When a tongue in cheek tweet hits so wrong...

The average age of a Ukrainian soldier is 43 years old. Good. Old men can’t run away quickly, so they stand their ground, fight to the death, and then make themselves a cup of coffee. pic.twitter.com/YRpCWzjAwe

— Nicholas Drummond (@nicholadrummond) June 9, 2024

Drummond is a huge supporter of the war in Ukraine.

I get it.  Don't understand it but I get it.  Oh and let me be clear.  By supporter of the war in Ukraine I'm not just talking about Ukrainian victory but the WAR itself.  I might be wrong but that's the impression I get.

This tweet here though.

Damn.  That thing I KNOW was supposed to be tongue in cheek and a side defense of how old the fighting force is now.

From my chair it hits so wrong.

Make no mistake about it.  This is a peer fight that has devolved into a MANUFACTURING war and a fight based on POPULATION.

We're witnessing a modern fight done on WW1 type rules.

This tweet along with the recent ADDITIONAL arms the US is sending to Ukraine, along with the increasingly belligerent posture taken by many (most notably the NATO Sec) tells me that Ukraine is losing badly.

They won't go for negotiations so the Ukrainians are simply trying to hold on till winter so that the lines can be frozen by the weather.

I talked shit to many of the critics of this fight that said that the US is willing to fight till the last Ukrainian.

They were right.

I was wrong.

At this point, if this has an economic basis to it, then Ukraine is a loss leader.  That country is gonna be a broken husk for the next 50 years at least.

The smartest thing we could do is to simply give it to the Russians and let them deal with that aftermath.  The recovery will occupy the Russians, Chinese and Iranians for a decades and could give us breathing room for the next REAL fight for our survival.

Open Comment Post. 9 Jun 24

VMX-1 welcomes home the CH-53K King Stallion

 

Bold Rescue Operation by the Israelis. But what about the others...

 

How Israel's daring hostage rescue mission unfolded: 'A surgical operation' https://t.co/wVC54njnyZ #FoxNews

— Solomon (@SnafuBlogspot) June 9, 2024

A couple of things shock me about this.

The first is the rescue operation itself.  You save those you can but I can't help but think that the retaliation against those left behind is gonna be beyond savage.  Let's be real.  The IDF and the Israeli govt are really negotiating over MOSTLY body recovery, not live hostages.

Next is the units involved.  Deploying a police unit into a combat zone?  Yeah we've done it (most notably US Marshal's...those dudes can FUCKING SHOOT!!!!) and some of those guys are definitely combat capable...both on the streets of America and abroad.

But they're one of the few I've seen that can actually hook and jab at that level.  The idea of the Israelis sending in a police unit to participate in the rescue makes me wonder WTF.  I don't know their real capabilities but the ratio of special ops to conventional units in their force structure is rather high.  Correction.  Extremely high.  I'd say approaching damn near half their forces.

I wasn't there so I don't know.  Wasn't even close.  I just hope they know what they're doing.

This war has been confusing as fuck.  Oh and let me hit you with this.  All this took place with a ceasefire proposal in front of Hamas (damn...along with the "forced" ceasefire proposal, the IDF high command has also been talking about making a run at Hezbollah in the North....damn, damn, damn!).

I'm just not getting any of it.

Its almost like they're caught in a fight for the sake of fighting cycle.  That's a terrible place to be.

Hamas is done by my back of the napkin calculations so I have to wonder is this about national or political survival at this point?

Rheinmetall unveils the new Panzerjaeger concept

 

First operational deployment of the French Jaguar (Scorpion Program) Armored Vehicle...

 

Small sidenote.  The Scorpion Program, and the Jaguar IFV/Recon vehicle were started before we saw the revolution in drone warfare.

While we still haven't seen major forces adjust their vehicles (tactics are being developed but counters are few and far between) to the drone threat, what happens to programs when we see something revolutionary swoop in?

SHOULD WE...

1.  Pause the program to verify what we're seeing and adjust accordingly even at the expense of added costs?

2.  Kill the program and start over knowing that past assumptions no longer apply?

or...

3.  Continue the program and see if we can make what we're buying work?

I ask because the French seem to be caught on the horns of that dilema.

The Scorpion was a comprehensive wheeled vehicle fleet for their medium forces that could flex into both peer competition and out of area operations.

Many of the assumptions made no longer appear valid.  A recon vehicle the size of the Jaguar?  Even if it fights for info its still a huge target on the modern battlefield.

Which option should the French have chosen?

The Porcupine Warship MUST make a comeback...

The above pic is just used to illustrate my point.

Look how smooth and streamlined that vessel looks.  Pretty damn awesome.  Now use your minds eye to remember WW2 cruisers and battleships.

They were for the most parts ugly beasts.  Bristling with big guns, anti-aircraft guns, torpedo bulges for protection.  Big crews to take on battle damage.

Pretty they weren't.  Effective?  Hell yeah.

In this modern era we've got to get back to the days of porcupine warships.  Quad anti-aircraft cannon mounts along with the same number of rolling missile mounts.

I'm talking about ships bristling with weapons.

Oh and while we're focusing on the air threat we need to be aware that things will evolve to where the surface and subsurface threats will escalate too.

High tech looking, stealthy, "smooth" looking warships should become a thing of the past.

If you're not stacking weapons upon weapons upon weapons to ensure that every arc is covered isn't part of your plan then you're an idiot.

Oh and that applies to amphibs, auxiliary ships (tankers) etc...too.

Open Comment Post. 8 Jun 24

Danish Leopards 2A7DK

US Army Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicle (CATV)

Borsuk IFV

 

Does the US Army's Armor School teach close combat for armored vehicles? Turret traverse, vehicle traverse, reverse speed, acceleration...all that counts in this Bradley vs BTR-82 fight

 

Thanks to Moebius 2249 for the link!

This might be the best Bradley vs Vehicle footage we've seen.

A Bradley IFV bangs it out with a Russian BTR-82A (troops on top) at spitting distance from each other. pic.twitter.com/bs4banygpn

— FUNKER530 (@FunkerActual) June 7, 2024

Ya know we push that shit hard when it comes to the infantry fight.

You might want to get the fucker at distance but it will get close unless you put him on his ass.

The weird thing is that even in police work, distance is preached. The close fight is something to be avoided.

From the outside looking in it appears that counts in spades when it comes to the armored vehicle fight.

But when it gets close just like in the individual ground fight, shit gets real and shit gets dicey.

Everyone wants to see pics of the vehicles after the fight.  I MOST DEFINITELY get that.  But what I would luv to read is the after action from the survivors.  I bet any food they had in their systems ended up on their seats. 

Can't even imagine getting banged hard by 30mm cannon fire from close distance not only along the frontal arc but on the sides too.

This had to be a life changing fight.

Why no D-Day posts celebrating their heroics & valor?

 Let me get this out of the way.  I've been thinking about this all week leading up to this date.

Why no D-Day posts celebrating the heroics and valor of those that came before?

Because we're no longer worthy.

I look around at a failing empire.  A people that are decadent and lazy.  Morally corrupt and confused.

We are tired.  We have become greedy.  We no longer have any idea of what true justice and freedom means, much less have the ability to defend it from any threat.

In short.

America 2024 has dropped the torch that was passed to us.

Have you watched the telecasts/news broadcasts of this day in history?

From my chair it all felt fake.  Forced.  Insincere.

I'm a rookie student of military history.  I marvel at what was done on an almost daily basis and dream of America being able to reclaim the greatness shown on that day.

Then I wake up and see shit as it really.

We're fucked.  You know it and I know it and we damn sure aren't worthy of the sacrifice and valor shown on this day.

Wait what? Hunter Biden fucked his dead brother's wife?

You read the headline.

Is that fucking right?

Was he fucking her before dude died?  Regardless that's fucking nasty!

His pop's knew about that shit and was good with it?

GEEZ THAT'S FUCKED UP!

The Path Forward

 

 

USELESS DRIVEL....a lot of words to say NOTHING!

Open Comment Post. 6 Jun 24

 

Colonel Zinni giving PME @ TBS (1989)

 

 

The above vid was SHAMELESSLY stolen from USMC/Reddit. 

There is a big discussion on PME over at Compass Points and the education of Marines of all ranks. THIS IS HOW ITS FREAKIN DONE!

My big thing with this?

This was done for the bros over at TBS.

Who gives a fuck?

This MAN could give the same talk in front of his SNCOs, NCOs and enlisted and still gotten the message thru.

Real talk from a real MARINE OFFICER without all the flourishes of a Harvard academic that is more concerned with impressing his peers than he is with getting understanding from those that he is leading.

If your concept is only understood by those at the highest reaches of the Marine Corps, if your concept invents new buzzwords to impress and if your concept isn't aligned with the ETHOS of the Marine Corps then your concept has failed.

Force Design 2030 has failed.

Why has Berger and his acolytes failed?  Easy.  They did not follow the edicts of being a "change agent".

Change agents can fail for many reasons, including resistance to change, lack of support, and not considering organizational culture:

Resistance

Groups can be hostile to criticism from newcomers and may resist, ignore, or dismiss new ideas. It's important to recognize that change initiatives will always encounter resistance, and to manage change at a rate that people can tolerate.

Lack of support

Change initiatives may fail without top management or bottom-up support, or without inspiring leadership.

Culture

If the organization's culture doesn't change in necessary ways, efforts to change strategy, structure, and systems may be unsuccessful.

Other reasons 

Change agents may also fail if they:

• Try to achieve too much too quickly
• Don't use a clear rationale for change
• Don't set measurable objectives
• Don't adjust their plans to developments
• Don't consider organizational politics
• Don't recognize signs of organizational exhaustion
• Don't have reinforcement mechanisms in place




 

I'm gonna say this one time. PROTECT YOUR FUCKING FIREARMS FROM SNATCH ATTEMPTS!!!

 

Man grabs a hold of an officers gun while being transported from jail to court pic.twitter.com/oZsZ91KTHB

— non aesthetic things (@PicturesFoIder) June 4, 2024

1.  Don't be complacent.

2.  Be aware of your surroundings.

3.  GET IN FUCKING SHAPE!

4.  Do not be lulled into a false sense of security by professional con-artists.

5.  Become proficient in hand-to-hand combat, self defense tactics, whatever the hell  you want to call it.

If you can't even protect yourself then how the FUCK are you gonna protect others.

DO BETTER!

What do ya'll think? NYPD arrest 12 year old female illegal immigrant for selling fruit

 

The NYPD Park Police arrest a 12-year-old migrant who was illegally selling fruit in the park. People are outraged over this, but I don't see the issue. The law is the law. pic.twitter.com/gxDJcFggS2

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) June 3, 2024

The law without compassion is a terrible thing. Lack of enforcement of the law is a terrible thing.

Something else though.

There is a thing called street level justice.  What that means is that LEOs have discretion on how they handle a particular call or take enforcement action.

The author of this tweet has no problem with this arrest.

I'm not so sure.  My one caveat is I wasn't there so I don't know, just operating off sketchy ass reporting on it and we know news is highly slanted to the particular position of the person breaking the story.

I wanna know what ya'll think about this arrest.  Was it good or bad?  Over the top or just right?  Does it fit with the enforcement narrative going on in NY city?

My main problem is that you have real deal gangsters roaming that city hurting people, not selling them fruit but robbing, raping, murdering and creating all kinds of  mayhem.

Seems weird to dedicate this much police resources to what I consider a minor thing, but fuck me, what is YOUR position on this.

UA crew opinion on M1A1 Abrams

 

UA crew opinion on M1A1 Abrams.
byu/morl0v inTankPorn

This was a political hit piece.

The same issues that the Abrams is having can be said for EVERY Western tank sent to Ukraine.

One thing though.  Is it possible that sending even our "outdated" MBT/Armor to Ukraine or any other client state that does not have proper infrastructure a failure?  Would old M60s with add on armor have been a better thing for them?  The interviewee did state that they use it more for infantry support AND mobile artillery than they do for tank vs tank roles.

Ukraine is a weird war within a corrupt country.  They ask for F-16s when it would seem that they would want to grab every A-10 possible so that they could support their frontline troops.

They want F-16s when they should want a real deal missile truck and the US Navy/Marines have early model F/A-18s sitting in the desert.

They comment on getting gear late but their requests are always damn near EMERGENCY requests.  They respond to Russian action instead of making the Russians respond to their new operating modes.

The Ukrainians are fighting this war stupidly.  I don't believe Zelensky even has support from his own population and his "acting" on the international stage has become old and stale (will someone tell this bastard to buy a damn suit!).  They're running out of soldiers.  NATO appears to be tapped out.  

I believe historians will say that they failed Ukrainian counteroffensive, that they were warned NOT to do, was the turning point of this war.