Airborne HUMVEE drop...

Airborne forces foot mobile?  Not necessarily.  In this vid you get a chance to see the USAF in action doing a drop of a couple (or three) of HUMVEEs from what I assume is a C-17.  A Division Ready Brigade from the 82nd might not have the hitting power of a Stryker Brigade but they can get there much faster, has much greater strategic mobility and will be much easier to support once they get in the field. 

The 82nd Airborne and Light Infantry Divisions should lead the Army's Pacific policy.

The 82nd Airborne Division.

An Elite outfit.

Trained in rapid deployment,  and historically operated in "Little Groups of Paratroops" (LGOP)...they were doing distributed operations before distributed operations were cool.  If the question is who should lead the charge into the Pacific then the answer is the the 82nd Airborne Division.

Why?  Because they would fit in perfectly with the "Air" in Air-Sea Battle.  Because they would bring something to the table that the Marine Corps does not which is what the Joint Service concept is truly suppose to be about.  Because it would put one of our three forms of forcible entry into a region that has been deemed of national importance.

Alot of the benefits that the 82nd would bring are obvious -- besides being rapidly deployable they are co-located with USAF transport at the nearby Pope AFB and they train jointly with the USMC and foreign militaries.

My suggestion is simple.  The US Army should provide heavy forces for the Pacific under the umbrella of US Army Forces Korea and it should have Light Fighters led by the 82nd having a forward deployed Brigade colocated with USAF transports in Guam.

If this suggestion is followed then you would have a medium weight force capable of responding to crisis in the USMC MEU's....a light weight force that could arrive within hours of that crisis in the form of battalions from the 82nd and if it goes all crazy then you have forward deployed Army units out of Korea.

This makes sense, its builds on the capabilities already in the region, it allows the Army to plug one of its units into the Air Sea Battle concept and it gives the Army skin in the game.  Below is an old video on the 82nd.  Gone are the light tanks...and I don't know if the USAF still does LAPES but it gives a primer on their capabilities.

Ground Mobility Vehicle contestants so far...

Generaly Dynamics Jamma...well used to be Jamma.

Navistar Saratoga.

Navistar Special Operations Tactical Vehicle.

Legacy Ground Mobility Vehicle.

Armored Ground Mobility System.

The vehicles above are either in use or being considered for use by various units in SOCOM.  The Legacy Ground Mobility Vehicle is a favorite of the Rangers and SEALs, the Armored Ground Mobility System is supposedly used by the Rangers, Special Forces and Delta.

This contest will get crowded and should prove to be interesting.   I can't wait to see how this shakes out.  Oh and we can't forget the most popular Ground Mobility Vehicle in SOCOM.

Marine Personnel Carrier Threshold Requirements.

I was going over a few documents yesterday and ran across the MPC Threshold and Objective requirements.  To say that they appear to be somewhat challenging is an understatement.  Challenging but doable.

Having said all that, the need to swim from ship to shore...provide a crew station for the senior troop commander that provides observation points without electronics, the ability to mount a current or projected Marine Corps weapon that allows direct fire support for 1000 meter assault....

I think we'll see this project winnow down to just a couple of companies rather quickly.  But read it for yourself below...

MPCAnnexA

A fighter jet is taken down by a bird

Crazy!

First night takeoff for the F-35C

NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – Marine Corps test pilot Lt. Col. Matt Taylor ascends in F-35C test aircraft CF-2 June 13. The flight was the first night takeoff for the carrier variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and evaluated the aircraft’s night lighting system. The F-35C carrier variant of the Joint Strike Fighter is distinct from the F-35A and F-35B variants with its larger wing surfaces and reinforced landing gear to withstand catapult launches and deck landing impacts associated with the demanding aircraft carrier environment. The F-35C is undergoing test and evaluation at NAS Patuxent River prior to delivery to the fleet. (Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin)

24th MEU's Force Recon practices TRAP mission.

Nice video but its a shame.

Remember when the 82nd Airborne once practiced airfield seizures?  Well the Rangers were looking for a mission so they took it away from them.

Remember the O'Grady rescue?

The men of the 24th MEU should.  3rd Battalion 8th Marines was the Battalion Landing Team for that float and guess what?

They're the ones that pulled it off.

Force Recon...Maritime Raid Force...needs to be absorbed back into MARSOC.  As it currently stands they're just taking missions away from the Battalion Landing Team.  Besides...any recon will or can be conducted either by UAV, Sats or SNIPER teams....

The US military might field 3 different V-22 internally transportable vehicles.

Formerly the Force Protection Jamma...now...who knows what GDLS will name it.

via the postandcourier.com

The defense giant that acquired Summerville-based Force Protection Inc. last year is in the hunt to build a new tactical vehicle for the U.S. military.

General Dynamics Land Systems said Thursday it has submitted a formal proposal to participate in the U.S. Special Operations Command’s Ground Mobility Vehicle program.

The Sterling Heights-based company filed its bid with the defense unit’s headquarters in Tampa, Fla. A sample vehicle was delivered on May 30.

Special Operations Command plans to buy up to 1,300 high-speed tactical transports under its so-called GMV 1.1 program, but it has not yet picked a supplier.

A contract is expected to be awarded by January, with production ending in mid-2020.

Read the entire article, but the US military might be in the awkward position of having three different internally transportable vehicles.

GDLS EFSS & Light Strike Vehicle for the Marine Corps to fill the ITV role.

GDLS Flyer ITV which rumor has it USAF pararescue likes for their ITV.

And these are just the offerings from General Dynamics.  To be quite honest I lost track of all the different competitors for the ITV role but surely other manufacturers are going to be entering these contest and only the Marine Corps has fielded a version.

Besides a Ground Mobility Vehicle for Rangers (and other SOCOM units if they see fit), you have the Para-Rescue guys that are looking at a vehicle...you can bet money that Naval Special Warfare will want their own ride (c'mon can you see SEALs using a vehicle that isn't boutique?) and because of their mission set Special Forces might need a unique vehicle too.

Long story short....vehicle standardization isn't even possible within SOCOM much less across the rest of the DoD.  Perhaps we should stop trying?