The curious story of Maj Jason Brezler.

via Marine Corps Times.

A New York district court judge has ordered the Marine Corps to answer allegations of wrongdoing in the administrative hearing of Maj. Jason Brezler, a Reserve civil affairs officer recommended for separation last year despite testimony from defenders who called him an exceptional Marine.
Signed by Judge Joseph Bianco of Brezler's home state of New York, the Dec. 22 order requires the Marines, the Navy, and Marine Forces Reserve commander Lt. Gen. Richard Mills to answer Brezler's claims that the proceedings against him were so flawed they should be thrown out. A response to the order is due by Jan. 16.
In a motion filed this month alongside a lawsuit asking for relief, Brezler said the transcript produced by the Marine Corps following his December 2013 three-day board of inquiry contained numerous inaccuracies. The document contained 1,548 instances of the word "inaudible," and by dint of its insufficiency and the delay in producing it, violated his due process rights and military regulations, according to the motion.

Read the entire story.

I don't quite get this.  Not at all.  Unless reports are wrong, this Marine acted to save lives and deserves a medal.

This kind of thing is heartbreaking.  My hope was that this thing would have been allowed to quietly die once the former Commandant left office.  Instead we have this Shiite.

The Marine Corps had better have a care.

A hard won reputation for being fair, prizing individual effort and rewarding selfless acts of courage while not following the zero deficit stupidity of society is being lost.

Stories like this don't help.

One question though.  Why would he pursue a civil law suit instead of requesting a review by General Dunford?

The experimental M1 Abrams.

Thanks to MidgetMan for the idea.

Above are a few of the known experimental M1 Abrams tanks (there might be more that are classified...I just don't know).  Want an improved M1 Abrams MBT?  No problem....the issues have been worked and it only takes a look into the recent past to get either increased armor protection, drastically reduced weight or both.

Jedsite has done a fantastic job of cataloging all the known experimental vehicles and you can check it out here.  

Dakota Meyer. Man of the Year?

via Free Beacon.

Recently Meyer has spent his time trolling Islamic State fighters after reports surfaced that the Islamic terrorists may be targeting U.S. military members through social media.
“I’m just tired of us as Americans living in fear,” he told Jeff Schogol. “I want people to know: Stand up to this; stand up to these people.”
“I don’t want to put anybody else in harm. They can come after me.”

Read the entire article.  I just don't know about this one.

Meyer has been rather unconventional since his award.  It was put out that he intended to run for office, he came out to tell Marines that were unhappy with Amos' leadership to basically shut up and then he was talking shit to ISIS.

Most Medal of Honor winners show a bit more ... caution ...they are carefully neutral in public and I believe that most winners spend the rest of their lives trying to make sure that they don't bring dishonor or embarrassment to the Medal. 

Meyer's hasn't done that.  He dove headfirst into the controversy with the past Commandant and got smacked down hard by the Marine brotherhood.  The smack talk to ISIS might get non-military people excited but those in the gun club know that more than likely our people will face ISIS on the battlefield....shit talk from a MoH winner could prove...troublesome...at best.  As far as the rumored run for office.  Who knows.  I'd assume he'd run as a Republican, he is a Marine after all but I've been surprised before.

But ignoring all that.  What makes him worthy of "Man of the Year"?  Is this a case of politics over substance?  A few statements can't be all it takes can it?

Joint Hellenic Air Force & Israel Air Force Training Operation

Russia's T-14 Armata Main Battle Tank Concept Vid

Argentina set to receive SU-24MK's. UK's plan to defend the Falkland's nullified!

via express.co.uk

The aircraft, which Moscow will swap for beef and wheat, would be able to mount air patrols over Port Stanley.

Ministry of Defence officials fear Buenos Aires would take delivery of the planes well before the deployment in 2020 of the Navy’s 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and its F-35B fighters, leaving a “real window of vulnerability”.

Defence cuts have left the Falklands with just four RAF Typhoon fighters, Rapier surface-to-air missiles and fewer than 1,200 troops, supported by a naval warship that visits throughout the year.

A low level high speed approach to launch point.

A popup to launch long range missiles and a supersonic dash back to base effectively nullifies current UK defense planning for the Falkland Islands.

The Brits are going to have to rethink their defense of these islands with a quickness.

The coalition for the next Iraq War is going to be interesting.

This is a follow on "quick thoughts" about my previous article regarding the preparations for a new ground war in Iraq that are becoming public.

1.  We've heard reports of armor movement in Iraq.  Those reports have been confirmed and a reader has told me that elements of the 3rd Infantry Division are heading to Iraq in Feb.

2.  Its been announced that at least 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd are heading to Iraq in January.

3.  As usual the Marine Corps has an MEU in the region.  The Marine Forces in the region have been plus'ed up by a Fleet Anti-Terrorism Team Company (+), an enhanced SPMAGTF-CR and an enlarged Marine Security Guard detachment at the embassy.

Which leaves me with a question.

What is the coalition for this coming offensive against ISIS going to look like and who is going to participate in it?

1.  If past is prologue then we know that the Obama Administration will not go to war alone.  They will however enthusiastically engage in warfare if it has the blessing and participation of the international community.

2.  The American people are tired of war.  More specifically they're tired of Iraq and Afghanistan.  Speaking for myself, they're an ungrateful people, they've squandered our sacrifice and our money and there leaders have acted stupidly.  Selling the war to US citizens will be difficult.  Even liberal media will be hard pressed to do so.  Conservative media will of course bang the war drums but it will still be a hard lift.

3.  Saudi Arabia is the country most at risk if Iraq splits in two...with Turkey being jeopardized if it splits into three.  That means that both those countries must be getting the bums rush to deploy ground troops.

I see it like this.  The Gulf nations will all participate as will Turkey.  Each will have their own motives but it all stems from a fear of Iran.  I also expect to see the Eastern European NATO countries continue to punch above their weight and send forces to participate.  France is in because it seen the ISIS threat at home.  Italy and Spain will send forces because.

In the end I think we'll be hearing an announcement in maybe March or April of a new offensive against ISIS with the President claiming that the coalition that he's built is larger than the one Bush was able to bring together for the 2nd Gulf war.  It goes without saying that he will claim that we will have the bare minimum of forces required to achieve our objective and we'll be told that military commanders fully support the size of the force.

You heard it here first.

Get ready for a new ground war in Iraq.

via PressTV.

The US News reported that the facility's warehouses and large asphalt yards now hold about 3,100 vehicles, most of them MRAPs – the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles. There is also some electronic equipment and other supplies at the depot, located at Kuwait's Shuaiba port, defense officials say.
“It’s hard to believe that this is simply an attempt to draw down the war,” Petras said.
“I think massing military armored vehicles is a sign that the US is looking toward a reentry into Iraq.”

This points to one uncomfortable reality.

The US Counter Insurgency Manual is fundamentally flawed, military/civilian leadership has failed and we're looking at continued fighting in a nation where the people's leaders chose to throw away America's hard work and treasure.

The Iraqi's are not worth it.  Whether they continue as we once knew it is up to them.  If they fail they fail.

If they die.

They die.

"Reawakening" needs to be put asleep.

Thanks to John for sending the link!

via Marine Gazette.

...somehow, our senior leadership says we have been falling short, that we need a “reawakening.” The term “reawakening” implies that the Corps has been asleep, falling short of a standard.
Of which standards are Marines falling short? They haven’t lost on the battlefield. They have succeeded at their assigned missions in combat, yet they are told that they aren’t good enough, that their predecessors were better.
Is this so-called reawakening just the enforcement of standards that have always existed? That hardly requires a media campaign. We’ve had all manner of standards for years. Enforcing existing regulations is a simple matter of telling commanders to do so.
This is about something bigger. This is about defining what a “peacetime” Marine Corps should be.
First, “peacetime” is a relative term. Today’s multipolar world will afford no rest for the Corps, despite the withdrawal from Iraq and drawdown in Afghanistan. While combat deployments will no longer be as predictable as in the recent past, any Marine can reasonably expect to take part in combat operations or military operations other than war during some part of his service.
More importantly, we can’t tell Marines that they have done a great job fighting abroad, yet are now falling short in garrison, because there should be no difference between the two. The only reason the Marine Corps exists is to fight abroad. Everything else is background noise.
The areas in which Marines are allegedly falling short—what are those, exactly? Disciplinary issues? Is there any actual evidence that Marines are any more prone to misconduct than in the past? In fact, numbers of courts-martial have been declining for years.1 It’s likely only the media coverage of problems in the Marine Corps that has increased, creating a false impression of a wider pathology and not the problems themselves.

A small look at one of the many debates going on inside the Marine Corps.

Good job Cpl!

Sidenote:  The "Reawakening" is about the already made decision to put women into combat.  When it happens you will see the Marine Corps hemorrhage people.  Recruitment will sink and women who volunteer for it will be injured at an alarming rate.  Until power suits are part of issue gear you can't get around gender differences.

A profession of arms.

American Mercenary is over at his house discussing the "art of war".  Its worth a read and you can check it out here.  Something he said however irked me a bit.  Check this out...

At the boots on the ground level, the Army is very much a vocation. Privates, Sergeants, through Captains are vocational workers. Sometimes at the doctrinal level you'll find Captains who are doctrine writers, so that is the "transition rank" where you expect to see Officers start to work as "theoretical professionals" and not "vocational workers."
To illustrate this point, in the medical field you have obvious vocational workers such as nurses aides, biomedical technicians, lab workers, and dental assistants. You also have obvious professional workers such as R.N.s, P.A., D.O., and M.D.s who have a much higher educational requirement, professional review boards, and all the other trappings of a "profession" instead of a "vocation."

Hmm.

I AM POSITIVE that AM did not mean to denigrate the service of those that are serving there country.  But to list their work as a vocation and not a profession rubs me the wrong way.

What follows are the characteristics of a profession by Bob Kizlik via Adprima.com

I. Professions are occupationally related social institutions established and maintained as a means of providing essential services to the individual and the society.

2. Each profession is concerned with an identified area of need or function (for example, maintenance of physical and emotional health, preservation of rights and freedom, enhancing the opportunity to learn).

3. The profession collectively, and the professional individually, possesses a body of knowledge and a repertoire of behaviors and skills (professional culture) needed in the practice of the profession; such knowledge, behavior, and skills normally are not possessed by the nonprofessional.

4. Members of the profession are involved in decision making in the service of the client. These decisions are made in accordance with the most valid knowledge available, against a background of principles and theories, and within the context of possible impact on other related conditions or decisions.

5. The profession is based on one or more undergirding disciplines from which it builds its own applied knowledge and skills.

6. The profession is organized into one or more professional associations, which, within broad limits of social accountability, are granted autonomy in control of the actual work of the profession and the conditions that surround it (admissions, educational standards, examination and licensing, career line, ethical and performance standards, professional discipline).

7. The profession has agreed-upon performance standards for admission to the profession and for continuance within it.

8. Preparation for and induction into the profession is provided through a protracted preparation program, usually in a professional school on a college or university campus.

9. There is a high level of public trust and confidence in the profession and in individual practitioners, based upon the profession's demonstrated capacity to provide service markedly beyond that which would otherwise be available.

10. Individual practitioners are characterized by a strong service motivation and lifetime commitment to competence.

11. Authority to practice in any individual case derives from the client or the employing organization; accountability for the competence of professional practice within the particular case is to the profession itself.

12. There is relative freedom from direct on-the-job supervision and from direct public evaluation of the individual practitioner. The professional accepts responsibility in the name of his or her profession and is accountable through his or her profession to the society.

A LCpl in the Marine Corps has met all the hallmarks of a professional.  The same applies to all the services.  Standards must be met, hopefully exceeded and if they are not then those individuals are expelled from the profession.  Different from civilian professions, personal conduct is also factored into the equation and even seemingly minor infractions like Marijuana use can result in being expelled.

Service in the military (especially the Marine Corps) is a profession of arms.  We should not forget that.

Right and Wrong via Navy Matters.

Everyone seems to be doing an "end of the year roundup" and Navy Matters is no exception.  Here's his list of the good and bad from the past year.  A tidbit...

Right and Wrong – Hornet. The decision to abandon specialized aircraft in favor of a generic, combination strike fighter, and a short-legged one at that, marked the beginning of the decline of the air wings and the decline of carrier striking power. On the plus side, the Navy seems to be pursuing a program of evolutionary improvement to the Hornet that looks better and better when compared to the F-35.

There are many other decisions that could be added to this list but this a fair collection of major decisions. The obvious conclusion is that Navy leadership has, generally, been pretty consistent in making poor decisions. Even some of the good decisions are bordering on becoming poor ones, such as allowing the submarine force numbers to decline to far.

The Navy needs to engage in some serious soul searching, recognize its institutional shortcomings, and learn the lessons that its decision making history offers. 

Read the whole thing here.

Special Marine Corps Units of World War II

  Special Marine Corps Units of World War II PCN 19000413200

Iwo Jima: An Amphibious Force Epic.

  Bartley IWO Jima

Someone should staple this manuscript to the front door of the head of the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, give a copy to the Commandant and add this to the reading list.

Technology and tactics might change the way that we conduct amphibious assaults, but Iwo Jima should be talked about with pride and reverence.

F-35 News. The hits keep coming. EOTS is obsolete before it even enters service.

Thanks for the link Charley!

via Huffington Post.

“EOTS is a big step backwards. The technology is 10-plus years old, hasn’t been able to take advantage of all the pod upgrades in the meantime, and there were some performance tradeoffs to accommodate space and stealth,” said another Air Force official familiar with the F-35 program. “I think it’s one area where the guys are going to be disappointed in the avionics.”
Ironically, older jets currently in service with the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps can carry the latest generation of sensor pods, which are far more advanced than the EOTS sensor carried by the F-35. The latest generation pods—the Lockheed Martin Sniper ATP-SE and Northrop Grumman LITENING-SE—display far clearer high-definition video imagery in both in the infrared and optical spectrum—and from greater distances. Further, both pods have the ability to beam those full-motion video feeds to ground troops, which provides those forces with burial intelligence information.

Read the entire article here.

So the SLDInfo interviews where senior leadership talks about this revolutionizing close air support for ground troops is exactly what I thought.

Bullshit.

So what will we be getting if everything works perfectly when the airplane enters USMC in 2015?

Less capability than the US Navy has on the Super Hornet when it comes to putting steel on target.

You thought I was over the top when I said in the future Marine Ground would be requesting Navy Air instead of Marine Air for support?  From what I gather from this article I wasn't expressing it strongly enough!

This program is a scandal/fraud of the highest order and people will go to jail over this.  

UPDATE:  Answer this one for me.  What mission will the F-35 be able to do better than legacy platforms now that we've found out that its EOTS is at least two generations behind?  It will plane suck donkey dick at Close Air Support.  The idea of it doing deep strike is now called into question.  Air Superiority missions have always been in doubt so what will this airplane do better than a F/A-18E/F or Growler or a fully upgraded AV-8B or F-16 or F-15???? 

The Fund For Peace (FFP) Fragile State Index.

I usually just make note of these types of "rankings", identify countries that are listed as being at the High Warning and above level and move on.

It does pay to observe the countries listed near the bottom of the list.  They're no brainers and probably going to require international intervention in the near future.  If I was an operations planner and had responsibility for those areas I'd be dusting off contingency plans just in case.  Never hurts to be prepared...

Check out the full listing and methodology for the rankings here.

Lets talk Ultra Light Combat Vehicle Concept...

First lets see what the horses mouth has to say about the Ultra Light Combat Vehicle (ULCV)...

  MRDULCVinfopaper13 August

Next, lets look at the contenders for the contract...

Polaris DAGR

Boeing Phantom Badger

General Dynamics Flyer 72

So now we know what and who the ULCV is designed for, but the short document also has several highlights that are of importance...

*  The vehicle is being designed specifically for the 82nd and 101st.

*  We can assume that the selected vehicle will see widespread use among all the Combat Aviation Brigades.

*  Mobility for Airborne and Air Assault operations has been ill served by the heavier HMMWV and projected (although I still believe it will be canceled) JLTV.

The real play here?

The US Army is attempting to make the Global Reaction Force more competitive.  The Army is playing for keeps.  What is the biggest criticism of Airborne forces once they leave the drop zone?  They lack mobility...even against rebels in technicals.

Show your age.

How many of you remember the once in vogue Pentagon term "out of area operations"?

That's what the Army is trying to reclaim.  The expeditionary pieces are falling into place.  The heavy mech is already covered.  The old out of area operations is the final piece of the puzzle.

The USMC better be aware.  They're not drinking our milkshake (yet) but they have a straw out.

Sidenote:  The great that come out of this is that the Marine Corps will soon be looking for a replacement for the Internally Carried Vehicle.  It would be awesome if we could piggy back off this development...I know the Phantom Badger is internally carriable by the V-22 and I think the Flyer 72 is...I don't know about the DAGOR (Coffee Man set me straight.  The Flyer 72 IS NOT internally carriable by the V-22 but they have a different model that is).

Sidenote 1:  We see the vehicles.  We know who they're intended to go to.  What we don't know is the concept that they're being developed to fill.  Airborne troops don't normally drop into an area to conduct a raid and then drive out...not normally anyway.  SO WHAT IS THE THINKING BEHIND THIS?  The Army doesn't like talking to me but I'll shoot an e-mail to the Maneuver Center to see if they'll fill in the holes.

The best explanation for the drop in oil...and its all about Saudi Arabia & Iraq.

Saudi Arabia and Iraq are at war.  A proxy war but war none-the-less.  Check this out from OilPrice.com

Some commentators have offered a more conspiratorial theory for the Saudis wanting to get rid of Assad. They point to a 2011 agreement between Syria, Iran and Iraq that would see a pipeline running from the Iranian Port Assalouyeh to Damascus via Iraq. The $10-billion project would take three years to complete and would be fed gas from the South Pars gas field, which Iran shares with Qatar. Iranian officials have said they plan to extend the pipeline to the Mediterranean to supply gas to Europe – in competition with Qatar, the world's largest LNG exporter.
“The Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline – if it’s ever built – would solidify a predominantly Shi’ite axis through an economic, steel umbilical cord,” wrote Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar.
Global Research, a Canada-based think tank, goes further to suggest that Assad's refusal in 2009 to allow Qatar to construct a gas pipeline from its North Field through Syria and on to Turkey and the EU, combined with the 2011 pipeline deal, “ignited the full-scale Saudi and Qatari assault on Assad’s power.”
“Today the US-backed wars in Ukraine and in Syria are but two fronts in the same strategic war to cripple Russia and China and to rupture any Eurasian counter-pole to a US-controlled New World Order. In each, control of energy pipelines, this time primarily of natural gas pipelines—from Russia to the EU via Ukraine and from Iran and Syria to the EU via Syria—is the strategic goal,” Global Research wrote in an Oct. 26 post.

Read the whole thing here.

So you think the Israeli's are the cause of the problems in the Middle East?  Not bloody likely!  The chief villains are the Saudi's.  They've been behind so much US pain it isn't even funny.

Some call the US the great Satan.

They're wrong.

Look at Saudi Arabia.  They're playing an old skool game and no one seems to be trying to stop them.

Refined J-20 gives new clue to its mission.

via Chinese Military Review

Is it me or is that object just under the nose look exactly like the EOTS?  I have it highlighted below.

Now on the F-35.

I am fully moving into the camp that the J-20 is a long range, stealthy strike fighter.

If I'm right then the Chinese believe either that the F-22 is too short ranged, or too few to stand up to multiple SU-27 derivatives that they have in service along with the J-10s in aerial combat.  That the F-22 as currently employed will fail against a modern integrated air defense complex.  Or they plan on a decisive first strike and will kill the planes on the ground before they even can take off.

Regardless.  The realization that the J-20 is a strike and not air superiority fighter should make everyone sit up and take notice.  We've all assumed that we would have to take the fight to them.  

They're planning on bringing the fight to us!

Large Marine Armored Convoy spotted leaving Baghdad Airport?

Rami‏@RamiAlLolah#BreakingNews Large #USA Marines armored vehicles convoy spotted leaving #Baghdad airport and heading to unknown location.. #Iraq #ISIS

The above tweet was in my feed.

Alot of times Twitter can be useful and fill you in on breaking news.  Sometimes is just a trollfest from hell.  What has me wondering is that I hadn't heard of any large Marine Corps forces in Iraq at this time.  You have a Reinforced Marine Security Guard element at the embassy.  I've heard that the 82nd Airborne is about to send a Brigade (-) their next month, and of course the Special Ops bubbas but no armor.

Anyone have any visibility on this?

UPDATE:  A reader states that he's just back and suffice it to say (and I'm paraphrasing) 'nothing to this.  We got either trolled, or a local is seeing US Marines behind every bush.  My guess.  If he did see armor rolling out then maybe the Iraqi's are finally getting in gear.

NATO would lose a war to Russia???

via Russia Insider.

NATO commanders will be in for a shattering shock when their aircraft start falling in quantity and the casualties swiftly mount into the thousands and thousands. After all, we are told that the Kiev forces lost two thirds of their military equipment against fighters with a fraction of Russia’s assets, but with the same fighting style.
But, getting back to the scenarios of the Cold War. Defending NATO forces would be hit by an unimaginably savage artillery attack, with, through the dust, a huge force of attackers pushing on. The NATO units that repelled their attackers would find a momentary peace on their part of the battlefield while the ones pushed back would immediately be attacked by fresh forces three times the size of the first ones and even heavier bombardments. The situation would become desperate very quickly.

Read the entire article here.  Its kinda disjointed and rambling to the point of irritation but the point is clear.  This guy thinks Russia would win a war against NATO.

His reasoning?  Russia would simply reinforce success, ignore battlefield losses and push toward their objective.

He goes on to point out that over reliance on air power is the Achilles heel of the organization and the West's way of war.

The crazy thing?

He might be right.  Russia can achieve achieve local superiority and due to the bureaucratic nature of NATO, probably achieve limited goals before the alliance could even mobilize.

I believe this is what the Eastern European countries realize and thats why they're engaged in rapid rearmament programs.

Poland is probably too tough a nut to crack at this time.  But Estonia, Romania, Georgia and others are all under the gun.  The West's way of warfare...to rely on airpower...is a problem.  I call it the SOCOM-ization of ground combat.  SOCOM has the luxury of having dedicated air assets assigned to every mission they undertake (the USMC once had that advantage uniquely but appears determined to piss it away to the Combined Air Operations Center).  What does that mean?  Assault until you run into opposition, then pause, call for fire and once the opposition is destroyed you continue.  This must change or a loss of airpower (which appears more and more likely if the F-35 limps into service) will be the reason we lose the next war.