Ray Rice video proves that guys need to be careful!

First.

STOP!  THINK!  ANALYZE THE VIDEO!!!!

Now consider this.  The female approached Ray Rice twice in a threatening manner.  Whether we should say that he is a football player and should easily be able to take a punch is not the issue.  Neither is the fact that knocking a woman unconscious is bad.  It clearly is.

But WHAT IS AT ISSUE is the fact that this woman moved to assault Rice.

If we were talking about another guy then this wouldn't even be close.  We would say that he should defend himself.

So my question is this.  Why have women suddenly gotten to the point where they think that they can stand toe to toe with men, punch them and face no consequences?

Its because our society is twisted, warped and messed up.  Women have become "unlady like" but still want the protections of being women, yet don't acknowledge physiological differences.

This has ramifications for our military and positions where we will put women into.

But it has greater ramifications for men in society.  Guys.  You need to be careful.  Whenever you deal with a "mad" woman you just need to get the fuck out of dodge.  The law, society, etc...is never going to hear your side of the story.

Hasik questions Marine Corps plans for mechanizing its infantry

First read Hasik's article but a tidbit...

There’s a big difference between cross-country mobility over packed sand, and cross-country mobility through mud. Wheeled vehicles just haven’t shown that performance, and given the ground pressure inherent in any wheeled configuration, I’m not sure how they will. But is it possible that the Marines have found something amazing? As Commandant Amos told the Congress in April, the candidate vehicles "are commercial off-the-shelf… they’re already being made by several different manufacturers.” Normally, I’d call COTS (MOTS, really) an excellent approach—automotive technology isn’t advancing as rapidly as that of, say, robotics. But that means that we know the usual suspects: the AMV-360 from Patria, the Boxer from ARTEC, the VBCI from Nexter, the LAV-V from General Dynamics Canada, and perhaps the 6x6 RG-35 from BAE Systems (soon to be Denel). I haven’t run the rodeo myself, but I wouldn’t claim that any of these vehicles could keep up with a tank over soft ground.

Yeah.

We're back to the age old question.  Wheels vs. Tracks.  Which has greater mobility.  Which has greater utility.  And if you need rough, swampy, sandy mobility can you make due with less than is offered by many tracked vehicles (including threat tanks AND infantry fighting vehicles/APCs).

But wait it gets better.  Check out this article from Marine Gazette.

When another look was taken at the MPC program, in addition to the benefits mentioned in the paragraph above, it was found that wheeled vehicles have substantially closed the maneuverability gap that previously existed between tracked and wheeled vehicles. The MPC Technology Demonstrator uses “in-line” drive technology that enables all four wheels on each side to pull together in much the same way that a tracked vehicle’s does. Combined with a higher ground clearance and the central tire inflation system currently in use in the medium tactical vehicle replacement (MTVR), the wheeled variants have equal or better maneuverability than the M1A1 and are much more maneuverable than the AAV. This has been amply demonstrated in testing.

Mobility issues.

We've seen enough Strykers stuck in the mud to know better.  We see the US Army picking tracks for its Armored Multi Purpose Vehicle (AMPV).  We see our allies like Germany with the Puma, the UK going for Ascod and Poland developing Anders even though they're operating AMVs.

Quite honestly I still wonder about the "de-tuned" EFV that retained all the bits except for the high water speed...that included MRAP quality protection against IEDs.

This whole issue is a mess and current leadership might have tied future leaders hands because of budget games.  Even if thats the case I do hope that General Dunford is honest about the reasons why we're in the mess we are, his solutions (if he has any) and lay out a realistic way forward.

ISIS beheads captured Lebanese soldiers.

Thanks for the link John!

via AP

BEIRUT – The mother of a Lebanese soldier held captive by the militant Islamic State group says that photographs posted online purporting to show his beheading appear real.
Zeinab Noun called her son, Abbas Medlej, a "martyr" after Islamic State supporters posted images Saturday appearing to show a captured Lebanese soldier before and after he was beheaded.
Medlej's maternal uncle, Abu Ali Noun, also said the photographs appeared to be of his nephew.
A spokesman for Lebanon's military said it was still investigating the incident.
Militants from the Islamic State and other groups in Syria are holding around 35 Lebanese soldiers and policemen captive. They were seized in August when militants from Syria overran the Lebanese border town of Arsal in the most serious spillover of the neighboring civil war.

My take?

This is gonna sound cold but this is a Middle Eastern problem.  The nations of the region have the military capability to put down the threat but are waiting for the hated Westerners to do it for them.   ISIS is not capable of striking the US.  If our intelligence agencies are doing there jobs then we know who is going and can lock their asses up when they come back.

The beheading of the Lebanese troops is a tragedy.  I fear that the same fate awaits the captured UN troops.  Unfortunately tragedies happen everyday.  

Russian Logistics Combat Element...

 

English Russia has a spread on Russian Army Logistics.  I found the photo essay fascinating but it does bring up a lingering issue from the early days of the war on terror.

I'm sure many have forgotten but those were the heady days of Rumsfeld as SecDef.  His mantra, besides "transformation"/"revolution of military affairs", was to emphasize the military operating like a business.

Listening to General officers at the time was painful.  Pentagon speak was filled with business nonsense.  Soldiers and Marines became "customers".  Just in time logistics was the call of the day.  War stocks were seen as something from a by gone era and the idea was to buy only what you needed, only when you needed it.

That way of thinking in many ways extends to today.

Which brings me to my long winded point (sorry about that)...what happens if the enemy is ever able to attack our supply lines?  It seems that we have become extremely reliant on either air or sea delivery of basic supplies needed to keep our forces in the field.  What happens if we finally get a foe that is technologically capable and smart enough to go for the soft spot and not attack our combat forces? 

Aftermath of Ambush on Ukrainian Forces (WARNING GRAPHIC!)

Thanks for the vid Andre!



Did you see all that unexploded ordnance?  EOD is gonna have fun for years trying to clean that mess up.  People will be dying for YEARS after the fighting ends.

Is the Israeli Defense Force leadership incompetent?

via War Is Boring.

The spy services discovered dozens of fresh tunnels last year, and their reports “were disseminated to the prime minister, defense minister and the heads of the security services,” Harel writes. “Thus when the war began, the army knew with relative accuracy where all the tunnels were located.”
But here lies one of the Military Directorate’s main beefs with the government, according to Haaretz. The government was aware of the tunnels, but never bothered to prepare.
In July, as the conflict spiraled into a series of mutual escalations after the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens in the West Bank, and as the Israeli government rationalized the tunnel threat after the conflict had already escalated, it sent IDF troops into an ill-fated operation they hadn’t planned, trained or equipped for.
Israeli troops stayed in Gaza for weeks, vulnerable to Hamas ambushes despite statements from Israeli officials that destroying the tunnels would take “days,” as Israeli defense minister Moshe Ya’alon said on July 20.
The death toll continued to rise to the worst loss of Israeli life since the 2006 war with Hezbollah. “In the end, the IDF had to get help from civilian companies, and the tunnels were mainly destroyed via a series of improvisations,” Harel notes.

Read the entire article.

I just don't know.  What I do know is that civilian leadership emphasized the missile threat at the start of the hostilities and that it switched to tunnels later.

I do know that while the rocket fire was harassing, the threat from the tunnels actually took Israeli lives.  Additionally I read a story where they had to get people from their Engineer school house to actually deal with the threat instead of having people in units that were capable of handling it out in the respective units.

Intel didn't reach the man at the sharp end of the spear....not talking about the Special Ops units, but the Infantry and Armor battalions that were hooking and jabbin with HAMAS.

This is a troubling story.  But if true it just means that the IDF has more in common with the US military than even I imagined. 

Heavy fighting outside Mariupol

via Russia Times.

Scores of casualties were reported as eastern Ukrainian militias were allegedly closing in on Mariupol port hours before a ceasefire pledged by President Poroshenko was announced. Authorities say they repelled the attacks and the city is calm.
The fighting near Mariupol has cost the cost the lives of seven civilians, including two children, during the two days, Konstantin Batozsky, adviser to the Head of Dnipropetrovsk Region, said on Friday.
“Yesterday, the fighting led to the deaths of four civilians, including two combine operators involved in harvesting. Today, three civilians were killed (including two children). A total of 23 people were injured,”Batozsky wrote on his Facebook page.

On Friday, Shirokino village, some 20 kilometers west of Mariupol, remained the main battleground in the Donetsk Region, with “no fighting taking place within Mariupol’s city limits,” Batozsky said at a press conference.

The cameraman for RT’s Ruptly video agency confirmed that fighting is currently taking place outside Mariupol – in Shirokino village.

If the above photo is accurate then there is no longer any doubt.

Russian forces are definitely in Ukraine.

NATO was negotiating from a position of weakness.  They have no forces in the area and indications are that they're not willing to commit any in the future.  Meanwhile, according to the Pentagon, the Russians have assembled an extremely capable, technological impressive fighting force on the border---and apparently inside the country.

They can talk of negotiated peace all they want.  This won't end until the Russians consolidate their positions, achieve all strategic/tactical goals and only then will their guns be silenced.

That's simply the way of war.