Project for the new year. ITS Plate Carrier Stand.

This is a hold over from last year.  I don't know why I never did it.  It won't take much time, you really don't need instructions (even though ITS does provide them) and it would take just a few minutes while sipping on some brew in the workshop to get it done.

Tomorrow I head to the lumber store to grab some...I think cedar will be nice...to build this contraption.

Defense and the budget.

I haven't blogged much on defense lately...I've been focusing on the gun ban bill soon to hit.

Luckily CDR Salamander is thinking about it and things look grim.  Check out his entire article at his house but this tidbit has me worried...

The "deal" that everyone is talking about from last night will do nothing. The problem is spending, and all the class warfare perpetual campaign taxing will do nothing to either grow the economy of fix the budget problem.  A promise to cut spending some insignificant amount at a later date is just an advertisement of the dismal state of leadership, vision, and courage we are in.
The Republicans only control the House, so there is only so much they can do even if they had a different Speaker than Boehner. Senator Reid's Senate has not passed a budget (in violation of the Constitution) in years. The President has neither the background or the inclination to be a national leader or to govern, he is a revolutionary. He is doing exactly what he wants to do, that is to create wholesale change in this nation more in line with his ideology.  We elected him to do so, and he is doing it.  Agree or disagree, but what do you expect him to do?
So, as we talk about "payloads and platforms," Pacific Pivot, the LCS makeitwork patch of the month, and all that good stuff, remember this - it is no more important than Napoleon in 1812 deciding on the best winter gear for his infantry. Important in an isolated sense, but not critical to the macro decisions happening in the background.
All this has been known for years - Professor Lieberman warned us about it in the late 80s as I sat in his classroom in quasi disbelief that we would ever let this happen.  Well, we did, and here we are.
As I outlined in an email to some folks last night, our plans for a future fleet right now is vapor-locked, and unless a major global war or significant regional maritime war breaks out in the next decade, there is a better than even chance that on the Surface side of the house at least, we will be in stasis until we leave the 2020s. 
The big challenge for the next 15-years will be force level preservation in a military fiscal environment not unlike the the time period of 1920-1933 - without the innovation that we saw in the same period in carrier and cruiser development.  

Yeah.

Sobering.

And if you break it down to the Marine Corps what does it mean?  Probably that we will have to "play with what we have in hand" for a generation.

I don't follow the Commandant or the SgtMajor of the Marine Corps because quite frankly I don't like them (though I've never met them), don't trust them, have zero respect for them and think that they lack courage.  Not physical courage but moral courage...of course that can be laid at the feet of 99% of our leaders today so that just makes them ordinary.

The bad news is that this is a time when extraordinary leadership was called for and the people sitting in the big chairs are all lacking.  But I digress.  I don't follow him closely but in reading some news stories I came across him warning of tough cutbacks.

What does that mean?

Probably pain all over the place.

Keep your eyes on the Marine Personnel Carrier...the JLTV...the GCV...CH-53K and perhaps even the F-35.

Can you feel it?  Something tells me 2013 is gonna suck. 

World War Z - Official Trailer

Super fast, super strong zombies?

Seems like a good motivational movie to get in shape to crush the horde in the upcoming fight!  Zombies (yeah its fictional but stay with me) are able to perform superhuman feats because the brain is turned off.  But the fact that if a properly conditioned body is able to do x,y or z but the brain or more precisely THINKING that its not possible is the limiting factor then how do you shut down the brain and do the impossible?

In other words how do you push it to the limit without placing yourself in that life and death, adrenalin filled predicament?  How do you attain maximum physical capability on a daily basis?

When you figure it out let me know.

Apollo Mission Events Graphics

A blast from the past when NASA was actually a great organization and a trail blazer.  Its a shame how far they've fallen.  I found these scans here.

Demand A Plan? Demand Celebrities Go F*ck Themselves

Happy New Year. Now get off your ass and do stuff!

Happy New Year.

With that said, get off your ass and do whatever it is you always said you would do...Organize your house, get in shape, spend more time with family...whatever it is just fucking do it and stop making excuses.

It takes 30 days to develop a habit and 120 days to make a life style change.

In other words you can't claim victory after a month of doing it right.  I contend even if you make it till April without backsliding you still haven't won the war.  The war against yourself is eternal.  You can look around and see people that have given up.  Don't be that guy.

Win!

You sure you know the difference between an assault rifle and a sporting rifle? Watch this and learn!

Blast from the past...Sikorsky S-67.

What a beautiful beast.

It combined attack with a light utility capability...in essence it could have been the American Hind.  Read more here and here.

Feinstein live and uncensored. Its about ALL guns..not just so called assault rifles.

Gun Community.

THIS IS YOUR ENEMY.  Live and uncensored.  Let them win on this and the nose will be under the tent and they'll come back for all weapons.

She said "Mr and Mrs America turn them all in"...

This bitch can go munch on donkey dick.  It ain't happening.  I didn't want this to turn nasty.  I wanted cooler heads to prevail and hoped that this fight could be avoided.

Not now.  Lets just get it started so we can get it done. You can't negotiate with terrorist and the anti-gun people are the enemy.

You think I'm hardcore about gun rights? Guys are already going operational.

You think I'm a gun nut?

You think I'm hardcore when it comes to gun rights?

Not hardly.

But law makers better be aware and they better pay attention.  There are guys that are already going operational and taking active steps to ensure that their freedoms are protected for not only themselves but for their children's children.  Check out the video below but if you read between the lines (and its not hard to do) then its obvious that certain news items have prompted this activity.

What should be alarming to government officials and gun grabbers is the fact that if you go to YouTube you can find literally hundreds of videos educating people on how to cache their weapons and ammunition...some of the comments in those videos indicates that a certain number of people aren't doing that and are almost welcoming a confrontation.

This gun control issue WILL get messy.  I hope the President took some weight gainer cause the weight of his office at this point isn't going to be enough!

For the Star Trek Fans...

A Republican in name only...correction. Just another pathetic Democrat Senator.

Not much needs to be said about this walking, talking piece of shit.  Just take 15 minutes out of your day and listen to this guy weasel and lie.

BAD JOKE (funny as hell though)...NOT SAFE FOR POLITICALLY CORRECT WORK PLACES or the UK

WORLD WAR III IN THE PLANNING STAGES Former President Bush and VP Cheney are sitting in a bar. A guy walks in and asks the barman, 'Isn't that Bush and Cheney sitting over there?' The bartender says, 'Yep, that's them.' So the guy walks over and says, 'Wow, this is a real honour! What are you guys doing in here?' Bush says, 'We're planning WW III.' The guy says, 'Really? What's going to happen?' Cheney says, 'Well, we're going to kill 140 million Muslims and one blonde with big tits.' The guy exclaimed, 'A blonde with big tits? Why kill a blonde with big tits?' Cheney turns to Bush and says, 'See, I told you, no one gives a shit about the 140 million Muslims.

Mi-28

Ruger 10/22 Tactical Modifications.

I like the few mods this guy did to the rifle.  I'll definitely go with a different scope but I personally think I'm gonna be shooting the 10/22 more and more and making my other rifles safe queens just in case the idiot get their way.

My reasoning.  Shooting is shooting and if I can do it cheap, without attracting attention and still be within the law then its a win win.  I'm also thinking that I might stock up on alot more 10/22 ammo.  Bricks can be had for a song right now and no one seems to be thinking about that and the possibility of a wide ranging tax on ammo/firearms/accessories even if we beat back the gun grabbers.

AND THAT'S WHAT I THINK THEY'RE REALLY AFTER.  THEY WANT TO TAX THE HELL OUTTA THE FIREARMS INDUSTRY TO PAY FOR OBAMA CARE.  That's how they went after cigs and it worked.  That's how they're going to let us think we won yet we'll still lose at the same time!

Mast mounted helo sensor goes the way of the Dodo bird.

via Naval Open Source Intelligence.

The Army’s OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter is getting a multimillion-dollar makeover that includes moving its distinctive top-mounted “beach ball” sensor to the aircraft’s nose — all the better for peering down at enemy forces in urban environments.
Lt. Col. Mathew Hannah, the Army’s Kiowa project manager, said the upgrades, which cost $4 million each, are under way, with the first modified Kiowa scheduled to fly in April.
Hannah did not comment on a recent Reuters report that suggested the Pentagon may spend $6 billion to $8 billion on a replacement for the Kiowa, but he said the upgrades will significantly extend the life of an aircraft that’s been neglected in recent years because it was, until recently, marked for retirement.

Not an unexpected development...the mast was designed for the European fight against the Soviet Union.  Thankfully Army helicopter tactics have evolved away from that.

The next issue for the Kiowa community is to finally acknowledge that they are no longer a recon asset and now a light attack platform.

UAVs have taken on the scouting role and Kiowa is now doing what it has always done but only full time now...fighting and killing the bad guys.  Once Big Army accepts that as fact then Big Army can work on a REAL replacement for the airplane.  Until then all the talk about a next gen helicopter is nothing more than wheel spinning.

SOCOM under the budget gun?

I said budget gun in the title because I believe that when you boil it all down in the military it all comes back to budget.

But the main story is this.  SOCOM leadership wants a clarification on future roles...a couple of things are happening.  First you have the Big Army getting into the Special Forces mission of Foreign Training.  Next you have Washington D.C. relying more and more on drones to simply kill terrorist leaders.  Check out his tidbit.

The hunter-killer approach has worked for the past decade and reached its apex with the Osama Bin Laden raid in May 2011, Robinson argues in a recent essay in Foreign Affairs.
U.S. SOCOM Commander Adm. William McRaven is ready to move forward to a new era of fewer raids and more long-term partnerships with friendly nations’ militaries and civilian agencies, she says. The so-called “indirect” approach to combating terrorists, Robinson says, is more effective in the long term and will help U.S. special operations forces regain some balance after a stressful decade of nonstop fighting.
“Many people in the special operations community tell me there ought to be a pivot away from direct to indirect approach, relying on partnerships,” Robinson says in a Dec. 18 conference call with reporters. “This is a perfect moment in the post Bin Laden era to pivot away from the extreme focus on drones and unilateral raids to let the special operations community use an indirect approach.”
“McRaven is serious about this,” she says. He has become alarmed by U.S. overreliance on drone attacks, Robinson adds. “This is really the fork in the road that Washington faces. Will it take a more balanced approach or not?”
U.S. SOCOM officials are frustrated because they see official Washington becoming excessively infatuated with the kill-and-capture tactics, says Robinson. Many lawmakers and Obama administration officials view these tactics as the silver bullet that will eradicate extremist groups that threaten the United States. That thinking is misguided, says Robinson. Organizations such as al-Qaida replace their leaders after they are killed in U.S. raids, she says. “Networks can regenerate.” There is also political and diplomatic fallout from unilateral operations that will hurt U.S. efforts in the long run, she says.

I trust McRaven about as far as I can throw him.

If he thought direct action raids could continue as they have for another decade then he'd be all over it.  Thats why I say follow the money and check the budgets.

My guess is that some smart boy in DC finally number crunched SOCOM and found that it was cheaper just to blast targets with drones.

McRaven's real problem is that the Marine Corps and Big Army are getting into the Foreign Training mission, Direct Action missions are drying up and the State Dept is finally getting its own little military (along with air support) so the opportunities to grow SOCOM have come and gone.

Read the whole article here but my guess is that SOCOM only has one growth area left...find a new low tech war somewhere with an enemy that has a different name than AQ.

A note to a FEW of my British readers.

This doesn't apply to All of my British readers...just the guys that keep chiming in on our gun control debate.

FIX YOUR OWN DAMN HOUSE BEFORE YOU COMMENT ON MINE.  via The Mail Online.

Britain's violent crime record is worse than any other country in the European union, it has been revealed.
Official crime figures show the UK also has a worse rate for all types of violence than the U.S. and even South Africa - widely considered one of the world's most dangerous countries.
The figures comes on the day new Home Secretary Alan Johnson makes his first major speech on crime, promising to be tough on loutish behaviour. 

Read the article here.

What ya got to say about that Darren???

NOTE:
What the fuck guys!  I was aiming this at the anti-gunner, make the USA a British colony again, if it ain't the UK it ain't right people that keep popping up on my page and even the guys that I agree with in the UK are taking it like I'm talking about them.

The operative word in my statement was "FEW"!

It wasn't aimed at the vast majority of the blokes (yeah I picked up the lingo when working with the Royal Marines) that come here (being redundant but its necessary to drive home the point).  So if you feel like this applies to you good.  I hit my target.  If it doesn't then relax and enjoy the ride.

If it doesn't and you're still pissed then get over yourself.  Now excuse me but I'm going out in the cool morning air and enjoy my 2nd Amendment rights and destroy some coke cans and expend about 500 rounds of 22lr in the process.  Yeah I can do that in the land of the free.  Can you?  Oh wait.  You lost the right!  WOW!  No wonder some of you are pissed.  Perhaps you should use all that venom to petition your law makers to get back what was freely given up all those years ago.

A SMART Car made into a 4x4

In the pic above you see a SMART car parked beside a Ford F-250 pickup.

No.  It is not a toy car.  Its actually real.  Yes.  I know you've seen ATV's that are bigger but that's the point.  The SMART car is suppose to be an urban commuter.

The thought of turning it into a Rally Car boggles the mind.  Well drug legalization must have come to Italy because that's exactly what the Italians have done.  Not only have they turned it into a Rally Car but they are planning on running it in the most brutal off road race going.  The Dakar Rally!  Check out the pics below from the Auto Blog.

Check out the vid below.

Betcha 50 cents they don't finish.

Are Para-Rescue Jumpers suffering the highest casualty rates in SOCOM?

Are PJ's suffering the highest casualty rates in SOCOM?

I don't know but will definitely look into it.  The reason why I ask is because I was listening to the interview between Marcus Luttrell and SOFREP and Luttrell made the comment that all the PJ's in one of his courses had been killed.

I never met Luttrell but he seems like a no bullshit kinda guy...especially when talking about something like that...which led me to my question.

I stand by my thinking that the USAF should stand up a couple of Direct Action Units to help bolster SOCOM and utilize PJ's as primaries in that unit...but by Luttrell's statement it seems like they're busy as hell as it is.

The interview is a weird mix of sad, funny, informative and bust your gut laughing...I won't spoil it but do yourself a favor and listen to it all here.