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...
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Chuck Simmins at America's North Shore Journal - your source for all analysis casualty. The main conclusion is the easy one. They don't want to face us in stand-up combat, so they are playing to the great leveler - explosives. And everytime there is an innovation in their tactics or techniques, there's a lag as we learn to adapt.
There are signs that we're making inroads - the bomb-makers are running out of regular explosives and are having to make their own - but they're also getting more and better outside help in design and implementation. Anyone who doesn't really understand that we're already at war with Iran-by-proxy, just isn't paying attention. Regardless of who wins the next election, one way or another, they're going to have to deal with Iran. I hope they're thinking about it in a serious fashion - regardless of what mindless twittery will pass for electioneering.
Changing subjects - this link is for you RPG players out there.
Via CAPT H, comes this link to Samizdata regarding the trends in England.
Bloodspite continues his crusade against the Immigration Bill (not immigration, but the bill - do please note the distinction) - we just want to be able to have some of the same controls *most* nations have. One would note that it's a lot harder for a gringo to emigrate to Mexico than it is to go the other direction, and the restrictions on your political behavior... well, let's just say that you *won't* get a permit for your pro-immigration rally to demand access to services... and you'll go to jail if you hold it anyway... Catchy title on Bloodspite's post - France Better Than America!
Some news from Fort Riley:
ENGINEERS CONDUCT AID MISSIONBy 1st Lt. Rebecca Walsh
1st Eng. Bn.Several "Diehard" Soldiers from the 1st Engineer Battalion conducted a humanitarian aid mission June 7 to a village in northern Iraq. The Diehards have been collecting school supplies, clothing, toys and soccer balls for the Iraqi children for several months. The items were handed over to the Iraqi police to distribute in an attempt to build a sense of community within the small Iraqi village.
Diehard Soldiers helped the Iraqi police hand out items to hundreds of Iraqi children. The boys and girls swarmed the troops, and friendships were formed despite the language barrier.
For most of the Soldiers this was their first one-on-one interaction with Iraqi children, many of who held their hands and wanted their pictures taken with the Soldiers. "I think this is a great mission" said Capt. Jenny Kirk. "It will be nice to leave Iraq and say 'I made a difference, small, but I made a positive impact.'"
The 1st Eng. Bn. plans to continue humanitarian aid missions to donate items collected by the battalion's Family readiness group.
I don't know if this particular program is involved or is a separate effort, but my Rotary district participates in the "Youth to Youth" program, implemented by Rotary Clubs in the Junction City/Manhattan area, where we organize youth groups around the state to gather these materials, deliver them to Fort Riley, where the clubs and kids there get them shipped off to Iraq.
More info on the scum scamming military spouses.
RED CROSS WARNS OF SCAM: CALLERS TARGET MILITARY SPOUSESAmerican Red Cross
WASHINGTON - The American Red Cross has learned about a new scam targeting military families. This scam takes the form of false information to military families as described below: The caller (young-sounding, American accent) calls a military spouse and identifies herself as a representative from the Red Cross. The caller states that the spouse's husband (not identified by name) was hurt while on duty in Iraq and was med-evacuated to a hospital in Germany. The caller stated they couldn't start treatment until paperwork was accomplished, and that in order to start the paperwork they needed the spouse to verify her husband's social security number and date of birth. In this case, the spouse was quick to catch on and she did not provide
any information to the caller.American Red Cross representatives typically do not contact military members or dependents directly and almost always go through a commander or first sergeant channels. Military Family members are urged not to give out any personal information over the phone if contacted by unknown or unverified individuals, to include confirmation that your spouse is deployed.
It is a federal crime, punishable by up to five years in prison, for a person to falsely or fraudulently pretend to be a member of, or an agent for, the American National Red Cross for the purpose of soliciting, collecting, or receiving money or material. In addition, American Red Cross representatives will contact military members and dependents directly only in response to an emergency message initiated by your Family. The Red Cross does not report any type of casualty information to Family members. The Department of Defense will contact families directly if their military member has been injured. Should any military Family member receive such a call, they are urged to report it to their local Family readiness group.
I would also note that you're *never* going to get a call claiming that they need info to start treatment for a wounded soldier. It just ain't gonna happen.
That said - I say add one more element to the punishment. As the vermin leave prison, they have to run a gauntlet of Military Spouses whose spouses deployed to a combat zone. Just sayin' that sometimes, Old Testament-style punishments *are* merited. Pour encourager les autres, of course. There are some things I'm not minded to take a Christian approach to. -the Armorer
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Today, we'll be visiting with friends of ours who live on 20 acres and keep horses out in the county, to start learning about where all our spare time will be going to. Betsy and Beth will talk horses, stalls, the barn, and growing stuff. Bennett and I will talk about tractors, ATVs, and how not to set your cedars on fire when burning off the fields. Apparently, cedars raging like oil fires in Kuwait in 1991 is frowned upon and considered bad form... [scribble note to self] After we're done touring their place, we'll head out to not-quite-yet-ours and see how many ticks we can bring home *this* time. -the Armorer
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Carriers are kewl. But, to me, the Amphibious Assault Ships are kewler. Take a gander at flight deck ops on the USS Bataan. I'd love to spend a few days at sea on one, doing all the kewl stuff, flying, gadding about in the amphibs, etc. -the Armorer
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CAPT H - this link's for you. Canadian Leos. -the Armorer
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Hey, this might be a redlegs blog, but I think we can spare a minute for the Marines. Support our troops? Go tell it to the Marines!
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A bit of good news in an ugly world.
The "surge" and politics. It's not pretty.
And as long as I'm pimping my own posts, check out the story of Walter Reed and the "lost" mail. - FbL
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Embedded in a discussion of the Army's recent modest increase in PTSD treatment services is the story of physical and psychologcal wounds from the spouse's perspective: Wives Get Wounded Too. - FbL
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*A term of art from the artillery. Harassment and Interdiction Fires.
Back in the day, when you could just kill people and break things without a note from a lawyer, they were pre-planned, but to the enemy, random, fires at known gathering points, road junctions, Main Supply Routes, assembly areas, etc - to keep the bad guy nervous that the world around him might start exploding at any minute.
*Not really relevant to today's operating environment, right? But, it *is*
The UAVs (oops, can't call 'em UAVs anymore - they're now Unmanned Aerial Systems... some Colonel got his Legion of Merit for that change...), er, um UAS's we fly over Afghanistan and Pakistan looking for targets of opportunity are a form of H&I fires, if you really want to parse it finely. We just have better sensors and fire control now.
I call the post that because it's random things posted by me and people I've given posting privileges to. It's also an open trackback, so if someone has a post they're proud of, but it really isn't either Castle kind of stuff, or topical to a particular post, I've basically given blanket permission to use that post for that purpose. Another term of art that might be appropriate is "Free Fire Zone".
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