Never Forget.

Photos by Sgt. Michael Cifuentes

(From left) U.S. Marines Lance Cpl. Randall Paul, Sgt. Gregory Hartman, and 1st Lt. Alexander White, Marines serving with White Platoon, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, listen while a Marine recalls a funny anecdote about Cpl. Roberto Cazarez, during a memorial service held in his honor April 8, 2012. Cazarez, a light armored vehicle driver and an Angostura, Mexico, native, was killed in action during combat operations March 30, 2012. He enlisted in the Marine Corps out of Los Angeles, served for nearly six years and was with the battalion since March 2010. Paul is a New Palestine, Ind., native, Hartman is a Sacramento native, and White is a Fredericksburg, Va., native.

U.S. Navy Seaman Garrett Keith, a corpsman serving with Delta Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, places an LAV driver’s helmet on a memorial stand honoring Cpl. Roberto Cazarez, a fallen LAV driver who served with the company’s Alpha Section, White Platoon, during a memorial service April 8, 2012. Cazarez, an Angostura, Mexico, native, who enlisted in the Marine Corps in Los Angeles, was killed in action during combat operations March 30, 2012. Some of his closest fellow Marines said he’ll be remembered most for his humor and good-natured debates he sparked among his friends. Keith is a Oklahoma City native.

U.S. Marine Sgt. Matthew Landis, a rifleman and section leader serving with Delta Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, salutes to the memorial stand of Cpl. Roberto Cazarez during a memorial service in his honor April 8, 2012. Cazarez, a light armored vehicle driver and an Angostura, Mexico, native, was killed in action during combat operations March 30, 2012. He enlisted in the Marine Corps out of Los Angeles, served for nearly six years and was with the battalion since March 2010. Some of his fellow Marines said he’ll be remembered most for his humor and good-natured debates he sparked among his friends.

U.S. Marine Col. Roger Turner, the commanding officer of Regimental Combat Team 5, and Sgt. Maj. Alberto Ruiz, the regimental sergeant major, kneel and pay homage to Cpl. Roberto Cazarez during a memorial service in his honor April 8, 2012. Cazarez, a light armored vehicle driver and an Angostura, Mexico, native, was killed in action during combat operations March 30, 2012. He enlisted in the Marine Corps out of Los Angeles, served for nearly six years and was with the battalion since March 2010. Some of his fellow Marines said he will be remembered most for his humor and good-natured debates he sparked among his friends.

U.S. Marines and sailors serving with Delta Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, in Helmand province’s Khan Neshin district gathered April 8, 2012, to pay homage to Cpl. Roberto Cazarez, a light armored vehicle driver with the company’s Alpha Section, White Platoon. Cazarez, an Angostura, Mexico, native, was killed in action during combat operations March 30, 2012. Some of his fellow Marines said he’ll be remembered most for his humor and good-natured debates he sparked among his friends. He enlisted in the Marine Corps out of Los Angeles, served for nearly six years and was with the battalion since March 2010. His awards include the Purple Heart, the Navy Achievement Medal, and the Combat Action Ribbon.

U.S. Marine Maj. Gen. David H. Berger, the commanding general of Task Force Leatherneck, 1st Marine Division (Forward), kneels to pay homage to Cpl. Roberto Cazarez during a memorial service in his honor April 8, 2012. Cazarez, a light armored vehicle driver and an Angostura, Mexico, native, was killed in action during combat operations March 30, 2012. He enlisted in the Marine Corps out of Los Angeles, served for nearly six years and was with the battalion since March 2010.

Surface Navy learns to play politics.

via FoxNews.

"With its stealth, incredibly capable sonar system, strike capability and lower manning requirements -- this is our future," concluded Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations, who gave the warship his endorsement on a visit last week to Bath Iron Works, where the ships are being built.

Wow.

They learned the lesson well.  Check out all the buzz words in the CNO's remarks...Stealth...Incredible sonar and strike capability...lower manning requirements....

Every high tech junkie from here to Bejing must be going nuts at the very thought.

Its good to see the Navy finally getting the hint on how to market its capabilities.  A nice start....a little late, but better late than never.

11th MEU. LAV Platoon.

Photos by Sgt. Elyssa Quesada

Marines with Battalion Landing Team 3/1, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, participate in a motorized training patrol here Jan. 27. The team serves as the ground combat element for the unit, which is currently providing support for maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

Marines with Battalion Landing Team 3/1, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, participate in a motorized training patrol here Jan. 27. The team serves as the ground combat element for the unit, which is currently providing support for maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

11th MEU. Weapon Drills.

All photos by Cpl. Tommy Huynh

Cpl. John M. Seno demonstrates magazine reload techniques aboard USS Pearl Harbor here April 11. The 23-year-old hails from Saginaw, Mich., and serves as a rifleman with Company K, Battalion Landing Team 3/1. The team serves as the ground combat element for the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The unit is deployed as part of the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, currently a U.S. Central Command theater reserve force. The group is providing support for maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

Cpl. John M. Seno demonstrates magazine reload techniques aboard USS Pearl Harbor here April 11. The 23-year-old hails from Saginaw, Mich., and serves as a rifleman with Company K, Battalion Landing Team 3/1. The team serves as the ground combat element for the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The unit is deployed as part of the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, currently a U.S. Central Command theater reserve force. The group is providing support for maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

Cpl. Alvin Hosokawa practices magazine reload techniques aboard USS Pearl Harbor here April 11. Hosokawa hails from Torrance, Calif., and serves as a rifleman with Company K, Battalion Landing Team 3/1. The team serves as the ground combat element for the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The unit is deployed as part of the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, currently a U.S. Central Command theater reserve force. The group is providing support for maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

FUCK! 2 Marines killed in MV-22 crash at African Lion 12.

Thanks Think Defence for the heads up....wish it were better news.

via Marine Corps Times.

An MV-22 Osprey from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit crashed Wednesday during training exercises in Morocco, according to a Marine official. An official at the U.S. Embassy in Morocco said two Marines were killed in the crash, and two more were injured.
The crash took place in southern Morocco during exercises involving Marines and Moroccan troops, embassy spokesman Rodney Ford said. The 24th MEU is participating in Exercise African Lion, a 10-day joint exercise overseen by the 14th Marine Regiment.
Agence France-Presse reported that the crash took place in the region of Ouad Daraa, about 550 miles from Rabat.
The 24th MEU deployed from Camp Lejeune, N.C., on March 29. The Osprey was part of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 (Reinforced), out of Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C.
Further information about the incident is being withheld until the next of kin have been notified, Ford said.

I hate this.

You know every family member on the aviation side of the 24th MEU is going crazy.

God Bless.

CDR Salamander. They were listening!

Littoral combat ship USS Independence (LCS 2) steams through the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. Sailors from Independence's Gold Crew and embarked Mine Countermeasures, Detachment 1 are underway for the ship's maiden voyage to San Diego after successfully completing testing on the MCM mission package.

CDR Salamander just wrote a blogpost this morning covering the LCS woes much better than I ever could.


Then this afternoon we get this from the LCS geeks.


Interesting.

Question:  Are those missile covers just behind the gun?  I wonder what missile they're for?

Army Future Vertical Lift.

Thanks for the article Jonathan!

via Army News.

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, April 10, 2012) -- The Army's aircraft of the future will be faster than what the service has now, it will carry more weight, it will require less of a logistical footprint, and officials said it will better do what Army aviation is meant to do: serve the ground commander.

While what is now being called "Future Vertical Lift," or FVL, by the Army is still a concept, its capabilities are already known.

The FVL concept will be "able to support the Army and the ground commanders better than we can do it today," said Maj. Gen. Anthony G. Crutchfield, commander, U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence." I see this aircraft being able to do all the missions that we currently do. I see the aircraft that can do it because it can be scaled. It may be a medium variant, something that is the size of maybe a Black Hawk or an Apache is today, that can do the attack mission, or the assault/lift mission. I see the same aircraft scaled smaller that will be able to do the reconnaissance mission, similar to what a Kiowa Warrior does today."

Crutchfield said it's not known if the FVL concept will end up producing a rotary-wing aircraft, like the Army AH-64 Apache, or a tilt-rotor aircraft like the Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey.

What the FVL will do is perform missions the Army does today with its aviation assets, missions that will not change.

"The vision is that we can have an aircraft that can do all the missions that we currently have," he said. "Our missions will not change. We still will do attack and reconnaissance, we still will do sustainment and troop movements. It's an enduring mission that will not change. I just want to do it better."

The FVL aircraft will perform multiple roles, Crutchfield said, and that means that the end result is that there will be fewer types of aircraft in the Army's fleet. It's also possible that there will be fewer aircraft overall, because a more capable aircraft means that fewer aircraft will be needed.

"Today there are concepts where there are aircraft that we consider rotary wing, that can fly in excess of 300 knots," Crutchfield said. "No other aircraft we have today can fly 300 knots. If you have an aircraft that can fly 300 knots, it can cover more terrain faster, and if you can cover more terrain faster, theoretically, you would need less airframes to do the same type mission."

And because Crutchfield said the idea behind the FVL concept is to have the same aircraft be able to perform multiple missions, the Army will need fewer types of aircraft. That means a smaller number of parts will be needed to sustain the fleet, and a shared pool of maintainers and maintenance equipment. That will result in a reduced cost for logistics.

Crutchfield said that the FVL could come in different sizes, depending on the mission it will perform, but things like engine, drive train, and cockpit components would be the same, common between the two, and swappable.

Today's Army aircraft, Crutchfield said, are capable. But there is a limit to the performance that can be squeezed from them.

"Although we have great aircraft today, the best in the world, no matter how much money we invest in these aircraft of today - the aircraft are not going to fly any faster than they fly right now," Crutchfield said. "They are not going to be able to carry any more payload than they do right now. They will not be able to reduce any of the logistical footprint [more] than they do right now. That's what future vertical lift will do. That's what we see for the Army Aviation force of 2030."

It's expected that this summer, performance specifications for the FVL aircraft will be unveiled. Development of the program is an Army-led, joint program, that includes all military services, including the Coast Guard.

Sorry.

I won't take the Army seriously until they give a good look at the Piaseki concept.

They already have in hand the ability to boost the speed of the Apache and BlackHawk helicopters by a large margin with little modification.

They just don't want it.

My prediction.  In 2030, the Army will be flying Apache Block 50, and Chinook Yankee.

More African Lion 12

An assault amphibious vehicle moves across the beach in Morocco carrying Marines with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and members of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces April 10, 2012, during Exercise African Lion 12. The training allowed the Marines to introduce the Moroccan troops to the unique capabilities of the AAV, which the Marines drove onto the beach that morning from the USS New York off the coast of Morocco. This exercise is the first event for the 24th MEU and Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, which deployed in March on a regularly scheduled deployment to serve as a theater reserve and crisis response force.  Photo by Staff Sgt. Robert Fisher

Marines and Sailors with Alpha Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, meet and take pictures with members of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces in an Assault Amphibious Vehicles on the shores of Morocco April 10, 2012, during exercise African Lion 12. The training allowed the Marines to introduce the Moroccan troops to the unique capabilities of the AAV, which the Marines drove onto the beach that morning from the USS New York off the coast of Morocco. This exercise is the first event for the 24th MEU and Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, which deployed in March on a regularly scheduled deployment to serve as a theater reserve and crisis response force.  Photo by Staff Sgt. Robert Fisher

Marines with Alpha Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, conduct bi-lateral training with Royal Moroccan Armed Forces during exercise African Lion 12 on the shores of Morocco April 10, 2012. The training allowed the Marines to introduce the Moroccan troops to the unique capabilities of the assault amphibious vehicle that the Marines drove to the beach that morning from the USS New York off the coast of Morocco. This exercise is the first event for the 24th MEU and Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, which deployed in March on a regularly scheduled deployment to serve as a theater reserve and crisis response force.  Photo by Cpl. Michael Petersheim

Members of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces unload after riding in an assault amphibious vehicle April 10, 2012, with Marines from Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit during the bi-lateral training exercise called African Lion 12. The training allowed the Marines to introduce the Moroccan troops to the unique capabilities of the assault amphibious vehicle that the Marines drove to the beach that morning from the USS New York off the coast of Morocco. This exercise is the first event for the 24th MEU and Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, which deployed in March on a regularly scheduled deployment to serve as a theater reserve and crisis response force.  Photo by Cpl. Michael Petersheim