Wednesday, August 17, 2011

God bless the 10th Mountain Division

If this story doesn't break your heart then you have no soul.

God bless the 10th Mountain.  Story via Stars and Stripes.

For those in Company C, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Thursday was the worst of days. Five of its Soldiers, all from 3rd Platoon’s 1st Squad, were killed when their Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All Terrain Vehicle rolled over an improvised explosive device on a desolate road in southern Kandahar province.
“It’s like your family just got ripped out of your heart,” Pfc. Thadius Deloatch said.
On Sunday, the Department of Defense identified those killed in the explosion: Sgt. Edward J. Frank II, 26, of Yonkers, N.Y.; Spc. Jameel T. Freeman, 26, of Baltimore, Md.; Spc. Patrick L. Lay II, 21, of Fletcher, N.C.; Spc. Jordan M. Morris, 23, of Stillwater, Okla.; Pfc. Rueben J. Lopez, 27, of Williams, Calif.
After the explosion Thursday, the battalion chaplain couldn’t get here soon enough. A line of Soldiers needing him waited late into the night, and early the next morning. For many, the tears pushed out in waves. For others, solace came in the form of a quiet stoicism.
“I don’t know what to do right now. My whole squad is gone,” Pfc. Jeremy Urzua said. His squad leader, Frank, was among the Soldiers killed in the blast and had given him a rare day off Thursday.
“I didn’t see it at first, but he just saved my life,” said Urzua, who was back at COP when the attack occurred that morning.

Longest Dead Snake Ever Seen

TRAP mission at an undisclosed location in Logar province,

U.S. Marines with the Helicopter Support Team (HST), 2nd Marine Logistics Group hook a sling onto a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 464 during a tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel (TRAP) mission at an undisclosed location in Logar province, Afghanistan, Aug. 10, 2011. HMH-464 and the HST performed TRAP missions in order to retrieve U.S. military equipment, and to conduct investigations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Ricardo A. Gomez/Released)

Operation Black Sand

Marines with 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division (Forward), set off a controlled detonation in the Ladar Bazaar in southern Musa Qal’ah District, Helmand province, during Operation Black Sand, Aug. 5. Through the combined efforts of 2nd CEB, Regimental Combat Team 8 and The Republic of Georgia’s 33rd Light Infantry Battalion, the Ladar Bazaar, which insurgents used to manufacture and distribute improvised explosive devices, was destroyed.

Lance Cpl. Christopher Davis, an anti-tank assaultman with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 8, and native of Shreveport, La., uses a command launch unit for a FGM-148 Javelin missile launcher to search for enemies after taking small arms fire from insurgents during Operation Black Sand in the southern portion of Musa Qal’ah District, Helmand province, Aug. 5. Through the combined efforts of 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division (Forward), RCT-8 and The Republic of Georgia’s 33rd Light Infantry Battalion, the Ladar Bazaar, which insurgents used to manufacture and distribute improvised explosive devices, was destroyed.

A Black Hawk helicopter on a casualty evacuation mission soars through the skies of southern Musa Qal’ah District, Helmand province, Aug. 5. Through the combined efforts of 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division (Forward), Regimental Combat Team 8 and The Republic of Georgia’s 33rd Light Infantry Battalion, the Ladar Bazaar, which insurgents used to manufacture and distribute improvised explosive devices, was destroyed.

Marines with 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division (Forward), set off a controlled detonation in the Ladar Bazaar in southern Musa Qal’ah District, Helmand province, during Operation Black Sand, Aug. 6. Through the combined efforts of 2nd CEB, Regimental Combat Team 8 and The Republic of Georgia’s 33rd Light Infantry Battalion, the Ladar Bazaar, which insurgents used to manufacture and distribute improvised explosive devices, was destroyed.

Cpl. Jeff Drew, a combat correspondent assigned to Headquarters Battalion, 2nd Marine Division (Forward), and native of Simsbury, Conn., scans a village for insurgent activity during the early morning hours of Aug. 5 during Operation Black Sand in the southern portion of the Musa Qal’ah District, Helmand province. Through the combined efforts of 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division (Forward), Regimental Combat Team 8 and The Republic of Georgia’s 33rd Light Infantry Battalion, the Ladar Bazaar, which insurgents used to manufacture and distribute improvised explosive devices, was destroyed.

Cpl. Ryan Eastwick, a cryptologic linguist with Alpha Company, 2nd Radio Battalion, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), and native of Sacramento, Calif., points out cordon positions to fellow Marines during Operation Black Sand, in the southern portion of the Musa Qal’ah District, Helmand province, Aug. 5. Through the combined efforts of 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 8 and The Republic of Georgia’s 33rd Light Infantry Battalion, the bazaar, which insurgents used to manufacture and distribute improvised explosive devices, was completely destroyed.

Soldiers with The Republic of Georgia’s 33rd Light Infantry Battalion conduct last minute checks on their Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles at Combat Outpost Shukvani before executing Operation Black Sand in the southern portion of the Musa Qal’ah District, Helmand province, Aug. 5. Through the combined efforts of 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division (Forward), Regimental Combat Team 8 and the 33rd LIB, the Ladar Bazaar, which insurgents used to manufacture and distribute improvised explosive devices, was destroyed.

An Assault Breaching Vehicle with 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division (Forward) moves into position during Operation Black Sand, Aug. 5, in southern Musa Qal’ah District, Helmand province. Through the combined efforts of 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division (Forward), Regimental Combat Team 8 and The Republic of Georgia’s 33rd Light Infantry Battalion, the Ladar Bazaar, which insurgents used to manufacture and distribute improvised explosive devices, was destroyed.

Monday, August 15, 2011

RAF Voyager Tanker Aircraft

A Royal Air Force Voyager aircraft is pictured refuelling a Tornado GR4 during trials by Qinetic.
The RAF’s largest ever aircraft, Voyager, has been flown by an RAF pilot at the Royal International Air Tattoo, Fairford for its first public appearance.
Fourteen Voyager aircraft and a complete support package are being provided to the RAF under a 27 year £10.5Bn Private Finance Initiative contract signed with the AirTanker consortium. In addition to the aircraft, the service will provide training and maintenance, and brand new purpose-built buildings at RAF Brize Norton, the RAF’s air transport hub.
Photographer: Qinetic via MoD
A Royal Air Force Voyager Tanker Aircraft.
The RAF’s largest ever aircraft, Voyager, has been flown by an RAF pilot at the Royal International Air Tattoo, Fairford for its first public appearance.
Fourteen Voyager aircraft and a complete support package are being provided to the RAF under a 27 year £10.5Bn Private Finance Initiative contract signed with the AirTanker consortium. In addition to the aircraft, the service will provide training and maintenance, and brand new purpose-built buildings at RAF Brize Norton, the RAF’s air transport hub.
Photographer: Qinetic via MoD
A Royal Air Force Voyager Tanker Aircraft.
The RAF’s largest ever aircraft, Voyager, has been flown by an RAF pilot at the Royal International Air Tattoo, Fairford for its first public appearance.
Fourteen Voyager aircraft and a complete support package are being provided to the RAF under a 27 year £10.5Bn Private Finance Initiative contract signed with the AirTanker consortium. In addition to the aircraft, the service will provide training and maintenance, and brand new purpose-built buildings at RAF Brize Norton, the RAF’s air transport hub.
Photographer: Qinetic via MoD
A Royal Air Force Voyager Tanker Aircraft.
The RAF’s largest ever aircraft, Voyager, has been flown by an RAF pilot at the Royal International Air Tattoo, Fairford for its first public appearance.
Fourteen Voyager aircraft and a complete support package are being provided to the RAF under a 27 year £10.5Bn Private Finance Initiative contract signed with the AirTanker consortium. In addition to the aircraft, the service will provide training and maintenance, and brand new purpose-built buildings at RAF Brize Norton, the RAF’s air transport hub.
Photographer: Qinetic via MoD
A Royal Air Force Voyager Tanker Aircraft.
The RAF’s largest ever aircraft, Voyager, has been flown by an RAF pilot at the Royal International Air Tattoo, Fairford for its first public appearance.
Fourteen Voyager aircraft and a complete support package are being provided to the RAF under a 27 year £10.5Bn Private Finance Initiative contract signed with the AirTanker consortium. In addition to the aircraft, the service will provide training and maintenance, and brand new purpose-built buildings at RAF Brize Norton, the RAF’s air transport hub.
Photographer: Qinetic via MoD

Wow.

The size of this tanker is pure dee crazy.

The USAF lucked into the right decision.  If they had picked the A-330 like all the Air Bus apologist had recommended then the infrastructure costs alone would have caused the USAF to go bankrupt.  Some are blaming Air Force woes on the stealth fighter force.

That couldn't be further from the truth.

What the USAF is facing is in essence the block obsolescence of several different classes of airplanes at the same time. If anything, the fighter force while not perfect is at least going to be recapitalized.  Every other type of airplane is in jeopardy.  And thats the shame of it. 

And even more from the11th MEU...

8/13/2011 By Cpl. Gene Allen Ainsworth III
First Lt. Joshua W. Cuellar, an infantry officer with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's ground combat element and a native of San Clemente, Calif., assesses an island artillery range hit by the unit's howitzers Aug. 13.
8/13/2011 By Cpl. Gene Allen Ainsworth III
Capt. Todd Eyesenbach marks airstrike locations on a map of this island Aug 13. Eyesenbach is the officer in charge of a detachment from 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company attached to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. His teams participated in close-air-support training Aug. 12-13.
8/14/2011 By Gunnery Sgt. Scott Dunn
A UH-1Y Venom piloted by Capts. Ben Schneider and Joshua Bosworth lifts from the amphibious assault ship Makin Island Aug. 14 to support a counter-piracy training mission miles from Southern California's San Clemente Island. The utility helicopter belongs to a detachment of skid-landing helicopters attached to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 (Reinforced), the aviation combat element of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The unit embarked Makin Island and the amphibious transport dock New Orleans in San Diego and sailed Aug. 10 to begin its first seagoing exercise since becoming a complete Marine air-ground task force in May. Schneider, 34, is from Inver Grove Heights, Minn. Bosworth, 26, is from Vienna, Va.
8/14/2011 By Gunnery Sgt. Scott Dunn
A UH-1Y Venom piloted by Capts. Kyle Wilt and Joshua Gordon lifts from the amphibious assault ship Makin Island Aug. 14 to fly snipers supporting a counter-piracy training mission miles from Southern California's San Clemente Island. Wilt serves with a detachment of skid-landing helicopters attached to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 (Reinforced), the aviation combat element of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The unit embarked Makin Island and the amphibious transport dock New Orleans in San Diego and sailed Aug. 10 to begin its first seagoing exercise since becoming a complete Marine air-ground task force in May. Wilt, 28, is from Charles Town, W.Va. Gordon, 28, is from Merriam, Kan.
8/14/2011 By Gunnery Sgt. Scott Dunn
An AH-1Z Viper piloted by Maj. Daniel P. McGuire lifts from the amphibious assault ship Makin Island Aug. 14 to support a counter-piracy training mission miles from Southern CaliforniaĆ¢€™s San Clemente Island. The attack helicopter belongs to a detachment of skid-landing helicopters attached to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 (Reinforced), the aviation combat element of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The unit embarked Makin Island and the amphibious transport dock New Orleans in San Diego and sailed Aug. 10 to begin its first seagoing exercise since becoming a complete Marine air-ground task force in May.
8/14/2011 By Lance Cpl. Claudia M. Palacios
Cpl. Andrew J. Martinez fires his rifle here Aug. 14. Martinez, 27, is the armory chief for Combat Logistics Battalion 11, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, and is an El Centro, Calif., native. The battalion participated in combat marksmanship training as part of their pre-deployment training plan.

8/13/2011 By Cpl. Gene Allen Ainsworth
Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's gound combat element scout potential targets for artillery strikes here Aug. 13.

11th MEU's Maritime Raid Force Trains to Take Back Hijacked Ship

Amphibious Operations from 1990-2009


Time for another look back at our recent history.  This time its courtesy of US Naval Institute's Blog via its articles on Amphibious Operations from 1990-1999 and Amphibious Operations from 2000-2009.

Spare me the critics that attempt to parse these actions with comparisons to World War II actions.  That is not the point.

The point is that the US military has only three forms of forcible entry.

1.  Airborne Assault.
2.  Heliborne Assault.
3.  Amphibious Assault.

In many ways these skill sets are unique to the United States.  Most of the world's Marine Corps have the ability to raid, not invade.  Most of the world's airborne forces are able to at best raid...but don't have the ability to hold on to seized ground long enough for other forces to relieve them ... I know of no Heliborne force outside of the US that has the ability to move more than a couple of companies worth of soldiers at a time.

Its a Marine centric blog but the need to maintain all three forms of forcible entry are obvious. Only those with a vested interests in the weakening of our nation would claim otherwise.

With friends like Pakistan, who needs enemies?

via Reuters....

(Reuters) - Pakistan gave China access to the previously unknown U.S. "stealth" helicopter that crashed during the commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May despite explicit requests from the CIA not to, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
The disclosure, if confirmed, is likely to further shake the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, which has been improving slightly after hitting its lowest point in decades following the killing of bin Laden.
During the raid, one of two modified Blackhawk helicopters, believed to employ unknown stealth capability, malfunctioned and crashed, forcing the commandos to abandon it.
"The U.S. now has information that Pakistan, particularly the ISI, gave access to the Chinese military to the downed helicopter in Abbottabad," the paper quoted a person "in intelligence circles" as saying on its website.
It said Pakistan, which enjoys a close relationship with China, allowed Chinese intelligence officials to take pictures of the crashed aircraft as well as take samples of its special "skin" that allowed the American raid to evade Pakistani radar.
Read the whole thing but the question becomes.  What do you globalist have to say now?  Many political pundits slam Ron Paul and call him an isolationist.

I say he's spot on.

Screw the world.  Act in our own best interests...and forget the starving masses yearning to be free until we have our own act together inside our own borders.

Oh and while we're at it, lets face facts.  China is a communist country and an enemy.  Pakistan is a backwards Islamist state and an enemy.  The list goes on.  If you want to be adult about other nations then lets start by being honest about them.

PS.
While the Obama administration is allowing a film to be made about this raid, I'd like to know who made the decision not to launch an airstrike on what remained of the Black Hawk.  I refuse to believe that Special Ops Command would have allowed any section to fall into enemy hands especially since they had overhead ISR assets broadcasting the entire raid.  I'm guessing this came straight from the top.  I could be wrong but thats my guess.

Guy Loses Patience