AMERCAL 2011 ...the video

Info needed (beyond Google searches)...USAF Red Horse...

U.S. Air Force Airmen from the 820th RED HORSE airborne flight, parachute into a drop zone from a C-17 Globemaster III Oct. 15, 2011, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. RED HORSE and 6 CTS Airmen perform airdrop missions to stay current on training and certifications, enabling them to perform jump missions and operate their own drop zones. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Taylor Worley)

Great photo and the caption has me curious.  Do these guys deploy?  How are they used in theater?  Do they make use of these skill sets?  Did they build the UAV base in Ethiopia?

Interesting skill set and one that would appear to be in demand...especially further inland.  The USAF version of SeaBees?

USMC and the JLTV.

“It must be light enough to leverage the flexibility and capacity of amphibious shipping, yet heavy enough to accomplish the mission. Larger than special operations forces, but lighter and more expeditionary than conventional Army units, we must be able to engage and respond quickly – often from the sea – with enough forces to carry the day,” the report stated. “The imperative for the Marine Corps is to preserve capabilities developed since 9/11, expand our engagement efforts, respond to crisis and still be able to project power for the most dangerous threat scenarios.

With the above statement describing the Marine Corps of the future then how do we justify buying the JLTV?

The Commandant recently talked about belt tightening...how does buying this vehicle help us do that?

We have more MRAPs in inventory than we know what to do with.  If IEDs are a threat to our forces then we'll need to get them out of storage...even the MATV is too light to deal with many of them and its still heavier than the JLTV.

So tell me how it makes sense for the Marine Corps to buy 3000 of these vehicles?!

Time to activate the Marine Corps super power...

Turkey gets used AH-1W's, we get new AH-1Z's?

via eKurd.net.

WASHINGTON, — The Obama administration is consulting Congress on an unusual proposal to transfer U.S. Marine Corps attack helicopters to Turkey, U.S. officials said on Thursday, as Ankara tries to exact revenge for a major attack by Kurdish PKK separatists.

Turkey, a NATO ally, has been seeking AH-1 SuperCobra helicopters to replace those lost in its long struggle against separatist rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

Under the administration's plan, the Marines would get two new, late-model Textron Inc Bell AH-1Z SuperCobras in exchange    for the three AH-1W aircraft that would be transferred to Ankara from current inventory, a congressional official said.

The officials declined to be identified because of the matter's sensitivity and because they were not authorized to speak on the record. The idea to take weapons from the U.S. arsenal was rare, they said.

The proposal has been held up amid lawmakers' questions about increasingly distant relations between Muslim-majority Turkey and Israel, a key U.S. ally, among other matters.

The AH-1W has sold previously for about $10 million. Turkey bought 10 of them in the 1990s. The larger, twin-engine AH-IZ may sell for about $30 million, according to industry sources.

Under the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, the executive branch must provide 15 days' formal notice to Congress before going ahead with significant arms transfers to a NATO partner. It was not immediately clear when such notice might take place,www.ekurd.net with informal congressional consultations continuing.

Turkey last week launched air and ground assaults on Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, vowing to exact "great revenge" after 24 Turkish troops were killed on October 19 in one of the deadliest Kurdish attacks in years.

The administration's proposal to transfer the helicopters pre-dates the October 19 attack on Turkish forces near the border with Iraqi Kurdistan region.

The United States and Turkey have a strong tradition of military cooperation, both bilaterally and inside the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Turkey agreed last month to host a powerful U.S.-supplied radar system to act as advanced eyes for a layered shield against ballistic missiles coming from outside Europe.

The AN/TPY-2 surveillance radar in Turkey will boost the shield's capability against Iran, which Washington alleges is seeking to build nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

Since August 17, Turkish jets repeatedly carried out air strikes against the Kurdish PKK separatist group's bases in Iraqi Kurdistan region, under justification of chasing elements of the anti-Ankara PKK, forcing large numbers of Kurdish citizens of those areas to desert their home villages, including an air raid that killed 7 Kurdish civilians in a village north of Kurdistan’s Sulaimaniyah city on August 21st.

Since it was established in 1984, the PKK has been fighting the Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to establish a Kurdish state in the south east of the country, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.

But now its aim is the creation an autonomous Kurdish region and more cultural rights for ethnic Kurds who constitute the greatest minority in Turkey, numbering more than 20 million. A large Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK rebels.

PKK's demands included releasing PKK detainees, lifting the ban on education in Kurdish, paving the way for an autonomous democrat Kurdish system within Turkey, reducing pressure on the detained PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, stopping military action against the Kurdish party and recomposing the Turkish constitution.

Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish language and private Kurdish language courses with the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish politicians say the measures fall short of their expectations.

The PKK is considered as 'terrorist' organization by Ankara, U.S., the PKK continues to be on the blacklist list in EU despite court ruling which overturned a decision to place the Kurdish rebel group PKK and its political wing on the European Union's terror list. 

Copyright ©, respective author or news agency, Reuters | ekurd.net | Agencies  

Wow.

I don't know the politics of the area.

I thought the Kurds were our allies against Sadaam, and it would appear that in Turkey they're being abused.

Europe doesn't consider the PKK a terrorist group.

We do.

I like the idea of a State Dept purchase of two new AH-1Z's for the USMC but the politics of this really need to be sorted out before I jump for joy.

Something about this reeks, and I can't put my finger on it.

British Marines conduct mechanized raid into Somalia from the sea!

Via the Telegraph.

Marines in daring amphibious raid in Somalia

Royal Marines have staged a daring raid in Somalia to seize a tribal leader, it was reported last night.

The commandos carried out a dramatic amphibious landing using Viking armoured vehicles launched from landing craft, according to the Daily Mail.

Heavily-armed personnel from 539 Assault Squadron pushed deep inland through the lawless zone to seize the influential clan chief.

He was taken off for talks with MI6 and Foreign Offfice officials aboard a Royal Navy support ship ancored off the coast, centring on issues such as terrror training camps and the seizing of hostages.

The raid in July was the first time British forces have conducted a military operation in the troubled area in 40 years, according to the Mail.

Special Forces have been focusing on the region amid a rise in ships seized offshore by pirates for ransom, the kidnap of citizens from Western countries, and the threat of the Al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab terror group. 

It is also feared that UK-born terrorists are now increasingly travelling to the zone for training rather than Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The raid came two months before the kidnap of Briton Judith Tebbutt and murder of her husband David at a Kenyan resort near the Somalian border.

Absolutely ballsy.

Absolutely brilliant.

I didn't think British political leadership had the nerve to allow such a raid.  I'm glad I was wrong.

AMERCAL

Photos by Jose Castellonlopez

Combat Assault Company Marines and French Airborne Marines are part of Exercise AMERCAL 2011which is a platoon-level combat arms combined exchange between the French Armed Forces, New Caledonia and U.S. interoperability, enhancing military-to-military relations and improving mutual combat capabilities with French Allies.

US, Philippine Marines storm beach

TAGLAWAYAN BEACH, PALAWAN, Republic of the Philippines -A U.S. Marine from Fox Company, Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, and a Filipino Marine, secure the beach during a boat raid here Oct. 27. The raid was conducted as a part of Amphibious Landing Exercise 2012. The bilateral training is designed to build interoperability between the U.S. Marine Corps and Philippine Marines. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Lance Cpl. Brianna Turner/Released), Lance Cpl. Brianna Turner, 10/27/2011 7:13 AM

TAGLAWAYAN BEACH, PALAWAN, Republic of the Philippines-Philippine Marines and U.S. Marines from Fox Company, Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion 7th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, currently in support of 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, carry a Combat Rubber Reconnaissance Craft during a boat raid here Oct. 27. The boat raid was conducted as part of Amphibious Landing Exercise 2012, a bilateral training exercise between the U.S. Marine Corps and Philippine Marines. The bilateral training is designed to build interoperability between the U.S. Marine Corps and Philippine Marines. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Lance Cpl. Brianna Turner/Released), Lance Cpl. Brianna Turner, 10/27/2011 7:14 AM

TAGLAWAYAN BEACH, PALAWAN, Republic of the Philippines-Philippine Marines and U.S. Marines from Fox Company, Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion 7th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, currently in support of 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, carry a Combat Rubber Reconnaissance Craft during a boat raid here Oct. 27. The boat raid was conducted as part of Amphibious Landing Exercise 2012. The bilateral training is designed to build interoperability between the U.S. Marine Corps and Philippine Marines. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Lance Cpl. Brianna Turner/Released), Lance Cpl. Brianna Turner, 10/27/2011 7:14 AM

SIDENOTE:

I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT OF BOAT COMPANIES AS BEING TRAINING GROUNDS FOR THE RECON INDOC...LOTS OF TIME IN THE WATER, AND LOTS OF PT.  BUT I DIGRESS.  CAN SOMEONE NAME A TIME WHEN AN MEU'S BLT ACTUALLY DEPLOYED ONE OF THESE ELEMENTS IN A COMBAT/NEAR COMBAT SITUATION?  I CAN'T RECALL OF EVEN ONE MISSION.  WITH THAT IN MIND WHY DO WE STILL HAVE THEM?

F-35 News....

The sixth F-35A Lighting II multirole fighter was delivered to the F-35 Integrated Training Center at Eglin AFB, Florida, on 26 October 2011. The aircraft (Air Force serial number 08-0751) was flown from the Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas, to the base in near Valparaiso by Marine Corps pilot Maj. Joseph Bachmann. The ferry flight took ninety minutes. This F-35A will be used for pilot and maintainer training at Eglin. The aircraft, a conventional takeoff and landing variant, is the twelfth Lightning II to be delivered in 2011.

The first production F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing multirole fighter for the US Marine Corps was flown for the first time on 25 October 2011 at the Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti put the aircraft (Navy bureau number 168057) through a series of functional checks during the nearly one hour sortie. This aircraft will be delivered to the F-35 Integrated Training Center at Eglin AFB, Florida, by the end of 2011.

LSU. SUSTAIN IT!!!!

LSU BY 14!

Pic of the day. Oct 26, 2011.