Marine Operating Concepts. Restricted Distribution C.

Sgt. C. a regular commenter on SNAFU! caught something that escaped my notice.  The Marine Operating Concepts is classed Restricted Distribution C.  His words...

Interesting that it has the fairly restrictive Distribution C statement, but it is on a website anyone can go to. Not even an HTTPS. Other documents with the same statement are not only protected by having to have a CAC/PKI to access the site they're on, they also will only send a download link on request from your .mil email.
Seems to me they want this "out there".

What is Restricted Distribution C?  This definition (the best I could find) is from the Naval Post Graduate School.

DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT C

Distribution authorized to U.S. Government Agencies and their contractors (fill in reason) (date of determination). Other requests for this document shall be referred to (insert controlling DoD office).

Distribution statement C may be used on unclassified and classified technical documents.

Reasons for assigning distribution statement C include:

Foreign Government Information                 Same as distribution statement B.

Critical Technology                                        Same as distribution statement B.

Software Documentation                               Same as distribution statement B.

Administrative or Operational Use   Same as distribution statement B.

Specific Authority                                          Same as distribution statement B.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing top secret here.  But...it was deemed to have a limited 'spread' but for some reason, its been given wide distribution....

I can see it now.

Conway in a room with 20 of his colleagues, smoking cigars and drinking whiskey plotting the next move on Capital Hill.

The wider release of this document is definitely part of the public relations war.  This will get good!

The Marine Corps is gearing up for the budget battle.

When Headquarters Marine Corps starts putting out Cliff Notes like these to demonstrate how valuable and what a bargain the Corps is to the nation, then you can bet that the conversations in the "Generals Club" have been pretty intense.

Seems like another fight for survival is about to erupt.  Lord have mercy on the Honorable Mr. Gates, cause he's just unleashed the hounds of budget war!

In the Black - Moc

In the Black (Amphib Force)

In the Black (Amphib Ships)

Greg Grant at Defense Tech got the MOC!

He's money in the bank.  This is courtesy of Greg and DT.

usmcoperatingconcept

It was a TRAP mission.

Remember this post?  In it a couple of people made the comment that this wasn't a TRAP (Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel) mission and that we were foolish for even thinking that it might be.

Seems like a certain Gunnery Sergeant has a different take on things.  This from Gunny Williams.

Heavy-lift Helos Haul Big Missions in Afghanistan 

6/26/2010  By Gunnery Sgt. Steven Williams  , 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (FWD) 

 

CAMP BASTION, Afghanistan  — A CH-53E Super Stallion flew across the dawning sun here June 26 as it returned with an 18,000-pound piece of vital cargo slung beneath its belly. The sight of the aircraft against the painted morning sky was impressive on two accounts – the vision of the silhouetted helicopter floating in Afghanistan’s vibrant dawn, and the fact that the cargo toted below was a United Kingdom Mk3 Merlin (EH-101) helicopter. The Super Stallion, deployed here with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 466, was recovering the aircraft from a forward operating base after the Merlin went down in a non-hostile event. Perhaps the most impressive part of the recovery mission – HMH-466 pulled it off with less than 18 hours notice.
“In order for it to go down,” Lt. Col. Mitch Cassell, the HMH-466 Commanding Officer, explained, “it required the entire squadron to throw themselves behind the lift.”
The planning and preparation involved in outfitting a CH-53E to carry tens of thousands of pounds is extensive and requires meticulous attention to detail. Pilots and crew in the ready room who weren’t even flying the mission planned it. An entire maintenance department jumped into action pulling off 2,000 pounds worth of gear, including the auxiliary fuel tanks, fuel probe, troop seats, ramp, cargo wench and utility hoist. “We had to remove all that equipment from our aircraft to make it light enough to lift the stricken Mk3 Merlin,” said Cassell.

The mission is called TRAP – Tactical Recovery of Aircraft or Personnel – a mission Marines actively train for all the time. However, very few real world TRAP missions have ever been conducted. Conducting one TRAP during a deployment is rare. Twice is practically unheard of… until now. In addition to the Mk3 Merlin mission, HMH-466 conducted an earlier TRAP mission to recover a U.S. Army MH-47G Chinook helicopter May 15 that made a hard landing near Kandahar.

This mission was also conducted with less than 24 hours notice and followed many of the same planning and execution processes, “but more weight had to be removed from our aircraft because the Chinook was much heavier than the Merlin” said Cassell. To successfully lift the Chinook, over 5,600 pounds of equipment had to be removed from the CH-53E helicopter.
“The fact that an Army unit was able to call across the boundaries to ask the Marine Corps to support a mission is pretty remarkable," said Lt. Col. Timothy Sheyda, HMH-466’s executive officer. “We were able to smoothly interact with their airborne assets on station, as well as their ground team which was at the site, and their command and control system that was in place.”
The CH-53E squadron is getting the call on these big missions because, according to Sheyda “there are only three aircraft in the world that could possibly do that lift.” The other two besides the CH-53 are the Russian-made MI-26 Halo and the CH-47 Chinook. Although those aircraft are available in the area, “the Marine Corps is the only service capable of reconfiguring its aircraft and performing the mission on such short notice.”
But the greatest accomplishment extends beyond the rescued aircraft being delivered to their respective owners. The capability the HMH-466 Marines have to plan, organize and execute these operations with very limited advance notice speaks to their teamwork and dedication.
“The fact that a team can throw a plan together in less than 24 hours to do a mission really validates the Marine Corps planning process,” Sheyda exclaimed. “This process will have to be passed on to future generations.”
He went on to say, “Marines are trained to be light, agile, quick and lethal. In this case, we were able to do all of those things and effectively accomplish our mission in a short timeline. That’s how we operate.”
At the end of the summer, HMH-466 will return to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., and pass off their responsibilities to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361. As HMH-466 flies off into the sunset, HMH-361 picks up a “heavy” mission supporting the Afghan National Security and NATO Forces as the “heavy haulers” of southern Afghanistan.

Mystery semi solved.

It was a TRAP.

We now know that in addition to a Merlin ------ a CH-47 Chinook was also recovered (different time frame, same deployment).

What we don't know is what caused the helicopters to go down (the commenters stated that the Merlin just performed a hard landing...considering how erroneous their previous info was I highly doubt that part of their story too)

More digging coming.

Information Request 1.

I read on another blog that will go unnamed that the F-35 is going through a lift fan re-design.

I've done Google searches backwards and forwards, scoured the Lockheed Martin website and the various military websites and I can find no info on it.

They did have a problem a few years ago but this particular blogger is giving the impression that a lift fan re-design is underway now.

Does anyone have any info on this or is it (as I suspect) bad info?

Heads Up...A new operating doctrine is coming.

Scuttlebutt has it that a new Operating Concept is due to hit the streets real soon...as in a couple of days.  Supposedly it will emphasize...
1.  A doctrinal move to ensure that the Marine Corps never performs the role of a 'second land army'
2.  To get Marine detachments back onboard large ships...Destroyers, Aircraft Carriers..even Coast Guard Cutters...

The rest we'll have to wait and see...consider this your early warning order...

Admiral Mullen is setting us up for deep defense cuts.

The above video is one in which Admiral Mullen states that the current budget situation is a risk to national security (I must add that this is the same Admiral that stated that Climate Change was a risk to national security....it seems that some will bow to the whims of their superiors no matter what the rank)...

The point of all this is...he's setting up the country for massive defense cuts. 

I wondered why they would choose a certain Marine General over a more accomplished rival for Commandant.

I wondered why the SecDef would make such a forceful show of talking about future defense budgets and the role of the Marine Corps.

I wondered why the Acquisition Chief would make a meeting with the defense sector such a high profile show.


Now we know.  Everyone is about to get gut punched. 

Remember you heard it here first.

Massive Cuts coming to the Marine Corps?

This via the Daily Caller...

The Marine Corps would be cut by 30%, from 202,000 to 145,000, and the other funding cuts planned for the Corps mean the United States will not be able to mount a major amphibious landing on any hostile shore. Marine Corps programs to be killed include the V-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft and the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle.

Wow.

Read the whole article.

The Department of Defense (if this person is correct) is about to be kicked in the nuts.

A few weeks ago I predicted that a personnel cut to around 165,000 from 202,000 was possible.  I thought I was being extreme.

To slash the Marines to below 150,000 is extreme.  Crazy extreme.

Oh and for all my Navy readers, your cuts are just as brutal if not more so.  Check this out....

The Navy will be reduced to eight aircraft carriers (from twelve planned) and seven air wings. Eight ballistic missile submarines will be cut from the planned force of 14, leaving just six. Building of nuclear attack submarines will be cut in half, leaving a force of 40 by 2020. The four active guided missile submarines would be cut, too. Destroyer building would be frozen and the new DDG-1000 destroyer program cancelled. Among other huge cuts, the fleet is to be reduced to 230 combat ships, eliminating 57 vessels from a current force level of 287.

Are you an Army bubba?  I feel your pain and Congress is about to apply it liberally (pun intended)...

Active duty Army personnel will be slashed from 562,400 to 360,000. That includes elimination of about five active-component brigade combat teams (the report is not exactly). The Army will also suffer a myriad of other cuts, including closure of overseas bases.

Even the fly guys (Air Force) get a piece of this hurt...

The Air Force must retire six fighter air wings equivalents, and at the same time build 301 fewer F-35 fighters. The nuclear bomber force will be completely eliminated in the name of unilateral disarmament—the B-1 and B-2 and B-52 and other bombers will still be able to drop bombs, but their nuclear weapon wiring and controls will simply be removed. Procurement of the new refueling tanker and the C-17 cargo aircraft will be cancelled. Directed energy beam research and other advanced missile and space warfare defense projects will also be eliminated or curtailed.

I don't know if this is real or just another proposal being floated by some "Think Tank" in someones' basement but to think that cuts this large are even being contemplated is...astonishing.

We couldn't do a repeat of Afghanistan.  Iraq 1 would be impossible.

Considering our world wide responsibilities even doing another Grenada would be challenging.

Wow.

Pic of the Day. June 27, 2010.

U.S. Marine V-22 Osprey approaches the flight deck aboard USS Wasp (LHD 1) during nighttime flight deck evolutions. Wasp is currently underway conducting deck landing and engineering qualifications. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communications First Class Rebekah Adler/Released by MCC Antuan Guerry.

Airman watch as a V-22 Osprey makes a landing during flight deck evolutions. Wasp is currently underway conducting
flight deck and engineering qualifications. (Photo by: MC1 Rebekah Adler)

U.S. Marine vertical wing V-22 Osprey Aircraft is approaching the flight deck aboard the multi-purpose amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) during the ship's deck landing qualification. U.S. Navy photo by
Mass Communications Specialist First Class Rebekah Adler/Released by MCC Antoine Guerry.

A U.S. Marine AH Cobra helicopter departs the ship during nighttime flight deck evolutions. Wasp is currently underway conducting deck landing and engineering qualifications. U.S. Photo by MC1 Rebekah Adler/Released by MCC Antuan Guerry.

U.S. Marine V-22 Osprey during flight deck evolutions. Wasp is currently underway conducting deck landing and engineering qualifications. (Photo by: MC1 Rebekah Adler)

U.S. Marine V-22 Ospreys make a landing during flight deck evolutions. Wasp is currently underway conducting deck landing and engineering qualifications.
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist First Class Rebekah Adler/Released by MCC Antuan Guerry.

African Lion 2010.

The Marine Corps appears almost to be exercise happy.  Or rather the Combatant Commanders appear to be exercise happy.

I imagine the reason why reservist units are getting so many of these slots is because at the pace at which these exercises are taking place, to use active duty personnel would screw up the Unit Rotation Schedule.

Reserve Marines from 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, headquartered in Quantico, Va., speed through the southwestern Moroccan desert in their light armored vehicle here June 8. The mobile leathernecks served as a key component of the maneuver element during the final exercise here June 9 for African Lion 2010, a theater security cooperation exercise conducted annually between U.S. and Moroccan forces. 

Maj. Paul Greenberg 

NOTE: Admiral Mullen is fully behind the idea of using US forces in the soft power role of 'partnerships'....The problem with that approach is that many of the regime's that we're involved with are corrupt or oppressive or both. Another issue is that this might work well a Navy ship...they sail into port, the sailors hop off and pass out food or paint schools...heck even jump rope with the school kids. With ground forces the dynamics are completely different. You have units that go out with the host nations personnel and practice killing or blowing things up. Soft power in the eyes of the US, hardpower in the eyes of the local population.

Piston vs. Gas Impingement. Gas Impingement wins.

Kit-up has an excellent article on SOCOM dropping the MK16 and procuring only MK17's instead.  This part of the article is what caught my eye...

“The Mk-16 does not provide enough of a performance advantage over the M-4 to justify spending USSOCOM’s limited … funds when competing priorities are taken into consideration,” officials at USSOCOM said in an email response to questions from Military.com. “Currently, three of USSOCOM’s four components receive the 5.56 mm M-4 from their parent service as a service common equipment item.”

Kit-up specializes in gear--hence the focus on the procurement part of the story, what caught my eye in that article is the performance factor of piston driven weapons...and the misplaced idea that they're more reliable than their gas impingement cousins.

SOCOM just put a controversy to rest (I don't think that was the intention but that's the result of the statement)...Gas Impingement is as reliable as Pistons...or to be more precise, they don't provide a performance advantage big enough to justify the additional cost.

Civilian shooters, survivalist and Police/Security agencies take notice.

Finally! The World Cup stuffing effort is over.

RUSTENBURG, June 26 (Reuters) - United States 1 Ghana 2 - World Cup second round extra time latest.
At Royal Bafokeng Stadium.

Scorers
United States: Landon Donovan 62 pen
Ghana: Kevin-Prince Boateng 5, Asamoah Gyan 93
Halftime: 0-1; 90 mins: 1-1; 105 mins: 1-2;
Attendance: 34,976
Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)
Follow all matches live at http://live.reuters.com/Event/World_Cup_2010
(Editing by Patrick Johnston)

Let's face it.  We Don't Care!  We don't like soccer.

We don't care about this nonsense (sorry Europe/Australia/Asian/ African countries...we just don't like the "beautiful game")...

But we have suffered through having this stuffed down our throats for the last couple of weeks.

We have witnessed the "cultural" elite go through the show of being fans of this game.

Today we lost.

Thank God!