DAMN IT! Afghan Soldier Murders US Marine and wounds another.

Sorry bastards.

How long are we going to play patty cake with these corrupt dogs?

Time to call in an airstrike on the entire GOD forsaken country and turn them and the land into glass.  I am so tired of our guys sacrificing and dying to help these primates.

Here's the story from Military.com...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- An Afghan soldier has killed one U.S. Marine and wounded another before being shot to death in return fire in southern Afghanistan, the latest in a series of attacks against foreigners blamed on government forces working with coalition troops.
Sunday's attack is among nearly 20 this year that have raised the level of mistrust between the U.S.-led coalition and its Afghan partners as NATO gears up to hand over security to local forces ahead of a 2014 deadline for the withdrawal of combat troops.

Read the rest of it but its just bullshit.  Everything you need to know about this war is contained in the first paragraph.

Long story short.  Its time to go.

Oh and for the liberal readers that I have (and its nothing personal) but  if you think that I'm painting with a broad brush and that all Afghans aren't bad then I have this to say.

I DON'T GIVE A FUCK.

Before you hit me with an ounce of equivalency take a few moments to think about this Marines Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother, Wife, Girlfriend, Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, Grandma, Grandpa and everyone else that calls him friend.

One Marine is worth that entire country to me.

And if you don't like it then pound sand.

Generational Dereliction of Duty. The latest example.

The vid is of the expose' done by 60 minutes on the F-22.

But my question is much larger in scope.  Are we living through the worst leadership in the history of our military?  Are we seeing generational dereliction of duty?

The evidence is stunning.

*General Shinseki relieved for telling the truth to US Senators...

*The revolt of the Generals.  Instead of speaking out while on active duty, they waited until retirement to bond together to speak out about the conduct of the war.

*General Pace in essence lying to the American public about the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Things were worse than they reported.

*General Mullen doing the same.

*General Patreus embarking on a nation building program with conventional forces in Afghanistan...ignoring the fact that the Terrorist threat had been neutralized by then and we were involving ourselves in a civil war...the Northern Alliance (the current government) vs. the Taliban (the former govt).

*General Mattis ignoring the real and present threat of attacks by our SUPPOSED allies on coalition forces.

and now...

*Forcing pilots to fly an airplane that is causing pilots to black out and not having a solution in place.

I truly believe that many years ago military leadership would never have allowed any of the above to have occurred.  The only individual on this list that acted honorably is Army General Shinseki.  He is included because other General's didn't stand up and speak out against the administration.

Rumsfield succeeded in one thing.  He stated that he believed that the Military Leadership had become too powerful and he wanted to reassert civilian dominance.

He won and the American people lost.

Leadership is currently making many decisions that are politically popular and make a minority of the military smile with glee.  But just like in the 60 minutes video, a silent majority of military members are realizing that something is broken.

Its the civilian and military leadership.  Warfighting is no longer job one.

Social programing is.

Elements of Power goes Sub Zero on POGO...result? Flawless Victory!

Elements of Power goes Sub Zero and score a flawless victory on those hacks called POGO.

Excellent!

Check this part out and then go to his spot to read the rest....

From the obvious parallels, it immediately became apparent that we could also use Freeman’s POGO piece to illustrate clearly the kind of philosophical, conceptual, and technical dissonance that exists between the worlds of those who ‘do’ things in the real world and those who ‘second guess’ from the trench lines of ‘Reformerland’.

 Now don't get me wrong.

I'm still not completely sold on the LCS concept but the arguments that he uses to dismantle POGO can be used against them on any program they have in their sights....Whether its the F-35, the Sea Wolf sub, Stryker, ACV, MPC...just pick your poison.

11th MEU. Recon on Rappel.

F-22 Raptor (#4195)

2nd Cav getting field time.

Note:  I'm really starting to dig that Mobile Gun System.  But what's got my head spinning is that we haven't seen even a prototype of the Marine Personnel Carrier version of this vehicle.  My bet is that they're putting all there eggs into winning the M-113 Replacement Program for the US Army.  Compared to that program the MPC is small fry stuff.  But back to the MGS.  I'd love to see that on a Lockheed/Patria Havoc or a BAE/Iveco Super AV.

Short Belfast.

General characteristics

Crew	Basic aircrew 5 (two pilots, engineer, navigator and loadmaster)
Length	41.70 m (136 ft 5 in)
Wingspan	48.1 m (158 ft 10 in)
Height	14.33 m (47 ft)
Empty weight	59,020 kg (130,000 lb)
Max takeoff weight	104,300 kg (230,000 lb)
Powerplant	4× Rolls-Royce Tyne R.Ty.12, Mk. 101 turboprops, 4,270 kW (5,730 ehp) each
Maximum Speed	566 km/h (306 knots, 352 mph)
Range	8,368 km (5,200 miles) with capacity fuel load of 80,720 lb
Service ceiling	9,100 m (30,000 ft)

Length

41.70 m (136 ft 5 in)

Wingspan

48.1 m (158 ft 10 in)

Height

14.33 m (47 ft)

Empty weight

59,020 kg (130,000 lb)

Max takeoff weight

104,300 kg (230,000 lb)

Powerplant

4× Rolls-Royce Tyne R.Ty.12, Mk. 101 turboprops, 4,270 kW (5,730 ehp) each

Maximum Speed

566 km/h (306 knots, 352 mph)

Range

8,368 km (5,200 miles) with capacity fuel load of 80,720 lb

Service ceiling

9,100 m (30,000 ft)

Hmm.


A nice blast from the past.


Too bad the British have allowed their avaition industry to die in pursuit of joint programs.  The French have fought to maintain there manufacturer as have the Swedes.  The Brits should have done likewise.

MP7 with Larry Vickers.

A couple of things.  Endo-Mike at Everydaynodaysoff gets my hat tip for finding this vid....check him out for fun gun stuff...next Larry is back in the gym...I'm happy to see that.  He looks good after dropping pounds, I hope he keeps it up.  Next is HK.  Great gun makers, lousy marketers.

Last.  Why is Aimpoint beating EOTech when it comes to small optics?  The EOTech is easier to gain a sight picture with, has better battery life and has a strangle hold on the military optics market.

I keep coming back to style over substance...and thats a shame.  The EOTech is the better piece of gear but I guess the CHE is showing its power (Costa-Haley Effect)....If Costa and Haley run it on their guns then the whole gun community turns into a bunch of giggling school girls and follows the popular kids.

Astronauts drop the F-bomb on the moon.

The F-22 is broken. Why is it still flying?

The Aviationist has an excellent article on the F-22's troubles and USAF leadership's attempt to fix the issues while keeping the plane in the air.

I won't rehash his work, just go to his blog to read the details.  What has me confused is General Hostage's statement...

“In a peacetime training circumstance, we want to operate at as low of risk is prudent for the level of training we get out of a mission,” he said. “When we go into combat, risk goes up, but the reason to assume that risk goes up as well.”

That's pure and utter bullshit.

This airplane should be grounded and everyone in the USAF knows it.

This is another example of dysfunctional leadership and a broken command structure.

Avengers the movie.

Uh.

That's the best I can say after seeing this movie.

Uh.

From Cap's uniform looking rather dorky to Black Widow double wielding Glock 26/27's (blow up this pic and you'll see a good view of her weapons...geez...Black Widow is better than that...at least Glock 18's!), the movie just didn't hit my wow spot.

Quite honestly the best parts of the movie was Iron Man (Downey is great...again)...the Hulk, mainly because his character is getting fleshed out a bit and finally Thor didn't disappoint but he didn't wow...

Save your cash and catch this on Video on Demand.

Female Marine Officer bitching and whining.

God spare me the bullshit!

Check this out from USNI Blog.

All three of my kids have flight time in Marine Corps aircraft. 

You're thinking wow!  This family produced 3 Naval Aviators!  Cool huh?  NOPE!  She was pregnant at the time.  PATHETIC!  But wait there is more.

Pre-flight school, back in 1999, I married my husband, a USMC infantry officer.  We did NOT want kids.  Of the first 9 years of our marriage, we lived in the same state for about 3 of them.  In my mind, kids = wasted career.  We were happy being childless and laughed at the idea of having kids, and how it would “ruin” things.  Why would we ever want to have kids, right?   Anyone with kids is laughing at us and the stupidity of that comment.
But…as it turned out, we had three kids, who are now aged almost 7, 3, and 18 months.  And instead of still flying, still deploying, and staying on active duty for 20 or more years, I find myself a Reservist with three little kids, not flying at all, and driving myself crazy.  This was NOT the original plan.  It took me three years to accept the fact that life had changed (in what was a wonderful way, of course, but I didn’t see it like that at first).  And I don’t know that I’ve really accepted it yet.
I don’t regret the choice to leave active duty for the Reserves (when my oldest was 2 ½ years old), but it shouldn’t have been the only viable option.  I had nearly ten years in at the time, advanced qualifications in the aircraft, and the desire to keep doing it all.  For a long, long time.  But single-parenting through most of my oldest daughter’s first two years of life showed that I could not do it all, at least not without something coming off of the track.  I went kicking and screaming from active duty, but did not see any other way, since I was failing at parenting and failing at being a Marine Corps officer/pilot.  And that is one big reason that the services lose experienced women and men at a certain point in their lives and careers.  But is it necessary?

Are you fucking kidding me?

Who the hell said to get pregnant in the first place?

Who said that you had to leave the service?

This is what pisses me off.  She made life choices and is pissed off because of the choices she made and is now trying to blame the Marine Corps.

How about this.

Don't have kids but if you do then .....

USS America...redone as a Light Carrier.

More Fords not Cadillacs.

Ultimate RatioReg penned an article for USNI that asked the question "must every carier be a supercarrier?"  My answer is no, no it doesn't. (Read it here)

The US Navy is in the fortunate position of being in the midst of transformation.  An unwanted transformation but one none the less.

My proposal is simple and it echoes the calls that others have already made.  Why are we basing our naval air forces around 11 big deck carriers?  Why not make some basic modifications to the USS America class, and develop them into Strike Carriers? 

We've done it before.  Adding length to these ships and giving them catapults and angled decks is not something we should automatically shy away from.  CV-9, USS Essex when originally designed had no catapults, no angled flight deck and its deminsions were remarkably similar to the USS America's.  She was modernized after the war and served with distinction.

We can do this again.

Instead of the Navy having 11 supercarriers, it can have 6 super carriers and 10 strike carriers...or any number, you pick it but you get my point.

Smaller, slightly fewer aircraft but with greater numbers able to be in many more places make this a sensible option.  Tweaking escort numbers might prove to be a challenge but its doable and since the manning tables for the America class is so much smaller than a super carrier, it should not be a strain on manpower.

9 people hung from a bridge. 14 decapitated heads.

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Airsoft. A false training choice.

I've been reading more and more about people picking up and using airsoft to supplement their training.

Supposedly it gives you inexpensive training on the platform (your rifle) of your choice while being able to go force on force.

I couldn't disagree more.

Airsoft is a fraud, designed by those who have taken away the right to own firearms by their country and its been embraced by those who want to latch onto the latest "fashion" trend instead of being discerning in how they spend their money and wise about how they spend their time.

Trust me on this one.  Don't get roped into the belief that airsoft can be an effective training aid.  Dodging REAL bullets have a feel that airsoft just can't deliver.  If you want to engage in force on force training then I recommend investing in simunitions.  The ballistic performace is similar, as is the platform and the welt that's given if you're struck by one will serve as a reminder of what can happen when your tactics go bad.

Don't be trendy.  Be smart.

Homeland Security in San Fran.

Notice the Golan MRAP.  I thought they were anti-terrorist but it appears that they have a domestic law enforcement mission set. 

Combat Leap.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Ronald Valdez (left), a corpsman with 1st Platoon, India Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, and 30-year-old native of Waipahu, Hawaii, extends a helping hand to Lance Cpl. Patrick Mireles, a team leader and 23-year-old native of Austin, Texas, as Mireles jumps a stream during a security patrol here, April 30, 2012. On the final patrol of their seven-month deployment, the Marines toured the Durzay region of Helmand province's Garmsir district to disrupt possible insurgent activity. After arriving in Garmsir in October 2011, the Marines aided Afghan National Security Forces in assuming lead security responsibility of the district, developing and expanding legitimate Afghan governance by defeating insurgent forces and securing the people of Garmsir. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Reece Lodder)

Argentina gut punches the UK

Wow.

Argentina is alot more serious about the Falklands than the British are willing to admit.  There will be a shooting war over this issue.  The Argentinians are inflamed about this issue and the Brits are so laid back about it that they can't see the warning signs.

Watch the vid again and take in exactly what they're saying.

The UK got bitch slapped.

A blog you should check out.

Hey gents.

Found a blog you should check out...Why the F-35....

Recommended reading for Bill Sweetman, Bob Cox, the entire Aviation Week Staff, Air Power Australia and all the other camp followers that they have.

The Kawasaki C-2...the real A400 Grizzly killer.

Looking like a scaled down C-17 or a slightly larger and more advanced YC-15, the C-2 is hitting the real sweet spot in future tactical airlift.

The A400 was designed to fill that niche but it's missed the mark due to advancements in armor technology and changing defense trends.  The 30 ton payload of the A400 just won't do.  Additionally its price point is going to make it difficult to export.

Now compare that to the C-2.  Its faster than the A400, has a bigger payload, and is zooming toward production and should be on the defense market anytime.  The Japanese just relaxed export restrictions and this airplane should be one of the first beneficiaries of that decision.

The Kawasaki C-2.  The real A400 Grizzly killer.