SOCOM vessel collides with fishing boat.

via Navy Times.

Authorities in the southern Philippines are investigating a collision involving a Navy special operations boat that left a local fisherman dead, according to reports.
A Philippine army official told the Mindanao Examiner that a Mark V special operations craft collided with a fisherman’s boat on Wednesday night near a coastal town in Basilan. The Mark V gunboat was operating with the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines, based in nearby Zamboanga at the time.
The 82-foot Mark V is operated by Navy special warfare combatant-craft crewmen with naval special warfare units, and often is used in training and operations with Navy SEALs. It can travel more than 55 miles per hour.
Officials at Naval Special Warfare Command headquarters in Coronado had no information on the incident Friday and referred questions to U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii. PACOM officials had no immediate comment.
Another Philippine army official told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the fishing boat had no lights on when it was struck by the Mark V. The son of the fisherman was on the boat at the time but wasn’t seriously hurt, the official said.
The joint U.S.-Filipino spec-ops task force, with about 600 U.S. service members, has been operating in the southern Philippines for more than 10 years, providing counterterrorism training.
The incident comes as more than 4,400 U.S. troops are in the Philippines for the Balikatan joint exercise.

I find a couple of things interesting here.

First.   Notice how Naval Special Warfare ducked behind Pacific Command?

Next.  Notice how everyone defaults to it being operated by Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines instead of identifying the unit involved. 

Last.  This has historically been a Special Forces tasking.  SOCOM is becoming as bureaucratic as the other services.  Not a good sign.  I wonder (because I truly don't know) if they gained anything by taking them out of the lead and making this a joint posting.

Lockheed Martin - Small Tactical Craft

Hat Tip to Lee for the info on this boat.  Thanks.

The Commandant stands alone.

I've been thinking about this initiative to put women into Combat Units in the USMC and realized something.

The Commandant stands alone.

Instead of this news being heralded on MSNBC and other left wing news sites there has been nothing but silence.

When stuff like this is announced you usually will see one or two members of the "Generals" club coming out in support of the initiative.

You don't hear a peep from any retired General on this subject.  Its as if this is too radioactive to touch which brings me to my second realization.

Obama was looking for a Commandant that was "flexible" enough to implement his policies.  In doing so he decided to take a massive SHIT on Marine Corps tradition and selected an aviator for this post.

-----------------------------------Looks like Obama chose well.

But not only here but across the defense establishment.  We have a Chief of Naval Operations that is as useless as the Commandant.  A SecNav that is more interested in green energy than in making sure we have enough ships to do the job.

I have never heard of a Commandant of Marines spoken of with anything but reverence...until now.  Amos is not respected, appears to be in way over his head and is disliked by the troops.

Good thing he's following policies that will make him popular on the lecture circuit and at parties in New York and DC.

Which leads me to my last point.  The Marine Corps has always stood apart from the rest of society.  But now we have something thats new and distinct.

Marine Corps leadership stands apart from the Marines that they're suppose to lead....

Or to put it another way...the general public doesn't understand its Marine Corps and neither does Marine Corps leadership.

I was wrong.  That shouldn't worry you.  That should scare the shit out of you.

Sidenote:
I wonder how this and other actions by the feminist will affect certain laws and legislation.  How can you on one hand state emphatically that women are the very equal of men in every respect and then have say the violence against womens act?  How can you say that women belong on the front lines in combat and then have domestic violence laws geared toward protecting women.

Even more telling will be the psychological effect on men.  We're to look at women as pure warriors.  So what does that do to the male warrior.  Women encountered on the battlefield won't be viewed as individuals needing protection but simply another combatant that is just of a different gender.

The Commandant has drunk the kool-aide and is in the process of destroying the Marine Corps while his benefactor seeks to destroy maleness in society.  Carry your ass sir.  Your services are no longer needed.

UFC 145

Can't wait.  

My bet is Jones stops him in the second.