Tuesday, June 08, 2021

If this thing was walking around my neck of the woods he'd be fried and boots would be made...I'd light him up!

That's boots and dinner on the claw.  In my part of the country he'd be fried, skinned and made into belts/boots in nano seconds.

One thing though.

Those people in the vid are crazy.  Those bad boys are crazy fast for short distances.  They were food if he was hungry. I doubt they could run away fast enough...don't think they know about running in a zig zag to evade them either. 

Must read article for those that aren't paying attention to the pivot in the Pacific...

 via FP

The battle dates back to the Trump administration, which first called for forward-deployed U.S. troops to sit in the so-called first island chain that rings China in the Western Pacific, including Japan. The fight came to a head this spring as outgoing U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. Phil Davidson began privately and publicly urging a buildup of American assets in Guam, including onshore Aegis missile defense batteries, in his final days as commander.


Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and top officials have indicated to Congress they were interested in moving more U.S. military forces into close quarters with China. But Davidson and parts of the Pentagon supporting the effort have been met with stern opposition from the agency’s budget analysts at the Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office, known as CAPE, and the Defense Department’s Office of Net Assessment, an internal think tank that conducts long-term planning. Both offices hold a pessimistic view of the ability of the U.S. military to withstand attacks from China’s new generation of highly capable missile and rocket forces, sources familiar with the debate said. China has tested long-distance missiles that can knock out U.S. carriers and even hit Guam, but its ranged forces are still mostly untested in combat.


Capitol Hill is still struggling to understand the disconnect.


“DoD has produced a lot of products countering the rise of China, we expected this to be more robust than it is,” a senior House Republican aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing budget talks. “And we’ll be holding DoD to account for all these other briefings and strategy documents and how they’re reflected in this budget request. We’re very concerned that they are not reflected in this budget request.”

Here 

The Pentagon's problem?

They've developed talking points that just don't make a bit of fucking sense.

On one hand we're in COMPETITION with China.

On another hand we're deterring China.

Another hand we need to operate within China's threat envelope.

Still another hand we need standoff weapons because IT'S DANGEROUS TO OPERATE within China's threat envelope.

Then we need forces within the envelope to assure allies.

The talking points don't make sense.  The budget doesn't make sense. Congress ain't buying it because Berger can't sell his folly.  The Navy is dazed and confused.  The Air Force just wants budget, budget and more budget.  The Army?  They have a plan but no one wants to let them play!

Amazing!

We're looking at another failed concept.  Can't wait to see what the next big idea is in about another year.

Open Comment Post. 8 June 2021


X-20 Abandoned Space Shuttle...our first orbital bomber?

US govt lab concludes that the Coronavirus leaked from the Chinese lab in Wuhan?

Hmm.

Too many stories about this.

Too big a whiplash from saying that it was from nature to now embracing the ONCE conspiracy theory that it was manmade.

I believe we're gonna hear an announcement soon that they have confirmed that the preponderance of the evidence points out that this thing got away from the Chinese.

But it gets worse for more than Fauci.

For better or worse the US military is a "trusted" organization.  If they were used to funnel money to this lab then you can bet we're gonna see other shoes drop in this thing.

Fauci is about to go down.

He won't go down alone.

It must be strange to go from being a rock star to being practically mud. 

I'm sure Gov that pushed the draconian shut downs will get hammered in due time.  That just leaves the medical profession.  I wonder if they'll escape unscathed.  I saw a banner declaring 2020-2021 the year of the nurse.

I believe they've tried real hard to push the hero meme on them.  Will it last or will they face some backlash?  Don't get me wrong.  They did work. Hard, valuable work.  But they also preached and lectured.

We'll see soon enough. 

Just material highlighting the various MAGTF's employed by the old Corps...

A nice info graphic that showed the combat power available with a nominal MEU...remember they can be tailored to certain threats in patrol zones...
Scalable across the spectrum of combat!
SCALABLE & FLEXIBLE!

Monday, June 07, 2021

GDLS proposal vs. Oshkosh proposal.

If "Berger's Folly" is so right then why is the messaging on it so damn bad?

 


I was thinking about this thing that is being birthed and had to take a step0 back.

Full disclosure.

I don't like it.  I don't like it one bit.

But if I pause and lie to myself and state that "Berger's Folly" is spot on and its just what the nation and the Corps needs going into the future it still leaves one huge question.

If this thing is so right then why is the messaging on it so bad?  I've tried to keep an open mind on this thing.  I've tossed out my critique of the thing, and I've expressed my misgivings.

Luckily I have a COUPLE of readers that have tried to give HQMC's view of things.

But even with that, doubts remain.  Even with that its beyond obvious that the tribe HAS NOT bought into this thing.

Do you remember the steps leading up to this?  Amos and his jacked up air centric Marine Corps.  Neller with his wandering all over the place and basically a wasted four years.  Now Berger and his radical transformation.

But do you know what came in-between all that?  I do.  It was two things that we were beat over the head with.  Both of them false but both of them being repeated over and over with little pushback (I know I didn't because I thought they were batshit crazy).

The first was that we were a 2nd land army.  I didn't buy that because Marines have been doing the Marine-thing since WW1~!  No complaints at all.  NONE.  It suddenly hit the fan when we got an Air Centric Commandant.

The second came from some lost in the woods Major that asked (can you imagine having attained that rank asking this question) "who are we"?

I left that one alone because I expected the Division SgtMajor to handle that.  Obviously he didn't because it became a "cause celeb" throughout the Mil-Twitter verse.

But back on task.

This Force Design seems built with the singular goal of "not being a 2nd land army" and of "getting back to our naval roots" (forgot to put that in there but it fits here).

Even in attempting to answer those questions the reality is that the Marine Corps is currently lost.

The friction throughout the organization is palatable.  The confusion obvious.  The churn undeniable.

I believe I'm right.  I believe that shortly after Berger leaves office this concept will be put on the shelf.

But if I'm wrong and this is the way to go then Berger should get out from behind his desk, tour every Marine Corps installation, unit and fighting position and get buy in from those he leads.

He needs to get the messaging right on this thing and as of this moment he's failing about as badly as the Navy will in delivering his Light Amphibious Warship to him on time/budget.

The Science Suggests a Wuhan Lab Leak

I'll just leave this right here....yeah....where are all the bubbas that were YELLING on this blog that the science was saying this was from nature? Hello? Are ya'll out there?