Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
SEAL Team 17????
Who are these guys?
Is this a real deal SEAL team or something else?
Curious.
Geez. I hope Lex is ok...
I follow Lex religiously so when this news came I was stunned.
I hope he's ok...
I hope his aircraft wasn't involved in this accident...
Even training is dangerous.
Go to Lex's site here.
I hope he's ok...
I hope his aircraft wasn't involved in this accident...
I've said it once, I'll say it a thousand times.
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Authorities say a pilot for a defense contractor is dead after an Israeli-made military fighter jet crashed at Fallon Naval Air Station in northern Nevada.Base and company officials say the F-21 Kfir (kuh-FEER) aircraft crashed just after 9:15 a.m. Tuesday inside the west gate of the military airfield, about 60 miles east of Reno.Petty Officer 1st Class Doug Harvey says it was snowy and foggy at the time.Airborne Tactical Advantage Co. official Matt Bannon in Newport News, Va., says it's too early to say what caused the crash of the single-seat, single-engine aircraft. Bannon says the name of the pilot won't be made public until his family is notified.The aircraft is one of several types that the company provides under contract to the U.S. military.
Even training is dangerous.
Go to Lex's site here.
Let me clarify my stance on SOCOM.
I've been getting e-mails to lay off the SOCOM.
Maybe. But lets be clear about more than a couple of things.
1. Yes, I'm going to repeat myself. SOCOM is as large as 3 Army Divisions. Yet they still leverage support from the conventional forces, have a budget that is beyond massive (the part we can see) and we don't know how large the part we can't see is.
2. We see enormous duplications in capabilities and mission sets. The Rangers are the Army's raiders...enlarge them. The Special Forces are the premier trainers. If they're taking back that mission from conventional forces then enlarge them. But as for the rest of SOCOM? It just doesn't make sense.
3. SEALs have been in the news far too much. Quiet Professionals? You're shitting me right?
4. MARSOC is seeking to enlarge itself from Regimental strength to only God knows what. If the Marine Corps shrinks to 150,000 then you'll see MARSOC absorbing a tremendous number of available boatspaces...all to follow a vision that is no longer viable...additionally it duplicates both Rangers and SEAL mission sets. Force Recon being assigned to MEU's is a much better use of those assets.
I'm not anti-SOCOM but SOCOM is busted and needs better leadership. The SEAL BullFrog in charge right now is the wrong man at the wrong time. Glory seekers and bureaucracy builders are not whats needed in that organization. Quiet Professionals are.
MRAPs. The forgotten armored vehicle.
We're getting hit with a slew of stories covering Army and Marine Corps efforts at vehicle modernization.
You can check them out here and here.
But it occurs to me that whats been missing in all these conversations is the future of all those MRAPs that we have in service.
Are we going to keep some in storage?
If so then how many?
What is the plan on how and when we deploy them? Do we take a certain percentage of casualties before its time to bring them out and ship them to theatre?
Or are they headed for the scrap heap because they're for use in counter insurgency's and we're out of that business?
We have alot of work to do before we get all this sorted out.
In the meantime, the Secretary of the Navy (yeah his sorry ass again) is rolling out a Michelle Obama special.
Note:
I stand corrected. The work is being done...but unlike Navy SEALs these guys are operating in the background, getting the job done behind the scenes.
Awesome!
The statement on the SecNav rolling out a Michelle Obama special on the Marines and Sailors still stands though.
You can check them out here and here.
Are we going to keep some in storage?
If so then how many?
What is the plan on how and when we deploy them? Do we take a certain percentage of casualties before its time to bring them out and ship them to theatre?
Or are they headed for the scrap heap because they're for use in counter insurgency's and we're out of that business?
In the meantime, the Secretary of the Navy (yeah his sorry ass again) is rolling out a Michelle Obama special.
Note:
I stand corrected. The work is being done...but unlike Navy SEALs these guys are operating in the background, getting the job done behind the scenes.
Awesome!
The statement on the SecNav rolling out a Michelle Obama special on the Marines and Sailors still stands though.
Monday, March 05, 2012
Norway buying 50 F-35's....
via Reuters....
Love ya ARES but you got to start reporting this stuff. The silence from your shop is deafening (silent when it comes to reporting good news about the F-35...you're quite loud when it comes to perceived shortcomings)!
Another win.
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
March 5 (Reuters) - Norway's No. 2 defense official said he was more upbeat about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program than in a long time after visiting a test site in California last week and meeting with the eight other partners on the program.
Defense State Secretary Roger Ingebrigsten said on Monday that Norway was finalizing its plans to buy "approximately 50 fighters," but did not expect any significant cost increases to its order.
Love ya ARES but you got to start reporting this stuff. The silence from your shop is deafening (silent when it comes to reporting good news about the F-35...you're quite loud when it comes to perceived shortcomings)!
SEALs go to dinner...
via the Washington Examiner...
Wow.
First click on this sentence for the link to Cafe Milano...
Second.
Can anyone really call these guys bashful or secretive anymore? If you think that then you're just a homer and have hero worshiping tendencies.
I have never seen the type of publicity seeking from a Special Ops outfit like I'm seeing from the US Navy SEALs.
Its disgraceful.
Uncalled for.
Embarrassing.
Why someone hasn't called them on it from inside SOCOM is beyond me, but these guys need to get jerked back with a quickness.
D.C.'s see-and-be-seen restaurant Cafe Milano shut its doors to the public Thursday night for an event that honored both the Navy SEALs and former Defense Secretary Robert Gates -- though the premise was problematic. First, the SEALs are a stealthy group, and grew bashful when asked to stand for applause. (They did, and were given plenty of it). Second, Gates couldn't make the intimate dinner, leaving former National Security Advisor Jim Jones to do the heavy lifting. Jones gladly accepted Gates' Courage and Compassion Award, being given to him by the Light of Healing Hope Foundation and the Navy SEAL Foundation. "Bob Gates is not someone I've known for a long time, but someone I've known of for a long time and I'm admired him at a distance," Jones said. "I know if he couldn't be here there's a very good reason because this would have meant a lot to him," Jones added.
Emcee Fox News Channel's Bret Baier revealed that he was emailing with Gates' senior adviser throughout the program, passing along more regrets. "He really wanted to be here," Baier said. Among the attendees were Fox's Ed Henry, Jeweler Ann Hand and CNN's Wolf Blitzer, who was totally cool with a competitor being a bigger man of the hour. "Bret is a good friend of mine and he's a very decent guy and an excellent journalist," Blitzer said.
First click on this sentence for the link to Cafe Milano...
Second.
Can anyone really call these guys bashful or secretive anymore? If you think that then you're just a homer and have hero worshiping tendencies.
I have never seen the type of publicity seeking from a Special Ops outfit like I'm seeing from the US Navy SEALs.
Its disgraceful.
Uncalled for.
Embarrassing.
Why someone hasn't called them on it from inside SOCOM is beyond me, but these guys need to get jerked back with a quickness.
31st MEU's AV-8Bs coming in...
By Cpl. Garry J. Welch
AV-8B Harriers of Marine Attack Squadron 311, part of the Air Combat Element of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, land aboard the flight deck of USS Essex (LHD 2), March 5. The squadron joined the 31st MEU to support it during the upcoming Amphibious Integration Training and Certification Exercise. The 31st MEU is the only continuously forward-deployed MEU and remains the nation's force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region.
AV-8B Harriers of Marine Attack Squadron 311, part of the Air Combat Element of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, land aboard the flight deck of USS Essex (LHD 2), March 5. The squadron joined the 31st MEU to support it during the upcoming Amphibious Integration Training and Certification Exercise. The 31st MEU is the only continuously forward-deployed MEU and remains the nation's force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region.
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