The battle of Belleau Wood. America wins its first major victory of WW1 with the help of a Marines....why doesn't HQMC talk about this action, an action where the USMC served as a "second land army"?

On this day in 1918, America wins its first major victory of World War One as the Battle of Belleau Wood ends. General Pershing heaps praise on the USMC for its contribution. "The deadliest weapon in the world is a United States Marine and his rifle," he says. pic.twitter.com/poqN1pj8Uo

— Military History Now (@MilHistNow) June 26, 2024

Why doesn't HQMC trumpet this battle?

Easy.

It doesn't fit the narrative!

We have "naval roots" but more importantly WE FIGHT WHERE THE NATION TELLS US TO!  WE DON'T CHERRY PICK THE FIGHTS!  AMERICA SAYS GO FIGHT AND WE ASK WHERE!

Even in the Marine Corps' infancy we didn't completely tie ourselves to the Navy. Why that's the new "hotness" is beyond me.

Taiwan's D2 Prototype

 

This isn't even its final form, but the latest D2 prototype of the wheeled armored vehicle with a 105mm tank gun from our armament bureau already checked the boxes on our army's wishlist, including hunter-killer capacity, 360-degree surround view, and a top speed of over 100 KM/h pic.twitter.com/Cr68IbEAgc

— 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, R.O.C. 🇹🇼 (@MoNDefense) June 27, 2024

31st MEU MRF | Helocast

U.S. Marines with the maritime raid force, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, conduct a helocast exercise aboard a CH-53E off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, June 20, 2024. Helocasting is an airborne technique that allows Marines to insert from an aircraft into any body of water with all their gear and a mode of transportation. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible and lethal force, ready to perform a wide range of military operations as the premiere crisis response force in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps Video by Cpl. Apollo Wilson)

Late Open Comment Post. 23 Jun 24

It appears that the Lt Colonel is pissed...Force Design 2030 advocates are getting spicy...

jeepers creepers -didn’t think there would be anonymously penned hit pieces getting published today but here we are.@RCDefense, have your mystery author come say exactly what they’re implying, words you published, using their name…because we need to have a conversation.

— Travis Hord (@MAGTravF) June 21, 2024

JoshO, a reader of this blog, captured an awesome pic of the new F-15 Missile Truck...

 

JoshO shared this pic of the F-15 Missile Truck in the comments and I just had to pop it out so it wouldn't get lost there. Freaking awesome and thanks for sharing! Not making the call, especially cause I've been slipping in relation to getting stuff up on the blog but just like CoffeeJoeJava hits me up with everything Marine Corps, Carlton hits me with tidbits of info on military tech trends and a ton of other people keep me informed of stuff cause ONE PERSON can't catch it all....I'm asking everyone to hit those open comments with your pics, tips and other juicy info. That was suggested a long time ago and its been one of the most awesome things we do here. We really need to revitalize that asset and make it great again (pun intended)!

I am instinctively against using cargo planes as missile launchers but this is beyond awesome (assuming they get hypersonics to work)

🇺🇸 The REVOLVER launcher in the cargo compartment of a military Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, with two sequentially installed drums and an electromagnetic catapult for launching 12 Boeing X-51A Waverider hypersonic cruise missilespic.twitter.com/mxRNwB02Eh

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) June 21, 2024

I'm against using cargo planes in an offensive role. My thinking is that they should be used to carry desperately needed munitions to the "real" fighters. But this is cool. Very cool. If they can get hypersonics to work and IF we can get the next gen lifter into production then I have no problem with it.

Of course this does lead to the next question.  Should our next gen heavy lifter be designed from the outset to launch missiles or is simply installing a module good enough?

Whittaker is a fucking animal. I thought the fight would be much, much better....

ROBERT WHITTAKER KNCOKS OUT ALISKEROV EARLY IN ROUND 1 #UFCSaudiArabia pic.twitter.com/8WdNDqoYu4

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) June 22, 2024

The ultimate anti-drone device? A Marine that's been to a skeet shooting course!

Soldier with immaculate aim guns down a drone
byu/billibillibillendar ininterestingasfuck

If you can teach a redneck to knock down ducks then you can certainly teach a Marine to knock down drones. Simpler is better...at least till the tactic evolves.

Vision 2035. A SOLID alternative to the delusional Force Design 2035...a must read by some of the Marine Corps greats!

Marine Corps Global Response in the Age of Precision Munitions https://t.co/bfxwQD974d

— Solomon (@SnafuBlogspot) June 22, 2024

Open Comment Post. 22 Jun 24

Radar cross sections. Could properly instructed AI help here?

 

Any surprises here? pic.twitter.com/XGyqn7znC4

— Chris Bolton (@CcibChris) June 20, 2024

Even with the small differences between the cross section of an insect to the F-117, could a properly instructed AI tell the difference and help targeting? We saw a F-22 tracked by sat. Could AI help work out a targeting solution on it? My bigger point is that while everyone is talking about drones the ability to actually hide from the enemy is in my opinion going to get harder and harder. Add AI to GaN radars and things are gonna get tricky indeed. If your signature is known then I believe it will be detected. If you attempt to jam then your general location will be known. Is going for low profile armor and stealth aircraft the answer or do we need to develop new armors/anti-armor missile systems along with simply building long range missiles to meet the future.

Ukraine's GUR Chief is speaking in absolutes...

Neither a Korean, nor a Moldovan, nor a German scenario is possible in Ukraine- none of this will work. This must be stopped once and for all, Ukraine's Military Intelligence (GUR) Chief Budanov says.

"Either we will all together force a return to the world order that was… pic.twitter.com/9AdLgM3nLd

— Clash Report (@clashreport) June 21, 2024

I've wondered something. In a fight for national survival (one that you're losing), at the end of the day if the leadership is true to its word then at the end they will either commit suicide or die in a fighting hole. I despise Hitler but he spoke in absolutes, would not accept a surrender agreement and chose to end his life in a bunker (or so history would tell us). I wonder if when the West has fully exhausted its stocks and can't reasonably squeeze anymore from its own forces and IF Russia is winning will Ukrainian leadership pick up a rifle, get in a fighting hole and slug it out?  Would they choose a less honorable death by suicide?  Would they run to a Western country only to be hunted by the relatives of the men that they sent to their deaths?

Negotiations have always been frowned on for some reason.  This conflict should have been over long ago.  

The elite want this fight.

But if the fight is about a "new world order" then they've already failed.  That ship has sailed.  We are in a messy multi-polar mess and we've just to navigate it.

When the sanctions failed despite how draconian they were it was a signal to everyone.

Things have changed and you can't put it back into the bottle.

Open Comment Post. 21 Jun 24

China's statement on the actions of their coast guard is utter bullshit. Haven't seen them fail so badly before or so obviously lie...terrible look

During a recent law enforcement action in the waters of Ren'ai Jiao, the China Coast Guard (CCG) faced provocations from personnel aboard a Philippine warship illegally grounded there. In response, the CCG solemnly replied: "This is China! Go back to the Philippines!" pic.twitter.com/LWQqdm1WhE

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) June 21, 2024

No protests for the 8000 Christians in Africa murdered last year by Islamic terrorist but plenty of tears for Gaza?

Christians murdered inside a church in Nigeria!
8,000 were killed in 2023 by lsIamic groups!
150,000 Christians murdered in last 15 years.

How many more to start a single protest for them?

pic.twitter.com/gCrHaew3ym

— Azat Alsalem (@AzzatAlsaalem) June 17, 2024

MAKE IT MAKE FUCKING SENSE!

Chris Conley captured some amazing pics of an F-15 loaded with 12 AMRAAM missiles tearing up the sky...

I’ll take a flying missile truck with 12 AMRAAM’s for $500 Alex.

A @BoeingDefense F-15-SA Advanced ripping up the sky’s over Chesterfield MO#aviation #f15 #aviationdaily #avgeek #USAF pic.twitter.com/Jw5r29BiBJ

— Chris Conley (@Skyworx_Media) June 19, 2024

Matthew Stafford is a cuck...

TRENDING: #Rams Matthew Stafford’s wife, Kelly says she slept with his backup quarterback at Georgia to make Matthew jealous

😳

pic.twitter.com/fUAKnVIHOu

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) June 20, 2024

Good God it's real. Predatory birds will attack small children...

 

Holy Sht. That was a close call.

pic.twitter.com/LZhzVkqaNu

— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) June 20, 2024

I've seen all kinds of vids of eagles, falcons...whatever making off with dogs, cats, even small deer but I've never seen one where its going after a small child. Makes me wonder how many times in human history we've seen small people being devoured by predatory birds.

The US & UK are disagreeing about Ukraine going into NATO...The Good Sheperd Twitter Page explains why the UK is wrong on so many levels & displays delusions of grandeur

If 🇬🇧 wants 🇺🇦 in NATO then obviously 🇬🇧 needs to develop much, much, much greater military capabilities.

Europe is not even capable of defending itself from conventional Russian military forces, let alone supplying 🇺🇦 with the military aid it needs. It remains heavily…

— The Good Shepherd (@HoyasFan07) June 19, 2024

THIS IS A MUST READ TWITTER THREAD!  MAKE SURE YOU DO! But some won't want to bother so I'm popping it out here...

 If wants in NATO then obviously needs to develop much, much, much greater military capabilities.

Europe is not even capable of defending itself from conventional Russian military forces, let alone supplying with the military aid it needs. It remains heavily dependent on for both. currently has the smallest army its had in 200 years. Last year it had 157 available tanks. Its artillery capabilities are very limited. The RAF is in bad shape. And the royal navy has a grand total of 6 attack subs, 6 destroyers, and 7-8 available ASW frigates. So bringing into NATO simply means transferring *more* European security responsibilities to taxpayers and soldiers. At a time when is already badly overstretched between 4 different theaters. This is totally unacceptable and just D.O.A. from an American perspective. To even talk about joining NATO while Europe remains so heavily dependent on is kind of ridiculous. needs to prioritize the Pacific and shift more conventional assets, esp USAF/USN/USMC to that theater due to the rising threat from . Bringing would obviously undermine that. This is merely another example of Europeans, particularly the British and French, biting off way more than they can chew, assuming will bail them out. If seriously wants in NATO then needs to immediately start to spend a minimum of 4% GDP on defense and maybe closer to 4.5% or 5%. The current level of 2.2% with a "goal" of hitting 2.5% by 2030 is just entirely unserious and not even adequate to protect existing NATO territory. Conscription would also almost certainly be required to build up the reserve force to the scale needed to actually deter . would also need other key NATO allies to substantially increase their commitments, including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Canada. Time to get real. Commitments need to be aligned with *ACTUAL* capabilities. If you want to substantially expand commitments and interests then you need to substantially expand capabilities. Which means spending lots of money, among other things. Without that, it's hollow and dangerous since it harms the credibility of the commitment and makes war more likely. This is a bit like gambling. Responsible nation states don't act like con men, hoping they can BS their way through a security crisis with a nuclear-armed adversary. That's why responsible American and West European Cold War leaders were dead serious about (a) building up massive military capabilities, and (b) drawing interests & commitments in a relatively narrow way. That's prudent. That's realism. That's responsible statecraft. Not this post Cold War "we can do everything and be everywhere" neoconservatism & muscular liberalism, all while our actual real world capabilities continue to diminish year after year. 1/