Shooting instructor dies after being accidentally shot by girl

Gun grabbers are going crazy over this video.

Personally, I think this is an example of bad instruction.  I won't delve into it further but its crawl, walk, then run.  Not crawl and run.

This is going to be the next flashpoint for the gun rights debate.  The ATF is investigating this incident when THERE IS NO reason for them to do so.  It is an accidental homicide that is handled at the local level...maybe state if there are questions about the investigation.

Get ready for the bullshit to fly.  Read the story here.

Ground X-Vehicle

Major Hat Tip to WAR IS BORING Blog!

  Ground X-Vehicle

DARPA and the US Army are on crack!  Consider that just a year ago they were looking for an APC that had a weight of 80+ tons.  Now they're looking at a Main Battle Tank that is parachute deployable, is stealthy, is mine/IED resistant, can cross terrain that would bog down a top model modded civilian Jeep and at the same time is (presumably) affordable.

ISIS holding American female. When does self responsibility end & national security begin?

via The Daily Caller.

U.S. officials confirmed Tuesday the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has been holding a young American woman hostage for more than a year, and is demanding a ransom of $6.6 million.
The 26-year-old woman was working with several humanitarian aid groups, when she was kidnapped in Syria last year, CBS News reports. ISIS is demanding the $6.6 million ransom and the release of an MIT-trained neuroscientist, Aafia Siddiqui, who was convicted of attempting to kill U.S. officials in 2010.
She and the two other American hostages held by ISIS have been threatened with death since American journalist James Foley was executed, ABC News reports. One of the hostages, writer Steven Sotloff, was indicated as the next victim in the video of Foley’s execution, if Obama doesn’t stop bombing the terror group.

This is interesting on several levels.

First, what will be the "conventional wisdom" if this woman is shown to be raped and then killed on YouTube?  Will that demand we go to war?

Second, what is the responsibility of American's when they travel to foreign lands?  Especially war zones?  I haven't checked but I assume that the State Dept put out advisory's about going to the hot spots dotting the planet.  Is the country responsible for those citizens that go anyway?  Should we be risking the lives of our personnel in rescue attempts for people that do stupid stuff?

I wonder.

Where does self responsibility end and national security begin? 

Marine Corps slinky!

Admit it.  You know the aggravation.  You're trail company stuck in the back and you play the slinky game.  The General wants to go for a goddamn run, and for the next hour you're playing walking, then zooming at full sprint, then jogging, then back to walking, then back to full sprint!  

Brigadier Gen. James W. Lukeman, the commanding general of 2nd Marine Division, and Sgt. Maj. Bryan K. Zickefoose, the sergeant major of 2nd Marine Division, lead the division in a run to build unit camaraderie aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., May 22, 2014. More than 10,000 Marines comprised one large formation stretching for more than a mile. (Official U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joshua W. Grant/Released)

Nuship Canberra completes sea trials...

Nuship Canberra returned to BAE Systems Williamstown today after being away on sea trials for two weeks. Trials including testing of combat and communication systems plus some platform trials. These are her final trials before delivery to the Commonwealth later this year.

Iraq to receive 3 Mi-28 Attack Helicopters

Thanks for the pics Mr. T!

Read about it here.

I wonder.  Are we about to see a return to the "hide behind a hill...popup to shoot" instead of swooping and diving attacks that have been the norm in the lower intensity COIN ops we've been involved in.

ISIS is definitely changing playbooks.

Experts are saying the Foley execution might have been fake?

via Jerusalem Online.

In a documentation issued by the organization last week, Foley is seen on his knees, speaking to the camera and executed afterwards. The footage goes blurry as the execution begins and it is possible to see the militant slashing his throat with the knife.
Experts that watched the documentation say they encountered three main questions that arise from it. The first issue is the blood missing from the footage entirely. They argue that we should have seen blood pouring from his neck out of the main arteries.
Another puzzling issue relates to the sound track of the documentation, as just before the execution a "bleep" sound can be heard, which may imply that the militant was required to perform a re-recording of some of his remarks.
The third issue, which affects the entire video’s reliability, is the calmness of Foley, who seems like he is not upset by the fact he will be executed in the next few minutes.

I don't know.

What I do know is that I've seen plenty of Arabs marched off to their deaths without any resistance.  I've seen instances where they sit calmly while their throats are being sliced, sit patiently while their murderer is preparing to shoot them in the back of the head, etc...

I believe its cultural.

Foley was in captivity for so long that the cultural curiosity that appears to be seen in the Arab population transferred to him.  That's why he didn't struggle.  That's why he didn't fight back even though his life was on the line.