24th MEU. They're doing an essential task but it still feels like fire watch!

All photos by Sgt. Richard Blumenstein

Pfc. Joseph Swidarski, a rifleman with Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, holds security on the side of the ship during a Defense of the Amphibious Task Force training exercise, Feb 10. While at sea, Marines and Sailors must be prepared to guard the ship whenever it passes a danger area or when there may be an increased threat to the force. The training exercise was a smaller part of the 24th MEU's Certification Exercise (CERTEX) with the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, scheduled Jan. 27 to Feb. 17, which includes a series of missions intended to evaluate and certify the unit for their upcoming deployment.

Lance Cpl. Earl Sproul, a rifleman with Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, holds security during a Defense of the Amphibious Task Force training exercise, Feb 10. While at sea, Marines and Sailors must be prepared to guard the ship whenever it passes a danger area or when there may be an increased threat to the force. The training exercise was a smaller part of the 24th MEU's Certification Exercise (CERTEX) with the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, scheduled Jan. 27 to Feb. 17, which includes a series of missions intended to evaluate and certify the unit for their upcoming deployment.

Cpl. Stephen Rockwell, a rifleman with Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, and Seaman Ricky Donaldson, an information system technologist with the USS Gunston Hall, hold security on the top of the ship during a Defense of the Amphibious Task Force training exercise, Feb 10. While at sea, Marines and Sailors must be prepared to guard the ship whenever it passes a danger area or when there may be an increased threat to the force. The training exercise was a smaller part of the 24th MEU's Certification Exercise (CERTEX) with the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, scheduled Jan. 27 to Feb. 17, which includes a series of missions intended to evaluate and certify the unit for their upcoming deployment.

Lance Cpl. Andrew Vaughn, a rifleman with Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, holds security during a Defense of the Amphibious Task Force training exercise, Feb 10. While at sea, Marines and Sailors must be prepared to guard the ship whenever it passes a danger area or when there may be an increased threat to the force. The training exercise was a smaller part of the 24th MEU's Certification Exercise (CERTEX) with the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, scheduled Jan. 27 to Feb. 17, which includes a series of missions intended to evaluate and certify the unit for their upcoming deployment.

Lance Cpl. Neil Lipon and Pfc. Kyler Ramsey, machine gunners with Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit hold security on the ship's flight deck during a Defense of the Amphibious Task Force training exercise, Feb 10. While at sea, Marines and Sailors must be prepared to guard the ship whenever it passes a danger area or when there may be an increased threat to the force. The training exercise was a smaller part of the 24th MEU's Certification Exercise (CERTEX) with the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, scheduled Jan. 27 to Feb. 17, which includes a series of missions intended to evaluate and certify the unit for their upcoming deployment.

Lance Cpl. Alex Krieger and Pfc. Jason Otero, machine gunners with Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, hold security during a Defense of the Amphibious Task Force training exercise, Feb 10. While at sea, Marines and Sailors must be prepared to guard the ship whenever it passes a danger area or when there may be an increased threat to the force. The training exercise was a smaller part of the 24th MEU's Certification Exercise (CERTEX) with the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, scheduled Jan. 27 to Feb. 17, which includes a series of missions intended to evaluate and certify the unit for their upcoming deployment.

Cpl. Ryan Kretschmer, a machine gunner with Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, holds security during a Defense of the Amphibious Task Force training exercise, Feb 10. While at sea, Marines and Sailors must be prepared to guard the ship whenever it passes a danger area or when there may be an increased threat to the force. The training exercise was a smaller part of the 24th MEU's Certification Exercise (CERTEX) with the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, scheduled Jan. 27 to Feb. 17, which includes a series of missions intended to evaluate and certify the unit for their upcoming deployment.

Scout Snipers evolving into a Recon element.

Let me be careful in the way I say this.

It appears that Scout Snipers are evolving into a bit more than originally envisioned.  By that I mean that you're seeing them operate more in platoon strength, you're seeing them taking on missions that were once the sole reserve of Recon, and you see commanders embracing that more and more.

I think its nothing but a positive.  In the story below they're attached to the Assault Battalion but if a little further experimentation takes place and they're allowed to helo or motor or swim in ahead of the assault phase then you already have your replacements for Recon.

And we do sort of anyway.

We have scout swimmers with boat company.

We have UAV's that operate off amphibs.

We have scout snipers.

We have ANGLICO.

We have Radio Recon.

We have an assortment of units inside the MEU that dab at the RECON/Force RECON mission already.  Time to make the jump and let RECON/Force RECON go full time to MARSOC and focus on making the MEU as robust and Special Operations Capable as possible.

More often than not our forces will be either at the location of an incident or able to arrive before SOCOM can gather its bags.  Time to put the SOC back into the MEU.

It is that bias for action which makes Guzman and the rest of the SSP (Scout Sniper Platoon) such an invaluable resource.
“They act as our reconnaissance and surveillance asset whenever we are to assault an objective,” said 1st Lt. Scott Whipple, AAV commander with Co. B., BLT 1/4, 31st MEU. “If we’re coming onto an unknown beach area, they’re absolutely vital to our mission success, being the ones to scout out the area and relay valuable info back to us. If not for them, a big portion of an operation would be a guessing game.”

31st MEU raid pics @ Cobra Gold.

F-35. Still even, maybe ahead.

via Reuters.

* Italian defense minister to outline cuts to lawmakers Wednesday
* Italy to cut order to 100 from 131 -newspaper
By Steve Scherer
ROME, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Italy seems certain to scale back its major investment in Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, heightening uncertainty over the troubled stealth jet's future.
Defence Minister Giampaolo Di Paola has said repeatedly since January that the country's originally planned order of the 131 supersonic warplanes by 2018 was being "reviewed" because military spending cuts were necessary as part of Prime Minister Mario Monti's austerity plan to shore up public accounts.
General Claudio Debertolis, secretary general of the Defence Ministry and the country's armaments chief, confirmed to lawmakers on Tuesday that cuts were expected.
"There will be a revision of this Joint Strike Fighter programme to align it with disposable resources," he said.
Italy will ask for about 30 fewer planes, Corriere della Sera daily reported on Friday, without citing its source. Panorama magazine gave the same number on Jan. 18.
Government sources and lawmakers told Reuters that it was premature to say how many of the F-35 fighters Italy will order because of uncertainty over the version of the aircraft designed for short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL).
This version is supposed to replace ageing Harrier jets on Italy's new hi-tech Cavour aircraft carrier.

No big deal at all.

First they're gonna buy the full sum of F-35B's to be operated off the Cavour...

Second, between the plus up by Turkey (they're buying 120 total F-35's) and Japan coming onboard, along with S. Korea (probably) and Singapore (almost assuredly) then you have a program that is still ahead.

The USMC is all in, the USAF (maybe at the expense of current fighter squadrons) is all in and I really think the USN is just suffering from undue caution due to a lingering hang over from the A-12 fiasco but will also climb aboard eventually.

Long story short.  31 fewer airplanes from the Italians is no big deal.

Modest proposal. SOCOM acquires retired A-10's.

The USAF is retiring a batch of A-10's.

SOCOM needs robust air support.

My modest proposal?  SOCOM takes on a squadron or two of A-10's!

If SOCOM is going to take back missions it once performed (training foreign troops for example), if they're going to be used in lieu of conventional forces (meaning that they will take on missions once reserved for conventionals) then perhaps they need a squadron of dedicated close air support.

Not the ineffectual support provided by UAVs but the robust support provided by A-10's.  The A-10 can provide air support, escort of the helicopters and can provide eyes on target with the latest upgraded model.

This is really a no brainer.  SOCOM would be better served by the A-10 than with a A-29.

The 31st MEU supports Thai allies in mechanized raid

Seems like they've moved past the civics projects and are getting to the training aspects.  Different subject but I'm curious.  Do Marines rate Humanitarian medals because of those projects?

911 is a joke. Justifiable homicides explode in Detroit.

via The Daily.  Read the whole thing --- then buy yourself a Glock.  You'll probably need it.

The people of Detroit are taking no prisoners.

Justifiable homicide in the city shot up 79 percent in 2011 from the previous year, as citizens in the long-suffering city armed themselves and took matters into their own hands. The local rate of self-defense killings now stands 2,200 percent above the national average. Residents, unable to rely on a dwindling police force to keep them safe, are fighting back against the criminal scourge on their own. And they’re offering no apologies.

“We got to have a little Old West up here in Detroit. That’s what it’s gonna take,” Detroit resident Julia Brown told The Daily.

The last time Brown, 73, called the Detroit police, they didn’t show up until the next day. So she applied for a permit to carry a handgun and says she’s prepared to use it against the young thugs who have taken over her neighborhood, burglarizing entire blocks, opening fire at will and terrorizing the elderly with impunity.

“I don’t intend to be one of their victims,” said Brown, who has lived in Detroit since the late 1950s. “I’m planning on taking one out.”

How it got this bad in Detroit has become a point of national discussion. Violent crime settled into the city’s bones decades ago, but recently, as the numbers of police officers have plummeted and police response times have remained distressingly high, citizens have taken to dealing with things themselves.

In this city of about 700,000 people, the number of cops has steadily fallen, from about 5,000 a decade ago to fewer than 3,000 today. Detroit homicides — the second-highest per capita in the country last year, according to the FBI — rose by 10 percent in 2011 to 344 people.

On a bleak day in January, a group of funeral directors wearied by the violence drove a motorcade of hearses through the city streets in protest.

Average police response time for priority calls in the city, according to the latest data available, is 24 minutes. In comparable cities across the country, it is well under 10 minutes.

Citizens like Brown feel they have been left with little choice but to take the law into their own hands.

The number of justifiable homicides, in which residents use deadly force in self-defense, jumped from 19 in 2010 to 34 last year — a 79 percent rise — according to newly released city data.

Signs that vigilantism was taking hold in the city came earlier, around Memorial Day 2009, when former federal agent Alvin Davis decided he’d had enough of the break-ins at his mother’s home on the east side. She called the police again and again, but the brazen robberies continued. Davis, then a 32-year-old Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, snapped.

Prosecutors said he spent days chasing and harassing the teenagers who were allegedly robbing his mother, even shoving his federally issued firearm into one of their mouths. No one was killed, but by the time he was done, Davis had racked up charges of unlawful imprisonment and assault. In August 2010, he was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison.

But many residents in his mother’s Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood are sympathetic to Davis, whose case is on appeal.

“He basically did what a lot of us wished we could do,” said Ken Gray, 58, who lives down the street from Davis’ mother.
One high-ranking official in the county legal system, speaking to The Daily, said the rise in justifiable homicides mirrors a local court system that’s increasingly lenient of the practice.

“It’s a lot more acceptable now to get your own retribution,” the official said. “And the justice system in the city is a lot more understanding if people do that. It‘s becoming a part of the culture.”

Detroiters are arming themselves with shotguns and handguns and buying guard dogs. Anything to take care of their own. And privately, residents say neighborhood watch groups in Detroit are widely armed.

“It’s like the militiamen who stepped up way back when. That’s where the neighborhood folks are," said James “Jackrabbit” Jackson, a 63-year-old retired Detroit cop who has patrolled the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood for years.

“They’re ready to fight,” Jackson said. “We don’t hardly see police anymore.”

The city’s wealthier enclaves have hired private security firms. Intimidating men in armored trucks patrol streets lined with gracious old homes in a scene more likely seen in Mexico City than the United States.

That kind of paid protection can run residents anywhere from $10 to $200 per month, and companies say business is good.

“We’re booming,” said Dale Brown, the owner of Threat Management Group, which along with Recon Security patrols neighborhoods like Palmer Woods in black Hummers.

“We’re paramilitary, but we’re positive. I’m not a vigilante. I’m an agent of change.”
The Detroit Police Department, grappling with deep funding cuts in a city with a spiraling budget crisis, acknowledges that response times are high and says it is working on a plan to lower them. But a spokeswoman for the department insists the rise in justifiable homicides is unrelated.

“It’s not about police response time because often the act has already taken place by the time the police are called,” said Sgt. Eren Stephens. She said citizens have a right to defend themselves.

“Anytime a life is lost, we’re concerned,” she said. “But we can‘t be on every corner in front of every home. And we know that there are citizens who will do what they have to do to protect themselves.”

That’s the terrifying position in which Kevin Early found himself in November when he was held up at gunpoint outside his home in the upper-middle-class Rosedale Park area. Neighbors called the police, but it was 25 minutes before an officer arrived.

Early, the director of the criminal justice studies program at the University of Michigan’s Dearborn campus, reasoned with the men for more than 20 minutes before he sensed they were about to shoot him in the head — then he ran. As his attackers fled in the opposite direction, neighbors emerged from the street’s stately homes with shotguns.

“All I could think of was my daughter coming home,” Early said. “I didn’t want her to see me shot dead.”

Weeks later, Early packed up his home and left Detroit. He hired Threat Management to supervise the move.

“Where else do the police come to your house after you’ve been robbed and ask you, ‘Why did you call us?’ ”

Mara.Gay@thedaily.com

You have got to be shitting me! USS Giffords?

via CDR Salamander.

I'll let him tell the tale.

Don't blog angry!" Well, again, I am ignoring my own advice. Here we go. I will want to reword this in an hour, but I won't. Want unfiltered Sal? Well, here you go.

What confidence I once had in the SECNAV gone, broken, unable to be supported. I was a fool to give him the benefit of the doubt. This is the last straw.

Small things do matter - as they often support much larger and critical things.

Ship names mean nothing anymore. The vacuousness, vapidity, and morally rudderless nature of our present leadership is out there clear as day for all to see. I don't even think they know it.

Naming a ship after that bucket of goo MURTHA was bad enough.

Rep. Giffords (D-AZ) was/is a fine public servant and her husband is a Navy astronaut. She was shot in the head by an insane person. None of the above rate having a Navy ship named after you. Announced on a Friday afternoon - I think even the Navy is ashamed of this classic case of immature pandering to the Overclass.

First off I know that Giffords is a crime victim.

I know she served her country in her own way.

But this break from tradition is disgusting.

This is a terrible precedent.  The Democrats are doing the same thing that all political parties do when they sense power slipping away.  They over reach and start doing feel good things.  You saw it in the run up to the election that brought Obama to power.  The Republicans starting doing silly things.  The Dems are doing it now.

November can't get here soon enough.

Cobra Gold already in the assault phase.

HAT YAO, Kingdom of Thailand-Republic of Korea Marines rush from an amphibious assault vehicle during an assault on a beach during exercise Cobra Gold 2012 here, Feb. 10. The U.S. Marines of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, Royal Thai and Republic of Korea Marines conducted the multilateral assault to further strengthen the interoperability among the nations. The 31st MEU is the only continuously forward-deployed MEU and remains the nation’s force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region., Cpl. Jonathan G. Wright, 2/9/2012 7:00 PM

AT YAO, Kingdom of Thailand-A U.S. Marine with Company B., Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, provides security alongside Republic of Korea Marines during exercise Cobra Gold 2012 here, Feb. 10. The U.S. Marines of the 31st MEU, Royal Thai and Republic of Korea Marines conducted the multilateral assault to further strengthen the interoperability among the nations. The 31st MEU is the only continuously forward-deployed MEU and remains the nation’s force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region., Cpl. Jonathan G. Wright, 2/10/2012 7:34 AM

AT YAO, Kingdom of Thailand-U. S. Marines from Company B., Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, alongside Royal Thai Marines engage a simulated enemy during the amphibious assault portion of exercise Cobra Gold 2012 here, Feb. 10. The U.S. Marines of the 31st MEU, Royal Thai and Republic of Korea Marines conducted the multilateral assault to further strengthen the interoperability among the nations. The 31st MEU is the only continuously forward-deployed MEU and remains the nation’s force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region., Cpl. Jonathan G. Wright, 2/9/2012 7:00 PM

AT YAO, Kingdom of Thailand -Royal Thai Marines exit an amphibious assault vehicle and begin securing the beach here, Feb. 10. The Royal Thai Marines were conducting a multilateral amphibious assault with U.S. and Republic of Korea Marines during Exercise Cobra Gold 2012. CG 2012 demonstrates the resolve of the U.S. and participating nations to increase interoperability and promote security and peace throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The 31st MEU is the U.S.’s expeditionary force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region., Cpl. Garry J. Welch, 2/10/2012 6:31 AM

AT YAO, Kingdom of Thailand -Royal Thai Marines push forward as CH-46E Sea Knight helicopters with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 262, 1st Marine Air Wing, fly overhead during an amphibious assault here, Feb. 10. The multilateral assault included Royal Thai, Republic of Korea and U.S. Marines of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, and was conducted during Exercise Cobra Gold 2012. CG 2012 demonstrates the resolve of the U.S. and participating nations to increase interoperability and promote security and peace throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The 31st MEU is the U.S.’s expeditionary force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region., Cpl. Garry J. Welch, 2/10/2012 6:33 AM

AT YAO, Kingdom of Thailand -Marines with Company B, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, exit an amphibious assault vehicle and begin to secure the beach here, Feb. 10. The assault was a multilateral exercise that included Royal Thai, Republic of Korea and U.S. Marines, and was conducted during Exercise Cobra Gold 2012. CG 2012 demonstrates the resolve of the U.S. and participating nations to increase interoperability and promote security and peace throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The 31st MEU is the U.S.’s expeditionary force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region., Cpl. Garry J. Welch, 2/10/2012 6:34 AM

AT YAO, Kingdom of Thailand -A Marine with Company B, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, provides security during an amphibious assault here, Feb. 10. The assault was a multilateral exercise that included Royal Thai, Republic of Korea and U.S. Marines, and was conducted during Exercise Cobra Gold 2012. CG 2012 demonstrates the resolve of the U.S. and participating nations to increase interoperability and promote security and peace throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The 31st MEU is the U.S.’s expeditionary force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region., Cpl. Garry J. Welch, 2/10/2012 6:35 AM

Cobra Gold 2012

L-Cat aboard the USS Wasp.

120207-N-YF306-107 ATLANTIC OCEAN (Feb. 7, 2012) A French landing catamaran (L-CAT) assigned to the French amphibious assault ship FS Mistral (L9013) prepares to pull into the well deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) during Exercise Bold Alligator. Bold Alligator, the largest naval amphibious exercise in the past 10 years, represents the Navy and Marine Corps' revitalization of the full range of amphibious operations. The exercise focuses on today's fight with today's forces, while showcasing the advantages of seabasing. This exercise will take place Jan. 30 through Feb. 12, 2012 afloat and ashore in and around Virginia and North Carolina. #BA12 (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Chase/Released)

120207-N-YF306-094 ATLANTIC OCEAN (Feb. 7, 2012) A French landing catamaran (L-CAT) assigned to the French amphibious assault ship FS Mistral (L9013) prepares to pull into the well deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) during Exercise Bold Alligator. Bold Alligator, the largest naval amphibious exercise in the past 10 years, represents the Navy and Marine Corps' revitalization of the full range of amphibious operations. The exercise focuses on today's fight with today's forces, while showcasing the advantages of seabasing. This exercise will take place Jan. 30 through Feb. 12, 2012 afloat and ashore in and around Virginia and North Carolina. #BA12 (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Chase/Released)

120207-N-YF306-360 ATLANTIC OCEAN (Feb. 7, 2012) Sailors from the deck department of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) supervise the well deck as a French landing catamaran (L-CAT) enters as part of Exercise Bold Alligator. Bold Alligator, the largest naval amphibious exercise in the past 10 years, represents the Navy and Marine Corps' revitalization of the full range of amphibious operations. The exercise focuses on today's fight with today's forces, while showcasing the advantages of seabasing. This exercise will take place Jan. 30 through Feb. 12, 2012 afloat and ashore in and around Virginia and North Carolina. #BA12 (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Chase/Released)

Riverines. Still don't know.

A vid covering the Riverines during Bold Alligator.

I still don't understand the mission set.  They train with allied Marines in raid type operations but claim to be distinct and have a different mission set from US Marines.

I don't get it.

What do these guys do?  It would appear to be a mix of Marine Corps boat company ops in the context of raids, a bit of Harbor Security from the Master at Arms and a dose of SWCCs in the way that they outfit there boats.

Bleeding hearts will go crazy but its no big deal.

Joe sent me this article and I have to say my first reaction was "Oh shit here we go again"...but its really no big deal.  Not if you kick back and relax a bit and don't go solid stupid.

Oh and SS in Marine talk stands for Scout Sniper.  Many will disagree but this is really no big deal.  via Yahoo.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Marine Corps on Thursday once again did damage control after a photograph surfaced of a sniper team in Afghanistan posing in front of a flag with a logo resembling that of the notorious Nazi SS — a special unit that murdered millions of Jews, gypsies and others.

The Corps said in a statement that using the symbol was not acceptable.

However, it was a naive mistake made by Marines who believed the SS symbol was meant to represent sniper scouts and never intended to associate themselves with a racist organization, said Maj. Gabrielle Chapin, a spokeswoman at Camp Pendleton.

The Marines in the image will not be disciplined because investigators determined there was no malicious intent, Chapin said.

Thank goodness the Marine Corps thought so too.

Army SF has an in-house sea base. They just don't know it!

The US Army has Logistic Support Vessels in house that can be used to provide a "rebirth" of the Army's amphibious operations or to provide a platform for US Army Special Forces and Rangers.

I prefer the latter.

This from Naval Technology pretty much sums up my idea.

LSV - HELICOPTER CAPABLE
The LSV-helicopter capable variant in service with the Philippine Navy provides concealed transport, deployment and retrieval of both helicopters and patrol boats.
Attack helicopters are concealed below a modular flight deck while patrol boats and intercept craft are behind the stern ramp. The configuration presents the appearance of a logistic supply ship without the obvious display of force.

Wow.

Another lesson learned from our friends.  It would be a tremendous asset for the Special Forces and Rangers.  And it can be done today.

As far as revitalizing US Army amphibious ops, check this out from a Defense Tech story on this ships...

...as far as the platform goes, an LSV–with its slow speed, tiny draft, mid-sized crew (a core of about 30) and long legs (5,000 miles) would be a perfect “presence” tool for Africa and the Pacific Islands. Capable of carrying the equivalent of 28 Abrams M1A tanks, the LSV can bring a lot of stuff to a lot of places.

28 Abrams ashore in one lift?

That's approaching the old LST in lift capability.  No.  That is matching the old Newport class LST in capability.

The Army and Navy signed an agreement to transfer ships...I don't recall if these were included or if it was just the JHSV's, but if they were then the Army should seek to reverse that decision and possibly base a few of these in Guam or Japan or even Hawaii.

The future is in the Pacific or in operations off Africa stretching into the Middle East.  Either way, Soldier would be well served by keeping these ships in Army hands.

CLB-26 at Bold Alligator.

A landing support Marine with Combat Logistics Battalion 26, Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group watches as a French armored vehicle makes landfall, Feb. 6, 2012, during exercise Bold Alligator 2012 aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bold Alligator is a multinational amphibious exercise designed to test the Marine Corps’ readiness by executing a beach assault. Landing support Marines are responsible for accounting for all gear and personnel on ground and orienting troops toward the fight.

French armored vehicles drive on the shores of Onslow Beach, Feb. 6, 2012, during exercise Bold Alligator 2012 aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bold Alligator is a multinational amphibious exercise designed to test the Marine Corps’ readiness by executing a beach assault. Landing support Marines are responsible for accounting for all gear and personnel on ground and orienting troops toward the fight.

A landing support Marine with Combat Logistics Battalion 26, Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group runs to meet an armored assault vehicle after it makes landfall, Feb. 6, 2012, during exercise Bold Alligator 2012 aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bold Alligator is a multinational amphibious exercise designed to test the Marine Corps’ readiness by executing a beach assault. Landing support Marines are responsible for accounting for all gear and personnel on ground and orienting troops toward the fight.

A landing support Marine with Combat Logistics Battalion 26, Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group talks to an armored assault vehicle passenger, Feb. 6, 2012, to get an accurate count of vehicles and passengers during exercise Bold Alligator 2012 aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bold Alligator is a multinational amphibious exercise designed to test the Marine Corps’ readiness by executing a beach assault. Landing support Marines are responsible for accounting for all gear and personnel on ground and orienting troops toward the fight.

A landing support Marine with Combat Logistics Battalion 26, Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group talks to an armored assault vehicle passenger, Feb. 6, 2012, to get an accurate count of vehicles and passengers during exercise Bold Alligator 2012 aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bold Alligator is a multinational amphibious exercise designed to test the Marine Corps’ readiness by executing a beach assault. Landing support Marines are responsible for accounting for all gear and personnel on ground and orienting troops toward the fight.

SEAL Blowback part two.

Thanks to my bud USS Helm for sending me this link.  This is getting good!   When you have a retired Special Ops General tell an active duty Special Ops Admiral that he's in the media too much then you're seeing a real culture clash.  Something tells me that it isn't necessarily between generations of Special Ops warriors either...this feels more like a clash between SEALs and the rest of the Special Ops community.  Buckle up tight guys!  Even if it never makes it to the public, I'd bet body parts that I highly cherish, that this thing is coming to a head.  And if I were a betting man then I'd have to say that it will be the US Army Special Forces that leads the charge to get the SEALs to shut the fuck up!

via Yahoo.  Go there to read the whole thing but the good bits are below.

Since the time when your wonderful team went and drug bin Laden out and got rid of him, and more recently when you went down and rescued the group in Somalia, or wherever the hell they were, they've been splashing all of this all over the media," Vaught, 85, said. "I flat don't understand that.

"Now back when my special operators extracted Saddam [Hussein] from the hole, we didn't say one damn word about it," he continued. "We turned him over to the local commander and told him to claim that his forces drug him out of the hole, and he did so. And we just faded away and kept our mouth shut.

"Now I'm going to tell you, one of these days, if you keep publishing how you do this, the other guy's going to be there ready for you, and you're going to fly in and he's going to shoot down every damn helicopter and kill every one of your SEALs. Now, watch it happen. Mark my words. Get the hell out of the media," he concluded, as laughter broke out at a meeting of the National Defense Industrial Association in Washington, D.C.

Wow.

I said the exact same thing a couple of days ago. 

Oh and to the media that broke out in laughter.

FUCK YOU!

New Amphibious Truck from Gibbs might have military applications.

via Gizmag

I don't know who this vehicle is marketed to but it would appear to have some military and first responder applications.

I'd love to take one for a spin!

APA have been some busy boys...

Boy, some of the political hacks in the DoD are some sure fire idiots.  While the silly bastard in Washington is making headlines for slamming the F-35 acquisition plan, others are rapidly taking his words and using them to help bolster their arguments.

Check this out from the Australian...

The complaints by Air Power Australia, longtime critics of the $16 billion JSF acquisition, were made last night before a public hearing of parliament's defence sub-committee.
Latest-generation Russian fighters such as the Sukhoi T-50 would easily defeat the F-35 in air-to-air combat, Air Power's Peter Goon said, referring to recent modelling tests by his organisation.
"The aircraft we are planning to buy is carrying over 2000 pounds (900kg) of dead weight," Mr Goon said, referring to the JSF's big jet engines.
New Russian and Chinese air defence radars would also have little trouble detecting the JSF, a craft touted for its stealth qualities, he added.

The RAAF says it wants 100 US-designed JSFs to replace the decommisioned F-111 strike aircraft, with the first squadron supposed to be operating by 2018.But the program has been mired in cost overruns and delays.
Last month US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta ordered the purchase of US JSFs to be delayed to allow Lockheed-Martin time to resolve production and technical shortcomings.
The company is contracted to deliver the first two training aircraft in 2014 with another 12 scheduled for 2015-17.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith has said he is now considering an option to order additional F/A-18F Super Hornets to fill any capability gap created by further JSF production delays.

Now I know some will say...ah its just APA chill out.

That wouldn't quite be wise in my opinion.  The critics of this program have a way of 'finding' each other.  And while they all have different motives for canceling the program, they're united in the desire to CANCEL the program.

Meanwhile, supporters have allies that have a habit of sticking their feet --- yeah feet as in both of them --- inside their oversized mouths.  Lockheed Martin was late to the table when it came to realizing that this is a public relations war as well as a fighter program.

Time for the DoD to wake up to that fact too.

31st MEU Helo Marines hone fast roping skills

CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, Japan-A Marine with Company C., Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, provides security for his squad as they fast rope from a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265 (Reinforced), 31st MEU, at Landing Zone Hansen here, Feb. 7. As part of the remain behind element while the rest of BLT 1/4 is deployed in support of Cobra Gold 2012 in the Kingdom of Thailand, the Marines are making the most of the time to further enhance their training in preparation for their upcoming deployment. The 31st MEU is the only continuously forward-deployed MEU and remains the nation’s force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region., Cpl. Jonathan G. Wright, 2/7/2012 11:36 AM

CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, Japan-Marines with Company C., Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, provide security for the rest of their squad as they fast rope from a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265 (Reinforced), 31st MEU, at Landing Zone Hansen here, Feb. 7. As part of the remain behind element while the rest of BLT 1/4 is deployed in support of Cobra Gold 2012 in the Kingdom of Thailand, the Marines are making the most of the time to further enhance their training in preparation for their upcoming deployment. The 31st MEU is the only continuously forward-deployed MEU and remains the nation’s force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region., Cpl. Jonathan G. Wright, 2/7/2012 11:59 AM

CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, Japan-A Marine with Company C., Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, fast ropes from a UH-1N Huey helicopter from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265 (Reinforced), 31st MEU, at Landing Zone Hansen here, Feb. 7. As part of the remain behind element while the rest of BLT 1/4 is deployed in support of Cobra Gold 2012 in the Kingdom of Thailand, the Marines are making the most of the time to further enhance their training in preparation for their upcoming deployment. The 31st MEU is the only continuously forward-deployed MEU and remains the nation’s force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region., Cpl. Jonathan G. Wright, 2/7/2012 12:39 PM

Bold Alligator continues. Camp followers multiply.

Great, short vid on Bold Alligator.  I'm pleased to see how mechanized the French forces are.  They appear to have put on the ground a pretty credible ground force.

A couple of thoughts.

1.  Really pissed at a certain Marine General.  Time for him to retire or transfer full time to SOCOM.

2.  Speaking of SOCOM.  I'm a bit tired of that outfit crowding its way into every exercise whether specific to them or not.  This was suppose to be about revitalizing LARGE scale amphibious operations.  If those boys are so stressed by operational tempo then let them get some rest.  Them being at this exercise is not warranted in my opinion.

3.  Speaking of camp followers and glory hounds, I'm a bit peeved at some of the actions I've seen here.  The Commodore of Riverine Force inserting himself into the scenarios?  Not bloody likely and an ego trip if I ever saw one.  Pathetic.

Riverine Group 1 Commodore, Capt. Chris Halton, Command Master Chief Jeff Covington and Lt. Isaac Hartsell perform a key leader engagement with simulated host nationals during Exercise Bold Alligator 2012, the largest amphibious exercise in the past 10 years. The exercise represents the Navy and Marine Corps' revitalization of the full range of amphibious operations. The exercise focuses on today's fight with today's forces, while showcasing the advantages of seabasing. This exercise will take place 30 Jan - 12 Feb, 2012 afloat and ashore in and around Virginia and North Carolina.

Riverine Group 1 Commodore, Capt. Chris Halton, Command Master Chief Jeff Covington and Lt. Isaac Hartsell perform a key leader engagement with simulated host nationals during Exercise Bold Alligator 2012, the largest amphibious exercise in the past 10 years. The exercise represents the Navy and Marine Corps' revitalization of the full range of amphibious operations. The exercise focuses on today's fight with today's forces, while showcasing the advantages of seabasing. This exercise will take place Jan. 30 - Feb. 12, 2012, afloat and ashore in and around Virginia and North Carolina.

4.  Gotta repeat myself here.  The French came to play.  The Brits, Australians and Dutch can be excused for smaller contingents...Cobra Gold is going on in the Pacific and The Brits and Dutch have something going on way up in the waters of northern Europe.

5.  Congressional Aides showed up and of course they're getting the royal treatment.  When we were warned about the defense industrial complex, he forgot to mention that elected officials and their minions would see the military as a play thing.  Rolling out the red carpet for these legalized hoodlums reinforces their sense of entitlement.

We're at the halfway point of this exercise and more is to come.