Archive for February, 2006

Dozens Angry Over Army Assault Vehicle on Display

Leave it to anti-war protesters to overstate the threat of the Stryker. After five years of constant grumbling from many in military circles over the new vehicle’s supposed inadequacy, Not In Our Name is upset over the show of force in a Stryker display:

Anti-war protestors are demonstrating outside the Blaisdell Center. There is a health and fitness exposition inside that coincides with the Great Aloha Run.

The protestors are upset the Army has one of its new Stryker assault vehicles on display.

Demonstrators with the organization, “Not In Our Name” are picketing the Army’s assualt vehicle saying it is a weapon designed to quell urban unrest.

The Stryker family of wheeled vehicles consists of the following variants: Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICV); Mobile Gun System (MGS); Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle (NBC RV); Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM); Medical Evacuation Vehicle (MEV); Mortar Carrier (MC); Engineer Squad Vehicle (ESV); Command Vehicle (CV); Fire Support Vehicle (FSV); and the Reconnaissance Vehicle (RV).

No word so far on the the Urban Unrest Queller Assault Vehicle (UUQAV), but Murdoc hopes it’s heavily-armed. And a big steamroller attachment for particularly dense areas of unrest might not be completely out of line.

Meanwhile, the protests really put a damper on the Aloha Run event, as so many participated that they ran out of T-shirts. The military was well represented among the 22,000 runners in the 8.15 mile race:

The race began with the “Sounds of Freedom” group; 4,800 military members running in formation with their flags flying high.

As long as we can keep them running fun runs and singing, they won’t have the time or energy to quell us.

Iraqi Air Force gets Mi-17 ‘Hip’ helicopters
By Capt Russ Cook
MNSTC-I Coalition Air Force
Transition Team

From the Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq “Advisor” newsletter:

NEW AL MURTHANA AIR BASE, Iraq — A Russian Antonov 124 transport plane lumbered across the flightline towards New Al Muthana Air Base Feb. 17 and unloaded four tightly packed Mi-17 “Hip” helicopters; freshly painted and ready to join the fight against the insurgency in Iraq. The four helicopters were an addition to another four which previously arrived on Feb. 14.

The Mi-17 is the first weapon system that the Iraqi Air Force has acquired and funded without direct coalition involvement. A total of ten Mi-17s are expected to be on the ground and operational within a few months. According to the office of the Iraqi Air Force Director of Engineering, the Iraqi Air Force chose the Mi-17 because it was simple, capable and had been fl own by Iraq in the past.

The Mi-17s are brand new, dual engine helicopters capable of lifting 4000 kilograms of cargo, 30 combat troops or 20 patients. The aircraft are configured for transport roles and VIP use. The helicopters were purchased from
Poland along with a one year maintenance contract and training for its air crews. An important stipulation of the purchase was that the Hips had zero flying hours, ensuring a fresh start for the new Air Force.

The Mi-17s will receive some basic upgrades at New Al Muthana Air Base. The fleet will be moved to Taji Air Base for permanent basing. The Iraqi Air Force has plans to increase its fleet of Mi-17s to 24 by mid-2007. They
will be joined by 16 newly upgraded Huey IIs and five Bell 206 Jet Rangers.

The new helicopters will increase the battlefield mobility capability of the new Iraqi Air Force and mark the beginning of their move toward becoming an independent air arm.

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U.S. Marines in a light armored vehicle – command and control attached to the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit return to Camp Pendleton, Calif., Feb. 19, 2006, after a seven-month deployment in support of the war on terror. DoD photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class Alan Warner, U.S. Navy. (Released)

A Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) is in the background. The 13th MEU (SOC) and Expeditionary Strike Group One (ESG-1) have been busy since deploying in July:

The ships and Marines split to conduct multiple humanitarian and combat missions simultaneously hundreds of miles apart. “We didn’t just talk about split operations. We did it,” said Navy Capt. Jonathan Picker, Amphibious Squadron One commander. “We displayed the flexibility of the command underway to do multiple missions.”

ESG-1 participated in anti-submarine exercises with Japanese naval forces in late July. Tarawa’s medical department aided more than 3,000 residents of the Philippine island of Tawi-Tawi while the 13th MEU(SOC) supported the region’s Joint Special Operations Task Force command to weed out terrorist networks. After crossing through Egypt and the Suez Canal, ESG-1 and 13th MEU joined a 12-nation military force for “Bright Star” war games and amphibious exercises in September.

In Kuwait City, the Marines left the ships, and were ordered to Iraq to support military operations ahead of the December Iraqi national elections. Meanwhile, the ships conducted maritime security operations in the Persian Gulf, northern Arabian Sea and off the coast of Somalia, an area crisscrossed by suspected terrorists and pirates that threaten commercial shipping and tourism.

For more info, see Navy Times.

On Port Security: Slower, Please
Neither Rubber Stamps of Approval Nor Hyperventilating Objection Serve Security

Steve Schippert:

To be sure, there are many aspects that warrant a more patient and more public inspection. So, let’s take our time and have a closer look and have it very publicly for our own peace of mind, one way or the other.

But be forewarned on potential Congressional review: So long as there are cameras in the chambers, we will be more likely to see many politicians seeking to bend testimony around their already-stated public positions rather than seeking a true understanding, regardless of their perceptions. Most will, typically, exit any such procedure with the same view they entered into it with. For this reason, the public must not let this rest on The Hill. The American public must remain engaged.

Read the whole thing.

I certainly don’t mind taking a closer look at this. But I’d rather take a closer look at the real security concerns regarding our ports, real security concerns regarding our air transportation, and re security concerns regarding our borders.

But no luck.

Here’s a Cat that never got a “Cat” designation:

Nicknamed by some the “Skyrocket”, this experimental Cat never reached production. However, fans of the comic book series Blackhawk will be familiar with it, as the fictional squadron flew them for decades. Here’s a Global Security entry on the XF5F. The pic is from “THE CAT YOU NEVER SAW”

I’m not quite sure why this has turned into such a major issue. I’m always a bit leery of giving foreign interests control of anything in the US, but the reaction the plan to turn the operations of some port terminals over to the United Arab Emirates has been stunning, to say the least.

The wackiest sort has been the “this is like giving the Mexican government control over the US-Mexico border”. It’s nothing of the sort, of course, and though security concerns are at the heart of my skepticism, it’s not like I’m afraid that UAE officials are going to be the only thing standing between our streets and the rest of the world.

The Coast Guard, Port Authority, local police, and US Customs aren’t going to just evaporate if this deal goes through. I’d say we should be have heightened awareness, maybe, but US law is still the law of the land. The UAE isn’t going to “manage ports”, it’s going to manage terminals in ports.

So many (including many in the GOP) are trying so hard to portray this as a “GW is selling America down the river” story. While I’m no big fan of the plan, I think critics are overstating the case and the threat by a very large margin. I just don’t see this as big news either way, other than the threat of a veto by the President to overturn legislation that would make the plan illegal. This seems to be an odd thing to suddenly go to the mats over.

I wish he would really go to the mats over the Mexican border issue. But I’m not sure which side he’d come down on in that one…
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Rumsfeld Alters Claim on Planting Iraqi Stories

LA Times:

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the Pentagon was reviewing its practice of paying to plant stories in the Iraqi news media, withdrawing his earlier claim that it had been stopped.

Rumsfeld said he was mistaken in the earlier assertion.

I’ve always been a bit confused about this story. Are the stories we’ve been pushing false stories?

MASH unit returns to Germany from final mission in Pakistan

The last MASH unit in the Army left it’s equipment with the Pakistanis and will convert to a Combat Support Hospital, or CASH, in October.

Our finest ambassadors.

The Officer’s Club has a pic of an F/A-18 up, and according to the caption its one with the new AESA radar. Cool pic.

They also point out the recent test of autonomous Stryker convoys. I’ve meant to write about this for several days but haven’t managed to get to it. Go read OC for more.

I wanted to hit the Chicago Auto Show this past weekend and check out the Stryker once again, but no dice.

In mid-December, I posted a photo of a female US soldier with an Iraqi woman. I also posted it at Winds of Change under the title “Just two women changing the world“. A few commenters at WoC and in other places acted predictably lame, and the soldier, PFC Janelle Zalkovsky, happened to notice and respond. I contacted her, and she agreed to do a little “email interview” for Murdoc Online.

Another photo of PFC Zalkovsky managed to make it into the US Army’s 2005 “Year in Photos” Feature. Here it is:

Here’s the Q & A, edited only slightly for readiblilty. (All the words are there and no words have been added.):

I’ll start with a few background questions

1. When did you join the Army?

I joined the army June 15, 2004.

2. Did you join because of 9/11?

No, I did not join because of 9/11. I was born September 11, and I remember I had to stay at home for my birthday because my mother thought that Dallas, Texas (thirty minutes away from where I lived) was going to get hit next. So it definitely made me think about the impact it had on everyone and what was going to be the result of it. I knew, joining, I would be going to war but it was not my reason for joining.

3. How long have you been in Iraq?

Since September 17th, 2005. Basically four and a half months.

4. Now that you’ve been deployed to Iraq, do you feel differently about being in the military?

Definitely.

5. If so, how?

I have a different perspective of life and what is most important to me. I will not re-enlist and I hope to never be away from my husband again in these kind of conditions. I fear for his life everyday. We are both deployed. We are relatively close so I can see him often but this is something I never want to do again. I have many more reasons but do not feel that I should share them at this point.

6. You had mentioned that you were recently on leave. What did your friends and family have to say when you saw them?

My friends were just really happy to see me, most of them I have not seen in two years. They just wanted to know all the details about the war and wanted to give their own opinion of everything. My family is very proud of me. They are just worried about my safety. I have an Aunt who wanted to keep me at her house, saying I couldn’t go back. They just do not want to see me go again. It’s like i keep coming in and out of their lives all the time.

Next some questions about your mission:

7. One of the pictures of you that was published was taken while your unit was distributing humanitarian aid in Thyad, Iraq. Can you tell me a little bit about that aspect of your duties?

We basically escort the Civil Affairs Team to different villages in Iraq. Sometimes they have meetings with Iraqi nationals, and so we guard the perimeter of the building it’s being held in. When we actually go into the villages and do a dismounted patrol we will have the gunners stay in the truck to pull security while we befriend the Iraqi children handing out toys and books. We also give to the women lotions and candles, things any female would like to have.

8. Roughly what percentage of your time is spent on humanitarian/aid missions?

Civil Affairs mission was normally not my duty. I worked in the BOC which is where all our battalion information comes through. I monitored radios all day, but I would volunteer to go out. The rest of my platoon would go on these missions everyday for at least 6 hours a day.

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