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May 26, 2007

H&I Fires* May 26, 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.

You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...

Close Air Support in Urban Areas. Heh. You *can* use an airplane for non-lethal CAS.

Battery Commander, Policeman, and second fiddle to an Iraqi. The last part is how we want it to be. That middle part isn't quite what Redlegs signed up to do, but it does result in less damage, perhaps!

An assessment of the surge so far:

Top U.S. commanders have cautioned that any verdict on the overall success of the plan will have to wait until after all units are in place and conducting operations. But Canda and his paratroopers have been on the ground long enough to begin drawing their own conclusions.

Three months after they arrived in Sha’ab, the bodies are gone, the murders have stopped, and the neighborhood has come back to life, Canda said.

“It’s night and day from when we got here,” he said.

Now if only we'll give it time to work, and that time is sufficient to make it take hold and for the Iraqis to not only maintain security in conjunction with us - but on their own. Read the rest here.

Lastly, meet Ray "Bubba" Sorenson, and his rock.

Be safe this weekend - but have fun, too! -the Armorer

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Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows... �

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by Denizens on May 26, 2007 | General Commentary

Do Cyborgs dream of electric sheep?

That popped into my head as an old buddy of mine sent me this:

Can cyborg moths bring down terrorists? A moth which has a computer chip implanted in it while in the cocoon will enable soldiers to spy on insurgents, the US military hopes.

He accompanied it with this commentary.

But this sort of thing just creeps me out. Combine this with the Israelis development of little remote controlled 'skeeter' missiles and ones paranoia can run rampant.

On the other hand, having a little skeeter with an HE warhead smack into OBLs forehead with a nice resulting "bang" is an appealing thought.

My first thought in response to that was... or a head of state.

My response to my auld buddy was, "Heh. You have no *idea* what the boffins are up to. But I'm with ya on the creepy part."

His response?

Well, if you recall that old Kurt Russell movie "Universal Soldier"....

Without being toooooo dramatic about it, with the advances being made in 'cloning' and now combined with this sort of technology, I wonder if SCIFI fantasy cyborg soldiers/critters are really all that far off?

And as Stormtrooper "Starwars" style exoskeletons are being developed for bodyarmor, perhaps it's time to welcome the Imperium and just get it over with.

I can see where future soldiers are implanted/grown with mini-computers hardwiring them up. The question is, just how far off is it?

Brrrrr.

As regards the Israeli developments of skeeters, some of the usual sorts are already calling for an international non-proliferation treaty ban on them being developed, much less being employed.

I honestly dont know how you'd defend against this sort of attack. The only thing I could think of was some means to short circuit the electronics, like a big bug zapper field, to disable them.

Truth is, the genie is almost out of the bottle and once he escapes, this sort of nasty lil' tech will find its way into the wrong hands. Mark my words, within 5 years, if not sooner, of this tech being deployed, we will see some major event where a head of state has his head go *bang* from a remote controlled skeeter.

Brrrr, again I say, brrrrr.

I've seen two schools of development on this. One with the organics they've tested using remote control joysticks and mini-cams for cockroaches, moths, mice etc.

And then there's the Israeli mechanical mini-robots.

I don't know which is scarier, not to mention the inevitable combination of the two. Which is only a matter of time before they meld the two technologies.

Brrrrr.

And, I don't EVEN wanna contemplate what could happen with self-aware AIs being used for this sort of thing.

Terminator and rise of the machines indeed. Self-aware, 'intelligent' skeeters with explosive
pinhole warheads.....

Brrr, brrrr, brrrrr....

Laters. Gotta go form my tinfoil hat and get my black helicopter detectors turned on.

And mebbe buy a can of Raid....

I'll hafta get a new bulb for the bug zapper, too.

H/t to my old buddy Kevin G.

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by John on May 26, 2007 | Global War on Terror (GWOT)

Women@War

I've commanded a unit with women in it, albeit not in combat.

Chuck Simmins sent me an email griping about how NRO's military blog, The Tank, covered women in combat yesterday, specifically citing Elaine Donnelly's post, and the follow-up by W. Thomas Smith, who is the most prolific poster over there. Heh. Wonder how Matt, John Noonan, Greyhawk and I could get gigs there? Oh, maybe a sailor or two... Noonan is certainly sucking up and scoring propaganda, but I digress.

Chuck put up his response, which I generally support.

Donnelly would essentially have us turn back the clock to the Women's Army Corps. There are many men out there who would do the same.

There are certainly problems (lord, I know!) with putting young hormonal beings together in the environment they find themselves in.

And the original paradigm for service, when the opportunities were expanded back in the 70's was that of conventional war in Europe, with reasonably well-defined fronts, etc. In other words, WWII, updated for new weapons.

Turns out the first real shooting war which lasted more than a week wasn't that kind of war.

And guess what? To my eye, the paradigm still works. Yep, women are getting killed.

Tough noogies. They're doing some real killing, too.

Much of the commentary Smith provides covers the concern about putting Jane Average soldier into prolonged close-combat infantry units. I happen to disagree with his SOCOM concern - I'm guessing any woman who can pass all the barriers to get into SOCOM units is a woman who can pull her weight in a SOCOM unit - because if you can't fit in on the teams... you don't stay on the teams, one of the more ruthless meritocracies in the service.

The women who are getting killed are MPs, mechanics, truck drivers, etc - because this is a war of ambush and treachery, that more often targets the support elements than the combat elements - precisely because they are perceived as easier, safer targets. Unless it's an MP unit led by Sergeant Hester. Who fought pretty well, methinks. And they aren't getting killed all out of proportion to their numbers in the force. 77 so far, by Elaine's count. With roughly 85,000 women in the Army and Marines, who are doing the brunt of the dying in this war, that's a vanishingly small percentage.

And I've not heard substantive complaints about performance - that can't be met with similar complaints about individual male soldiers and their performance.

Strikes me, we've got it about right, thus far.

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by John on May 26, 2007 | Observations on things Military

The Whatzis, continued.

Well, this has been fun, if perhaps a bit more erotic than I anticipated. Confused by that? Ah, well, you'd best check out the comments in *this* post then.


Okay, in this pic, there is a clear clue. Well, it would be clear to me, anyway.

Remember - these are all views of the same military artifact.

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by John on May 26, 2007 | Gun Pr0n - A Naughty Expose' of the fiddly bits

May 25, 2007

H&I Fires* May 25, 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.

You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...

Before I head off to continue building this FCS db for a sim, I'll leave you with this snippet sent by CAPT H, regarding Parliamentary point-scoring in the Great White North...

Hon. Jay Hill (Secretary of State and Chief Government Whip, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I too have been here quite some time now, about 14 years or close to it.

I have, as my colleagues have, for the past number of weeks listened to the member for Bourassa denigrate and personally attack our Minister of National Defence. The member says he has been asking these questions properly. The Minister of National Defence is a man with an outstanding 35 year career serving our country in the Canadian armed forces. The member has called him an “arms dealer”. Today he called him a “spendthrift” for the minister's efforts to rebuild the Canadian Forces and to give it the equipment it needs, to give it the tanks it needs.

If he wants me to apologize, I will apologize. I should not have called the member an idiot because even an idiot would support the Minister of National Defence.

Get the whole picture here, at David Akin's blog.

Nice take-down, Mr. Hill. -the Armorer

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What is this? Groundhog’s Day? (Rubs out 24. Writes in 25. I may get the month wrong, and the time, and…., but I at least get the day right.).
--

Maggie's mother, Alyson Breathed, says she was told her daughter would not be able to graduate if she didn't pay or name the other kids involved.
“They were encouraging me to encourage her to out the other kids and I don't encourage her to do that,” said Alyson
.
Ah, yes, don’t rat out your friends to ‘The Man’ for vandalism, but whine about taking on the consequences (girl won’t receive her diploma for a prank of vandalism) for getting caught. Yeah, that’s smart and consistent. I wonder what the do in ‘critical thinking classes’ up there in Portland, OR high schools these days.
--ry
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I have some insider insight on this (not this particular event, but the threat of it):

Such a scenario, say some experts, is not only possible but likely in the near future.

Look, for example, at what happened to Estonia last week. Ever since the government of the Baltic state decided (rather tactlessly it must be said) to remove a war memorial to the Red Army from a square in the capital, Tallinn, Russian outrage has ensued.

This took the form of demonstrations and even riots. But then something extraordinary happened: quickly, and wholly without warning, the whole country was subjected to a barrage of cyber-warfare, disabling the websites of government ministries, political parties, banks and newspapers.

Techniques normally employed by cybercriminals, such as huge remotely-controlled networks of hijacked computers, were used to cripple vital public services.

Nato has sent its top cyber-terrorism experts to Tallinn, with western democracies caught on the hop over the implications of such an attack.

The Estonian defence ministry said: "We've been lucky to survive this. If an airport, bank or state infrastructure is attacked by a missile, it's clear war. But if the same result is done by computers, then what do you call it? Is it a state of war? These questions must be addressed."

What am I talking about? This. Attack of the Cyber Terrorists. More likely than Y2K ever was. -the Armorer

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Maryann of Soldier's Angels Germany sent me a link to a Stars and Stripes article about the collectible weapons (most of 'em not importable to the US, alas) being discovered amongst the arms caches in Iraq.

Leaving aside some of the inaccuracies - like WWII Sterling (they must mean Sten, vice the 50's era Sterling or just got it altogether confused) and the pic caption calling the PPSh 41 submachine gun a rifle...hey, I've got one - but I digress!

If I were recalled and sent to Iraq, I would be struggling with my collecting jones... but I also know I would be indulging myself getting to shoot some weapons that I only own in unshootable fashion. The collection has benefited from this sort of thing. The Castle PIAT is now properly dressed in canvas (usually missing from the few samples in private hands) that were recovered from a warehouse in Iraq. -the Armorer

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Snerk! Take a break, surf the referrals, find this. Salamander, you *dog* you. Note the date. -the Armorer

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Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows... �

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by Denizens on May 25, 2007 | General Commentary

The War Comes Home To Kansas, and Missouri.

As is our wont, the Master and Mistress of Argghhh! note the deaths of soldiers from the demesne of the Castle. This is a double-whammy of sorts, the death of a soldier from across the river in Independence, Missouri, who was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley. Make it a three-fer - our newest young soldier tapping a keg at Fiddler's Green was also a Redleg, like the Armorer, the Armorer's Father, and the Armorer's Grandfather. I commanded at Fort Riley and am a veteran of the 1st Division, too.

Ashley__Benjamin.jpg
FORT RILEY SOLDIER KILLED IN IRAQ

Spc. Benjamin Ashley, 22, was killed May 24 in Balad, Iraq, when the vehicle he was driving struck an improvised explosive device.

Ashley was a Field Artillery Tactical Data Systems Specialist assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. His home of record is Independence, Mo.

Ashley entered the Army in March 2004 and began serving in the 1st Inf. Div. in September 2005. This was his first deployment in support of the Global War on Terrorism.

To date, 100 Soldiers from Fort Riley have died while serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Specialist Ashley, Centurion of the Fort Riley contingent now holding forth at Fiddler's Green.

Apt, in a sense, to enter the Memorial Day weekend with a memorial post. This is who/what the holiday is about - not just a three day weekend. It will be a *very* tough weekend for Specialist Ashley's family.

Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam.

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by John on May 25, 2007 | Something for the Soul

Dragon Skin, in context of the procurement system.

I just can't leave it alone. Neither can Cassandra.

WASHINGTON - The system for delivering badly needed gear to Marines in Iraq has failed to meet many urgent requests for equipment from troops in the field, according to an internal document obtained by The Associated Press.

Of more than 100 requests from deployed Marine units between February 2006 and February 2007, less than 10 percent have been fulfilled, the document says. It blamed the bureaucracy and a "risk-averse" approach by acquisition officials.

Another little gem, this time by a contractor, Titus Casazza, president of LE Systems:

"The bureaucrats and lab rats sitting behind a desk stateside are making decisions on what will be given to our soldiers even if contrary to the specific requests of these soldiers and their commanding generals," he said.

Read the whole article here. As always, I recommend you click through to get the whole context, not just my snippets.

This article came to my attention right after I got this email, from a good friend and former colleague, who is "In A Position To Know" - it has been redacted a touch at his request to protect the guilty, but while this talks about Dragon Skin, the part I'm quoting here is about more about procurement in general, with Dragon Skin as a training aid:

I have three general observations:

Theory vs. Practice. My experience with hundreds of “good ideas” is that most fail on the simple issue of environmental and operational conditions. Heat failure is the biggest problem – most things that the we see are engineered to commercial standards, typically about 120 degrees F. When exposed to higher temps, they start failing like jocks in a physics exam. Looks to me like that was Dragon Skin's number one problem. It also had big problems when exposed to petroleum products – not that getting soaked with diesel ever happens in real military life (sarcasm off). Bottom line is that they have a problem with their glues and laminations – I’d send them back to lab and tell them to fix it.

Weight budget. Everybody keeps adding weight and arguing that its only a few ounces or pounds. They all add up. [emphasis mine] Dragon Skin offers a slightly larger coverage area, but imposes a severe weight penalty. Not too many soldiers are going to sign up for that, ATEC, PEO Soldier, and the Acquisition Corps aside.

Snake Oil Salesmen. I haven’t met this guy [Murray Neal, CEO of Pinnacle Systems], but he reminds me of others of his ilk whom have beaten a path to the Services. They claim to be interested in saving soldiers lives, but their behavior suggests that their real interest is in sales and profits. Most of these guys are very good at leveraging their political and media contacts and know how to push the right buttons. They don’t take no for an answer, and will badger the politicians and bureaucrats until they get what they want. I am very suspicious of this guy. His stuff may have promise, the idea has been around for a few thousand years, but he clearly doesn’t have it right yet. I have a pretty low opinion of the [Un-named Federal Agency] dicks (gets lower every day based on my daily experiences), and of the Acquisition Corps overall, but when forced to make a call between what the Army is saying, vs NBC, this guy, and self serving politicians – I’m going with the Army for the time being.

Just noting that no one seems to be happy with the procurement system. As noted in the paper cited by the AP article:

"Process worship cripples operating forces," according to the document. "Civilian middle management lacks technical and operational currency."

Word.

*That said* my Impeccable Source With Experience In The Field added this when I sent him this post to make sure I wasn't violating a trust and confidence:

I saw the article on Marine gear. This article is based on a false premise. It assumes that the 100 urgent requests from Marine units were all valid. From my experience, they aren’t. Many ONS (Operational Needs Statements), UONS (Urgent Operational Needs Statements), and JUONS (Joint Urgent Operational Needs Statements) that I have seen are redundant, OBE, and just the military version of Home Shopping Network. With access to the internet, many units surf around for “neat stuff” and ask someone else to buy it for them. Often they ask for stuff that has already been looked at and rejected in favor of another solution. Sometimes they ask for stuff that just doesn’t work. Congress can claim that they are prepared to “take care of the troops”, but the cold hard truth is that they have funded DoD at a level that does not permit buying everything on the wish list, and we shouldn’t.

I think that what is correct about this report is that the Marines were late to the table on MRAP. The Army moved ahead with small buys for specialized missions: Route Clearance and EOD. The Marines passed. After they saw how the EOD vehicles (Cougar and RG31) performed in theater, they reversed course and went for the whole enchilada. [Army procurement] is overrun by all of the MRAP candidates running around going through the testing gauntlet. They are a big improvement over the uparmored HMMWV’s, but the production line is going to take a while to gear up.

The Army bought lots of the laser dazzlers for the troops and, I believe, some for the Marines as well. They have been very popular as a EOF tool [Armorer's note: Escalation Of Force], do a great job stopping civilian cars at checkpoints and without the body damage associated with 5:1 .50 cal [Armorer's note: 5:1 means 5 ball, 1 tracer mix]. Don’t know why MCCDC rejected the laser dazzler.

As ever - everything is muddier and less spectacular than will fit in the column-inches provided. Lose context, you can even change meaning. One nice thing about a blog - you can update it as it goes along.

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by John on May 25, 2007 | Observations on things Military

The Iraq War supplemental.

"We will bring this war to a responsible end by every single solitary day, vote after vote, keeping the pressure on the president," said Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del).

I see that both Kansas Democrats, Nancy Boyda (my rep) and Dennis Moore (who represents metro Kansas City, Ks and environs) voted *for* the supplemental. Ms. Boyda, who has Fort Leavenworth and Fort Riley in her district voted as I'd hoped, and I suspect her vote was representative of the district as a whole, though I'm sure that there is *plenty* of outraged and vituperous email stuffing her inbox, much of it from .edu addressess (she also has two large universities in her district...).

While I've not been happy with the tone and approach of the players in this drama, I would note that the Dems, with the exception of the timeline for withdrawal, have gotten some of what they were after, and much of that *is* what I think voters nationwide were wanting to see happen - a change and shift in policy, and more pressure on a weak Iraqi government to step up to the plate and take more responsibility and a greater sense of urgency (though I would submit - the *Iraqis* are paying a much higher price than we are in this, and some of the wailing over our losses and silence on the sacrifices of the Iraqis leaves me cold).

And the President has been forced/chosen to adopt some of the elements of the Baker/Hamilton recommendations - which represents a change in policy. Again, it's sausage, and no one is happy - which strikes me as overall, probably as good a balance as we can ask for. The signs out of Iraq are mixed, but again - anyone who expected it to go radically one way or another was, I think, destined to be disappointed.

Senator Russ Feingold, (D-Wis) asserts that the Congress is not following the will of the people by forcing the President to end our presence in Iraq.

Heh. I think the Senator overstates things. There's a reason 44% of the Dems in the House voted *for* the bill.

They want to keep their jobs. Sure, MoveOn is threatening. And they get lots of press. But Joe and Jane Six-Pack, they're not averse to success. They don't want the troops screwed while in combat. They don't like the way the war is going - of course, they get most of their news from people who didn't/don't support the war at all, so... but they didn't like the way the Dems were approaching the issue, either. And I'm guessing the 44% of Dems who voted *for* the bill got a lot of input from their districts that indicated something along those lines.

"We will bring this war to a responsible end by every single solitary day, vote after vote, keeping the pressure on the president," said Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del).

Heh. I would suggest that is *exactly* what the American people want.

We will bring this war to a responsible end by every single solitary day.

Me too, Senator. Me too. The key word in that sentence is... responsible, not end.

by John on May 25, 2007 | Politics

The immigration bill.

Whooeee - hasn't that sucker generated some passion, both here and elsewhere.

I was going to link to some specific posts... but right now Denizen Bloodspite's Techography site is All Immigration, Alla Time... Um, Bloodspite is *not* a fan of the bill, nor current immigration policy, I might add.

Neither is Dusty, the Instapilot. This came to me under the subject line of "You're fired." I admit my first reaction was - "Hey, waidaminnit! I own this joint - you can't fire me!" and then I opened it and read it:

Senator XXXXXXXX,

I understand you voted against an amendment to the immigration bill that would remove the amnesty provisions for illegal aliens. I also believe you voted against any attempt to end the practice in "sanctuary cities" of prohibiting local law enforcement from inquiring about immigration status and reporting findings to federal officials.

I cannot explain to my daughter why a sitting senator would:

1) consciously vote against any effort to uphold our national sovereignty by tacitly endorsing unlawful entry into this country, or;

2) how a Republican would actively encourage state and local officials to not enforce federal attempts to identify and apprehend foreign nationals on US soil in a time of war.

I'm done. You will never, ever get my vote for reelection.

Respectfully,
The Instapilot, Col, USAF, Ret.
Somewhere, USA.

That was clear enough, I think.

So, where do I stand?

1. I think any bill this large and putatively comprehensive, should die abornin'. Huge bills like this are usually so internally contradictory (plenty of evidence of that in the detailed analysis put out by the think tanks of all stripes) that it will end up being whatever whichever political appointee bureaucrat or Federal judge says it is, as it goes through the inevitable interpretation and litigation processes - and that what comes out the end will be what mostly unaccountable federal officials say it is, not necessarily what individual Representatives, Senators, and President thought it would be. Talk about 6 blind men and an elephant...

So, no, I'm not in favor of this bill. I'd rather have smaller, tighter, more focused bills. There's no reason to rush this monster anywhere but the morgue, and start over.

That said - anything that has just about everybody unhappy with it can't be all bad, in that it has to have been pushed to the center in the sausage-making that is the legislative process. But count me also as one of those people who simply doesn't trust the Federal government, as it currently stands (and this would include a Democrat administration, mind you) to actually enforce the "enforceable" provisions of this bill, if only because it's so full of contradictions... well, see my discussion of Federal Officialdom above.

Count me also among the people described below by Ramesh Ponnuru in a discussion of the WSJ's attack on National Review:

Daniel Henninger says that the bill's opponents' objection to illegal immigration "is fundamentally cultural and they can't say that." Kathryn objected to that idea, and it does paint with too broad a brush, but I do think that Henninger is on to something important. A very big part of what we mean by assimilation is that newcomers will adopt the native culture (while also, of course, changing it in some respects). A major reason for popular anxiety over current immigration policies is the fear that this assimilation is not taking place, or not taking place fast enough, and that as a result the country runs the risk of cultural balkanization. I don't know why that should be unsayable.

I do have cultural objections. There is a reason that many people want to flee/leave where they are and come here - they perceive greater opportunity (some find that also comes with greater risk, too). And those who wish to come to better themselves - I say let 'em come! They help infuse us with entrepreneurial blood. And they can't help but influence our culture - but I do have concerns that the nature of much public policy today is designed to encourage them to balkanize, and not assimilate. And to maintain their comfort bubbles from home - which, of course, contain many of the seeds of the pathologies of *why they left* in the first place. In the give and take and rough and tumble of social interaction, much of what they bring to the table that is good will be adopted by the culture at large. But if we encourage them to "fort up" in enclaves (which most first generation waves do anyway) and provide incentive to *stay* in their enclaves... well, that's the recipe for balkanizing this country. Which I don't think is a good thing.

I want to send Congress back into their conferences and committees, and tell 'em to start over.

And give us multiple bills, not a huge omnibus mess.

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by John on May 25, 2007 | Politics

The Whatziss, continued.

To get caught up, go here. Mind you, you should follow that link for Rivrdog's comment alone!

Okay, this Whatziss is like the Indian legend about the six blind men and the elephant, except in this case, you *all* get to see the clues out of context together and compare notes as you are going along, vice each getting a unique piece. I haven't figured out how to torture you that way...

Okay, next snapshot up for bids -

Here's a view from the side of the same area.

This will actually be a great example of a "forest for the trees" kind of thing - once we get far enough away from the object - it will become perfectly clear for most of you.

Yesterday's shot *was* of a component of a guidance/aiming system, albeit *not* a gyro as posited.

'rrRRp! Oops. Excuse me. (If that doesn't make sense, then you didn't pay attention to the second sentence of this post... so it's your fault you're confused.)

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by John on May 25, 2007 | Gun Pr0n - A Naughty Expose' of the fiddly bits

May 24, 2007

H&I Fires May 24, 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.

You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...

Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread...since I'm both, I'm stealing the march on the rest of the Denizens.

First, Godspeed PFC Anzack, may God comfort your family.

Now, lets not forget the Heroes of the War on Terror: Wednesday Heroes. We've got Silver Stars and Flying Crosses. Nope, this ain't your daddy's Lucky Charms.

Second, Outside the Wire talks about Cellular Battle Space and it sets off another post about "information war" in counterinsurgencies: Cellular Battle Space and Legend Killers

Third, for the morning, The Crime Against Kansas. Guess which party has been trying to take our guns away for over 150 years in the name of "Law and Order"?
-Kat
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Military Medicine - in some respects, re-discovering old skills and organization, and in many key respects, advancing the tactics, techniques, and procedures of emergency medicine. In ways that in the end may benefit us all. In and of itself not a reason to go to war, but we'll take whatever we can out of it that is positive.

Living your Faith while in the US Army. Now I know I'm projecting, but I'm guessing discussions like this probably wouldn't happen in a Sharia-governed military service. Just guessin'. -the Armorer

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Much ink has been spilled and hot air released over the Canadian airwaves about recent polls showing public support for the Afghan mission dropping north of the 49th, and many bits and pixels too. But I recently received an e-mail from a serving soldier that I believe clarifies the terms of a somewhat scattered national discussion. That soldier is about to be posted away from the Afghan mission, and I find it telling that he said to me "I don't need a break, I need for people to do the right thing." - Damian

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Sure, it’s funny, but stuff like this is what makes me a bit more amenable to blogging and social networking site bans by DoD. Funny, but in terms of the 24/7 media driven world with a media savvy enemy is it smart? The ‘strategic corporal’ is a double edged sword.
--ry(Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m anti-fun, and according to some elitist too. Whatever.)
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Actually, Ry, on this one, I'm with you.

Heh. Wonder if it is an age thing in some respects (referring to the discussion in comments over at John's place). I chose to not post this last week because I didn't think it advanced the cause in any useful form, and just provided fodder for the anti's, with no real useful upside.

But, William B. makes a case:

The thing that got me reading military blogs was the uncensored, unbiased accuracy delivered by bloggers. This may not be a politically correct photo, but it does shine a little more light into the lives of our warriors in Afghanistan and what they are thinking and feeling

However, I believe the form that William B. extols is better served via email and sitting around the bar, as in the way we used to, methinks.

But, we have to exist in the current environment, which is where things like this are going to be out there.

So, I won't knock John for posting it - but I won't pat him on the back for it, either.

Simply because we *can* doesn't mean it's a net good to do so.

Obviously, mileage varies on this issue. -the Armorer

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Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows... �

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by Denizens on May 24, 2007 | General Commentary

Posted Sans Commentary.

From Iran Daily.

Researchers Build Micro-Submarines

TEHRAN, May 23--Researchers at the University of Tehran have built two types of micro-submarines, the project director said Wednesday. Aqil Yousefi-Koma added that the two submarines can be used in reconnaissance and rescue operations as well as for monitoring the health of marine structures and suicide bombing, ISNA reported.

Yousefi-Koma said these submarines can also simulate the movement of marine animals.
“Today, robots and underwater vehicles are devised by simulating aquatic animals. This simulation will boost the efficiency of robots and reduce the possibility of interception by enemy radars,“ he said.

The researcher noted that advanced software programs were used for simulating the movements of sharks, adding that the project is aimed at building unmanned submarines with a lower probability of interception.

Yousefi-Koma noted that each submarine weighs 1,100 grams and has been tested successfully.

Okay, I lied. Love the dual-use capability being contemplated.

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by John on May 24, 2007 | This is no Sh*t!

Whatziss?

This one will be painful. Maggie won't like it at all. Prolly take us into the weekend for those who wish to play.

I can't wait to see how inventive you clowns get...

A small, but key, section of the gizmo. Without it, well, that would be telling.

No, I don't really expect you to get it from this clue. I just want to see how imaginative you guys get!

I'm pretty sure you'll think it's kewl when it's over, though.

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �