Happy Birthday 1st Armored Division...

80 years young! Happ birthday to the 1st Armored Divison! pic.twitter.com/uH0or8va9I

— 25th Infantry Division (@25thID) July 15, 2020

Interesting historic tidbits at the beginning of this video huh?  An Army tank in the surf?  Very interesting indeed.

The past is prologue.  Army Armor will probably be getting feet wet again considering that the NEW Marine Corps' heaviest fighting vehicle will be a freaking Utility Vehicle in the form of the JLTV.

Menhan RI Jajal Performa Kendaraan Taktis Ringan 4x4 Terbaru Pindad, Maung!

RAFAEL's Unprecedented Missile Precision Creates a Revolution in IDF Combat Helicopters

Gripen - Any Mission, Anywhere - Quick Reaction Alert

SAMSON 30 RWS "All-in-one" with Trophy APS and SPIKE for Unmatched Maneuverability

BruteTalk #7 - "Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment (LOCE)"

Still not buying it.

Why is sea control the responsibility of the Marines?  Why must we become a fucked riverine force because the Navy has voided it's promise to the American people to maintain control of the sea?

Why is the Marine Corps an asset to the nation if it becomes a bitched up missile slinging force with little utility that can't be provided by just a few Army artillery brigades?

Why did we spend so much on the F-35 if it can't deliver against a high tech enemy?  If this is really an issue why wasn't it addressed sooner?  How can STILL SHORT RANGED MISSILES overcome the obstacles they envision?

This concept is fucked up from the floor up.

The US Army is coming to drink EVERYONE's milk shake...the US Air Force sounds the alarm!

This would be too funny if it weren't for the fact that its the USAF fighting for its traditional roles and missions while the US Marine Corps is simply surrendering without even a whimper.  via Breaking Defense.

Air power supporters argue that the Army’s top-priority Long-Range Precision Fires program, which aims to rebuild the artillery with new long-range cannons and surface-to-surface missiles to hit far-way ground targets, is stepping over traditional service boundaries.

“It’s ridiculous, to be quite candid. It is encroachment on roles and missions,” Dave Deptula, a retired Air Force lieutenant-general and dean of the Mitchell Institute, says. “The fact of the matter is the services need to adhere to their core competencies. And the United States Army reaching out to develop weapon systems that operate at thousand-mile range truly is encroachment.”
While top Air Force officials, including outgoing chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, have downplayed potential roles and missions clashes by citing the benefit of having overlapping capabilities, Deptula argues that tough choices are going to soon become imperative due to downward budgetary pressures stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“While some people have said: ‘well, you know, it’s nice to have a variety of different capabilities’ — well, sure, in a world where you’ve got unlimited budgets,” he said yesterday, somewhat sarcastically.

Story here. 

THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN ARGUING!  The US Army is developing weapon systems that can reach out fucking thousands of kilometers, can put more of them in a single Army division that the Marines can acquire Corps wide and somehow you think that Congress and the bean counters won't eventually say hey...we've got the Army doing this so why do we need the Marines?

The USAF is getting the force of connection.

The weird thing.

If I didn't know better I'd think that the Army looked at the future and got it right...laid in wait while the USAF and USMC lusted after the F-35 then sprung the trap when it became apparent to everyone that it just wouldn't cut the mustard.

They knew that because of a variety of reasons deep strike by aircraft would be a no-go (and that was one of the selling points of the F-35 with the USMC...from deep strike to acting as a scout for missile fire etc...) and that the future would be different.

So what are they doing?  They're calling it Multi-Domain (or as I call it Air-Land-Sea Battle Reborn in a bigger package but singing the same tune) but the reality is clear.

The US Army is NOW the force that will be able to fight across the entire spectrum.  NOT the USMC.

Iraqi super T-55 Al-Kafil-1 MBT

Thanks to John John Slade for the link!

Iraqi super T-55 Al-Kafil-1 MBT ,from @AndreiBtvt pic.twitter.com/iibmBphkha

— Caesar (@Ninja998998) June 13, 2019

Sometimes ya got to know when to say when.  Iran.  It's time to say when. Just beg the Chinese or Russians for some surplus MBTs but this foolishness needs to stop.

95th Civil Affairs Brigade doing it big. They walk out the office, board a Chinook and conduct parachute operations...

No green ramp for these boys.  Their CO must have some serious juice...or was it their CO and Command Staff getting in their monthly jump?  Either way its pretty cool...

Osprey of the Ground Self-Defense Force has departed from Iwakuni Base to Kisarazu Garrison

They're actually trying to defend the "New" Marine Corps as a Missile Force...

Thanks to CoffeeJoeJava for the link!

via War On The Rocks...

For those concerned about contingencies, it is important to note the Marine Corps will still have more infantry battalions on active duty than it has deployed into combat at any one time since World War II. The only fire support elements that have been seriously reduced are cannon artillery, light helicopter squadrons, and tanks. The major increase in long-range rocket/missile batteries will still allow massed fire in support of ground maneuver.

Story here.

My personal bullet points from the article?

*  The F-35 is not seen as the magic bullet it once was.  He repeats my often stated (and often disputed view) that not only is the USMC cutting it's buy of the airplane but it's also looking at possible further cuts.

*  He's in total love with the developing missile force.  Every contingency he laid out...from China, to Russia and Iran involved the USMC providing missile fire instead of ground combat forces.  Amazingly enough he even discounts Marine Air in the fight.

Long story short?

He's all about the "New" Marine Corps and the focus on missiles.  How can anyone that cares about the USMC support Berger's vision? 

The reality is stark and real.

If the Marine Corps goes down this path then the Marine Corps will die.  Check out this chart again, read the article carefully and then re-read Berger's vision.

I dispute this chart in one area.  It shows an increase in LAR when Berger's vision points out that he doubts the relevancy of LAR going into the future.

The USMC will provide 21 Rocket/Missile batteries.  If that's what we're putting on the table to the National Command Authority then why have a Marine Corps?  The US Army could easily provide three times that number just in the 25th ID in Hawaii, take over our new "reason for being" and the bean counters would laugh all the way to the bank while re-allocating USMC funds (partially) to the Army and the rest to bread and butter social programs.

This is a terrible plan.  It makes bets that would make a riverboat gambler nervous and it turns America's Expeditionary Force in readiness into a bitched up Missile Force that can only fire long range missiles.

VT-4 in the Royal Thai Army.