On Patrol in Ghazni Province.

Second Lt. Jared Dudley, a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, leads fellow paratroopers back from a combined operation with Afghan policemen April 8, 2012, in southern Ghazni province, Afghanistan. The early-morning raid was planned and executed with full participation from the Afghans. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod)

Damn. You can hear the pain in their voices.

Listen carefully to this vid.

You can hear the pain.

This is a tough video to start your weekend on, but the price paid by some must be witnessed by all.

Meet the LCS module handling system.

Absolutely Awesome!  Thanks CT for the info!

Hey all.  We've been talking about the LCS a bit more especially in light of CDR Salamander's recent article (he has another one up on USNI Blog).

One of the issues that I had was how are they going to move these modules around.  CT got me the answer and now you do too.

Its the MOBICON SYSTEM.

Go here to get the details on it.

Very interesting.  If.  IF the Navy is able to standardize this in a big way, meaning fleet wide then we might be seeing a mini revolution in logistics.  I'm still not sold on the LCS as a war fighter or humanitarian vessel but it might become a test bed for future capabilities.

And maybe that's where its real value lies.

ANGLICO at Exercise Joint Warrior

Did you know that the Bi-annual Exercise Joint Warrior is going on right now?

Did you know that USMC, British, French, Sweden, Italian and other nations are participating in this exercise in Scotland?

Awesome.  The vid is from the Royal Navy.

Italian Naval Aviation.

No.

I don't speak the language, but the videos are self explanatory.

The Italian Navy appears to be an extremely capble force.

Royal Navy Wall Papers.

The Royal Navy has it all over the other services in the UK when it comes to "advertising" itself.  The USMC matches that effort but in one instance the RN is better.  Their site is more easily navigated.  The Marine Corps should follow this example.

Module systems primer?

via CDK Mobile Systems.

The CLT system is a self loading handling and transport system for ISO Containers and Military Tactical Shelters. When attached to the ends of a container, it lifts them up to ride height using its own on-board diesel engines, so they can be towed by standard military vehicles. The lift height is adjustable at each end to enhance loading up aircraft and ship ramps. CLTs are used by Military Forces in more than 20 countries including the USA.

As part of the JHSV program, CLTs will be used to pick up ISO containers on the supply dock, load them up the vessel ramp and set them in place for transit, and unload them at their final destination.

I was surfing the net and ran across this news item.

It could be old news but its new to me...If containers are to be the basis of the mission modules onboard future Navy ships then this is probably the base of that system.

CDK Mobile Systems has a large portfolio of container moving gear that would lend itself to easily swapping out mission modules at any port in the world...even rather primitive facilities.




It seems like another one of Mike Sparks ideas isn't so crazy after all.  With the private industry showing the effectiveness of containerized shipping, is it time for the Marine Corps to become fully containerized?

I mean even more so than it is already.

Instead of tents, perhaps containerized command posts with all necessary generators, computers and communications gear inside pre-loaded and ready to be put into action.  It would certainly be less man power intensive.

Just a thought.