Alternate firing position.

Army Spc. Yuroslav Prikhodko fires his M4 assault rifle from an alternative firing position during a marksmanship course on Fort Bragg, N.C., Sept. 14, 2011. Prikhodko is a truck driver assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division’s Company G, 1st Brigade Combat Team, which provides logistics and sustainment for 3rd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod

If you thought "planking" was idiotic..check out "cone-ing"

This stupidity is suppose to be the new planking!  Geez!  And this douche bag has 6 million hits on YouTube!  Amazing.

*Spare me the drama about me spreading word of this new "craze"...I thought some might find it interesting, even if its insane.

Joke of the day....

The Arizona Department of Safety Officer pulled over pick-up truck owner Mike Murray for a weapons check because of an NRA bumper sticker.
When the officer approached the vehicle, the man behind the wheel handed the officer his driver's license, insurance card and concealed carry permit.

The officer took all the documents, looked them over and said, "Mr. Murray, I see you have a CCP. Do you have any weapons with you?"

The driver replied, "Yes I do. I have a 357 handgun in a hip holster, a .45 in the glove box and a .22 derringer in my boot."

The officer looked at Mike and asked, "Anything else?"

"Yes. I have a Mossberg 500 12 gauge and an AR-15 in the trunk."

The officer asked if the man was driving to or from a shooting range and the man said he wasn't, so the officer bent over and looked into the driver's face and said "Mr. Murray, you're carrying quite a few guns. May I ask what you are afraid of?"

Mike locked eyes with the officer and calmly answered, "Not a friggin’ thing".

Was Mike Sparks on to something?

This post was going to be a little look back at the CH-54 and compare its cargo pod to the standardized shipping containers of today and to look at how it could be used to expedite the movement of specific, pre-loaded cargo from the sea base to the shore.

THINK DEFENSE is a big fan of the containers and has written extensively on the movement once they reach shore...but he doesn't cover the movement of these containers by air.

But then it dawned on me.  A madman by the name of Mike Sparks once had an idea to remove the body from the CH-53E and basically add elongated landing gear making a modern day, but more powerful CH-54.

The guy was super anti-Marine Corps and I tossed his idea because of that.

In hindsight, he might have been on to something.  I've spent time on the way back machine trying to find the particular article but gave up since my time for researching this is short.  Suffice it to say that the crazy idea of making a "new" CH-54 based on the more powerful CH-53E (or even better the CH-53K) might have merit.

I don't know how much weight you would lose if you removed the troop cabin from the airframe but I would bet money that it wouldn't be much of an engineering challenge and would allow for the magical 30,000 pound threshold to at least become semi-reachable

So here's to you Mike Sparks...where ever you are.  You're a madman.  You're crazy.  And I believe you were ahead of your time.

Marines take part in new swim qual

I luv how the Marine Corps talks about things being 'rigorous' instead of a damn kick in the nuts.  How its 'challenging' instead of a puke invoking experience.  I've been watching the requirements for the new swim qual and while it may be easier than the previous one for basic qualification I can assure you for a 1st class rating you're going to work your ass off!  Oh and a side note for the anchor...shave off that nasty fuzz over your lip!

29th Commandos finish operations in Helmand province

All photos by Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Chandler.  On a different note, please observe the first photo.  I notice that the USMC and now the British military is all the rage about taking these type of photos.  Action pics I can understand but these posed photos give me the creeps.  I get the impression that they're suppose to be used in the newspaper if you're every mortally wounded.  Maybe its just me but I'd love to hear an explanation of why they're suddenly such a "in" way of doing things.

UH-1Y Venom Special Patrol Insertion/Extraction (SPIE) Demo