Squadron Commander fired for KC-130 crash in Mississippi...is he paying for the former Deputy Commandant for Aviation sins?

via Military.com

The commander of a wing support squadron based in Cherry Point in North Carolina has been relieved of duty after a commanding general lost confidence in his ability to lead.

Lt. Col. Taylor White, commander of Marine Wing Support Squadron 274, was relieved of his post Thursday by Maj. Gen. Matthew Glavy, commander of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, according to a release send out by 2nd MAW officials.

The wing has recently been linked to two significant aviation mishaps.

On July 10, a KC-130 that took off from Cherry Point crashed in Mississippi, killing all 16 Marines aboard. A day later, lightning struck a flightline in nearby New River, fatally injuring one MV-22 Osprey maintainer and sending another briefly to the hospital.

Story here. 

So let me get this straight.

This squadron commander is getting fired for a mishap that didn't result in the grounding of the entire fleet (the aircraft broke up in midair) and we don't know the cause of yet AND an act of God (I read reports of the incident...as soon as they got word of lightning in the area they were leaving the flight line when the Marines were struck).

Sounds like we're seeing another in a series of scapegoats for the sins of the former Deputy Commandant for Aviation.

It's almost like clockwork.

Class A Mishap?  Fire the squadron commander. It's really getting old.  When the Davis was heading up aviation all he did was tour the nation and talk to the media about the F-35.  Meanwhile Marine Aviation burned.  As he was heading out the door he put together a piece of shit plan to fix what he had neglected and by neglecting broke.  The budget was pushed so heavily toward the F-35 that current maintenance was an afterthought.

It will take at least a decade to fix the mess while trying to bring aboard new aircraft at the same time.

Davis left a mess of a legacy and current Marines are paying the price.

Note:  If any of you "Davis supporters" care to get him online to refute these claims I'll be more than happy to publish his response.  Someone needs to ask the tough questions cause God knows it's not the LCpl Network that leadership needs to worry about...it's the Company/Field Grade Officer Mafia that is getting pissed.

Weird News. Naked man chops off penis and then charges cops!

via Heavy.com

 video shows a naked man covered in blood after appearing to cut off his own penis angrily charging at Chicago Police officers.

The man, who hasn’t yet been identified by authorities, appears to be high on some kind of drug in the video clip, which was recorded July 24 in the Irving Park community near the intersection of Grace Street and Drake Avenue, the Daily Mail reported.

The man is noticeably covered in blood coming from his crotch area, and he starts shouting at the male recording the video, who’s standing behind a metal fence with at least one friend. Additional puddles of blood are visible on the sidewalk in front of the home.

The person who’s recording the video screams back at the man, urging him to “calm down” before noting that police were on scene. The suspect turns to the responding officers and immediately charges at them.

Go here to watch this batshit craziness! 

What would make a person cut his own dingle dangle off and charge police?  There has to be some new super drug on the streets to get this type reaction...could that zombie drug we heard about in Florida be spreading?

My God! US troops surrendered to their Jordanian "allies" before being shot and killed!

Thanks to JD Strike for informing us all of this terrible news!

via Fox News

Shocking video shows U.S. soldiers gunned down at Jordan military base
A Jordanian military guard hunted down and ruthlessly killed three U.S. Special Forces soldiers as the men held their hands up in surrender, newly released video of the controversial November incident shows – contradicting the Jordan military’s original claim the American troops didn’t follow proper protocol when trying to enter the military base.

Security camera footage released Monday revealed details of the Nov. 4 shooting at King Faisal Air Base in southern Jordan where Staff Sgt. Matthew C. Lewellen, 27, Staff Sgt. Kevin J. McEnroe, 30, and Staff Sgt. James F. Moriarty, 27, were gunned down. The video had previously been shown to the families of the U.S. Army Green Berets.

Story here. 

Words can't describe.

This is why I have to fight so hard to keep from hating.  This kinda shit is why I fight my own demons with religious hatred.

This is why I think the whole region should burn and we should light the match and get out the way.

But I guess I'm being emotional.  But damn....

NOTE:  You come with disrespect on this blog post and you'll be banned forever.  I don't care how reasoned you think your argument, if you're supporting the shooter then expect no mercy and no second chances.

Why no word on the cause of the KC-130T crash in Mississippi?

Thanks to Mitchell for reminding me!

The Lockheed KC-130T involved in the crash, shown at Stuttgart, Germany, in 2012

via The Wikipedia Entry.

The accident aircraft was reported to have suffered an in-flight explosion and mid-air break up at an altitude around 20,000 feet (6,100 m) while en-route from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina to Naval Air Facility El Centro in California,[10][11] before it crashed 85 miles (137 km) north of Jackson, Mississippi, killing all sixteen occupants. Other speculation was it lost a wing during cruising flight due to fatigue stress cracks in the center wing box. Debris was spread in a 5-mile (8 km) radius from the crash site and firefighters attending the crash site used 4,000 US gallons (15,000 l) of foam to extinguish the post-crash fire.[12][13][14]

Here. 

The weird thing is that training accidents happen.  I get that and understand it.  This hit me different though.  These guys were just on a simple transport flight and tragedy struck.

But I digress.

Why haven't we heard a thing about this incident?

Not even preliminary findings have been released and everyone has moved on?

This reeks to high heaven.  We need to know the cause, we need to know if this is systemic (I note that there was no grounding and inspection of other aircraft!), and we need to know if there was a case of pushing men/aircraft harder than they should be due to the desire to implement an "aviation centric" Marine Corps.

N. Korea is taking things seriously. Warns of massive nuclear retaliation if Kim is targeted for decapitation...

via UPI

 North Korea threatened Tuesday that it would "strike a merciless blow" at the heart of the United States with a "nuclear hammer" -- if the U.S. government ever attempted to remove Kim Jong Un from power in Pyongyang.

A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman made the statement though the state-owned Korean Central News Agency.

"Should the U.S. dare to show even the slightest sign of attempt to remove our supreme leadership, we will strike a merciless blow at the heart of the U.S. with our powerful nuclear hammer, honed and hardened over time," the foreign ministry said. "The likes of [CIA Director Mike] Pompeo will bitterly experience the catastrophic and miserable consequences caused by having dared to shake their little fists at the supreme leadership."

The threat follows remarks from Pompeo last week, in which he said "it would be a great thing to denuclearize the peninsula." He noted that the "most dangerous" variable is "the character who holds the control over them today" -- a reference to Kim.

Story here. 

Didn't even register Pompeo speaking on this issue.  That just adds sauce to the thinking that a decapitation strike is being considered as a viable option.

The idea that they can strike at the heart of the US is just saber rattling but they could seriously mess up S. Korea and Japan.

Yep.  Whether you like it or not, the Middle East is quickly sliding to the backburner.  N. Korea and the threat of war in the Pacific is now the new "hotness".

What the fuck McGregor!

We rocking with Floyd bro not you... take that off bruh @thenotoriousmma

A post shared by Draymond Green (@money23green) on Jul 23, 2017 at 1:22am PDT

via Sun.UK. Com

Green posted the snap of McGregor in the jersey on Instagram with the caption: “We rocking with Floyd bro not you… take that off bruh @thenotoriousmma”

Not one to be spoken to like that, McGregor hit back by replying: “That’s CJ Watson mate.

“I don’t know who the f*** you are. No disrespect tho kid, keep hustling and stay in school.

"Now ask yourself why I'm rocking CJ when I don't know or give a f*** about basketball.

"I dribble heads off the floor. Not a ball. This is no game here kid."

Not content with the subtle use of wearing the jersey, McGregor even clearly points it out to Green, just to make sure he gets under Mayweather's skin.

The American boxer is yet to respond to the attempt to rattle him.

Story here. 

I haven't talked about the fight because I thought I was seeing bizarro world playing out in front of me.

Connor was always the pro, composed unless pushed and then he was ready to scrap.

But this time?

Mayweather is acting like the calm professional and Connor is acting like the madman.

I was gonna cheer for Connor but not now.  Dude has lost it.  You guys won't like it but Mayweather for the easy win and 3rd round knockout.

Some people are gonna lose mad money but the writing is on the wall.  For the first time since Diaz I really think Connor is scared.

Open Comment Post. July 25, 2017

Paratroopers jump into Talisman Saber 2017...vid by Sgt. Jorge Higuera

Per the earlier blog post.  Yeah it was windy!  Oh and the fucker can lead the way!  He's got his tower of power almost full...

So this is the "unknown" Airborne Brigade the US Army has covering the Pacific.  Why in God's name aren't they participating in almost EVERY exercise the Marine Corps does in the region and on the West coast in the US is beyond me but it makes MUCH MORE SENSE to develop a "partnership" between Army Airborne and USMC MEU's than it does to work with some of our less than reliable allies.

Talisman Sabre 2017 and what we didn't cover...4/25 Airborne op...pics by 1st Lt. Allison Egan

This is a Canadian bubba.  Haven't seen anything on their social media...I'll take another look around the web....

Hmm...fucking Colonel out the door first?  Plus he doesn't have that deer in the headlights look so either he's done this before or he's snorting diazepam with his morning coffee?  Good stuff! Lead the way Mother Fucker!...wait...don't see a Ranger Tab...

Ok...this is more of what I expected.  Jump Master is cool as the other side of the pillow but you can start to see the heart levels rise...it's to be expected, ya can't keep the chill pill look when you can see the sky....

Tucked, good and tight, gear ain't flopping...looks like a good exit...I wonder what the landing will be like...gets windy in Australia, especially in the Northern Territory....hope God's with him....

Your Tues "What If"...What if future air warfare is an electronic warfare playground where nothing works?

Thanks to Koh for the thought provoking idea!

Let's do a quick "What if".

Premise.

The US military has embarked on a plan to disperse it's units, and to provide mutual support thru "networked systems".  We see this on the land in the form of Company Landing Teams/Expeditionary Rifle Squads, to operations on the sea in the form of Independent Ship Ops, Disaggregated MEUs and even in command setups by forming MEB Hq as a permanent organization that will deploy to regions to command a wide array of forces.

The "What If".

What if we are headed toward a scenario in which we haven't operated since WW2 (at best...at least on land...maybe the air battles over Vietnam come close) in which the enemy is able to effectively jam our communications, monitoring systems and even break our encryption?

What would happen to that CLT that is more dependent on supporting fires if it can't call for fire once its found and fixed?  What happens to that single US Navy Frigate that is found, fixed and is on the receiving end of a salvo of anti-ship missiles fired by terrorists?  What happens to our aircraft when they have to close to within knife fight range and hook & jab in a telephone booth (if you're too young to know what a telephone booth is then look it up) because there's so much electronic interference that they're forced to rely on their eyeballs?

Conclusion.

I'll leave this one up to you.  Is this a possibility?  Is this a lesson that the rest of the world has learned from the Ukrainian civil war that we've ignored (I'll never forget reading about the Ukrainian Lt that had to escape/evade back to his lines after they had been overrun...I'll try and find it but even in it's "war college" form its chilling)? Are we arrogantly assuming that "it won't happen to us"?

Another indication war drums are beating in N. Korea. China ramps up its defenses along the border.

Thanks to PNWCommando for the link!

via CNBC.com

China has ramped up its defenses along its border with North Korea to ready itself for a potential crisis on the peninsula, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The newspaper reported Beijing has increased surveillance of the border region as well as a "combat readiness-level big data disaster recovery center." The military has also conducted drills and transferred units from other regions, the Journal reported.

The Journal said that these measures parallel President Donald Trump's comments that he is considering military action to curb Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions and that Beijing should do more to handle the matter

Story here. 

Consider this another piece of information when you think about whether or not war is being planned for N. Korea.

So let's get this straight.

First the president of the United States comes out and says that military options are on the table...he expresses regret that the Chinese weren't able to solve it...and he holds sidebar meetings with the Japanese prime minister almost constantly but those meetings are overshadowed by the Russia mania.

Second, we have Hawaii throwing a shit fit talking about how they need additional civil defense funding...the Japanese running drills to evacuate their towns and them telling their civilians that in case of a ballistic missile attack they might have minutes to react.

Last, we have the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs pushing back against those that say there can be no war in N. Korea because the casualties would be so horrific.

Step out of your normalcy bias!  War drums are beating in N. Korea and everyone seems to be ramping up.  The S. Koreans will be the last to act because it will affect their society the most.  They're probably taking steps in the military realm but if it became public then you would have panic, Seoul would damn near shutdown and business in the country would grind to a halt.

Take S. Korea out of your indicators.  Look at the other players...the US, China and Japan (Russia is probably laughing their asses off....the Neo-Cons are about to get us into another shit fest....that area is sparsely populated and they can always fly in paratroopers or Marines before it kicks off to control illegal immigration).

This thing might not happen but understand this.  We aren't living in ordinary times.  A war IS possible and we're seeing baby steps toward that nightmare scenario.

MiG-35 can beat USA’s F-35, says Russia

via Financial Express (India)

MiG-35's new version is said to be Russia's most advanced and lethal 4++ generation fighter jet - and India it seems has expressed interest in it. MiG Aircraft Corporation's chief executive Ilya Tarasenko has reportedly said that the company is promoting the aircraft in India and that that latter has expressed interest in it. The new warplane is an upgraded version of the MiG-29 and has been in the works for several years now. The manufacturer claims that the Mig-35 can beat US's latest and most expensive fighter jet, the F-35! 

Slide show here. 

Sorry for the beating on the drum about the F-35 but everything about the plane, the program and even public announcements (not to mention reaction from foreign powers) is screaming that its just not what it's said to be.

Consider the fact that old metrics have been thrown out the window when it's talked about!  When the F-22 was introduced it was compared to the F-15 in all regards.  With the F-35 its "well we're gonna have to use it in a different way".  That's code for the plane isn't meeting performance requirements (dreams?) and they're gonna have to devise new methods of employment to keep it even reasonably competitive.

Even more stunning is the reaction from potential foes and even allies.  Some that are part of the program are taking a wait and see attitude with regard to purchases.  Others are developing new aircraft but they're partial stealth and they're much higher performance airplanes.  My point is this.  No one except the Japanese are following the US lead by trying for an all stealth force.  Most notably the Russians and Chinese are dramatically improving their 4th gen fighters, something we could have done except for leadership's fixation on the F-35.

Let me hit you with a what if.

What if they're right and the code is cracked on the F-35 due to cyber espionage and hacking?  What if they can beat the F-35 with legacy fighters simply because new AESA arrays can detect the plane and future enemy fighters can fly faster, farther and higher?

What happens when the F-35's we have are faced with not only J-20's and PAK-FA's that can kill it but swarms of J-10's, J-11's, SU-30's and MIG-35's?

What do you do then Combatant Commander?