdy took what I consider an operational pause, Mattis took as command indecision and history seems to have forgotten about.

For a fuller telling of this tale, read the command history but even better just Google it and read the different accounts.  My personal lesson learned from this?

*  The Marine Corps is not equipped for extended land movement against opposition.  Even in 2003 we were too lightly equipped.  Today we're even lighter.

*  Operational temp depends on conditions encountered by your forces.  It can't come from higher headquarters.

*  Concepts should be tested against worst case scenarios.  Playing the game so that your ideas win will serve you badly in real world situations.

We're making the same mistake today that we did in 2003...the difference?.  The USMC is HOPING that air power can make up for a lack of armored protection.

It can't and it won't.

Colonel Dowdy saved the lives of his men because he did not conduct hasty assault after hasty assault in the race to Baghdad.  Will the next Regimental Commander be as brave?

Guard kitty saves youngster from vicious dog attack!

Domesticated animals form attachments to their owners.  Whether its a dog, cat...even a llama, once an animal sees you as part of its family it will defend its owner.

Ya got to love animal instinct!

The USMC needs to learn the lesson of the IDF vs. Hezbollah 2006 war.

The USMC would be well served to study the Israeli Defense Force war with Hezbollah in 2006.

The parallels are remarkable.  For the first time in its history the IDF was led by an Air Force man.  The "new" style of warfare would involve network centric systems, rely heavily on aerial ISR and would shift the IDF from a ground centric  force to one where the IDF Air Force would play the lead role.

Hezbollah basically read the Israeli play book and kicked their ass.  While I wouldn't characterize this as an Israeli defeat, neither would I call it a victory.

Anthony Cordesman writes a must read lessons learned (you can read it below) but this passage from page 49 stands out to me.....

The IDF may well be able to adapt. The Brodet Commission haslooked beyond the narrow issues of the Israeli-Hezbollah War and hasrecommended comprehensive changes based on the conclusion that“the Israel Defense Forces and the entire defense establishment sufferfrom a multidimensional crisis: budgetary, management, organiza-tional, cultural, and strategic.”
It has radically increased its defense budget and has cancelled theplanned further cuts in ground forces.
It has a new minister of de-fense, Ehud Barak, with practical combat experience in dealing with asymmetric threats.
The IDF has a new, ground forces-oriented chief of staff. The land forces commander, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Gantz,has called for new training methods, a new emphasis on decisive ma-neuver, and a reorganization of many elements of Israel’s land forc-es.  Israel is restructuring its entire training program, with a major new training center for asymmetric warfare in the Negev and major exercises in the Golan.
No one can predict Israel’s level of success,but the country is clearly making a massive effort to adapt to thethreats posed by forces like the Hezbollah and is extremely unlikely torepeat the mistakes of 2006.
The goal must also be to learn what cannot be done and to avoid setting goals for netcentric warfare, intelligence, targeting, and battle damage as-sessments that are impossible, or that are simply too costly and uncertainto deploy. Modern military powers need to approach these problemswith ruthless realism at the political, tactical, and technical levels

The force that the Marine Corps is designing will be easily defeated on a modern battlefield.  We need to reverse course now to maintain faith with the country we are sworn to defend.

  120720_Cordesman_LessonsIsraeliHezbollah by Solomon

Bundy style flashpoint in New Mexico.

Check this out from the Washington Times...

Otero County Sheriff Benny House said that he plans to wait to enforce the order until after a meeting Friday called by acting U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez.
“We’re just doing our homework and finding out exactly what our options are between now and the meeting on Friday, and hopefully we can get something resolved on Friday,” said Mr. House. “I’ll give them that courtesy.”
The Forest Service released a statement Monday saying that the fence, which has been in place for decades “was recently repaired and improved with input from the rancher to ensure that cattle still have access to water.

Bundy didn't have the support of local govt, but these farmers do.

The root of all this turmoil?  We're seeing a clash of cultures.