Archive for April, 2009

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Says the sender:

I was running around an “unidentified ” camp in central Iraq, working on some company tasks, when I noticed the tricked out M2 HB on this Hummer. Vortex style flash suppressor, and some sort of optics on top of the rear receiver (though they’re not that visible because of the shadows), a multi rail shroud over the heat shield on the rear of the barrel, with a “honkin big” dual beam (white and IR) light mounted, and the large cubish green box appears to be a II device or a FLIR………………maybe one of your more technically knowledgeable readers knows what/which it is? Looks to me like someone’s planning on accurately placing some big hurt in the dark on deserving bad guys…………………..and they’d rather not mess up their sight picture with unnecessary muzzle flash! Ouch!!

I wonder what John Browning back in the day would think about this picture.

Given the current low-intensity warfare and the extreme shortage of ships and money:

The Navy is breaking up the deployments of amphibious ships and surface combatants formerly known as expeditionary strike groups, part of a top-down review that could have far-reaching consequences for how sailors and Marines spend time at sea.

For the past six years, ESGs paired a big-deck amphib and two small-deck gators with two or three surface combatant escorts. Now, the gators and warships will go separately.

As of March 9, the gator groups were renamed “amphibious ready groups,” reviving a term that was shelved several years ago, and combined with the name of their accompanying Marine expeditionary unit, said Lt. Cmdr. Phil Rosi, a spokesman for Fleet Forces Command. Although these were the first changes to come from a joint Navy-Marine ESG working group, they won’t be the last, he said.

Though full-on warfare is pretty limited right now, the demands on the fleet are as high as ever. There are only so many ships to go around, and current procurement plans aren’t going to do a lot to change that. The overwhelming power of an ESG isn’t in real high demand at the moment. So expect a lot of juggling along these lines as the Navy tries to squeeze every bit of productivity it can out of what they’ve left themselves with.

Got this message in my Blackwater Tactical Weekly email newletter:

Readers;

Is it just me or could this pirate issue be fixed fairly quickly? How about one year of professional armed security personnel on every ship making the passage. I know everyone will be screaming how much it will cost; well folks don’t even try to do the math on what it cost to run the USS Bainbridge and the JTF around the gulf responding to radio calls 600 miles away. Of course everyone will want to know what the rules of engagement are; again, there are a lot of smart people out there and this should be answered quickly (if they shoot an RPG at you, you shoot back). For the second year, there will be security on one of every three ships and a large sign on all ships that says this vessel is manned by armed security whether it is or not (kind of like those little signs and stickers people put on their house that says they have a security system but really just paid $5.00 for the sticker).

Eventually this will be just too risky for the pirates to continue the madness, especially if they are not getting money, oh and yes, the diplomatic avenue with nation building must be happening in parallel.

Stay safe.

John Adams

I would have no problem with this. As commenters in a previous post pointed out, insurance companies would balk at ship crews arming themselves, and I can see the point. So why not give policyholders a bit of break if they have professional armed security onboard? That would help offset the cost of hiring them and would save everyone money in the long run.

Well, not the pirates. It could put them out of business.

AP/MSNBC:

At home in central Somalia, Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse frequented a dusty, outdoor cinema after school, watched Bollywood films dubbed into his native Somali and, his mother says, “was wise beyond his age.”

Now Muse — the sole surviving Somali pirate from the hostage-taking of an American ship captain — is a world away in New York City to face what are believed to be the first piracy charges in the United States in more than a century. He smiled but said nothing Tuesday as he was led into a federal building under heavy guard.

Why’s the pirate smiling? Could it be that because in US custody his standard of living just increased ten-fold?

His mother says he was “brainwashed,” “duped,” and “outwitted” into becoming a pirate, but I don’t really see how that squares with her claim that he was wise. Maybe something was lost in translation.

They should try him in Boston. The USS Constitution probably has an available yardarm.

Sometimes old school is okay.

Battalion COs to make body armor decisions

The Corps will give primary control over how much body armor Marines wear to battalion and squadron commanders, an attempt to localize decision-making and cut weight from the combat load when possible.

The move, announced Friday in Marine administrative message 254/09, means that lieutenant colonels will typically make the decision, rather than colonels who command larger regimental combat teams. Higher-ranking commanders still have the authority to make decisions on body armor if they feel it is necessary, said Maj. Tom Wood, infantry advocate for the Plans, Policies and Operations Branch at Marine Corps headquarters.

Wood said the new policy stemmed from the operating forces and the recognition that the CO of a battalion or squadron with closer proximity to Marines could make a better judgment on how much armor was necessary.

As an outsider looking in, Murdoc thinks this only makes sense. With so much controversy over the availability and quanlity of body armor, there has been a lot of hue and cry over lives lost due to not wearing enough armor.

Now, shortages are pretty much unforgivable. If troops need or want armor, they had better be able to get it. But a lot of coverage has focused on how this bigger side plate or that type of armor would have saved lives without taking, well, reality into account. Trying to dictate from half a world away what the appropriate level of protection is would be insane, and even RCT commanders in theater might not be able to make the best calls all of the time.

Everything is a bit of a juggling compromise, and the ones best equipped to do it right are the ones with the most knowledge about the exact circumstances likely to be encountered.

Right now they’re running in Boston. I’ve qualified for next year’s race and will be in the 114th running of the grandaddy marathon.

Right now US runners are in the lead pack for both men and women.

UPDATE: Kara Goucher led the women until real late and finished third. Ryan Hall faded earlier but battled back and also finished third in the men’s race.

Two third-place finishes is quite an accomplishment for American running.

Taliban moving on Mardan
The Taliban continue their advance in northwestern Pakistan.

Who’s Laughing at the ‘Axis of Evil’ today?
“The phrase has become more and more of a joke even as the demonstration of the validity of the concept has become more extensive.”

New gun law aimed at asserting sovereignty
Montana law asserts that Montana runs Montana, not D.C. Who do they think they’re kidding? I mean really.

M26 MASS Shotgun System
I’ve kind of been wondering where this thing was. I knew some went to the combat zones and never heard another word.

Kids Today Don’t Know How Good They Have It
The 15 years between President Bill Clinton’s 1993 tax hike and Barack Obama’s increase in cigarette taxes in February was the longest stretch in U.S. history without a federal income tax increase. Say what you will about the 90s Republican congresses and the Bush presidency, but that’s quite a 15 year run.

The Road to Area 51
Five men speak out about classified base, one of them an A-12 OXCART pilot.

Al Qaeda’s Shadow Army commander outlines Afghan strategy
The new commander of al Qaeda’s paramilitary forces that operate in Pakistan and Afghanistan laid out al Qaeda and the Taliban’s strategy to defeat the Coalition and Afghan government.

Why Gates Kept the Giant Golf Ball from Spying on Kim’s Missile
Military advisers reportedly advised against using the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX).

Obama blames U.S. guns in Mexico
Still telling the 90% fairy tale.

$40M fuel theft prompts global manhunt
Army contractors stole more than 10 million gallons from Camp Liberty in Baghdad.

Documentary or distasteful? New Fallujah video game stirs debate
I’m on the fence on this. It seems a little soon, I guess.

Local Gun Shop Mentioned in Time
Silver Bullet Firearms in Wyoming, MI is a star.

If your school has to issue a press release denying your vampire problem…
Great. Now zero tolerance applies to the undead, too? When Murdoc was a kid, students took care of vampire problems at recess. But I went to a Christian elementary school so crosses and stuff were allowed.

Gates: We Ignore Threats to Our Navy at Our Peril

Robert Gates is worried that our fleet is in danger, conveniently ignoring the fact that if things keep on keeping on, there won’t be much of a fleet left to threaten.

“We cannot allow more ships to go the way of the DDG-1000, where since its inception the projected buy has dwindled from 32 to three as costs per ship have more than doubled,” Gates said.

If he means no more outrageous plans for outrageous ships at outrageous prices, then, yes, we cannot allow more ships to go that way.

A commenter pointed out that USS Enterprise (CVN 65) costs about $500 million per year to operate. One popular number for the cost of the DD(X) ships is $3,300 million. So by not building one, the Big ‘E’ could operate for an extra six and half years, and that’s not counting operating costs of the destroyer. So call it seven years.

What will help the Navy more over a seven-year period? One carrier or one destroyer?

A different commenter pointed this out:

10 supercarriers still is infinite times the amount of supercarriers that other nations have.

That’s correct, but my worry about 10 carriers not being enough isn’t based on having to deal with enemy carriers. If we had a potential enemy with a few serious flat-tops, we’d need a 20-carrier fleet. My wish for a dozen carriers is based on no significant surface threats to the fleet.

He adds:

1 carr[ier] for every sea, plus 3 extra ones for where trouble is.

Here’s a mix of current and potential situations that should be keeping people awake at night:

1. Afghanistan continues to require more attention and will for the next several years at least.
2. North Korea seems pretty intent on continuing the jackassery of the past couple decades.
3. So what if as our troops withdraw from Iraq, things start go go south? Or the Iraq region gets dicey due to Syria or Iran?
4. Seeing the fact that we don’t have enough fleet for everything on the wish list, China decides to take advantage of things and decides to start a rumble.

Which “where the trouble is” gets the “3 extra” carriers?

Sure, that’s a nearly-worst-case scenario, but isn’t that what the military is for?

A lot of the justification for cutting back the carrier fleet seems to be the success of the JDAM. It’s tough to argue with this, as one plane with bombs that don’t miss can potentially do the work of a squadron. But this thinking assumes two things:

1. Future strike needs will continue to be pin-prick one-bomb needs.
2. No one will disrupt GPS.

Those are two pretty major assumptions.

Meanwhile: Push for fewer F/A-18s could widen fighter gap

The so-called “strike fighter gap” may grow under Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ new cost-cutting budget.

Gates proposed a cut in the number of F/A-18 jets the Navy will buy next year, a move that could add to the fighter shortage looming as many of the older Hornets begin to wear out.

Gates said April 6 that the Navy will buy 31 “F/A-18s” in fiscal 2010. A Navy official said that includes F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets as well as EA-18G Growlers, which use the same Boeing-made airframe but are outfitted for electronic warfare…

Last year, Navy officials estimated the fighter gap would reach 125 jets for the Navy and Marine Corps starting in 2016 and extend for several years.

More recent projections are looking at a 150-200 plane shortfall.

We’re probably looking at a “Why keep eleven carriers? We don’t even have enough planes for ten.” scenario.

A recent proposal to stretch Hornet A-D life to 8,600 hours from 8,000 will add about two years of life to each plane at a cost of $500,000.

Air Force Times:

For the third consecutive month the number of bombs dropped by Air Force, Navy and other coalition warplanes increased in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to Air Forces Central.

Here are the numbers for March:
Afghanistan: 335 bombs dropped (most since last August)
Iraq: 41 bombs dropped (also the most since last August)

Remember that stupid “surge” plan? The one that failed?

We dropped nearly nine times as many bombs in Afghanistan as in Iraq last month.

Full caption of photo:

U.S. Navy Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Andrew Cardwell, right, transports a 500-pound Mark 82 bombs as Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Manuel Almanza supervises in an ammunition storage magazine aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) Aug. 2, 2008, at sea in the Pacific Ocean. Kitty Hawk is unloading all ammunition before arriving in San Diego, Calif. Kitty Hawk is the Navy’s oldest active-duty warship and will be replaced this summer by USS George Washington (CVN 73) as the Navy’s only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kyle D. Gahlau/Released)
Photographer’s Name: MC3 Kyle D. GahlauLocation: USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63)
Date Shot: 8/2/2008