February 17, 2007
H&I* Fires, 17 FEB 2007
Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite. [Hey - trackbacks work again!]
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(Moved to top of queue because of relevance and importance)
Greyhawk points to what was happening on the ground, the empirical effect of the Patraeus/Bush "New Direction", while Congressional bashing of it was going on.
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Lots of people, including Jules Crittenden, seem to be rather happy about retired Col. Allard resigning from NBC. I’m not. Why? Think about it. You’re a journalist. You have a rolodex of people to call/email when you’re working on a story you don’t have the academic background on. So there’s more calls going to Arkin and other ‘kill the Mil’ experts that won’t get countered now. Good for the Col. to put his foot down and stand up for what he believes in. Bad for the rest of us because now journalism is going to understand military affairs even less and will give us an even more skewed view.
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I’m real familiar with the thinking behind this one. Waziristan province bans tinted car windows.
See in SoCal back in the late 80’s and early 90’s drug dealers and other unsavory types tinted their windows darn near opaque. Vehicle became a moving secure location. Drug deals could take place without being observed. Cops making stops couldn’t tell what was going on, and rumor was a few got shot. Was real popular car mod with the gangbanger set. So the state outlawed certain levels overall and of tint and tinting of the windshield and front windows much at all.
Smart move by the Pakistanis. Hope they get compliance a lot easier than we did in CA though. Was a real pain for a few years.
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Avoiding the echo chamber link. WarHistorian links to a Foreign Policy study group that says terrorism is increasing and that the US is less secure in some part thanks to the way that GWOT/Long War has been handled.
ry
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Don't worry, Ry. Plenty more guys who want to be "warheads" in the line...
-the Armorer
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I've been busy, but didn't see mention of it here... The Milbloggies are accepting nominations. You can nominate as many blogs as you like. How about starting with Castle Argghhh! and Fuzzilicious Thinking? Other Denizens, please add the nomination link for your blogs below so that we can get you in the Finals. To nominate the rest of your favorite blogs, just click here and search for their names. - FbL
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A must-read: Give the Washington Post some credit--they pound Murtha (and by extension, the Democratic party) in an unsigned editorial today:
As Captain's Quarters puts it, "Despite this, Pelosi insists on following his leadership on Iraq policy. The Democrats have made the case yet again why they cannot be trusted with national security. They use bad information, faulty logic, and underhanded tactics to exploit it for partisan political purposes. John Murtha represents everything that is wrong with the Democrats on this debate. They are ill-informed and incoherent, unable to formulate a plan for victory but willing to sabotage American efforts anyway." - FbL
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My Heart Is Breaking
For all the rage and anger over the "non-binding" resolution; for all the anger at demoralising our troops and aiding our enemies with such a message, I've heard little about how it will affect our Iraqi allies who have once again trusted us to defend them and we, once again, seem bent on tossing them away like so much trash on Tuesday morning..
I pounded on my keyboard a couple of times about how our withdrawal will leave millions of innocent Iraqis at the mercy of the impending all out civil war, the one that Murtha says will "sweep al Qaeda from Iraq." But it was still abstract until this afternoon when I saw a message from my Kurdish friend Emmunah. I met her via internet almost two years ago, but haven't heard from her for awhile. Turns out she had a torn rotator cuff and couldn't email or post.
She left these few words at my blog:
What is the US going to do about the Kurds? They will be slaughtered if the US leaves, or the Turks will invade. I am weeping in worry.
My heart is breaking.
-Kat
Blog to the Chief, probably the final post.
Yesterday, CAPT H sent me a note about that "Kansas blog thingy" which contained a link to Joan McCarter's post on the event (she's the Kossack who blogs as McJoan).
CAPT H said, quoting McJoan:
"...the right blogosphere is dominated by professional political types ..."
...and then he added:
... and no mention of the Castle!
I'm terribly saddened at that. Broken-hearted. After all, Joan and I had a "moment" down in the archives when we discovered we actually had something in common regarding the Long War - that a nuke-armed Iran is probably bad. This occurred as we bloggers were getting a tour of the archives. They had turned us loose to wander the shelves full of the interesting mundania of Senator Dole's career when I noticed that the three rightys were moving down one aisle together, and the two lefties (with a very nice student lefty-blogger-groupie) were moving down a different aisle. Throughout the evening watching the comfort groups form was amusing.
Joan being my first live Kossack, I picked up something else... when I hear those of us on the right refer to the Kossacks in speech, we do so in the form of Russian Cossacks. When Joan uses the term, she pronounces it Ko-sack. And Daily Kos is pronounced with the "ko" sound, not the "ka" sound I've always used. And, since it's Markos Zuniga, it makes sense - it was just odd to my ears, living in the great benighted hole that is Kansas. (Hey, *I* like it here - I want all you others to think it sucks and stay away...) Go live in Missouri or something.
Anyway - if you haven't yet, go read Joan's post, she expands on the one thing that was actually the major difference between the two camps - because they all pretty much agreed that politicians need to figure out this internet thingy and adapt to it - because we "netizens" aren't going to adapt to them very well, despite Senators McCain and Feingold's attempts to indirectly force us to - because I don't care that they cloaked it in campaign finance rhetoric, the purpose of that bill was to stifle dissent and criticism. Not to make it somewhat accountable in terms of truth in advertising, but to just shut it off. Which is why it was bi-partisan. It could just as correctly been titled the "McCain-Feingold Incumbency Protection Act" as campaign finance reform. And in that regard, the left and right of the 'sphere have some common ground.
Dog-blogging.
Scru'pl Name Kiki on sentry-go in the wintry Inner Bailey of Castle Argghhh!
February 16, 2007
H&I Fires, 16 FEB 2007
Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite. [Hey - trackbacks work again!]
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Two views on something you should get out your stress relief referee doll for.
One from Murdoc.
The other from Jason at COUNTERCOLUMN.
Just a taste to get you interested:
There is a saying that “if you do the crime, you do the time”. My response is that “If you do the war crimes, you will do time in hell, whether the hell of war trauma and shock, of diseases such as those caused by depleted uranium, the old-fashioned traditional hell, fire and brimstone assigned to malefactors…or the hell of sitting in a social justice class and discovering what the hell you are in hell for, or are about to be.
And people wonder why gollum wants out of The Ivory Tower?
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Because there’s more going on in the world other than the Long War. Russian journalist iterates why Russia opposes BMD in Central/Eastern Europe: it’ll add uncertainty to our war plans.
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Col(R) T.R. Fehrenbach: Too little, too late is the motto of too many wars.
Couldn't say it better myself, Colonel. Amen.
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Shloky, who I am grateful to TDAXP Dan for bringing to my attention (we’re praying for your dad, Dan), links to a story about Taliban using system disruption tactics using rockets, cheap ones. Show that the gov’t can’t provide and you have a somewhat amenable population to be the water in which the terrorist fish swim. It’s a classic, and it’s working.
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John Robb takes a real hard look at the networked nature of modern terrorism. Heavy on the theoretical, but an interesting read.
A taste:
When you apply the directional scale-free network model to al Qaeda, you see a fairly good fit, particularly when you assume that the al Qaeda of today is more of a movement than a cohesive organization (Mitch provides some historical analysis to back this up). Here's how it works. Al Qaeda's flow starts in connections from the feeder networks within the IN continent that instill a common animating narrative (Madrassa's, etc.). This common narrative drives social clusters to seek connections with the central core (bin Laden and associates) which will eventually transition them to become operational assets (terrorist cells) in the OUT continent.
ry
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NOT that I want to spread potentially erroneous information, but the AP is now reporting as a top headline that Al Masri has been captured. No confirmation from CENTCOM or any other US official as yet. I can't decide if the release of information on the potential capture is a good or bad thing. [I know, I know; it's been out and retracted a couple of times...but it is "headline" news this AM]
Just in time, Al Qaeda releases a new tape.
Herpetologists discover poisonous snakes in Washington.
-Kat
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Every time I even consider getting back into youth sports something like this comes up and reminds me why I got out: Stupid, angry, can't control their emotions parents. I'm glad this guy will never be able to coach again. He maligned the profession and ATTACKED A CHILD.
ry
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Over at The Torch today we were chatting about the desecration of war memorials, and Odie441 put a typically soldierly slant on the issue: "I was walking by the war memorial two weeks ago and noticed that someone had graciously left the unknown soldier an empty beer can. For gods sake, at least leave him a full one."
Cheers, Damian
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The 'Phibian asks...
Whatziss? He threw down the challenge in his Fullbore Friday post and then slapped me across the face with his dainty lacy white glove.
Since I torture you guys with this game, it's only appropriate that I periodically make my bones at it too.
'Phibian - I say it's this: British Cruiser Tank Mk.IV (A13 - Mark II)
This was the first British tank to use Christie's suspension system. A prototype Christie vehicle was purchased (A13E1), from which the eventual design was developed. There were two production prototype vehicles, A13E2 and A13E3. They were used by the 1st Armoured Division in France, 1940 and in small numbers in Libya, 1940 - 41.
Since they were used by the British 1st Armoured Division in France, 1940, and in some small numbers in Libya, and given the actual location (and condition) of 'Phibian's exemplar, this might technically be a Kreuzer Panzerkampfwagen Mk.IV 744(e).
At least that's my answer.
I knew I didn't like Rumsfeld as a war planner.
I always thought his personal war planning group simply made too many assumptions, and started thinking of them as facts. You have to make some assumptions about the unknowable, or you can't plan. But there are two cardinal rules - don't assume away problems without having a contingency on the shelf to deal with them if your assumption is wrong - and don't nest assumptions.
Especially if the failure of any single assumption in the chain kills the chain.
If you don't do that, you move beyond simply accepting risk - you move into gambling. And if you are planning an optional war (perhaps not optional in that it might have needed doing at some point, but certainly optional in terms of timing) you simply have no business gambling. The sad truth however, is that risk versus gamble is usually a dichotomy resolved by the historians after the fact, not the decision-makers before the fact.
I admit - I was, and still am, prejudiced in favor of the "overwhelming response" form of swarming an enemy - done properly I still believe it presents the safest path to quicker victory and in the end, less damage and fewer casualties. Certainly, there are campaigns within wars and operations within campaigns, and battles within operations where you have no choice but to accept the risk of economy of force operations because as Napoleon putatively noted - "He who would be strong everywhere, will be strong nowhere."
There is a Clausewitzian maxim - one the Brits have mastered (as did we in our Revolution, and the North over the South, and that the Germans and Japanese learned to their rue - and that the North Vietnamese taught us:
"There is only one decisive victory: the last."
It is a lesson the Insurgency is trying to teach us. And one the President *and* Congress would do well to ponder.
As I read through the stuff at this link thoughtfully provided by Jim C - another thing from Napoleon comes to mind.
If I always appear prepared, it is because before entering an undertaking, I have meditated long and have foreseen what might occur. It is not genius where reveals to me suddenly and secretly what I should do in circumstances unexpected by others; it is thought and preparation.
The information provided by the National Security Archive at the George Washington University, obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, are the Powerpoint slides used to brief the war plan. With associated commentary.
The more I read (and I read charitably, having done a fair bit of military planning, though truthfully none at this level) it would appear that we didn't meditate long and foresee - because we let our short-term objectives and desire for inventing a "new way of war" to blind us, and hamper our planning causing a lot of smart and brave people to have to start winging it.
There is less and less doubt in my mind as I live through this, that the greatest failing of this President and his Cabinet is failing in this observation of Clausewitz"
"no one starts a war-or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so-without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it."
Not that they didn't think they had it covered... just that in the end, they did not.
I make no secret I didn't support invading, nor did I like that plan. I also make no claim that I would have done better. As I watch this unfold, my unsuitability for high-level command slaps me in the face time and again. I probably would have peaked as a division commander - and that only in an Army that promoted by seniority.
But these people sought those offices, and, I think, failed badly.
Don't take that to mean I'm a Murtha fan. I'm not. We have to make a truly honest effort to fix this. Which to my mind the opposition needs to be constructive, not destructive, but, well, there's another Napoleon quote that covers that, from both sides of the aisle:
In politics stupidity is not a handicap.
This isn't a criticism of the soldiers. It's a criticism of the top tier of leaders, including uniformed ones.
As I told students in my military history classes - any echelon can lose a war, companies win them.
The companies are generally performing very well, and as always, it falls on their shoulders to bear the burden of the mistakes of their seniors.
And the middle-level seniors are doing their level best to retrieve the situation.
But it's hard to win a game when your game plan is flawed - then you have to be flexible and adapt. The soldiers in the line are flexing and adapting all the time. But the coaching staff isn't.
Not that it's helping to have the hired help of the owners continually sniping anything they suggest, almost without regard to what the proposal is. But do they want to be coach? Nope. They want to declare the season over and withdraw from the league.
It's Black History Month...
...so let's note that in a typical Armorer fashion.
The history of the Armed Services relationship with African Americans is generally not one of which to be proud. We've come a long way since Truman told us to shut up and integrate, and there is always room for improvement now, as, despite protestations to the contrary, initial entry troops are reflective of society in general, if perhaps not it's most *koff* elite elements.
I remember real tensions in the Europe during the 60's and early 70's, and ghosts still rippling through when I was a Lieutenant in the 80's. And I'm not so naive as to think it doesn't still exist - but we're a pretty tough meritocracy compared to most other sub-cultures.
I have nothing but love and respect for soldiers. But I'll admit I have a smidge more for soldiers who ruck up and move out and fight while having to take fire from their own side. Theirs is a special dedication that springs from the same well the bonds of all good soldiery - but are forged in a greater heat with a heavier hammer.
Such as these 7 soldiers from WWII.
Maj. Charles L. Thomas, of Detroit
First Lt. John R. Fox, of Cincinnati, Ohio
Staff Sgt. Ruben Rivers, of Oklahoma City, Okla.
Staff Sgt. Edward A. Carter Jr., of Los Angeles
Pfc. Willy F. James Jr., of Kansas City, Mo.
Pvt. George Watson, of Birmingham, Ala.
1LT James Baker of St Maries, Idaho.
Since I know many people don't click through on the links - I'm excerpting the ARNEWs article on the awarding these soldiers Medals of Honor in the Flash Traffic/Extended Entry. It's old news, from 1997, but that doesn't matter. It's never too late to honor heroes.
A machine gun crew of Co. A, 24th Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, turns its gun on Chinese Communists in a village across the Han River from Songnimbong, Korea. 21 February 1951. (Signal Corps Photo #358634)
February 15, 2007
H&I* Fires, 15 FEB 2007
Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite. [Hey - trackbacks work again!]
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Yesterday news broke of success in the Six Party Talks. Here’s an, albeit short, article from Digital Chosunilbo that asks whether it is what we all want it to be.
Bush also defends the deal here.
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Navy rejects California Coastal Commission recommendations on use of sonar during exercises. And they cited the same reason I said they would a month ago.
The agency's precautions are too restrictive and “would prevent effective sonar training,” the service said Monday in a statement.
Some people in CA just don’t know how to balance competing needs/good.
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Britain and Afghanistan keep up the diplomatic pressure on Pakistan to pick a side in GWOT, and stay there.
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A long article about the PRC’s “String of Pearls” strategy can be found here.
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“It would also bar their use in or near civilian areas.”
Senate considering bill restricting the use of cluster munitions.
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Succeeding in Phase IV: British Perspectives on the U.S. Effort To Stabilize and Reconstruct Iraq from FPRI.
ry
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Can't let Ry have all the fun...
First, if you are a Soldiers' Angel or are interested in being one and giving immediate assistance, an emergency alert went out in the Angel Forums regarding a MASCAL for Charlie Company operating out of Ramadi CSH. Many children involved. General info here. If you are a Soldiers' Angel already, go to the Forums for details.
Second, the Iraqi Paradox: Report Insurgents, Become Target; Don't Report Insurgents, Become Target
In the Bizarre Military News Category: Wife becomes pregnant two years after soldier dies. It barely brushes on the all time important aspect: How will the VA pay benefits.
For those who know, Tammy Duckworth's husband is being deployed to Iraq. While the reporter tries to press for some "woe is me", Duckworth says, "we'll deal with it like all the other National Guard Families". No tears or special considerations because she is an amputee and veteran.
Finally, last but not least, a Chilicothe, MO soldier is quoted by the AP on Baghdad Security Ops. Probably the closest the reporter has actually been to soldier in the field ever since the Baghdad Sheraton doesn't come with built in GI Joes to give sound bites . It took the soldiers actually going to Baghdad on kinetic operations to make that happen. As they say, if the Mountain will not come to Mohammed...
[looking around sheepishly]..er...that was me - Kat
Shhhh!!!
Dinocrat's latest post ends with the following paragraph:
We will be very interested to learn in some future years what steps the administration has been taking with regard to Iran over the last half decade. Would you be surprised to learn that there has been something of a clandestine war going on in the last five years — including taking steps to cripple the Iranian oil industry and eliminate certain particularly important men? Would it be surprising in part because such steps would appear to have been both secret and competent?
What worries me is to what lengths the MSM and/or the Democrat Party wil go to expose these efforts, should they exist.
Der Kommissar asked about those Iranian RPG rounds.
Steve asked the question here. So did Grim.
This is all the answer I can provide with the references I have available to me on the road.
Many, many nations produce variants of the RPG 7 round. There are differences, some subtle, some not, in manufacture and fuzing that are clues to origin (at least of the machinery - but machinery can move. An example is in SKS's - there are SKS's produced by East European countries which were made on Chinese machinery - there are differences in machining that indicate the origin of the machinery, but are not conclusive as to origin of the weapon itself.
Markings, especially these markings, are just... paint.
I've seen some arguments that if it was Iranian, wouldn't it be marked in Farsi?
Maybe. Depends on if it was produced for local consumption or export. But english and cyrillic are generally the alphabets of choice right now for ordnance markings, regardless of who produces it - because it's easier to sell/give to other users that way.
India Ordnance Factory and Pakistan Ordnance Factory marks their muntions in english, many times (but not always) following NATO marking rules.
The Palestinian weapons shops mark their stuff in Arabic. The Egyptians... use English and Arabic. The Chinese use English and Chinese.
And when the markings are paint - they can be whatever whoever wants them to be for whatever purpose.
There are three easily supportable theories based on the scant actual evidence available to me, yet they are mutually exclusive explanations.
1. It's exactly what we say it is.
2. It's Iranian ammo. Produced for export, and marked in a way that the customer wanted (nice thing about paint, vice stampings). Or even produced as part of an intel op to trap us (in that case, to look like US-style marking conventions) or for just the reasons we're seeing - to provide plausible deniability.
3. It's Iranian ammo as indicated by fuzing or other manufacturing clues. I can't rule on that definitively yet, I don't have access to all my references, and they may not answer that question. Or it's not. And *our* guys put the markings on it as part of our own info-op. Which means we possibly didn't do our homework very well. Which, while sad, is also plausible, but I think not terribly likely.
Another clue can be the composition of the explosives, but I simply don't have data on that other than what's been reported.
The blogs seem to be running with it based on their attitudes about the war.
Me? Insufficient data at this point for a definitive answer. *All* of those theories I put up there are plausible and supportable. I tend to Occam's Razor - the simplest answer is the best until better data comes along.
Which puts me in the "I'll take the military's word on it until better data comes along." And that data may or may not be out there - but I've got things I have to do here which will keep me from spending the day surfing or making some phone calls.
Anybody with more data, stuff it in the comments. We can 'wiki' this.
Reach for the Stars!
'Nuff said, eh? The Motivator Man is back!
Whatzis - idiot people with unsecured wireless connection edition.
SWWBO and I are at Donovan-Central, the massive Keep of the Empire of which Castle Argghhh! is but an outlier.
However, the Emperor is a true conservative, and has only dial-up, which caused me concern from previous experience that posting, especially with pics, would be dfficult.
Hah! There are no less than 4 wireless hotspots overlapping this location. 2 are secured. 1 uses at least MAC address filtering. And one is wide open, waiting to be taken advantage of.
So, I am. Note: You may not care to encrypt your network, but you should at *least* restrict who can just willy-nilly login on your network....
But, you Whatzis junkies benefit. This one is in honor of Dusty and his recent spate of posting.
Oh, sure, this is an easy one... but I want details, not the easy generalities.
Strut yer stuff, Oldloadr prolly has the inside track on this one.
None Dare Call It Treason...
The first time I read Instapundit's entry on the Democrat strategy emerging to oppose the President's Iraq policy, I did a double-take. FbL beat me to the punch (scroll about half-way down) but captured my initial reaction after rereading what I thought was a joke.
No joke, apparently. And utterly vile.
The Democrats were elected, so the conventional wisdon goes (nutroots explanations excluded), not because people were against the war in principal but against the way it was being waged. Fair enough.
But what, pray tell, is the reason to withdraw from a struggle with an enemy that less than 6 years ago killed more American civilians in one day than in all our history? With an enemy that saws a person's head off with a steak knife...and films it...and broadcasts it worldwide? With an enemy that walks toward a crowd of children with 20 pounds of C4 covered with ball bearings and detonates it? With an enemy that won't allow women to see a doctor because the doctor is a male? With an enemy that drives school girls back into a burning building because they are not "modestly" covered? With an enemy that hangs teenage girls from cherry pickers in the public square because they resisted the advances...unsuccessfully...of an aggressive male? With an enemy that hangs teenage boys, in public, from cherry pickers, because they were homosexual? With an enemy that butchers three teenaged girls walking home from school because they're Christians, as happened in The Philippines?
As I see it, after 9/11, we started with Afghanistan because the chief engineer of the 2001 attack was holed up there. That's it. But this is not about geography. It's about waging war against a new kind of enemy just as hateful and depraved as Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot and Kim Jong Il.
I think we're fighting him because we can. We didn't have that option, so to speak, against Stalin or Kim, but we did have the resolve and the means to resist, and resist successfully, in other ways.
And, while I know this probably had little to do with the pre-war calculus (especially if the State Department was involved) I think we, as humans, also have a duty to resist that kind of savagery whenever we can. In fact, who else will resist the depredations of the most powerful species on the planet? What these poor excuses for humans do is ALL of our mess and we have a moral obligation to clean it up. Save the whales? Screw the whales. Save the humans!
Who cares if the current battle is in Iraq? Why isn't it being waged in Iran, Syria, Indonesia, The Philippines, Pakistan and everyhwere Salafists and Wahabbis have planted their seeds of hatred and barbarism?
If the majority party does not see this as a fight against not America's enemies but civilization's enemies, we are in for a long, sh*tty war. One where millions die. The Left can screech to its heart's content about the evil of BushCo but they ain't seen nothin' yet. Everything they say they despise about Bush, "Godbags," Rethuglicans," and the rest of the Red State usual suspects is embodied in the thoughts, words and actions of the killers our troops face on the streets of Baghdad--the suppression of every right we take for granted is business as usual in every square inch of land under our enemy's control. The very act of writing and saying what they do at the Daily Kos, Pandagon, Firedoglake and in the Hollywood and Broadway salons is a tangible refutation of their theory and worldview--they would, literally, lose their heads if taking the same tack in Waziristan or any region under control of the disciples of bin Laden and al-Zawahri. God, if we could only channel the Kos-sacks' hatred against the barbarians instead of fellow Americans...but I digress.
So, when I saw the article on how the Dems were going to try to sabotage by stealth our national effort to respond to the terror masters I was morbidly fascinated. Fascinated. These folks don't even have the guts to betray the cause in the light of day. They must do it by manuever, by guile, by bleeding the US effort to the point of collapse with a thousand little cuts. This probably the most cynical attempt to undermine the interests of the United States I can remember. This is perfidy, pure and simple.
I believe this will be looked back on as a classic blunder for the Party in power and for its standard-bearer in the 2008 elections. I hope the Republican Party answers the soon-to-be released "anti-war" TV spots with something that nails that effort for what it is: a craven attempt to destroy America's will to actively resist aggression, tyranny and barbarism beyond its shores and in defense of its allies...but I don't have a lot of confidence in my Party's ability do that right now, or in 2008 for that matter.
On putting the worms back in the can --
-- one worm at a time.
John e-mailed me Saturday, probably to see if senile dementia had claimed me (in addition to the usual dementia), and asked me for some thoughts on the story-cum-video of the recent Apache shootdown. So, in order for the rest of this to make sense, go downstream to the 10th and read this, including the comments, 'cuz Dusty chimed in (Comment Hat Trick!) with a couple of questions, too.
John replied to one of them,
Bottom line: someone other than the BillTs of this world and their tactical descendants in ARCENT have gotta wake up and smell the coffee.
A couple of comments later, after a rather disparaging remark about the general state of inertia at Galactic Level (i.e., where the stars dwell), I added the cryptic comment
That said, I did an end run at Line Pilot level back in 2001, but it's been slow filtering out -- more on that later...
Later's finally arrived.
Background Info: Inertia at "Echelons Above" does not necessarily equate to business as usual at Line Level (where I lived for thirty-seven years). When the Bad Guy pops up with a new weapon (or a new means of using an old one) to counter one of our weapons, or to counter our tactics in using that weapon, we put our heads together to come up with a counter-tactic to counter his counter. Why a tactics solution? Simple -- you can implement a tactic immediately, rather than waiting twenty years for the announcement of a requirement for a new item of equipment, initiating the bidding process, etc., etc., etc.
Example: when the NVA succeeded in emplacing a couple of 37mm radar-directed AA guns they dragged into our AO in 1970, a couple of our guys got the surprise of their lives one morning when the friendly skies fifteen-hundred feet over the western Delta suddenly erupted with grey-brown-black flak puffs.
We'd been hearing zeep! noises over the FM channels for a few weeks, which told us that there was a radar set in the area, but we'd figured it was the side lobe from one of our ground surveillance sites on one of the Seven Sisters mountain cluster. What our guys heard that morning was the search zeep! followed immediately by the tracking zeeeeeeeep! and several high-explosive interlopers at their altitude. If they'd opted to wait for the Army to decide that there was now a requirement for an aircraft-mounted radar jammer -- wellll, you get the picture. The tactics solution was to vacate that altitude for treetop-level posthaste (thus nullifying the gunners' fuze setting) and simultaneously yank into a 90-degree turn left or right of the original flight path to break the radar lock for the several seconds it took to dive fifteen-hundred feet. Worked every time we tried it. We eventually rendered the guns inoperative by the simple expedient of rendering the gunners inoperative...
Of course, the reason we flew at fifteen-hundred feet in the first place was to get above small arms fire. Flying lower got us out of the 37mm envelope, but plunked us smack-dab into the small arms/RPG/punji stake/thrown rock envelope. The tactical solution for *that* was flying just above the weeds, hopping over dikes and treelines, jinking and bobbing at 120 knots, which was about twice as fast as doctrine said we should be flying at that height (if I called dragging the skids through rice plants "flying at altitude," Dusty'd be laughing so hard, Murray would hear him...)
Cut to September 2001. A young CW2 Scout Pilot who was soon to be departing Boz had just finished venting to an old CW4 Scout/Gun/Utility Pilot who had just finished arriving.
"My IP says that if we go into combat with the tactics they want us to use, we're gonna get creamed. He says that you Vietnam guys learned how to survive everything they threw at you, but they won't teach those tricks at Rucker -- nobody wrote them down and nobody remembers them..."
"Wanna bet?"
"You remember them?"
"Yup. I also wrote most of them into the battalion BattleBook in '98. Could you use a copy?"
Long story short, he got both hard copy and digits. About twenty-five pages worth, not including glossary, index and cover. His IP loved it. His Boss loved it.
They changed the cover and the headers and forwarded copies to the rest of the Brigade. In 2004, one of my fixed-wing buds told me he'd seen a dog-eared copy in Khandahar.
It's been slow filtering out, but it's out there and spreading. Wonder if Rucker will ever start teach --
Nah...
February 14, 2007
H&I* Fires, 14 Feb 2007
Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite. [Hey - trackbacks work again!]
You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...
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Another in the 'let's step out side our comfort zone' set of links. Heart meds. Stress relief referee doll. The claim: by being hypocritical about democracy in the ME, evidenced by the cut off of aid to the Palestinian Authority, the US is 'stoking the fire' of unrest in the region.
Sorry. Had to do that. The rest of the Castle Contrarian Corps is MIA around here(Al? Jack? Owen?).
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Maybe Skippy-san and Eddie were right? Somalia looks to be disintegrating. Damn.
___
Armed Forces Journal on the proposed end strength expansion.
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Something for the 'I didn't know that' file.
That said, I respond to Tony Poe the same way I react to arguments that terrorism is a legal method of warfare: Wage War Honorably. 'You may be compelled to wage war, but not to use poisoned arrows.' ---Balthasar Gracian
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Partisan humor. Iowahawk brings 'teh funny'. And so does the HuffPo without intending to. Note: death threats are not kosher, to anyone. Ever. Got that? Death threats are simply wrong.
But geez, like the blue rage brigades don't use similar tactics with unintended actions by the fringe hangers on? Please. A real case of a sword cutting both ways if you ask me.
ry
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The headline has it right: The Height of Cynicism. Cowardly, disgusting, borderline traitorous. - FbL
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Via the Jawa Report:
Video: American Soldier Held Hostage in Iraq AliveA video posted on a Shiite Islamist website has emerged of an American soldier, Spc. Ahmed K. Altaie, being held hostage. The Jawa Report has obtained a copy of the video. It is posted below.
Right after Altaie was captured by forces allegedly tied to the Mahdi Army, a relative contacted The Jawa Report. I won't identify her out of respect for what she is going through, but she was depressed that the media had written her relative off and wrote to ask if we really believed he was still alive. I'm very glad that he is.
Read the rest and see the video here. -the Armorer
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Via SWWBO, comes this great Valentine's Day observation at Wizbang. -the Armorer
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Speaking of the Mahdi Army, I posted last night in response to the Captain's post that I would not count Sadr out or the Mahdi army. Long history of Iraqi Shia dissidents running off to Iran to survive while getting monetary and political support from the Iranians. They live by, "run away to live and fight another day."
And, I disagree that OBL is dead just because Zawahiri told the "faithful" to follow Mullah Omar. Mike Yon recently said that all pointers tend towards a big offensive in Afghanistan this spring by the Taliban. There have already been some impressive fire fights. It's more likely that Bin Laden simply is not going to be leading fighters in Afghanistan. It's too hot, even now. He has to worry that he'd be given up or given away. He'll stay in Pakistan or where ever we can't go. But the fight is still on against the Americans so, of course, Zawahiri will tell the faithful to follow the Mullah.
-kat
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If any of this turns out to not be accurate, it's John's fault :) (*Ow*... Kidding, Armorer, kidding...)
-Instapilot
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Today's Presidential news conference. Deals mostly with Patreus and the ongoing Iraq War.
ry
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It was a cold, blustery day in Eastern Kansas...
...as SWWBO and I made our way to Berkeley-on-the-Kaw, Lawrence, Kansas. Home of Kansas University (the only reliably Blue county in Kansas of late, though that's changing - as in "the only" not it's blueness) and the Dole Institute of Politics, our destination for the evening's festivities.
We were there as invited guests for a pre-event dinner since we're what passes for "prominent Kansas bloggers" that Dave Perlmutter, the event organizer knew via our email conversations.
SWWBO has a great post detailing the luminaries we had dinner with. It was a very nice dinner, dessert to die for, and the company was excellent.
David Perlmutter was our host and the event organizer - seen here doing introductions and standing behind Pat Hynes of Ankle Biting Pundits.
The whole event was civil - proving that Lefty and Righty polibloggers *can* coexist - even if perhaps only briefly and with lots of cameras present... such a McJoan of Daily Kos and Erick of RedState seen here.
And the left side of the 'sphere found time to do a little bill-paying, as well, as Jerome Armstrong of MyDD did some selling and signing...
So who's missing? Scott Johnson of Powerline. We don't have one.good.pic of Scott. For which we apologize.
It was, all in all, a genteel event, which I sloppily liveblogged below. Better - the video of the entire event is online at the Dole Center - just click this link if you don't want to wait for CSPAN to air it.
People expecting to see bloggers, red in tooth and claw will be disappointed. Not only did David manage it better than that - you can't help but expect that in the back of the minds of the panel were the little Amanda Marcotte Lights - the panelists, many of them, make a living as political consultants - and public, recorded, on-stage brawling is not a way to keep your resume clean... and that sort of thing is one of the topics much discussed - how the Internet and associated technologies has made it impossible to maintain a persona for every occasion - you've got to be yourself - and keep in mind just who do you really want to be, especially as a public figure.
SWWBO and I had a great time, the staff that Bill Lacy directs are wonderful people, and Lawrence Bush, harried Event Manager did an *excellent* job.
We hope we behaved well enough to be invited back. That was great fun. Especially when some big bloggers came up to me and said "I love Castle Argghhh!" without me pimping for the ego-boost!
For the history geek - the guided mini-tour we got of the Dole Archives, looking at all the mundania of Bob Dole's political life was just too kewl for words.
� She Who Will Be Obeyed! links with: I suck at live blogging
February 13, 2007
Liveblogging "Blog to the Chief"
Well it's on - and about to start. I'm sitting in the audience of the Dole Institute of Politics for the "Blog to the Chief" featuring “Blog to the Chief: The Impact of Political Blogs on the 2008 Election” featuring “Blog to the Chief: The Impact of Political Blogs on the 2008 Election”
Jerome Armstrong, ,Founder of MyDD, Erick-Woods Erickson, Managing editor of RedState.com and Peachpundit.com, “Blog to the Chief: The Impact of Political Blogs on the 2008 Election”Jerome Armstrong Founder of MyDD Erick-Woods Erickson Managing editor of RedState.com and Peachpundit.com. Patrick Hynes, Founder and proprietor of the blog Ankle Biting Pundits. Scott Johnson, Cofounder of the Power Line blog. Joan McCarter Contributing editor at Daily Kos, writing as "Mcjoan."
I apologize in advance for typos and stuff, but hey, I'm in the audience typing on my lap. Bill suggests in the comments I use my keyboard instead. Plllpppppt! Gimme a break!
We started with a dinner - and it was a trip to have these guys come up to me and tell me that they read me. Okay, maybe McJoan didn't do that, or Jerome, but the other guys did.
McJoan and I had a chat while we were wandering the archives on a short tour - my first Kossack. And we chatted amiably, and, as usual, found we had some interesting ground in common regarding the war.
Ah, here they come.
Dave Perlmutter is doing the intros... and telling "Professor stories..."
He moved on to talking about some of the current candidates and their use of bloggers - but neglected to mention Amanda... discreet man.
[Update: okay, now that the event is over, I've moved most of the verbiage into the Flash Traffic/Extended entry to save your scroll-wheels.]
H&I* Fires, 13 FEB 2007
Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite. [Hey - trackbacks work again!]
You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...
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Kat’s been having too much fun being first.
Not a link, but a book recommendation. David Drake’s Redliners. Want to understand without a moment’s doubt the difference between Normal and Military? Read that book. Sure it’s only fiction, but it’s fiction like Uris’ Battlecry is.
Yeah, I sympathize with ‘God’ in this book. A lot.
Also may speak to the affair le Arkin.
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Why is a ‘Bush is the Debil’ site the first place I’ve seen to run the ppt brief on Iranian involvement? Are we lagging or are security clearances a problem?
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This is why I believe that while diplomacy needs to be in the toolkit it shouldn’t be thought of as the only useful tool. EU internal doc says Iran nuc program cannot be stopped.
There comes a time when talking has no more value. I hope Barnett is right, that we can treat the Iranians like bigboys and move them away from being a real problem with economic ties (please, God let Barnett be right, please, please, please.). But if this EU report is right then we may have talked ourselves passed the window to do anything else about it since raiding isn’t going to stop the program indefinitely. Not when there’s money to be made off of selling Iran the components to build reactors it won’t.
h/t OPFOR
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Has anyone actually seen the numbers on this yet? Are they playing the trim in increase is a cut game or are there real cuts in the budget for VA?
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Was Japan hit by heretical Islamic terrorists? ()
Don’t mess with the Japanese. We just got them to stop being a militaristic society. You don’t want them to get angry and go a-conquering. Ask the Chinese and the Koreans about the last time they did that. Really, they’re crazier than the Canadians---and you don’t want them mad at you either. Better yet, just realize you don't want any of us mad at you and call it a life.
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JRobb may have a lead on what type of MANPAD are showing up in Iraq and threatening helicopters.
ry
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Since David Perlmutter is the source of my invitation to the "Blog to the Chief" event at the Dole Institute tonight, it seems only polite to invite you to David's blog, Policy By Blog. Some lefty student groups are expressing an intent to show up at the event tonight, with the purpose of shouting down the right-wingers on the panel. We'll see. Be fun, regardless. -the Armorer
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Looks like the Iranian Police have a security problem. They're losing their expensive Austrian sniper rifles. No worries. US troops are finding and securing them for the Iranian cops. Finding and securing them in... Iraq. H/t, Master Jules, who has found the wabbit. -the Armorer
Update (13 June 07) It would appear the story is *wrong* - at least based on evidence (or, rather, the lack of evidence of the rifles). See Bob Owens at Confederate Yankee for the details. That's the nice thing about a blog - I can go back and update the old post, which will hopefully help Googlers out. -the Armorer
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Someone you should know: Mary Irvin Roun. Soldier's Angel now with the Angels. ...now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam. -the Armorer
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A little love note from Republican Conference:
Best One Minute of the DAYCongressman Patrick McHenry (North Carolina 10)
Please click here to see the actual floor speech
Mr. McHenry: "After months of campaigning against stay the course, the democrats are proposing just that. A stay the course resolution here on the house floor. Their Iraq resolution does not have the force of law and in fact this nonbinding resolution is simply a mealy-mouthed attempt to appease their democrat leftist base. Democrats have held 52 hearings on Iraq since taking control of congress. Let me get this right. The democrats have held 52 hearings so they can show one resolution on the house floor that has no bearing on the president's policy, does not have the force of law, does not advocate the withdrawal of troops, and does nothing except have a tantrum here on the house floor. So please explain this new direction, madam speaker. This is not a new direction. It's political posturing of the worst kind. Madam speaker, where's your plan? Where's your plan for victory in Iraq? Where's your plan for success and national security? I yield back."
Indeed, what *is* the plan? I understand "withdraw" - but they won't come out and demand it in an accountable fashion. Just sayin'. -the Armorer
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They have a plan, but they aren't committed to it right now because there is no dialogue with Iran so they cannot be sure if it is completely feasible or what the Iranian expectations are. They are also hedging their bets for the 2008 election. Some Republicans have been doing the same. Points 5 and 6 I stated on January 24, 2007:
5) If the negotiations at behest of Shia do not work, the Shia dominate the country, the politics, the police and military, thus they may mobilize and brutally put down the Sunni insurgents/Al Qaeda terrorists/Ba'athists (all hopes of the US efforts) in such a way that only Iraqis can do to Iraqis as it is "internal". Hopefully, this does not start until we completely withdraw from the country in order to avoid being tainted. 6) Whether through negotiation or brutal war, Sunni support for Al Qaeda type terrorists and ability to hide/protect camps, travelers, planners, etc would be greatly reduced because the Shia will control Iraq.
Here's a video of "Over the horizon" - Murtha who basically outlines the Democrat position: when we leave, the Shia will sweep Al Qaeda from Iraq. I noted that in the "coming Sunni/shia war" how many of our "Sunni" allies are making noises because they just won't sit down for an Iranian dominated region or OPEC.
It basically puts the tension between the Sunni and Shia, hopefully forcing the "conservative" Sunni factions in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, etc that normally fund these "charities"/ "missionaries"/ "terrorist funding and recruiting" organizations to turn and face the closer enemy. It's way Cold War.
Problem though assumes that the Iranians, who have been helping both AQ and the Shia, will not only turn off arms, but turn on the AQ and not use them to continue to attack our allies in SA, Jordan and Egypt in order to consolidate their power and force additional concessions from them.
Second problem, as I see it, is that the Shia will force AQ from Iraq after a very bloody battle, but AQ and their now extended following of Takfiri Islamists will have to go somewhere and that somewhere will be back into Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Egypt to name a few places. They will do that along with the hundreds of thousands of additional refugees that will go into these countries. For Jordan, unless we have a giant aid package ready to go, that could mean utter collapse of one of our best allies.
The amount of terrorist spawning radicalism that would ensue boggles my mind and makes me extremely leery of this Democrat plan. Largely because, again, it presupposes that all the actors involved, states or non-state terrorists, would react predictably and rationally.
For this possibility, they are willing to let hundreds of thousands of Iraqis die in the ensuing bloodbath, give Iran the Nuke and leave our allies dangling in the wind like so much red meat at the butcher shop.
What does this administration do? At most they present information that shows Iran is supplying both sides of the war effort and killing our men and women while the President tells Iran that we won't attack them. Ever. All this because the Republican fall back plan is the Democrat plan. The only difference is the Republicans are hedging their bets that they can bring Iraq under control before having to go to "plan b" (or "c" or "d" depending on your take).
[I suppose I should have posted this at my own place as an actual post, but I felt the need to answer - essay - on the matter right below your question -kat]
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UPDATE: Soldiers' Angels Snake Saturday/Armory Nights has been rescheduled due to inclement weather. Please check KC Soldiers' Angels blog for updates. Current plan is next Tuesday, February 20th, same place and time. -Kat
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Good stuff, Kat. So, lessee, if I were to condense the plan to a television soundbite it would be... Vietnamese re-education camps, Pol-Pot, and the Pathet Lao redux. So, I guess this *is* Vietnam. Heh. -the Armorer
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Public Service Announcement
I just got off the phone. It was a new (to me) scam.
Phone rings, so I pick it up. Unknown caller.
Okay, what the heck, I'm bored. "Hello?"
Pre-recorded message (paraphrased) "Hello! This is Credit Card Service Center! You are eligible for 6.9% interest on all your credit cards! But your eligibility is running out. This is your final chance! If you would like to be transferred to a Live Operator, press 9 now."
Hard to hear over all the warning klaxons, but, what the heck, let's play this out.
Press 9. (insert tone for 9 here)
Pre-recorded voice (different from the first PRV-chick) says "Transferring you to a live operator now!"
Click. Click, clickety-click. (Heh. How many cut-outs did we just go through?)
Male voice, live. "Hello, are you ready to lower your interest rates on your credit cards?"
Armorer (also live). "Sure, which ones?"
Male voice, "Mastercard and Visa".
Armorer "Yeah, got that - but issued by whom?"
Click-click. Dial tone.
Bummer. He hung up. I must have offended him or something. Apparently by not being gullible.
Anyway - beware the phone scam for lowering your interest rates!
This message brought to you because I care. Yep. That's right.
Mike Yon's Mystery Weapon.
Via Blackfive, I got through to Mike and Mike sent me the hi-res picture. (mind you, that's a large file).
These are my thoughts.
Based on the hi-res, a couple of observations. Certainly narrows things down.
1. The stock is wood. So would the trigger appear to be. I'm not even sure that trigger is functional.
2. Foregrip is wood. No big deal in and of itself.
3. The sights - they're elevation-adjustable... which means that it's not a SAM, not that I really thought it was because those would be silly sights for a SAM, anyway.
4. For it to credibly be a RPG/Rocket launcher - that rear end would need to have mating surfaces for the warshot. That rear opening is too close to the shooter's shoulder otherwise.
5. For it to be a reckless rifle, it really has to be missing its breech and venturi, for the same reasons in 4.
6. Laser designators/blinding weapons/acoustic sensors don't need elevation-adjustable sights.
Absent more pics, or a description of materials - I'm leaning really hard right now to a locally fabricated trainer for RPG/Rocket launcher gunners. Possibly even Junior Jihadis.
I've got an RPG-7 that was made in Palestinian workshops - this is entirely credible as a local-fabrication item.
You can see it in the picture. Yeah, I know, that's a B-40 round stuck in it. Sue me.
That doesn't mean it couldn't also be a usable launcher - but right now I'm really suspicious of the trigger, from a function perspective. And, no provision for a safety... of course, French rifles used in WWI and WWII didn't have safeties either. Spare me the jokes. Yes, I mean you, MajMike. And before you say it could be on the other side - the sight is on this side, the shooters thumb (most likely digit for dealing with the safety in this regard) is on this side. Also, unlike an RPG launcher, there doesn't appear to be any provision for cocking. So, it could be electrically fired, like the US bazooka, but I don't see any provision for batteries (which *could* be on the other side).
Regardless of it being a trainer or some locally made launcher - that thing is intended for RPG-style combat, or training for it. I'm pretty sure of that.
So, grognards, what do you think?
Update: It would be a hoot, if, as several readers have commented - that this thing is a Jihadi Spud Gun. Sometimes, we do need to shave with William of Odham's razor...
� Murdoc Online links with: The mystery weapon
Wrapping up that 38cm German gun.
Bill said it was a railway gun. I said it wasn't. We're both right. It was moved by rail (how else, especially back in the day?) but was assembled into a purpose-built emplacement. The emplacement was concrete, and took weeks to construct. They were substantial enough that they still exist. [Interesting article on several large german guns here.] There was a central pintle for the gun (which answers Trias' question about training the gun for direction) and, as can be seen in the picture above, used little railcars to move the projectiles and powder from the preparation site to the gun proper, where they were hoisted to the firing deck by means of the crane.
Just take a look at the number of men it took to crew these guns - and wonder if those things weren't resources better used elsewhere. And obviously, not a weapon of maneuver warfare. Of course, it's a lesson the Germans didn't take to heart, what with the Dora 80cm gun they used (for, oh, 45 rounds or so) during WWII. The one that took 2000 men to crew and 26 trainloads to move around, and two weeks to assemble. And shot 45 rounds...
Faces from the Sandbox, Kansas-style.
Kansas soldier Major Gary Light from the 130th FA Brigade gripping and grinning with just-departed Combined Arms Center Fort Leavenworth and now brand new Commanding General, Multi-National Force - Iraq General David Petraeus.
And a copy of the General's message to the troops.
Okay, get a readable copy here. Download file
Michael Yon's Mystery Weapon.
Having fielded helpful email #21 pointing me to the subject...
Yes, we know about it.
I'm flattered you all think I can nail this... but.
I don't know what it is. But we *are* worrying away at it, for the intellectual exercise if nothing else.
I want to see the guts.
Sanger - there does appear to be a trigger. It seems a very clumsy way to do a microphone. It seems a very large way to do a laser designator/rangfinder.
Absent being reloadable with a rocket with a cartridge that projects beyond the end of it, the back-blast area seems a touch close to the operator's shoulder.
The scope and mount seem a bit more robust than one would expect in a toy.
I'm still leaning toward some form of trainer - but not one I've seen or can find a reference to.
There isn't much of a breech mechanism, much less exhaust venturi, for it to be a recoiless rifle, but the relative thinness of the tube walls argue against any other type of conventional projectile weapon, and push you towards a rocket-propelled weapon - with the caveat about the closeness of the rear to the shoulder of the operator.
I want pics of the interior of the tube, both ends, and a description of the composition of the device. A pic of the scope and any markings would be nice. I can't get Yon's site to open - anybody happen to note if Yon mentioned anything about that?
February 12, 2007
H&I* Fires, 12 FEB 2007
Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite. [Hey - trackbacks work again!]
You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...
[First again! It's like sneaking past the moat monster wearing 80 pounds of clanging armor. Then again...it could be insomnia.]
Just a quick note to remind folks that Kansas City Soldiers' Angels are making plans for the big Snake Saturday Parade. First meeting for float design and parade participation is Tuesday night at the MO National Guard Armory. It will be a great way to have fun, meet other Angels and support the troops!
-Kat
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Yeah, but ya forgot to set the clock on the post to 2300-ish, dincha?
Someone you should know, Marine 1st Lt. Eliot Ackerman. -the Armorer
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J.D. Pendry has a fantastic post about the Answer Coalition's 3/17/07 march in Washington, and the response by Gathering of Eagles. I sure wish I could be there. Yup, yup, yup. ~AFSis
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"Night" author and Holocaust survivor, Eli Wiesel, was attacked in a San Fransisco hotel during a peace rally last week. The assailant has not been caught, but someone has been writing about the incident, claiming to be the assailant on the anti-Zionist Web site ZioPedia. The post states that the writer wanted to “bring Wiesel to my hotel room where he would truthfully answer my questions regarding the fact that his non-fiction Holocaust memoir, Night, is almost entirely fictitious." and also claims that the Holocaust itself is a "myth". Unfortunately, I cannot supply you with a link to the post on ZioPedia because it is "no longer available". Hmmmmm....
Come on Sanger.... take him on!!!!
~AFSis
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The Castle Adjutant, Barb of Righty in a Left State, has a nice little post linking more information about the upcoming award of the Medal of Honor to LTC (R) Bruce Crandall - finally, as we mentioned yesterday, a living recipient! -the Armorer
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Obscene Amenities?
Oh, you know, Arkin's comment:
So, we pay the soldiers a decent wage, take care of their families, provide them with housing and medical care and vast social support systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them, we support them in every possible way, and their attitude is that we should in addition roll over and play dead, defer to the military and the generals and let them fight their war, and give up our rights and responsibilities to speak up because they are above society?
Heh. Compared to my Dad's Army, yeah, the pay's not bad. The housing is much better, too. The medical care isn't bad, and I'm not sure where this vast social support system is that he's talking about. At least the one that he implies is paid for with tax dollars. I see a darn huge lot of volunteers out there, and stuff paid for with NAF dollars. Hold that thought.
La Malkin, et cie, have already covered this subject, really. Nicely with this video, too.
I'm sure that Arkin has in mind the Great Ameriki Souk, AAFES. The Army and Air Force Exchange Service, and NEX, the Navy Exchange. And the MWR services (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) that the profit from AAFES operations funds. With NAF money.
NAF. Now there is an interesting term not tossed about much in the press.
Non-Appropriated Funds. The significance of Non-Appropriated means that Congress does *not* authorize the expenditure of those funds. They are not appropriated. They do not come from the Treasury. They are not Bill Arkin's tax dollars. They aren't my tax dollars. They aren't your tax dollars.
But they are my dollars. They are the dollars of anyone who is authorized to use the PX/BX, the Post Exchange/Base Exchange. The military's in-house J.C.Penney/Sears/Target. Or, who pays to use the MWR facilities, like the swimming pools, stables, golf courses, movie theaters, arts and crafts shops, auto craft shops, etc.
They are self-supporting. And the money comes from - us. The soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, coast guardsmen, commissioned Public Health Service and NOAA personnel, active, Reserve, and retired, and our associated families, who are authorized to use those facilities. There are some exceptions regarding some of the buildings that pre-existed the break that was created in the 70's when Congress defunded those activities. And the "traveling shows" that MWR puts on do get corporate sponsorship - but not money from the Treasury. Most of the golf courses were built, many a long time ago, with appropriated funds and today, they solicit outside sponsors. But there isn't any tax money going into their upkeep.
They have to be sefl-supporting, or they get closed. There used to be officer, NCO, and EM clubs here at Fort Leavenworth. Now there are none. Because they couldn't compete with outside the gate businesses. And I mean literally - we imposed regulations on their alcohol sales that made them uncompetitive with local bars. So, they closed. There used to be clubs everywhere, but now only the larger installations can support them.
Things like the stables here at Fort Leavenworth used to be real deals - but now, by MWR rules, the cost of MWR activities can't be more than 10% below the prevailing "outside-the-gate" price. And at least since 2002 there has been a surcharge on MWR activities. A surcharge that pays for... the MWR services for the deployed soldiers around the world.
It's not completely that clean. In some places, like here at Leavenworth, the stables are in the old post stables, built by the government for government use. When the horse soldiery went away, two of those buildings were kept for private horse boarding. But the PX, Shoppette, Gas Station, Bowling Alley, etc, were built with AAFES money, not appropriated tax dollars.
The emloyees are not GS civil servants. They're NAF employees. And last I recall, two of them died in Iraq.
And while the stuff going into theater is being shipped many times at government expense - outside of that, unless you are an MWR user, the stuff being shipped over wasn't paid for by you.
In other words, we self-tax to provide the "obscene amenities" that Bill Arkin so reviles.
You, Mister Arkin, essentially don't provide us squat in terms of amenities to the deployed soldier.
I *so* want to break the Rulez and go Weapons Free Cleared In Hot on Arkin. But, my sister lurks this place, and one of the reasons she lurks here is because this place doesn't do that... besides, Uncle Jimbo does that better than I.
Though she *does* hate the Castle Store ad. Hates it, hates it, hates it.
Hey, I'm her little brother - I gotta tease her somehow.
� The Thunder Run links with: A Final Thought on Arkin痴 Mercenaries, Maybe.
This is cruel and unusual (thankfully) punishment...
An email from the weekend:
Florida State Fair
Sorry no pics. Wish you could be here. Low of 50, high 73.
M4A3 Sherman
Walker
Patton
M16 with quad 50
Self propelled gun, didn't see the description board
Miscellaneous other jeeps, Dodge 1 1/2 ton truck, ambulance, one of those British scout cars, a weasel of ferret. Why would they name a vehicle after Charles facial features is beyond me?
All by the Budweiser tent, all privately owned. Maybe one of your other readers has cell phone camera and can send daylight pics. I was by when it was getting dark.
David [last name vengefully deleted by a whiny Armorer]
Seffner, Fl.
"Sorry no pics. Wish you could be here."
Cruel. [shakes head sadly] Just downright cruel.
So, did anybody *get* pics? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?
The thing runs through the 19th... mebbe those boys will hang around a while!
Sigh. Prolly not.
Cruel, just... cruel.
8^)
More Gunner's Zen, Large German Cannon edition.
German 38cm gun going into position. This gun shelled Verdun and Dunkirk. It's a naval gun, one a railway carriage, which was railed into position and then emplaced in a circular pit, where it could pivot to fire on different targets.
February 11, 2007
H&I* Fires, 11 FEB 2007
Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite. [Hey - trackbacks work again!]
You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...
**************************************
This is a hoot! H/t, SWWBO.
Here's a good read: Jonathan Gurwitz in the San Antonio Express-News: Homefront ingrates turning on American troops.
There is inherent tension in the concept of opposing the war in Iraq but supporting the troops. So it was perhaps inevitable that some people who despise the war would begin to turn on the men and women fighting it.Many people can maintain the distinction. But as the ugliness of the criticism increases, it becomes more difficult to separate the men from the mission. After all, the men and women fighting in Iraq and elsewhere in the global war on terror tend to be — despite all the hardships placed upon them and their families — the most ardent supporters of completing the mission.
Los Angeles Times columnist Joel Stein breached the wall between opposing the war and supporting the troops last year. "When you volunteer for the U.S. military, you pretty much know you're not going to be fending off invasions from Mexico and Canada . So you're willingly signing up to be a fighting tool of American imperialism," he wrote in a column titled "Warriors and Wusses."
"I'm not advocating that we spit on returning veterans like they did after the Vietnam War," Stein added, "but we shouldn't be celebrating people for doing something we don't think was a good idea."
Last week, Washington Post columnist William Arkin thoroughly demolished the wall.
I know, old news - but hey, it's still a good read, and since Mr. Arkin thinks we're all troglogdytes anyway, what's to lose? Read the rest here. H/t, Mike D.
Mike also posts this poser:
While all of the accolades John Burns receives as the only rational member of the NYT’s bylined reporters are probably well deserved, the following really makes this doofus question the methodology of said accolades. My only problem with Hugh’s question is his not referring to Michael Totten as well.HH: Are you aware of the work of Michael Yon and Bill Roggio?
JB: I’m not. Tell me about them.
Read the whole thing here. -the Armorer
*********************************
Well blow me down with the rotorwash... we're going to have a new Medal of Honor holder - who will get the Medal himself, and not his surviving next of kin. Retired LTC Bruce Crandall - who most of you might better remember as the helo commander who inserted and evac'd LTC Moore's troops in the Ia Drang Valley. A fight immortalized in the book We Were Soldiers Once, and Young, and the movie, We Were Soldiers.
Well done, Colonel. It's about time. Read about it over at Dumb Ox Daily News.
Oh, and this is the place I get to tell you I'll be hearing Joe Galloway speak next month. And getting my copy of We Were Soldiers Once, and Young, autographed. Ppplllllpptttt! That said - I'd be willing to take a few more copies with me to get signed - drop me a line if you'd like me to do that for you. [crossing fingers that 30 or more don't take me up on the offer - that would be embarrassing] -the Armorer
**********************************
Joe Galloway! Tell him all o' us "God's Own Lunatics" still treasure him for that phrase. That speech he gave at The Wall in July 2000 was worth more to us than all the medals ever cast...
Is there anyone here today who does not thrill to the sound of those Huey blades? That familiar whop-whop-whop is the soundtrack of our war, the lullaby of our younger days.To someone who spent his time in Nam with the Grunts, I have got to tell you that noise was always a great comfort. It meant someone was coming to help . . . someone was coming to get our wounded . . . someone was coming to bring us water and ammo . . . someone was coming to take our dead brothers home . . . someone was coming to give us a ride out of hell. Even when I hear it today, I stop, catch my breath, and think back to those days.
I love you guys as only an Infantryman can love you. No matter how bad things were, if we called, you came. Down through the green tracers and other visible signs of a real bad day off to a bad start.
I would like to quote to you from a letter General William Tecumseh Sherman wrote his friend General Ulysses S. Grant at the end of the Civil War. "I knew wherever I was that you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place you would come, if alive."
That was always in our minds and that is how we thought of you. To us you seemed beyond brave and fearless, that you would come to us in the middle of battle in those flimsy thin-skinned crates, and in the storm of fire you would sit up there behind that Plexiglas seeming so patient and so calm and so vulnerable, waiting for the off-loading and the on-loading. We thought you were God's own lunatics, and we loved you.
Still do.
We are gathered here this morning to appreciate the lives and honor the memory of 2,209 helicopter pilots and 2,704 helicopter crewmen who were killed while doing their duty in the Republic of Vietnam between May 30, 1961 and May 15, 1975. Theirs are some of the names among the 58,220 on this precious Wall. So many good men, so many good friends.
Before I come here, I always remind myself of what another good friend, Captain B.T. Collins, who is now gone, liked to say at gatherings like this. "No whining and no crying! We are the fortunate ones! We survived when so many better men gave up their precious lives for us. We owe them a sacred debt, to live each day to the fullest, trying to make this world a better place for our having lived and their having died."
So we come here today to remember them, and to celebrate their lives and their deeds. I like to come here at dawn, or around midnight, when things are so quiet you can hear their voices. What they are saying when you listen hard enough is this: We are at peace . . . so should you be . . . so should you be.
I would like to close by reading from something written by a World War I poet named Lawrence Binyon:
"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not wear them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning,
We will remember them."God bless all our absent friends . . . and God Bless you.
And God Bless Joe Galloway. --BillT
A "hmmmm" regarding Lieutenant Watada.
In a comment to the Watada, con't post, Hawk observes:
The UCMJ statute on “Former Jeopardy”
“844. ART. 44. FORMER JEOPARDY
(a) No person may, without his consent, be tried a second time for the same offense.
(b) No proceeding in which the accused has been found guilty by court- martial upon any charge or specification is a trial in the sense of this article until the finding of guilty has become final after review of the case has been fully completed.
(c) A proceeding which, after the introduction of evidence but before a finding, is dismissed or terminated by the convening authority or motion of the prosecution for failure of available evidence or witnesses without any fault of the accused is a trial in the sense of this article.”After reading this, I am not sure there will be another trial. It will be interesting to see the defenses motion.
I went and checked - not because I don't trust Hawk, but because I don't feel like getting snarked... You can find it for yourself here.
I trundled over to Milblogs and asked Army Lawyer to come comment on the subject.
The more things change...
...the more they stay the same.
I sent this to Bill. It's from Memri (used with permission).
*ISLAMIST WEBSITES MONITOR NO. 60
Video Shows Downing of U.S. Apache Helicopter in IraqOn February 4, 2007, Islamist websites posted a 3.5-minute video titled "American Apache Downed in Al-Anbar District Northwest of Baghdad, in the Al-Taji region." The video was produced by Al-Furqan, the media company of the Islamic State of Iraq, and is part of a series called "The Hell of the Byzantines [ i.e. Christians] and Apostates in Iraq."
The video opens with a Koranic verse: "Fight them, Allah will punish them by your hands and bring them to disgrace, and assist you against them and heal the hearts of a believing people [Koran 9:14]." This is followed by a caption saying "Sighting and Ambushing the Target." The footage shows two helicopters flying above, and three fighters – shown only for a few seconds – preparing the attack. One seems to be sighting the target, the second buries something in the ground and a third manipulates a weapon that is set on the ground and has been blacked out by the video producers (something not seen in previous films). The camera then follows the target helicopter, while the voice of Osama bin Laden is heard in the background, followed by a jihad song.
The next part of the film is introduced by a caption saying "The Battle with the Helicopters Begins." Intensive gunfire is heard, accompanied by cries of "Allah Akbar," and a rocket is fired. The footage follows the Apache until several seconds before it falls. The video next presents an excerpt from a February 2, 2007 speech by Abu Omar Al-Baghdadi, head of the Islamic State of Iraq, which was posted as an audio recording on Islamist websites on February 3, 2007. The video ends with a caption saying "This helicopter was downed on Friday, Muharram 14, 1428 [February 2, 2007]."
The video can be viewed at:
http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ClipMediaID=541786&ak=nullTo see images from the video visit:
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?page=subjects&Area=iwmp&ID=SP145207
This is Bill's response.
Looks like the classic setup for a helicopter trap. We used to run into mechanical ambushes using RPGs and AKs wired to trees, all triggered by bamboo poles dropped by the rotorwash. They've eliminated the "mechanical" aspect and are using live shooters for flexibility.
Aviation flushed the Aeroscout / Aerial Observer crewman armed with an M-60 because the Apache and KW had all kinds of Buck Rogers long-range eyes. Nobody (except the 82d's Cav troop) paid a bit of attention when us old guys screamed that the most dangerous spot for a helicopter is directly below -- where sensors don't see and turreted weapons can't shoot.
It doesn't help that the Apache wasn't designed as a gunship -- it was designed to kill T-72s on the North German Plain from five klicks away. But they're using it like a UH-1C (without the extra crewmen and minus the sideward / downward visibility. An Apache driver can't see shit off to the sides because of the structural supports for the canopy and has zero idea of what's going on below him unless his wingman is on the ball.
Several more lessons we learned in RVN that were written off as "irrelevant to the warfight"...
Working here around the Command and General Staff College, I've had several discussions with really bright and dedicated people, warfighters, who have the blind spot that Bill's last sentence highlights.
Sometimes, they just have to learn from experience. But they think experience, in terms of that of us auld pharts, is... somehow invalidated because everything is all new now.
Except - while much of what happened in the March Upcountry might be in the 'kinda sorta new' category - much of what's happened since is in the "deja vu" category, with an Arab overlay.
Addendum: If I'd known John was looking for blogfodder, I'd have expanded on the theme. Stay tuned...
Appended Addendum: I wasn't looking for blogfodder, but when you dumped it in my lap, and my Muse was out with Carborundum last night and was too hung-over to be of any use this morning...
Upended Appended Addendum: Hey, it's a Warrant's *job* to make the RLO look good. And you've gotta admit that, whenever I show up, you come off as a charter member of the Olympian pantheon by comparison...
[Armorer sidles over to mirror to check for signs taped to his back...]
[...failing to notice that 2.75meg jay-peg of Haystacks Calhoun in plaid shirt has been placed in mirror frame]
.
Mebbe it's just Clobbering Time.
.
Just sayin'
.
"The Iraqis don't want Saddam back - they want the stability. But they want the stability without being fed into industrial chippers."
. -The Armorer, on Hugh Hewitt, 27 December 2006.
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More Gunner's Zen, Large German Cannon edition.
H&I* Fires, 11 FEB 2007
A "hmmmm" regarding Lieutenant Watada.
The more things change...
A little helo mechanic zen...
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