Mission Creep on steroids. Army Division HQ headed to Iraq.

via Army Times.

As the U.S. expands its war against the Islamic State, the Army is preparing to deploy a division headquarters to Iraq.
Officials have not identified the division that will deploy — the first division headquarters to go to Iraq since the U.S. withdrawal in 2011.
An official announcement is expected in the coming days. But Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno recently confirmed the Army “will send another division headquarters to Iraq to control what we’re doing there, a small headquarters.”
It’s unclear how many soldiers will be sent, or how long they will deploy. Division headquarters average between 100 and 500 soldiers and deploy for one year.

You can stick a fork in it.

We're back at war in Iraq.

WTF!!!! This female has issues!

What is going on with Fast Roping from V-22's?

I've noticed the same thing in a few pics (this is from the SOCOM exercise Jackal Stone 2014)...the rope always ends up in a "slide for life" type position.

Is this by design?  Have they changed Fast Rope techniques and this is the preferred way now?  If not, is this a problem with the airplane?  I've noticed that the HRST Master doesn't seem to delay the Ropers and sends them anyway so what gives.

Havoc 8x8 (Patria AMV) aces test...

via MarketWatch

DALLAS, Sept. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin's [NYSE: LMT] Havoc 8x8 Armored Modular Vehicle successfully completed the Nevada Automotive Test Center's challenging Butte Mountain Trail course, one of the most severe off-road test tracks in the world. Teamed with Patria, Havoc is Lockheed Martin's entry in the U.S. Marine Corps' Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) Phase I program.
The mile-long course has nearly 1,000 feet of elevation change and extremely rugged, rocky stretches that have damaged and disabled numerous vehicles over the years.
"Over the course of 10 days of testing, we performed more than 40 test runs up and down the mountain while demonstrating the vehicle's ride quality and crew comfort," said Scott Greene, vice president of Ground Vehicles at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "Not once did the Havoc fail. And we were told numerous times that this course has stopped many vehicles over the years, including tanks."
The testing, funded and conducted by Lockheed Martin, was undertaken to validate the company's solution to the Marine Corps' need for a survivable and robust wheeled, amphibious vehicle. The Marine Corps will conduct its own series of automotive, amphibious and protection tests of 16 Havoc vehicles once the ACV program is under way. The program's Request for Proposal is expected in early 2015
"Our passengers were complementary of the Havoc's handling, ride quality, acceleration and braking throughout the demo while at a fully armored weight," said Patrick Shepherd, Havoc program manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "The most highly appreciated design features they noticed were how quiet the vehicle interior was and the smoothness of the Havoc ride throughout the demonstration."

Read it all here.

Remember the vid from yesterday?  The Commandant talking about pressurizing industry to get a vehicle into the field as soon as possible?

The ironic thing is that industry was, has been, and is ready.  The Marine Corps wasn't, isn't and probably won't be for quite a while.

F-22 use and mission creep...

First check this out from Breaking Defense...

“Effective planning requires the use of the right force at the right place at the right time,” Dave Deptula, the man who ran the air war in Afghanistan, says in an email. “The F-22 is the world’s most advanced combat aircraft and has the ability to negate the effectiveness of threat air defense systems. That’s why it was used in this case. There was no “dry spell,” rather the previous operations in the permissive airspace of Iraq and Afghanistan did not require their capabilities.”

Don't be fooled.

The F-22 wasn't needed to penetrate Syrian air space.  Not unless you believe the Israeli Air Force is MUCH better than our own.

Why do I say that?

Simple.  The Israeli's have been running missions into Syria for a while now.  Additionally they've struck targets with impunity.  The Syrians have never been able to lay a hand on them.

So lets put away the fiction that the F-22 was necessary for the success of these strikes.

UPDATE!!!!  Patrick reminded me of another fact.  Why weren't Syrian air defenses attacked if they were a threat to US war planes?  They weren't attacked and they didn't fire on our jets!  That tells me that there was either military to military contact that worked out the arrangement OR diplomatic back channel means were used.  What does that mean?  THAT MEANS THAT THE F-22 WAS SENT OUT ON A MISSION FOR PURE PUBLICITY AND NOTHING ELSE!

Now that we've put away that insanity have you noticed the mission creep?  Did you notice the emphasis on striking the Khorasan Group?

Never heard of those guys before a couple of days ago and suddenly they're the main effort?

Interesting.

Its also fucking mission creep, it also expands the war and its all bullshit.  Why are we hitting those guys?  Why are they a threat to the US?  Why are they suddenly a threat to the region and the world?

When you get the answer let me know.

Should the US institute a secret Hannibal Directive if a pilot is captured.

I ask this in all seriousness.  Should the US institute a secret Hannibal Directive if a pilot, special ops troop or other personnel is captured by terrorists?  A little background.  The IDF has the HD as a backup if efforts to rescue captured personnel prove futile.  What is it?  It means that they attempt to kill the captors AND the IDF member by use of air, artillery, or naval gunnery strikes.

Is it the right thing to do?

I just don't know.

What I do know is that ISIS has changed the game...well quite honestly they simply raised awareness.  Many people have been tortured and then mercilessly killed by terrorists.  They just never broadcast it live for the world to see.  Remember the attack in Mumbai?  Want to know why I was so outraged?  Because the terrorists attacked, brutally beat,  raped an elderly woman while her husband watched, castrated him and then shot them both in the face.

You know the issues with ISIS and their decapitating journalists.  So what should we do if one of our pilots is captured?  Could we consider a full on Tomahawk strike a gentle mercy?  I'm wondering.

About those airstrikes and a new terror group....

Yep (by popular demand) this shit will spiral out of control...

Question.  Where did this new even more dangerous terrorist group come from?  The name escapes me but its the rage of the blogging universe.  Suddenly ISIS is once again the "minor league" and there is an even bigger bad wandering the earth?

I would so love to know what the TRAP plan is for a downed pilot.  But I'll tell you this.  From my chair this whole op looks hasty, poorly planned, without a clear cut objective and is simply a case of "doing something" for public consumption rather than military necessity.

In other words, it looks like pure theater....bullshit from 30,000 feet.