Politics Talk. Bannon: 'The Trump Presidency That We Fought For, and Won, Is Over.'

via Weekly Standard.

With the departure from the White House of strategist Stephen K. Bannon, who helped shape the so-called nationalist-populist program embraced by Donald Trump in his unlikely path to election, a new phase of the Trump presidency begins. Given Trump’s nature, what comes next will hardly be conventional, but it may well be less willfully disruptive—which, to Bannon, had been the point of winning the White House.

“The Trump presidency that we fought for, and won, is over,” Bannon said Friday, shortly after confirming his departure. “We still have a huge movement, and we will make something of this Trump presidency. But that presidency is over. It’ll be something else. And there’ll be all kinds of fights, and there’ll be good days and bad days, but that presidency is over.”

Story here. 

Trump won because of his message of ECONOMIC NATIONALISM!  Put all the other stuff aside.  I believe everything we're seeing socially is a symptom of a bad economy.

The statistics say that happy days are here again.  We have a booming stock market.  Unemployment is at an all time low.  Fuel prices are relatively low. Inflation is also low.

But no one feels it.

What you're seeing in the street (after I put my anger away at seeing Nazis, KKK and White Supremacists marching down a street at night with torches) is a country that is stressed by a poor economy.

That's why Trump won the Republican nomination and Sanders had it stolen from him by the democrats.

The messages were the same but the establishment wouldn't listen.

Bannon is spot on.  In the end it's about the economy stupid!  Looking at this rationally, this is just another distraction to keep people occupied and their attention off the fact that economically they're getting body slammed.

4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division at the High Altitude Military Marksmanship Range,,,

Note:  I try hard to make sure that Combat Camera from all services (and nations) are credited for the photos they take.  Unfortunately the US Army doesn't credit their photographers on Instagram.  

Staff Sgt. Robert Battocletti, a squad leader with 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, directs his soldiers during a live fire exercise at the High Altitude Military Marksmanship Range at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Aug. 3, 2017. 

Hmm.  Never knew this was a thing.  High Altitude Military Marksmanship Range?  Sounds...interesting.  Anyone ever run this range?

Flygopaten Instagram Page...If you like Swedish military aviation then you should check them out.

Flygopaten Instagram Page.  If you want to see high resolution, high quality pics of Swedish military aviation (and a few other topics) then check them out. Really good stuff.

Blast from the past. Dieppe Raid Loadout via Canadian Army.

2017 marks the 75th anniversary of the Dieppe Raid, also known as Operation JUBILEE. Canada’s experiences in war have been marked by great triumphs but also by harsh setbacks. The Dieppe Raid during the Second World War was one of the darkest chapters in Canada’s military history. It did, however, help lead to important lessons being learned.

The Dieppe Raid took place on August 19, 1942, with almost 5,000 Canadians coming onshore on the heavily defended French coast. With British and American Allies, the Canadian troops fought valiantly against the German forces during Operation Jubilee –the Dieppe Raid. The Canadian forces sustained heavy losses with 916 making the ultimate sacrifice and some 1,950 becoming prisoners of war.

I saw this and then did a little research on this raid.

The USMC should find a good book on this operation and make it required reading.  Funny enough it touches everything I've been talking about.  It was a BIG raid even by today's standards.  It was an assault on an enemy held PORT!  While not successful it should be studied from A to Z.

Do your own reading (I know I will) but this is one for the ages that can help us in future fights...you can often learn more from failures than you can from victory.

Still no decision on Afghanistan strategy moving forward...we're staring at Vietnam part 2.

via Reuters.

U.S. President Donald Trump reviewed an array of options for a strategy on Afghanistan with his top national security aides, but made no decision on whether he would commit more troops to America's longest war.

Friday's meeting was the latest in a series of high-level discussions on Afghanistan and a broader security strategy for the South Asia region that has been bogged down by internal differences.

Trump was briefed extensively "on a new strategy to protect America's interests in South Asia", White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters, after the meeting at the Camp David Maryland retreat.

"The president is studying and considering his options and will make an announcement to the American people, to our allies and partners, and to the world at the appropriate time," Sanders said.

National security adviser H.R. McMaster and other top national security officials went into the meeting backing a modest increase in troops. At a mid-July meeting, they had thrown their weight behind 3,000 to 5,000 additional U.S. and coalition soldiers.

“Anti-globalists,” who were led by Steve Bannon before he was fired on Friday as Trump's chief strategist, backed withdrawing U.S. forces, U.S. officials said.

Other options which were to be discussed included keeping the status quo of some 8,400 U.S. troops, a modest hike, or a small reduction that would focus on counter-terrorism operations enhanced by drone strikes and intelligence-gathering, they said.

Story here. 

At war for 16 years in Afghanistan and what is the strategy being pushed by the generals?

1.  Continue to train, advise and assist Afghan forces.

2.  Continue counter insurgency operations against the Taliban with SOCOM leading that effort.

It hasn't worked for 16 years but that is the play they want to use (again..for about the 5th time).

Simply amazing.

This isn't rocket science when you break it down to its component parts.  What we're doing isn't working.  What they're proposing is more of what hasn't worked in the past.  The cold fact is that this generation of generals have given us Vietnam part 2. 

Victory in Afghanistan is no longer possible. The idea that we're gonna try another "surge" (notice they don't call it that) in the hopes that we can break Taliban advances is sad and pathetic.  Time to stop wasting money, lives and material.  We've lost the second war in our history. The nation needs to accept that reality and move on.

India sold Brahmos Anti-Ship Missiles to Vietnam. Do we need to build a REAL battlefleet?

via LiveFist

Amidst a tense military stand-off with Chinese troops at the Dolam tri-junction in Bhutan, India has quietly made history on a crucial new front against China: a deal has finally reportedly been struck to give Vietnam, one of Beijing’s arch-adversaries in the region, the Indo-Russian BrahMos supersonic anti-ship and land-attack cruise missile. Vietnamese reports today confirmed the purchase. At the time this report was filed though, word was awaited from the Indian Ministry of Defence, which administers one half of the India-Russia BrahMos Corp. joint venture headquarters in New Delhi. Sources said the deal had reached ‘finality’, but provided no further specifics.

Story here. 

You ever get the feeling that we're living in the modern equivalent of the 1930's leading up to WW2?  Not in terms of economic or social conditions (although some could probably make that argument), but more in terms of rapidly advancing military tech that will see current ideas and predictions of the future swept away.

Tech that is so powerful that current fleets of aircraft, armored vehicle and ships are rendered obsolete?

I'm beginning to get a whiff of that when it comes to our naval forces.

Brahmos is a beast and Russia/India have developed a world beater.  The question is simple.  Do we need to build a battlefleet?

Iowa Class.

Fact.  This tech will spread and even if it isn't copied it will be sold.  We can expect Iran to push hard to buy these missiles which would give them the potential to close the Persian Gulf to our warships ....any relatively small body of water can be turned in an Anti-Access/Aerial Denial locale with just a small battery of these types of missiles.

Do we need to take a page from the past and revive the Battleship or heavily armored versions of current ships?  The Iwo Jima Class was built to shrug off the 18 in guns of the Yamato Battleships of the IJN.

Yamato Battle Ship.

This could turn things entirely on its head for the US and Allied Navies. 9K destroyers will be a thing of the past.  As weird as it might sound we would be heading toward "Cruisers" the size of the San Antonio LPD, with a larger crew than the bean counters will be comfortable with, loaded to the gills with anti-missile missiles, CIWS, cannons that can range 100 miles (to effectively engage those shore fired anti-ship batteries), build a "modern spotter aircraft" (that tilt rotor UAV might be essential for a different mission than envisioned) and the type of armor we haven't seen since 1945.

Oh and that's just so we can get close enough to chase terrorists.  If its an advanced foe then we will have to cancel the idea of independent ship operations entirely...if these type missile proliferate and we keep the same kind of ships we still might!

I've talked about the necessity of armor on land, but unless lasers get working with a quickness then we might see battlewagons or their modern equivalent make a comeback.

Open Comment Post. Aug 18, 2017

31st MEU conducts airfield seizure exercise...Photos by Lance Cpl. Breanna Weisenberger

Grainy pics of night ops is just par for the course.  But ignore the pic quality, we have a different kettle of fish to fry.

Want to know where US forces will be ambushed next?

Yeah.  Trying to seize an airfield.

You don't even need to do any spying, espionage or search open sources hard. It's in your face and absolutely EVERY service and most units practice it.

SOCOM?  You bet your ass.  Rangers?  Stole the mission from the 82nd.  MARSOC? Stole it from the MEU.  Special Forces?  They claim to be able to do everything.  SEALs?  You can bet your ass that they won't be left out of any "en vogue" capability!

But what about our conventional forces?

MEU?  Yep.  Supposedly to hold it for follow on forces.  82nd ABN?  As part of their forcible entry mission.  101st AASLT? Ditto.  25th ID?  Yep.  2nd ID?  Yep. 173 ABCT? You bet your ass...they're mini-82nd.  The list goes on and include practically every combat unit in the US military.

What about PORT SEIZURE?

I can't find it but Neller talked about the USMC having to do port seizure and I cheered.  Unfortunately it was a one time thing.  But it is an essential part of the Marine Corps mission.  It is one of our reasons for being.  Check this out via USMC.mil.

CAPABILITIES

• Amphibious Operations

• Amphibious Assault

• Amphibious Raid

• Amphibious Demonstration

• Amphibious Withdrawal

• Maritime Special Operations:

•    Direct Action

•       Seizure/Recovery of Offshore Energy Facilities (GOPLAT)

•        Vessel Boarding Search and Seizure Operations (VBSS)

•    Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel (TRAP)

• Military Operations Other Than War:

•     Peace Operations

•     Peacekeeping

•     Peace Enforcement

•     Noncombatant Evacuation Operations (NEO)

•     Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief

• Supporting Operations:

•     Rapid Response Planning

•     Terminal Guidance Operations

•     Enhanced Urban Operations

• Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance

•       Reconnaissance and Surveillance

•       Counter Intelligence

•       Signals Intelligence

• Fire Support Planning, Coordination, Control in a Joint/Combined Environment

• Provide Command, Control, Communications, Computers

• Airfield/Port Seizure

• Limited Expeditionary Airfield Operations

• Security Operations

• Enabling Operations

• Joint Task Force Enabler

• Chemical Biological Assessment

• Maritime Preposition Force Enabler

• Follow-on-Force Enabler

• Special Operations Force Enabler

• Employ Non-lethal Weapons

• Tactical Deception

• Information Operations

• Electronic Warfare

• Anti-terrorism

Above is a list of mission sets assigned to the Marine Expeditionary Unit. It's an impressive list and the Special Operations Capable label that they once carried is still applicable today (even though SOCOM would have a cow).

But back on task.

Notice that airfield and port seizure are listed as equal capabilities?  Riddle me this.  I've asked it before but I'll ask again.  For all the operations that we've seen in cities why have we never seen an operation at a major port so that the Marine Corps can practice this?

Conducting exercises in the middle of major cities is unexplainable.  We have combat towns that can simulate those conditions and if not then we need to build a joint mega city on Ft Hood, 29 Palms, or hell in the middle of federal land in a desert somewhere to practice the skills necessary if leadership really wants to chase that rabbit down the hole.

But by my reckoning we haven't done a live exercise with the goal of seizing a major port in the past 30 years.  Why?  We are the service that is tasked with that mission.  It is unique to the Marine Corps but we don't do it!  Why?

We're seeing something that affects weight lifters and causes unbalanced physiques.  You'll see guys banging away curling but never doing core exercise, failing to build a base of strength by dead lifting, failing to activate their nervous systems by blasting their legs.  The same can be said of the Marine Corps.

Training to do the "cool missions" is well and good.  It's fun.  The planning might be unrealistic but its easy.  It's been done a million times so the play book is down pat.  But what about the nasty, hard but necessary stuff?  An expeditionary force in readiness should be able to execute across the board. Even in missions that it doesn't like.

Besides.  If Marine Corps leadership is serious about fighting in Mega Cities then seizing a port should be child's play.

Photographic evidence that knife attacks are dangerous! Mildly graphic....

via Guns and Tactics Tumblr.

Yeah.  Knives are vicious and they're the tool of choice for many criminals now.  Knives, clubs, bludgeons, quarters in socks, padded gloves, steel toe boots, etc...  Improvised weapons used against you can be defended in court.  You see a clown in gear with his "clan" then you put the dog down.  Shoot first, defend yourself in court later.

Oh and remember this.  If you "see stars" or lose consciousness then you are at the mercy of your attacker.  The moment they lay hands on you and you can't properly disengage and resume your attack is the moment you've given your life to someone that DOES NOT value it.

Carry!  Carry! Carry!  Your sidearm is suppose to be comforting, not comfortable.

US forces in Syria for decades?

via Reuters.

Washington's main Syrian ally in the fight against Islamic State says the U.S. military will remain in northern Syria long after the jihadists are defeated, predicting enduring ties with the Kurdish-dominated region.

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of militias dominated by the Kurdish YPG, believes the United States has a "strategic interest" in staying on, SDF spokesman Talal Silo told Reuters.

"They have a strategy policy for decades to come. There will be military, economic and political agreements in the long term between the leadership of the northern areas (of Syria) ... and the U.S. administration," Silo said.

Story here.

Wow.  Fucking really?  Seriously?  So we're gonna put what?  A Stryker Brigade in N. Syria so they can be speed bumps for Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Iran and every sandal wearing terrorist in the region?

Who thinks this stuff up?

The stark reality. Increased defense spending is now off the table.

via Defense News.

With the fiscal year set to expire at the end of September, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis is warning that a stopgap funding measure would have a serious impact on a Pentagon attempting to modernize its capabilities.

Operating under a continuing resolution, or CR, would be “about as unwise as can be,” Mattis told reporters this week at the Pentagon.

It is a tradition that all those serving as secretary of defense have grown used to over the past five years: sounding the alarm about what a CR will do to readiness and modernization, publicly begging Congress to fix the problem and then getting on with life when the budget is inevitably passed toward the end of the year.

There are indications that Congress will follow that pattern this year, with the expectation of a CR to keep things working after September before a final budget is arranged around Christmas. But until that situation sorts itself out, Mattis will most likely follow the script laid out by Ash Carter, Chuck Hagel and Leon Panetta — sounding the alarm about the impact of a CR, which freezes funding at levels from the previous year while preventing new start programs from launching.

Story here.

I can't believe I'm having to say this, but recent events compel me to.

Because of Donald Trump's erratic behavior, his idiotic tweeting and his alienation of almost every conservative except those that belong to the Neo-Nazis, KKK, White Supremacists or their supporters.....

You can stick a fork in increased defense spending for the balance of his next few years in office.

The amazing thing?

Dude really had a chance.  He had a chance to do everything he said he wanted to do.  Increase defense spending, revamp trade, redo our relationship with Russia, balance the ledger with China, get the fuck outta the Middle East etc....

Check out what Senator Corker had to say.

Open Comment Post. Aug 17, 2017