H&I* Fires DEC 30, 2006

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Froggy has started a firestorm over at B5 with his complaint about the ROE(rules of engagement) our Boys and Girls work under. Me? I'm with Kat-Mizzou and Skippy-san in the comments (most of which aren't worth the effort, but there's some good stuff in there). The full spectrum of the conflict must be considered and not just the tip of the spear. That doesn't mean that the two aspects, tip of the spear and the overall politics, shouldn't have an interplay though. They should. Which is what Skippy and Kat along with Froggy are arguing.
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Oh, and did you know that wanting 'violent retaliation' for 9/11 was bad for your health? Scientists say so, and so it must be true. Phhhhpppppt.
ry
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Project Valour-IT - money well spent. -the Armorer

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Reporting the war, MSM-style, as observed by Greyhawk.

Unlike in 1943-45, when there were thousands of them - there is only one are only two flyable Lancaster bombers. And those gnomes who spend their spare time poring over the commercial satellite imagery looking for things like airplanes in flight and military installations - found one, flying, in Google Maps. H/t, Monteith. -the Armorer [Update, Check out CAPT H's comment]

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Speaking of odd things found in Google Earth... how about that Chinese Nimitz-class aircraft carrier you (and the Navy) didn't know they had?

[Update - CAPT H points out another rogue Nimitiz. ] -the Armorer

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What? No Hussein swinging from a Star entry?

True to the last he had to argue, but he still ended up doing the Tyburn Two Step
C'mon, thats the best Christmas present I've seen all year!
Yes folks, Ding Dong the witch is dead.

Until we find out that his buddies hijacked him during the moment of truth and he's going to start leading the "Rebellion"

Until then, its a nice feeling knowing there's one less HVT out there.
Enjoy it.

Fillean meal ar an meallaire!

-BloodSpite

Another soldier joins the crowd at Fiddler's Green.

A loss among the readers here at Castle Argghhh!...

Armorer Donovan,

Wednesday, December 20, former Staff Sergeant George Brown, Cannon Company, 422 Infantry Regiment, 106th Inf. Div., passed from this vale. You know their story as you featured highlights of it last week.

If you have access to a 105, would you fire off a round for an old cannon cocker? He had his rifle salute and a real bugler but I would dearly have loved to touch off a round. If not, just raise a cup of kindness.

Thank you for the Castle. To you and yours, I wish a Happy New Year.

SC 256443 - Sheltered by a camouflage net, GIs of the Cannon Company, 9th Infantry, 2d Infantry Division, fire their howitzer on Brest. A German garrison has held out there for four weeks against the Allied attack. Piles of shell cases are in the foreground. 1944 (Photo courtesy US Army Center for Military History

A hi-res pic can be had here.

The soldiers of the 106th (Golden Lions) Infantry Division took it in the shorts during the Battle of the Bulge. A brand-new division, it had entered the lines for the first time 5 days before the Germans attacked.

They were smashed to flinders, the Division being virtually obliterated. But they went down fighting, every bit as hard as Prentiss went down at the Hornet's Nest at Shiloh. Like Prentiss, eventually surrendering, but buying the time Eisenhower and Montgomery needed, just as Prentiss bought Grant and Sherman the time they needed to rally the Union Army and finally beat the Southern troops back.

Field Marshall Montgomery of Alamein noted their courage:

The American soldiers of the... 106th Infantry Division stuck it out and put up a fine performance. By jove, they stuck it out, those chaps.

Staff Sergeant George Brown was a Golden Lion, and like lions they fought.

And this was his weapon.

A United States M3 Howitzer outside the Army Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. 5 October 2006 Photographer Max Smith (Photo courtesy of the photographer)

I don't have access to a shootable gun - but I will provide this sound of thunder.

[Update: I found this - a 21 gun salute to the Queen - but the guns are a more appropriate caliber...]

[sound of smashing shot glass]

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

Cannon Companies were unique to the WWII Infantry Regiment structure. The Cannon Company of a regiment was first equipped with two halftrack-mounted 105mm howitzers and six halftrack-mounted 75mm howitzers. Later in the war these were replaced with 6 of the M3 105mm towed howitzer, a short-barreled 105 mm gun. Literally short-barreled - the gun was the standard 105mm howitzer barrel, cut-off at the bearing ring, mounted on the recoil mechanism of the Pack 75, and mounted on a lighter mount similar to the 57mm anti-tank gun carriage. Truly a hybrid. The Cannon Companies were an attempt to balance the need for flexible fires with the need to mass fires for maximum effect. The general proposition is that artillery is most effective when fires are massed and controlled centrally - but that comes at the cost of responsiveness. The cannon companies were the product US industrial strength. We could give our forces artillery firepower in amounts everybody but the Russians (who also believed in artillery as the Red God of War) would envy. We allowed the regiments 6 M3 howitzers, while the Division Artillery had 36 M2 105mm howitzers and 12 M1 155mm howitzers.

In my time, focused as we were on the massive Slavic horde, centralization and control were the order of the day, and the heavy divisions were organized with 54 (later 72) 155mm howitzers and 12 (later 18) 8inch howitzers. While each brigade (the equivalent of the WWII regiment) had a battalion of guns in direct support, it didn't actually own the guns and the battalion was used for other purposes when a brigade was in reserve. The Cannon Companies were organic to the Regiment they had complete control.

The exception to this during my day (because the tension still existed between mass and responsiveness) were the Cavalry units, which had organic batteries of self-propelled 155mm cannon. Those were the plum jobs to get as a company-grade Redleg in Europe - command of a "HowBat", or howitzer battery.

The wheel has come full circle, with a twist. In the modular force, the way the Army is reconfiguring itself, the artillery once again belongs to the brigade commander. The Division Artillery is a rump of it's former self, but, via it's digital comms, still acts as the agency of massing fires and long range planning. And because artillery ammunition is heavy, we're rapidly pushing ourselves to carrying almost nothing but precision munitions - which, as we all know, kill quicker, cleaner, and with less collateral damage.

Because, again, we're never going to face a horde again.

Well, at least not in the short term. And if we do, the Air Force will be the provider of massed fires, in all weather, 24/7.

So, guys like me are a dying breed, mammoths all!

It strikes me - that if the Fort does a 21-gun salute for President Ford, I should try to get there with the video camera.

H*I Fires 29 Dec 2006

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. [Admittedly, I'm fibbing. Trackbacks are still broken]

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1SG Keith got a "Merry Christmas" comment from Mack.... who turns out to be an "Ex British Soldier and Falklands War & Northern Ireland veteran author & Poet & Father trying to make sense of the Traumatic events in my life." Please... go visit Rogue Gunner. Watch the first two videos, entitled "Royal Marine Tribute" and "Rest In Peace" ... and remember our British counterparts in the GWOT. Thanks Mack. ~AFSis

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Some light-hearted info on Feline Physics for the Castle Kitties. ~Barb

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Someone has been reading their Mahan and taking his lessons to heart.
Unfortunately, I cannot say it is us that’s doing it but have to say it is the PLAN(People’s Liberation Army-Navy of China) that intends to do so.
ry
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Rumors have Saddam taking the Long Drop at sunrise in Iraq. About 9PM or so, Central. While I'm not holding my breath, it would be good news. I'm not an ovewhelming fan of the death penalty - but some people are richly deserving. Russ, over at TacJammer, looks at it from a, um, slightly different perspective. I missed this musical. -the Armorer

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It's official -- Saddam just took the long step. Bill

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The man certainly makes use of avenues not available to his victims.

Saddam Hussein will be executed no later than Saturday, said an Iraqi judge authorized to attend his hanging. American and Iraqi officials met to set the hour of his death. Lawyers for Saddam Hussein asked a U.S. judge to block his transfer to the custody of Iraqi officials poised to carry out his execution.

Hussein's lawyers filed documents Friday afternoon asking for a stay of execution. The 21-page request was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington before Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.

Attorneys argued that because Hussein also faces a civil lawsuit in Washington, he has rights as a civil defendant that would be violated if he is executed. He has not received notice of those rights and the consequences that the lawsuit would have on his estate, his attorneys said.

"To protect those rights, defendant Saddam Hussein requests an order of this court providing a stay of his execution until further notice of this court," attorney Nicholas Gilman wrote.

A similar request by the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, Awad Hamed al-Bandar, was denied Thursday and is under appeal. Al-Bandar also faces execution. The Justice Department argued in that case that U.S. courts have no jurisdiction to interfere with the judicial process of another country.

Read the rest here, plus another discussion of the impending event here.

On the origins of some military traditions...

...laid out for you in preparation for President Ford's funeral.

By John J. Kruzel American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 28, 2006 - Military tradition will be evident throughout the events associated with the Dec. 26 death of former President Gerald R. Ford, as the services join the nation in bidding farewell to their former commander in chief.

Ford's three-stage state funeral will begin tomorrow [today] with the former president's remains lying in repose at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Palm Desert, Calif. He will then be honored in the nation's capital, and finally in his home state of Michigan, where he will be buried. Ford's casket will arrive Dec. 30 at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. A motorcade will travel through Alexandria, Va., where Ford resided while serving as a congressman and vice president. After a pause at the World War II Memorial -- Ford served in the Navy during the war -- the motorcade will proceed to the U.S. Capitol, where the former president will lie in state.

Ford's coffin will be draped in a U.S. flag, with the blue field over his left shoulder. The custom began in the Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when a flag was used to cover the dead as they were taken from the battlefield on a caisson.

Graveside military honors in Michigan will include the firing of three volleys each by seven servicemembers. This commonly is confused with an entirely separate honor, the 21-gun salute. But the number of individual gun firings in both honors evolved the same way.

The three volleys came from an old battlefield custom. The two warring sides would cease hostilities to clear their dead from the battlefield, and the firing of three volleys meant that the dead had been properly cared for and the side was ready to resume the battle.

The 21-gun salute traces its roots to the Anglo-Saxon empire, when seven guns constituted a recognized naval salute, as most naval vessels had seven guns. Because gunpowder in those days could be more easily stored on land than at sea, guns on land could fire three rounds for every one that could be fired by a ship at sea. [This section appears to be incomplete. IIRC, the purpose of firing the salute was to prove your guns were empty as a gesture of good faith, and assuring the land-based guns the first shot. The same reason that when Navy ships enter harbor they have the crew standing in whites around the hull - to show that not only are the guns empty, they are un-manned. Sailors correct me if I'm wrong. -the Armorer]

Later, as gunpowder and storage methods improved, salutes at sea also began using 21 guns. The United States at first used one round for each state, attaining the 21-gun salute by 1818. The nation reduced its salute to 21 guns in 1841, and formally adopted the 21-gun salute at the suggestion of the British in 1875.

An "order of arms" protocol determines the number of guns to be used in a salute. A president, ex-president or foreign head of state is saluted with 21 guns. A vice president, prime minister, secretary of defense or secretary of the Army receives a 19-gun salute. Flag officers receive salutes of 11 to 17 guns, depending on their rank. The rounds are fired one at a time.

A U.S. presidential death also involves other ceremonial gun salutes and military traditions. On the day after the death of the president, a former President or president-elect -- unless this day falls on a Sunday or holiday, in which case the honor will rendered the following day -- the commanders of Army installations with the necessary personnel and material traditionally order that one gun be fired every half hour, beginning at reveille and ending at retreat.

On the day of burial, a 21-minute gun salute traditionally is fired starting at noon at all military installations with the necessary personnel and material. Guns will be fired at one-minute intervals. Also on the day of burial, those installations will fire a 50-gun salute -- one round for each state -- at five- second intervals immediately following lowering of the flag.

The playing of "Ruffles and Flourishes" announces the arrival of a flag officer or other dignitary of honor. Drums play the ruffles, and bugles play the flourishes - one flourish for each star of the flag officer's rank or as appropriate for the honoree's position or title. Four flourishes is the highest honor.

When played for a president, "Ruffles and Flourishes" is followed by "Hail to the Chief," which is believed to have been written in England in 1810 or 1811 by James Sanderson for a play by Sir Walter Scott called "The Lady of the Lake." The play began to be performed in the United States in 1812, the song became popular, and it became a favorite of bands at festive events. It evolved to be used as a greeting for important visitors, and eventually for the president, though no record exists of when it was first put to that use.

The bugle call "Taps" originated in the Civil War with the Army of the Potomac. Union Army Brig. Gen. Daniel Butterfield didn't like the bugle call that signaled soldiers in the camp to put out the lights and go to sleep, and worked out the melody of "Taps" with his brigade bugler, Pvt. Oliver Wilcox Norton. The call later came into another use as a figurative call to the sleep of death for soldiers.

Ford will be buried with full military honors at his presidential museum in Grand Rapids, Mich., Jan. 3.

(John D. Banusiewicz of American Forces Press Service contributed to this article. Information from Web pages of the Military District of Washington and Arlington National Cemetery was used in this article.)

H&I Fires* 28 Dec 2006

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The headline may change by the time this post is published, but the current one is "Report: Ford Said Iraq War is Not Justified." The quotes in the story say nothing of the sort. In a previously-embargoed interview from 2004 (now published by the WaPo), Ford says he would have preferred to push sanctions more vigorously, but regarding justification for the war, he is quoted:

Rumsfeld and Cheney and the president made a big mistake in justifying going into the war in Iraq. They put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction... And now, I've never publicly said I thought they made a mistake, but I felt very strongly it was an error in how they should justify what they were going to do.

UPDATE: Yup, they changed it. Now it's "Ford had problems with Bush Iraq policy." The new opening paragraph says, "Former President Gerald R. Ford questioned the Bush administration's rationale for the U.S. invasion and war..." But the following paragraph just restates the old headline. However, it goes on in additional new material to make explicitly clear what he actually meant:

Saddam Hussein was an evil person and there was justification to get rid of him," he observed to the Daily News. "But we shouldn't have put the basis on weapons of destruction. That was a bad mistake. Where does (Bush) get his advice?

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Great Britain pays off her WWII debt in full. I'm impressed, though I'd have thought we'd given them some credits, if nothing else, for their standing by us in the GWOT. Some commenters aren't, um, impressed. H/t, Jim C. -the Armorer

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Heh. Methane and jail. Not a good combination. H/t, Mike L. -the Armorer

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I like young Wales.

No, not a typo-damaged lust for under-age cetaceans... rather young Prince Harry of A Squadron, the Blues and Royals.

Prince Harry has threatened to quit the Army if commanders refuse to send him to the front line.

He told senior officers before recently passing out of Sandhurst as a Second Lieutenant: "If I am not allowed to join my unit in a war zone, I will hand in my uniform."

Good on you, Lieutenant. That's what I want to see in a young officer.

Of course, it isn't that simple, now is it?

Like it or not, Prince Harry is 3rd in line for the Throne of England. That makes him a very lucrative "kill or capture" target.

Okay, it's a dangerous business, isn't it? The Royal Family have thus far not been too shy about risking their own flesh and blood in service, witness Prince Andrew in the Falklands.

So, the concern twists itself to another angle - would Lieutenant Wales' presence put his troops at greater risk, as the jihadis try to score the Big One?

That is a concern expressed by the senior leadership, for whom such things really are important.

The embarrassment for the Army caused by him quitting would be matched by uproar at the notion that while ordinary citizens are allowed to that their main problem is not whether Harry can take the pressure of coming under fire in action – but whether the lives of the men fighting alongside him will be more at risk because he is regarded as a ‘trophy target’ by insurgents.

One experienced commander said: "Second Lt Wales will, as far as is possible, be treated like any other officer but there has to be a line drawn as to whether the men he leads might experience extra danger due to his presence. Decisions will be taken by commanding officers based on an accurate risk assessment at the time."

The Sun is reporting that Prince Harry may go to Afstan with his unit. And, that soldiers are supportive of his deploying.

Officially, the Ministry of Defence insists that a final decision about whether second lieutenant Harry will be allowed to fight in Iraq has yet to be made.

The Prince has always said he is determined to do battle with his 100-strong unit, A Squadron of the Blues and Royals — part of the Household Cavalry.

They begin a six-month tour of Iraq in the spring. And before that, they are expected to take part in war games and exhaustive preparations for conflict.

The decision over the young Royal is deemed so important it will be made by the Army’s top man, Chief of the General Staff General Sir Richard Dannatt.

But a bandwagon of popular support is growing among the ranks to allow Harry to fulfil his dream of active service. Despite alarm over the possibility of putting the Prince’s life in danger, top brass will find that hard to refuse.

I say Lieutenant Wales is either a member of the unit, or not. If he is, then he should deploy with them, and not send them out with a newbie who hasn't trained with the unit.

If it turns out that every splodey-dope jihadi with a belt of explosives want to martyr themselves - that can be sorted out on the ground over there, based on the actual risks, vice the "might be a problems".

It's a war. Let's not forget the moral(e) aspects. There are some considerations that transcend.

Let Wales fight.

H/t, Heartless Libertarian.

Motivators...

Joe is back. With more.

I think the thing I like the most about this picture is... the cooler. And what it represents about US soldiery.

The thing that has kept enemies for over a century thinking we're weak and unable to fight.

We like our comforts. And we'll still rip your guts out, ascetic-boy.

Milblogger wounded.

No, a wounded milblogger isn't any more important than any other wounded warrior. But these are people we know, and through whom we get a little view into the world of the deployed soldier. No more important, just more... accessible. And just like Major Z of From My Position, this is a wounded milblogger who will probably give us another window into Walter Reed and rehab, an important aspect where these soldiers show a completely different level and type of courage and struggle to overcome and adapt.

J.R. Salzman, of Lumberjack in a Desert has been wounded by an IED.

it is hard for me to tell you all this but i was hurt by an ied here. my right arm has been amputated below the elbow, my left has four working fingers. my legs are fine so l can still logroll! i am on my way to the hospital in germany, then back to the states for more care. i am in high spirits. i am going to be ok, but i will have a long road to recovery. please remember me in your prayers, as well as those who were injured with me. i will let you know more as time passes.

This soldier was from the same unit in the Minnesota Army Guard who gave us the "Halp us Jon Carry" banner. JR wasn't one of the people in that photo, but he *did* meet the creator!

Rest assured, the Elves (Chuck and Fuzzybear Lioness) of Project Valour-IT are already on it, having been alerted by AFSis.

Standing tall and maintaining a good attitude. These kids are every bit as tough as their forebears. The Republic is well served. Well served indeed.

Update: The Elves are quick. From email: "...it should be delivered next weekend, assuming they can get ahold of Salzman's family to arrange for the meeting. "

Those of you who contribute to Project Valour-IT - thank you ever so much.

Updated update: Hello to visitors from NRO. You'll probably appreciate the post above this one, too. More importantly... Just a note regarding the Valour-IT link: the entire Soldiers' Angels website is being redone and the server transfer left a ton of stuff scrambled on the Valour-IT section of the site. They're working on it. We apologize for the mess.

H&I* Fires Dec 27, 2006

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. [Admittedly, I'm fibbing. Trackbacks are still broken]

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Mebbe this should have been on my Christmas list...

I love this headline: Army Calls Up Unsuspecting Reserves To Fill Ranks The headline at the website has since changed to Not Over 'Till It's Over, which is certainly accurate!

While the obligation of returning to war is part of the contract soldiers sign upon enlistment, it's jarring for those who figured they'd left behind drilling, rations, chain-of-command orders and life-threatening perils.

"It kind of knocks you off your heels a bit," Mr. Kramer said in his living room last week, with his wife Jocelyn leaning on his shoulder on their couch. "For me, I always felt after being in the military, it's not a way to raise a family."

5 years into the GWOT... I'm sure it knocks you off your heels, but it surely shouldn't be all that unexpected. That said, some of us can't get recalled to despite our best efforts... H/t, Jim C. -the Armorer

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Heeee! I seems that John *** The Windbag** Kerry, has gotten himself Stuk all alone in Eyerak. Hope that you had a lonely little christmas there Mr. Kerry - BOQ

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The nervousness mounts. I see Ace of Spades was worried he'd gotten canceled... he didn't. He's doing fine now - TF Boggs, real milblogger just back from Iraq (vice us retired faux-milbloggers) is doing an excellent job - and he's the main guest for this show. Smash was good. I'm just gonna stutter and MSU. Those who know, know.

Hee! SGT Boggs just volunteered to be the next Churchill... soldier correspondent.

Boggs is being dismissive of the IED bombers - which is an interesting attitude. What I find interesting about the shift almost entirely to IEDs in combat is the indicator that the jihadis are less willing to face us in open combat - and are relying on external support - those Iranian IEDs - to continue the fight. That's a sign of winning.
-the Armorer

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Well, that went *much* better than I expected. That said, my best line got cut off by the break...

"The Iraqis don't want Saddam back - they want the stability. But they want the stability without being fed into industrial chippers." -the Armorer

Kewl. I've done radio. My first media in a looooong time. -the Armorer

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Go Ethiopia! Kick Islamist Booty.

Hmmm. Wonder what's different about their approach from ours in 1993? Oh, I know. They are there to kill people, break things, and then they'll leave. Easier to do when the MSM ignores your war. -the Armorer

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Hmmm... I wonder whether we are lifting a page out of previous struggles, and giving those Moon God Worshipers a taste of what we so aptly gave them Godless 4th Internationalists in Guatemala, Angola, Malaya, Burma, et alii, back in the 60's & 70's????

A SMACKDOWN BY PROXY

Somehow, me thinks that the good people sandwiched between Falls Church and Arlington, VA are performing with distinction.

Oh BTW - Many kudos to Massa John. yer on yer way to become a true Media Maven. - BOQ

You find the most interesting things...

...in the most unlikely places.

LTG Petraeus (CG here at Fort Leavenworth) was interviewed by the German Spiegel (Mirror) Online.

Spiegel asks...

SPIEGEL: General Petraeus, you were in charge of combat operations in Iraq, you supervised the build-up of the new Iraqi security force and now you oversee the training and education of Army officers here at Fort Leavenworth. Would you agree that you are trying to impose a sort of a cultural revolution on the United States Army?

LTG Petraeus' answer will be soup for Ry's soul:

Petraeus: There is quite a big cultural change going on. We used to say, that if you can do the "big stuff," the big combined arms, high-end, high intensity major combat operations and have a disciplined force, then you can do the so-called "little stuff," too. That turned out to be wrong.

This little snippet caught my attention:

SPIEGEL: You propagate the idea that young officers should go to graduate school. Why does a soldier need a master's degree?

Petraeus: We're talking about how to react to unforeseeable, non-standard tasks, we're talking about environments that are very different to those we're used to. You have to work in a foreign language, you have to negotiate with people who come from another religious background or who don't even share what we would call the same core values. Now here you have a setting quite similar to graduate school, which takes you out of your intellectual comfort zone -- and that really is something a young officer should experience.

You know, we in the Army, we have to admit, that we're living sometimes a sort of a grindstone cloister existence. We work very hard; indeed, we have our noses to the proverbial grindstone. And we tend to live a somewhat cloistered existence much of our lives. So we have to try to raise, as one of my colleagues once put it, our sights beyond the maximum effective range of a M-16-rifle. Graduate school and other experiences that get us out of our intellectual comfort zone help us do just that.

Heh. While I agree, and emphatically, I sent this response to the SAMS (School of Advanced Military Studies) graduate buddy of mine, Jim C. who sent me this link...

Heh. And those of us who did raise our sights above the proverbial M16 post-and-peep were rewarded exactly how...?

And Jim, who is something of a warfighting intellectual himself (at least the government pays us decent dollars to do this for them... now) responded thusly:

I believe we were shown the door.

Indeed. I agree with LTG Petraeus' responses in the piece. I only hope he (or someone like him in stature) is really working the other side - the officers who sit on the promotion boards. From our era, a not insignificant number of whom don't have combat patches. And I hope he finds a way to institutionalize it so that it lasts beyond this period of combat, though the history of the Army does not offer much hope of that.

One of the reasons I blog, beyond gun pr0n, or "the more kinetic aspects of history" as Matt describes the stuff at the Castle - to be a little ember, casting a small glow in a forgotten corner near the disused lavatory in the third sub-basement. You know the one - the one with the sign that says "Beware of the Leopard!"

President Ford, Requiescat in pace.

President Ford - the first (and hopefully only) President essentially appointed to the job, never having won a nationwide election for office. And taking over in some tough circumstances, too.

Another one of those sailor Presidents who went to war...

His was a caretaker Presidency, with it's ups and downs, and is, of course, marked by two big issues.

His pardon of Nixon (which I am of mixed feelings about) and he gave us President Carter.

Of course, the plus side to that is... he set it up for Reagan.

One thing for sure, from my perspective - he was no worse a President than Carter, and was one hell of a lot better Former President.

Regardless of how you get it, the job of the Presidency of the United States has got to be soul-wearying, especially in circumstances like that, with what was going on in the US and the world at the time.

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

A little zen for the aviators...

A bad day at the office, Bill-style.

This OH-58 Kiowa, damaged during training in Hawaii in February, was successfully landed by pilots Capt. John B. Davis and Chief Warrant Officer Steven K. Huiton despite severe damage to its main rotor.

H/t, Strategy Page.

Speaking of Bill, I found another picture of aviation-related Bill-adaptations... Back in his late-middle-age, Bill apparently had a problem with making hard landings. Here we see one experimental method of dealing with this problem...

Mebbe that's why he found himself in helos...

BTW - if anyone knows the real story (I assume it has to do with rubber shortages and experiments to reduce rubber usage) I'd love to hear it. As well as what the test pilot thought!

H&I* Fires Dec 26, 2006

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. [Admittedly, I'm fibbing. Trackbacks are still broken]

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Christmas at Family Central was pretty good. We hope yours, wherever you were, was as well. We're on the road, headed back to the Castle. Y'all behave. -the Armorer

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If you need something to kick you out of your post-Christmas torpor, Op-for has the cure. Whew!

And apparently he hasn't had the chance to post this yet, but word is that John will be on the Hugh Hewitt radio show Wednesday (27 Dec) at around 4:20 p.m. Pacific Time. The entire show, which airs from 3:00 to 6:00 Pacific (that's 1500-1800 for you military types), will be about milblogs. You can listen live online here. - FbL

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Mebbe I wasn't gonna advertise to have the whole world drop in and listen to me embarrass myself... just sayin'. I mean, I'm the filler in this crowd, what with Matt, Austin Bay, Froggy, TF Boggs, and mebbe Wretchard. I might be the biggest guy at that table, but I'm the smallest voice. -the Armorer

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Rita, one of my blogneighbors/blogfriends', son made it home for Christmas from the Sandbox.

To say the least his 6 year old son, who Rita helps watch, was elated at the return of his father for Christmas.

It took him a second to see and then it was DADDY!!!! IT'S MY DADDY!!!!! And off across the terminal he sprinted, as hard as he could run, screaming DADDY DADDY DADDY DADDY!!!!!!! He leaped into my son's arms & hugged him as tightly as an almost-six yr. old possibly could, still yelling DADDY DADDY at the top of his lungs.

Read the whole thing here.

Radio & Blog Personality Don Elkins of Arkansas Tonight is heading East to assume a job behind a anchor desk in that locale instead of here. We'll miss ya Don.
H/t: tipthefiveforty

-BloodSpite

Time for a little Gunner Zen

Canadian Gun Bunnies in the 'Stan.

AR2006-G068-0021 11 December 2006 Sperwan Ghar, Afghanistan

A Gun crew of the 2 Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (2 RCHA) fire their M777 artillery gun during a fire mission at Forward Operating Base Sperwan Ghar. You could see the projectile flying throught the air at the end of the barrel.

Joint Task Force Afghanistan (JTF-Afg) is Canada's contribution to NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The focus of this mission is to help Afghans rebuild their lives, families, communities and nation. Canadian Forces personnel in Afghanistan are working to improve the quality of life of Afghans by providing a more secure environment in which Afghan society can recover from more than 25 years of conflict.

The Canadian Forces (CF) contribution in Afghanistan comprises about 2,500 soldiers, most of who serve in Kandahar province with a smaller number of personnel assigned to Kabul, various military headquarters, and civilian organizations.

Photo by: MCpl Yves GemusJoint Task Force Afghanistan Roto 2, Imagery Technician

Interesting difference between the two Armies. If I had a gun position where my gun dogs were serving the piece and *NOT* wearing their helmets, I'd have been relieved.

Near as I can tell, in the Canadian Artillery - if you wear a helmet near the guns, your boss will get relieved...

Y'know, back some years ago, when I went to the Canadian Immigration website, one of the skills that would get you entry was... artillery officer.

The RCHA is starting to look tempting...

And they're getting more new kit.

H/t, Damian, the Babbling Brooks.

Motivators...

...continuing from Sanger's trove...

This could be a Denizen Panty Raid.

A new whatziss.

This one is rather more conventional - some of you may get it right off the bat.

Someone's bound to overthink it, however.

H&I* Fires Dec 25, 2006

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. [Admittedly, I'm fibbing. Trackbacks are still broken]

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

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We'll be spending this morning with my parents, then go with them this afternoon to my sister's for dinner. If Prodigal Son and his Sweetie had been able to make it, it would have been the largest gathering of the Donovan blood in literally decades. Nephew and his Sweetie who were stranded in Denver finally made it home yesterday. Apparently for Nephew, it's good to have a Sweetie who's father is a travel agent!

Here's hoping the rest of you have good tales to tell of this day, and that traffic here is... negligible except for bored googlers! -the Armorer

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However, if you *do* visit today - click that Christmas Message link. It'll be good for ya.

Via Jules, comes this:

A Christmas Message from a guy in a cave.

Thank you very much, Scott. *That* was priceless. -the Armorer

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Merry Christ-Mass to one and all, specially to my good friend & classmate Tato - El Sapo aka 1Lt Ricardo Miranda Cruz - C Btry 1-162 FA BN - "Caribbean Thunders" who's headding back to 'Stan shortly - BOQ

December 25, 2006

Christmas is not my favorite holiday. I actually prefer Thanksgiving, it being the holiday that has been best left alone, so to speak.

The post below is rather bleak. It sets the stage for this one.

Joe brought Iola's armored New Testament home - from Bastogne.

The Arsenal's one Battle of the Bulge artifact, and the item in the holdings that I like best. I'd sell or give away every firearm in the Arsenal before I would give up this New Testament.

Merry Christmas, everybody - even if I'm usually a grinch today... 8^)

December 25, 1944

Sometimes, Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards Men, well, it takes a vacation.

SC 200476. Members of the 101st Airborne Division walk past dead comrades, killed during the Christmas Eve bombing of Bastogne, Belgium, the town in which this division was besieged for ten days. This photo was taken on Christmas Day. 1944

SC 200446. German soldiers who attempted to storm the 101st Airborne command post in Bastogne, Belgium, lie dead on the ground after they were mowed down by American machine gun fire. The tanks, behind which they were advancing, were knocked out also. This photo was taken while Bastogne was still under seige (12/25/44) RESTRICTED--Signal Corps Photo #ETO-HQ-45-34 (Krochka).

Motivators...

Sanger found some more...

H&I* Fires Dec 24, 2006

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. [Admittedly, I'm fibbing. Trackbacks are still broken]

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

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Surely, hopefully, you have something better to do than hanging around here today? The Master and Mistress of Argghhh! are heading to Donovan Family Central. Hopefully you aren't braving the mall today paying for your procrastination... Merry Christmas, all! -the Armorer

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Sergeant Roy A. Wood, someone you should know. Go visit this link, and see why. Come back and join the dance.

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

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"Memphis Center, [callsign], level, three-two-zero, direct Norfolk..."

If I have to work on Christmas, I guess being the right-seater on Santa's sleigh is as good as it gets...

Y'all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year...and keep all our warriors, wherever they may be, in your thoughts and prayers.

Christmas Comes to Arlington, Too...

I'm sure this has been posted elsewhere on the web -- and I don't mind one bit if I get deluged with comments telling me where you've seen it. It's just too good a story *not* to keep in the light at this time of the year.

Back in 1992, Merrill Worcester discovered he'd accidentally ordered several hundred too many wreaths (he owns Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, ME -- shameless, gratuitous plug -- buy a wreath from him if you're in that neck of the woods). He thought they were too pretty to just throw away, so he loaded them on his truck with the idea of donating them to a service organization. He fired up his truck and started down the road, looking for a representative of a worthy organization.

He wound up outside the gate at Arlington.

He'd found his worthy representatives.

In 1993, he didn't overorder, but he *did* specify that his supplier make up an extra 5,000 wreaths and deliver them to Arlington. He's done it every year since then and -- every year -- a bunch of school kids from Harrington help him place the wreaths.

Arlington has more than 5,000 graves, so, every year, Merrill coordinates with the site caretakers and, every year, the graves in two different sections receive the warmth of a wreath.

Except for this site.

The Unknowns are warmed every year...

Green boughs for the living memory and red bows for the lifeblood stilled. Rest easy, Brothers -- the Line holds...

An Armed Forces Christmas, 2006

First up - we honor those who give up Christmas...

Senior Airman Matt Hodges is assigned to the 52nd Operation Support Squadron at Spanghdahlem Air Base, Germany. He volunteered to serve through the season on Christmas Day so that his fellow air traffic controllers can enjoy some holiday fun with their families. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Szu-Moy Ruiz)

Holiday spirit Photo by Sgt. Sarah Scully December 22, 2006
Soldiers at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait receive donated holiday presents.

Holiday spirit Photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. Suzanne Day December 22, 2006
A paratrooper with the U.S. Army Golden Knights conducts a jump dressed as Santa Clause during the 9th Annual Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop at Fort Bragg, N.C., Dec. 16, 2006. Soldiers donate a toy in exchange for a chance to make a non-tactical parachute jump with German or Australian jumpmasters. Since its inception, the operation has collected and distributed more than 20,000 toys for families of Soldiers and for local orphanages.

Holiday lights shine from the Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Russell (DDG 59) moored at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 20, 2006. Russell and other ships moored in Pearl Harbor will participate in the 2006 holiday light competition. DoD photo by Petty Officer 1st Class James E. Foehl, U.S. Navy. (Released)

061206-N-0490C-003 Arabian Sea (Dec. 6, 2006) - Clockwise, U.S. Navy Aviation Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Kevin Harper, Aviation Boatswain’s Mate 3rd Class Anchel Klein, Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Nicole Singletary, and Ship’s Serviceman 3rd Class Christine Anderson decorate a Christmas tree aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69). Eisenhower is currently deployed in the Arabian Sea in support of maritime security operations. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Miguel Angel Contreras (RELEASED)

ALI BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Mrs. Claus (Staff Sgt. Melissa Farrell) tosses a bag of candy to an Airman who promised Santa (Lt. Col. Richard Houghton), he was good this year. Santa, Mrs. Claus and the Care Bear singers (carolers in truck behind Santa's sleigh) toured the base spreading cheer, Ho Ho Ho's and some sweet treats Christmas Eve to all servicemembers deployed here. Sergeant Farrell is in the 407th Expeditionary Services Squadron and Col. Houghton is in the 407th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Paul Dean)

Two-year-old William Figueroa holds up a piece of candy thrown out by Marines on a float in the Camp Kinser Christmas Parade Dec. 8. Photo by: Lance Cpl. David Rogers Photo ID: 2006121824535 Submitting Unit: MCB Camp Butler
Photo Date:12/08/2006

CHICAGO, Ill. (Dec. 5, 2003)--Coast Guard Mackinaw crew members carry christmas trees off the deck for delivery. Mackinaw came to Chicago with a load of Christmas trees for local families who would otherwise go without a tree this year. More than 1,000 trees were distributed with the help of the Salvation Army and Chicago's Christmas Ship Committee. USCG photo by PA1 Paul Roszkowski

[I'm thinking the Coast Guard is getting their crew pretty young these days...]

Lastly, for all your Santa-Tracking needs this year... NORAD is your on-stop shop. C'mon, who needs the local weather guy? Just click the graphic and you'll be there.