H&I Fires* 10 May 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.

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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New happenin's 'round the Demesne of Argghhh! - dang that's a purty sky!

Forrest Gump at Fort Riley. H/t, Larry K.

Overheard at the Moderate Risk household yesterday: So a Barack Obama ad comes on the tube last night and my lovely wife hits the mute button saying, "I don't want to hear it unless you are naming all 58 states."

68 years ago today... the German invasion of France and the Low Countries.

-the Armorer

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Some more Afghanistan. Two Iranians arrested for "spying" in Afghanistan.

Azad said the man was captured trying to enter the city of Zarang, on the border with Iran. "He had a camera that had photographs of weaponry indicating clear ties with [Afghanistan's] enemies," Azad said.

In a second incident, near Afghanistan's southeastern border with Pakistan, authorities say they detained an Iranian man who was preparing information for what they believe was an attack against NATO and Afghan security forces.

No Passport, Documents

Wazir Pacha, the assistant police chief in the southeastern Afghan province of Khost, said the man was not carrying any passport or documents and that he initially had pretended to be mentally ill. But Pacha says the man later confessed that he was on an information-gathering mission.

Red Legs Up!

[Kat]

Doggoned MSM

Talk about misleading headlines -- this one is just plain cruel...

Let's have a whatziss!

What the heck, it's Saturday, I'm going to be busy, so are you, if the server logs are any indicators over time.

This is a Soviet-era aiming circle. They loved to make complicated aiming circles. They made pretty accurate instruments, too - with one artifact that made them less precise than western circles. The Russians based their circular measurement on a 6000 degree circle. Western armies initially used 360 degrees, like a standard compass (which is less accurate than the Russian measurement) but later shifted over to mils, of which there are 6400 in a circle. That being determined by the fact that a circle of 1 kilometer diameter has a circular measurement of 6400 meters - meaning that one mil of movement left or right describes a movement of 1 meter at 1 kilometer. This gives a nice easy way to determine all sorts of things when surveying, or aiming cannon. The Russian approach is slightly less accurate - but they tended to make up for that will volume of fire.

The aiming circle is essentially a simple theodolite - an instrument designed to measure angles, whether vertical or horizontal.

Orient the aiming circle on a known direction, whether using surveyed lines or a built-in compass to orient to north (applying that declination constant, of course - a measurement that accounts for the deviation of magnetic north from true north, as well as local and instrument variations, only good for the local region, but that's a long boring post I won't bother you with...).

Once you've done that, you can then apply the principle of "opposite interior angles are equal" and lay your guns so that all are pointed the same direction. Another somewhat boring post I probably won't write, but ya never know, I might get grumpy and decide to punish you with the gory details.

Anyway - this Russian aiming circle has an attachment on it, not normally used. Anyone want to hazard a guess as to its purpose? I will give a clue that should help out 'Murican artillerymen - the US approach to this problem was both simpler, yet periodically required depot-level services.

Here are two more pics, to help you in your pondering. A largish one.. And this one:

The item whose purpose you're trying to identify is the gizmo on the left side of the intstrument. What looks like a black knob is in fact an eyepiece. What looks like a silver knob on the right, is *also* an eyepiece - and the main one, that you look through when sighting the instrument. The gizmo we're concerned with is in fact hooked on to circle in such a way it blocks the main viewer completely - since for the purpose of the gizmo, it's simply a convenient place to mount it so that you can level the gizmo. The silver knob in the middle - *that's* a knob. They key clue here is... the plane of view of the gizmo is perpendicular to the plane of view of the basic instrument.

Operation Mountain Highway II deals blow to insurgents

Army Capt. John Williams (left to right), commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment (Airborne), observes the hill top while Army Staff Sgt. William Randall, HHT, directs Army Sgt. Shawn Seymour,a M-240B machine gun operator in HHT, during Operation Mountain Highway II April 27 in Nuristan province, Afghanistan.

By Army Staff Sgt. Brandon Aird

173rd ABCT Public Affairs

NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment (Airborne) and Legion Company, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), teamed with the Afghan National Army and the Afghan Border Police to conduct Operation Mountain Highway II in eastern Nuristan province, Afghanistan recently.

Operation Mountain Highway II started April 22 when Soldiers from International Security Assistance Force and the ANA simultaneously air-assaulted at night onto three mountains above Gowerdesh Bridge.

Afghan and American Soldiers created Observation Posts Mace, Hatchet and Brick, which enabled the ABP and ANA to drive up from the south and seize the Gowerdesh Bridge April 26.

“It was very in deft synchronized air-assault to get everybody in,” said Army Capt. John Williams, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment (Airborne). “Over four months of planning was put into this operation.”

During the four-month planning phase, ABP were retrained on weapons, vehicle searches, first aid and reacting to contact, said Army Capt. Kafi Gwira, an ABP embedded tactical trainer from Chicago. The ABP were also issued new uniforms, weapons, ammunition and equipment for the operation.

“We got them ready to seize the bridge for good this time,” said Gwira. “The ABP will now maintain a presence at the bridge at all times.”

The ANA built three local observation posts near the bridge during the first few days of the operation, which were handed over to the ABP a few days later.

“The reason why this bridge is so critical is that its one of the last ones left for insurgents to use,” said Williams. “If they can’t use the Gowerdesh Bridge, this severely limits their capabilities in this area.”

According to Williams the bridge is part of a route used by insurgents to travel from Pakistan into the interior of Afghanistan.

Last summer, insurgents drove off the ABP and destroyed their security check point. The Gowerdesh Bridge has been a key altercation point between insurgents and Afghan forces over the last year. Numerous fire fights between ISAF and insurgents have occurred near the bridge.

“They need strong positions, which is why we provided the engineers to build the bunker positions at the bridge,” said Williams. “They also needed local OP’s, which we’re building near the bridge. So now, we can see all the area around us. The enemy can’t come here unimpeded like they have been.”

ISAF will continue to operate two of three larger observation posts to support the ABP, but once the bunkers and fighting positions are built the ABP will take over operations at Gowedesh Bridge.

According to Williams, Operation Mountain Highway II is an ongoing operation, but it’s already considered a great success.

“Since we have secured this bridge, we can now bring development to this region,” said Williams. “We can fix the road and bring economic and government development here. The insurgents have lost the upper hand in this area.”

An Afghan National Army soldier carrying a PK machine gun pulls security near the Gowedesh Bridge during Operation Mountain Highway II in Nuristan province, Afghanistan April 27. The ANA, Afghan Border Patrol, U.S. Army and Marines worked together during the operation to rebuild an ABP check point at the Gowedesh Bridge, which was partially destroyed by insurgents last summer.

One of the dilemmas of this kind of warfare. The bad guys only have to get lucky once, you have to be good (and lucky) all the time. And in terrain as cross-compartmented (Army-speak for lots of ridgelines cutting the area into "compartments") as Afghanistan, knocking out bridges can effectively isolate an area, creating a safer (nowhere is *safe* in an era of airplanes and thermal sights) environment for the insurgent to work on the population.

What's key now is - can the Afghan government hold and protect it - with their own troops and police... i.e., will the locals have enough confidence to have the courage to rat out the terrs?

That's the hard, slow work of counter-insurgency.

H&I Fires* 9 May 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.

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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In a somewhat creepy way, it is refreshing to see a good 'ol-fashioned Red Square Military Parade revived once more. This wishy-washy way we are conducting this so called GWOT, makes me miss the days in which the ossified Politburo would wave to the Proletarian Masses on top of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov's Mausoleum. At least then, some things were certain and unchanging - BOQ

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Perhaps not the flashiest of postings, but I looked at the Auditor General of Canada's report on supporting deployed operations (specifically the Canadian mission in Afghanistan). She says DND did a pretty good job, and that most of the problems she discovered are mirrored to one degree or another by both the American and British experiences, and therefore might simply be inherent to the enterprise.

It seems that gun tape, baling wire, and determination to do whatever it takes to get the pointy-end troops what they need characterized the Canadian support staff effort. BZ.

But there was a bureaucratic tip of the hat to the Scroungers that I thought was particularly instructive:

If you can decode the bureaucratese, what that means is that people order everything "high-priority," knowing full well it won't arrive in the time frame they're asking for, but also knowing that if they don't, their item will get bumped for someone else's "high-priority" item. When it's really, REALLY mission-critical, phone calls get made to flag stuff informally outside the system. There's nothing like the supply-chain mafia - mostly sergeants and higher - to get what you need when you need it. Scroungers are doing what scroungers have always done. There's a reason why it's such a valued unofficial skill in the military.

And this manipulation is serious enough that the department is redrafting its guidance on what constitutes "high-priority." Which means a bunch of supply officers are going to be leaning on a bunch of senior NCO's, who will then squeeze a bunch of junior ranks to not game the system. Which will work for awhile, until a crisis hits, and they need to start gaming the system to get what they need.

Which is how it should be. That tension between following the system, and going outside it to accomplish the mission has always been with us, and will always be with us. Leaders know how to balance the demands of each. And our military is chock-full of leaders from private to general.

- Damian

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No one took up the challenge on whose rules these were...

1. Simplify: Reduce all to a confrontation between Good and Evil.
2. Smear the opposition.
3. Manipulate the central values of the target audience to one's own purpose.
4. Use star performers to present one's views as the right thinking.
5. Repeat - endlessly repeat - the same message in different variations.

...though Frank did offer up some additions.

The answer is: Josef Stalin, as noted by Norman Davies, in his book, Europe, a History, published 1966. -the Armorer

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Meet Army Specialist Tom Owens, Georgia Army National Guard, a recent enlistee. He wears a Combat Infantry Badge. Awarded for his time in... Vietnam. Old warhorses paw the ground, when they hear the bugle, or the rumble of artillery. Some still have what it takes to hang with the young 'uns, too. H/t Bloodspite. -the Armorer

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John Hawkins over at Right Wing News did a survey on who the reich-wing knuckle-draggers feel are the most influential people of the Right.

Here's the bottom five:

#25: Mark Levin: 6
#21) Hugh Hewitt: 7
#21) George Will: 7
#21) John Roberts: 7
#21) Ronald Reagan: 7
#20) Victor David Hanson: 8

To find out who 1-20 are, click the link above. Sadly, once again, I didn't make the cut... ;^ ) -the Armorer

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Lex does us a service by laying out the issues and options for dealing with Iran. And he points us to Galhran, who offers further insight into which of those options may be most strongly in play: "The Fleet Positions Itself for War." Meanwhile, a face new to these parts adds the regional politics/gossip layer.

As a commenter said to Lex, "Sure you still want to leave?" - FbL

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Military Spouse Day 2008

Being the son of a military spouse, and the husband of one... all I have to say is... "Hoo-ah!"

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Military spouses embody the courage, nobility of duty, and love of country that inspire every American. On Military Spouse Day, we pay tribute to the husbands and wives who support their spouses in America's Armed Forces during times of war and peace.

The legacy of military spouses began when colonial Americans were fighting for independence. Martha Washington boosted the morale of her husband's troops by visiting battlefields and tending to the wounded. Since then, members of our Armed Forces have served our Nation accompanied by the steadfast love and support of their spouses and families.

While our men and women in uniform are protecting our country's founding ideals of liberty, democracy, and justice, their spouses live with uncommon challenges, endure sleepless nights, and spend long periods raising children alone. Many military spouses are also committed volunteers, serving other military families and local communities. Our Nation benefits from the sacrifices of our military families, and we are inspired by their courage, strength, and leadership.

On Military Spouse Day and throughout the year, we honor the commitment spouses have made to freedom's cause. To learn about ways to support our troops and their spouses and families, I encourage all Americans to visit www.americasupportsyou.mil.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 9, 2008, as Military Spouse Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities and by expressing their gratitude to the husbands and wives of those serving in the United States Armed Forces.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.

GEORGE W. BUSH

It's Contest-In-Context Time!

Contest Space-Time Continuum Time, actually. Here's a sample from Abyss & Apex:

11/15/2104 At 14:52:28, FreedomFighter69 wrote: Reporting my first temporal excursion since joining IATT: have just returned from 1936 Berlin, having taken the place of one of Leni Riefenstahl's cameramen and assassinated Adolf Hitler during the opening of the Olympic Games. Let a free world rejoice!

At 14:57:44, SilverFox316 wrote:
Back from 1936 Berlin; incapacitated FreedomFighter69 before he could pull his little stunt. Freedomfighter69, as you are a new member, please read IATT Bulletin 1147 regarding the killing of Hitler before your next excursion. Failure to do so may result in your expulsion per Bylaw 223.

At 18:06:59, BigChill wrote:
Take it easy on the kid, SilverFox316; everybody kills Hitler on their first trip. I did. It always gets fixed within a few minutes, what's the harm?

At 18:33:10, SilverFox316 wrote:
Easy for you to say, BigChill, since to my recollection you've never volunteered to go back and fix it. You think I've got nothing better to do?

Got the idea? Go back in time, do something cool, then yak about it. Or *un*do somebody's cool deed or farcup.

My example, reference *this* episode:

08/25/2104 At 04:32:45, CageyHajii502 wrote: Just returned from 24 Feb 2008. Filched the last two soap dishes from the PX/BX at FOB Warrior, Kirkuk (old spelling) in Iraq, thus compelling one W. Tuttle, an obscure US contractor, to procure a soap dish from Husam ("Sam") Ramaad, future CEO of the Kurdish Free State and Alpine Resort Association, who was then-proprietor of a small sundries shop. The results of the transaction were two-fold:

1. Sam sold Tuttle the last soap dish available in what was then Northern Iraq, thereby compelling al-Qaeda-in-Iraq soap dish foragers to return to Mosul empty-handed one week later. AQI members were left with no option but to leave their sole bar of soap on a nearby rock during their ablutions; nettle spines which had settled on the rock during the previous day's sandstorm adhered first to the soap and then to AQI members during subsequent ablutions, resulting in a 99% death rate from terminal rectal itch and reducing the remainder of the organization to committing random acts of jaywalking.

2. Sam used the cash (USD1) to corner the dust market in Kurdistan and, when the haute coutoure bunch declared khaki talcum powder the "absolute must-have" accessory for 2009, Sam became the wealthiest man east of the Greenwich Meridian.

The rest, as we now know, is history. Go pound sand, SilverFox316.

Hat Trick Tip to JMH, via the Flea.

H&I Fires* 8 May 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.

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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Senator John McCain:

McCain attended the U.S. Naval Academy from 1954 to 1958, and was commissioned as an ensign in June of that year. He retired in April 1981 with the rank of captain. In that time he received 17 awards and decorations. Besides the Silver Star Medal, McCain also received the Legion of Merit with a combat "V" and one gold star, a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Bronze Star Medal with a combat "V" and two gold stars.

For those that don't know - "V" is an identifier for valor. Gold stars mean for the Navy what oak leaf clusters do for the Army - a subsequent award of the same medal. Mind you, flying combat missions over Vietnam no more qualifies you for the high strategic job of CinC anymore than conning a Swift Boat on the Mekong does, or flying CAP for the US mainland in an F106, despite what people might want to claim. All three jobs were dangerous, some more often than others, and in different ways. H/t, Mike L. -the Armorer

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Recipe for hilarity... two goats, two dogs, SWWBO, and a skunk. In the barn. At night. With the Armorer watching bemusedly from the open tailgate of the Castle F150, with a cat in his lap.

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For those that don't know - "V" is an identifier for valor. Gold stars mean for the Navy what oak leaf clusters do for the Army - a subsequent award of the same medal.

That would be the same for the Air Force.

Mind you, flying combat missions over Vietnam no more qualifies you for the high strategic job of CinC anymore than conning a Swift Boat on the Mekong does, or flying CAP for the US mainland in an F106, despite what people might want to claim.

True enough, but only one of the three this sentence indirectly refers to obviously tried to associate his service in Indochina with his suitability for the highest office in the land, by "Reporting for Duty!" at his nominating convention. Just sayin'.

All three jobs were dangerous, some more often than others, and in different ways.

Mmmmmmmm, no. Disagree, respectfully. Based on my rather limited experience, CONUS CAP is a little less dangerous than rolling in for a LALD (low-angle, low-drag) delivery with releases well inside small-arms range (to say nothing of the heavier stuff) using dumb bombs in a relatively unsophisticated fighter in the most heavily defended enemy nation since the Second World War...and then going back to the carrier. I'd wager the brown water op was not even equivalent, although it was certainly #2 on that list.

Granted, Mac ain't Ronnie but he's no slouch when it comes to the single biggest threat we face right now. And seeing as how "...Support the Common Defense..." is fairly high up on the Founders priorities, I think McCain is a better choice (no contest for me, but you knew that). Basically, all things being equal, I want a C-in-C who's character has been demonstrably tested to some degree. Of course, the Nutroots will eventually start a 9/11 Troofer-esque routine on McCain ("he was never tortured...") but that'll be an indication that even they think it's important.

Personally, I want an adult for a president. While I VEHEMENTLY disagree with some of John's (McCain, not Donovan) positions (suppression of political speech as defined in his campaign finance reform legislation being #1), I know I'm getting someone who won't cave when things get dicey, domestically or internationally. I also feel--and this is just as important--that with the Mac-ster, I'm getting someone who sincerely believes this country is special and good and honorable and just...or tries to be, as much as it can, in this imperfect world.

Finally, I was taught how to understand and cherish a code of honor by many of John's fellow Hanoi Hilton inmates. These were, and are, men. Men who had their arms trussed up so tightly behind their backs that their sternums split down the middle while hanging from the rafters. In this environment, when offered a chance to bug out, McCain said, "Stick it."

Alas, McCain is notorious for not talking about his past, his achievements, his character or his many private good works since returning from Vietnam. That's a shame because I think it would make America's choice easier in the vast "mushy middle" who otherwise has to listen to Michelle Obama tell us how tough life's been for her and her husband.

Maybe that's why Hamas wants Barack to win.

Rant over.

-Instapilot

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Heh. Stomped on my VE Day stuff, too, puttin' up that rant. Sigh.

One more time, with feeling...

63 years ago today - VE Day.

Above -- At Piccadilly Circus in London, a U.S. soldier gives a hug to a motherly looking English woman celebrating Germany's unconditional surrender. (Photo credit: U.S. National Archives)

Interesting how the LA Times covered it that day...

Heh. I still want to take back the "V-for-Victory" handsign. It's a sad commentary on the parlous state of history education when I approach "Peace Sign" flashing younglings at protests they get all confused when I walk up, shake their hand and say "Hey! I'm with you! I'm for Victory too!" They usually stare blankly, and I don't think it's because the weird bearded fat guy came up and shook their hand... -the Armorer, prodded by Jim C.

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In terms of H&I Fires, is this what's referred to as calling in a strike on oneself...?: I just got off the phone after 30 minutes with MG Rick Lynch.

Maggie in 5... 4... 3...

If I'm still alive, I'll have a report on the interview tomorrow.

We covered a lot of interesting ground, including his thinking behind the proactive relationship 3ID has with local and new media, the "broken" army, and progress/issues in development of the Iraqi military and police forces.

*headed for the bunker* - FbL

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Looks like the rant bollixed the sidebar, too -- the Blogspawn and Denizen links have gone straight into the garderobe...

Whoop! H&I hat trick! -- Bill

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Not on my machine, Bill. -the Armorer

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Is a strike into Iran getting closer and more finalized? This seems to assume so. I wonder if we'll have a major bruhaha over the legality of it all. (Looks in the general direction of the usual suspects.)
--ry
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My apologies for stomping all over John's VE Day post...should have seen it coming.

OK. Now then. This is the first b**ch slap I have seen come out of the McCain camp. Superb. Let's hope the team keeps it up. Ooorah! -Instapilot

H/T to Andy McCarthy at The Corner (Buy his book!)
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Unca Bill reports in - with video.

Of course, the video doesn't show him - but he is the voice of sweetness, light, and all-round fuzzy goodness in the background.

Couple of vids from Ye Olde Simulator for your edification. Work safe, even the comments in Arabic.

Video 1

First one shows two IqAF RW pilots flying instruments above a solid overcast – first time they've ever flown without visual ground references and after a quick half-hour class on instrument scanning. Bear in mind I didn't magic them up there with the computer -- they had to climb 1,500 feet through the clouds to get there without "killing" themselves. I've prepped them for a radar approach, which neither have flown, but they got the idea after I demonstrated one.

Video 2.

Second vid shows a straight-in autorotation, which is the maneuver us fling-wingers perform when the engine does an FbL impersonation and goes *pthbbbbbbt!* -- ain't easy to get it right when you don't have decent visual cues. This one wasn't perfect, but it was close to it.

I need to renegotiate my contract -- I'm performing two steps above my pay grade (hah!)...

I asked Bill if the voice was his (it sounds different than when I've talked to him on the phone - heh, I've met most of the Denizens, but I've never laid direct eyes on Dusty or Bill... Anyway, Bill replied:

I'm five feet behind them, talking over the engine noise and the occasional Il-76 screaming overhead. If I don't use my "cut through the background noise" voice, they can't hear me well enough to follow the "ATC instructions." I use about four different voices, depending on who I am at the time -- Tower, Approach Control, another aircraft, and *me*...

Dusty chimed in with:

What airplanes are the F/W guys training for eventually? Reason I ask is the instrumentation. Fighters--HUD is the center of attention (if they're Vipers, EVERYTHING is done in the HUD, including instruments, since the standby ADI is between your knees and is about the size of a golf ball). Other jets--if the panel is glass, that's a whole new kettle of fish if you're coming from steam gauges. Moreover, depending on the software, what you're looking at and how you tell the airplane what to do is challenging at first for those who've not grown up with FMSs. (Boeing has, from what I'm told, a much better design than Honeywell's MD-11 FMS--long (boring) story about proprietary design, etc., etc., etc.)

That's the first time I've seen an autorotation of any sort (real or simulated). Interesting, and not as fast (in terms of sink rate) as I'd thought they would be. Dead sticking an MD-10 in the sim is similar...if you have the altitude to begin with, it's not as scary as you might think (of course, it IS the sim...). You're smokin' when you cross the numbers but energy bleeds off fairly rapidly in the flare.

You must be having a lot of fun! God, I hope whoever gets elected doesn't end up leaving these poor guys out to dry by bugging out of Iraq.

Stay safe and Check Six,
Dusty

Which I included here since we had that discussion about how the MI-17 crashed.

Heh. Keep this in mind as you watch the political ads this silly season.

See how many of them (from both sides) follow this recipe:

1. Simplify: Reduce all to a confrontation between Good and Evil.

2. Smear the opposition.

3. Manipulate the central values of the target audience to one's own purpose.

4. Use star performers to present one's views as the right thinking.

5. Repeat - endlessly repeat - the same message in different variations.

Mind you, as Don Marquis noted, "An idea isn't responsible for the people who believe in it." but it's instructive nonetheless. So, go off snipe-hunting and figure out who gets credit for that recipe.

Mix 'n match cultures... dangers thereof.

Yesterday, in the H&I Fires, I pointed to an article about Golf in the Green Zone.

Bill chimed in with the observation that if you are an inveterate golfer, you need to have a care that just because *you* golf, doesn't mean everybody does - and that which looks "golf-ish" just might be something altogether different...

There's a driving range up here, according to a couple of the guys who think golf is actually a sport of some sort. They checked it out last week -- spotted chunks of red-painted rebar driven into a flat spot, figured those were the Permanent Tees, and started popping balls downrange.

Couple of Iraqi Engineer types came sauntering up and casually informed them they were teeing off on suspected UXO markers...

This PSA is brought to you as free service of Castle Argghhh!, a painful grip on the obvious for 5 years and counting...

The photo above was sneekily snatched from Akinoluna and her blogpost on Golf, Iraq Style.

H&I Fires* 7 May 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.

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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Argent (nee Trias) informs me that today might be... Adjutant Brab's Natal Day! Even if she has turned into something of a blog-slug, she sent me pictures of a cannon that she snapped while vacationing in Europe, so she's a Good Egg in my book. -the Armorer

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Some people simply cannot forgo whacking a small ball with clubs.

This is golf, Green Zone style.

One recent afternoon - squeezed in between sandstorms and incoming mortar rounds - a colleague and I hit the links. We dubbed it the Baghdad Open.

But there's nothing really open about it. The nine-hole Crossed Swords Golf Course is closed in by 15-foot concrete blast walls and watched over by humorless Gurkha guards from Nepal.

You can catch the rest by clicking here. H/t, Kevin G. -the Armorer

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Over at The Torch, a blog about the Canadian Forces, some discussion on the new Western Way of War... "We're not in Afghanistan to burn gas and shoot bullets..." -the Armorer

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Kansas Sage El Borak notes an interesting dichotomy about the Middle East. Republican George Bush decides to engage in regime change, while Democrat Hillary Clinton wants to engage in market intervention... to smash the OPEC cartel... -the Armorer

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Just in case you missed it elsewhere:

Navy Secretary Names New Guided-Missile Destroyer USS Michael Murphy

Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter announced today at a ceremony in Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y., the name of the newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer will be Michael Murphy. Designated as DDG-112, the name honors Lt. Michael Murphy who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during Operation Red Wing in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005.

Navy SEAL (Sea, Air, Land) Lt. Michael P. Murphy lead a four-man team tasked with finding a key Taliban leader in the mountainous terrain near Asadabad, Afghanistan, when they came under fire from a much larger enemy force with superior tactical position. Mortally wounded while exposing himself to enemy fire, Murphy knowingly left his position of cover to get a clear signal in order to communicate with his headquarters. While being shot at repeatedly, Murphy calmly provided his unit's location and requested immediate support for his element. He returned to his cover position to continue the fight until finally succumbing to his wounds.

Michael Murphy will be one of the U.S. Navy's most advanced, state-of-the-art warships in the fleet. With the combination of Aegis, the vertical launching system, and advanced anti-submarine warfare system, advanced anti-aircraft missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles, the Arleigh Burke-class continues the revolution at sea. Utilizing a gas turbine propulsion system, Michael Murphy will be able to operate independently or as part of carrier strike groups, surface action groups, amphibious ready groups, and underway replenishment groups.

Michael Murphy will be the 62nd Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. The 9,200 ton ship is being built by Bath Iron Works, a General Dynamics Company and will be 509.5 feet in length, have a waterline beam of 59 feet, a crew size of 323 (23 officers and 300 enlisted) and she will make speed in excess of 30 knots.

-the Armorer

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Update 3 from the Castle's Sailor-in-Iraq, Joe Honan.

[Joe]

"Farmer Joe" Honan, US Navy Agriculture Specialist.

You know how I said last update that I worked well with the General’s staff on the sheep feed program? Well because of my sins I have been given a second “hat” as the Multinational Forces West Civil Affairs Office Agriculture representative. That’s right, they asked me stay on the General’s staff to do farming. The good news is that I’ve managed to extend myself past sheep and now have visited poultry and fish farms. Its up to the big leagues once I get to see the dairy cows.

To help, the Marines gave me a Gunnery Sergeant. A good man typical of the breed. We met and he said “Sir I don’t know why I have this job, I wanted to run convoys but they said since I grew up on a farm in Michigan I had to do agriculture. I didn’t learn anything as a kid, I just did heavy labor, and spent most of time trying to get out of that!”

I just smiled and said “Gunny, you and me are going to get along just fine.” We have a great officer/NCO relationship. I think big strategic thoughts and he stands on people’s necks until it happens.

Seriously though I don’t think that I’m missing anything because I don’t have an agricultural degree. The issues hare are pretty straightforward. The know how to farm, and most have some type of AG Degree, but the infrastructure here is about thirty years out of date. Some was destroyed in the fighting, some through neglect by the government which in the heavily centralized Saddam era was the only group to do it. The big issue is that power has been disrupted, so there is no electricity for the irrigation pumps or fuel for the generators in the poultry hatcheries. Farmers have been staying afloat by selling livestock or bits of equipment, making the problems worse.

The good news however is that we are not dealing with the “bottom billion.” The people that the Bill and Linda Gates Foundation help survive on less than an acre of land. The farms I’ve visited are large and run by people that know agriculture. I visited a poultry farm a few days ago, the man had incubators, satellite breeder farms, a feed mill and was starting a slaughter house. We asked what his three big issues were, and he said he wanted visas so some of his men could go visit Tyson, electricity at the agriculture college lab so they could do blood tests on his flock, and someone to pave the road so the trucks could come in and buy feed in the rainy season.

Of course, since I wrote that above paragraph, I’ve learned not everyone is as locked on as the poultry guy. There has been some interest in developing fish farms in the area. So to understand what we had to deal with, we found a fish farm one of the civil affairs teams had helped and went to go see them. We knew it was on the Euphrates and across from the water treatment plant, but couldn’t find it. So we pulled the MRAP over and asked directions. Turned out we were right there, but I missed it, because I was looking for stuff like fish and water as a marker. Instead we get pointed to a dry empty hole, with an irrigation ditch leading to a broken pump. No one is there, but I corral the neighbor and ask about the farm. The basic story is that they filled the pool, caught some fish in the river, but the pumped stopped, and in about two days the water went down, and then for some reason the fish died, so they put more in but they died too. Now I’m no expert as you know, but you don’t have to be CSI to know that when the circulation stops there is no aeration of the water, evaporation lowers the water level which increases the temperature, and the high salt content of the soil leeched into the water. Any one of which can kill fish.

Moral of the story is: help the guys that know what they are doing. A few small projects for the poultry farmer goes farther in stabilizing the economy and creating jobs than does building stuff from scratch because someone asks you to. The only way to do this is to get out and about and see as much as you can. So we now have a list of five farmers who buy fish food from the Al Anbar poultry king. We figure since they buy feed, they have to have fish, and will track those guys down to see ground truth. Well anyway, the book for “Post-Combat Operations” hasn’t really been written yet, and its a lot of fun trying to build this airplane while its flying.

We drove past an Iraqi checkpoint and I saw a little girl hanging out there with her father, watching our three armed and armored HUMVEES going past like she’d seen it a million times. I thought about what a weird world she lived in, and how its one we’re hopefully making better for her children.

Anyway, I have a couple of pictures I’ve included. I blacked out the faces of the locals because I never got their permission.

H&I Fires* 6 May 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.

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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Here's one for Bloodspite... dude, you're a rabid football fan - but are you as dedicated as Specialist Benton Thames?

Over at VA Mortgage (no, not spam, a blog hosted there) CJ has two posts echoing themes that have played out in this space. The leadership needed to make sure Soldiers have the courage to face their emotional problems resulting from combat (which includes restructuring the culture so that acknowledging people can be affected, yet still be effective), and CJ's take on the "comparative costs" of the war, a theme we hit on just last week. -the Armorer

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Ok, so I've done it. I've participated in my first DOD Blogger's Roundtable.
The Armorer said "Now FbL will have some competition as the sultry-voiced fox on the 'fone".
Here's the audio. What do you think? I don't think sultry is the word. LOL
Although, I've received my frist grade over at Information Dissemination and he has pronounced:

"Enter one of my favorite bloggers, Boston Maggie, who we'll refer to as the goddess of the naval blogger strike group keeping us all honest. Maggie kicked ass today at the roundtable, giving us something to talk about with this issue, which I was not sure was actually possible. Even better, she did it with one good question."

Why I fly boxes...

Because many humans are scum.

It also explains why many flight attendants look upon people the same way cops do...because they see a side of humanity they shouldn't have to, too often. (That would be every flight.) Trust me. I'm married to a former flight attendant who quit for that reason.

What really chapped my a$$ reading the article was the myriad excuses passengers and psychologists came up with to "explain" the phenomenon.

Bollocks.

There is NO reason--NONE--to go feral in an airplane just because its an airplane.

Sheesh.