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| photo courtesy of Textron Marine and Land Systems |
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| Marines and sailors serving with Lima Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/1, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, engage enemy combatants during a mechanized raid course here May 17. The course helps Marines and sailors become familiar with the tactics and gear that will be used in the unit’s upcoming deployment. |
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| Pfc. Kevin E. Messer, a rifleman with 2nd platoon, Lima Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/1, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, yells for Marines to board an amphibious assault vehicle during a mechanized raid course here May 17. The course helps Marines and sailors become familiar with the tactics and the gear that will be used in the unit’s upcoming deployment. |
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| Marines and sailors serving with 2nd platoon, Lima Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/1, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, cross a road concealed by smoke during a mechanized raid course here May 17. The course helps Marines and sailors become familiar with the tactics and the gear that will be used during the unit’s upcoming deployment. |
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| Marines and sailors serving with 2nd platoon, Lima Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/1, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, cross a road concealed by smoke during a mechanized raid course here May 17. The course helps Marines and sailors become familiar with the tactics and the gear that will be used during the unit’s upcoming deployment. |
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| MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif.-A crewman with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361 conducts a pre-flight inspection on a CH-53E Super Stallion May 20, 2011, on the flight line at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center Bridgeport, Calif., Lance Cpl. Sarah Dietz, 5/20/2011 3:20 AM |
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| MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif.-A CH53-E Super Stallion with HMH-361 lands at the Mountain Warfare Training Center Bridgeport, Calif., flight line May 20, 2011, during high altitude training., Lance Cpl. Sarah Dietz, 5/20/2011 6:42 AM |
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| MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif.-A crew chief from HMH-361, looks out the window of a CH-53E Super Stallion during a flight over the MWTC, Bridgeport, Calif. Many of the pilots have never flown in the center’s high altitude and snowy conditions., Lance Cpl. Sarah Dietz, 5/20/2011 7:25 AM |
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| MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif.-A CH-53E Super Stallion crew from HMH-361 tests their aircraft at the MWTC Bridgeport, Calif., May 20, 2011., Lance Cpl. Sarah Dietz, 5/20/2011 7:36 AM |
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| MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif.-A CH-53E Super Stallion crew from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361 test their aircraft on snowy terrain at Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center Bridgeport, Calif., May 20, 2011. For many of the Marines, this was the first time they landed in snow., Lance Cpl. Sarah Dietz, 5/20/2011 8:23 AM |
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| Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan Canin ferried F-35C CF-3 to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, on 3 June 2011. Canin ferried the third F-35C during a 2.9-hour flight from Fort Worth, Texas. The flight was the fifth for the aircraft. CF-3 joins six other F-35B/C models now being flown at the US Navy’s flight test center. |
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| photo via the Ottawa Business Journal |
Rheinmetall Canada and Textron Systems Canada will offer a 4x4 wheeled armoured vehicle specifically engineered to meet the Canadian Forces’ requirements for survivability, mobility, and lethality across a broad spectrum of operations in the toughest terrain. The modern design includes a new protection package designed to shield troops from roadside bombs.Ok, a little Google-foo revealed the above blurb on the Rheinmetall website. Interesting. I really was expecting Rheinmetall to submit the Boxer, or the Puma. This competition just became about the most interesting armored contest in the West.
Rheinmetall Canada will perform multiple integration functions, including integration of remote weapon stations and government-furnished equipment. The company will also play a large role in the integrated logistics and in-service support for the vehicle.
I'm cynical. I think that this is a story designed to protect all foreign aid by attempting to highlight the aid that we're giving to countries that don't need it.The United States is providing hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign aid to countries that it borrows billions from, according to a report by Congress's research arm.The Congressional Research Services released a report last month, a copy of which Fox News exclusively obtained, showing that in fiscal year 2010, the latest year that data was available, the U.S. handed out a total of $1.4 billion to 16 foreign countries that held at least $10 billion in Treasury securities, including China ($27.2 million), Brazil ($25 million), Russia ($71.5 million), India ($126.6 million), Mexico ($316.7 million) and Egypt ($255.7 million).
In the final continuing resolution for 2011, the department's Economic Support Fund (ESF) lost close to $2 billion from its budget request. The fund provides money to countries around the world to help them overcome short- and long-term political, economic and security problems.
"That is a huge cut when you're talking about the relatively small ESF account, and it has impacts on countries around the world and it's forcing us to make very hard choices about where to invest our dollars and where to cut," Sullivan said.
The cuts also come as the State Department is trying to increase its operational capability so that it can better partner with the military services in the field, he said.
To stave off further reductions, the State Department is making its case to Congress that it needs every possible dollar requested.
"We have to show them that we are finding ways to increase efficiency and deliver more effectively," Sullivan said.
But the case needs to be made beyond Capitol Hill, he said. Recent polls show that Americans support cuts to foreign aid, but they also dramatically overestimate its portion of the federal budget.
Tuesday, the Navy tested the ability to dock and secure the RCB and the smaller riverine patrol boat in the well deck of the anchored dock landing ship Oak Hill during a proof-of-concept test held at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.My guess.
Riverine force leaders gave the demonstration a thumbs-up. If senior Navy leaders agree, the riverine force could find itself with a new post-Iraq war mission set outside the green-water arena for which it is designed, and the Navy with yet another capability for the flexible and heavily deployed amphibious force.
