USMC Sea Basing Docs.

The USMC Sea Basing Site is back up...but unfortunately its been scaled back to obscene proportions.  What drove this is beyond me but they did put up 3 new documents.  A Why, How and What in regards to the Sea Base.

What is Seabasing

Why We Seabase

How We Seabase

The beauty of the Sea Base is that it codifies the turn toward the Pacific and away from Europe/Middle East.  The bad thing about the Sea Base is that its still being promoted to allies that bring nothing to the table and will allow those same 'allies' to continue to sit on the sidelines with token forces...in this instance Naval Forces...while the US and its real partners will be engaging in real work---be it humanitarian assistance (Remember the Japanese Nuclear Crisis?  Who didn't you see there?  Many European countries!) to peace keeping and of course war.

UPDATE: 
USMC Seabasing Website.

Mid Rats.

Want to hear what military bloggers have to say about the mess that is NATO?  Listen to Blog Talk radio.

UPDATE:

What a disappointment!  Little talk about NATO...and when it was covered the 'guest' sounded like an apologist for Russia.

When does the US ever get someone to ever speak up for our own interests?  This 'guest' also talked in glowing terms about NATO and stated that they need to aim for small wars!  If Libya isn't a small war then what the fuck is!

Even more of a kick in the nuts is the fact that the hosts didn't sufficiently challenge this guys assertions.  To be honest I felt like I was listening to a college lecture.  No debate, just opinion.  And liberal opinion at that.

What a complete 180 degree difference from the hosts writing. 

Never again will I invest an hour listening.  Never again.

The US SecDef---and Bloggers telling Europe an uwelcome truth.

As usual the Euros (yes I know you consider it money on the other side of the Atlantic--I'm using it as a collective nickname for the pacifist set) over at Think Defense are blaming everyone and there mother for the lack of European 'guts' when it comes to fighting a 9th rate power like Libya and coming up short.

In a nut shell.  Europe needs to man the fuck up.

Well, its just not me saying this...others are too...of course they're alot more diplomatic but the results are the same.  

European Defense is an oxymoron. 

First up... CDR Salamander's Website...

We have been too polite for too long.

Read the whole thing----please read the whole thing and follow his links.  He makes the argument much better than I ever could. 

And then this from DOD Buzz...

The defense secretary was even harsher in his critique of NATO’s command of the Libya operation. After an initial bombing campaign run by the Americans, the alliance took over the air war and Mr. Gates warned that NATO may not be up to the task.

“The mightiest military alliance in history is only eleven weeks into an operation against a poorly armed regime in a sparsely populated country — yet many allies are beginning to run short of munitions, requiring the U.S., once more, to make up the difference,” Mr. Gates said.

While the Libya war was unanimously endorsed by NATO nations, less than half are participating, and less than a third are carrying out strike missions.

“Frankly, many of those allies sitting on the sidelines do so not because they do not want to participate, but simply because they can’t,” Mr. Gates said. “The military capabilities simply aren’t there.”

NATO is a lost cause.  Its another of the many money pits that's draining the US treasury.  It's beyond time we put that old war horse out of its misery.

Assault Breacher Vehicle. Perfect except for one thing.

Above you see the Assault Breacher Vehicle. Perfect except for one thing. One pretty big thing I would imagine if I were a Combat Engineer. What is it you ask? For the answer lets look at what came before. The M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle (CEV) had a 165mm Assault Gun designed to knock out enemy fortifications. The ABV doesn't have that. Perhaps it isn't as important these days due to precision artillery, precision air strikes and guided anti-tank missiles that can be used in the bunker busting role. I'm not sure of the rationale for not including an assault gun on the ABV but it would be nice if it could be explained.

SEAL/SWCC Training.

Got this vid from their FaceBook page.




Navy SEAL Qualification Training [SQT] from Navy SEALs on Vimeo.

David's got awesome pics...check him out.

Plus he's in Southern Europe...they still like America down there and in the former Soviet States, so you won't have to read America bashing on his site!

Marine Corps Mechanized History Sites.

Marine Corps Mechanized Museum

Amtrac.Org

Both sites can give a quick over view of Marine Corps Vehicles through out the years.  I'm currently looking for the official history (the Marine Corps is usually very good about such things) of Marine Corps AAVs, Tanks, Artillery and other mechanized units.