Spy Docs: The Difference Between the A-12 and the SR-71
Declassified documents from 1967 compare the two jets performance side by side.
On wrong side of issues, Obama avoids Wisc.
The President was all for the public sector union idiots when it was cool. Now that their big recall look like it’s about to implode he’s nowhere to be seen.
Pakistan Conducts 4th Missile Test in a Month
Nuclear-capable Hatf VIII cruise missile.
AH-1Z Viper exceeds expectations on first deployment
Four-bladed ‘Zulu’ Cobra attack helicopters performing very well aboard USS Makin Island.
Nuclear Sub May Have to Be Scrapped After Fire
The accident aboard USS Miami (SSN-755) while in drydock for refit was worse than I had understood.
Boeing Super Hornet faces emerging anti-access challenges
There are a lot of reasons why the US Navy is in trouble. Total dependence upon the F-18 for air operations is one of the bigger ones.
After 15 Months in Orbit, Secret Space Plane Finally Returning to Earth
X-37B OTV-2 will return within the next couple of weeks. It was launched March 5th, 2011.
Marine UAV May Stay in the War Zone
K-MAX cargo hauler is getting the job done.
Cope Tiger
US forces go to “war” with the Thai and Singaporean Air Forces in an ever more important large-force exercise.
Guard official: Breastfeeding airmen violated policy on uniforms
Two Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., airmen who donned their uniforms for a photo session in support of Breastfeeding Awareness Month violated a policy that forbids military members from using the uniform to further a cause.
Green Lantern comes out as gay in DC Comics’ ‘Earth Two’
Alan Scott, a character invented in 1940, suddenly revealed to have been homosexual all this time.
Keeping frigates running no easy feat for crews
FFG-7s are nearing the end of their lives. With no replacement in sight.
GO*VETS Foundation to Train 1,000 Veterans
Dedicated to providing veterans with the skills needed to become successful business owners and leaders.
Warning: You are welcome, but your Kindle is not
Let’s laugh at the Luddites.
Combat Diver Qualification Course students walk onto shore with their weapons at the ready. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika
A Royal Jordanian Land Force Challenger 1 tank fires on a target to during bilateral tank training with the U.S. Marine Corps 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit as part of Eager Lion 2012 in Petra, Jordan, May 7, 2012. Eager Lion is a U.S. Central Command-directed, irregular warfare-themed exercise focusing on missions the United States and its coalition partners might perform in support of global contingency operations. (DoD photo by Sgt. Richard Blumenstein, U.S. Marine Corps/Released)
Crews lower the final keel section of the future USS Gerald R. Ford into place at Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va., May 24, 2012. The 680-metric-ton, 60-foot-tall lower bow unit was the last major section of the ship installed below the waterline. The Gerald R. Ford, now more than 75 percent structurally complete in the dry dock, is on schedule to launch in 2013.
In Reversal, Army Bans High-Performance Rifle Mags
The message did not single out PMAGs, but instead authorizes only the use of Army-issued aluminum magazines. The message offers little explanation for the new policy except to state that “Units are only authorized to use the Army-authorized magazines listed in the technical manuals.” Nor does it say what Army units should now do with the millions of dollars’ worth of PMAGs they’ve purchased over the years…
The decision has left combat troops puzzled, since the PMAG has an Army-approved national stock number, which allows units to order them through the Army supply system.
“This just follows a long line of the Army, and military in general, not listening to the troops about equipment and weaponry,” said one Army infantryman serving in Southwest Afghanistan, who asked not to be identified.
It’s no secret that many of the M16/M4 reliability issues are related to magazines. The green follower was introduced to help and then the newer tan followers were introduced after the infamous dust tests (where the M4 finished a very distant last) had over a quarter of M4 malfunctions related to green follower magazines.
Murdoc is unaware of any conclusive studies about the reliability of PMAGs or other third-party magazines compared to standard government mags, but the troops seem to love them. You know. The guys who count on their weapons to stay alive.
Murdoc predicts that this ban will be reversed shortly.
Staff Sgt. Gary Shaffer, a member of the Mississippi Army National Guard, serving with the Zabul Agribusiness Development Team, stands guard during a visit to the proposed site for a new slaughterhouse in Qalat, Afghanistan. {Note the Magpul PMAG}
The littoral combat ship USS Independence (LCS 2), foreground, and USS Freedom (LCS 1) maneuver together during an exercise off the coast of San Diego, Calif., May 2, 2012. The littoral combat ship is a fast, agile, networked surface combatant designed to operate in the near-shore environment, while capable of open-ocean tasking, and win against 21st-century coastal threats such as submarines, mines, and swarming small craft. (DoD photo by Lt. Jan Shultis, U.S. Navy/Released)
This is something I posted a few years back. It is always one of the first things Murdoc thinks about when he thinks of Memorial Day.
Several years ago my family and I visited the USS Yorktown in Charleston, South Carolina. While wandering the great ship, I happened to notice this among the thousands of displays:
It says WITHIN AND NEAR THESE EXHIBIT COMPARTMENTS 32 MEN DIED AND 71 WERE WOUNDED 16 APRIL 1945 WHILE FIGHTING 50 KAMIKAZES.
Right there. Right where I and my family were standing.
Sixty years ago. Before my kids were born. Before I was born. Before my parents were born.
And those men died fighting for all of us.
I don’t know what else to say about it.
Thank-you veterans past and present. Especially those who never come home.
A U.S. Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 461 prepares to land at Camp Lemmonier, Djibouti, April 20, 2012. HMH-461 was training its pilots on landing and takeoff procedures while assigned to Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. (DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Joseph Araiza, U.S. Airforce/Released)
That is a great photo.
A Bulgarian soldier playing the role of an Afghan National Army soldier provides security during an operational mentor liaison team (OMLT) training exercise at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, May 15, 2012. OMLT training is designed to prepare NATO forces for full-spectrum operations in Afghanistan. Police operational mentor liaison team (POMLT) training prepares civilian police officers to train members of the Afghan National Police. (DoD photo by Sgt. Kirk Evanoff, U.S. Army/Released)
