Sunday, December 08, 2024

Late Open Comment Post. 8 Dec 24

 


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Our failure in Syria is complete...Damascus has fallen and terrorist now control a vast swath of territory...

 

Was informed by Noble and S300v4 that Damascus had fallen. Amazing how battlefield failures turn into complete routs in the Middle East isn't it. I don't know who to blame for our Syria policy but their failure is complete and since they SUPPOSEDLY were acting on behalf of the US then that means OUR failure is complete.

Israel, Turkey and Iraq better watch out.  Shit is about to get real spicy for them.  Those base camps we have in country better be dialing up some extraction under fire plans too.

I guess the 82nd is getting dialed up for some action.  SOCOM is already playing there...an MEU is basically useless now so options are few.

I guess the guys on the ground (I include those in Iraq too) better hold on and hope Navy and Air Force power can keep the bad guys at bay.
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Trump basically says it ain't our business

 

I HAVE NEVER UNDERSTOOD THE WAR IN SYRIA. NEVER UNDERSTOOD OUR ROLE. NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHY WE WERE THERE.
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Murder of Logan Melgar

 via Wikipedia

...investigation of SEAL Team Six, which named the two members who were persons of interest in the homicide and initially focused on analyzing their conflicting statements regarding Melgar's death. While they had stated that Melgar had been intoxicated on the evening of his death, he was determined to have no drugs or alcohol in his system when he died. Melgar was further determined to have had his throat and upper body mutilated in an apparent attempt at a tracheotomy. The two Navy SEALs stated that they found Melgar unconscious and not breathing and that they tried to perform an emergency tracheotomy on him. Upon investigation, one of the men involved subsequently stated that Melgar was choked during a "hazing" attempt gone wrong, in which Melgar was to be strangled to unconsciousness, tied up, and sexually assaulted on video.[5]

A continued focus of the investigation was allegations that Melgar had discovered that the two SEALs had stolen cash earmarked for paying local informants and that he had told the two that he would report that. The two SEALs denied this allegation.[6]

Here

Ya know what the worst thing is about all these small wars that SOCOM is involved in worldwide (I include CIA Direct Action Teams in this shit too)?

So much cash floating around that it corrupts everyone involved.

The craziest thing about this? They went with the excuse that it was a botched sexual assault and thought that would see them thru!  Oh and there are a couple of sexual assaults from this outfit that would curl the hair on your bald head and DEMAND that none of your female relatives or friends even think about joining the military (hint...one case of a rape involving the victim's face being punched into goo).

Do you know how much weird shit SEAL TEAM 6 got drawn into during the war on terror?   

I know when things went south for the SEAL TEAMs.  I forgot his name but way back when fitness videos were the hotness.  A Navy SEAL made one, went to work with Black Water and ended up hung from a bridge.

That suddenly made SEALs famous (but wait...more was to come).  Then you had dudes writing all kinds of books.  Book writing isn't isolated to the SEALs but they flooded the zone.

Then the last thing that caused the SEALs to go sideways was the freaking "head bullfrog" (something like that) being appointed SOCOM Chief and they got Bin Laden.

The building and then exploding fame almost wrecked those guys.

They bounced back nicely but they definitely had a rough patch.

Every outfit has rough patches.  The good ones learn from the mistakes (they damn sure don't forget them), figure out what went wrong and move forward smartly.

I think the SEALs are doing that...but Africa is a motherfucker.  Corruption is everywhere and SEALs are in the middle of that hookin' and jabbin' with the Wagner remnants.

Let's hope another group of them don't go native and sully the name again.

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DOGE Advisor Ron Paul is seeking to shake up international money laundering!

 

Let's speak the truth. Everyone cries for the Palastinians but no one EVER questions where the millions of dollars go. Palestinian leadership live in luxury while the people live in squalor. Why say all that? To put a little firepower behind my idea that foreign aid is just high level money laundering. The rich get richer with the scheme and the poor get poorer. Name one country that has received lavish amounts of foreign aid from the US, EU...anyone that was poor and moved toward being a developed country.
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Robots are beginning to disrupt some high paying civilian jobs. When is it the military's turn?

Forgive me for saying this, but for the life of me I don't understand why we build manned bombers anymore. I don't understand why we still build manned CARGO (as in NOT carrying humans) planes. Port workers are feeling the pain of robotics. Soon that will spread all across the manufacturing base. Baby steps are even being made into long distance trucking (a couple more decades to get that right though) and even medicine.

Men will always be on the field of battle fighting, but the number of men will surely or SHOULD surely decrease in the future.

I mean it just makes sense.
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NSFW! Watch a 16 yr old throw away his life in a failed robbery - New Orleans, LA

 

Sad. This shit is so common it no longer moves the needle...which is even sadder.
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Saturday, December 07, 2024

More combat engineers, mechanized infantry: IDF Ground Forces lays out future plans

via The Times Of Israel (story here)

In addition to the new combat engineering battalion and expanding Yahalom, the Ground Forces said it would also begin to train infantry forces to carry out simple explosive-related engineering tasks, to free up the combat engineers.

The Ground Forces also seeks to train all of the IDF’s infantry forces to use armored vehicles and become mechanized infantry brigades. Currently, only the Givati and Golani brigades are considered mechanized infantry, while the Nahal Brigade is in the process of adopting more advanced armored personnel carriers.

Geez.

The Israelis still don't get it.  


 Until peace comes they're gonna be operating in a highly urbanized environment.  Bulldozers are nice and a D9 can level damn near anything (given time) but you need heavy firepower up close that can put pain on the enemy instead of poking holes in concrete.

They need to develop a big gun for "engineering" purposes.


Did you know you can buy a robot dog off of E-Bay TODAY!!!!!

Tunnels.  Hamas likes tunnels.  Why send your forces down tunnels when you can send a robot.  Don't like dogs then a small quad rotor.  Send something other than people.

Oh and by flooding the zone with robot dogs you can probably fill the gaps in that weird, tragic and probably preventable idiocy that occured on Oct 7 (assuming you believe that Israeli leadership wasn't properly warned).

Back on task.

One part of the article is puzzling.

Making everyone mech?  I wonder if that has something to do with how they plan to stage their forces.  One of the big chest thumping things the IDF was pushing was how the Eitan was able to quickly respond to the crisis and engage the enemy.

More vehicles for everyone?  Don't get that but oh well.  Why have Namers and Eitans if you're gonna make everyone motorized as well?                   

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ST Engineering to develop new 8x8 amphibious armored vehicle for Kazakhstan.

 


via Army Recognition (story here)

Between the offering from S. Korea and this beast, I am of the thought that some of the finest wheeled IFVs are being built in Asia.

They'll never release the results of all the competitions but I would luv to know how the evaluators stack these vehicles head to head.

FORGET BUDGET CONSIDERATIONS AND OTHER ADD-ONS...just straight up which is best.  I'll even take different operating conditions but it would be nice to know the real deal.

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Open Comment Post. 7 Dec 24

 


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Thursday, December 05, 2024

This could explain why an average Joe went after the United Health CEO

Just plain wow. I guess if you're running a for profit health insurance company then claim denials will be high. Its still shocking how much bureaucracy there is in our health care system. Fewer doctors, more bureaucrats. THIS IS WHY I'm in such a jacked up position when it comes to govt health care. Tricare, the VA...its all jacked up. Health insurance for the poor or the barely holding on is worse still. Then I look up at Canada and I see all the things that make me pause when they want to take health care society wide.

But back on mission.

This kinda explains why an average Joe could snap and go after the UH CEO.  A loved one needing care and its denied?  A loved one that sought care and you're sent a bill that you, your children and your children's children can't pay back?

I just have to wonder if this is just the beginning.

We just went thru an era of lawlessness being allowed in the US. Govts on every level saw it and gave it a wink and nod. What happens when the average person says they're letting criminals do all this trash so why can't I?

Societal collapse is a real thing.  I just wonder how close we were/are to it happening?
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The "hitter" in the assassination of the CEO left messages on his brass...

 

The Bullets That Struck United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson Had 'Deny,' 'Defend,' and 'Depose' Written on Them"
byu/Bad-Umpire10 inDamnthatsinteresting
This is some ballsy shit. Either this dude is certifiably crazy with some "Dexter" attributes or this is a pro job designed to send messages and fuck with law enforcement. With some of the shit I'm seeing I put this at a 25% chance (at best) of them ever catching this dude. What people seem to forget is how hard it is to catch these guys. Does anyone remember the DC Sniper case? If they had stopped at 3 kills and knocked off then they never would have been caught. The sad fact is that most killers KNOW their target. If its random or the person is far removed from the victim then it gets substantially harder to link them.
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3rd AA Bn. conducts surf transit training...Photos by Cpl. Juan Torres

 

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Wednesday, December 04, 2024

The hit on the UnitedHealth CEO

I don't know what to make of this. The gun handling skills are ok but nothing high speed. What caught my attention instead (the media is all over gun handling) is his reaction. Malfunctioning gun? Cleared it calmly. Has an actual human in his sights? Handled it calmly. No wasted or rushed movements. This doesn't seem like his first rodeo. Another thing that caught my attention is that during the shooting he's positioned where the cameras don't catch is face.

Which leads me to this.

If its a pro hit by a govt or competitor then ok.  This all makes sense.

But the scary possibility is if this is some guy that feels like he was wronged by the company.

Say its some bubba that saw a loved one die because UH wouldn't provide coverage.  Or capped coverage.  Or did all of the above and left him with enough medical bills to wreck him and his lineage for the next 5 generations.

If this was done by a normal guy that is outraged by the "system" then this is new.  This means that we have finally seen a person that is going after the big dawgs instead of hurting those in his same class that are suffering.

Don't get me wrong.

I AM NOT ALL CONDONING THIS.

But I am saying is that the rich and powerful have been untouchable.  If this is just a normal dude that did this then we're seeing a massive change in things.
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No more funds for Ukraine till Trump takes office and decides on the approach to the war!

 

Looks like the money laundering operation known as "aid to Ukraine" is about to dry up...at least for awhile. Throwing money at a problem never works. Ya got to have a plan. Unfortunately, no one has a plan for winning in Ukraine (however that might look) and the only thing they're capable of doing at the moment is to fight for fighting's sake. Fuck the lives of the troops on the ground. Fuck the destruction of the country. Fuck the broken people on both sides. The fighting must continue for fight's sake.
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I ignored the martial law declaration in S. Korea figuring it was just crazy politicians. NOW THE MILITARY is saying it will stay in place. WHAT THE FUCK!!!

 

Just fucking wow.

Not many know that S. Korea once had a military "enforced" semi-democracy.

What do we do with a hyper militarized, aggressive, S. Korea seeking to settle old scores?

Japan better watch out.

N. Korea too.

The US might be caught in a wave of yankee go home & China could be the big winner.

The batshit crazy Pacific might be getting crazier.
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Open Comment Post. 4 Dec 24

 


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Uncomfortable question. Is the USMC at least partially responsible for the mess that is Navy shipbuilding?

 I'm gonna hit you all with some uncomfortable truths.

The USMC has been wagging the Navy's tail in a big way when it comes to shipbuilding.  It's been bitching and moaning to such an extent that it is at LEAST partially responsible for the mess that is Navy shipbuilding.

Want proof?  Follow my bouncing ball....


USS Zumwalt.  The Marine Corps cried about a lack of naval guns to support our amphibious assaults.  The USMC also whined about the lack of range that current guns had.  The Navy tried to come up with a solution.  The Zumwalt used leap ahead tech to try and provide a solution but in the end it was too much too soon and the gun were incapable of doing the job at a reasonable expense.

The funny sad thing?

Years later the Marine Corps got out of the amphibious assault business in everything but name.  They're still trying to decide what to do with the Zumwalt.


USS Montford Point.  When initially conceived the Marine Corps was whining about not having enough well decks to launch its AAVs and LCACs to conduct Ship To Objective Maneuver.  The Navy put together its Expeditionary Transfer Dock.

After much fanfare, after much crowing the USMC changed course again.  I believe (don't hold me to this, I'm doing it from memory), the focus changed from surface assault to being "air centric".

So what happened?  This happened!


The very essence of the ship changed to being a lily pad for helos.

They turned into orphan children for awhile too.  I remember exercises where they were being setup for use as mine countermeasure ships and finally pawned off on SOCOM for use as base ships.

These CONSTRUCTED but no one knew what to do with them ships had trouble finding their place in our force structure.  With maintenance and MANNING turning into an issue the Navy is mothballing them.

The funny sad thing now?  Now the Marine Corps is trying to claw them back saying they're needed for the Stand In Force!


Expeditionary Fast Transport.  This one is weird.  The Marine Corps stated they needed ships to move Marines around the Pacific.  Air travel was not capable of moving men and machines in an efficient way.  In steps this puppy.

It was the hotness for awhile but guess what.  Its time in the sun was short-lived.  Now?  Now they're being reclassed as hospital ships (a few) and God only knows what for the rest.'  Instead of being high speed transports that fill that need the Marine Corps is moving toward Stern Landing ships.  Why these ships can't be flexed into the role is beyond me but they are shallow draft capable and while I don't know the particulars of Force Design it seems like a missed opportunity.  Several of these ships are going into mothballs too.

Oh and don't think the tail wagging has stopped.

The Marine Corps is complaining about the lack of amphibs.  The Marine Corps is demanding Stern Landing Ships.  The Marine Corps is demanding to be the controlling force in the naval fight because it has its Stand In Force taking hits and shooting a few missiles at Chinese vessels (the SIF makes no sense....zero out the SIF and buy a few more Burke Destroyers and you have a damn near 500% firepower improvement without risking American lives acting as a tripwire force that can actually kill enemy ships without being micro fragmented!).

My point and my complaint?

The Marine Corps has been gyrating from concept to concept, pushing the Navy to build ships to support those concepts and then is left holding the bag when the Marine Corps moves on to the next hot thing that hits the Commandant's desk.

I don't know how it happened but the Marine Corps is and has been suffering a crisis of leadership that is readily visible in the demands its placed on the Navy with regard to ships to support the amphibious force.

As much as I hate to say it, the Navy has been MORE THAN accommodating.  The Navy has jumped thru hoops to support the Marine Corps.

Sadly the Marine Corps is at LEAST partially responsible for the mess that is Navy shipbuilding.


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Tuesday, December 03, 2024

Ukrainian Army on the verge of collapse. Desertion is a problem that the West can't solve...via Defense News

 via DN

Facing every imaginable shortage, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops, tired and bereft, have walked away from combat and front-line positions to slide into anonymity, according to soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials. Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, according to military commanders and soldiers.

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 More than 100,000 soldiers have been charged under Ukraine’s desertion laws since Russia invaded in February 2022, according to the country’s General Prosecutor’s Office.

Nearly half have gone AWOL in the last year alone, after Kyiv launched an aggressive and controversial mobilization drive that government officials and military commanders concede has largely failed.

It’s a staggeringly high number by any measure, as there were an estimated 300,000 Ukrainian soldiers engaged in combat before the mobilization drive began. And the actual number of deserters may be much higher. One lawmaker with knowledge of military matters estimated it could be as high as 200,000.

Here

THIS!

THIS IS WHY ZELENSKY IS PUSHING AN ABSURD PEACEPLAN!

He knows he can't get NATO membership but he started high and hopes that the final plan will allow him to save face.

I have never seen such a crazy battle plan in my life.  The counter offensive was ill conceived.  The push into Russia was batshit stupid.

After reading this article one thing is clear.

The Ukrainian Army is on the verge of collapse.

IF THIS TURNS INTO A HARD WINTER THEN YOU WILL SEE RUSSIAN ADVANCES COUNTED IN THE TENS OF MILES PER DAY.

Quite honestly we need to be thankful that Putin is timid and not a military man.

If Putin had been to even a Sgt's Course in the Marine Corps then he would be literally skullfucking logistics units supplying frontline troops instead of going after Ukraine's power grid.

All the drones wasted on going after Kyiv would be pummeling the frontlines just to destroy whatever morale still exists with the Ukrainian infantry.

But the good thing is that because Putin isn't a military man and is timid (notice that I'm NOT saying he's stupid because he isn't) he won't do the things that could send the Ukrainian military into a full blown retreat across all fronts.

This war is over.

For better or worse Russia will get its bufferzone and China will help it rebuild while what's left of Ukraine will be an anchor around the neck of the EU for 50+ years.

 

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Open Comment Post. 3 Dec 24

 


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