 |
| Davie Shipbuilding announced December 26th it has completed the construction, commissioning and sea-trials of the first Resolve-Class Naval Support Ship, Asterix. The ship was delivered on time, to budget and most importantly, at an internationally competitive cost. The ship departed Quebec City 23 December 2017 en-route to Canadian Forces Base Halifax where she will enter service with the Royal Canadian Navy and be operated by Federal Fleet Services Inc. Her crew of 36 Canadian merchant sailors together with Davie personnel and industry contractors sailed the 26,000-tonne ship on her maiden voyage. During the journey, they completed the testing of her propulsion and navigation systems and state-of-the-art military systems. Upon arrival in Halifax, the ship will welcome aboard members of the Royal Canadian Navy to begin integration training during the month of January 2018 prior to supporting Canadian naval operations from February 2018, for the next 10 years. The delivery of Asterix represents the first new naval support ship to enter service with the Royal Canadian Navy in over 50 years. It is also the first large naval platform to be delivered from a Canadian shipyard in over 20 years and the first naval ship to be delivered since the launch of the National Shipbuilding Strategy. |
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Canada's Resolve-Class Naval Support Ship, Asterix completed....via Naval News Instagram..
No Marine is going to leave here unless they know how to ski...We need Mountain Leaders, Jungle Experts, Desert Guides!
via Military.com
Scout snipers, reconnaissance Marines, and some infantrymen, along with members of the Marine Corps' new rotational force in Norway, will soon receive new ski systems to replace old equipment that broke and tore in the cold.Story here.
On a brief visit to the 300-strong Marine Corps Rotational Force-Europe, located at a Norwegian Home Guard base near Trondheim, Commandant Gen. Robert Neller announced that the unit would be the first to receive the new equipment.
It comes not quite in time for Christmas, but ahead of upcoming cold-weather training exercises above the Arctic Circle.
"I talked to the Norwegian colonel. I told him, no Marine is going to leave here unless they know how to ski," Neller told Marines assembled in the winter dark Wednesday morning, referring to Home Guard District 12 Commander Col. Haakon Waroe. "You're going to get your skis here in about a week, so get ready."
Still think we're deploying unnecessarily to Norway. I just don't see the threat of Russia invading Europe. They don't have a military built for that.
Don't get me wrong.
Russia could make spoiling raids cross border. They could launch air strikes, commando raids and engage in electronic/cyber warfare, but a fullscale invasion?
Not likely.
But since it's apparent that Washington is going to hype the threat the best we can do is to take advantage of the situation we find ourselves in and orient appropriately.
My modest proposal.
I've stated it before and I'll say it again. We need Mountain Leaders, Jungle Experts and Desert Guides in every Infantry Battalion in the Marine Corps.
The Royal Marines led the way with Mountain Leaders and we should follow their lead and expand on it.
What would we gain?
We would have subject matter experts that could give advice to Commanders when operating in these inhospitable ecosystems.As things currently stand we can expose Marines to these locales but they will never be as "functional" as a person that is born and bred there. So training someone up to a standard that approaches the expertise of the locals could be a big boost when we actually deploy to fight.
Cold/Mountainous terrain is obvious, but the same applies to operating in the jungle and in certain areas of the desert (not the classic desert of open terrain and endless sand but the rocky, hilly areas that limit vehicles to roads and make killboxes child's play to setup).
We can't make policy but we can make the best of it. Setting up Mountain Leaders, Jungle Experts and Desert Guides would be the best lemonade possible..
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Is it possible for the US to mobilize in a fight for survival?
I'm using allied posters from WW2 as a backdrop to my question. Could the US (and it's allies) mobilize in a fight for national survival?
The posters are just a snippet of the effort carried out on the homefront to get people involved and supporting the fight.
We saw our entire industrial might, agriculture, and even human capital turned to the war effort. From rationing gasoline, to planting victory gardens to encouraging workers not to take sick days, we saw the entire populace put on a war footing.
Could we do it today?
Would a modern war between peer nations start and finish so fast that it would be wasted effort?
If a war between peer nations occurred today, would it be of such intensity that if it were to last more than a year we would have to quit the field because of losses and not being able to replace them in a timely manner?
The question I guess I'm really asking is this. The Commandant has joined me in stating that a big fight is coming. Are we ready? Or have we tailored our force to fight counter insurgencies to such a degree that anything bigger would break our armed forces beyond repair?
Monday, December 25, 2017
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Chinese soft power in Timor...
Wow. The Chinese are learning quick. It will take focus, determination and alot of hardwork to blunt their efforts.
Hope we're up to the task.
Russia is not the threat. Russia has no designs to utterly destroy us. China does!
Friday, December 22, 2017
What should I keep in mind when planning to join the Marines?
Thanks to Terence for the link!
What should I keep in mind when planning to join the Marines?
For me, my WTF moment was M.E.P.S
We all finished swearing in. We belonged to Uncle Sam.
Some Army cat steps up, there were a group of us. At least 300.
He called out for Army. Half the people stepped aside. Air force, Navy, Coast Guard, National Guard. When all had gone to their respective groups, There I was standing all alone. And the army cat yelled
WE FINALLY GOT ONE. A MARINE.
I’m standing there watching dudes and dudettes get their promise from recruiters, checks, t-shirts, bags, high fives.
A Marine Captain steps up to me. He looks at me and asks
Sure you didn’t mean to sign up for the Army? He pointed at them, and said. You can get gifts and enlistment bonus. I assured him I was there to be a leatherneck.
He marched me to the back, made me do 20 pull-ups and 100 crunches, then made me run laps.
He took me back into MEPS, I saw all my fellow future servicemen and women showing off their enlistment gifts and checks.
I walked in sweating and a lil dirty. Everyone turned to look at me. They were getting bonuses, I was getting dirty. Then I saw it in their eyes.
RESPECT
I knew that day. I made the right decision. I joined this shit for the gung ho lifestyle, Not to get bonus checks and Air Conditioned containers in Kuwait.
The brotherhood that made Aryan Ubermensch think Cerberus took a human form and split into thousand crazed warriors. Teufelhunden
The Few, Thew Proud, THE MUTHERFUCKING DEVIL DOGS.
Found here.
What should I keep in mind when planning to join the Marines?
For me, my WTF moment was M.E.P.S
We all finished swearing in. We belonged to Uncle Sam.
Some Army cat steps up, there were a group of us. At least 300.
He called out for Army. Half the people stepped aside. Air force, Navy, Coast Guard, National Guard. When all had gone to their respective groups, There I was standing all alone. And the army cat yelled
WE FINALLY GOT ONE. A MARINE.
I’m standing there watching dudes and dudettes get their promise from recruiters, checks, t-shirts, bags, high fives.
A Marine Captain steps up to me. He looks at me and asks
Sure you didn’t mean to sign up for the Army? He pointed at them, and said. You can get gifts and enlistment bonus. I assured him I was there to be a leatherneck.
He marched me to the back, made me do 20 pull-ups and 100 crunches, then made me run laps.
He took me back into MEPS, I saw all my fellow future servicemen and women showing off their enlistment gifts and checks.
I walked in sweating and a lil dirty. Everyone turned to look at me. They were getting bonuses, I was getting dirty. Then I saw it in their eyes.
RESPECT
I knew that day. I made the right decision. I joined this shit for the gung ho lifestyle, Not to get bonus checks and Air Conditioned containers in Kuwait.
The brotherhood that made Aryan Ubermensch think Cerberus took a human form and split into thousand crazed warriors. Teufelhunden
The Few, Thew Proud, THE MUTHERFUCKING DEVIL DOGS.
Found here.
Italian Special Intervention Group (Gruppo di Intervento Speciale) doing work in Afghanistan.
 |
| GIS (Gruppo di Intervento Speciale) operator wounded by a shrapnel. They freed 18 hostages and all the insurgents were killed; Herat, Afghanistan, 2011 |
Blast from the past. Animated view of latest Soviet Jet Fighter Aircraft and US aircraft...HD Stock Footage
Never heard of this Admiral Connelly guy but I like his style. Did you notice the matter of fact, no nonsense approach to this video? Did you also notice that when talking about the Foxbat there was no sugar coating it? He stated plainly that the Navy had no equivalent.
Oh I want to throw this out there too. When designed the F-14 had a useful life according to this admiral for about 15 years. How did we get to a point where we're talking about using a fighter plane for much much longer?
If you're not subscribed to Critical Past then you're missing out. The only thing keeping these vids from being perfect is that UGLY watermark across them.
Does anyone know where you can get archival film footage of this type without having to go thru secondary sources like this?
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Skeleton Lake of Roopkund, India
via Atlas Obscura.com
In 1942 a British forest guard in Roopkund, India made an alarming discovery. Some 16,000 feet above sea level, at the bottom of a small valley, was a frozen lake absolutely full of skeletons. That summer, the ice melting revealed even more skeletal remains, floating in the water and lying haphazardly around the lake’s edges. Something horrible had happened here.Story here.
The immediate assumption (it being war time) was that these were the remains of Japanese soldiers who had died of exposure while sneaking through India. The British government, terrified of a Japanese land invasion, sent a team of investigators to determine if this was true. However upon examination they realized these bones were not from Japanese soldiers—they weren’t fresh enough.
It was evident that the bones were quite old indeed. Flesh, hair, and the bones themselves had been preserved by the dry, cold air, but no one could properly determine exactly when they were from. More than that, they had no idea what had killed over 200 people in this small valley. Many theories were put forth including an epidemic, landslide, and ritual suicide. For decades, no one was able to shed light on the mystery of Skeleton Lake.
However, a 2004 expedition to the site seems to have finally revealed the mystery of what caused those people’s deaths. The answer was stranger than anyone had guessed.
Angry Bird...
Note: I'm on a wildlife photography kick so just deal with the passing fancy...
 |
| Photo by @hilarybralove This bald eagle had just grabbed a chum salmon head from the banks of the Chilkat River in Alaska. The eagles gather along the river in November to gorge themselves on the last chum salmon run of the season.This one was quite serious and on its way to chow down in a nearby tree. |
Thurs Funny....well the end anyway...
Yeah you guys needed that musical interlude mixed with Johnny Cash's weird sense of funny.
Tomorrow is the big push for Christmas so apparently the roads will be full and the shops crowded.
For those of you entering that storm, remember your training and you will survive. Good luck and I'll see you on the other side....
CH-53K Demonstrates Dual Hook Jettison for First Time
 |
| For the first time, a CH-53K King Stallion performed a dual point external load and successfully demonstrated the auto-jettison capability of the aircraft, using a 5,000 lb. load. The test took place Dec. 5 at Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation's Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. Currently, there are four Engineering Development and Manufacturing Model aircraft in test and one Ground Test Vehicle; combined the aircraft have logged more than 650 flight hours. (Photo courtesy Sikorsky) |
Stratolaunch - Heavy Rocket Launcher Aircraft First Taxi Test
Hmm. Wonder if you could put a cargo pod on this thing and if you could how much could it lift?
Don't laugh, it's been done before and believe it would be a god send to today's "containerized" forces....
Is this a new sling load setup?
I've seen all kinds of different setups for sling loading various gear/equipment. I thought I was familiar with all the tools used to accomplish the task. Ropes, Wire, Nets...even seen them use lifting beams on ships and construction sites. WTF am I talking about. First the pic as seen on the US Army Flickr Page.
Do you see it? No? Ok, then check out the pic below with it highlighted...
It's really no big deal, I just like to keep an eye on what Army aviation is up to.
Wonder if this is an attempt to increase both weight (trailer is attached) carried and/or speed while sling loading.
Do you see it? No? Ok, then check out the pic below with it highlighted...
It's really no big deal, I just like to keep an eye on what Army aviation is up to.
Wonder if this is an attempt to increase both weight (trailer is attached) carried and/or speed while sling loading.
Politico Reporter Pushes Back Against Former Obama Officials on Hezbollah Report (video)
Hmm.
So the source of the report is Politico and not The Daily Caller.
This is gonna be a HUGE scandal. If Trump could keep his mouth shut the Dems will soon be in the fetal position.
Even worse?
The idea that a Black President would not do everything in his power to prevent the flow of drugs into Black communities will shock the system of anyone paying attention (and lend credence to theories about intel agencies being involved in the trade).
This could be beyond huge.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)