Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Green Berets conducted a Full Mission Profile training exercise with members of 82nd ABN Div last week as part of Exercise Panther Storm





I haven't been watching SOCOM but with the move toward a focus on peer vs peer combat I'm sure they're making adjustments and planning for how they'll contribute.

This small exercise in my mind, points the way forward for the Army.  Looks like they will partner with conventional forces to achieve dynamic results.

Rangers?  I can see them being totally compartmentalized for big raids on an objective.  It's what they were built for (well not really...they're really built for long range patrol but that passed by the wayside long ago).  Special Forces moving into the raiding role is kinda new but using the 82nd to provide security/support is almost a no-brainer.

That leaves MARSOC, Navy SEALs and AF Special Ops.  MARSOC and SEALs will fold back into the sea battle and do all the naval special ops stuff with the additional duty of acting as forward observers on small islands (weren't they called beach watchers or something like that in WW2?) plus MAYBE acting as raiding forces against those artificial islands the Chinese are building (although I can't figure why you'd send people after something you can easily target with cruise missiles).  Air Force Special Ops?  I have no idea. They're kinda built on a house of cards.  I don't know where they fit in.
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Russian General killed in Syria...



Wow.  Didn't see this one coming either.  Leading from the front has its risks. When was the last time we had a flag officer die in combat?
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Didn't see this coming. Mutiny in Mali?

Thanks to Andrey for the link!

via Al Jazeera
17:20 GMT - Reuters: Keita arrested by mutinying soldiers, security sources say
Reuters news agency has reported, citing two security sources, that Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has been arrested by mutinying soldiers in the capital Bamako.
The arrest came after soldiers mutinied at the Kati army base outside of Bamako and rounded up a number of senior civilian and military officials, according to Reuters.
The report could not immediately independently verified. 
----------
 15:50 GMT: ECOWAS urges Mali soldiers to 'return to barracks'
The West African bloc ECOWAS called on the soldiers "to return to their barracks without delay".
"This mutiny comes at a time when, for several months now, ECOWAS has been taking initiatives and conducting mediation efforts with all the Malian parties," the bloc said in a statement.


15:30 GMT: Warnings of possible mutiny
Gunfire was heard at an army base near Bamako, with the Norwegian embassy talking of a possible military mutiny. Soldiers fired their guns into the air in the base in Kati, some 15km (9 miles) from Bamako.
Witnesses said armoured tanks and military vehicles could be seen on the streets of Kati, The Associated Press news agency reported.
Full story here. 

Stabilization and nation building just don't work in the modern era.  Western nations are gonna have to figure out a different way because it's faltering everywhere.

Are we simply backing the wrong horse in these conflicts or is it something else?  I don't know.  What I do know is that France has a mess on its hands and the nations piling in to assist are probably gonna bail soon.
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Open Comment Post. 18 Aug 2020


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Missile Marine Corps Aviation providing rides for Army Paratroopers at Exercise Saber Junction 2020...

Note.  This is what we have become...a supporting force for the warfighters...




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The "skinny cats" of the 3rd company of 3 RIMa on exercise with their Griffon APC





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Missile Marine Corps celebrates the first "aerial insertion" of an unmanned aircraft?


1stmaw_marines : U.S. Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 3 attach an RQ-21 Blackjack system, belonging to Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3, to an MV-22 Osprey, from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 268, on Marine Corps Base Hawaii for an aerial insertion exercise, Aug. 5, 2020. This expeditionary training event was the first aerial insertion of an RQ-21 system via MV-22 Osprey and showcased the composite assault support capabilities of Marine Aircraft Group 24. (U.S. Marine Corps photos by Cpl. Jacob Wilson and Eric Tso)









 I know Berger considers this a big deal but I just can't get excited about it. A small, poor performing UAV being forward deployed by MV-22?  I don't get the combat multiplier he's claiming.  It'll last how long in peer combat?  10 minutes max?  What exactly is this concept suppose to accomplish?  How are a few scattered missiles suppose to help when a single Burke can carry almost 100 in its magazine?  How many will the Missile Marines be able to deploy?  If it's equal to a single Burke I'll be impressed...but then you have to consider signature, enemy ISR capabilities etc.  Missile Marine units will be found, fixed and destroyed at the pleasure of the enemy.  If they aren't destroyed then they'll simply be bypassed.  This concept 2030 is a fraud.
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Entourage in the Sky: Scarface, Pegasus conduct Escort Operations

Note.  If an enemy has defenses that are sophisticated enough that our ships can't operate in within their range then how are we gonna fly transport helicopters without getting entire squadrons blown out of the sky?  How are we gonna setup FARPs if they have detection networks that can hazard our fleets?  Doesn't make sense.  This is craziness! The GROUND COMBAT ELEMENT needs an advocate at the highest reaches of the Missile Marine Corps!  I'm talking Assistant Commandant level advocate.



A U.S. Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion attached to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 and two AH-1Z Vipers attached to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 fly in formation during escort operations, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Aug. 13, 2020. HMH-463 and HMLA-367 conducted escort training to increase combat readiness and proficiency between the two squadrons. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Samantha Sanchez)


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The Last of the M88

Note.  Army recruiters should be hanging around waiting to gobble up the Marines that are getting tossed away.  Hopefully those Marines are aware and have their heads on straight and will make the move.  They have no place in the Missile Marine Corps.

U.S. Marines with 2d Tank Battalion, 2d Marine Division, drive one of the last commissioned Hercules M88 recovery vehicles off a maintenance lot on Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, August 17, 2020. As part of Force Design 2030, Hercules M88 recovery vehicles are being diverted from the Marine Corps in an effort to modernize and realign capabilities, units and personnel to higher priority areas. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Elijah J. Abernathy)




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Are we dealing with a mutated strain of Covid-19?



This makes too much sense.  I remember when this thing first started they talked about at least two strains of this thing and predicted that we would see many mutations.

Additionally if I remember correctly New York got hit with the "deadly" form of the disease while other countries were dealing with the minor form.

With this mutation we could be looking at round 2 (or is it 3) of this thing.

Question.  In an average year about 1/2 a million people die from medical mistakes.  Is it too much to ask just to swing the economy open full bore and to seek herd immunity?
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Going off the tower with style...



What do you even call this rappel?
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Lawlessness in Portland. No cause justifies this type of madness



WTF!

No cause justifies this type of madness.

And some people wonder why I have a concealed weapon AND a truck gun!
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Monday, August 17, 2020

Old Skool versus New...


Simple question.

Is the F-35 cleared to carry the same ordnance the the old skool AV-8B can today?

If not then its a step backwards in kinetic ability which means a less capable Missile Marine Air Wing.
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Battle at sea between Vietnamese Fishermen and Malaysian Maritime Security Forces...



A gun bottle and improvised explosive devices over fishing rights?  WTF is going on in those waters?

This is craziness but it would explain why we see fishing boats from Asian nations all the way in US, S. American, Canadian and in some cases even African waters.

We're seeing a resource war....low level but a resource war nonetheless.
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Boeing Defence Australia’s secretive Airpower Teaming System (ATS), more commonly known as Loyal Wingman, has been spotted by sources out in the open


The Aussies have their shit together.  This thing will be a HUGE export success (assuming they allow export) and if the US military was smart they'd be all over it.

How does this keep happening?

The US had a MASSIVE lead in this field but once again certain mafias (the F-35 mafia in this case) kept us from not only maintaining that lead but building on it.

They talk AI, Robotic Aircraft, playing quarterback to unmanned aircraft but DO NOTHING!  We talk unmanned vehicles, had the TerraMax ready to go over a decade ago but DO NOTHING!  We developed robotic combat vehicles but did NOTHING!

Innovation isn't the problem.  It's an indecisive military leadership, coupled with our homegrown MIC, mixed with jacked up Think Tank gurus (that are actually shilling for big corporations),  and finally all the mafias that will help cost us the next war.

Well done Australia.  You guys are leading the way.
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Little Groups Of Paratroops, Lethal Squads, Crews & Sections...National Airborne Day!



Hmm.  Looks like the Missile Marines are trying to recreate the 82nd with a twist.  Instead of LGOP, they're swinging with Little Groups Of Missile Marines!
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Open Comment Post. 17 Aug 2020


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Chinese Amphibious Assault vehicle sank during training.



Funny how extraordinary events that are practiced constantly can lull one into a sense of it being ordinary.

An amphibious vehicle swimming from ship to shore is actually a modern marvel.

To see one go down regardless of the nation is heartbreaking.  China has mothers too and we're not at war.  I join others in hoping that everyone is ok.
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33 years ago, legendary Soviet/Russian ship-based naval fighter Sukhoi Su-33 performed its maiden flight





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The TAGRS



Air and Missiles.  The Marine Corps isn't about ground combat anymore.  New emphasis?  FARPs?  Are you shitting me?  Disgusting!  Like the Chinese won't find, fix and destroy these locations with ease!
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