Friday, July 21, 2017
Armored BURAN. Hunter for the Tiger
Thanks to Costas TT for the linK!
Ok Russian readers...what are they saying in the vid?
Ok Russian readers...what are they saying in the vid?
Is the US empire collapsing? Some policy makers seem to think so!
via SHTFPlan.com
Recently the US Army War College published a report titled, At Our Own Peril: DoD Risk Assessment in a Post-Primacy World. The report, which was written by high level officials from the Pentagon and multiple think tanks, essentially spells out where the American empire is going. In fact, it tacitly admits that the US government is indeed an empire.
The order and its constituent parts, first emerged from the World War II, were transformed to a unipolar system with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and have by-and-large been dominated by the United States and its major Western and Asian allies since. Status quo forces collectively are comfortable with their dominant role in dictating the terms of international security outcome and resist the emergence of rival centers of power and authority.
The report goes on to admit what almost everyone in the alternative media has been saying for over a decade. This empire is rapidly crumbling. But this report goes a step further, by suggesting that the nation state model of governance is falling apart across the board, and not just in America.
In brief, the status quo that was hatched and nurtured by U.S. strategists after World War II and has for decades been the principal ‘beat’ for DoD is not merely fraying but may, in fact, be collapsing…Story here!
…All states and traditional political authority structures are under increasing pressure from endogenous and exogenous forces… The fracturing of the post-Cold War global system is accompanied by the internal fraying in the political, social, and economic fabric of practically all states.
I've called globalization a scheme on these pages because the very foundations of it seem to be built on sand.
The very tenets of the global economic, social and military order makes absolutely no sense!
It appears that some in govt are finally waking up to the facts that the "tinfoil" hat crowd have been crowing about for years. War is coming between major powers not because we want it, but because the global order almost demands it.
We either get ready for the fight, accept that we're gonna get bloodied bad (God save the Marines, Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen that will be sacrificed in the effort) and steel ourselves to the fact that instead of a war of choice the next one could be a war of national survival.
Open Comment Post. July 21, 2017
Magpul D-60. Saw it online for about 100 bucks...time to get one or two now before the Marine Corps climbs onboard and the price skyrockets!
2nd Tanks @ Iron Wolf 17....pics by Cpl. Jonathan Sosner
I wondered where the Assault Breacher Vehicles went! Assumed that they were all placed in storage or given to the Army but looks like at least a few are still around.
Marine Air leadership went off the rails...I'm not the only one that noticed...
Thanks to Jeff for the link!
via War is Boring.
This clarity of Marine Aviation’s “primary mission” is gone today. It has been replaced with something else.Story is here, and its a must read.
If this situation weren’t troubling enough, in a six-page May 2017 Marine Corps Gazette article about Marine aviation, the deputy commandant for aviation emphasized not once, but twice, “The F-35B has proven that we have a war-winning capability in our hands” — without even once mentioning anything to do with supporting marines on the ground. Nowhere in the article can one even find the words “ground combat element,” “infantry,” “grunt,” “combat engineer,” “armor,” “artillery,” or “Marine on the ground.” Perhaps this ahistorical belief in a jet’s “war-winning” capability, combined with a loss of primary focus on the ground combat element, has led aviation leadership to wrongly overlook the Guardian Angel.
If this trend continues, one can’t help but wonder if future “Marine Aviators of the Year” will be awarded in honor of the airpower advocates such as Giulio Douhet, Billy Mitchell, and John Warden instead of Alfred Cunningham.
Given such foundation-shaking thinking coming from the top of Marine Aviation, perhaps it is no surprise that ground combat element marines don’t have the support they need, nor are they slated to anytime soon, despite the Marine Corps Operating Concept’s specific guidance to provide it. Regardless, this tragic reality must be addressed head-on. The reasons to do so are many, including, as Rep. Niki Tsongas recently highlighted when expressing her concerns about Marine Corps budgeting priorities, “the Marine Corps’ mission to be the premiere force-in-readiness and the historical reliance that the nation has placed on the Marine Corps’ role in ground combat.” This reliance today includes the Marine Corps providing almost one-third of the United States’ total active-duty ground combat capability.
I never heard of this writer, Steve Cuomo, but he's spot on. Marine Air Leadership went off the rails in their support of the F-35. Maybe it was the focus on accomplishing the mission of getting the plane in service, but in the end it really doesn't matter.
Marine Air Leadership is talking about doing everything EXCEPT providing support for Marines on the ground.
Even worse?
Marine Ground, especially in the Infantry Community is all about it. When you hear Infantry Battalion Commanders talking about "integrating with Marine Air" instead of what Marine Air can do to support their forces then you know you have an institution that has lost its way.
Happily I'm not the only one that's noticed this. Steve seems to think that the answer lies with UAVs.
He's wrong.
Davis before he left (and I'm working on a podcast that will take his parting letter to taks) talked about a V/TOL UAV that would again, do everything except provide support to Marines on the ground. Missions like radar picket for the fleet, escort for MV-22s and even air to air combat was discussed but Close Air Support?
If he mentioned it, it was in passing.
Unfortunately the answer will require a bit of spilled blood. Not in combat, but in budget terms. Marine Air needs to be handcuffed monetarily. Too much money is programmed currently and into the future for self discipline to be realized.
Stop feeding the beast and you can get him back in the cage.
Marine Air needs to be stuffed back in its cage. It's terrorized the Marine Corps landscape for too long.
Side note: WHY is everyone so freaking jazzed about fighting in Mega Cities? I cringe at the notion that when its tried I'll be saying I told ya so, but these writers, Think Tanks and Generals are pushing the idea hard. We will see body bags filled and Lost Battalions gobbled up in slums outside these cities just mark my words.
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Gunner Wade has accessorized his M4 to the max...
via Soldier Systems Daily.
The weapon he is currently using features a M4A1 SOPMOD RIS II URG, Trigger: Geissele. Bolt group: Fail Zero. Suppressor: Gemtech TREK-T. He also plans to employ an HK416 14.5" URG with a Geissele rail system. So far, the optics he is working with are the Trijicon VCOG 1-6×24 and a 1-8×28 AccuPower. However, he quickly realized that he had set up the optic mount bridging both the upper receiver and rail in order to get proper eye relief with the mount he had.Story here.
Wow. So dude is running a Geissele trigger, Fail Zero bolt group, is currently sporting a Daniel Defense RIS (will follow up with a test of the Geissele system) and of course the Gemtech. Awesome!
What do I love about all this?
All these upgrades can be performed by the individual Marine. Additionally just the trigger alone should improve accuracy and rate of fire for a standard M4.
The one thing he's not investigating but wish that he would is the collapsible buttstock. What's on the market worth consideration by the Marine Corps? I have my own favorite (Magpul ACS) but many swear that the only real "combat capable" (meaning that you can smash faces with it and not worry about it breaking) is the ACE M4 SOCOM.
Regardless, follow the link to SSD and make sure you follow Gunner Wade on his facebook page.
Side note: This is the most effective social media project I've seen produced by the military. I'm biased but this focus on warfighting that Wade is pushing contradicts what we see on other sites. He's keeping it simple and focused. That's why he's winning.
Have you been paying attention to the other scandal? The Trump unmasking investigation...
via Free Beacon.
Former United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power's involvement in the unmasking by former Obama administration officials of sensitive national security information is raising red flags over what insiders view was an attempt by the former administration to undermine President Donald Trump and key figures on his team, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with the situation.Story here.
Power appears to be central to efforts by top Obama administration officials to identify individuals named in classified intelligence community reports related to Trump and his presidential transition team, according to multiple sources.
The names of Trump allies in the raw intelligence reports were leaked to the press in what many in Congress and the current administration claim is an attempt by Obama allies and former officials to damage the White House.
The House Intelligence Committee, which is spearheading the investigation into these efforts, has issued subpoenas for Power and other top Obama administration figures, including former national security adviser Susan Rice, as part of congressional efforts to determine the source of these leaks.
Power's role in this unmasking effort is believed to be particularly questionable given her position as the U.N. ambassador, a post that does not typically require such sensitive unmasking activities, according to former U.S. officials and other sources familiar with the matter.
"Unmasking is not a regular occurrence—absolutely not a weekly habit. It is rare, even at the National Security Council, and ought to be rarer still for a U.N. ambassador," according to one former senior U.S. official who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon.
Everyone was making excuses saying people were crazy for thinking that former Obama administration officials had the long knives out for Trump.
What were they smoking?
Where I went wrong is that I thought they kept it close to the inner circle. To think that Susan Powers was the primary is both interesting and troubling. The scheme probably extended all the way thru the administration to include many civil servants that remain in place.
The deep state is real.
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