Fonda: ‘Hanoi Jane’ visit was a mistake

A reader tips me off to this. 33 years later, Hanoi Jane figured out something that everyone else everywhere else knew immediately the first time they heard of it.

Coincidentally, she has a new book coming out. If admitting that you betrayed American soldiers three decades ago will help sell books, hey, why not?

Offered without comment.

A major report on the Styker’s performance in Iraq has surfaced somehow. There are already several very critical stories out in the Legacy Media, but on the surface they appear to have been written either with sympathy to (or guidance from) the very vocal anti-Stryker crowd or maybe just following the rules of the “No Right Answer” game.

As far as Murdoc has been able to tell, the Stryker has been performing its mission effectively, though of course not perfectly. While a bit of a fan of the Stryker concept, Murdoc definitely wants what’s best for our troops and Army, and I haven’t been shy about raising questions concerning the program (here, among other places).

Murdoc’s quite busy at work (real world blah blah blah) but he’s hoping to read the 120-page report tonight and post some thoughts on it over the next couple of days. Check back, and send in anything you’ve got on the Stryker. Good or bad.

Tanks take a beating in Iraq

A reader sends me the link to this USA Today story. It has some info on how the M1 tank is holding up to continued attacks in Iraq. 80 have been knocked out since the invasion, though many or most of them will be able to be rebuilt and returned to service.

Five men have been killed inside of M1 tanks when they’ve been hit by roadside bombs, and Murdoc recalls that two of them were in this October 2003 incident. Also, at least one of the tanks destroyed was burned out when the truck transporting it was destroyed in Baghdad and another was abandoned during the original Thunder Run and later partied on by Iraqis for Al Jazerra video crews.

A number of improvements are being worked on for the M1 to perform better and even more safely than it currently is, one of the most important of which might be a slat armor protective cage for the rear of the tank, where RPG hits can disable an M1. (The illustration at right is from USA Today.)

As mentioned in the previous MO post on the subject, there are other nifty improvements coming for the M1. Another reader sends this image, which outlines the biggies (click for a better view):

The upgrade program is called the TUSK, for Tank Urban Survival Kit. See this Army News Service story for more details, including a monster-sized version of the pic. One thing that bothers me, after looking at the super sized pic, is that the commander’s weapon mount appears to be a RWS Remote Weapons Station like that on the Stryker LAV.

The RWS is not motion-stabilized, something that recent reports are crticising and something that’s bothered Murdoc since before the Stryker went operational. An alternative is the CROWS Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station, a system very similar to the RWS but incorporating motion-stabilization. The CROWS is already deployed in Iraq (I believe it’s on Humvees, but I don’t know for sure) so there should be some good feedback from the field on it’s performance. Murdoc thinks that either the CROWS or another motion-stabilized station is needed.

Thanks big-time to the readers who are helping keep MO in the know. Keep those cards and letters coming.

Some 42nd ID soldiers believe Iraqi youths hold key to peaceful future

I’ve said many times that we won’t really know whether the whole democracy thing will work in Iraq until the people who are kids today are running the country. The main job of the current adult population is to just hold the country together for the next 20 years or so.

That’s all.

Anyway, this National Guard unit has been in Iraq for a month and a half and is seeing the hope (and danger) that Iraqi kids hold.

“I think teenagers are the ones we should be trying to influence the most,” said Sgt. Stephen Borosh of Elkhart, Ind. “The kids are the future, but the [teens] are the ones a little bit closer to where we want to go.”

Like anywhere else, teenagers in Iraq are old enough to make their own bad decisions. Some have trouble looking U.S. soldiers in the eye, Borosh said. Some can be easily bought, and do bad things for money such as planting bombs.

Also, like anywhere else in this region, which is manned by the 42nd Infantry Division’s Task Force Liberty, city kids can be different from country kids.

“If you go out to the outlying farm areas, you can see it in their eyes — they really like having you around,” Borosh said. “In the city, they’re more affected by the insurgency and what’s been going on here.”

Heh. Kids in urban America are probably affected by our insurgency, as well. Just look at the voting patterns of their parents. But I digress.

Here’s the closing paragraph:

“Not in the next 10 years; maybe in 20,” said [Spc. Marion] Brawley when asked if he had hope for the future of Iraq. “It doesn’t matter that we’re here. It’s on the [Iraqi] people. I want to win [the children's] hearts and minds. I don’t care about the adults. They’re already set in their minds.”

While I wouldn’t entirely dismiss the adults, it is too late to change them in any meaningful way. Old dogs, and all that. And, as I mentioned earlier, I think Spc. Brawley is right on the money when he says 20 years.

I also think it will be 20 years well spent.

Navy pushing for addition of second aircraft carrier in Pacific

The Quadrennial Defense Review is just getting under way. It’s a big-picture look at long-term plans and is conducted every four years. One of the many things that will be discussed, according to this Stars and Stripes story, is the forward basing of a second aircraft carrier in the Pacific.

Currently, the only forward-based carrier is the KITTY HAWK in Japan. Officials are looking at both Hawaii and Guam as options for a second carrier based away from the continental US. Forward basing cuts travel time if a carrier is needed immediately in the event of trouble, and it cuts travel time to and back from base in the event of extended duty in a trouble zone.

Another situation discussed in the article is the case of the non-nuclear carriers. The KITTY HAWK and the JOHN F KENNEDY are the two remaining non-nuclear carriers in the US fleet and are the next two scheduled to be deactivated, the JFK’s decommissioning having been moved up in the latest defense budget as the Navy goes from 12 carriers to 11.

The Japanese, for understandable reasons, aren’t very willing to base nuclear-powered ships in their ports. The Navy is going to have a dilemma when there are only nuclear-powered flat tops left.

For what it’s worth, Murdoc thinks forward-basing another carrier is a good move but going down to 11 carriers is a mistake.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention some time back that the USS BELLEAU WOOD, an LHA assault ship, will be retired next year instead of in 2007 as planned. I see this as sort of salt in the “down to 11 carriers” wound.

Although not carriers, the LHA assault ships are more carrier than nearly anyone else on the planet can muster. Although the BELLEAU WOOD will be going out next year, it’s place will be taken by the MAKIN ISLAND, the first of the next generation of LHD assault ships. For more info on the MAKIN ISLAND, see Global Security.

Iraq prison population doubles in 5 months

In an article that spends a lot of time going over the Abu Gharib disgrace (just in case someone was unaware of it, I guess), the AP then goes on to wonder how many of the latest prisoners are also being abused.

Five months ago, the military said it was holding about 4,300 prisoners in Iraq. The growth in the prison population has come amid a lingering insurgency in Iraq and despite the formal transfer of power to an interim Iraqi government last June.

I’m not really sure why the transfer of power would decrease the number of prisoners.

A human rights group was issuing a report Wednesday saying the rising number of detainees increases the risk that the prisoners will be mistreated. The report from New York-based Human Rights First says secrecy about the prisoners is also increasing, citing the refusal of military officials to discuss the number of prisoners in Afghanistan since January.

I thought this story was about Iraq. But, whatever it takes to make your point, I guess.

I’m going to pull my own change-of-geography for a bit.

This situation reminds me of the hand-wringing stories that come out from time to time over here with headlines like “1 of every 75 men in prison” and decrying that fact that prison populations are up despite a drop in the crime rate.

Hello, McFly! Think the two statistics might be related in some way?

Violence in Iraq is down. What’s the thinking?

Attacks against US troops, Iraqi security forces, and civilians are way down. Time to let a bunch of prisoners back out onto the streets!

I’m just saying.

Army retention rates booming among 1st ID, 1st AD soldiers in Europe

Although lower recruiting numbers, big losses in the National Guard, and the NG and reserves raising the maximum age to enlist have all been front-page stories on Legacy Media outlets in recent weeks, for some reason or another this didn’t show up on the radar.

I wonder why.

(via Lance In Iraq)

Stryker Struggles With 60 Year Old Weapon (03/29/2005 entry)

Another Strategy Page posting on the Stryker, MO’s favorite 8-wheeled LAV:

American Stryker wheeled infantry vehicles are getting an upgraded version of the RWS (Remote Weapon System, a .50 caliber machine-gun that can be fired by an operator inside the vehicle.) The RWS is made by a Norwegian firm and, without the weapon, weighs 220 pounds. You can mount a machine-gun (usually .50 caliber) or an automatic 40mm grenade launcher on the RWS. While the troops have liked the RWS, this first intense combat use of the system has revealed problems. The extreme heat in Iraq would sometimes cause the system to freeze up. After several fixes, the problem finally went away. Although RWS is supposed to be able to fire accurately while the vehicle is moving, this often doesn’t work, especially when the Stryker is moving cross country.

This is a little ambiguous. The RWS is NOT motion-stabilized. This has been a criticism that many (including myself) have brought up since before the first Strykers were declared operational. Although the weapon can still be fired, while moving, there’s nothing to help steady the aim of the gunner as the vehicle bounces down the road or across the desert. I think this would be a major problem, as a moving vehicle is a safer vehicle during a battle. The driver is probably not going to stop in order to let the gunner get a good shot lined up.

Also:

While the troops liked the thermal sight on the RWS, they also found it difficult to use because of the low resolution. The RWS uses a less capable thermal sight than is found on other armored vehicles, and troops who have used the more capable thermal sights on the M-2 Bradley could not help but notice the difference. Troops also want a range finder. But the troops find much to like about the RWS. It is generally pretty accurate, especially with the daylight camera.

I’ve sat in a Stryker and played around a bit with the RWS. (See this post for pics, including a couple of the RWS controls and the view screen, plus some of the RWS itself (albeit with a dummy weapon installed.))

The screen clarity was pretty good (something I mentioned in my post) and controlling the RWS wasn’t too difficult. After a few seconds I was able to track pedestrians accurately as they walked by, and the zooms seemed pretty useful. I didn’t try out the IR settings, so I can’t comment on them at all.

But I’ve mentioned many times that the lack of stabilization has got to be a major pain. I’ve pointed out the CROWS in the past, not because I think we need that particular system but because it’s an RWS-like unit that incorporates motion stabilization.

Any Stryker soldiers out there have a comment?

Alternatives to Slat Armor (03/25/2005 entry)

Strategy Page:

The special “slat armor” on the U.S. Army’s new Stryker wheeled armored vehicle was supposed to stop 73 percent of RPG attacks. But actual experience has shown that only 50 percent of RPGs were stopped.

That’s quite interesting. First of all, I’m only aware of three Strykers lost to enemy action: One to an IED when the resulting fire could not be put out, one to an RPG which ignited a fuel can stored outside the hull, and possibly one to RPG fire in the big August 4th fight in Mosul. I’ve read various accounts that talk of scores of RPG hits on Strykers.

I’m wondering what “stopped” means when they say that the slat armor has only stopped 50% of the RPGs. Does that mean penetration of the Stryker hull by the warhead jet? Full penetration? How big of a hole?

For the record, the way that the slat armor is supposed to function is: The RPG warhead hits the “bird cage”-like slat armor and detonates at a distance from the armored hull rather than against the hull armor. This means that the jet of molten metal from the RPG’s HEAT shaped-charge warhead must travel the distance from the slat armor to the hull armor and is then turned aside by the hull armor.

As far as I’ve been able to gather, the slat armor has worked splendidly. The official story concerning the first Stryker lost to RPG fire is that the slat armor defeated the warhead, but that an external fuel can was ignited by the debris and the fire could not be extinguished in time to save the vehicle. The second incident, in the August 4th Mosul night fight, had a large number of RPG hits on the same vehicle in a short period of time. It isn’t very clear if that Stryker was indeed lost, though, and I haven’t been able to confirm either way.

Other defensive options are being looked at, including explosive reactive armor and guns, missiles, or lasers to shoot down incoming warheads.