Military
Wednesday - March 25, 2015
Bowe, Busted
It’s about time. Remember how this was only going to be delayed until after the election?
Far from Susan Rice’s claim that he served with honor and distinction, now the news breaks that
Nice trade you made there Barack Hussein. 5 terrorists for 1 traitor. Loo Zer.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier who was recovered in Afghanistan last spring after five years in captivity, has been charged with desertion and misbehaving before the enemy, Army officials said Wednesday, setting the stage for emotionally charged court proceeding in coming months.
Eugene Fidell, Bergdahl’s attorney, told The Washington Post that his client was handed a charge sheet on Wednesday. Army officials said in a statement that Bergdahl has been charged with desertion with intent to shirk important or hazardous duty and misbehavior before the enemy by endangering the safety of a command, unit or place. His case has been referred to an Article 32 preliminary hearing, which is frequently compared to a grand jury proceeding in civilian court.
The court hearing for Bergdahl will be held at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston in Texas, where Bergdahl has served since shortly after his recovery on May 31, 2014.
Under the misbehavior before the enemy charge, Bergdahl faces a maximum punishment of confinement for life, a dishonorable discharge, a reduction to private and total forfeiture of pay and allowances since the time of his disappearance, Army officials said. The desertion charge carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison, a dishonorable discharge, a reduction to private and a total forfeiture of pay and allowances.
The development comes 10 months after his May 2014 release—which initially was a joyous occasion, with his parents joining President Obama in celebrating the news in the Rose Garden. Bob Bergdahl, who had studied Islam during his son’s captivity, appeared with a full beard and read a Muslim prayer, while Bergdahl’s mother Jani embraced the president.
But that euphoria quickly gave way to controversy in Washington as Bergdahl was accused of walking away from his post and putting his fellow soldiers in danger. The trade of hardened Taliban fighters for his freedom raised deep concerns on Capitol Hill that the administration struck an unbalanced and possibly illegal deal.
The trade was branded as illegal by lawmakers, who said they weren’t advised beforehand, It was also blasted by critics who said it violated America’s longstanding tradition of not negotiating with terrorists, and from Bergdahl’s fellow soldiers, many of whom view him as a traitor.
There were also concerns – which would prove well-founded – that the Taliban members would return to the fight against the West. Of the five, Mohammad Fazl, the former Taliban army chief of staff; Khairullah Khairkhwa, a Taliban intelligence official; Abdul Haq Wasiq, a former Taliban government official; and Norullah Noori and Mohammad Nabi Omari, at least three have attempted to rejoin their old comrades, sources told Fox News.
By the way, as of this moment US airplanes are attacking Tikrit. Remember Tikirt, little village where Saddam Hussein came from? Wasn’t it the U.S. Special Forces who captured the place a few years ago at significant expense? And now Al Qaeda In Iraq ISIS controls it? And we’re in there again, blasting the crap out of it, so that the Iranians - remember the Iranians, our enemy, the Death To America guys who built all those IEDs that crippled our troops, the guys who supported a proxy army of “insurgents” our guys fought like mad and died by the numbers to keep out of Iraq? The ones trying to build nukes, now with Obama’s secret permission from a bogus backroom deal he personally wangled? - so that the Iranians can go in an mop up what’s left of ISIS (who took it in June last year and murdered 1600 Iraqi air force cadets) because the Iraqi troops we spent billions training and equipping couldn’t win a fight with a used maxi-pad, much less a bunch of “JV” sand fleas with guns? Another great move there Barack el Barack. Loo Zer Squared.
Posted by Drew458
on 03/25/2015 at 03:02 PM
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Permalink • Monday - March 09, 2015
Another Blast From Out Of The Blue
A very long and busy weekend for me. And not without considerable consternation. Well, at least now that it’s an hour later than it was the other day, it seems that Spring may actually be almost ready to put in an appearance. Yay. Some things are thawing out. Others, not so much.
Sorry, don’t mean to be mysterious. But I don’t write about every thing that goes on in my life. Just the funner parts, sometimes.
I got all caught up doing research this weekend over a little news item I saw about this bit of military hardware called an SDB II. That’s the acronym for another piece of precision minimalist ordnance called a Small Diameter Bomb. It’s a stand-off weapons system that packs two artillery shells worth of boom behind a reactive armor defeating double bazooka like tandem shaped charge warhead, in a drain pipe barely 7” across and under 6’ long, and then adds a set of pop out wings that allow it to home in on targets from 40 miles away. A glide bomb. No heat signature, and a radar cross section about the same as a metal eagle. IOW, just about none. The -II version gets a vastly improved 3 way guidance system that turns this thing into a semi-intelligent Fire And Forget (aka “set it and forget it") munition. It’s a Hunter Seeker, straight out of Dune, only the larger, anti-tank version. Point it, tell it “there be targets that way”, let it go. And it works. And self destructs if your intel happens to be wrong. Amazing stuff.
Oh, and did I mention that reason the -II got the new guidance package was to enable the bomb to hit a moving target? Oh yes indeed. It can hit a pickup truck going 70mph. You want us to hit the driver or the passenger? Your choice. It’s that good.
Naturally, being me, I looked at it and saw the immediate shortcoming. You’ve got to fly the thing to within 40 miles of the target. Which could put your planes in SAM range. Risky business. Then I realized that the higher you can launch it, the further it can glide. And no matter how efficient the wing is, it isn’t going to fly along un-powered from over the horizon, where your planes could be out of enemy radar range. After all, from only 1066 feet up, you can see 40 miles. Radar can do that too, or better.
So I thought about it, and I looked at the pictures, and I noticed how the general shape and size of this one is remarkably similar to the Hellfire missile and it’s improved and strengthened cousin, the Brimstone missile, and that gave me a tiny epiphany.
Years ago the SDB I passed the “can we drop these things while flying at Mach 1.5?” test. So we know it’s tough enough. The Brimstone missile is the new, improved, jet worthy version of the Hellfire missile, which was designed to be launched from a helicopter or other slow flyer. Hellfire, Brimstone, and STD SDB are all about the same length, weight, and diameter. Almost exactly. The rocket motor from the Brimstone missile can shoot that missile for 20km. 12.4 miles. Why not hook one on the SDB as a booster? Sure, that could give you some kind of medium range supersonic mini cruise missile, but I’m sticking with the no heat signature, long range stand-off concept, and reducing risk to the launch platform. Strap this rig to a jet. A plane old fighter plane, not the magical and problematic F35 thing. Fly the plane up to 50,000 feet or so, go nearly vertical at Mach 1+, and push the GO button. You’re already up in the really thin air to begin with, so there is a whole lot less air friction. Which means the rocket motor should perform even better. Whoosh, and it shoots the SDB at least another 20km further up into the sky. That puts it 25 miles up, nearly in space. Which should give you a glide range of ... holy cow, a lot ... maybe 200 miles. Your launch planes still aren’t below the radar horizon, but they’re so far away that no SAM battery is going to bother with them. And the enemy radar guy has more to worry about than watching some crazy American jet jockeys punching holes in the sky way way way over thataway. And half an hour or so later, out of nowhere, all the enemy’s hard assets start exploding. A blast from out of the blue.
Damn, I should work for Raytheon.
Small Diameter Bomb II Completes Live Fire Test Destroying T-72 Tank
An Air Force F-15 Eagle recently destroyed a moving –model T-72 tank during a live-fire test of the Small Diameter Bomb II at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., service leaders said.
“Just this month we had a successful live fire mission. It was an F-15E that targeted a moving T-72 tank surrogate. We’re still analyzing the data to get the details of it but the visual indicated it was a direct hit,” Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, military deputy for Air Force acquisition, told Military.com in an interview.
The test earlier this month was the final live fire mission required for the developmental weapons program to move toward what’s called a “Milestone C” full rate production decision, she added.
Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall is expected to approve full-rate production of the weapon by May of this year — a move which would clear the path for large-scale manufacturing and delivery of the Small Diameter Bomb II, or SDB II, later this year.
Ultimately, the Air Force plans to acquire 12,000 SDB II weapons — which will enter service by 2017, service officials said.
“This was the graduation exercise. This is what the warfighter is going to drop on the bad guys. It is the end to end test. The warhead performed as expected and we ended up putting steel on target which is what the goal is,” Jeff White, senior manager, business development, Raytheon, told Military.com.
The SDB II has had a couple of teething problems, like any other newly developed system. It can’t fit in the undersized magazine of the US Marine’s tiny version of the new F35, but it fits just fine in the standard one the Air Force uses. Carrying the SDB II on wing racks defeats the stealth aspects of the new wonder fighter, which is what lead me to the booster engine range enhancement idea. My idea is a cheap fix using off the shelf parts, and lets all the other regular planes join in the fun. Their fix will be to redesign the STOL F-35’s weapons bay, which could take years and is guaranteed to cost hundreds of millions.
First cousins, with added thrust: the Hellfire and the Brimstone missiles. All three are about the same size, weight, and diameter. The SDB II carries a lot more blast, but less fragmentation. Which could be provided by a bolt on iron collar, at the cost of added weight and lesser range. Such a collar already exists for the Hellfire, to enhance its use against softer targets. All the more reason to use a little booster engine!
One of many many links to more information
The Air Force is currently enjoying a daydream in which truckloads of these glider bomblets are packed into a B2 stealth bomber. 216 of them to be precise. And then one invisible plane flies off and silently destroys an entire army’s worth of tanks, trucks, cannons, radars, etc. A whole war fought from one plane.
The tripping thing is, it might not be a wet dream at all. It could work.
And that’s what happened to all my blogging time this weekend!
Posted by Drew458
on 03/09/2015 at 08:25 AM
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Permalink • Thursday - December 18, 2014
Defense Yes, But Against Whom?
The U.S. military is testing a new cruise-missile defense system by launching a blimp-like airship near Baltimore.
Wednesday’s event at Aberdeen Proving Ground gives the region its first look at JLENS, short for Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System.
By February, two helium-filled airships will be tethered to concrete pads four miles apart, floating 10,000 feet high for the three-year test.
Radar on one ship will scan in a 340-mile radius, roughly from Norfolk, Virginia, to upstate New York. Controllers on the ground will use radar on the other vehicle to pinpoint targets. The airships won’t carry weapons.
The military says the balloons also won’t carry cameras. But privacy advocates are leery of the system’s ability to constantly monitor moving objects, including cars on the ground.
JLENS, which is short for Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, is a system of two aerostats, or tethered airships, that float 10,000 feet in the air. The helium filled aerostats, each nearly as long as a football field, carry powerful radars that can protect a territory roughly the size of Texas from airborne threats.
JLENS provides 360-degrees of defensive radar coverage and can detect and track objects like missiles, and manned and unmanned aircraft from up to 340 miles away. JLENS can also remain aloft and operational for up to 30 days at a time. This potent combination of persistence and capability give defenders more time and more distance to:
Identify potential threats
Make critical decisions
Conduct crucial notificationsJLENS allows the military to safeguard hundreds of miles of territory at a fraction of the cost of fixed wing aircraft, and it can integrate with defensive systems including:
Patriot
Standard Missile 6
Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile
National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile SystemOne JLENS system, known as an orbit, can provide the same 24/7 coverage for a 30-day period that 4-5 fixed wing surveillance aircraft (AWACS, JSTARS or E-2C) can provide.
An affordable, elevated, persistent over-the-horizon sensor system, JLENS uses a powerful integrated radar system mounted on two aerostats to detect, track and target a variety of threats. This capability better enables commanders to defend against threats, including hostile cruise missiles; low-flying manned and unmanned aircraft; and moving surface vehicles such as boats, mobile missile launchers, automobiles, trucks and tanks. JLENS also provides ascent phase detection of tactical ballistic missiles and large-caliber rockets.
“Over the horizon” is right; from 10,000 feet up, the line of sight horizon is 122 miles away (a 244 mile circle). For a direct 340 mile horizon, you’d have to be 77,000 feet up, nearly in space.
So what we have here, now flying or soon to be flying over eastern America, is a flying thing with a design that looks borrowed from toilet graffiti that can - if given enough computer power and if the diagrams above can be believed - can track any (every???) moving object as small as an RPG, on land, sea, or air, at any given speed (tanks and trucks aren’t exactly supersonic) in an area from Kingston Ontario in the North to the North Carolina’s Outer Banks in the South, to Columbus Ohio in the West to Cape Cod MA in the Northeast to the edge of TN in the Southwest to a long long way out to sea in the east.
But not to worry; the balloons aren’t armed. No, they’re merely linked in to any and every missile system that we have, along with all the combat ships and aircraft up and down the coast. And all the troops on the ground. And I’m certain that our over-reaching, unitized, universal, all-powerful, unlimited, law-abiding, limited, Constitution, “take care of our friends and punish our enemies”, nearly tyrannical government would never even consider linking in DHS, the FBI or all the police departments, nor ever condone using the tracking abilities inherent in this years long “test” for any “civilian” “law enforcement” operation. It’s just a coincidence that, “for your own good” - to protect us against terrorists and Chinese cruise missiles - that the government also just happens to now have a gun pointed at your head every minute of the day. If they feel like it. And you’ll never know. Probably damn near half the population under that circle. At least a third of us.
He sees you when you’re sleeping
He knows when you’re awake
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake
Additional equipment could offer commanders extensive communications relay capabilities, or even area surveillance of the ground. The JLENS program reportedly deployed a smaller 15 meter aerostat to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In late November 2003, the Army announced its intention to redeploy the Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment (RAID) force protection aerostat from Afghanistan to Iraq. RAID, adapted out of JLENS via the Army Rapid Equipping Force, became its own program, involving both flying aerostats and fixed-tower configurations like GBOSS.
A privately-funded January 2013 test mounted similar equipment on a JLENS system, successfully demonstrating its ability to monitor humans walking near roads.
more info - http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/jlens-coordinating-cruise-missile-defense-and-more-02921/
PS this is the marketing success story of the decade - http://www.bulldogreporter.com/dailydog/article/winning-pr-campaigns/pr-message-mapping-in-the-digital-era-a-real-life-case-study-f
Posted by Drew458
on 12/18/2014 at 11:12 AM
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Permalink • Thursday - November 13, 2014
Putin: You Ain’t Got The Balls
Once upon a time, the Gulf Of Mexico was known as “America’s lake”.
Russia plans to send long-range bombers to patrol the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, the nation’s defense minister said, amid escalating tensions with the West over Ukraine.
The patrols would bring the flights close to the United States’ territorial waters. In September, the U.S. intercepted six Russian planes, including fighter jets, near airspace off Alaska, officials said.
The plan to send the long-range bombers is in response to a growing international resentment against Russia, defense minister Sergey Shoigu said Wednesday.
The plan to send the long-range bombers is in response to a growing international resentment against Russia, defense minister Sergey Shoigu said Wednesday.
In addition, he said, Russia will boost its security in Crimea, the region it annexed from Ukraine earlier this year.
“In many respects, this is connected with the situation in Ukraine, with fomentation of anti-Russian moods on the part of NATO and reinforcement of foreign military presence next to our border,” Shoigu said.
“Under these conditions, the formation of full-fledged and self-sufficient forces on the Crimean peninsula is a priority task.”
How’s that for inverse logic? The world is upset with Russia because of it’s behavior in Crimea, therefore it is justified sending more forces to Crimea to combat this. Riiiight.
“In the current situation we have to maintain military presence in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific, as well as the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico,” he said. “Due to that, as part of the drills, Russian long-range bombers will conduct flights along Russian borders and over the Arctic Ocean.”
Even more of the same. The world is pissed at them for acting like belligerent thugs, therefore they are justified in acting like belligerent thugs ALL OVER THE WORLD ... in self defense. Riiiight.
Nuclear capable Bombers from the Soviet re-Union over the Cayman Islands, over Cuba? Off the coast of New Orleans, hovering over the oil tankers coming in and out? I guess this is Chairmain Obama being “more flexible after the election”, just as he promised his ex-Marxist red pals.
Posted by Drew458
on 11/13/2014 at 08:04 AM
Filed Under: • Commies • Military • Obama, The One •
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Permalink • Monday - November 10, 2014
Interesting tactic!
More than 80 wounded U.S. combat veterans and their families have filed suit against several of the world’s largest banks, which they accuse of facilitating financial transfers on behalf of Iran that directly led to the killing and wounding of U.S. troops in Iraq, according to court documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
U.S. Veterans Sue Big Banks for Facilitating Iranian Terrorism
If they can prove it, go for it!
Posted by Christopher
on 11/10/2014 at 05:40 PM
Filed Under: • Military • Terrorists • War On Terror •
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Permalink • Friday - November 07, 2014
This is not good.
Tank column crosses from Russia into Ukraine: Kiev military
Could be worse, I guess. The pic shows a WWII T-34/85. If they don’t have proper infantry support they are also known as ‘targets’.
Posted by Christopher
on 11/07/2014 at 10:17 AM
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Permalink • Monday - November 03, 2014
Of Course It Was A Muslim
UK Army Cadet, 15, Burned With Pocket Flamethrower
While Selling Remembrance Day Poppies
An Army cadet suffered burns in an unprovoked attack after selling poppies for Remembrance Day.
The 15-year-old boy was waiting at a bus stop in his camouflage uniform when a man holding an aerosol can and cigarette lighter approached him.
He then sprayed the terrified boy with blazing fumes before walking off without saying a word.
The cadet suffered minor burns to his face and singed hairs on his face and right forearm.
Police are keeping an open mind about what motivated the attack in Manchester city centre on Saturday.
The attacker, who appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, was described as black or Asian, 5ft 8in tall and wearing a dark hooded top.
...
‘This is an absolutely appalling attack on a young man who was raising money to help remember all those who gave their lives fighting bravely for their country,’ said Detective Inspector Liam Boden from Greater Manchester Police.‘Given the initial description we have of the offender, it may be that he was under the influence of something but whatever his motivation, his violent actions could have scarred this young man for life.
‘It is pure luck that he did not sustain more serious burns to his face and body.
They take the poppy thing quite seriously over there. Not merely as a cheap gimmee to help raise funds for military aligned organizations, but the whole poppy thing, what it’s all about. The remembering.
Here ... look:
That’s the Tower of London. See the red area? That’s the moat that surrounds this ancient fortress. It’s dry now, and covers 16 acres.
Why is the 16 acre moat red?
The moat is red because it’s filled with red ceramic poppies. Lots of them. Thousands of them. 888,246 to be exact. Which is the number of soldiers lost by the British Empire in the First World War. Every flower is a death. 100 years ago.
It’s part of the Bloodswept Lands and Seas of Red public history presentation, running from August 5 (the day the war started) to November 11 (Remembrance Day, the day the war ended [4 years later]). Each ceramic flower is paid for by proceeds from the sale of the little paper ones. Assuming some crazed idiot doesn’t burn the sellers alive.
OTOH ...
OTOH, there is this. Proud to be a British Muslim, perhaps the great-grandchild of British Muslims, who may have served with honor in that long ago conflict? Don’t burn the poppy, embrace it. My guess is you’ve got to be a bit modern for this, a bit apostate, putting country before religion and all that.
More than 300,000 soldiers of the Empire were Muslims in that war.
Posted by Drew458
on 11/03/2014 at 10:35 PM
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Permalink • Monday - October 20, 2014
Robert A. Heinlein
“I happen to be of an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman—which means I can be a real revolving son of a bitch when it suits me.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land
Posted by Christopher
on 10/20/2014 at 04:31 PM
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Permalink • Friday - September 12, 2014
PC Will Be The Death Of US Military
In remembrance of Joan Rivers, can we file this one under “Oh, just shut up.”?
Sociologists worry lack of black officers will have detrimental effect on minorities
U.S. Army sociologists are worried that a lack of black officers leading its combat troops will have detrimental effect on minorities and lead to fewer black officers in top leadership posts.
“The issue exists. The leadership is aware of it,” Brig. Gen. Ronald Lewis told USA Today on Thursday. “The leadership does have an action plan in place. And it’s complicated.”
The Army reports that only 10 percent of its active-duty officers are black, which has contributed to its dearth of black officers leading soldiers with occupational specialties in infantry, armor and artillery.
“It certainly is a problem for several reasons,” Col. Irving Smith, director of sociology at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, told USA Today. “First we are a public institution. And as a public institution we certainly have more of a responsibility to our nation than a private company to reflect it. In order to maintain their trust and confidence, the people of America need to know that the Army is not only effective but representative of them.”
...
Capt. Grancis Santana, 33, spoke to the paper and asserted that it wasn’t discrimination that was causing a lack of minority officers in key posts — the supply of desired soldiers in his military occupational specialty simply wasn’t there.
“It’s not a good feeling when you’re one of the few,” Capt. Santana told USA Today. “There was no discrimination; there are just not a lot of people like you.”
The paper also noted that of the 238 West Point graduates commissioned to be infantry officers in 2012, only seven were black. One of the Army’s plans for addressing the issue will be to put more emphasis on recruiting and mentoring minority officers.
Three or four points:
1) 10% isn’t that far from the 13%-17% we are told is black’s part of the overall population. 10% is a heck of a lot better than 0%, or even 5%.
2) All Marines are green. Not white, black, brown, olive, or pink. Soldiers are no different. The military promotes based on needs and competitive qualifications, not on Affirmative Action. Or at least they ought to.
3) Read between the lines. There is probably an overabundance of black officers (and troops) in the (REMF) background “occupational specialties” that don’t involve actual combat. Actually, I know this for a fact.
4) How long would this mentoring stuff last? Ok, sure, maybe they need to play catch-up Freshman year. Or as brand new 2nd LTs. But after that? At what point will they be expected to carry their weight? Because you absolutely can not make better officers by lowering the standards.
Anyone out there in uniform, or recently out of it, please sound off.
Posted by Drew458
on 09/12/2014 at 11:12 AM
Filed Under: • Military • Politically Correct B.S. • Racism and race relations •
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Permalink • Thursday - August 21, 2014
What We Got Here, Is A Failure To Assimilate
couldn’t resist paraphrasing that famous movie quote
Might want to check your immigration policy there, UK. Or perhaps your religious freedoms, since you do actually have a national religion and all.
Americans were made acutely aware of the threat posed by Western jihadist fighters joining the ranks of ISIS in Syria and Iraq when a man with a London accent beheaded James Wright Foley as part of a taped ultimatum to President Barack Obama.
Inexplicably, President Barack Obama chose not to even abstractly address the nature of that threat, even though he plans to personally chair a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on precisely this subject next month.
A July intelligence estimate suggested that up to 3,000 ISIS militants were of European origin and 1,500 of those are young British Muslims, according to Birmingham MP Perry Barr. Framing the problem of Europe’s failure to assimilate its Muslim minorities perfectly, a new report indicates that there are more British Muslims fighting with Islamist militants in the Middle East than there are in the British armed forces.
* According to the Ministry of Defense, there are only around 600 British Muslims currently serving in the Armed Forces, making up approximately around 0.4% of total personnel. 4.3% of the British population are Muslim.
* The UK Foreign Office said that they believe over 400 individuals have travelled to Syria since the uprising began, but said that they could not give exact numbers.
* In August, 2013, two homegrown disaffected British Muslim men took to the streets of London where they beheaded a U.K. solider.
OTOH, most Americans probably haven’t seen the video, as such things are kept hidden from us Big Tough Brave Americans. We can’t handle real death or violence, or even dead bodies, certainly not bloody murder, although our TV entertainment is filled with pretend versions of all, ad nauseam. So it’s a good bet we didn’t hear the voice-over either.
Plus, we wouldn’t know a London accent from a Cornish one. Heck, we can’t tell Liverpool from Dublin from Edinburgh from Sydney from Christchurch. Seriously. We’ve got a little cartoon lizard on TV that sells us car insurance and he talks like you blokes. The insurance company runs ads showing people debating what kind of accent the lizard has, and where he’s from. Well, that’s when they’re not also running ads having a smart-ass talking pig sell us more insurance. Look on the bright side; at least they got rid of the cavemen adverts.
OTGH*, most of us are aware that our military has had several deadly problems with muslims in their ranks, from grenades thrown into tents to “workplace violence”. And we’re effin’ sick of it, and ready to puke at the PC idiocy that keeps them there. Purge the bastards, period. And then tell the courts to pound salt.
But I’m sure this news is not news at all to those of us here who have been paying attention to ISIS longer than since this Spring. I am fully expecting some Americans to show up in their ranks and in their videos soon, and I expect ISIS themselves to appear in inner city Detroit. Or perhaps ISIS X. Because Black people really are that gullible. And then Obama and Holder win.
* I already did an OTOH, so the only thing left is the 3rd hand, the gripping hand. OTGH. Go read your sci-fi, moties.
Posted by Drew458
on 08/21/2014 at 07:48 AM
Filed Under: • Military • Terrorists • UK •
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Permalink • Thursday - August 14, 2014
Once In My Lifetime
No longer is there an airworthy Avro Lancaster in the Americas. On Friday morning, the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum’s MK. X Lancaster landed in England, ending what is being described as an epic adventure across the Atlantic Ocean that began Monday. Arrival festivities at Royal Air Force Coningsby airport were slightly dampened by soggy weather that kept the world’s only other airworthy Lancaster from greeting the Canadians in the air. Not to be deterred, RAF fighters escorted the Lanc in at about 2 p.m. local time. The Canadian bomber will take part in numerous airshows over the next six weeks in the United Kingdom along with the RAF-owned Lancaster. The last leg of the trip across the North Atlantic was a 5.5-hour flight from Iceland.
Considered by many to be the most famous Allied bomber of the Second World War, the Avro Lancaster had flying characteristics that allowed it to be tossed around like a fighter and operational performance only exceeded by the later developed Boeing B-29. Equipped with four 1145-HP Rolls-Royce Merlin X engines, versions carried bomb loads as high as 22,000 pounds.
...
The plane was set to fly out of Hamilton Monday morning, but an engine failure kept it on the ground for the next 24 hours. On Tuesday, all four engines fired perfectly, and the bomber successfully made its way to Goose Bay, Labrador.
Wednesday morning, the plane flew to Keflavik and spent Thursday in Iceland with a side trip to Reykjavik, setting the stage for the last leg today, a 5 ½ hour flight to Coningsby.
Two of the eight man crew of the Canadian Lancaster which landed at RAF Coningsby this afternoon have spoken of their joy at finally uniting the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s version with their own aircraft.
Co-Pilot Leon Evans said: “We just flew across the Atlantic in a Lancaster, so what about that?
“The weather man from RAF Coningsby was absolutely correct so we came down from the Hebrides over Scotland and down the east of England.
“I wanted to land and have a beer in one of those beautiful pubs but the rest of the guys had other ideas.
Dambusters reunited: World’s only two airworthy WWII Lancaster bombers fly together over Britain for the first time in 50 years
Lancaster bombers united on windswept RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire for what will probably be last time
Lancaster Thumper, part of RAF Battle of Britain Memorial flight, joined Canadian Lancaster Vera from Ontario
Two aircraft are expected to visit some 60 air shows and public events across the UK over the next five weeks
Planes had been due to pass over Lincoln Cathedral last Friday, but poor weather caused flight to be postponed
Lancaster bombers most famous for Dambusters raids - attack on German dams with ‘bouncing bombs’ in 1943The world’s only two airworthy Lancaster bombers were united on a windswept Lincolnshire airfield for what will probably be one of the last times.
The Lancaster Thumper, which is part of the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial flight, joined the Canadian Lancaster Vera from a museum in Ontario.
Leon Evans, chief pilot for the Canadian Lancaster’s historic trip, said: ‘We haven’t had two Lancasters fly together in a display before.
‘It’s pretty unlikely it’ll happen again because these airplanes might run out of airtime. Vera’s getting older and already has about 4,500 hours on her.’
Vera’s journey from Canada took four days, involving stops in Newfoundland, Greenland and Iceland before she arrived in Lincolnshire on Friday.
More than 7,377 Lancasters, 430 of which were built in Canada, were made during the Second World War but many that survived were scrapped.
The Avro Lancaster is one of the Second World War’s most-recognisable British aircraft.
It is most famous for the Dambusters raids, which saw 19 Lancasters attack German dams with Sir Barnes Wallis’s ‘bouncing bombs’ in 1943.
Always loved the look of this plane. It’s like a flying brick with gigantic wings and tail stuck on. Who cares if it didn’t go 3 zillion mph; this one had style. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to be there to see and hear these wonderful creatures take flight.
more links
http://www.clactonairshow.com/
http://www.warplane.com/lancaster-2014-uk-tour.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Lancaster
Posted by Drew458
on 08/14/2014 at 09:37 AM
Filed Under: • History • Military • planes, trains, tanks, ships, machines, automobiles •
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Permalink • Saturday - August 02, 2014
Military Purge Enters Phase 3
First they took out the generals, ginning up phony scandals to discredit the top guys and force them to retire.
Then the lesser generals and the top majors got the chop when the downsizing broom began to sweep.
Then they went after the captains, sending out pink slips to 1100 young fast-trackers, including several dozen who were actually serving in combat at the time.
Now the purge moves on to the majors. Majors are the middle management of the army, above the captains and lieutenants but below the majors and generals. Professional military career folks; in another decade the best of them will be colonels and lower generals. They are the top brass of the next generation. And now Obama is going to cut more than half a thousand of them.
Guess we don’t really need a military any longer. What for, when the IRS has more troops than the Canadian army? When the Post Office has thousands of weapons; when the EPA owns a billion rounds of ammunition??
About 550 Army majors, including some serving in Afghanistan, will soon be told they have to leave the service by next spring as part of a budget-driven downsizing of the service.
Gen. John Campbell, the vice chief of the Army, acknowledged Friday that telling troops in a war zone that they’re out of a job is a difficult task. But he said some of the soldiers could join the National Guard or the Army Reserve.
The decision to cut Army majors comes on the heels of a move to slash nearly 1,200 captains from the ranks. Army leaders were criticized at the time for giving 48 of them the bad news while they were deployed to Afghanistan.
The Army declined to say how many majors will be notified while they are at the battlefront.
“The ones that are deployed are certainly the hardest,” Campbell told reporters. “What we try to do there is, working through the chain of command, minimize the impact to that unit and then maximize the time to provide to that officer to come back and do the proper transition, to take care of himself or herself, and the family.”
The cuts have been difficult for many young officers, particularly captains, who tend not to have enough years in service to retire.
To make the cuts, the Army looked at about 8,500 majors who joined the service between 1999 and 2003. Some may have about 15 years of service, depending on all factors that go into credit for years of service, and might be able to retire, but many won’t have enough time in the job, Campbell said
Guard and reserve leaders are looking for officers, especially captains, so there could be opportunities for the soldiers to continue to serve, he said.
After 13 years of war that forced a significant and rapid build-up of the Army to about 570,000, the military now has to reduce its combat forces to meet budget cuts.
So what we’ve got here is a bunch of guys who joined up right out of college and took the career path. Now that they’re touching 40, they’re getting dumped into the marketplace, to compete against energetic 25 year olds, and people their own age who have lived in suit-land for well over a decade and don’t have to transition a jot or learn any new skill to move into the next position. In other words, these officers who can’t find a hidey-hole in the Guard will be just as fucked over as ever other middle aged corporate chopster. Give your youth to your company, build your experience and skills, and when you find the job you can run in until retirement, you get the axe. There is an awful lot of this, and it flies under the radar. It’s disgraceful. And it isn’t realistic to deliver the pat response “oh the best ones will get jobs right away” because it isn’t true. Their competition is half their age, willing to work for half as much or less, and work half as much more if necessary. So even if they’re not quite as good at things the first few years, they more than make up with it by cost savings and sheer effort alone.
We have a terrible business model in place that spits out the middle aged from the job market. And then the media ignores them; jobs stories are either about young graduates or retiring boomers.
On the third hand, for an army of under 600,000, do we really need 8500 majors? Math time: how many troops per major? 570,000 troops / 8500 majors = 67 troops per major. Some of those 67 will be captains, lieutenants, sergeants, and corporals. Two to One? That’s pretty standard as a minimum in the corporate world. 1 major, 2 captains, 4 lieutenants, 8 sergeants, 16 corporals ... 31/67 in some form of leadership role. HALF.
Hmmpf. Maybe we really don’t need so many officers after all. Like downsized school classrooms and teacher’s aides, are we putting too many “chefs” in the “kitchen”? The Romans had Centurions, about the same rank as captains or top lieutenants, in charge of 80 to 100 soldiers. One major or colonel would be running a whole legion.
Posted by Drew458
on 08/02/2014 at 09:43 AM
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Permalink • Saturday - July 12, 2014
Another Surge In The Purge
Who shall be left to lead what’s left?
Now that the purge of the top level of our military is winding down, with almost 200 top brass being fired, retired, or blackballed in the past 5 years, the Obama regime is moving the military purge down a level to the captains and majors. These are the men and women who are on the military career track, the officers out there in the sandbox getting the real picture. These are the ones who will be the next generation of majors and generals. Well, they would have been. Now they’ll be shop clerks like everyone else. If they’re lucky.
Who gets the axe next? Master Sergeants, Ensigns, Warrant and Petty Officers? Pretty soon won’t be anybody left but Privates. Reminds me of a certain putsch back in the 30s.
In a stunning display of callousness, the Defense Department has announced that thousands of soldiers — many serving as commanding officers in Afghanistan — will be notified in the coming weeks that their service to the country is no longer needed.
Last week, more than 1,100 Army captains — the men and women who know best how to fight this enemy because they have experienced multiple deployments — were told they’ll be retired from the Army.
The overall news is not unexpected. The Army has ended its major operations in Iraq and is winding down in Afghanistan. Budget cuts are projected to shrink the Army from its current 520,000 troops to 440,000, the smallest size since before World War II.
What is astonishing is that the Defense Department thought it would be appropriate to notify deployed soldiers — men and women risking their lives daily in combat zones — that they’ll be laid off after their current deployment.
The nation should worry about the increased national-security risk of separating such a large pool of combat-experienced leaders. The separated soldiers are those who carry the deepest knowledge base of counterinsurgency operations.
A senior Defense Department official warned: “If the force is smaller, there’s less margin for error. Let’s face it — things are pretty uncertain out there.”
Commenting on the extraordinarily large number of captains being retired, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John Campbell said: “In other times, they’d probably continue to stay in the Army. But these are not normal times.”
Indeed not. While mass layoffs in the private sector generate front-page headlines, the media have largely ignored the reduction of our military. But who can blame them?
The war-weary public doesn’t want to hear that the cuts put the country at risk.
After more than a decade of fighting, even the most faithful — who used to rally behind the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan by sending CARE packages filled with cookies, candies and reminders of home — have moved on with their lives, with few thoughts of the soldiers still serving there.
War weary? Not exactly. Every time I see a man or woman in uniform, I’m reminded that tens of thousands of American citizens are in harm’s way doing their best to keep the insane world as safe as they can for the rest of us. But the part that wearies me is that I know that they’ve been at it for more than a decade because the political greaseballs in charge WILL NOT LET THEM WIN. Shit, even when they do win, those greaseballs set things up so that it all goes to hell a couple years later anyway.
I am not war weary. I am politician weary. I am coward weary, and I am agenda weary.
And honestly? For those of us not directly involved, or obliquely involved via a son/brother/father/uncle/husband/boyfriend/sister/mother/daughter/aunt/wife/girlfriend in the service, what right have we to dare to say we are “war weary”? Not one item of commerce is being rationed. Not one gallon of gas, head of lettuce, package of ground beef, pair of pants, or even one toothbrush is unavailable because of military need. Nothing. There is NO IMPACT ON THE PUBLIC at all.
Yeah, ammo and components are somewhat hard to come by, and fairly expensive. This is not because of military need. This is because of hoarding, and because of the Regime arming up the entire alphabet of government agencies that should never have guns or ammo to begin with. Hmmm ... and at the same time he’s turning the military into an empty shell and a social gender mixing experiment. And at the same time he’s militarizing the nation’s police forces to a far greater extent than ever in all our history.
Hmmm. Somehow old Uncle Joe comes to mind, don’t he?
Posted by Drew458
on 07/12/2014 at 12:55 PM
Filed Under: • Military • Obama, The One •
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Permalink • Thursday - June 05, 2014
Shadows On The Sands
Normandy veteran Harry Mason, 95, from Warrington, looks out from the beach at Arromanches and the remains of Mulberry Harbour where he landed with British forces on June 7 1944.
Seventy years ago this coming Saturday.
Posted by Drew458
on 06/05/2014 at 04:59 PM
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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.
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Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
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