So if I read between the lines I guess this means USMC Tank BNs are about to die...

via Defense News.

“We have to get rid of legacy things in the Marine Corps. We’ve got to go on a diet” he told reporters during the event, noting that a large-scale review of the service will be rolled out in roughly 60 days. “We’ve got to become expeditionary again, which we know how to do.”

Asked to highlight the type of equipment he thinks the Corps must dump, Berger called out “big, heavy things” such as manned counter-armor assets.

“Big, expensive things that we can’t either afford to buy or afford to maintain over the life of it. Things that don’t fit aboard ship, things that can’t fire hyper-velocity projectiles, things that can’t have, don’t have the range that we’re going to need, the precision, but are also mobile, expeditionary enough [that] we can operate from ship or ashore and move back and forth freely. Manned things, manned logistics vehicles, manned logistics aircraft — all those things we’re going to trim down.”

Story here.

Wow.

Sounds like the Marine Corps is about to stick a fork in its Tank BNs.  Too bad. I think they still have utility.

What I find stunning is that we're seeing all kinds of lurches from Marine leadership.  First we had aviation centric.  Then we had whatever Neller's initiative was...I really can't put my finger on anything.  Now we have Berger talking about unmanned everything.

We're lurching from idea to idea meanwhile budgets are at best gonna be flat and more likely gonna decline.

Could we find ourselves caught in a transitioning force that can't be completed?

Could we find ourselves with a force that while great in theory just plain sucks on the battlefield of the future?

Huge bets are being made and if they're wrong the price will be in blood.

More throwback pics of the Thales Hawkei in the Canadian Snow..

[#Canada] Do you wonder how the #Hawkei would perform in difficult weather conditions 🤔? For the first time, our #protected vehicle proves its capabilities to the @CanadianArmy. Throwback in pictures 📸. @ThalesCanada @ThalesAustralia @Armeecanadienne pic.twitter.com/R2IRriTuWV

— Thales Defence (@ThalesDefence) December 9, 2019

Russian sympathy among military households has the Pentagon concerned...

From Voice Of America via Defense Aviation...

While most Americans still see Moscow as a key U.S. adversary, new polling suggests that view is changing, most notably among the households of military members.

The second annual Reagan National Defense Survey, completed in late October, found nearly half of armed services households questioned, 46%, said they viewed Russia as an ally.

Story here. 

Many non-conformist vets, retirees and active duty folks are probably doing as I am.  Looking at the real threat.  China.

Notice that we don't have results of a survey with regard to how China is viewed.

Ever wonder why?

Because the results would be overwhelming.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who the big fight will be against.

Hint.

It ain't Russia.

As a sidenote, I'm extremely proud.  They tried to simplify the rational of those being surveyed as simply reflecting messaging coming from the President.  I think they're wrong.    This is about so much more.

I think it's about trust.

The thing that should worry the Pentagon is that serving/former/retired are not buying what they're selling.  If that spreads to the general public then those flat budgets in the coming years will turn into cuts.

Open Comment Post. 9 Dec 2019

Washington Post reports we've been systematically lied to about the war in Afghanistan...

Exclusive: U.S. officials systematically misled the public about the war in Afghanistan, according to internal documents obtained by The Post.

These are The Afghanistan Papers: A secret history of the war. https://t.co/DbCYuP0OrT

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 9, 2019

Are you surprised?

The next big thing in non-lethal weapons...The Bola Wrap...

Check out this compilation of #wraps by the #BolaWrap!#nonlethal #savelives pic.twitter.com/u3CyNsMnHU

— Wrap Technologies (@WrapTechInc) April 10, 2019

French 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade on exercise..

Thanks to Pegase for the vid!



The Pentagon talks interoperability alot but I get the impression its used more as a punchline than as an actual "thing".

Want real interoperability?

Want real training instead of dog and pony shows?

Stop playing at it and tap into areas of expertise that our allies possess.  We don't need to work with Royal Marines in amphibious assaults.  We are mechanized to a degree that they aren't.  We should tap into their knowledge in arctic/mountain warfare.  That's where we're weak.  In that region they (along with the Norwegians) should be where we ask them to "take the lead" in operations/planning.

Mountain warfare?  I'd like to see the 10th Mountain heading to France to train with these bubbas.

Want to operate the F-35B from austere landing strips?  Talk to the Swiss Air Force and others that do it everyday.

A nice vid that highlights that this Mountain Infantry Brigade actually does the work it says on the tin.

Good to go.

Anyone have updated info on the Chinese AG600?

God I wish we had this airplane!  Think about it.  The Marine Corps and Navy are all "jacked up" on the idea of distributed operations...they talk about ops from small islands...we're talking about operations with ships that aren't generally viewed as amphibious transports and that are "riskable" (is that a word)?

But we don't have an amphibious airplane that has the size to carry a large load to those small island bases...a large plane that can rescue the crew of a ship or even a transport plane that goes down at sea.

We don't have a modern day Convair R3Y Tradewind but the Chinese do.

I'm really interested in the progress they've made on this project.  Is it a capability gap that many won't acknowledge?

I think so.

My thinking is evolving on the fight in the Pacific.  I finally get what HQMC is doing.  My problem is I don't agree with transforming the entire force for a single fight.

My rationale?

The fight in the Pacific will be a major league Navy and Air Force affair.  In that environment we (the Marine Corps) will be playing a supporting role to the bigger battle at sea and in the air.  I get it.

But there will be skirmishes on land.

Those skirmishes will be highly lethal, highly mechanized and will be characterized by intense supporting fires.

Don't change the organization just create MAGTF that fits that region.  Oh and buy some key enablers...like a freaking seaplane..just like the Chinese are doing.

Steel Knight gets even bigger....Largest exercise in Camp Pendleton history

Japanese island could become an unsinkable US aircraft carrier?

via CNN

But once suitable facilities are constructed, the island could also become a permanent base for Japan's Self Defense Forces as Tokyo looks to strengthen its position along the East China Sea, where it faces competing claims from China over the Japanese-administered Senkaku islands, known as the Diaoyu islands in Chinese.

The "purchase of Mageshima Island is extremely important and serves for strengthening deterrence by the Japan-US alliance as well as Japan's defense capability," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in announcing the deal.
-----------------------------

Wallace says Mageshima could eventually see operations from US Marine Corps Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, taking some of the load off current airfields on the main islands and Okinawa.

Just last February, Okinawa residents, in a non-binding referendum, voted overwhelmingly that the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station be relocated off the island.

That vote came after incidents of parts falling off US aircraft and landing outside the base, including near schools and numerous flashpoints involving US defense personnel and local residents.

Despite that vote, the Japanese government moved ahead with plans to relocate Futenma operations elsewhere on Okinawa.

Similarly, the government could be expected to push back against any challenges to the Mageshima plan from the nearest island of Tageshima, 8.5 miles (14 kilometers) to its east and from where it is administered.

Here. 

The title is click bait as is the rationale behind this move.

The reality?

The US Dept of Defense is more interested in the defense of Japan than the Japanese people.

Why?

I'm not sure but a few things stand out in my mind.  The Japanese govt want us there.  The Japanese people do not.  Additionally this move is more about a pacifier more than an actual plan to "distribute our forces".  We will still be in range of missile fire from aircraft stationed on the Chinese mainland.

The good news.

We're in the first island chain so all the talk about "penetrating" air power is silliness.  We will not strike targets on the Chinese mainland because we won't want to start WW3 (and trust me, a strike on the mainland would equal a Chinese strike on the continental United States).

The bad news.

Going back to my first point.  The Japanese people aren't our biggest fans.  That seems to be a recurring theme with our forward basing of troops.

Someday we're gonna have to take a good look at that concept.

Graphic of Russia's "Doomsday Torpedo Carrier" Submarine...

There are torpedoes and then there are DOOMSDAY TORPEDOES. If that’s really your thing. pic.twitter.com/C4iFKsao9C

— Dr. Rachel Pawling 🌈 (@R_P_one) December 5, 2019

Open Comment Post. 8 Dec 2019