March 15, 2008
Major Movie Star... the movie.
Yeah, yeah, Jessica Simpson is making a movie.
Let's get to the important stuff.
Who the *helk* taught Private Jeter how to wear a bloody beret? The technical advisor for this movie should be summarily executed.
Jessica Simpson, as Pvt Valentine, graduates basic training in this screen shot from her new film "Major Movie Star."
Seriously, take a closer look. That Private needs some serious help.
Doing COIN Since 1066: William the Conqueror To Iraq
[Kat]
As a semi-history geek, it has been interesting watching the evolution of COIN in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most people in the know relate our modern COIN techniques in Iraq to more modern wars and successful or unsuccessful leaders. These wars and leaders are most often within the last two centuries.
Whether it is Vietnam and Westmoreland or Gulula in Algiers and occasional comparisons to both World Wars (TE Lawrence WWI), the Civil War and our own Revolutionary War, we seek comparison and continuity through those wars and leaders we can most relate to. We compare or dispose of those leaders and battles as we see fit in order to enhance our understanding of COIN.
Yet, modern COIN isn't so modern.
In fact, it compares favorably to a number of historical precedents. Take, for instance, the invasion of England in 1066 by William, Duke of Normandy and its eventual subjugation to the Conqueror's rule. William won the Battle of Hastings in 1066 through the strategic use of mounted heavy cavalry or "knights", the medieval version of the tank. First, he rained down arrows (artillery and air power), then he used his armor to break the line of the enemy.
Through both daring and the luck of battle, a group of mounted cavalry charged the line of huscarls then retreated, drawing them away from the main line to be decimated. William took advantage of the opening created and charged with his knights into the opening, destroying a number of forces and killing Harold Godwinson. That is after Godwinson had been forced to go north to defend against the invading vikings before making a hard march south after learning that the Duke was preparing to invade near Dover.
In Iraq, a feinted armor attack to the east and the potential of an attack from the north kept some forces stationary while others, the elite "Republican Guard" (huscarls?) maneuvered to defend Baghdad and the main forces stayed in their trenches. Then an armored column drove straight into the heart of Baghdad, causing the government to collapse.
Even William can't lay claim to having invented modern "armored cavalry" tactics since Alexander the Great had used a similar tactic to defeat Darius and the Persian Army.
Like Iraq, William's success at Hastings did not mean that the Anglo-Saxons were just going to roll over and hand him the kingdom without a fight. Neither could he rely on staying based in Dover or London, putting down rebellions through a mobile force that could route the enemy, but not control the land.
What William did next closely resembles COIN in Iraq.
March 14, 2008
H&I Fires 14 March, 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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I know it's late, but I really wanted to point out a few of these...
Harvard gets a clue: Economists' study says media’s anti-war rhetoric emboldens Iraqi insurgents. I'm in shock!
In more shocking news, it turns out the "no connection between Saddam and al Qaeda" reportage is not what the Pentagon report actually says. Can anybody say "Iran NIE all over again?"
Closer to home, Denizen Sgt. B is gearing up for his National Guard deployment. It's starting to feel real--for him and for us. - FbL
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This weekend, we're having a "high surf warning." Waves will be up to 10' or more, instead of the usual 2'-4'. Personally, I don't think I'll be driving along the beach-front roads.
And don't forget the Vets for Freedom kick-off events today! - FbL
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In the Company of Sinners
[Kat]
I'll be short (that will be a miracle and I'm not talking about my height). When the infromation about Obama's minister's sermon content and tone first came out, I paid little attention. I've been to a few bible thumping sermons and I'm sure some folks would find them fearful in their seeming condemnation of the unbeliever to hell, fire and brimstone before exulting and exhorting the same to have faith, believe in the one true God, that good works are not enough to secure a place in heaven and should, instead, accept Jesus as their savior, etc, etc.
Sometimes in there, the tone of the condemnation might appear over the top. I'm pretty sure that some people would have been put off by my last Baptist minister on a few occasions, much less the occasional foray into even more interesting churches. In general, the faithful sometimes feel a powerful urge to jump up, sing, shout and generally urge those who don't feel that power to join them. Which, to those of the "enlightenment", that faith often appears distorted and scary.
Saying that, I can honestly say that I have never attended a service where, even in the heat of a sermon, the minister blamed one particular people or the other for any modern plague of God (AIDS) or blamed them for a tragedy or the acts of other evil people.
Except sinners. That was one group of people that the minister believed needed to constantly atone for their sins. Of course, my minister told me we were all sinners and the only real atonement was being washed in the blood of the lamb, not the blood of victims of terrorism.
When the controversy about Obama's minister first came out, I ignored it in favor of the other things that were being said or done by his campaign. Faith is a pretty sacred thing to me and I don't mess with anyone else's if I can help it. It's why you don't see me screaming about "Muslims" and "Islam" in general, on a blog about the war against Islamist terrorism, but aim specifically at individuals (bin Laden) and schools of thought (wahhabism).
Still, I remember when I left my long time church to find another. Our previous pastor had went on a mission to South America. He had been at our church for over ten years. I grew up with his daughters. The deacons decided that they were going to choose a certain kind of pastor to replace him. One who was much more stringent and bible thumping than our last pastor (whom I could never remember banging on the pulpit). By sermon number four, I realized that our church had changed and so had the tone. Not that the minister preached hate of others (besides the sinner), or bigotry or conspiracy theories. It just seemed that it was a lot less about the love of God, even for the sinner, and a lot more about God hating the sinner, demanding his obedience to the laws of God, etc.
I realized that the church was no longer for me. If I wanted to know about somebody hating somebody, I'd just turn on the news. So, I left.
Now, Mr. Obama is going to tell us that he sat through over twenty years of sermons from Minister Wright and that he did not buy into, accept or otherwise support Mr. Wright's positions on most, if anything, that he said about modern day Jews (not even talking biblical Jews giving Jesus to Pilate to crucify, we're talking about Israel today), conspiracy theories about who committed 9/11, who created and released the AIDS virus (to kill Africans and other minorities, of course), etc, etc, etc.
If Mr. Obama did not believe in or support this minister's teachings and preachings, why did he stay there?
He's either lying and he does believe in what Mr. Wright preaches or he's a big hypocrite who attended the church as a calculating move to ingratiate himself with an electorate that he needed in order to get his political seat in the state of Illinois.
In truth, I think this whole controversy actually makes me like Mr. Obama a little bit. Perfect Politicians are no boon to our nation or any other, frequently leading to disaster. Now, he's finally where all politicians belong: in the company of sinners.
Winter Soldier II, IVAW's attempt to reprise Senator Kerry's political debut...
I've been so busy the last few weeks, I'd completely forgotten the Iraq Veteran's Against the War (IVAW) upcoming "Winter Soldier II"
I first discussed Winter Soldier II this last January.
And, promptly forgot about it. Fuzzybear Lioness hasn't. She sent me a note:
In a nutshell, IVAW's description of "Winter Soldier II" has gone from "Iraq's version of Winter Soldier--same script, different country" (war crimes, it's the politicians' fault, etc) to a cross between an academic seminar on the veteran experience and a TINS exercise. Today they make no mention of the first iteration, though remnants of their original affiliation with it remained on their site as few as TWO days ago (though it had been toned WAYYYYY down).I like my take on it: Wolves in Sheepdog clothing.
#@$%^Y^%#@#%$!
#@$%^Y^%#@#%$! indeed.
Heh. Wolves in Sheepdog Clothing. I like that. Though I'm sure there will be many well-intentioned people present - the change in their posted rhetoric would indicate they took some flak they probably weren't expecting. Or perhaps it will just be this generation's CW4(Ret)Bill T's telling stories that start out "This is no shiite..."
Or, it could be something else. Something along the lines of what Jason Mattera of the Young America's Foundation found the chance to chat with Senator Kerry about - the original Winter Soldier.
Heh. Senator Kerry. A man for all seasons, or whatever he needs to be on any given day, anyway.
Finishing up this week's Whatziss.
I know, I still owe an answer to Part 1 of last week's. Get over it. If you missed the beginning and part two, click those links. This one was just too geeky. Couldn't even get people to mock it!
So, while there was some talk of SKS's, artillery, tanks, and the M240 machine gun, the bolt on the left in the original post was that of a Romanian AK47 clone. So you got that - and credit is given for the PSL, once I knew what it was... Here it is in context, in it's bolt carrier.
Pretty much everybody got the one in the middle - it's the bolt from an M16-style rifle. Here it is in the context of it's bolt carrier.
Nobody got the twisty one.
Here it is in context of it's bolt carrier.
Larger picture can be had by clicking here.
Now the grognards ought to be able to nail it.
A simple example of setting an expectation and letting it drive your analysis. Kinda like the way politicians use intel...
What is soldierly patriotism?
Jim B posted something in the comments on the H&I yesterday that I decided to bring up into the open.
It is a post from a proud father.
Thoughts of a Soldier to us and Dawn. March 13th, 2008
Ya know I got to my new job and the boss man asks me and the other new guy why we came. The other guy replied right away with patriotism and 9/11. He got shot down right away and much that was said about why his reasons weren’t good … weren’t true…. and I could see the bosses point.
I was rushin around today and a country song came on named “Where were you?” about 9/11. I remembered that although this man was right about many things it was a pessimistic way of looking at things. I listened to the entire song, remembering where I was when that happened.
I remember the way I felt going to church and seeing pictures of buddies of mine from grade school in uniform with their names in the back of church. I remembered the way I felt that Pete had a family and was sacrificing his time to help out and I remembered that I’m doing this because I am able to do this and I need to do this and it’s a job that chooses you, you don’t choose it. I’ve come to that determination.
I can’t answer that question of why I did this. I can’t explain, I can’t put into words and even if I attempt anything I say can and will be questioned, shot down, or just sound crazy.
(note … Son to this day, I cannot answer the question, “Why did you join the Marines?” Yes I was asked many times. All the answers were and are phony. They will just not understand. It was my destiny, it is yours. No answer is good enough. It’s like that line in Blackhawk Down … “Hoot, why do you do it man, are you some kinda war junky?” You remember his answer, “Know what I tell them? …. Nothing. They wouldn’t understand anyway.”)
I hear when you’re out there the patriotism goes away under fire and it’s about you and the guys your with. but if you ask me that IS patriotism. I’m there to protect my country and as far as I’m concerned my country was established with soldiers blood, soldiers own the country and fighting to keep the guys next to you safe is fighting for your country.
I know very few will understand. I know that among civilians I’ll have to laugh at what they understand it to be. (with the wrong ideas of what we do and why we do it) “it’s not for everyone” I’ve heard that nearly every day for two years. Fact is …it’s not. Because not everyone will understand. I feel a bit sad for those who won’t understand. they are missing out on a great thing. I don’t think some of the closest people to me will understand everything. They try though and that’s awesome so I try to help them.
I’d have to say it all comes down to it’s in my blood, that’s the only words I can use to explain my occupation. It’s not easy, some days I’m scared shitless, other days I’m excited as hell, EVERY night I go to sleep proud and no matter what the next day brings I know pain is temporary, the easiest day is yesterday, and I got the coolest job in the world.
(’some days I’m as scared as shit.’ … Son .. Courage doesn’t mean you are not scared. It means you go anyway.)
Just some random thoughts,
Dude
Jim B is a former Marine, and the father of a soldier freshly minted into the Special Forces. Just in case you hadn't figured that out.
I remembered that I’m doing this because I am able to do this and I need to do this and it’s a job that chooses you, you don’t choose it. I’ve come to that determination.
'Bout sums it up for me.
British Speed Trap
Heh. It's not new, but it's still funny...
Two British traffic patrol officers from North Berwick were involved in an unusual incident while checking for speeding motorists on the A-1 Great North Road. One of the officers used a hand-held radar device to check the speed of a vehicle approaching over the crest of a hill, and was surprised when the speed was recorded at over 300 mph. Their radar suddenly stopped working and the officers were not able to reset it.Just then a deafening roar over the treetops revealed that the radar had in fact latched on to a NATO Tornado fighter jet, which was engaged in a low-flying exercise over the Border district, approaching from the North Sea.
Back at police headquarters, the chief constable fired off a stiff complaint to the RAF Liaison office. Back came the reply in true laconic RAF style:
"Thank you for your message, which allows us to complete the file on this incident. You may be interested to know that the tactical computer in the Tornado had detected the presence of, and subsequently locked onto, your hostile radar equipment and automatically sent a jamming signal back to it.
"Furthermore, an air-to-ground missile aboard the fully-armed aircraft had also automatically locked onto your equipment.
"Fortunately, the pilot flying the Tornado recognized the situation for what it was, quickly responded to the missile systems alert status, and was able to override the automated
defense system before the missile was launched and your hostile radar installation was destroyed. Good Day..."
The Coppers were prolly out looking for this lot:
H/t, Bob W.
March 13, 2008
H&I Fires 13 March, 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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Morning Snerk:
"My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world.I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it." -- Barack Obama
Heh. Talk about unfortunate use of context... but I thought that the whole concept of 'American Exceptionalism' was a taboo for a good left-leaning Progressive Liberal? I thought we were past all that and that America is no better than anyone, and in fact, is oft times the worst?
Oh, wait. He's running for office. Never mind. C'mon people, it's funny. Off for one more day of confabulation in Orlando. -the Armorer
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Since I'm recycling today... What If WWII Were A MMORPG?
*Hitler[AoE] has joined the game.*
*Eisenhower has joined the game.*
*paTTon has joined the game.*
*Churchill has joined the game.*
*benny-tow has joined the game.*
*T0J0 has joined the game.*
*Roosevelt has joined the game.*
*Stalin has joined the game.*
*deGaulle has joined the game.*
Roosevelt: hey sup
T0J0: y0
Stalin: hi
Churchill: hi
Hitler[AoE]: cool, i start with panzer tanks!
paTTon: lol more like panzy tanks
T0J0: lol
Roosevelt: o this fockin sucks i got a depression!
benny-tow: haha america sux
Stalin: hey hitler you dont fight me i dont fight u, cool?
Hitler[AoE]: sure whatever
Stalin: cool
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What's that old saw? Something like "War is long stretches of boredom interrupted by brief moments of sheer terror?" Well, Doc in the Box has mastered the boredom side of things. Let's hope the sheer terror side never makes an appearance this tour.
Speaking of boredom, LT G probably would've opted for that over the clueless and obnoxious pogues who dropped by for a visit:
I stuck my hands in the pockets of my fleece and glared at my laughing comrades. No respect for the senior platoon leader. “The real Iraq, huh?” I said. “To see real life Iraqis in real Iraqi homes with real Iraqi poverty?” CPT Whiteback nodded, familiar with my brand of rambling, overindulgent sarcasm. “Can’t they just read my blog instead to educate themselves?”In terms of mastery of the language, it's probably LT G's best writing so far. And pretty darn funny, too! - FbL
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Here's some animal-y goodness inspired by John's post below: A visit to the Baghdad Zoo. - FbL
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The Spring Offensive?
Iraqi troops to seize Basra Port from militias
The Challenges of Bringing Peace to a Divided Village -Kat
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A Boy Named Sue -Kat
Vets for Freedom "Heroes Tour" Kick-off
I should've put this up earlier, but things got busy.
Vets for Freedom is kicking off the "National Heroes Tour" in San Diego tomorrow (Friday) to draw attention to their mission as they travel to Washington, DC to meet with legislators ahead of General Petraeus' expected testimony in April. Events will include appearances/speeches by heroes like Bud Day, Marcus Luttrell and David Bellavia, as well as local heroes. There will be a book signing in Pendleton in the morning, then a party on the deck of the Midway Museum at 6:30 p.m., including a parachute team landing and F-18 flyover, and music and food until 10:00 (Hugh Hewitt will be broadcasting from the ship starting at 3:00).
All events are free. Uncle Jimbo of Blackfive and I will be there to cover the news for the blogs.
Hope to see you there!
Duck.
This is a post I did in 2004. It might well be my all time favorite post. Given SWWBO's experience with a red-tailed hawk, Rocky and Pebbles yesterday, it just seemed like a good time to reprise it. The nature of blogs is that the archives are mostly for googlers. Who has the time to rummage through the archives of a newly discovered blog? I know I don't, however much I might want to. But I will say, looking through the comments - some of you have been readers for a long time. Thanks! So, meet, or get reacquainted with... Duck.
No, not you. I'm talking about, 'Duck'.
And Duck's girlfriend. And how Duck learned to fly.
A mother duck looks on as one of her brood falls over while trying to scale a curb. The duck was leading her six ducklings back to their nest in front of the Arkansas Arts Center and came back to help one who was too small to make it over the curb.
When I saw this picture a couple of days ago I was reminded of Duck. My last job on active duty was with the WMD Response Task Force - West (now Joint Task Force -West (CM) (Consequence Management), based out of 5th Army Headquarters at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Fort Sam is in San Antonio, and is one of the older forts west of the Mississippi. Fifth Army is headquartered in the old arsenal site, called the Quadrangle.
With 250,000 visitors a year, the Quad is a tourist attraction. It's a cool looking building, and has a zoo inside. Yes, a zoo. There are deer, rabbits, chickens, a turkey, ducks, geese, Peacocks, as well as the usual suspects, squirrels and pigeons. Yes, this is on purpose. There have been an assortment of animals in the Quad since the 1870's. The structure of the building also dictated that unless you worked in the Commanding General's suite of offices, you went outside of the building to go hit the latrines in the corners of the building.
I used to tell people I worked in a tourist trap with outdoor plumbing.
The legend about the zoo was that it was started when Geronimo was held captive at Fort Sam before being shipped off to Fort Sill and beyond, and that the deer and other animals were placed there to provide food (apparently Geronimo preferred to hunt his own). That's the legend. The reality is that Fort Sam was comparatively isolated (remember, no cars in 1870 and the heart of San Antonio was some miles away) and the zoo was established for the wives and children of the officers in Staff Post (where the Staff Officer housing was).
One of the joys of working at 5th Army (which wasn't really that bad, San Antonio is a nice town, and WMD work was important stuff - since it was the JTFs that responded to 9/11 for DoD) was weekend Staff Duty. Why? Because you had to feed the critters. If you weren't out the door by 0700 - and I mean don't be there at 0701 - you would be faced with the forest clearing scene from Bambi. A semi-circle of agitated critters, all prepared to squawk at once, if they normally made noises.
So you step out there, and immediately the formation would about-face and move tactically (although it was Soviet-style mass tactics) with echelons toward the feed shed at the far end of the Quad. The real Soviet flavor to the whole operation was the geese (annoying critters, geese). They functioned as the Commissars, following behind you, honking in a pissed-off fashion, and nipping at your butt if you weren't moving fast enough (which is to say you weren't moving as fast as they were). The peacocks would cluster over on the left, the deer would assume a line as the main echelon, the rabbits would bound ahead as scouts, and the ducks and chickens would fly in short hops like attack aviation. The Turkey, lonely creature that he was (he hung with the chickens) apparently was SF in an earlier life and would already be positioned close to the objective and keep 'eyes on'.
When you reached the shed - if you weren't moving fast enough to have gotten there ahead of the geese, you got your butt nipped again while you unlocked the door. If you'd been fast enough and got the door open - they left you alone. You then got the feed, and fed the critters, which of course was a mob scene. The deer were always polite, and the older ones liked ear and butt scritches. The youngsters were generally still a bit skittish. And you haven't seen sad until you see the look on a fawn's face when he fell and broke his leg - and had to spend weeks in isolation with a splinted leg, and couldn't be out with his family. That was one sad-faced baby deer. He was always pathetically happy to have any contact at all, so several of us softies spent breaks and lunch out with the fawn so he had some company.
You also didn't want to be the guy on duty when an animal died. Like the poor Sergeant who was grilled mercilessly when a fawn drowned in the 'cement pond'.
Another fun thing was how the critters cooperated. Ol' Hawk flew by one day, took a look in the Quad and said to himself, "Self, that thar's a smorgasbord!" and took up residence in the clock tower. He did pretty well for a week, scoring squirrels, baby bunnies, and the odd pigeon (and he was a messy eater, leaving his left-overs around for us to clean up).
Then he made a mistake. He scored a Pea-chick. The Peacocks and Peahens did *not* appreciate his dietary change. And from that point on, when he made an appearance, he was swarmed. The squirrels had learned to time their forays out from under the trees to never be so far out they couldn't get back to the tree before Hawk got there. When the Peacocks took on the Combat Air Patrol mission - the squirrels learned that if they went out among or near the Peacocks, when Hawk started diving for dinner, the Peacocks would protect the squirrels, even when there were no pea-chicks present. Good use of combined arms. Hawk gave up and left. The lesson there is the biblical one of gluttony, I suppose.
Oh, yeah - Duck. Yes, his name was... Duck. Duck was a Muscovy Duck who showed up one day. The ducks who lived in the quad were not Muscovys. Duck was unique among 'em. And Duck had obviously been raised near or with, humans (He was in fact brought there by one of the 5th Army DA civilians - he'd been found abandoned/lost as a duckling at that man's home). Duck didn't know how to fly. Duck didn't know he was a 'duck'. He acted more like a dog. He'd make the rounds from door to door, office to office, and check up on you and see if you had treats. He'd make his circuit twice a day, and he knew which of us were suckers. He'd even sit with you a while after he'd gotten something, then get up and go off on his rounds.
But Duck was a lonely fella. He'd sit by himself when all the other ducks were playing around, he'd sit there looking confused then the ducks took off and flew around the Quad. And every time he tried to move in with the ducks, they'd let him get only sooo close, and then they'd get up and move somewhere else. Poor old Duck was a classic wallflower.
But then one spring, a little girl-duck waddled over to Duck and sat down next to him. She wasn't a Muscovy (Duck was the only Muscovy there) but she seemed to like him. Duck had been with us for about a year, and Muscovys have large red warty carbuncles (hard to describe, they are lumpy fatty deposits that are bright red) around their eyes. Quite dashing if you're a girl duck, I'm sure. Anyway, Duck had a friend. And just like the wallflower who is adopted by one of the 'in' crowd, Duck was now allowed to hang with the flock.
Duck still didn't know how to fly, and adult male Muscovys aren't that good at flying, anyway. So, when something startled the flock, or they just wanted to catch some shade, or go swim in the cement pond, Duck would be left behind, waddling over to catch up, with his girlfriend keeping an eye on him.
Then one day Hawk came back. And decided to score a duck. Duck's duck.
She had wandered away from the flock after something interesting, and was across the Quad in the open. Duck was on his afternoon rounds and was about as far away from his girl as he could be.
Then the Peacocks and Chipmunks started their alarm noise. I was out headed to the latrine when the noise erupted. Hawk was circling overhead, making his choice. And his choice was Duck's duck. Duck was waddling as fast as he could to her. And Hawk dove. And Duck suddenly learned he could fly. And fly fast. And he was heavy. And he knocked Hawk into next week before he got to Duck's duck. Hawk got up groggily, looked around, and left, never to return during my tour.
And Duck? He spent that entire afternoon flying from one side of the Quad to the other, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, and made at least one foray out into the wider world.
But when I left Fort Sam for the last time, Duck was by the cement pond, under the tree, wing-to-wing with his sweetie, engaged in a little mutual grooming. I dunno if Duck has ducklings or not, but Duck made coming to work something to look forward to.