Today in history. V Amphibious Corps lands on Iwo Jima.

US Marine Corps Historical Company

This Day in Marine Corps History. 17 February 1945: At 08:59, one minute ahead of schedule, the first of an eventual 30,000 Marines of the 3rd Marine Division, the 4th Marine Division, and the new 5th Marine Division, making up the V Amphibious Corps, landed on Iwo Jima The initial wave did not come under Japanese fire for some time, as General Kuribayashi's plan was to wait until the beach was full of the Marines and their equipment. By the evening, the mountain had been cut off from the rest of the island, and 30,000 Marines had landed. About 40,000 more would follow.

Potential upgrades for USMC rifles?

I was really going to leave this alone but this part has me saying WTF!  via Firearms Blog...

Current M16A4 rifles and M4 carbines could get a significant overhaul with mostly inexpensive components already available to consumers. The upgrades would drastically improve accuracy and function without incurring the expense of procuring an new rifle.
Those updates could include a free-floating barrel, rifle compensators, new reticles for the Rifle Combat Optic, more ambidextrous controls and a new trigger group. With significant advancements in rifle technology for the civilian shooting market over the past two decades, those are all features commonly seen on competition rifles and those carried by elite operators.

I don't know how this will washout but I'm seeing something that I personally feel is disturbing.

They're talking about compensators, match triggers, free floating barrels....are they building a combat or competition rifle?

It seems like the idea of having a weapon that is robust and can survive in the muck and mud is out the door.  Is the USMC really going down the road of building race guns?

After the M27 confidence is not high.

25th Infantry Division at sea.

HQ Army might be saying all the right things when their leadership sits down with the Marines, but these boys in the Pacific have one thing in mind.

The straw is out and they want to drink our milkshake.

Keep an eye on all the Army units in the Pacific but keep a real close eye on the 25th ID.  They're making moves to become the "on call" response force for the region.

I've seen enough to add them to my "unit alert list".  The interesting thing is that they go on and the 101st comes off.

Ships Of The Line: Active Duty! 2014

Ships Of The Line: Active Duty! 2014 from Doug Drexler on Vimeo.

A little entertainment to get away from the chaos that is the world today.

An undercover military buildup is happening in Iraq.

Something weird is going on in Iraq.

I did a quick rundown of units being sent there and suddenly it looks like we have a mixed Army, Marine division already.  Consider..

*  1,000 Paratroopers from the 82nd were scheduled to head there this past January.

*  We have approx 3000 Marines in Iraq.  They're a mix of different units.  A SPMAGTF-CR, FAST Company and an Enhanced Embassy Security Force as well as trainers for the Iraq military.

*  Then today we have word that approx 4000 soldiers from the 4th ID are headed there.

Of course these totals don't include anything that SOCOM or our allies are doing.  It also doesn't include the SPMAGTF-CR based in Spain or the Marines aboard ship in the region.  Also excluded are USAF units and Navy ships.

I'm miss reading the tea leaves you say?  Then recall this old tidbit of news....

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Sept. 25, 2014) -- Soldiers from the "Big Red One" 1st Infantry Division headquarters will deploy to Iraq next month from Fort Riley, Kansas, DOD officials announced today.
"Yesterday the secretary (of Defense) signed a deployment for about 500 Soldiers from 1st ID headquarters," Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said at a Pentagon news conference.

About 200 of the 1st ID Soldiers will go to Iraq and another 300 will be elsewhere in the Central Command area of responsibility.

Of the division Soldiers deploying to Iraq, 138 will go to Bagdad and another 68 will serve in Erbil, near where Peshmerga (Kurdish) troops are pushing back forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as ISIL, from the borders of Kurdistan.

In Baghdad, 1ID Soldiers will staff the Joint Operations Center and provide command and control of U.S. troops in the country, who are advising and assisting Iraqi security forces. Division Soldiers will also conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance flights, according to 1st ID leaders. They said this will "increase the United States' capacity to target ISIL and coordinate the activities of the U.S. military across Iraq."

You don't send an Army Division Headquarters unit to coordinate airstrikes.  You send them to coordinate ground combat operations.

You heard it here first.  The US is prepping for ground combat operations in Iraq.

For all intents and purposes the ACV 1.1 is already dead.

Check this out from DefenseNews.

Proposals are due in April, according to the Marine Corps' schedule. The acquisition office plans to award two engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) contracts of 16 systems each in November 2016, and in 2018, down-select and go to full production.

Think about the trajectory of this.  The Marine Personnel Carrier was first conceived in 2008 when it became apparent that the EFV would be too expensive to buy as many as hoped.

In 2010 they deferred it because "government furnished equipment" needed time to mature.  The Marine Corps continued until the vehicle was canceled in 2013.  Then in an amazing display of confusion, lack of focus and institutional stupidity it resurrected the program in 2014.

The Marine Corps family was not happy with all of this, so the Marine Corps put out the below video saying that they had a plan and that all was well.



But what do we really have?

An off the shelf vehicle that will have taken more than a decade...closer to two decades to get into service.  Consider the Patria AMV.  Already a "new" model is in the works.  The same can be said for many of the different variants of the Piranha...we can even expect Singapore to be looking at an upgrade to the Terrex II if they follow their development history.

My modest proposal.  Cancel the MPC/ACV 1.1 (for all intents and purposes its already canceled with this long time table).  Admit to Marines and the public that the F-35 wrecked the budget, and a replacement for the AAV is too expensive to procure.  Then accept the truth.  While the USMC has had the AAV in service, the US Army has gone from the M113 to the Bradley, to the Stryker...performed upgrades on all those vehicles and is now embarking on a new Ground Combat Vehicle.  The one vehicle that is Marine Corps specific is the one vehicle the USMC can't get right.

Brigade Combat Team table of equipment.

  Table of Equipment for the Brigade Combat Team

Its old (2012) and the US Army has done some more tinkering with the formation but this is the best I could find.

I'm in the process of trying to learn more about the US Army's BCT's since the boys from the 4th ID are heading into malestrom.

Sidenote:  My guess is that they're going to convoy straight into Iraq to reinforce Marines at the airbase I'm calling Ft. Apache(Ain al-Asad ).  The crazy thing.  Force Protection is probably more important than the training or future combat missions.  You do NOT want to be anywhere near the chain of command that allows one of its LCpl's to get snatched, or left behind for ISIS to capture.  Oh and I would bet that the HANNIBAL directive is being discussed more openly at a certain Brigade Combat Team headed downrange.

Egypt, the new airstrikes, the military takeover and the Rafale purchase.

Everyone has been bombing my "in box" with news of the Egyptian buy of Rafale fighters.  I held my fire on it because I wasn't sure of the implications.  Now with this action in Libya (they bombed ISIS that beheaded Egyptian Christians in that country) along with the fact that just a few years ago the military deposed the Egyptian Brotherhood that rose in a "popular uprising" with the blessing of the Egyptian people that wanted another "uprising" against the Brotherhood I think I now see things clearly.

I don't know how it happened but the US influence in Egypt is now zero.  They're turning to different arms suppliers in anticipation of ending there relationship to the US.  Additionally they are showing that they will not wait for US permission to act in their own interests and that they're ready to "stand apart" from us.

Long story short, the Obama administration just lost another piece on the board.  Add this to the action (or suspected actions) that we've seen from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, UAE, Turkey etc...and its apparent that the US is no longer pulling the strings in the Middle East.

The Middle East is locked in a regional war.  Into that cauldron we're dropping a Brigade Combat Team...as capable as Heavy Brigade Combat Team is, I don't think its capable of 360 degree combat.  The boys from Ft. Carson are dropping into hell, I just hope it doesn't become a last stand.

World on fire news. Iraqi troop collapse imminent; Copenhagen terror.

via CNN (Iraq)

An Iraqi tribal leader said Saturday that ISIS militants are gaining ground in Anbar province, predicting a "collapse within hours" of Iraqi army forces there if tribal forces withdraw.
Sheikh Naim al-Gaoud, a Sunni Muslim leader of the Albu Nimr tribe, called for more U.S. intervention -- including ground troops, arming tribes directly or at least pressuring the Iraqi government to give the tribes more firepower.
While U.S. officials have said that ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State, is on the defensive in Iraq and Syria, al-Gaoud says that's definitely not the case where he is.
"In Anbar, we are losing ground, not gaining," he said.

Personal Rant.

I AM SO FUCKING TIRED OF THE IRAQI's!  They are arrogant beyond belief but can't fight to save their lives and have the audacity to demand more US intervention....after they fucking insisted that we get out of their country.

FUCK THEM ALL.  Let ISIS go crazy then nuke the entire fucking country from orbit.

Rant off.

via CNN (Copenhagen)

After a frantic manhunt involving "all the country's police forces," Danish police say they've killed the man they believe is responsible for a pair of possible terrorist attacks that left two people dead.
"As a nation, we have experienced a series of hours we will never forget," Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said Sunday.
"We have tasted the ugly taste of fear and powerlessness that terror would like to create. But we have also, as a society, answered back."

Oh I have a rant about this one too but I won't go there.

Let's just say that "pretty words" after a terrorist attack has been committed does not solve the problem.  Neither does political correctness.

The world is burning boys.

Martial Law if fighting does not abate????

via Newser.com

SVITLODARSK, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists rocketed each other with heavy artillery fire Saturday — shelling that extended far beyond any front lines — as the hours ticked down to a cease-fire that was supposed to start at midnight.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko declared he would consider imposing martial law if the fighting does not abate in the conflict that has killed more than 5,300 people since April.
The fighting centered around Debaltseve, a key government-held railway hub between the rebels' two main cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Shells rained down Saturday afternoon on the government-held town of Artemivsk, 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Debaltseve, striking a school, which rapidly burned to the ground.
Associated Press reporters also saw an artillery barrage near the town of Svitlodarsk, 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Debaltseve, as well as considerable movement of Ukrainian forces' armored vehicles and rocket launchers along the road.

Yeah.

This ceasefire agreement is going to work.  Sarcasm off.

Ukraine is fucked.  Proper fucked.

Russia sent 110 Tanks to the Seps...

NewsweekVerified account‏@Newsweek

Russia reinforced rebels with 110 armored vehicles during marathon peace talks in Minsk, says spokesman

Your Valentine's Day message from SNAFU!

Don't fall for the hype guys!  Don't take your girlfriend, wife, whatever...to see 50 Shades of Grey this weekend!  Why?  Simple.  I've been doing my usual swing through the news websites and I noticed one recurring theme.  Everyone of them is promoting 50 Shades of Grey as the next big hit and a movie that guys have to take their girls to see.

One reviewer even said "If your guy doesn't take you to see this movie then you need to break up with him"!

Really?  Seriously?

Uh yeah.  The female said that.

But what has me going is that every liberal website is pushing this movie with almost the same ferocity that they opposed the American Sniper movie.

I might be seeing a gender battle where there really isn't one but I'm sensing something off with the push here.  Don't see the movie and if you must then wait till after this weekend.  American Sniper deserves a few more months in the spotlight.

Oh.  To your Valentine's Day message from SNAFU! Blog.  Check out the following and relax....there is no way you can meet expectations on this inflated holiday...

Type 95 Ha-Gō (Japanese WWII Tank) undergoing testing by US forces.

The Type 95 was a 7.4-tonne vehicle with a complement of 3 crewmen: a commander, a hull machine gunner, and a driver.
Only the commander was seated in the turret, hence he was responsible for observation, loading, aiming, firing the main gun, as well as decision-making and commanding the crew.
The hand-operated turret was small and extremely cramped.
It proved sufficient against infantry; however, like the American M3 Stuart, it was not designed to fight other tanks.
Approximately 2,300 units were produced, making it the most numerous Japanese armored fighting vehicle of the time.

Absolutely awesome find by Digital Implosion on YouTube!

The Seps aren't consolidating positions...they're taking ground.

via Reuters.

(Reuters) - Fighting intensified in eastern Ukraine on Saturday as separatist rebels tried to seize more territory before a ceasefire takes effect at midnight, the Ukrainian military said.
The truce envisages the creation of a neutral "buffer zone" and withdrawal of heavy weapons responsible for many of the 5,000 casualties in a conflict that began almost a year ago and gave rise to the worst crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the Cold War a generation ago.
"Ahead of midnight, rebels are trying to complete tactically important plans to enlarge the territory under their control, primarily in the direction of Debaltseve," spokesman Andriy Lysenko said at a daily televised briefing in Kiev.
Debaltseve, a strategic transport hub northeast of the rebel-controlled stronghold city of Donetsk, has been the focus of some of the fiercest fighting in recent weeks.
Heavy shelling could be heard at a rebel checkpoint 10 km (six miles) from the Debaltseve, a Reuters witness said, reporting outgoing artillery rounds almost every minute.

Wow.

I thought they would be seeking to "clean up the battlefield"....consolidate positions and basically set the stage for this ceasefire to become permanent.  Instead they're seizing ground.  I'm beginning to wonder if Ukraine will even be in a position to allow the ceasefire to take place now.  If the Seps are successful and they're able to take the transport hub I don't see how they'll be able to let that stand...the conditions for the Seps to establish a new country will have been set, with the force of an agreed upon ceasefire to cement the deal.

I've gone from hopeful to extremely pessimistic.  This fight will go on.

When you have that perfect game in the T57.

Circon made me laugh with this one...Holy Shit!  Too funny.  Oh and thanks for the advice.  Graphics card and new monitor is incoming.

The attack on Al-Baghdadi was a replay of the Camp Leatherneck fight.

via RT

The Islamic State carried out a coordinated suicide bomber attack against the air base in western Iraq housing 320 US Marines. The Pentagon confirmed the extremist group has taken control of al-Baghdadi, which is just eight kilometers away from the base.
The Friday attack was conducted by approximately 25 Islamic State fighters, the Pentagon told Reuters, and several suicide bombers were involved. Some of them were reportedly able to detonate their vests, though the exact number is unclear. Some of the militants were able to sneak into the base wearing Iraqi uniforms, and they were killed by Iraqi troops when fighting broke out.

This is just an open source look at what happened during the attack, but it appears to me that ISIS tried a replay of the attack on Camp Leatherneck when they hit Al-Baghdadi.

And they're showing us the achilles heel of our Pentagon strategy globally.

These partnership/training missions are fraught with peril because we're embedding our forces into situations where the vetting of host nation personnel is sometimes shoddy, sometimes politically motivated and always dangerous because we never know who we're working with.

If I was in charge of force protection for our Marines, I would dedicate at least half the force assigned to these training missions to internal security.  Whether that's assigning Marines to overwatch positions while others are teaching, to having a guard force inside the guard force while Marines are in barracks, to having a separate reaction force both on the ground (where the training is taking place) with an additional force ready to fly in....this is the point of vulnerability that I see ISIS going for.

Insider attacks.

It's how ISIS will go after our forces.

LCA Tejas Brochure

  Official LCA Tejas Brochure 2015

USAF tries to reset the F-35 debate.

via Breaking Defense.

“We all want the same thing and we have to find ways to get there,” Welsh said near the end of the Air Force Association’s annual winter conference. But much of the public discussion about the Air Force, the A-10, and the CAS mission “is really kind of a little ridiculous,” he said, noting that the Air Force has flown more than 20,000 CAS sorties a year for ground troops.
He pointed to the F-35B as a key CAS platform. “That’s all the Marine Corps is buying it for,” he told us. “It will be a good CAS platform… It takes time to develop these things,” noting that the A-10 took years to become the excellent CAS weapon it is now.

I want to stop right here and point something out.

I've never seen a brief on the F-35B that described how it would put steel on target better than the Harrier or the Super Hornet.  Everything that's come down the pike has been how it will provide superior situational awareness for the ground force.  But I digress...more from BD...

In the longer term, Welsh said the weapons used for close air support “need to change.” Among the possibilities — lasers and much smaller projectiles; perhaps even “splintering bullets.” The Air Force has “look at different ways of doing this.”
Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James chimed in, saying she hoped “this body of thought that comes from the summit would help us reengage with the Congress and find a different approach.”

And there you have it.

The USAF is going to try and "reset" the debate on the F-35.  That means they're losing and need to try to convince everyone that its really worth the grind.

The fact that they're talking about lasers or "splinter bullets" is just talk to calm the crowd.

They're losing the F-35 fight in the military and Congress.  The Air Force Secretary's words are telling....

“this body of thought that comes from the summit would help us reengage with the Congress and find a different approach.”

The F-35 message has been lost and my prediction is coming true.  How do we know?  The Secretary of the AF told us so.

GruntWorks has a comic!

These guys are awesome!  They really should start a comic...guaranteed best seller!

M109A7 at Ft Sill (pics)

The first M109A7 fired its inaugural round during testing at Fort Sill today!