Bold Alligator 2012 will be worth following after all.

ba12_info

Heads up gents.

Bold Alligator is about to get interesting.  Currently we've been served a rather bland diet of table top exercises and staff meetings.  But I've been told that next week the training gets alot more dynamic.

*Next week we'll actually start seeing troop movements and field problems.

*We'll finally see the red force attempting to impose its will on the blue.

*We'll finally see if the interoperability that all these navies talk about is actually here today, and not in the future.

With the different scenarios being war gamed, this will be worth watching.  I'll be particularly interested in seeing how the Australians do.  They've dedicated an Army Brigade Battalion to the Naval Infantry skill set and I look forward to seeing how far they've progressed.

The French contingent will also be worth watching and I'll keep an eye out on the Brits.

Long story short, next week is when all antennas should be focused on the coast of Virginia and North Carolina.

Stay tuned.

24th MEU Conduct Simulated Visit, Board, Search and Seizure Aboard USNS Laramie

Army to go K-Max to make up for C-27 shortfall?

Check out this story from Paul Mcleary at Aviation Week.  The juicy bit is below.

And you can bet the Army is keeping a close eye on the program. In August, the service awarded the Lockheed/Kaman team $47 million to continue work on the K-MAX program—testing was done this past fall at Ft. Benning—while wrapping up a larger study on a full range of unmanned cargo options.

The tests will help the service build a formal program of record for an unmanned vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capability, a program which we already know Textron/AAI is very interested. Steve Reid, the company’s senior vp and general manager for unmanned systems says that the company has signed a license agreement with Carter Aviation for a manned, four-person rotary winged asset that Textron is working on turning into an unmanned asset that the company feels “would do the cargo mission that’s being talked about” quite nicely. The Navy has also been busy with other unmanned options, including awarding Northrop Grumman a contract in September to supply twenty-eight MQ-8C Fire Scout VTOL-UAS’s (based on Bell’s 407 helicopter airframe), which the company has touted for its cargo-lugging capabilities

Now we know...or rather we can take a guess at what Army leadership is up to.  Don't want to continue the C-27?  Fine.  We'll work with the Navy/Marines and get the aerial cargo carrier we need by the back door.  Plus we'll use UAV's to do it.

No Key West controversy.

No risk of losing the program.

Cheaper.

More versatile.

Direct delivery without having to go through another service.

Can team with reliable partners.

Awesome.

.

Friday Musings....Is SOCOM crusing for a bruising?

I got caught up in a conversation about tactics with a friend and we hit up on an idea that a properly defended site by well trained and disciplined troops would give SOCOM big trouble these days.

How could we say that?

Because they are giving out there playbook that's how!

Think about it.

*The raid on Bin Laden's compound...

1.  We have a pretty good idea of their numbers.
2.  We have a pretty good idea of their back up force.
3.  We know how they inserted into the objective.
4.  We have a pretty good idea of how they assaulted the objective.
5.  We know the weapons employed.
6.  We're aware that they have canines during some of these missions.
7.  We have a pretty good idea of when they assaulted the compound.

If that's not enough we also have info on how they performed the assault on the pirates in Africa.

1.  We know the insertion method was different...by parachute.
2.  We have an idea of the number of operators involved (similar to the Bin Laden raid).
3.  We're aware of their extraction method (similar to the Bin Laden raid...unsure if they used V-22's instead of Blackhawks)
4.  We have an idea of the weapons they used.

Long story short we have the makings of a Special Ops playbook.  Courtesy of someone talking too much.  A grunt in the Marine Corps with just a little awareness could plan a defense with this type knowledge.  A little better intel and he could form a credible defense that would at the very least seriously bloody the assault force.

Our quiet professionals need to get quiet again.

If they don't I fear that one of the good guys is gonna get hurt.

PS.
While they're at it they might also want to remove the 'extras' from their gear...via KitUp!

Not shown: a new maritime helmet for SEAL Team Six.  It’s lightweight and provides protection from shrapnel but not ballistic protection.  That’s well and good if the operators desire it, but I did have to roll my eyes at one thing.  Inside the helmet are pictures of cartoon pin-up girls.  Apparently they had also requested “morale” elements in their order.  I never thought I’d say this, but if DOD is cutting their budget, maybe ST6 needs a line item audit.  There are soldiers carrying shot out M4′s, so maybe the “morale” money can be best spent elsewhere

SNAFU Sea Basing Docs....the Maersk option.

Since sea basing has been a news item lately, I wanted to remind readers that I was able to save the vids put out by the Marine Corps "Sea Basing Think Tank" before they hid all documents behind the military firewall.  These are all legacy documents and thinking might have changed but you can check it out by clicking on the tab at the top of the page.

Carrier Navy makes a play to be relevant by grabbing MEU missions

I knew some type of bullshit was coming.

I just didn't expect it to be from the pages of Proceedings.  What's worse is that CDR Salamander appears to endorse the idea.

A quick synopsis.

*Carriers are understrength.  They deploy with approx 60 aircraft when they have historically had upwards of 100 airplanes on deck.

*This situation is going to get worse with the new Ford class carriers coming up.

*The MV-22 is faster than the AH-1Z.

Therefore the author believes that to make up for shortfalls on the carriers and to make the carriers relevant, we should embark a Rifle Company or two of Marines along with MV-22's aboard a big deck carrier and conduct raids from those ships using the carrier fighters as escorts.

Bullshit.

What's left unsaid is that the F-35B is slated to be the escort for the MV-22.  The AH-1Z has already be recognized as being unable to fulfill that role, so the numbers have been reduced in favor of the multi-role UH-1Y.

Additionally the problem will only cascade to the Marine Corps MEU's.  MV-22's and Rifle Companies are finite items.  To add them to the deployment roster of big deck carriers will lead to losses in manpower elsewhere.

This is an idea whose time has not come.  But if you want to know why I consider this a power grab by the author for the carrier navy, then read the following.  Its a list of Marine Corps MEU missions (via Wikipedia)...

Deployment: Following the work-up, the MEU deploys for six months in support of geographic combatant commanders. During this time, the MEU is a forward-deployed, self-sustaining force that combatant commanders can direct to accomplish a variety of special operations and conventional missions.
The missions may include:

• Conventional operations (Amphibious assaults and raids)
• Tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel (TRAP)
• Humanitarian assistance operations (HAO)
• Noncombatant evacuation operations (NEO)
• Security operations.

Looks like the resource and viability war has started.  I hope HQMC is paying attention.

Interesting ... Typhoid Mary.

via Neptunus Lex from the Mail Online...

TYPHOID MARY, THE WOMAN WHO MADE MEDICAL HISTORY

Mary Mallon (above, right) was the most infamous patient at North Brother Island where she spent nearly three decades of her life.
Despite being healthy, she was a carrier of the typhoid virus  – and is believed to have been responsible for 43 infections and three deaths.
‘Typhoid’ Mary, an Irish immigrant who emigrated to the U.S. in 1884, worked as a cook from 1900 to 1907.
She was first identified as a carrier by medical researcher George Soper, who concluded she was responsible for a spate of infections linked to where she lived and worked.
But she refused to listen to him. Instead, the city intervened after Soper published his findings, and his subject was forcibly incarcerated on North Brother from 1907 to 1910.
Typhoid Mary fought for three years to be released, claiming she was being persecuted by the authorities.
She was finally set free on the proviso she would stop working as a cook.
But Mary Mallon promptly changed her name and broke her pledge, leading to her return to the island in 1915.
She was to stay there, living in her own cottage, until her death in 1938.
When doctors carried out a post-mortem, they found live typhoid cultures in her body.

I just found this interesting.