Not much commentary on this one. Just a thought. Hovering in the background for almost the last decade has been talk of the Marine Corps going to a 150K man force.
With the latest statements from the Commandant it seems like that ugly bird has reared its head again.
Additionally talk has been about highly dispersed forces that will be able to overwhelm a technologically capable Chinese force that is our PACING threat. Not a threat that we seek to maintain supremacy over but to maintain pace with (hope I'm misreading the thinking there).
But 150K?
How do you justify any of the current procurement plans at that number? Everything would essentially be up for a HUGE cut.
If they're thinking of sizing the Marine Corps at that number then we're looking at a much different Marine Corps. A much smaller footprint.
Dare I say that at that size you could probably shutter San Diego Recruit Depot, Barstow Logistics Depot, probably a few other installations too. And that's just in the US.
If we're going back afloat then we could probably change the way we're looking UDP to Okinawa and now Australia.
Of course the bigger bear in the room that Berger hasn't hit on is aviation. Does he keep current numbers if the Marine Corps is changing this way? Do we push forward with the F-35 numbers? If we're reestablishing our teaming with the Navy then why not have Super Hornets wearing USMC decals? How do you get the right number of CH-53Ks?
How do you get the right number if you're talking more drones?
This stuff will get interesting.
Ya know what the most irritating thing is? We've been on a certain trajectory with our thinking for at least a decade with this new Aviation Centric Marine Corps. Now even that plan appears to be being modified to take into account unmanned aircraft.
Interesting doesn't describe it. But one small afterthought. What if the end strength is actually lower than 150K? Could they be looking at perhaps 120K? Could we see a Corps where all of the "heavy" stuff is located in the reserves with a true active duty strength composed of two divisions...the 1st and 2nd with the 3rd being the reserves and our "desert storm" element? Just mudballing but I've heard of stranger stuff being batted around.
Saturday, October 05, 2019
VDV's 56th Independent Air Assault Brigade conducted an airborne operation and a water crossing at the Kamyshinsky Training Area
I say again fam...follow Rob Lee. I have yet to see a better source on the Russian military (outside of my guys here on the blog) than this bubba.An airborne battalion with a T-72B3 tank company and a 2S9 Nona battery from the VDV's 56th Independent Air Assault Brigade conducted an airborne operation and a water crossing at the Kamyshinsky Training Area to seize an enemy airfield.https://t.co/3VY6m06rMm pic.twitter.com/GidWDbTpWP— Rob Lee (@RALee85) October 4, 2019
You heard it here first.
You been following Iraq? Protests, bombings and now masked men have taken over media stations...
Gunmen on 3 armed cars attacked the office of the @AlHadath in Baghdad and assaulted journalists https://t.co/PJ3kuK9H97 via @AlHadath #Iraq pic.twitter.com/rqO6WU9AlA— Liveuamap MiddleEast (@lummideast) October 5, 2019
Another country, another set of protests that are spiraling out of control. This started off simple enough but as usual its gone from bad to worse.
From what I understand the Iraqi Police started shooting a few demonstrators and then its been downhill from there.
What were they protesting? Don't know. What's going on now? A simple Google search will show that this thing is heading south and probably will end in some type of general uprising that will lead to the obvious end state of this country.
It'll be balkanized. Oh and I'd bet body parts that Iran has a part in all this drama.
More to come I'm sure.
Blast from the past. BAE's AMV-35 for Australia...
Watch the vid carefully. What's your take away? I'm seeing BAE/Patria pushing the idea of Affordability, Lethality and Survivability. Ok, that's nothing new, but it does explain their approach to this contest. Quite honestly I think General Dynamics took the same approach.
Unfortunately for them, the Aussies were looking at a different set of parameters. My meaning is that affordability took a back seat to other factors where the corporations named focused on that as an important, if not primary consideration.
Why bring this up?
Because the Rheinmetall KF-41 was dropped from the US Army competition because they could not deliver their vehicle on time.
Was it laziness?
Lack of planning?
Or did they assume that a request for an extension would be automatic?
I'm not sure but one thing seems apparent. Defense contractors work almost hand in glove with the various Ministries/Defense Depts around the world.
Seeing these types of disconnects should be alarming. It shouldn't happen. Is it any wonder that we see supply chain, training and other issues with new gear?
Relationship building was a huge buzzword not too long ago. Forget that. Just get a working understanding of expectations would seem far more beneficial to both sides.
Who knows. That alone might lower costs.
Hong Kong. From bad to really bad...
Masked rioters vandalize public facilities, set fire on metro station in Hong Kong. #HKRiots pic.twitter.com/0AtWJdxmpf— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) October 5, 2019
This thing in Hong Kong is weird. China has increased the number of troops in the city, the protesters have SEEMINGLY escalated their violence as have the Hong Kong Police and there appears to be no end in sight for the protests.
Quite honestly at this point all I can ask is "what's this really about now"?
It's almost like this thing has taken on a life of its own.
I don't get it.
Don't understand why the protesters would continue. Why the city leaders haven't sought some type of dialogue with protest leaders (do they have leaders anymore...I know several thousand have been arrested). Or why China is waiting to intervene.
My best advice (and you guys will hate me for it) to the protesters?
Get clear of this now.
Your point has been made. The best you can hope for is that you've evaded the biometric scanning devices and they don't know your identity to scoop you up in the middle of the night and blend back into society.
A good fight is one thing.
Fighting for a cause is part of the same.
But at this point this is beginning to look like pure anarchy.
Note. Yes. I'm aware that's the opinion that state media wants in the minds of those who are watching this but I seriously don't see anything else. If I'm wrong then educate me!
Friday, October 04, 2019
The Airborne Training Mishap in Mississippi is causing a bit of a kerfuffle...
Why? The Army just allowed almost two dozen Soldiers to get injured - some requiring hospitalization and maybe ending a few careers - just to continue practicing an anachronistic process that will never be used en mass again. Why do we cling to the whole Airborne thing? https://t.co/xLI1J2eJED— Cav: Gee, Oh, El, Dee 👉🏻🤛🏻 (@CombatCavScout) October 4, 2019
Wow.
Been waiting for Army Airborne to get the Marine Corps treatment. But let's be honest. It's a cheap and effective way (assuming you're count lifelong longlong medical bills for jump related injuries) to demonstrate a rapid deployment capability.
But even with that I see the viability.
Looks like the internal US Army debate might be in the making.
Rheinmetall's Lynx disqualified from US Army competition....this is insanity...
You've all read the story over at Defense News. So will someone kindly tell me what the FUCK is going on! They just Textron onboard the program to build the chassis for the vehicles and now they're out?
So what does that leave us with? Redback. Ascod 2. Namer? I really don't get this one. This was the Lynx's contest almost assuredly (more by fanboyism...the Redback is a K-21 on a new body and the Namer is a beast) so why would they miss a simple checkpoint like that?
Someone knows. So someone tell me.
22 my last. Found this thread from Chris.
What's sauce for the goose isn’t always sauce for the gander. https://t.co/xOCFrED65J— The Other Chris (@TotherChris) October 4, 2019
Rheinmetall got screwed by German INEFFICIENCY? Curious as hell. I was REALLY looking forward to the US Army evaluating this vehicle.
Damn shame.
I hope they file an appeal and get back into the contest.
Thursday, October 03, 2019
Commandant of the Marine Corps. New way of fighting focused on China...
via USNI News.
The service sees China as the pacing threat to prepare for, but the service does not want a war; rather, the Marine Corps sees itself as a first-responder to any fight that bubbles up, quickly getting to the scene to “freeze” the conflict and allow diplomats to de-escalate, ideally, or for the military to send in follow-on forces if called upon, Gen. David Berger told a small group of reporters today in his office.Story here.
Though planning for this kind of force has been taking place at Marine Corps Base Quantico and at the Pentagon for several years now, talk of pacing threats, peer adversaries and freezing and containing conflicts hasn’t been part of the public lexicon.
But Berger, who took command of the service in July after heading up future force planning efforts in his last assignment, said he’s ready for the public to see a more modern take on what the Marine Corps brings to the joint force.
OH MY GOD!
This guy is hitting all the right marks with me. I love the way he thinks and I'm turning into a fan (no homo).
Do you know how long I've waited to here a service leader speak plainly about the threat that is China?
Do you know how much its irked me that all the talk of the past 3 years has been about Russia while the Dragon has been gaining strength?
Amazing!
God bless the Marine Corps!
Even if the rest of the services (and the nation) ain't ready, the Marine Corps will be!
Who made a run at the Iranian Quds Force Commander?
via Sputnik.
Iranian authorities have thwarted an assassination plot against Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force commander Soleimani, with three alleged plotters arrested, Iran's Fars News Agency has reported.Story here.
According to authorities, the attempt to assassinate the commander was a "regional," "joint Israel-Arab" plot, with no information provided yet regarding the identities and/or nationalities of those arrested.
According to Hossein Taeb, the head of the IRGC's Intelligence Organisation, the plot by a "group of terrorists" took several years to concoct, with the plotters planning to plant between 350 and 500 kg of explosives under a congregation hall at a religious event in Kerman, southeastern Iran, at which Soleimani was supposed to appear in September. The plotters were said to have been captured and arrested before being able to carry out the operation.
Interesting.
Too bad they missed. Why would an operation of this type take several years to pull off? Seems like the longer in duration the greater the chance of discovery.
I hope the Iranians tell us more of this so called "assassination attempt". Until it's verified I'll consider this just propaganda to get Iranian public opinion on their side.
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