D Day rehearsal

Sci-Fi Fix. The Flying Man

Take a second to check out this flick.  Quite entertaining in my opinion.  YMMV.

CombatGuard pics via Defense-Update.

Go here to read Defense-Updates write up on this vehicle.

Taliban brags that they had 20 fighters as backup for the Bergdahl trade? I bet we had....

The Taliban are bragging that they had 20 fighters as backup?

I bet the entire Ranger Regiment, Delta Force, Special Forces CIF's (times at least 2), a MARSOC Battalion and a couple of SEAL Platoons were all itching for a piece of this.

I still hate the deal, but have to wonder.

What would have happened if they tried something silly?

Why does the USAF Special Tactics exist?

A U.S. Air Force service member prepares to fire simulated ammunition to take down opposing forces during an exercise scenario at Melrose Air Force Range, N.M., Nov. 8, 2012. Special operations forces utilize the range’s rough terrain and unique layout to conduct realistic training. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Alexxis Pons Abascal)

OK.  Wake up the lions cause I'm about to poke them with a stick.

Why does USAF Special Tactics Units exist?

They're do nothing but duplicate capabilities already found in SOCOM.  Why do I say that?  Para-Rescue.  Even before the USMC joined SOCOM, Force Recon always traveled with a Navy Corpsman that was trained to Force Recon standards.  Same with the Navy SEALs.  US Army Special Forces once had Medics whose skill rivaled almost that of an Emergency Room doctor.  US Army Rangers also have Ranger qualified Medics.  So Para-Rescue while a storied organization doesn't bring anything to SOCOM that isn't already there.

What about Combat Controllers/Tactical Air Control Party (I really have a hard time understanding the difference).  In the USMC they'd be called ANGLICO or JTAC.    But its even more ominous than that.  Calling in fire support is taught to a wider and wider group of servicemembers.  While valuable, it is no longer a unique skill (as a sidenote, I wonder if it isn't time to consider disbanding ANGLICO as a relic of the past).  

That brings us to Special Operations Weather!  I've never understood it, can't tell you what they do and don't know how they got to be part of SOCOM, but the idea of a Combat Meteorologists just strikes me as weird!

USAF Special Ops might bring alot to the table when it comes to aircraft but when it comes to their Special Tactics Units I just don't see the need.  It might be time to disband the unit, allow personnel to transfer to another SOCOM service and streamline this organization to keep it from becoming even more bloated than it is now.

Terminal Lance on Bergdahl...

Russian Attack Helicopters via Bemil Chosin.

This is a pro-Russia Separatist?

ABC News has the above photo attached to the story about the intensifying fighting in Ukraine.  The identified the guy as simply a pro-Russia Separatist.

Bullshit.

I can smell military or former military thats still doing the gun thing and this guy reeks of it.  Why do I say that?  Check him out.  He appears fit not flabby.  This isn't a guy that decided one day to take out his gun and head to the fight.  He's been training to do the hard thing for awhile now.  Next, check out his gear.  The only thing that keeps me from calling this guy Russian Special Ops is the lack of optics on his rifle...but everything else fits.  If you switched out the AK with a M4 you'd be hard pressed to know if he was American by the way he's kitted out.

Which brings me to the burning question.

Does Russia have its own version of Triple Canopy (Xe is for pussies)??

Rafale getting hot!

Venezuela is still on fire.

Venezuela is still on fire in case you forgot about the issues in that country.

Mildred Manrique's Twitter stream has the best coverage of the events there and I highly recommend you follow her.  The photos you see above are from her site.  The first is simply a policeman on patrol, the second is an injured officer being cared for by comrades and the last is an image of barricades at their international airport.

The world is burning and no one is noticing.

Dutch Special Operations Forces get a new ride...

Read about it here...

IDF future combat vehicle

Thanks to TTMedical for the link. Read the story here.

Ukranian militia units knock out several armored vehicles

via ITAR-TASS

Kiev-controlled troops are exchanging fire with militia units near the village of Semyonovka off Sloviansk in the Donetsk Region. Militia fighters have punctured several armored personnel carriers, parliament-appointed Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on Tuesday.

I find this interesting.

The title of the story says that several APCs were knocked out.  The statement says several were penetrated.  What I would like to know is what type of weapon caused the damage.  Either way though it doesn't matter.  Fighting is escalating and the US/EU seem powerless to stop it.

Blast from the past. BAE UVX via Think Defense Blog.

Think Defense posted the pics below and asks the question...what happened to it?  I haven't taken a look at the link they posted but I don't really know how to classify the ship just by looking at it.

Wait!  I got it.  This looks like a super modern Russian Helicopter Carrier...the Moskva!

Bergdahl News. Article 85 demands the ultimate penalty.

Thanks to Chaos 56 for sending me the link!

via OAF...

As more of the information came in, my unit, along with others in the community, simply stopped looking for him. As for the videos of Bergdahl in military and Afghan attire, we were privy to analyze and dissect all of the“unedited” video. We realized that he had vowed to help the Afghan people (meaning Taliban), and teach them tactics he had learned through his training. As for what he may have taught them, we are not sure, but we can say that American casualties and the amount of attacks in the area did increase following his capture.
After seeing what his father, now turned Muslim, had to say about his son in Afghanistan, I am truly appalled.  During his opening speech given at the White House, his father praised him for “helping” the Afghan people  and pushing for the release of all those detained in Guantanamo Bay. In the same speech, Mr. Bergdahl’s  father went on to praise Allah saying, “bism allah alrahman alraheem” which means “in the name of Allah the most gracious and most merciful”.

I'm loving this.

Not because of a political agenda but because the truth of this issue is getting out.  But why now?  I believe it had to do with the fallout from the VA scandal and the desire to try and get veterans into the Democrat party camp.

I believe that someone in the Obama administration honestly thought that the military community would be over joyed at the rescue of Bergdahl.

They didn't do there research.

But what is the real problem for the US Army?  Article 85 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice!...

(c) Any person found guilty of desertion or attempt to desert shall be punished, if the offense is committed in time of war, by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct, but if the desertion or attempt to desert occurs at any other time, by such punishment, other than death, as a court-martial may direct.”

The SecDef, the White House, the Idaho National Guard and the US Army Chief of Staff (along with other branches of govt and officials) have labeled Bergdahl as a PRISONER OF WAR!

By their own definition of his status, they have at the same time sealed this guys fate.  You can't be a POW without being at war.  There are witness that can testify that this guy deserted.  A death penalty case will be easy to prove.

At least if the UCMJ still carries weight....oh and why must the Army seek the ultimate punishment?  Because GOOD MEN died trying to rescue this person.  Bergdahl is a deserter AT BEST and a traitor/accomplice to murder at worst.

Project 22220 nuclear powered icebreakers via Naval Recognition Blog.

Read about this ship at Naval Recognition.

Its beyond interesting.  The US and Canada and heck even Japan are talking about the arctic but only Russia is actually putting its money where its mouth is.

We've seen the establishment of a new Arctic Brigade, we've seen military exercises in the region and now they're expanding their line of world leading Ice Breakers.

Russia is serious about controlling the far north.

Bergdahl is a deserter, not a hero. We don't have to wait!

via CNN

"I was pissed off then, and I am even more so now with everything going on," said former Sgt. Matt Vierkant, a member of Bergdahl's platoon when he went missing on June 30, 2009. "Bowe Bergdahldeserted during a time of war, and his fellow Americans lost their lives searching for him."

Yeah.  I wasn't there but Sgt Vierkant was.  He calls Bergdahl a deserter.  Then this....

At least six soldiers were killed in subsequent searches for Bergdahl, and many soldiers in his platoon said attacks seemed to increase against the United States in Paktika province in the days and weeks following his disappearance.
Many of Bergdahl's fellow troops -- from the seven or so who knew him best in his squad to the larger group that made up the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division -- told CNN that they signed nondisclosure agreements agreeing to never share any information about Bergdahl's disappearance and the efforts to recapture him. Some were willing to dismiss that document in hopes that the truth would come out about a soldier who they now fear is being hailed as a hero, while the men who lost their lives looking for him are ignored.

This is the son of a bitch that other bloggers want me to hold judgement on?

This bastard is getting a welcome home parade while some of his team mates only got caskets and grieving parents?

Fuck that.  Bergdahl needs to go from the hospital to the brig.

Ukraine is in a full fledged civil war...

Thanks to 1Modeus for the vid...



I'm always amazed at the short attention span of the average person when it comes to real news...not the celebrity bull but solid, important news.  Remember the missing airliner?  Its still missing.  Remember the fighting in Ukraine?  Its still going on.  I'm going to have to look up the definition of a civil war, but whatever it is Ukraine looks like it.  More ominously though...Ukraine is looking more and more like Yugoslavia everyday.

Blast from the past. Viggen in a hardened shelter.

Israeli defense budget under pressure...

Read the entire article here but this is what stood out to me....

In response to mass social protests in the summer of 2011, the Israeli Cabinet approved an annual 3 billion shekel drop in defense spending, beginning in 2012. At the time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scored political points from a restive public by his ostensible brass-tacks determination to tamp down the defense budget.
“I promised and I delivered [a response to social protests],” Netanyahu boasted of the mandated defense spending cuts.

One out of every four Israeli dollars is spent on defense...the Israeli people are well aware of the dangers in their neighborhood, yet they still want defense cuts.

Is this a sign that the Israeli's see peace about to break out?

No.

Its another sign that economies around the world are in a hurt locker.  I wasn't onto the idea that protests are signs of economic distress that can be seen worldwide when this happened.  Now?  It seems obvious to me. I know I have some Israeli audience members and I can't wait to get their take on the issue.