Archive for the ‘Military & Defense’ Category
A U.S. Marine with Bravo Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion heads to a Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft after executing a narcotics and weapons raid in the Khash Rod district of Helmand province, Afghanistan, May 14, 2012, in support of Operation Lion's Den. The raid was part of an effort to disrupt the selling and distribution of contraband throughout Afghanistan. (DoD photo by Cpl. Marcus Kuiper, U.S. Marine Corps/Released)
The Marine has what appears to be an M110 SASS.
M110 SASS Sally
Marines fighting the war on drugs.
House panel wants $5.3B more for weapons
The extra funds they want include money to:
- Keep Block 30 Global Hawks in service
- Keep C-27J in service
- Install back-up oxygen system on F-22
- Continue C-130 avionics modernization
- 10 extra new UH-60 Black Hawks
- 3 extra new UH-72 Lakotas
- Additional PAC-3 Patriot missiles and launchers
- Keep the M1 tank production line open
- Upgrade M2 Bradleys
- Modernize National Guard Humvees
- 11 extra new F/A-18 Super Hornets
- 1 extra new V-22 Osprey
- 7 extra new Navy/Marine helicopters
- 1 extra new DDG 51 destroyer
- Keep 3 CGs from early retirement and upgrade them for BMD
- 5 extra C-130Js
- 12 extra new MQ-9 Reapers
- $1 billion extra for additional equipment reset
It also cuts over $528 million from F-35 procurement because of unjustified cost growth and delays.
Pentagon Puts Restrictions on USAF’s F-22 Fleet
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ordered the Air Force to stop flying the F-22 in regions, such as Alaska, where it would be difficult for pilots to land the plane if they experience signs of oxygen deficiency.
We don’t know many of the details, but this sure seems to be taking a long time to resolve.
Australian Army Pvt. Luke Challman fires at 300-meter targets while U.S. Army Sgt. Marcus Fontenot, with the 2nd Brigade , 25th Infantry Division, records Challman’s scores at the 2012 Australian Army Skills at the Arms Meeting (AASAM) in Puckapunyal, Australia, May 7, 2012. AASAM is an international marksmanship competition consisting of 16 different countries. This year is the fifth iteration of AASAM and the third consecutive year that United States forces have been invited to participate. (DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Michael R. Holzworth, U.S. Air Force/Released)
U.S. Marines serving as the assault element of the Maritime Raid Force with the 1st Force Reconnaissance Company, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit engage targets during a Special Operations Training Group live-fire qualification at Imperial Valley, Calif., May 8, 2012. (DoD photo by Cpl. John Robbart III, U.S. Marine Corps/Released)
U.S. Marines aboard a U.S. Navy hovercraft assigned to Assault Craft Unit 5 depart the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) while under way in the Persian Gulf May 1, 2012. The units were deployed as part of the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, a U.S. Central Command theater reserve force to support maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (DoD photo by Lance Cpl. Claudia Palacios, U.S. Marine Corps/Released)
The Air Force doesn’t have specific details on numbers and locations of pilots who have refused to fly the F-22, said Maj. Brandon Lingle, an Air Force spokesman. “We are generally aware of a small number of pilots who have expressed reservations about flying the F-22, and each of those cases will be handled individually through established processes,” he said.
There are Air Force rules that say a fear of flying, “whether expressed in general terms or limited to a particular aircraft, is a professional dereliction that carries significant consequences,” Lingle said.
Ouch.
It’s important to note the anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, and it’s important to give credit where credit is due. But this whole narrative about how President Obama somehow stood out from the pack by ordering the raid and that others, particularly Mitt Romney, would not have done the same mystifies Murdoc.
Osama bin Laden was a bad guy. One of the baddest of the bad. Nearly everyone everywhere agreed. He was held up as the poster boy of what the forces of freedom were fighting against. Regardless of their political persuasion or position on the War on Terror or opinion about regime change in Iraq, all US politicians supported the effort to defeat and capture or kill bin Laden.
When the Taliban was overthrown, opponents of President Bush criticized him for letting Osama bin Laden escape. When the campaign in Iraq was being launched and fought and wound down, opponents of President Bush criticized him for diverting resources from the “real war,” the one in Afghanistan against Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. When the attempt to build a nation in Afghanistan began to degenerate into the quagmire that it was almost certainly destined to become, the fact that Osama bin Laden was still at large was held up as a symbol of the futility of the war against terror. When terror attacks continued, it was always noted that, while Al Qaeda had been scattered and weakened, they were still a troubling organization and that their spiritual leader was still out there somewhere, lurking in the shadows.
For ten years after 9/11, countless hours had been spent by countless people in countless organizations trying to track down Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice. The combined efforts of international military, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies had continuously struck out against the number one target in the world.
And when a solid lead was finally found, it was some sort of “gutsy call” for President Obama to order the raid.
As if anyone else would have made a different call.
