C-RAM in Action

U.S. Army Awards Northrop Grumman Major C-RAM Systems Integration Delivery Order

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has received a $58 million delivery order to install additional systems and continue maintenance of existing installations for the Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortars (C-RAM) system at forward-operating bases in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Under this delivery order, announced October 9, Northrop Grumman will provide systems engineering, production, deployment and logistics support for the C-RAM system. The delivery order was awarded by the Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. Program management and technical direction will come from the Director, Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar Program office, in the Army’s Program Executive Office, Command Control and Communications Tactical.

I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard anything negative about this system. I first posted on it in 2005: R2-D2 vs. Mortar Rounds. And here’s more info on the Block 1B Phalanx.

Marines and sailors from the Hawaii-based Echo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment paused to celebrate the Marine Corps’ 234th birthday Nov. 10, 2009, here. Members of the battery and the Okinawa-based 12th Marine Regiment and 3rd Battalion, 12th Marines, participated in Artillery Relocation Training Exercise 09-03, which took place Nov. 2-10. Photo by Staff Sgt. Marc Ayalin

On a related note, the son of a buddy of mine qualified Expert Rifleman in boot camp. I think his dad told me 7 out of 10 at 500 yards with iron sights.

Murdoc can barely see the target at 500 yards.

Happy birthday, Marines.

Andrew Bast has a story on the Newsweek blog asking Is Fort Hood a Harbinger?

Of course, being Newsweek, the worry is that Nidal Malik Hasan May Be a Symptom of a Military on the Brink.

It’s hard to draw too many conclusions right now, but we do know this: Thursday night, authorities shot and then apprehended the lone suspect, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. A psychiatrist who was set to deploy to Iraq at the end of the month, Hasan reportedly opened fire around the Fort Hood Readiness Center, where troops are prepared for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. And though this scene is a most extreme and tragic outlier, it comes at a time when the stress of combat has affected so many soldiers individually that it makes it increasingly difficult for the military as a whole to deploy for wars abroad.

and

Hasan’s perspective is unknown. He had yet to fight abroad. But the accusations against him can’t help but bring to mind the violence scarring military bases all over the country after the duration of two long, brutal wars.

So after spending some time making the case that soldiers who have spent too much time in the combat zone on repeated deployments are close to the breaking point, he finally mentions that Hasan has never deployed.

He then goes into the whole “transferred PTSD” thing. Sure, we get it. Counselors are not immune to the horrible stories they hear.

None of the following words appear in the article:

• Muslim
• terrorist
• militant
• extremist
• religion
• I gave up trying at that point

And no mention is made of reports that Hasan shouted “Allahu Akbar!”, confirmed or otherwise.

He concludes by suggesting that by deploying more troops to Afghanistan like Gen. McChrystal has requested, the military may be inviting more shooting rampages.

Of course, the vast majority of those under that stress, no matter how brutal, will not pick up a gun and shoot indiscriminately, like Hasan did.

The “vast majority.” Is he saying that 9 in 10 won’t become mass murderers? 99 out of 100? 99,999 out of every 100,000? Hmm. Let’s see. How many troops that have deployed so far have become mass murderers? Only one?

Oh, no. That’s not right either, is it?. So far NO US troops that have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan have become mass murderers. Zero. “Vast majority” my ass.

But the situation is bad, and getting much worse. From there, it isn’t much of a leap to argue that to further tax our military would do as much as anything to guarantee that the homegrown terror on display today could well repeat itself in the future.

Whoa, buddy. If we’re going to talk “isn’t much of a leap,” there are a few other leaps that should be in the conversation. Leaps involving religion. Leaps involving diversity policies and political correctness concerns that allowed a guy with what appear to have been fairly obvious issues to stay in the system. Leaps involving self defense on military installations. Leaps involving people seeming to hope for another Timothy McVeigh homegrown terrorist. Leaps involving the media actively working to distort the facts.

As I noted earlier somewhere, if this turns out to be a simple case of a PTSD case “just snapping”, it will be used as a broad brush to paint the entire military as a bunch of loose cannons “on the brink.”

If, on the other hand, this turns out to be a simple case of religious jihad, it will be portrayed as one lone nutjob and anyone who thinks otherwise is probably a racist and a bigot.

I thought the old look was fine, but the new style is also good.

And yes, I realize that my sites are sort of jacked up on IE8, even in Compatibility View. I’m working on new templates for both MO and GunPundit. Hopefully, they’ll be ready shortly.

CNN interviews Pvt Joseph Foster, a soldier who was wounded at Fort Hood. Here’s part of the transcript:

I was sitting in about the second row back when the assailant stood up, screamed and yelled Allah Akbar (ph) in Arabic and he opened fire.

A couple of minutes later, the interviewer wonders at the fact that Foster, kept soldiering on, not even realizing that he had been shot in the hip. Foster responds:

I had realized it at first, but with that much adrenaline, you tend to forget things.

Here is how CNN wrote up its own interview:

He said he “was sitting in about the second row back when the assailant stood up and yelled ‘Allahu akbar’ in Arabic and he opened fire,” Foster said Monday on CNN’s “American Morning.”

Foster, 21, said he wasn’t clear about whether the gunman said those exact words, noting that “with that much adrenaline, you tend to forget things.”

ABC has Keara Bono, also wounded in the attack, also saying that Hasan shouted “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire. There seems to be no dispute. Anyone who says it’s unconfirmed is either misinformed or lying.

That includes CNN, even if they are considered a real news orgainization.

Got this insightful comment over at GunPundit on a post about guns on Fort Hood:

I would maybe be one of the first to jump to the conclusion that this was a “jihad” attack by a Mujahadeen, but this dude was a 15+ year veteran of the army, and a Major at that. I doubt he spent that long merely waiting for a chance to let off a few rounds at an army base. I could be wrong (and would be the first to admit), but i suspect this was just an army psychiatrist who finally had enough. Soldiers come home everyday not being able to process what they saw, and Major Hasan was there, everyday, listening to their stories, for him it would be like having PTSD 100x. [emphasis Murdoc's]

Ah, not only the Transferred PTSD excuse, but at 100x. Not only did this guy ‘catch’ PTSD, it was way worser than ever.

Hundreds and thousands of specialists have been dealing with troops coming home from the war zone for 8 years. Exactly one of them “finally had enough” and shot up a bunch of fellow soldiers. He’s the one who was shouting “Allahu Akbar” before he did it.

So this “transferred PTSD” theory is basically a bullshit excuse for a mass murderer. If you’re comfortable being an apologist for that sort of thing, go right ahead.

Staff Sgt. Justin Schramm, an aerial gunner on an HH-60G Pave Hawk scans the countryside while on a mission here. The Pave Hawks are used for Combat Search and Rescue, and have been operated by the U.S. Air Force since 1991. Sgt. Schramm is from Eugene, Ore., and is currently stationed at Kadena Air Base, Japan. Here Schramm is working in the 33rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron. Photo by Senior Airman Susan Tracy

Is that tube below the machine gun for brass and links?

Fox News:

A New York City bicycle cabbie who mocked the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl and posted a prayer on the Web calling for the murder of Jews is now sending a “Get Well Soon” message to the suspected Fort Hood gunman, the New York Post reported.

Yousef al-Khattab, a Muslim convert and known jackass, runs RevolutionMuslim.com. He states that the victims of the shooter deserved to be massacred.

“These people are soldiers in a volunteer army,” al-Khattab told the Post. “They expect to see combat. They know the danger.”

If he considers himself a revolutionary (which is possible, but he might be just a lonely guy pretending to be all militant and everything) he should also probably “know the danger.”

Muslim Jackass Yousef al-Khattab

If I took the events of the past couple of days, inlcuding this idiot, and wrote it in the form of a novel, I’d be dismissed as a bigotted, intolerant, hateful hack with not motive but to generally discredit Muslims.

I wonder where this guy rates on the “Muslim scale.” Is he taken seriously by Muslims outside of the radical circles? Or is he just considered a tastelss joke, like the Westboro Baptist crowd is among Christians?

Welcome to “Jumping to Conclusions While Pretending Not to 101.”

If, when the evidence is in, this turns out to be a case of a loyal American soldier “losing it” due to the stress and horrors of war, this lone killer will be held up as an example of how such things are a terrible risk in the US military and that it’s a huge issue that needs to be addressed as many, many more could do the same thing at any moment.

If, on the other hand, this turns out to be a jihadist who put his faith before his country (as seems likely from what I’ve seen so far), he’ll be dismissed as lone wacko. One in a million. Move on. Nothing to see.

The truth is probably somewhere in between somewhere.

Why you can’t get swine-flu vaccine
Government requirement for single-dose syringes instead of multidose vials slowed things considerably.

Major Shipment of Iranian Arms Seized
Israeli naval commandos intercepted a ship carrying “hundreds of tons” of arms from Iran to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia

Selecting and Ordering a Custom Hunting Rifle
Chapters include Custom Varmint Rifles, Rifles for Alaska, Custom Rifles and Kids, and What About a Wildcat?

Pete Hoekstra cites his opposition to bringing Gitmo detainees to Michigan
In letter soliciting funds for his campaign for governor

JSTARS Wars
The Air Force’s E-8 Joint STARS is proving to be a powerful force in the Afghanistan war.

Chilton: U.S. Needs More Ready-to-Launch Satellites
No “bullpen” of satellites and no stock of launchers ready for quick launches if needed.

India Seeks To Bolster Transport With 10 C-17s
Nice.

J8II Ground Attacker
The Chinese are converting old interceptors into attack aircraft.

More Frigates Sought for EU Somalia Mission
3 or 4 have been committed, but they’ll need at least 6 or 10. Really, you can never have enough frigates. Where is the 21st-century FFG7?

Airman among 6 killed in bar shooting in Mexico
Another was seriously wounded. Juarez is terrible and getting worse. Secure the border.

The Story of ‘Operation Orchard’
How Israel Destroyed Syria’s Al Kibar Nuclear Reactor

The use of German tanks in Soviet army
Photos and info about captured tanks in WW2.

Taiwan says China starts building first aircraft carrier
They will attempt to get it into service by 2012, they claim.

201st Carnival of Homeschooling
Lots of links at The Informed Parent.