Company C, 1st Tank Battalion waits before embarking on another mission during the training evolution known as Steel Knight. The exercise began in the early 1990s and only involved tankers. It has since grown to encompass all the elements of the Marine Air Ground Task Force. Photo by Lance Cpl. Michael Nerl

Full story: 1st Tanks Rolls Through Largest Steel Knight

First Tank Battalion, along with other units from 1st Marine Division, completed Steel Knight, a Marine Corps Air Ground Task Force level exercise, at the Combat Center Nov. 26.

The combined arms exercise was the biggest yet, said Lt. Col. Tom Gordon, the commanding officer of 1st Tanks and native of Boston.

This photo reminds me of a question I’ve been meaning to ask for some time. Are any of the TUSK upgrades going to made to Marine M1s? The photo below shows a tank with a shield from an Armored Turret System on the loader’s machine gun, but, as the others in the photo gallery don’t have one, I suspect it’s a personal upgrade.

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Representatives from eight women's associations meet to discuss possible business training in the town of Qare Qosh in Ninawa province with members of the Ninawa Provincial Reconstruction Team Oct 27. Photo by 2nd Lt. Jeff Orban

Looks like Smalltown, USA, but is actually Mosul, Iraq:

The Ninawa Provincial Reconstruction Team has instituted a program to train women’s associations in Iraq on business administration practices.

Tony Daza, an economics advisor for the Ninawa PRT and representatives from eight women’s associations held an open dialogue Oct. 27 about the details of the training program.

This, my friends, is what victory looks like. Women sitting around a table discussing professional training programs.

“All these women have attended a lot of conferences before on empowerment, but this time they were ready for income generating programs,” said Daza…

“These women have never had access to start a business to generate income of their own,” said Daza. “Success for me with this program is giving these women choices to have their own sources of income.”

There are a lot of people who screamed and yelled and protested and pontificated for years so that these women could not do things like this. And Murdoc’s not talking about the terrorists or fundamentalists in Iraq.

USS Enterprise repair bill now $605 million
Big ‘E’ now won’t be ready until January.

11 airmen survive Sudanese confrontation
Previously-classified 2006 incident could have ended quite badly.

Tommy Gun: How General Thompson’s Submachine Gun Wrote History
Haven’t read it but it looks interesting.

AR Guns & Hunting
New online magazine focusing on tactical guns for hunting.

A Tale of Two Marines
I suppose that if you have the luxury of quitting, you can just fucking quit. But if that’s not an option, you figure out a way to win.

Airmen Bomb Silly Safety Belt Rules, on Facebook
Airmen are ordered to wear the reflective accessories from the late afternoon on. That goes for domestic installations, and for war zone bases, too.

Navy on Yorktown: Fix it or junk it
Museum ship in South Carolina needs at least $100 million for repairs to rusting hull. Earlier this year a local writer suggested disposing of her.

More Linkzookery below!
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This story has been in the news lately: US Troops Outnumber Taliban 12-1

First of all, US troops don’t outnumber the Taliban 12-1, it’s all NATO and Afghan forces combined that, according to this report, outnumber the Taliban fighters 12-1.

Secondly, as far as I can tell it’s just counting active Taliban militants, not any of the support network. So if they want to provide a meaningful number, it would be better to only count NATO and Afghan combatants.

Third, as the story does point out, two-thirds of the NATO/Afghan number are Afghan military and police, many of which are woefully under-trained and ill-equipped.

Finally, they’re probably not interested in a meaningful number, anyway. They’re probably looking to spread the idea that there are already so many troops in Afghanistan that it’s pointless to send more just because the military wants them.

For all the talk about “the Surge” in Iraq, it was the shift of tactics and the increasing capabilities and use of the Iraqi forces that made the largest difference.

As long as the Taliban types can keep running into Pakistan to rest and re-arm, things are going to be really tough no matter what the ratio is.

Ex-Saipan begins journey to scrap yard

Tugs towed the amphibious assault ship formerly known as the Saipan out of its mothball berth in Philadelphia on Wednesday, beginning the ship’s final trip to sea — one that will end at the scrap yard.

The Saipan is scheduled to arrive mid-November in Brownsville, Texas, where workers at International Shipbreaking Ltd. will begin cutting the 28,000-ton ship apart.

USS Saipan (LHA 2, bottom) and USS John F Kennedy (CV 67) tied up in Philadelphia's Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility

Weapons effect testing was conducted on the Saipan after she was decommissioned.

Not at all what happened
USS Ramage (DDG 61) firing a 5-inch gun in 2008.

Destroyer accidentally fires on Polish port

Three 7.62 rounds from an M240 machine gun equals “fired on Polish port.”

The crew of the destroyer Ramage was doing “routine maintenance” to the ship in the port of Gdynia when a sailor inadvertently fired the burst from one of the warship’s M240 machine guns, the official said.

Thankfully, no one was hurt.

But if you think this headline is bad, check out this Russian headline:

US destroyer shells Polish shore

Rooskie journalism hasn’t lost a step.

5.56 NATO Dimensions

Steve at The Firearm Blog notes British soldiers also complaining about 5.56mm NATO

In the Telegraph:

A survey of more than 50 servicemen who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan concluded that the 5.56mm calibre rounds used by British soldiers ‘tailed off’ after 300 metres yet half of all Helmand firefights are fought between 300 and 900 metres.

This seems to make sense and be perfectly reasonable. After all, our Special Forces found out pretty much the same thing in 2001. A lot of them switched to the heavier Mk 262 from the M855 green tip.

But then there’s:

Taliban marksmen use powerful 7.62mm ammo for their AK47 machine guns, according to a report of the study in The Sun.

If they’re trying to argue that AKs firing 7.62 Russian are outshooting guys with 5.56mm SA80 rifles, they’re going to have to do a lot of convincing. Since they use the term “machine gun”, maybe they mean the 7.62×54mm used in the PK-series. But then they’re arguing apples and oranges.

Yes, the 5.56 leaves some things to be desired. Particularly out of shorter barrels.

Yes, a heavier intermediate round such as the 6.8 SPC or the 6.5 Grendel would probably do better in a wider range of circumstances, particularly at longer ranges.

Yes, full size rounds like the 7.62×51 fired from a full-length rifle pack quite a wallop.

But let’s not whine about 5.56 at medium to long range and then extol the 7.62 Russian or medium machine gun rounds in the media.

Happened to notice this story on Yahoo by Lindsay Robertson: Taylor Lautner’s Shirtless Pics: A Hollywood Double Standard?

Remember the huge uproar in April 2008, when 15-year-old Miley Cyrus appeared in “Vanity Fair” wrapped in a sheet, with her right shoulder and the top of her back visible, implying that, under the sheet, she wasn’t wearing a shirt?…

Now, with the premiere of his movie, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” less than a month away, magazines, websites, and TV are blanketed with images of 17-year-old star Taylor Lautner, shirtless and showing off the body he trained for months to perfect for the role. And yet, none of the cultural critics who turned Miley’s photos into a full-blown “scandal” have said a word about the sexualization of Taylor, who, at 17, is just two years older than Miley was during her “scandal” and is also a minor. So, does Hollywood have a double standard?

I had to check again to make sure that Taylor Lautner was a guy. He is, and I think that the clear answer is “Yes, there are definitely different standards when it comes to males and females without shirts on. Duh.”

What a shocking discovery.

Blackfive povides History Lesson – The Iraq Surge

Three landing craft air cushion vehicles assigned to Assault Craft Unit 4 approach the shore after launching from the multi-purpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan during Bright Star 2009. The biennial, multinational exercise is conducted by U.S. Central Command and involves U.S., Egyptian and other coalition forces. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Kristopher Wilson

The LCAC on the right of the photo appears to be the one pictured earlier in Bright Star Abrams