The US Army on hill tops.

Snipers with the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team provide overwatch for fellow paratroopers in a village below them May 19, 2012, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. Troops serving in Afghanistan are outfitted with several long-range weapons to increase their combat effectiveness in the country’s wide-open spaces. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod)

A paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team provides overwatch security to fellow paratroopers and Afghan National Security Forces after a firefight May 17, 2012, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. The agricultural areas surrounding Combat Outpost Giro are a haven for insurgent activities. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod)

VBTP-MR going to Eurosatory 2012.

via DEFESA GLOBAL...

Iveco Defence Vehicles will show at Eurosatory 2012, one of the first production Iveco Veículos de Defesa VBTP-MR (Viatura Blindada de Transporte de Pessoal-Média de Rodas) Guarani amphibian weeled armoured vehicles.

Later this year, the Brazilian Army is to receive the first vehicles of 2044 units procured to Iveco Defence Vehicles Latin America in several variants.

The reason why this vehicle is so interesting to me and why I'm trying to keep track of it is because I believe that it directly affects the Marine Corps Personnel Carrier competition.

Notice the production figures?

2044 units?  Impressively large.  Built to satisfy requirements that are remarkably similar to the USMC's and in my opinion the SuperAV 8x8 is simply an enlarged VBTP-MR.

So what does that mean for our program?  It means that the idea of this becoming a cost shoot out is more and more of a reality.  If Iveco and BAE are able to build parts for the SuperAV 8x8 in Brazil then that should chill out a trading partner that the Obama Administration (and in fairness all free trade hawks) is desperate to please.

I can almost see another Super Tucano type arrangement being established if the SuperAV is chosen.  Parts built in Brazil and BAE assembling the vehicle in Texas.

This is definitely Big Boy procurement.  Can we all say cut throat?

This guy is a piece of work.

First check out this video. 

Watch it twice, maybe three times because they scroll through the info kinda quick....



Then go to BlackFive and read about this "human'...

Slimy.

Con artist.

In need of direct action.

So much for a kind, gentle Democrat Party huh?

The LCS. Time to rebrand it.

Sometimes an organization will produce a product that is so horrible that it should be destroyed.  But sometimes, that horrible product can simply be rebranded and reintroduced to the public.


That's what the Navy should do with the LCS.


First the name is horrible.  Littoral Combat Ship?  I think we can all safely say that the LCS has expanded beyond that simple description.


And lets be honest here.


If you want to fight small boats in the littoral zone, all you need to do is send the Riverines out in CB90's and they'll wipe the floor with them.


So what do we do with the LCS?  First we rename it Multi-Mission Vessel (MMV).  Then we build every one of them we have in the pipeline and then we stop.


At that point we turn our attention 100 percent toward getting mission modules together.


Some advice to the Navy.  You want to get these ships fully funded and into the fleet like yesterday?


YOU GET SOCOM'S MISSION MODULE UP AND RUNNING PRONTO!


If you have to assign half these ships to supporting SOCOM then you do it!  That will get you funding, it will make your ships high profile and it will get you positive press.


Next up (in my way of thinking) would be to get mission modules running for the Marines and certain Army units....Besides running these ships around the world for SOCOM, you team them up with AFRICOM to support partnership missions there.


That will get you positive interagency press.  Which brings me to the next module.  Humanitarian assistance/Inter Agency module.


Have you noticed the trend here?  You're developing personnel modules.  Not warfighting modules, but in essence support modules.  This will get your ships out to the fleet quicker, will make them useful sooner and will create demand that will help kick start this poorly handled program.


Once SOCOM, the Marines, Army, Inter Agency and Humanitarian Assistance modules are done, then you can accelerate the work on the surface warfare, anti-mine warfare and land attack modules.


But you've got to rebrand this thing first.  The LCS can be saved, will be useful and can contribute to the fleet.  

If you do it my way, it'll be welcomed with open arms not cries of WTF!

Hatfields & McCoys

Really looking forward to seeing this show.

SC-MAGTF APS-12.

Photos by Staff Sgt. Jemssy Alvarez
U.S. Marines from Security Cooperation Task Force African Partnership Station 12 (SCTF APS-12), ground combat element (GCE), clear a simulated enemy compound during a mechanized patrol through Combat Town May 21, 2012, aboard Marine Corps. Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. This training was the first time that the GCE's rifle platoon conducted combat simulations with their mechanized counterparts since SCTF APS-12 was activated.

Rilfleman's Creed

Rilfleman's Creed 1

The long road home...

United States Marine Corps casket bearers navigate rocky terrain to deliver the remains of Lance Cpl. Abraham Tarwoe, of Providence, R.I., to his gravesite during a memorial service in Flehla, Liberia, May 17. Tarwoe, who was born in Liberia, died from wounds suffered in combat in Helmand province, Afghanistan, April 12. At the time of his death, Tarwoe was deployed from 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, Camp Lejuene, N.C. The casket bearers were all members of Operation Onward Liberty, a U.S. military mentor mission that is building capacity within the Armed Forces of Liberia.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by 1st Lt. Mark Lazane)

My heart goes out to his family.  But while they grieve they should be proud.  They raised a young man that was brave enough to do what few in his adopted country would.  First he volunteered to join the US Marine Corps, then he went to combat.

Not to sound morbid, but I'm also proud of my Marine Corps.

They kept the promise.

The US Marines...of all nationalities...from all walks of life.