Monday, June 27, 2011
Militarized Police.
A no knock raid.
On US soil by law enforcement officers decked out like an Infantry unit.
Amazingly, they always seem to go against people that don't have the training or the will to resist. The real hard cases always seem to be missed in these raids (Recall the mobster that is accused of killing 19 plus people? No SWAT raid...just a ruse to get him out the house...and many suspect him of being the gray haired bandit that was robbing banks in the Los Angeles area).
Militarized Police forces is a problem. I don't have a position on legalizing drugs. I do have a position on abuse of police power.
Major hat tip to Every day, No days off blog.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Hey Commandant! Save money. Kill flag billets.
I was doing my early morning blog reading and I ran across this story from the USNI Blog.
Read the whole thing but this struck me as crazy...
Then I thought about the Marine Corps. From various sources, the word is that the Marine Corps is capped at 80 general officers.
That's roughly a General for every 2500 Marines.
A General for every 2500 Marines! Say it out loud and see if that makes sense to you.
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? (I don't even want to look at the number of Colonels.)
We won't be lean. We won't be expeditionary. We won't be the Marine Corps that the nation deserves until we get as savage when it comes to promotion and retention at the top as we are at the bottom...by my estimation we could cut at least 1/2 these billets with no difficulty.
We should do it today.
Read the whole thing but this struck me as crazy...
The Naval Vessel Registry lists 245 active hulls as of June, 2011. The same registry lists 268 Flag Officers: 243 Active, 22 Active Duty for Special Work, and 3 Full Time Support. Last time I walked the Naval Station piers, only three ships had broken an Admiral’s Flag at the masthead.
What has me pounding my head is the idea that every US Navy ship could be commanded by an Admiral. I was high and to the right and ready to post in the comments section how freaking insane that is and why someone hasn't done anything about it.
Then I thought about the Marine Corps. From various sources, the word is that the Marine Corps is capped at 80 general officers.
80.
Eight - Zero.
For a force that at its height in modern history might have numbered 202, 000 men.
That's roughly a General for every 2500 Marines.
A General for every 2500 Marines! Say it out loud and see if that makes sense to you.
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? (I don't even want to look at the number of Colonels.)
We won't be lean. We won't be expeditionary. We won't be the Marine Corps that the nation deserves until we get as savage when it comes to promotion and retention at the top as we are at the bottom...by my estimation we could cut at least 1/2 these billets with no difficulty.
We should do it today.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
DARPA's Crowd Sourced Vehicle....
The above photos are from I09.
Don't even bother to go to the DARPA website....I don't quite get those guys....what is the purpose? To show that some guys with a wrench, time and money could design a dune buggy? Me and my buddies could do that...but this is so far from being a combat vehicle that it isn't funny.
This was a waste of time and taxpayers dollars.
F-35 Stealth Controversy. Air Force Magazine drives the final nail in the lie.
Via Air Force Magazine.
Finally.F-35 Partners Get Equal Stealth: Le Bourget, France—International partners on the F-35 will enjoy a stealth capability on the fighter equal to that of the US versions, according to F-35 program office officials. Maj. Gen. C.D. Moore, deputy director of the F-35 program office, gave a non-committal answer during a press conference here this week at the Paris Air Show when a reporter asked about the level of stealth available to foreign users. International reporters have long hinted that the United States would hold back some capability. However in a subsequent statement issued by the F-35 program office, officials said "the quick answer to the statement regarding partners being less stealthy than the US is 'no.' (Partners will have same capability)." The program officials noted that the stealth aspects of some partner versions will vary slightly due to their inclusion of some unique gear, such as drag chutes, but it is "a program objective to not impact [low-observable] characteristics. It is our intent to produce a common solution to ensure interoperability for coalition operations as well as production affordability."—John A. Tirpak
It seems like we won't have the same nonsense of two paid hacks that happen to wear General's stars debating this till the end of time.
Stick a fork in this boys.
The story is over.
The facts are there for all to see.
The partner nations will get equal stealth.
Now all we have to do is wait for the next made up lie. Coming your way in 3...2...1....
Mexican Troops cross into the US.
This type of "mistake" is starting to happen with a bit of regularity.
Bad things will happen unless they get a handle on this nonsense. (click the title to go to the news site)
Friday, June 24, 2011
St. Louis Marine Week finishes...strong...???
Marine Week in St Louis has been marred by some rather unfortunate incidents and statements. Most glaring would be the statement by the SPMAGTF's Commander and the mugging of Marines without retaliation.
Col. Tomko: I’ll tell you what, with that M1A1 Abrams we got across the street, if Halladay keeps on pitching well, we can fix that with one round pretty quickly.
Announcer: - awkward laughs - I’m sure you could. I don’t know if we should say that, but you just did.
Col. Tomko: I can say whatever I want because I’m a war fighter, and this is the Cardinals Nation the last time I checked.
Bataan Amphibious Ready Group Participates Spanish Amphibious Landing Exercise
In praise of the F-35B! The future of carrier aviation.
Thanks for the heads up on these two articles Phil!
Despite all the manufactured nonsense regarding the stealth characteristics of the F-35, it appears that some military thinkers are looking at things rationally, sensibly and with an eye toward future conflicts/roles/functions.
The articles are from The Early Warning Blog and Danger Room.
Read both articles in their entirety but here's a tidbit. First from The Early Warning Blog.
Pity poor Britain, which decided to cancel its acquisition of the F-35B in favor of the conventional carrier variant. An equally good aircraft, the F-35C requires a full deck carrier. The British are building two, one to use and one to mothball. But because the Cameron government has decided to retire the British Harriers, the two existing carriers will only operate helicopters until such time as they are decommissioned.This is the argument that Sharkey Ward over at the Phoenix Think Tank has been putting forward. The Royal Navy is in decline and will suffer an extended period of incalculable risk because of the decision to retire its Harriers. The issue for the UK isn't simply an inter service battle however. Its more important than that. It exposes a risk to that nation. An unacceptable one in my eyes.
So today it is the Italian navy that is providing responsive air assets for the Libyan campaign using Harriers launched from its aircraft carrier. Britain is forced to fly Tornado and Typhoon jets from Italian airbases with all the refueling that requires and the wear and tear on pilots and aircraft. This conflict signals the end of Great Britain as a naval power. It also underscores the value to NATO and its members of having a weapons system as flexible as the F-35B in future conflicts.
The next article is from the Danger Room. This one should cause fear in the ward rooms of every Super Carrier at sea. The real threat to our flat tops isn't 'ballistic anti-carrier missiles'....it isn't SSK's....it isn't hyper sonic cruise missiles. Its the threat that LHD sized carriers will be proven to be just as efficient, cheaper and more economical to run and maintain. If the X-47 is ever able to operate off LHD's then stick a fork in the super carrier.
“Moving away from highly expensive and vulnerable supercarriers toward smaller, light carriers would bring the additional benefit of increasing our nation’s engagement potential.” It would also spread out U.S. naval air power instead of concentrating it in just a few places, where it can be more easily knocked out.Imagine a fleet of 33 USS America sized carriers operating F-35's from their decks. That would be beyond impressive. That would be a sea control force that would terrorize our enemies.
Hendrix’s controversial argument is the subject of my first piece for AOL’s new military website.
To be clear: no one, including Hendrix, is claiming big carriers will become totally obsolete overnight. Besides the U.S., Britain, India and especially China are all building brand-new large carriers, though none quite as big as America’s 11 Nimitz- and Enterprise-class ships, each displacing around 100,000 tons. Hendrix insists the Navy keep some of its nuclear supercarriers as a “heavy surge force” capable of steaming into action during a major crisis.
Outgoing secretary of defense Robert Gates echoed that sentiment in a speech last year.
But for routine patrols, the Navy should have a larger number of smaller flattops. Hendrix doesn’t propose a specific number, but he does point out that three, 40,000-ton light carriers could be had for the price of one supercarrier.
A light carrier is viable because of a shift in the way air power is used. During the Cold War, the Navy’s focus was generating at many fighter sorties as possible within the first few days of a full-scale conflict. After all, big shooting wars weren’t expected to last very long. Supercarriers are optimized for that kind of “big and fast” fighting.
Today, conflicts tend to be drawn-out, low-intensity affairs requiring fewer but longer sorties by sea-launched planes. Carriers don’t need to embark as many fighters, or launch them as often. That’s why a smaller carrier is possible, according to Hendrix.
The F-35's haters thought that they would start a storm that would raise doubts about the F-35 with Sweetman's article earlier this week.
Now it not only looks better than ever but it would appear that those of us that believed in the potential of this system are seeing converts to our position.
Life is good.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)