Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team...

All Photos by SSgt Ryan Crane. 

 

Sgt. Normand Gagnon, team leader attached to Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team, scans the mountainside for enemy activity while on a patrol in Alingar District July 13. Laghman PRT's mission was to meet with the Alingar District leaders then perform a final inspection on two construction projects in the area.

U.S. Army Capt. Devin Ciminero, company commander, attached to Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team, watches his sector while serving as personal security for the civil affairs team speaking with a local school teacher in Alingar District July 13. Laghman PRT's mission was to meet with the Alingar district leaders, then perform a final inspection on two construction projects in the area.

Spc. Adam Supino, rifleman attached to Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team, scans a mountain side for enemy activity while on a patrol in Alingar District July 13. Laghman PRT's mission was to meet with the Alingar District leaders then perform a final inspection on two construction projects in the area.

Note*
How are these units farmed out?  Do they fall under a Brigade or do they come under control of a Regional Command?

First F-35A delivered to Eglin AFB, Fla

Awesome news.

Have you noticed that all the bumps that seem to be hitting the F-35 always arrive just before another milestone is reached?

It almost seems calculated doesn't it?

Even the European's are saying it now...

via Defense Management...

The conflict in Libya should act as a "wake-up call" to the European NATO members making a "pathetic" contribution to NATO operations, Defence Secretary Liam Fox has said.

Answering questions after speaking at the Royal United Services Institute, Fox said that too many European nations in NATO were "trying to get a free ride" off the US when it came to their own security.

"It is quite clear that they [the US] cannot continue to shoulder the burden of everyone else's defence,' said Fox.

"When we look at the sometimes pathetic contributions being made by some countries inside NATO, the European elements of NATO cannot expect the US to come to our aid on every occasion.

"Far too many of our European partners are still trying to get a free ride and they should regard Libya as a wake-up call.

"The US will not always be there to bail them out and if they want an insurance policy they should think about paying the premium."

Despite the extra strain caused by the relative lack of support, Fox said that the UK would be involved in Libya for 'as long as it takes' and that it was important not to suggest there was an endpoint to NATO's commitment in the country.

"When we talk about Libya we need to be absolutely unequivocal about the signals that we send to the regime.

"The regime will take nothing but comfort from those who say we may not have the will, may not have the money, may not have the capabilities.

"Those listening in Libya should be absolutely crystal clear. We do not lack political resolve, we do not lack military capabilities and we will see our mission through."

Wow.

But before Fox slams other European countries he might want to look in the mirror.  He's gutted his own forces and his plan for the future appears to have him riding either US or French coat tails.

Twitter battle.

First we had the idiocy with the battle of the Generals with the F-35 engine wars.

Then we had the idiocy, craziness and collusion with regards to Sweetman, APA, Cox and the rest of the merry band of followers when it came to spreading lies about the F-35 and its capabilities.

Now we have the idiocy of a US Senator twitting about the F-35.

Say it out loud.

A US Senator tweets about a weapon system that the Senate Armed Services Committee (of which he is a member and the ranking Republican) has direct oversight over.  This is a piss poor way of handling any issues that he has with the program....I wonder if he's been compromised by the writings of certain "Defense Professionals"?

Read about it here but Senator McCain might seriously consider retirement.  He is out of touch with the people that he represents, had to fake it to make it in the last election and is pushing for perpetual war for the US.  The guy is a loon.

In a post Tuesday on the microblogging site, Sen. McCain sounded off on the management of the stealthy, next-generation fighter: “Congress notified that first F-35 jets have cost overruns of $771M. Outrageous! Pentagon asking for $264M down payment now. Disgraceful.”
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp. took to Twitter Wednesday in defense of the program. “The F-35 team is focused on reducing costs of the jets and is showing significant improvement in key areas,” the company said in a post Wednesday afternoon. The tweet included a link to recent Senate testimony by Tom Burbage, Lockheed’s F-35 program manager.
In reply, Sen. McCain wrote: “To most observers, a $771M cost overrun for 28 F-35s doesn’t qualify as ‘significant improvement.’ Taxpayers deserve better.”

Oh and before you hit me with "McCain is right!" consider this...he has access to all the classified information that we don't....he is well aware of the efforts being made to bring down the cost of airplane and of the work being done to streamline production.

He is simply after publicity.  You know it and I know it.

The Irish Naval Service conducting Fleet exercises.

F-35C Jet Blast Deflector Testing

Time to squash this shit, SgtMajor...

Ok SgtMajor.

Its beyond time you stuck your head up out of your foxhole and fix this shit.

Lamonthe has an article up with the same stupidity....one of your Marines asking a celebrity out on a date.

I repeat.

We are suppose to have an elite organization here but this crap is going on.


I don't see vids of the Rangers doing this crap.


I don't see vids of the 82nd doing this crap.


I don't see vids of the 101st, 10th Mountain, 25th Infantry, Sailors or even Coast Guardsmen doing this shit.

Only US Marines are getting caught up in this mess.

QUESTION:
Pace might have allowed this to go on...but would Conway?  How about Gray?  How about Krulak?  I bet there are some former Commandants and SgtMajor's of the Marine Corps that are privately going ape at the sight of this.

Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier HMS Illustrious

Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier HMS Illustrious is pictured returning to Portsmouth following her refit in Scotland.HMS Illustrious returned to her Portsmouth home today (July 7) after completing a £40m maintenance and upgrade programme in Scotland.The 22,000 tonne ship, affectionately known as Lusty, was in the Rosyth dockyard in Fife for 16 months where she underwent modifications to turn her into a helicopter and commando carrier capable of carrying a force of up to 20 helicopters and 600 fully kitted out personnel.Since leaving Rosyth on June 18 Illustrious has been undergoing sea trials off the UK coast. She will carry out further tests off the south coast before returning to the RN fleet at the end of this month.Photographer: LA(Phot) Nicky Wilson

What a waste of a fine ship.  A commando carrier is fine....but it just won't be as lethal as it should be without its Harriers.

The usual suspects...

I'd be shocked but I could see this coming from a mile away.  Usually the fanboys aren't this obvious but this is just plain dastardly.

Exhibit number one...This post by Sweetman...

The Netherlands has decided to delay and stretch out its acquisition of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. In a July 1 letter to parliament, defense minister Hans Hillen says that a revised plan, reflecting the most recent schedule changes "starts the flow of production aircraft in 2019, and lasts until 2027".

To be honest, if he had simply left it at that then it wouldn't be worthy of comment, but as usual Sweetman continues to make statements that are questionable at best.  I won't even get into the comments section where the merry band from 'down under' get swept away in the joy of an apparent anti F-35 victory.  Pathetic.

Exhibit number two...Bob Cox weighs in.... 
Its really not even worth the time to read.  The guy obviously has an massive hard on for the guys at Lockheed Martin (as does Sweetman) so my best advice to them is to always use soap on a rope when Cox comes around (pun intended).

Exhibit number three...some dude named Colin Horgan...
He's a new player (at least I never heard of him) but what makes his post noteworthy is the fact that it almost mirrors Cox's exactly.

I'm not saying that there is collusion here but my goodness it sure looks like.

The question now becomes...what should Lockheed Martin do? 


There is a group of reporters that are obviously talking...obviously comparing notes...obviously working overtime to kill a program that your company is working hard to get into the hands of US and allied War Fighters.  


What should you do?  Check out the vid below.  



Oh and LM...love ya'll but how can you put advertising right next to stories that are blasting your products? On two of the three articles I cited above, there was actually advertising for the F-35 running!  Come on guys this is 2011!  How about being smarter with your advertising budget!

Exercise Predator's Strike 2011

Terminal Lance and the case of the "buddy fucker"...

This applies on so many levels....enjoy....

Pic of the day. July 12, 2011.

A soldier rushes through a stream during a training exercise in Kenya.

The 4th Battalion The Rifles (4 RIFLES) were in Kenya undergoing intensive training to be the British Army's next Spearhead Lead Element - a rapid response force ready to tackle a world-wide crisis at 24 hours notice.

This can range from a major domestic terrorist attack to the evacuation of British nationals overseas.

Around 700 personnel left their Wiltshire base and were joined by other units including artillery and engineers for a five week intensive exercise at the British Army Training Unit Kenya, otherwise known as BATUK.

Photographer: Sgt Adrian Harlen

100 Flights For F-35C

The F-35C fleet reached 100 total flights when F-35C CF-2 flew back to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, after completing jet blast deflector training at the Naval Air Engineering Center at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.

The Marine Corps has lost its fucking mind.

Is the desire to be cool...to be hip...to be part of the 'in' crowd so strong that common sense eludes those in charge?

Battle Rattle blog is milking these videos that Marines are putting on You Tube to the max.  At times its almost ghoulish.  At times its just sad and pathetic.

This time its sad and pathetic.

These posts of videos on the net showing Marines acting like a bunch of fucking idiots is beyond the pale.

Marines use the words...elite...hard core....shock troops....

These videos and the commands that are allowing them are tarnishing the reputation of the Marine Corps.  I have yet to see US Army Rangers posting vids like this.  I have yet to see the 82nd Airborne posting vids like this.  I haven't seen it from the 101st, 10th Mountain or 25th Infantry Division.

But we see Marines posting this tripe.  We see so called "Marine friendly" blogs posting and promoting this garbage.

Somethings got to give.  To be quite honest I had hoped that the new SgtMajor of the Marine Corps would have put his foot down on this issue.

Apparently he's asleep at the wheel on this.

Oh and before you go high and to the left and accuse me of blowing this out of proportion then consider this sad fact.

Marines have been convicted of conduct unbecoming for offenses that I consider far less embarrassing to the Corps.

"We are an agile, lethal force going down range"

Produced by Sgt. Elyssa Quesada.

Sgt. Quesada's been busy.  I hope she keeps up this pace once the deployment starts.  I'm pretty happy with the effort they're taking to get the word out about all the work that's done to just get ready to deploy.  

Impressive.

Chinook recovery op.

Remember the post I did here?  It covers the news from ISAF that a coalition helicopter had gone down in Afghanistan.  I wrote them to try and get further info but they wouldn't give.

I think I have it here.  Check it out.

Photo Credit: Sgt. Richard Wrigley, 1st ACB, 1st Cav. Division Public Affairs

A CH-47F Chinook cargo helicopter from the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, lowers to the ground while sling loading another Chinook helicopter as a cloud of dust arises, July 6, 2011.

173rd Airborne in the breeze.

Nice photos but why is the 173rd still jumping the old parachutes?  I thought that everyone would be using the T-11 by now.  If you have any knowledge on it, then hit me up.

Check out the guy in the bottom pic closest to the ground.  He must be experiencing ground rush from hell...I'd pay money to see his PLF!

Operation Hammer Down II

U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles, from the 389th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, like the ones shown here, helped provide 176 consecutive hours of air support and drop more than 100 bombs in support of Operation Hammer Down II. Air Force close air support assets played a critical role in the success of the operation. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Michael B. Keller)

U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons, from 555th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, like the one shown here, helped provide 176 consecutive hours of air support and drop more than 100 bombs in support of Operation Hammer Down II. Air Force close air support assets played a critical role in the success of the operation.

Senior Airman Michael McAffrey from Tacoma, Wash., a joint terminal attack controller with the 116th Air Support Operations Squadron, Washington Air National Guard, patrols alongside a field near Khanda Village, Laghman province, Afghanistan, June 18. JTACS like McAffrey were a critical asset to Army ground commanders during Operation Hammer Down II.

U.S. Army soldiers from D Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, alongside the Afghanistan National Army soldiers, advance toward a hill top to set up security during Operation Hammer Down in the Watahpur District of Kunar province, Afghanistan, June 26. The operation was a coalition effort to disrupt insurgents operating and training throughout the Pech Valley. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Tia Sokimson)

11th MEU's maritime raid force...more pics of oil platform training.

Beretta ARX160

Its butt ugly but the features are nice.