Happy 71st birthday 3rd Battalion 1st Marines!

Sgt. Maj. Vincent Santiago, Battalion Landing Team 3/1 sergeant major, cuts a cake aboard USS New Orleans March 11 at a ceremony celebrating the 71st anniversary of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines. The Camp Pendleton, Calif.,-based battalion – reinforced by mechanized and motorized attachments, reconnaissance and combat engineers – is the ground combat element for the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The unit is deployed as part of the Makin Island Amphibious 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.

Its kinda awesome to see High and Tight Haircuts making a comeback.


All these combat 'staches were making me think that we were going Army.  Now if we can only get the Commandant to get out of that Fly Boy haircut and get a Grunt Cut all might be right with the world.

Boarding Ladder Practice....

Ah man!  This sucks!  If you can do this well then you've got "total body conditioning"...

11th MEU Raid Force aboard the USS New Orleans.  Photos by Cpl Chad Pulliam.

Cpl. Justin Schoonover, 25, climbs a narrow ladder aboard USS New Orleans from a rigid hull inflatable boat here March 8. Schoonover, a Charlotte, N.C., native, serves with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's maritime raid force. The unit is deployed as part of the Makin Island Amphibious 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.

Lance Cpl. Ethan E. Allen climbs aboard USS New Orleans from a rigid hull inflatable boat here Mar. 8. Allen, a Fort Madison, Iowa, native, serves with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's maritime raid force. The unit is deployed as part of the Makin Island Amphibious 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.

Lance Cpl. Harland D. Shelton, 20, watches from a rigid hull inflatable boat as another Marine climbs aboard USS New Orleans here March 8. Shelton, a Indiahoma, Okla., native, serves with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's maritime raid force. The unit is deployed as part of the Makin Island Amphibious 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.

Marines with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's maritime raid force climb aboard USS New Orleans from rigid hull inflatable boats here Mar. 8. The unit is deployed as part of the Makin Island Amphibious 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.

Our hidden aviation past...

Who would think that hobbyist are probably one of the driving forces behind the preservation of US aviation history. 

Don't laugh because its true.

Do you know or remember anything about these projects?

X-24C?

Orion Space Battleship?

Gemini Para Glider?

Information on all these projects is sketchy because they were (at least in the case of the Space Bomber) top secret.  Others because they were obscure and were over shadowed by the different direction that was taken by the programs.

What's even more frustrating is telling the difference between fantasy projects and actual concepts that real engineers were working on.

During the 50's and 60's it seems that the talent pool and imagination of our citizenry was much greater than you find today.

More to come...

Rocket Attacks...

Terrorists in the Gaza Strip have fired more than 300 rockets since this Friday, striking major population centers in southern Israel. More than one million Israelis are under the threat of rocket fire.
Combat soldiers and emergency instructors of the Home Front Command spread throughout the country, explaining citizens how to act in case of rocket attacks.

Pictured above are soldiers of the Search and Rescue unit, explaining the workers of a local furniture store on how to stay safe in case of a rocket attack on their place of work.

The US public is so easily deceived its beyond funny.  Its pathetic.

While everyone is watching a madman in Afghanistan.  A madman that went on a shooting rampage, perhaps because of brain damage after one of his many tours, the debate is over whether we should pull out at an accelerated rate or if we should stay the course.

The answer to that is obvious.  The war part of this "conflict" was over with a long time ago.  The only thing NATO is doing now is nation building.  

In Afghanistan that's a fools errand.

The real story is what's happening in Israel.  The Palestinian's are launching a savage rocket attack.  The Israeli's are launching punitive air strikes.

Between the Arab Spring, Arab Winter, the War in Libya, the Civil War in Syria and now the battle between the Israeli's and Palestinian's....

We're in for a rough ride.

11th MEU and Assault Craft Unit 5 in action.

*Note*

There are a couple of units that deserve a bit more attention when talking about the MEU and how they conduct operations.  They're the Sea Bee's and Assault Craft Unit's.  I'll rectify that in the future.  But there is something else I'll be keeping an eye on.  Since I first saw the "extra" Marine Corps aircraft at Djibouti, I'm convinced that every MEU that deploys to this region is dropping off detachments there and the rest of the MEU is continuing on with its mission.  That's just speculation on my part but we'll see.

All photos by Petty Officer 1st Class David McKee

A landing craft air cushion assigned to Assault Craft Unit 5 departs the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) with humvees and amphibious assault vehicles. LAV's.  Makin Island and embarked Marines assigned to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are deployed supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

A landing craft air cushion assigned to Assault Craft Unit 5 departs the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) with humvees and amphibious assault vehicles LAV's.   Makin Island and embarked Marines assigned to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are deployed supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

A landing craft air cushion assigned to Assault Craft Unit 5 departs the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) with an M1 A1 Abrams main battle tank. Makin Island and embarked Marines assigned to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are deployed supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

A landing craft air cushion assigned to Assault Craft Unit 5 departs the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) with an M1 A1 Abrams main battle tank. Makin Island and embarked Marines assigned to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are deployed supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

Where are the USAF Special Ops CV-22's???

Remember the Libyan War?

Remember the rescue of the downed F-15 pilots by the Marine Corps' MEU flying MV-22's backed  up by CH-53's and escorted by AV-8B's?

I always assumed that USAF Combat Search and Rescue was stationed on land and that it would take them too long to get there.

I thought wrong.  Check this out from SLD.

First, the Libyan TRAP mission showed the ready now nature of joint basing of the AV-8 and MV-22s on the USS Kearsage.
Colonel Mark Desens, Commander 26th MEU:
When we learned that a F-15 crew had ejected east of Benghazi, we immediately focused our efforts on getting ready to rescue them.

The mission was given to us for two reasons: one, first and foremost, was the uncertain environment. We didn’t know what was going on on the ground with the pilot. The second is we were the most ready and had the most responsive assets, most notably, the MV-22. Backed up by CH-53s and Harriers, we had very potent reaction force in case we needed to fight to get the crew out or reinforce the recovery or crash site. As an aside, a recovery asset launching from land base — the next closest locations being Sigonella or Souda Bay — would have been four or more hours.

There were USAF HH-60G rescue helicopters embarked on the Ponce to give a CSAR capability with improved reaction times. However, you’re comparing 270 knots versus 140. It would have taken at least 45 minutes longer for a helicopter to get there. U.S. forces may well have not been the first to reach that pilot without the MV-22. Given the situation, that was not acceptable. The other thing is that for a helo, a direct flight path (to save time) to the pilot would have gone through Benghazi, a potential threat area at the time. The Osprey could chart a very different path, avoiding any potential air defense threats.

Again the speed and range of the Osprey coupled with the ability to have Marines on the ground to secure the perimeter was the key.

So USAF Combat Search and Rescue was forward deployed (aboard a Navy Amphib...very ironic considering all the talk about the contribution of the Gator Navy being irrelevant).

They just didn't have the tools to get the job done.  Correction.  They didn't have the tools on hand to get the job done.

I've wondered why we haven't seen the CV-22 used more often.  The MH-53J was rode HARD.  It seems as if the USAF is still in an evaluation period with their aircraft.

Either way, the USAF in general and SOCOM in particular has got to get this equipment into the fight in a big way.  If not then they need to give the aircraft to the Marine Corps.  We can use them if they won't.

Monday Mudballing....

Question.

The head of SOCOM has asked for more power to deploy his units world wide in the hunt for terrorist.  What he hasn't asked for is the removal of conventional forces from Afghanistan so that SOCOM can take over in that country.

Why is that?  Why hasn't SOCOM asked for a larger role in Afghanistan?

My theory is because they don't want to do the dirty work of training (well except for Special Forces) these forces.  Afghanistan is a classic counter insurgency mission that should be the sole responsibility of Special Operations forces.

The conventional forces should be out of there.  But they can't, because SOCOM only does raids now.  We have an entire branch of the military that does nothing but raids. 

That's unsat.

Its time for SOCOM to start pulling its weight.  Its time for it to stop leveraging off the conventional forces and to stand on its own.  Every where SOCOM goes it request conventional forces to "assist" it.

This really amounts to doing the work that SOCOM is now too good to do.

They establish a compound somewhere....you'll have conventional forces pulling guard duty.

They perform a protection detail...they'll be inside with the protectorate and you'll have conventional forces outside guarding vehicles and the perimeter.

They perform a rescue mission.  More than likely you'll have a conventional unit loaded to the bear ready to perform quick reaction force duties.

It goes on and on.

Time for the "rock stars" of the military world to start pulling there weight.  If not then how about they hand back in those Rolex watches, turn in those 1000 dollar smocks, stop buying boutique weapons that do the same damn thing that a normal weapon does and put that black budget under some sunlight so we can see exactly how much they're costing the taxpayer.

Want a startling fact?


The founder of Seal Team 6 bragged that his small unit had a budget larger than the entire Marine Corps.


With that in mind can we afford to have a branch thats the size of 3 Army Divisions that duplicates the US Army Ranger mission and only does raids?  Or is it time to think about eliminating duplication, slashing personnel in SOCOM instead of enlarging it and pushing all these units back to there parent service so that these SOCOM bubbas can get some adult supervision?

UPDATE:

THERE ARE REPORTS THAT THE SOLDIER THAT COMMITTED THE MURDERS IN AFGHANISTAN WAS GUARDING A SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMPOUND.  

All that hard work, training & effort....

Capt. Robert Schwaab, the assistant logistics officer for the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, coordinates with non-governmental organization leaders to assist in effective humanitarian aid distribution here, Mar. 10. The 31st MEU is currently conducting their certification exercise, which is conducted with the Amphibious Squadron 11, and qualifies the MEU/ARG team for a wide range of actual contingency missions in the Asia-Pacific region. The 31st MEU is the United States' expeditionary force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region, and is currently deployed with Amphibious Squadron 11.  By 2nd Lt Dave Baugh

Check out the above photo.


I don't know whether to laugh or cry for that Marine Captain.


All that hard work he's obviously done.  Jump school...then to go on and win Naval Jump Wings.  Pilot wings on his chest...so he's put in the work there too.


And instead of planning a raid against terrorist in Africa...


Leading Marines in Afghanistan...


Flying a piece of high tech hardware to support and maybe even save some grunt on the ground...

He's practicing how to conduct operations with non-governmental agencies (this color is suppose to be pink...take from it what you will but I'm sure you get the idea)!  

Oh and let me tell ya.  Those very same agencies hate the military.  Bitch when we're in the area and cry when we're not.  Additionally they're incompetent at there jobs (do a Google search on USAID during the Haiti earthquakes)!

I know this is simply a certification exercise but the amount of focus that the Marine Corps is placing on these types of operations is beyond the pale.

Something is broken with the Marine Corps.  IT HAS LOST ITS WAY!  Are we no longer warriors?  Dare I ask.  Are we no longer war fighters?  Are we simply Salvation Army with guns?

Meals on Wheels Practice.

A CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265 (Reinforced), lands on the flight deck here, March 10. The helicopters were delivering Marines and supplies to Okinawa during the 31st MEU's Certification Exercise. The 31st MEU is the only continuously forward-deployed MEU and remains the nation's force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region.  By Cpl Gary Welch

Marines of Battery L, Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, carry food to a distribution site in support of the humanitarian assistance exercise here, Mar. 11. The 31st MEU is currently conducting their certification exercise, which is conducted with the Amphibious Squadron 11, and qualifies the MEU/ARG team for a wide range of actual contingency missions in the Asia-Pacific region. The 31st MEU is the United States' expeditionary force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region, and is currently deployed with Amphibious Squadron 11.  By 2nd Lt Dave Baugh

Evacuees are loaded onto CH-46E Sea Knight helicopters by Marines of Combat Logistics Battalion 31, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, during a mock noncombatant evacuation operation, March 11. The NEO was conducted during the MEU's Certification Exercise in preparation for the upcoming deployment to the Asia-Pacific region. The 31st MEU is the only continuously forward-deployed MEU and remains the nation's force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region.  By Cpl Garry Welch

Evacuees are loaded onto CH-46E Sea Knight helicopters by Marines of Combat Logistics Battalion 31, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, during a mock noncombatant evacuation operation, March 11. The NEO was conducted during the MEU's Certification Exercise in preparation for the upcoming deployment to the Asia-Pacific region. The 31st MEU is the only continuously forward-deployed MEU and remains the nation's force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region.  By Cpl Garry Welch

Special Ops Ghost Vessel.

Juliet Marine GHOST Ad 11 1