H&I Fires* 7 JAN 2008
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...
Time to add a new caveat, because from email it's not clear to some folks (mind you, if you don't read this it won't matter...) Being an open post, people (collectively, the Denizens) other than I post in the H&I. They sign their work (most of the time) - keep that in mind when you want to flame someone in email please - if it doesn't say "The Armorer" or "John" then I didn't write it! And honestly - if you don't like something said or posted... leave a comment, and hash it out (within the context of The Rulez which are clearly posted on the comment form, I would add).
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Heh. I wonder if this is a new form of Iranian revenue generation?
Citing unidentified U.S. officials, CNN said the Iranian vessels came within 200 yards (meters) of the U.S. ships in international waters in the strait on Saturday, and U.S. sailors came close to opening fire.Oil prices rose about 30 cents to over $98 a barrel after the CNN report, with traders citing increased risk of disruptions to oil shipments along the key shipping route.
You can read the whole thing by clicking here.
The Navy finally adopts quality cannon for its battleship-sized destroyers...
The U.S. Navy has been ordered, by Congress, to use nuclear power in its new class of cruisers (the CG-21s). That should not be a problem, as the CG-21 is currently planned to be about 14,000 tons. But depending on the size of the nuclear power plant for the cruiser (one based on those used for nuclear subs, or the larger ones found in nuclear aircraft carriers), the CGN-21 might be a more conventional, 25,000 ton, design. The new destroyer (DD-21) has a stealthy superstructure, and is as big as a battleship, at least a battleship of a century ago, The new 14,000 tons design, is 600 feet long and 79 feet wide. A crew of 150 sailors will operate a variety of weapons, including two 155mm guns, two 40mm automatic cannon for close in defense, 80 Vertical Launch Tubes (containing either anti-ship, cruise or anti-aircraft missiles), six torpedo tubes, a helicopter and three helicopter UAVs. The CGN-21 would drop one of the 155mm guns and the torpedo tubes, but carry more vertical cells for missiles (especially anti-ballistic missile missiles).
Jim Dunnigan has more (including a comparison to the Navy's original battlewagons) at Strategy Page.
John Hawkins at Right Wing News with the 20 Most Annoying Liberals, 2007 Edition. Yanno, I really didn't mind President Clinton not saluting his military details when they saluted him - it's simply not required of the CinC to do so, while it is properly required of his military subordinates. But I do find it vaguely unsettling that a man who wishes to be President of the United States chooses, very publicly, to not follow convention on when the Star Spangled Banner is played. It's not a deal-breaker for me, as I don't find a not-even-one-term Senator with no executive experience whatsoever to be qualified for my vote for President, but it's... annoying nonetheless. (If that didn't make sense - click the link to RWN) -the Armorer
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McGovern finally goes over the cliff, providing us with some humorous reading. Though I doubt that was his intention...
Hillary reframed: "when I was a co-skydiver..."
It is deeply disturbing to find that I knew by the end of the first paragraph that this horrifying story is from England; gangs of youth who operate with impunity have become all too common there. The reader comments are encouraging, though.
It turns out the story I posted a couple days ago of the man who jumped off the Coronado Bay Bridge was incomplete. It was a police dog he took over the side. In contrast, here are some people who know what to do with a dog.
Since I don't know how to embed photos here, your picture of the day is a link.
In case you missed it in the Holiday bustle (like I did), December was the lowest month for KIA since the Iraq war began.
Let's finish this off with some humor.. another round in the battle of the sexes: 78 differences between men and women. - FbL
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The heroes of Iraq... this time it's not the Americans. - 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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