OK. If this story is true....

via New York Post...

A plane from Nigeria landed at JFK Airport Thursday with a male passenger aboard who had died during the flight after a fit of vomiting — and CDC officials conducted a “cursory” exam before announcing there was no Ebola and turning the corpse over to Port Authority cops to remove, Rep. Peter King said on Thursday.
The congressman was so alarmed by the incident — and by what he and employees see as troubling Ebola vulnerabilities at JFK — that he fired off a letter to the federal Department of Homeland Security demanding more training and tougher protocols for handling possible cases there.
The unnamed, 63-year-old passenger had boarded an Arik Air plane out of Lagos, Nigeria, on Wednesday night, a federal law enforcement source said.
During the flight, the man had been vomiting in his seat, the source said. Some time before the plane landed, he passed away. Flight crew contacted the CDC, federal customs officials and Port Authority police, who all boarded the plane at around 6 a.m. as about 145 worried passengers remained on board, the source said.

Yep.

Interesting. 

You're all missing the reality of Obama's National Guard call up!

via Huffington Post.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is authorizing the Pentagon to call up reserve and National Guard troops if they are needed to assist in the U.S. response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Read the whole thing...but understand this.

You're missing the reality of the situation if you're just going with the news reports here.

He just did an undercover "federalizing" of State National Guard Units.

Do you get the force of connection yet?  The public story is that they're needed to aid in the fight against Ebola in Africa, but if you're buying that then let me sell you a couple of bridges!

The National Guard isn't needed in Africa!

They are needed if a state of emergency is declared in the US!  Want a bit more common sense reasoning?  If this was only about Africa then you can bet your last dollar that the Active Army has enough Engineers and Logistical Personnel to handle the requirements of this mission.

So again.  This activation isn't about Africa.  Its about pre-planning for missions here, inside the US if sugar turns to shit.

Dunford's list of things to do...

Thanks to John for the tip!

How many of you knew that the USMC has two different plate carriers in service?

How many of you knew that you could add a third, fourth and fifth if you count the London Bridge, Crye Precision and Eagle Industries offerings to the list?

Tally the cost involved with MarCorSysCom actually dipping into the budget to develop the IMPC and the ISPC and you have another instance of the Marine Corps not being good stewards of the taxpayers dollar.  Oh and if you want to know something else that's a kick in the teeth?  MARSOC and SOCOM all simply use the NSN's that the commercial/military private industry has assigned and simply farms it out to the units to decide.

Why is this important?

Simple.  Too much boutique equipment that isn't AND SHOULD NOT be Marine Corps specific.

Plate Carriers?  Not falling into Army supply system and using the Carl Gustav instead of the SMAW?  Adopting the M27 and reducing squad firepower instead of following the Army and SOCOM and adopting lightweight M249?

Dunford will have alot to do.  Getting his arms wrapped around Marine Corps procurement and making it rational again will be at the top of his list.

Sidenote:  But wait there's more!  This weekend I'll be publishing a part two to this and do a complete procurement rundown on what I think should happen.  Yeah, you can bet that the AAV replacement will be at the top of the list along with canceling the F-35, but there are many more things that also have to be included.  Standby for a little show and tell on Saturday.

He's leaving office and all he talks is F-35!

Amos has less than 24 hours  left in the Commandant's chair and I've been scouring the internet to get some last words from him....a statement on his tenure as Commandant of the world's greatest fighting force.

All I found is this from Reuters.

"It's too soon to flinch," outgoing Marine Corps Commandant General James Amos said in an interview at his Pentagon office, when asked if the Marines would miss their target date for declaring an initial operational capability (IOC).
"It's a tight timeline, but I think it's doable," he said. "But I'm a realist. If it's August, it's August. ... There is some risk in a mid-summer IOC but we've known that all along."
The Marine Corps has set July 2015 as the date by which it wants to be able to use the stealthy new jets in combat, followed by the Air Force in 2016 and the Navy in 2018 or 2019.
The Marines are slated to buy 340 F-35 B-models, which can take off from shorter runways and land vertically, plus 80 F-35 C-models, which have longer wings and a tailhook that allows them to land on aircraft carriers.

Amos said he remained bullish about the $399 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program despite a June 23 engine failure that grounded the F-35 fleet for several weeks this summer and has raised questions about the Marines' July target date.

Just plain wow.

His whole focus seems to be the F-35 and nothing else.  The little bullshit "State of the Marine Corps" vids that are more cheerleading sessions than a serious look at where we're at just doesn't cut it.

Hopefully Dunford will bring a back to basics movement across the board when he takes the reins.  We'll see what we'll see,  but its obvious that a Commandant from the Wing only cared about the Wing.

Updated! Congressional Hearing on Ebola.

This is a trainwreck!

The CDC director is an absolute MORON!  He is getting savaged by Congressmen and they're just asking basic questions!

We are living in the age of incompetence, silliness, arrogance and a belif that "hoping that things will work out" makes it so.  We're screwed folks.  This hearing is the final talking point for me.  YOU MUST WATCH THIS!

UPDATE:  Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn is just ripping these dudes apart!  I'm loving it.  Tennessee needs to re-elect her!  I just found a new hero.

UPDATE 1:  And so it begins.  TheRequimen sent this link.  Note that we're not hearing about all the false alarms.  When we get reports like this one you can bet that its damn near confirmed.  Now shit is about to get real.  They might not be able to keep a lid on this past the Christmas season.

UPDATE 2:  Alacran sent this link on the US asking Spain to use their bases as a jumping off point for missions into Africa.  Wouldn't it be tragic if US troops turn out to be the vector of this disease worldwide instead of the angels bringing relief?

UPDATE 3:  Tony made this comment in an earlier post.  I originally had it as a separate entry but decided to include it here....

UPDATE from Texas... A military service member was on one of the flights with the infected nurse. The military "suggested" to the family to voluntarily quarantine themselves. Well their kid goes to a school my "buddies" wife teaches at........ Shit just hit home no matter how remote the chance the kid was infected. I heard from my "buddy" only half his wife's class showed up today. Also if the kid ends up having Ebola she will have to be quarantined at home.... Also the statement the school district sent out lied and said the nurse had no symptoms while on her flights.... My "buddy" needs to double check he has 3 months worth of food stocked up in case both their jobs force them into lock down.... by God it may seem small to some, but its deer season and my "buddy" will hate to miss 21 days of it which would put him over the top in food supplies.......... it might suck and just isn't right from the individual perspective....

This thing is hitting harder than anyone in authority wants to admit.  This will affect the economy.  No doubt about it. 

Watch the "Change of Command" ceremony for General Dunford live....

Watch the Change of Command ceremony for General Dunford, the next Commandant of the Marine Corps live at 11am, Oct 17....

Defense.gov Live Stream
http://www.dvidshub.net/webcast/5122#.VD_AjfldV8E

DVIDS Webcast
http://www.dvidshub.net/webcast/5122#.VD_AjfldV8E

DoD News (check local listings, or livestream below)
http://dodnews.defense.gov/LiveStream.aspx

Breaking. MSNBC crunched the numbers. Only 10 beds available for Ebola.

I was watching the Daily Rundown on MSNBC (a political news show...left leaning but they at least try and keep it down the middle) and they, like everyone else is covering the Ebola situation.

At the end of the show they did a a quick update of the incident so far and crunched the numbers on how many beds are currently available for any new Ebola patients.

The number is 10.

We're sending 4,000 troops to the outbreak in West Africa.  If you've been on deployment you know all about the idiotic, stupid, insane shit that happens even if people aren't shooting at you.

And I'm talking about a normal deployment.

Mix a deployment with Ebola, along with collapsing governments and then terrorist activity and I can almost guarantee that you will have some troops coming down with the disease.

Additionally, we only have the capability to transport one patient at a time by air.

So please tell me again how we're going to take care of our injured troops if a squad comes down with this disease?

Sidenote:  Has anyone noticed that Ebola is attacking medical professionals in the US in the same way that it attacked aid workers in Africa?  By that I mean that Ebola showed up and medical professionals in those countries set about killing it.  Instead Ebola started killing them and then there were too few to contain it and the disease mushroomed.  Take the tally.  Two nurses in the hospital and another 75 medical workers at home under self observation.

FA-50 firing AGM-65G pics

Breaking. The health care worker flew by air the day before showing symptoms.

Did you read that headline?

This shit is going to go stupid before its over.   But this points to something even more ominous!

Voluntary quarantine is not working.

The Dr with NBC News broke her quarantine.  Additionally we had Duncan knowingly breaking quarantine.  Now this health care worker broke quarantine.

Public safety demands that more drastic measure be taken.

UPDATE:  This person flew from DFW to Cleveland Ohio.  She showed symptoms on the flight.

UPDATE 1:  Its being reported that the people that were caring for Duncan were told to monitor themselves but that they WERE NOT under quarantine orders.  SOMEONE FUCKED UP BAD.  Still believe that the CDC has this under control?  To clarify, the hospital workers were under a voluntary self observation.  

Should we be yelling for FEMA camps?

Beaumont, Texas, September 19,2008--Base camps such as this one in Beaumont, TX are used to provide temporary housing for first responders, FEMA personnel and other agencies who are working in areas affected by Hurricane Ike. Photo by Patsy Lynch/FEMA -

This is gonna be controversial.  This is gonna get me alot of hate but the question needs to be asked.

IF we're gonna get serious about containing this outbreak, then we need to quarantine the infected and even those that had contact with them.

We can't do that with hospitals.  We can do that with FEMA camps.  Yeah.  I know.  Controversial.  The thing that many outside some of the communities I dabble in call urban legends, but I know that facilities exist.

But lets look at the stark reality of this outbreak in Dallas.

1.  The hospital that is the focus of all this has 3 infectious disease beds.  3.  Currently two are occupied.
2.  These patients require around the clock care.  This hospital is on the verge of a shut down because these patients are requiring so much care.
3.  The CBRN specialist in the US military are part of the National Guard and Reserves.  They have the training to deal with this outbreak.
4.  We don't know what we don't know.  Travel is still being allowed.  Even if we stopped it today, we can expect others to come down with this disease and that will have a ripple effect around the country, basically shutting down medical services to the wider population.

But I'm just spit balling here.

We have an election in about 3 weeks.  The President would have to declare a medical state of emergency to make it happen and if he did that the Democrats would almost certainly lose the Senate (although if this gets worse they will anyway).

So what are we left with?

Another tool in the tool box remaining unused because people in leadership are so focused on maintaining a state of normalcy instead of working a problem to the best of their ability.

This will get worse.  Its almost guaranteed.

MAJOR HAT TIP to Tony for sparking this post.

NOTE:  Aesop pointed out something I need to clear up.  Camp is a generic term in the way that I'm using it.  I could see something a bit more organized being used.  First we have plenty of trailers to house family units in.  Second, the definitely infected would be housed in a medical facility with National Guard/Reserve medical personnel treating them.  Third, we would have a separate area, again with trailers for family units that came in contact with people that were infected...if its a family then they can be together.  Individuals would be housed in separate trailers.  The point here is that we can segregate these at risk/or sick people from the general population and DO REAL PROBLEM SOLVING ON KEEPING THIS FROM GETTING OUT OF HAND!  Like I said, I'm spit balling but organizing a proper camp is child's play.  Give me real parameters on the disease, give me a proper personnel roster to handle sanitation, food etc...an adequate number of vehicles and a security detail to keep order and I could do this on a napkin.  And I'm not part of a planning staff.  Oh and make sure the Camp Commander is a no-nonsense guy or gal and we could nip this in the bud.

IDF Desert Reconnaissance Battalion on exercise.

The Desert Reconnaissance Battalion demonstrated outstanding professionalism during a special exercise in southern Israel. 

Interesting.  I thought these guys were fully motorized but it looks like they're doing the same stuff as any other Infantry Battalion.  I thought for sure they'd be first in line for the Combat Guard patrol vehicle(?)...is this considered an elite unit in the IDF?

Another nurse caught Ebola from Duncan...

via NBC News

A second Texas health care worker who provided care for Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncanhas contracted the virus, according to preliminary test results released early Wednesday. The worker reported a fever Tuesday and was immediately isolated at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, state health officials said in a statement. Confirmatory testing will be carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. "Health officials have interviewed the latest patient to quickly identify any contacts or potential exposures, and those people will be monitored," the Texas Department of State Health Services said. "The type of monitoring depends on the nature of their interactions and the potential they were exposed to the virus." It is the third case diagnosed in the U.S.
The worker was among those who took care of Duncan, who died a week ago after he wasdiagnosed with Ebola earlier this month. The first Texas Health Presbyterian nurse to become infected, Nina Pham, said in a statement Tuesday that she was "doing well" and grateful for her care. The CDC described the latest case involving a health care worker as a "serious concern." In a statement, it added: "As we have said before, because of our ongoing investigation, it is not unexpected that there would be additional exposures." Ebola is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids of a sick person or exposure to contaminated objects such as needles. People are not contagious before symptoms such as fever develop.

Question.

Do you remember the arrogance in the Medical Community when the first patients arrived in the US from Africa?  Do you remember all the "volunteers" that lined up to treat them?

Remember being told that what happened in Africa would never happen here?

Remember all the talk about the "science" being known and how we could handle it?

It was all lies.

Ebola has a foothold.

This will get worse.

JGSDF(13th Infantry Regiment-Matsumoto garrison) & US Army train at Yakima

101st Airborne trains to step into the breach.

Soldiers from across the 101st Sustainment Brigade in the 101st Special Troops Battalion, 129th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, and 716th Military Police Battalion joined with members of Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 101st Airborne Division to receive special training for their upcoming humanitarian mission to West Africa to assist in combating the Ebola pandemic. The Soldiers received a force protection briefing outlying the dangers Soldiers will face from diseases that are endemic to the area and counter measures on how to keep them healthy and mission capable. Then a team of specialists from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and the West Virginia National Guard Chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high yield explosive enhanced response force packages (CERFP) gave instructions on the use and proper wear of equipment that will prevent Soldiers from contracting Ebola Virus Disease.

These pictures fill me with dread.

I might have a tin foil hat on when it comes to this issue but I sincerely believe that we are not being told the real deal when it comes to Ebola...or worse, those in charge THINK they know when they really don't.

This will not end well.

Where was the leadership to tell this Marine to do a "check"????

Check this out...via Stars and Stripes...

Five Navy warships are being held in port in the Philippines while police investigate the killing of a Filipino transgender at Subic Bay.
The State Department said in an email Tuesday that a Marine, assigned to 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., is a suspect in the death of Jeffrey Laude, also known as Jennifer.
Laude, 26, was last seen entering the Celzone Lodge in Olongapo City with a short-haired male foreigner, aged 25-30, around 10:55 p.m. on Saturday. Later, Laude’s naked body, partially covered with a blanket, was found in a bathroom at the hotel.
A State Department spokesperson said the suspect is being held onboard the USS Peleliu while the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and Philippine National Police investigate.
The Peleliu, USS Germantown, USNS Sacagawea, USNS Washington Chambers and the JHSV WestPac Express are staying in the Philippines, Marine Corps Forces Pacific spokesman Col. Brad Bartelt said.

Ok.

Gonna try and keep this rated G....but this goes to a leadership failure and the dangers of political correctness and how it affects our Marines.

Simply put, where were the crusty Marines that have been around the block a couple of times to warn the Junior Marines about reality when in a foreign port of call...

And to be a bit more frank.  About the dangers of being in a Pacific port of call where "he-shes", transvestites etc...are more common than real females? 

The Marine will be punished severely and with good reason.  But make no mistake about it.

Leadership failed this Marine.

A simple liberty safety brief that included a warning about the reality of some of the inhabitants of these cities...how "snagging" a Marine is prized...how you always do a "gear check" would have saved alot of grief.

This whole thing would be funny but a person is dead, another persons life is ruined and political correctness is at fault for it all.

SIDENOTE:  Something reeks here.  Why would you "detain" an entire Amphibious Ready Group?  The Philippines might be more trouble than they're worth.  The needy do not dictate to those providing help.  A desire to be seen as an equal partner when you're anything but is leading to some very arrogant moves by their government.  If this trend continues then we need to seriously rethink teaming with them.

Japanese 40mm CTA development under TRD.

I've been watching 40mm cannon development in Europe and the US but missed what the Japanese have been doing in the field.  Google Translate handles Mandarin quite well but screws the pooch hard on Japanese.  Don't know why but it does.

Having said that I just can't quite make out if this is independent work or if they're teaming with someone.  Additionally I'm seeing a new 8x8 but don't know if its just part of the "test bed" or if its headed toward a new build IFV.

You can check out the site here for yourself.

Reminder! Mark your calendars!!!!

Just a reminder to all those interested in the well being of the United States Marine Corps that we celebrate two great events this year.

First!  AMOS is out on 17 OCT 2014!!!!!!  If you've endured his tenure then you are officially a "shit creek survivor"!  And the second event is that the Marine Corps Birthday is rapidly approaching.

This has been a dark time in the Marine Corps....Thank God its coming to an end.

Canadian Mech Night Shoot.

BAE Hybrid Electric Drive vid.

We're witnessing a slow motion societal medical emergency.

Listening to the news with one ear and the talk is of the briefing with the President and the CDC directors statement about the Nurse not following proper procedure when she dealt with the "index" patient.

What brought on the title of this blog post is something that I heard for the first time.

Regional Emergency Medical Centers designed to deal specifically with Ebola patients.

That sounds ominous to me.  Planning is actually going forward to deal with a widespread outbreak while they keep telling the American people that the situation is well in hand.

Sound planning?  No.  Proper planning would be to do everything to prevent an outbreak.  This sounds like a plan to deal with an inevitability.  What aren't we seeing from the CDC?  We're not seeing patients being rushed to the 4 treatment centers that are specialist in dealing with this disease.  If we can fly patients from Africa, then flying them from Dallas to Atlanta shouldn't be hard.

What is leadership thinking here?  What is the real deal that we're not being told?