Sunday, February 18, 2018
No Golden Hour for Marines? Unacceptable! This is how we can do it!
We got word today that if we're faced with major peer vs peer combat, that our forces might not get the aid they're accustomed too. Particularly that the Golden Hour that has saved numerous lives might go away.
On the surface that's understandable.
We've gotten a primer on modern warfare by examining what happened in Ukraine. We've even seen low/mid intensity warfare change in Syria. What were once light forces that were easily countered with our light infantry and Special Ops has morphed into motorized, almost mechanized formations.
We've even seen the enemy use UAV bought off the shelf to successfully attack armored vehicles.
So the idea that the Golden Hour for Marines is going away is understandable. It's also UNACCEPTABLE! This is how we do it. This is how we take what we have today to seize back what the enemy is trying to take away.
The solution is two fold.
We leverage both aviation, and mechanized assets already in inventory.
We take a page out of the Army's play book and we dedicate a few rotary winged assets to STRICTLY the medevac mission.
According to the GAO the USMC has a SURPLUS of MV-22's and are going to order more CH-53K's than we can account for (this is even taking into account the plus up in Marine numbers). These should be sole purpose aircraft specifically kitted out to the life saving mission. Correction. Stabilization of the patient mission.
We will lose the flexibility of using these birds for other missions but in this case specialization is a good thing.
Along with the aviation assets dedicated to the mission the Marine Corps should consider leveraging what the Army has done with its ground based medevac vehicles.
The Army has signalled that it might develop a medevac version of the JLTV. If they do then we should be all over it. I thought of the MTVR but in my mind its too large and it will serve better in the logistics role which will probably be strained in future combat.
How about the ACV? We won't have the numbers available to make it a good option. Additionally it still being slow walked. More F-35's will be built than the ACV. As a matter of fact the numbers of ACV due to be delivered over the life of the program equals the number of CH-53Ks the Marine Corps is gonna buy.
It's too low density to take it away from its primary mission and there will be no slack in the system to allow it to be converted.
My point is simple.
The enemy will seek to take away the Golden Hour. We don't have to accept it.
Amphibious Assault -Thailand...vid by Lance Cpl. Austin Weck
It's a simple thing but I hope they fixed in the AAV-SU and the ACV. Did you notice at the beginning of the vid how slow that ramp comes down? Maybe this is a stupid bitch/gripe but I would think some engineering geek could think of a way to make it faster...much faster. Otherwise great vid.
One last question.
I see units rolling into Cobra Gold and I've seen the Wing identified its participants but don't know who the Ground Side bubbas are or what unit they're from.
I haven't heard of an MEU sailing to it, haven't seen a SPMAGTF assigned so who are they and where are they from. Oh and one last thing. Haven't posted pics but the US Army is also involved and doing work there.
BLT 2/6 Conducts Shooting Drills (SUPPRESSORS!)... pics by Lance Cpl. Tojyea G. Matally
I remain to be sold on the Expeditionary Rifle Squad concept. The idea that we're counting the number of Squads we have in the Marine Corps instead of Battalions seems like fraud.
Having said that I do like how they're EQUIPPING the Marines. The fruits of Gunner Wade's work on his Super Squad over at 2nd Marines before he retired is paying off.
Easy fight for Turkey in Afrin? Hell no! They just threw another Mechanized Infantry Battalion into the fray, pics via AlmasdarNews....
Story and pics here.
On a side note I look forward to someone, somewhere doing an assessment on how the Turk ACV-15 performed in this fight.
Short bio's of all Sergeants Major of Marine Corps.
Thanks to CoffeeJoeJava for the link!
Want to know about the past Sgt Majors of the Marine Corps? Well here they are, nicely laid out. Dig in boys. This is good stuff!
Want to know about the past Sgt Majors of the Marine Corps? Well here they are, nicely laid out. Dig in boys. This is good stuff!
Saturday, February 17, 2018
A Company, 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment @ Exercise Mayan Warrior in Belize...
Hey Neller!
Open letter to you bud. You have great ideas but for some reason you spout them and then lose focus.
Remember stating that the Marine Corps might need to get into the business of seizing ports? I cheered. The idea went nowhere. You talked about getting back to basics because we would be fighting in an environment where all our toys wouldn't work...how basic skills like land nav and map reading need to be re emphasized in prep for the big nasty coming? It went nowhere.
But the focus of today's writing is your idea of setting up a Jungle School. Maybe it's cost prohibitive but guess what. Everytime we send out a SPMAGTF-CR to S. America, we can run those bubbas thru the Brit's setup. The Brits are busy? We can send them thru the French deal in French Guyana!
It would be so easy to setup a detachment and run units thru there that it boggles the mind on why we aren't doing it.
Hell just to make this a unified effort, the Marine Corps would (with a detachment at either location) overnight be running the most intense Jungle Training Schoolhouse in the DoD.
I figure one Captain to head the shit (maybe Major since it will evolve into being interservice if my thinking is right), a squared away Gunny to ramrod things...and a bunch of hard charging Sgt Instructors to lead in the field.
Tops 25 actual training staff with a half dozen Corpsmen to handle the bumps, bruises and insect bites (don't know about snakes...but damn there will be snakes!).
I reckon you could send maybe two companies at a time thru and if you get buy in from the 82nd, some light fighter division and even MARSOC then this could easily be our way back into the fight in the jungle with loaned staff to handle the increase in students.
This is a sparse setup but as I indicated it can easily be plussed up.
Get back to your roots dude! You're a freaking Infantry Officer!
You've been playing budget games too long. Well guess what cowboy, you got your dream budget, now its time to set the house in order, slash away all the silly fuck fuck games Marines are playing (really...you have a PFT and added a CFT to the mix...how about just doing old fashioned platoon PT without all the silliness of paperwork) and not only putting your stamp on the Marine Corps but signalling that it's back to getting ready to win the fight in environments we haven't been in recently.
The same can also be done with ease in the arctic at the air base up there.
The wing is still hurting but on the right trajectory. Turn to the Ground side bro!
Snafu! Out.
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