Marines train for Urban Combat.

When Krulak came up with his 3 block war concept that put our collective bulls eye on urban combat, and humanitarian relief ops.

We made a slight mistake though.

Urban areas are where fighting will take place without a doubt, but for future combat it will not be major metropolitan areas, it'll be villages and the areas around them.

Look at the fighting in the Philippines.

You have villages surrounded by jungles and the terrorist are attacking/going into them for supplies then heading back out to safe havens.

JUNGLE WARFARE is where the future is.

Its tough, nasty and the environment itself is trying its best to kill ya.

That's where the Marines need to focus.  Jungle and Arctic Warfare.  That's where the future is taking us.  Whether we like it or not.

RIVRON 1

Photos via Lee.

General Allen bails...Battle Rattle is wrong.

Battle Rattle was close but didn't quite hit the target....

The supposedly indispensable leader of the war in Afghanistan is in line to become top commander of U.S. European Command, according to another story in the Post. He could leave his post in Afghanistan as soon as next winter, in between fighting seasons.
How those two realities square with one another seems like  a fair conversation to have.
On one hand, there’s obvious reason for concern. “Another Afghanistan Commander Bails on the War Early,” reads a headline on Wired magazine’s popular Danger Room blog, and that’s a point of view that will certainly be held by many.
On the other hand, it’d be fascinating to know what’s going on behind the scenes at the White House and in Kabul that spurred this conversation.
Did Obama and Allen reach some sort of deal? Did Allen ask to move on? If so, why would the president agree to it when most educated observers believe the war in Afghanistan already has had far too many transitions in leadership in the last few years?

Yeah close but no cigar.

Rumor control has it that he tendered his resignation.

Rumor has it that the White House and the JCS went bonkers and begged prodded and scrambled for a face saving gesture and that the reassignment to Europe before retirement was the accepted compromise.

Fact.

The war is going badly, Allen's hands are tied and if he resigned at this time the enemy and the President's critics would have a field day.

Remember you heard it here first.

This is nothing but base, nasty, scum filled politics.

Friedrich Nietzsche would be proud.

A Dozen F-35's are at Eglin...

Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. May 15, 2012 – The twelfth F-35 Lightning II destined for the training fleet at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., was ferried today. U.S. Marine Corps pilot Lt. Col. Fred Schenk piloted the aircraft, known as BF-11, which departed Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas at 10:02 a.m. CDT for an approximate 90-minute flight to Florida’s Emerald Coast.
The F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing production jet is now assigned to the Marine Fighter/Attack Training Squadron 501 residing with the host 33d Fighter Wing, where it will be used for pilot and maintainer training

SPMAGTF African Partnership 2012 conduct Non Combatant Evacuation Exercise.

Photos by Staff Sgt. Jemssy Alvarez Jr.

Panetta smacks Air Force Leadership.

Thanks for the article Drake.

FREAKING OUTSTANDING!

Panetta did what USAF leadership was too stupid to do.  He listened to the troops, in this case two USAF pilots, weighed the evidence and made a fucking decision.

Check out this part of the article....

In what amounts to a rebuke of the Air Force’s handling of the issue, Panetta directed that F-22 flights be limited in distance so pilots can easily make an emergency landing at any given time. He also told the Air Force to speed up its plans to add backup oxygen supplies to the aircraft and to report to him monthly about efforts to pinpoint the cause of the problems.
“The secretary wants to add his muscle to this,” George Little, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters. “He takes very seriously the concerns raised by the pilots.” An Air Force spokesman declined to comment on Panetta’s directive.

Good news.

Now, if only he would fire a general or two....

Lockheed Martin F-35 chief test pilot

A website you should check out.

Wondering where the voices of reason are in the F-35 Canada debate?  Well its right here.

Go to F-35.ca and get some truth telling instead of a pile of Bull-Sheet Man!

Pun intended.