Open Comment Post. 23 Sept 2019

Norwegian Ministry of Defense looking forward to the K9 Thunder...

Denne uka mottok @FMateriell et kanonbra nytt artilleri til @Forsvaret_no - vi gleder oss til dette blir tatt i bruk! #bangsforthebucks pic.twitter.com/eHn8SGMJIm

— Forsvarsdepartement (@Forsvarsdep) September 22, 2019

Blast from the past. USMC Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations Concept Document...

Thanks to Richard for the trip down memory lane!

Add this to the list of MV-22 variants that doesn't seem to be getting off the ground. Quite honestly if they followed thru with some of the planning it would undoubtedly be the most important airplane in the Marine Corps.  Quite honestly if they had followed thru with this plan then we would be able to possibly wait on the F-35 till it was working right and continue on with the Harrier for the next decade.

I talked about my never ending pride in the Marine Corps and my intense frustration.  Consider this exhibit number one!

Look at all these fantastic ideas that don't seem to be getting any movement! The Marine Corps is a THINKING, EVOLVING, and TRAIL BLAZING organization that strives for perfection.

We put in the sweat equity but the funding keeps alot of the brainwork from seeing the light of day.

The Marine Corps irrelevant?  Not hardly!  Not likely!

For all the people throwing stones at this house its walls are high and formidable.  The work is being done.

HQMC might frustrate at times but they show glimpses every now and then that they're focused on the big fight...the future fight.

Note.  The EABO Concept document has been erased from the internet...well Scribd has it but it's behind a paywall.  Probably upload it if people want to see the original but I don't want to run afoul of HQMC and the farm boys across the way at Quantico.  Let me see if it considered "close hold"  before I go further (kinda curious cause they did release the public version but like I said...its gone from Marines.mil).

Chinese Police on patrol in Serbia?

What are Chinese police doing in Serbia? pic.twitter.com/58wOyH6d1N

— Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (@RFERL) September 22, 2019

I don't even know the implications but this seems...curious...

Granatkastarpansarbandvagn 90 (BAE CV90 Mortar Carrier) vid...

Thanks to jagigen for the link!

French armored vehicles are missing one component. Name the modern tracked IFV they sport!

Has anyone taken a good look at the French armored vehicle tree?  Maybe I'm missing it (and I'd be happy to be corrected) but they don't have a modern tracked IFV.

Even worse I can't find evidence anywhere that they're looking to build one either!

Don't get me wrong.  I've called the VBCI perhaps the most underrated 8x8 on the market today.

The French have a real winner with that vehicle.  But the lack of a tracked IFV...a modern one (the AMX10 is REALLY long in the tooth) is rather stunning from my seat.

For better or worse the French appear to have settled on the 8x8 as their ride going into the future.

No heavy tracked IFV for them!

Divisions are back in fashion for the US Army...

via Military Times.

As the new Army chief of staff settles into his role this fall, he’s looking at setting the stage for massive deployments across the world, should the need ultimately arise.

The large-scale combat operations laid out under the new National Defense Strategy would require division-strength movements, unlike the repeat deployments to the Middle East over the past 18 years, during which the Army’s primary unit of action has been the brigade.

The service’s brigade combat teams have been gearing up over the past few years in an effort to reach higher readiness rates. But being ready at home station and being ready to deploy over the Atlantic Ocean to wage war in Eastern Europe are two very different undertakings, and a conflict at the scale imagined by current Pentagon leaders will require far more than a single brigade.

Story here. 

Brigades never felt right as the "nominal" unit for the Army.  Division seem more natural.  Maybe its just a case of normalcy bias on my part.  Maybe its me looking at it from the outside and realizing how much the Army supports others while in theater and a feeling that the Brigades just couldn't tote the same amount of gear in that regard.

Don't know.

But I do know that the Brigade system was confusing (at least to me), top heavy and a bit unwieldy.

I cheer this change.

Democrat Presidential Candidate Yang: Climate Change May Require Elimination of Car Ownership

via Free Beacon.

Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang said the United States may have to eliminate private car ownership to combat climate change during MSNBC's climate forum at Georgetown University Thursday morning.

He told MSNBC host Ali Velshi that "we might not own our own cars" by 2050 to wean the United States economy off of fossil fuels, describing private car ownership as "really inefficient and bad for the environment." Privately owned cars would be replaced by a "constant roving fleet of electric cars."

A video posted by the GOP War Room shows Velshi asking Yang what measures he sees the world taking to fight climate change by 2050.

"You have this ability to envision the future, right, with your proposals on universal basic income. You've played the whole chess game out and you see what it looks like on the other end. Play the chess game out on climate change," Velshi said. "What does the world look like to you in 2050? What physically do you think we will do differently than we do today that will result in us fighting climate change?"

"Well I mentioned before that we might not own our own cars. Our current car ownership and usage model is really inefficient and bad for the environment," Yang said.

Story here. 

Ya know what a massive problem for the Dem party is?  They focus all their attention on urban issues and seem to forget the vast swaths of land that are the suburbs and rural areas.

There is no way in hell any scheme of this type would work in a free market. He would in essence revamp our economic system, and in addition establish a new society somehow.

I'll either be dead or close to it by the time this kicks in so no big deal for me but wow. 

These people have some weird plans for the future...if they win that is.

Ukrainian President started a presentation with an interesting slideshow...

This is actually how the president of Ukraine started a presentation! I'm in tears, bro! 😂😄 pic.twitter.com/8PY4ofT6qn

— Ashiwel Okang Ochui (@hey_ashiwel) September 21, 2019

Open Comment Post. 22 Sept 2019

Jesus! This Canadian Trooper has an identity crisis!

I am truly at a loss on this one.

Canadian Cammies.

18th Airborne Corps patch on one arm.

Canadian flag flying above the same arm.

American flag on the opposite arm.

I'm assuming (don't know) Canadian jump wings below the flag!

Exchange officer?  Some kind of adviser on a humanitarian mission going on somewhere and we're falling in on Canadian forces?

Regardless there is alot going on in this pic.  Dark green soldier just over his shoulder is gazing off into space, obviously uninterested in what's being said.

Colors are cased.  Wonder why.  You drag it out then you let that puppy fly!  Nobody looks exactly thrilled and no one is pristine so maybe someone screwed up and they're hashing it out.

Regardless I'd sure love to know the story behind this bubba's uniform setup.

AB made a terrible bed he now has to lay in...

Beat the odds pic.twitter.com/j31922ROkv

— AB (@AB84) September 21, 2019

Wow.  It's a weird thing.  In addition to being a Saint's fan I'm also part of the Steeler nation.

This AB thing has me spinning a bit.

Dude was such a feel good story.  Homeless as a youth, putting all his efforts into getting into the NFL and becoming a success.

Then.

Then it seemed to unravel in Pittsburgh.

He talked smack about the organization and giving the benefit of the doubt I just thought maybe it was a few egos colliding and that while he wasn't on one of my teams he still was good to go.

He pushed his way out, got a huge payday from Oakland and then the weirdness began at training camp.

The rest is well known but its stunning how quickly he went from having generational wealth to looking for a job and probably blackballing himself from the entire league.

Everyone (myself included) is always focused on generating wealth.  Perhaps the focus needs to change drastically.

1.  Look after your mental well being cause AB obviously needs help.

2.  Look after your physical well being.

3.  Take care of family/those you care about.

4.  After your other priorities (religion etc...) then worry about wealth.

This dude just proved one thing.

As fast as you can aquire things on this planet, you can just as quickly lose them.

AB is a mess and now he's a meme.  I pity him but I can't feel sorry for him (there is a distinction).

He made a terrible bed and now he has to lay in it.