You have got to be shitting me!

Taken directly from Battle Rattle.

Col. Robert G. Petit, commander of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp Lejeune, N.C., was relieved of command Saturday following his arrest a week ago in connection with a theft at Walmart in Jacksonville.
The decision by II Marine Expeditionary Force commander Lt. Gen. John M. Paxton to fire Petit “followed a Marine Corps inquiry into the facts relating to Petit’s Jan. 29, 2011 arrest by the Jacksonville Police Department for misdemeanor larceny,” according to a Saturday evening press release from Paxton’s office.
Petit was relieved “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command,” the release said.
Petit, 50, who took command of the 24th MEU in September, was detained by Jacksonville police shortly after 5 p.m. Jan. 29, and charged with one count of misdemeanor larceny for allegedly stealing printer ink and STP fuel cleaner worth about $65, according to police and court documents.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 22.
As a lieutenant colonel, Petit led Camp Lejeune’s 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, during combat deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Petit is a native of New Orleans, according to a Marine Corps news release, which also notes that the MEU is scheduled to deploy in early 2012.

This is too crazy to comment on.

Absolutely, positively AMAZING...and in a very bad way.

Hey HQ Marine Corps. Dump the IAR and go with the XM-25.

**UPDATE**
After a short discussion with Marcase and rereading the KITUP! article, it struck me that this weapon system has nullified the former king of Infantry combat...the Machine gun.  USMC Gunners are definitely caught in the past.  Unless the IAR is a backdoor attempt to field a replacement for the M-16A4 and M4 then we must dump it quick and join the US Army in procuring this weapon!

A modest proposal.

Dump the inept, still born, poorly conceived Infantry Automatic Rifle and go instead for a real Grenadier in the form of an XM-25 Gunner.

What has me on this kick?

Catching up on my reading and getting this blurb from KitUp!

The XM-25 has fired 55 rounds in nine firefights between Dec. 3 and January 12, when the formal Forward Operational Assessment ended. Officials say the weapon “disrupted” two insurgent attacks against an observation post, destroying one PKM machine gun position in one of those attacks. That is where the ”usually our engagements last for 15-20 minutes. With the XM-25 they’re over in a few minutes” line came from.
The XM-25 also “destroyed” four ambush sites during engagements on foot patrols or movements to contact. In one instance, the 25mm HE round exploded on a PKM gunner and he was either wounded and fled or scared and fled, but dropped his machine gun, which Soldiers later recovered.

Unless the Marine Corps is actually after a replacement for the M-16A4 then the IAR is not whats needed.

The US Army in this instance has made a common sense decision when it comes to future small arms procurement.

It seems (in my opinion) that the Marines have been bitten with the precision fires bug.  Nothing wrong with that as long as you remember that precision fires with area weapons is good too!

Pic of the day. Feb. 05, 2011.

Corporal John Noh, non-commissioned-officer with the Civil Affairs Group attached to 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 8, is greeted by several Afghans during a patrol through the bazaar in Musa Qal’eh, Jan. 28. During the patrol the Marines inspected the location of a planned soccer field. Noh, 25, is a native of Los Angeles Calif. (Photo by Lance Cpl. Joshua J. Hines).

FORWARD OPERATING BASE GERONIMO, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan — Cpl. Michael Lyons, the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, air noncommissioned officer, monitors the inbound descent of an AH-1W SuperCobra onto the Forward Operating Base Geronimo landing zone in Afghanistan, Nov. 7, 2010. The helicopter transported Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 369’s senior leadership to FOB Geronimo to attend a plaque dedication ceremony in honor of Lt. Col. Mario D. Carazo and Maj. James M. Weis, two pilots from HMLA-369 who were killed in action while supporting 3/3 combat operations in July. (Official Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Mark Fayloga)

Sergeant Rubin I. Lichtenstein applies a choke hold to Cpl. Christopher Canada during a Marine Corps Martial Arts Program training session at Pano Aqil Cantonment, Pakistan, Nov. 6, 2010. With the Pakistan military, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit Marines have been flying CH-53E Super Stallion Helicopters to isolated locations since early September and have transported more than 3.9 million pounds of World Food Programme flood relief supplies to 150 different locations in southern Pakistan. (Official USMC photo by Gunnery Sgt. Bryce Piper) (Released)

X-47B Hi-Rez Photos

The X-47-B takes to the skies at Edwards AFB on the first flight.

The Navy X-47B flies over Edwards AFB, Calif. on its maiden flight.

E-2D Carrier Suitability Trials...

The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye approaches USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) during Carrier Suitability Testing today. Aircraft 501 is assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 20 and is the first of 75 E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft to be acquired by the U.S. Navy. The program remains on track for Initial Operational Capability scheduled for first quarter fiscal year 2015. (Photo courtesy of Northrop Grumman)

The latest aircraft variant of the E-2 platform, the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, lands aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) during Carrier Suitability Testing today. The aircraft, assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 20 (VX-20), remains on track for Initial Operational Test and Evaluation scheduled for first quarter fiscal year 2012. (Photo courtesy of Northrop Grumman)

The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 20 (VX-20) catches the arresting wire aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) during carrier qualifications testing. The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye’s command and control capability makes it a multi-mission platform through its ability to coordinate concurrent missions that may arise during a single flight. (Photo courtesy of Northrop Grumman)

I'm back and its time to take care of a few odds and ends!

Hey guys, I'm back and let me tell ya...the old Corps saying of fighting through some pain and carrying on does not serve one well later...a simple nick in the weight room and days later you watch your leg fill up like its being pumped full of helium will definitely get your attention and a new perspective on not only fitness but of body maintenance.

But forgetting that nonsense, I appreciate the wishes and wanted to hit you with a couple of issues I was able to read up on, follow on the news concerning current defense issues...


1.  The F-35 as seen by Air Force Flight Test School...via Combat Aircraft Magazine...

Unfortunately the issue is by subscription only.  It is well worth the read but here's the highlight from one of the pilots with the Air Force Flight Test School...

"It'a a little too early to tell but I would say that all indicators show that the F-35 can be a very capable airplane"

Major Matt Hayden, F-35 Flight Sciences Test Pilot, Edwards AFB

2.  The NEO in Egypt.  via Information Dissemination.

G-Man has been rather cautious in his outlook on this situation but I personally get the whiff that things might be a bit more dicey than many in the West are being told.  If the Enterprise and her group are headed toward Egypt than the situation is not a benign as we are being told.  Even now, I believe more is brewing beneath the surface and it deserves a much more careful look.

Break...

Hey guys...I'll be on a short break to take care of some personal problems....the blog will be back in action hopefully this weekend...