Dawn Descent...

Photos by Cpl. Gene A. Ainsworth III

A Marine serving with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's ground combat element, Battalion Landing Team 3/1 fast ropes out of a UH-1Y Huey onto USS Makin Island here May 31. The unit is deployed as part of the Makin Island Ready Group, a U.S. Central Command theater reserve force. The group is providing support for maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

Hot Hook-Up

Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 5 return from familiarizing themselves with the downward thrust of a Kaman K1200, or "K-MAX," unmanned helicopter during initial testing in Helmand province, Afghanistan, May 22. Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 2 pioneered the first unmanned, mid-flight external cargo hookups, and delivered approximately 6,000 pounds of gear in their first day of testing.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Lisa Tourtelot)

Quote of the day

“A real warrior, would like to go to combat with a weapon, a loin cloth and a light coat of oil.”

 George Solhan, Deputy Chief Researcher for Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare

MCFIT???? Hey Marine Corps...just fucking stop it.

The Marine Corps is losing its soul and its mind to politically correct bullshit.  Of all the different forms of nonsense that are being pushed onto Marines, we now have a holistic guide to fitness.  Read about it here...but check this out from the Commanders Guide....

MCFIT Coordinator– oversees the use of MCFIT within the
unit. Assignment of the MCFIT Coordinator - The commander using
MCFIT must assign a coordinator to oversee the entire process of
using MCFIT, to include the security of the responses and signin
sheet, and preparing the commander’s report. The coordinator
for phase one of the MCFIT can be any Marine in the unit,
however, a unit’s Religious Ministry Team (RMT) is recommended
for the task. Care should be taken to avoid the coordinator
being any lower than a Sergeant.

I'm not getting this.

What I do know is this.  Physical Fitness has been bastardized into something that its not.  Its not hard.  It doesn't take coordinators, or Religious Ministry Team Members....it takes dedication and will power.

You workout, you eat right and you get enough rest.

Its simple.  In bootcamp you're taught a few basic exercises that can be done in a confined space-anywhere in the world.  This holistic fitness program is to complicate the simple.  We have got to be better than this.  

Sidenote:
I COULD EASILY BE WRONG...but I sense Ms. Obama's hand in this.  She's been pushing a "healthy" agenda and since she's not getting any traction in the civilian world, its just too easy to ORDER the military to do it.  Like I said.  I could be wrong.

Ooops. Uh-oh.

Quite honestly I wonder why this isn't being talked about more.

This is really a history 101 kind of thing.  Basic American history taught in elementary school should have provided the knowledge necessary to steer clear of this controversy.

Now you know why I don't trust politicians to make the militarily smart choice.  If you don't know history...

Starship Troopers: Invasion.

I love animation, I loved the book Starship Troopers.  I was disapointed by the movie.  Rico's Roughnecks the animation didn't disappoint though.  And now we have this.  Pretty cool and it should come out by Comic Con this fall.  Awesome.  Oh, check out the movie website here.

2nd Cav getting field time....

Love ya Cdr Salamander but you're wrong.

l.CDR Salamander has a blog entry in which he lauds Adm Harvey for finally going Sa..Going Sal means that you dispense with conventional wisdom, ignore politically correct speak, ignore group speak and plainly state the truth.

Unfortunately Admiral Harvey, while finally getting around to putting his cards on the table, is following a long line of military leaders that only get brave when return fire is impossible.

To be quite honest the last Flag Ranked Officer to show MORAL COURAGE was General Shinseki.

And Rummy fired him for it.

Forget the fact that the General Shinseki was right.  Forget the fact that he was later vindicated.  Forget the fact that he's done yeoman's work at the VA, getting that dysfunctional organization pointed in the right direction...remember that he was the last man to show courage when it could cost him.

Think about it.

Revolt of the generals...that Time Magazine story that revealed how much military leadership disagreed with Rummy.  How about the rumors that have been floating for years that suggested that leadership wanted a different direction from what the civilian overlords wanted

I'm just not buying it.  Cursing at the boss, shouting at the moon and saying whats on your mind while you're about to walk out the door isn't going CDR Salamander.

Its being cowardly.

Anyone can do a drive by and leave the scene before others can shoot back.