(NBC NEWS) Users on several militant Islamic websites affiliated with al-Qaida have posted the name and photo of a former Navy SEAL identified as the author of an upcoming book on the commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The posts called for his “destruction” in revenge for the al-Qaida founder’s killing.I wish I could feel sympathy.
Among the website publishing the death threats was the “Al-Fidaa” web forum, which al-Qaida uses to distribute its media and public communications, said Evan Kohlmann, an NBC News consultant and a terrorism analyst at Flashpoint Partners, a global security firm.
The source of the photo, which appears to show a special operations soldier in leveling an automatic rifle during a training exercise, was not immediately clear.
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos didn’t mince words describing his commitment to the Amphibious Combat Vehicle and delivering the Corps a new amphibious tractor when speaking with reporters at the Pentagon Thursday.A couple of things concern me about this. First the 800 pound Gorilla in the room is the US Navy. Some type of agreement needs to be arrived at concerning how close to shore we can expect the amphibs to launch our assault vehicles. Once that's determined ... and assuming that the full weight of firepower will be applied to the effort ....then we can decide exactly what the capabilities of the vehicle will be.
“We need an amphibious tractor, period,” Amos said.
The Marine Corps four-star expects his acquisition team to finish the requirements for the ACV this fall and potentially submit a request for proposals to the defense industry. Amos read over the completed Analysis of Alternatives in June and remains optimistic the Corps will get its tractor. He received additional briefs on the ACV this week.
“We’re going to get one opportunity to do this right,” Amos said. “I want to make sure when we go to Congress with the requirement that Congress looks at it and says it makes complete sense to me and I fully support it. I feel like we are right where we need to be.”
Amos is understandably feeling pressure to deliver the Corps a new amphibious tractor. Their last attempt, the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, was notably canceled by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates as requirements spiraled and questions arose about just how far a Marine squad could travel from ship to shore.
The Marine Corps has its top scientists and engineers evaluating the ACV’s requirement’s down in Woodbridge, Va., and making decisions on cost tradeoffs to keep the tractor affordable, Amos said. A major issue remains the distance the tractor will have to travel ship to shore and whether it can get up on plane and travel over the waves.If the transport doesn’t reach the necessary planing speed, then the Marines aboard must endure the choppy surf and the slow pace will make them a fatter target. However, with the additional speed comes a higher price tag.“[The scientists] have been getting into the physics of fluid dynamics. How fast a vehicle can go before you have to have a planing vehicle. How big a motor you have to have. What’s the cost tradeoffs. They’ve been working on that for a little over a year-and-a-half,” Amos said.Following the completion of the AOA, Amos said he wants his acquisition team to work with the engineers and re-evaluate the requirements one last time to make sure the requirements are “locked in concrete.”He made sure to not make the same mistakes the Corps made with the EFV. Amos emphasized that the Corps is not interested in building a luxury tractor, he wants a fighting vehicle that can deliver a squad of Marines ashore for amphibious assaults.
“This is not a Cadillac Escalade we’re trying to build here,” Amos said. “This is a fighting vehicle that will come ship to shore and go in with likely a squad of Marines. We are trying to make sure we are not building something that ends up with capabilities that we don’t need or can’t afford.”
The Marines problem is that their basic amphibious unit is the battalion size MEG that has limited resources to support an amphibious assault. The hybrid EFV seemed to be an ideal answer. Of course the only problem, besides its $21-22 million per unity price tag and manufacturer incompetence was that the all aluminum vehicle was PRG bait.This guy is smoking crack. The MEU is a battalion sized unit that's self sufficient for 15 days in combat. No other formation of that size in the US military can say the same. Additionally the USMC is tailor made for multiple environments but especially the Pacific. The silly crack about Army doctrine is just sour grapes. The Pacific is an Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps play land. The Army will have to find a rationale for inclusion in war planning. I've been trying to figure out a role for that force and just can't find it. Their best hope is to garrison Afghanistan and perhaps parts of Africa for the foreseeable future if they want to claim relevancy.
What it appears is what the Marines news is a n amphibious taxi to bet the assault units ashore, the bring in the LAV-25's and M1A2's and the M-199's that are carried with the MEG and get their butts off the beach.
Oh wait a moment that Army doctrine.
“BAE Systems has worked successfully with the U.S. Marine Corps for more than 70 years, and we’re proud to continue being a part of programs that will revolutionize the amphibious fleet,” said Ann Hoholick, vice president and general manager of Amphibious & New Programs for BAE Systems. “It is our goal to design a family of systems that incorporates low-risk, mature technologies that are scalable to align with emerging requirements and funding.”Hmmm. The Vice President of Amphibious & New Programs for BAE Systems is bieng a bit coy in her description of working with the Marine Corps for 70 years...unless she's counting FMC's work (BAE bought them out). But whats interesting is the production schedule and the amount of money allocated.
The AAV trade study will allow BAE Systems to propose how to best improve the survivability and force protection of the vehicle while maintaining its current land and water mobility characteristics. Through this $250,000 contract, BAE Systems will determine if an affordable development and production unit cost can be realized using a production schedule that fields 43 upgraded vehicles by September 2017.
One of the SEALs from the bin Laden raid has apparently written a book about the operation.I said it once and I'll say it again. Special Forces especially but the rest of SOCOM too, won't be putting up with this SEAL self promotion vibe they have running through that community.
The book, titled “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama bin Laden,” was written by a former SEAL team leader who the publisher said was “one of the first men through the door on the third floor of the terrorist leader’s hideout.”He uses a pseudonym, but I know his name and it will likely come out shortly. The bottom line is that doing this makes you a douche of epic proportions. There was whining about how former operators were pointing out that leaks about classified ops were hurting our security. They were called unprofessional, which was unfair. They were not giving out info, they were saying that the giving out of info was a dangerous thing This jackass is going to spill the details of the raid so he can cash in.
Dear Loser,
Enjoy the money, you are now dead to all the rest of us.
Cordially,
Everyone else from the Special Ops community
Our opinion is that the publisher at Penguin clearly had no concern for National Security or Operational Security (OPSEC), or they would have not published this book. Should publishers have more accountability? We say yes.(My Comment: You have got to be shitting me. The publisher is wrong but the author gets a pass? Bullshit)
The Internet and social media has created a world where headlines live and die depending on who’s first to Tweet about it. It’s something that is causing major headaches in the US Special Operations community.(My comment: Too damn late. McRaven was told by an old time Special Forces General to get out the media. He laughed at the guy. Bet he ain't laughing now)
“The Admiral (SEAL) has locked down all media projects until further notice”- A SEAL Master chief recently told SOFREP.
Don't be fooled.
The Marine Corps' decision to proceed with training flights amounts to a vote of confidence in the embattled F-35 fighter program, which has been restructured three times in recent years, slowing production and delaying the plane's operational use.
Marine Corps leaders, increasingly concerned about replacing their current fleet of aging fighters, decided to skip the formal evaluation of the plane's operational utility that the Air Force is completing before proceeding with its own pilot training flights at the base.
Just plain wow.The U.S. Army and Marine Corps have selected three vehicles for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program, with the announcement coming Wednesday evening.The awards were somewhat surprising, since two of the three went to companies that submitted their designs in March, as opposed to bidders who had been working on the program since its inception in 2005.The awards went to AM General, ($64.5 million); Lockheed Martin ($66.3 million); and Oshkosh Corporation, ($56.4 million). AM General and Oshkosh are the new bidders.In a notice posted to a government contracting website, the Army said that the firm-fixed price contracts cover the 27-month EMD effort, and that “approximately $99.5Mwas obligated for the three contractors by this action, with initial funding of approximately $28M to $36M for each contractor. The balance of the funding, up to full base contract amount, will be provided in FY 13 and FY 14.”The Army says that it plans to purchase 50,000 vehicles, while the Marine Corps is looking to buy 5,000.The three industry teams who won technology development contracts in October 2008 included BAE Systems and Navistar; General Tactical Vehicles (General Dynamics and AM General); and Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems.But on March 28, Navistar left the BAE-led team to offer the Saratoga Light Tactical Vehicle, and AM General and Oshkosh both announced they were also striking out on their own to submit independent bids.The announcement today — barring a protest — shuts out original TD winners BAE Systems and General Dynamics, as well as newcomer Navistar.
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| Oshkosh |
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| Lockheed Martin |
We recently posted a video entitled, “Dishonorable Disclosures” by a group named OpSec that was making a case that the Obama administration had been releasing details of special operations for political gain. Their timing couldnt have been worse. We knew that a major book was on the horizon (and they should have to) by a bin Laden raid participant so we were a bit cautious about the whole politicized thing. Since the OpSec group is headed by SEALs it would surely make them look kind of foolish if an even bigger leak came out by a fellow SEAL. Well, now that book has been announced. According to a report by ABC News, “The book, titled “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama bin Laden,” was written by a former SEAL team leader who the publisher said was “one of the first men through the door on the third floor of the terrorist leader’s hideout.” See the ABCNews story for details on the upcoming book by “Mark Owen.”Man I hope this is all a false news story.
While we are certainly looking forward to reading the book, we hope that the group OpSec will attempt to maintain their legitimacy by also working to educate the public on any damage that this book might cause. Here’s your chance to do the right thing guys.
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| F-35s were in the air across the nation, from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey to Edwards AFB in California, on 13 August 2012. Two aircraft launched from Edwards; four from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland; three from NAS Fort Worth JRB; and nine from Eglin AFB, Florida; and one from McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst for a total of nineteen, which set a record for the F-35 program. The previous record was seventeen flights on 8 August. Of the nineteen flights, five were CTOL and seven were STOVL. |
