CH-46 flight ops aboard USS New Orleans.

All photos by Cpl. Ryan Carpenter

A CH-46E Sea Knight with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 (Reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, flies here Nov. 26 . The squadron is the aviation combat element for the unit, which embarked USS Makin Island, USS New Orleans and USS Pearl Harbor in San Diego Nov. 14 beginning a seven-month deployment to the Western Pacific and Middle East regions

A CH-46E Sea Knight with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 (Reinforced) lands the amphibious transport dock New Orleans Nov. 26. The squadron is the aviation combat element for the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which embarked USS Makin Island, USS New Orleans and USS Pearl Harbor in San Diego Nov. 14 beginning a seven-month deployment to the Western Pacific and Middle East regions.

A CH-46E Sea Knight with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 (Reinforced) flies here Nov. 26. The squadron is the aviation combat element for the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which embarked USS Makin Island, USS New Orleans and USS Pearl Harbor in San Diego Nov. 14 beginning a seven-month deployment to the Western Pacific and Middle East regions.

A CH-46E Sea Knight with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 (Reinforced) flies here Nov. 26. The squadron is the aviation combat element for the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which embarked USS Makin Island, USS New Orleans and USS Pearl Harbor in San Diego Nov. 14 beginning a seven-month deployment to the Western Pacific and Middle East regions.

Are US Navy Amphibs and US Marine Corps MEU's preparing for embassy reinforcement mission in Europe?

Wow.

The break up of the Euro could lead to mass rioting and civil disturbances?  I hope USMC Europe is preparing for the possibility of Embassy reinforcement/recovery of US citizens.

Correction.

This is a US Army mission.  They have the 173rd Airborne in Europe along with some aviation assets.  If anything, you might see a FAST Battalion along with a USMC Infantry Battalion just helping out on reinforcing the embassies.  Everything else would probably go to the Army.

The Brits are planning, we need to too!

30mm Upgrade for AAV's?

 I've wondered what upgrades might be offered for the AAV to the Marine Corps (once they finally get around to doing it!).  One thing that I keep seeing on BAE's website is this 30mm RWS.  Its made by ELBIT of America and appears ready to go.

My question is this.  Does AAV operational philosophy demand a manned weapon station?  Is a 30mm weapon too much?  Would a compact 25mm cannon suffice?

Questions, questions but no answers.  I'll keep looking and if you hear something then hit me up.

RWS-H_1

This is police work in the UK.

Check out this article by SkyNews.

An elderly widow has died after muggers stole her handbag containing her husband's ashes - which she had carried for 17 years.
Nellie Geraghty, 79, suffered fatal head injuries as she desperately tried to cling onto the bag during the robbery in Oldham, Greater Manchester.
Police have launched a murder inquiry after she died in Royal Oldham Hospital at around midnight on Friday. Two youths, aged 14 and 17, have been arrested on suspicion of robbery.

That's a real quick background, read the rest of the story but this is what has my hair on fire...

Superintendent Catherine Hankinson, from Greater Manchester Police, told Sky News the investigating officers were keeping an open mind about the crime.
"There has been a level of violence used. Clearly Nellie has ended up on the floor and as a result of those injuries she's now sadly passed away," she said. 

The Police are keeping an open mind about the crime.

There has been a level of violence used.

If the bastard did that to my grandmother I'd hunt them down like the dogs they are.  Seems like the Police in the UK need to take a course on victims rights.

What happened to the idea that if a murder occurs in the act of a crime then you're automatically charged with murder????

UPDATE!  THEY RELEASED THESE BASTARD ON BAIL TILL JAN. 9!!!  THE UK IS UNBELIEVABLE.  WHAT A CESSPOOL IT MUST BE!

French Navy takes delivery of first new landing craft.

I'm not quite sure of what to make of this...seems slower than an LCAC...is limited to the same type beaches as an LVCP...I guess its home grown is what makes it attractive.

I could be wrong.  Anyway the French Navy just took delivery of the first boat.

On November 24, 2011 the Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA - French Procurement Agency) has taken delivery of the first fast amphibious landing craft (dubbed EDA-R for "engin de débarquement amphibie rapide"). The EDA-R offers five times the landing capacity of existing landing craft currently in service with the French Navy. The EDA-R will be used by the Marine Nationale's Mistral class LHDs.

Signed in June 2009 as part of an economy stimulus plan, the contract includes the acquisition of 4 EDA-R and their operational maintenance until mid-2015. The other three fast amphibious landing craft will be delivered by mid-2012. 

Holsters and who's deciding this stuff at HQMC????

BlackHawk Serpa

I would love to know who made the decision that now was the time to switch holsters from the M12 to the BlackHawk Serpa line.

Don't get me wrong, I've worn the holster and find it functional in a normal environment, I can't ignore all the reports of the mechanism jamming when dirt, soil or even snow enter it.  An additional worry for me is the issue with the actual protection of the sidearm.  Will this holster provide adequate protection in all environments?

I have my doubts.  I also don't like how this announcement was made.  I didn't read any announcements about a competition.  All I heard was that BlackHawk had been selected to provide the next holster for the Marine Corps.

Compare the new holster with the 'legacy' model.  The 'old' one provides all around protection and although its not a speed holster, do we really need a quick draw rig?

Just by the eyeball test the old holster provides much more protection.  Which brings me back to the one major issue that keeps smacking me upside the head.  When is ideal too much and good enough a viable solution?

Was there some type of issue with the M12 rig that made it completely unworkable?  If not then our Commandant's statement of being frugal is nothing but words that have no basis in reality.  But if by chance they did find a reason why the M12 is unworkable then how about theses offerings...

Bianchi

Safariland

Both provide superior protection and both should be better options (I base my thinking on a non-mechanical retention device...even if the BlackHawk is simple its still more complex than the Bianchi or the Safariland) for Marines that jump or fast rope or actually operate in the field.

Exhibit one.  Our holster selection.  Evidence of a confused and misguided Marine Corps procurement system.

Blast from the past. A-5 Vigilante.

The A-5 Vigilante.

When it looks right it is right and the Vigilante looks right. 

Even today. 

I can only imagine what one of these planes could do with modern avionics...engines and fly by wire controls!  The Navy would have a long range two man strike bomber that it could use in medium threat areas.

If any airplane could perform the modern day F-111/F-15E strike mission from a carrier then it would be a brand new Vigilante!

But enough spitting in the wind.  More on this beauty is here.

European de-militarization is fueling Pacific militarization.

Europe is demilitarizing.

And with Europe making itself less relevant, it making the militarization of the Pacific accelerate.  Check this out from Tempointinteractive...

The government will buy a German Army Leopard tank and Apache helicopter, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro has confirmed.


Indonesia is also looking at buying main weaponry systems from France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Spain. These countries have recently reduced their military budgets.


Purnomo said the budget would depend on the equipment that will be purchased, but assured that spending would not exceed the targeted budget. Currently, he added, the Defense Ministry is waiting on the list of weapons required by the army, navy and air force. “We haven’t decided about the budget to buy the equipment from Europe,” he said.


Previously, the Army chief of staff, Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo, said his unit was given a special allocation of Rp14 trillion to buy weapons, including 100 2A6 Leopard tanks and eight Apache helicopters.


Other weapons to be purchased include multi-barrel rocket launchers, a helicopter type 1412 and a 155 mm cannon from France. Pramono said that only 15 countries in the world use the 2A6 Leopard. “In Southeast Asia, only Singapore has it,” he said.

Wow.

Maybe my thoughts on taking a capability holiday and dropping Tanks from Marine Corps rosters needs to be re-examined.

Singapore has new tanks.  China has new tanks.  India has new tanks and it appears that there is an armor race in the Pacific.

Maybe we should keep ours awhile.  Damn.  Another decision for HQMC to make.  Can we afford to stick with the M1A1 or do we join the Army with an upgrade to the M1A3?

We better get this right.  KMW pumps out upgrades like a pez dispenser...in some ways the Leopard 2A7 is already superior to the M1A2 TUSK....Who knew?  We have to prepare for armored warfare in the Pacific now!

Police Sniper in Egypt is accused of shooting suspects in the eye with rubber bullets.

Read the whole thing from CNN but this Police Sniper is going to wake up dead once they find out where he lives...I digress...here's a juicy bit.

El Shinawi has been on duty on Cairo's Mohamed Mahmoud street during the recent clashes and is a "highly trained marksman," 1st Lt. Alaa Mahmoud, an Interior Ministry spokesman, told CNN. The spokesman declined to comment on the specific accusations against El Shinawi.
One of the suspect's alleged victims is Ahmed Harrara. Harrara, who lost one eye on January 28 during the uprising against then-President Hosni Mubarak, lost his other eye last Sunday on Mahmoud Street.
Both he and at least one other victim, Malek Mustapha, said they were blindsided by their shootings -- and, therefore, could not pinpoint the shooter or shooters. Yet they were able to recall the circumstances.
Harrara told CNN that he'd arrived in Tahrir Square around 3 p.m. Saturday "and joined the front lines in (the) street battle."
"Around 3 a.m. I was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet from about a distance of 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33 feet)," he said.
He lost his second eye, then fell to the ground "during one of many tear gas attacks."

Not bad.

I'm not cheering this guys actions but to be taking 'eye' shots and hitting is pretty impressive.  I wonder what type weapon he's using.

Remember the helicopter that made a precautionary landing a few days ago???

Remember this news release by ISAF?

2011-11-S-041
ISAF Joint Command - Afghanistan
For Immediate Release
KABUL, Afghanistan (Nov.  24, 2011) – An International Security Assistance Force helicopter made a precautionary landing in eastern Afghanistan Thursday.
ISAF is still in the process of assessing the circumstances to determine more facts; however, initial reporting indicates that there was no enemy activity in the area. All crew members have recovered with no reported injuries. When the assessment is completed, details will be released as appropriate.

Well your intrepid blogger wasn't too happy with the information provided so I shot an e-mail to the boys over there and got this response.

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: FOUO

Sanfu,

ISAF policy restricts the release of operational information; however,
we can say that the helicopter that made a precautionary landing was a
CH47 and was recovered by slingloading to a nearby ISAF base.  We have
no additional information to add.

IJC Press Desk.

Long story short. I'm not too happy, but I'll refrain from throwing rocks at ISAF.  Let me rephrase that and be specific.  I'd never throw stones at anyone below the rank of Colonel at ISAF.  Anything equal to and above that rank is fair game.

Lets play detective with the info provided.

*  The precautionary landing was made by a CH-47 in Eastern Afghanistan.
*  The 10th Combat Aviation Brigade (Task Force Falcon) is providing aviation assets in that area.
*  We can assume that they operated the helicopter that made the precautionary landing.
*  A number of US units are operating in the area...10th Mountain, 25th ID, 1st ID and several allied units including the French.
*  They stated in the press release that the CH-47 was slingloaded back to base so we can assume that a TRAP mission or whatever the Army calls it was performed.  That would seem to indicate some type of security force was on site while the helicopter was stripped.
*  Speaking of stripping the helicopter.  Unless they got CH-53E to do the slingloading then rotors, engines and any other heavy gear would have to be removed before making the flight.  Even with a CH-53E they might to have to a severe tear down job depending on terrain.

So....no information but we can make some pretty good guesses as to what occurred and since we have so little info coming out we have to make guesses.

Interesting though.  For such a non-incident they're playing their cards extremely close to the vest.  I wonder if we might not hear later on that this was indeed enemy action?

Wow! BlackFive went where I dared not go!

Those guys over at BlackFive have balls the size of bowling balls.

They went where I wouldn't go in polite conversations.  Sure, me and my buddies have talked about it in private but never in public.  Check out this post by them...

Posted By Grim • [November 25, 2011]
Instapundit links to a round of stories about the Euro crisis, and includes this comment:

“To predict the failure of the Euro was easy peasy: all that was needed was a slight familiarity with economics and the human race. To predict what comes next is much, much harder.” Yes.

I think I can make one prediction with relative safety.  The social-democracy policies that have ruined many European economies, and which currently threaten the stability of the whole European project, weren't paid for with deficiets alone.  They were also paid for by gutting European military budgets, relying on the umbrella of US protection.
You can't stand up a competent brigade overnight:  it takes a long time, as the examples of the ISF and ANSF demonstrate.  Non-Anglosphere NATO forces participated in these wars, so there is some small core of experience they can draw upon:  but by the same token, it should be clear to anyone who participated in either war that the non-Anglosphere NATO forces could not have performed other than in a support role.  Some of this is due to power-projection concerns such as heavy airlift capacity, but some of it is simply due to the weakness of these forces.
So, the prediction:  The already-common riots will evolve into insurgencies as the pinch becomes tighter, and the military forces of continental Europe are inadequate to stop them.  What comes after that?  An attempt at rapid re-militarization in Europe, with all the attendant chaos and violence that implies; pleas for a major US involvement to fill the gap while they try to stand up those forces.  What comes after that?  War, or nightfall.

I mean seriously!

Like I said, we've talked about it in whispers but this occupy wallstreet is the precursor to something nasty...and its global.

They're talking about riots turning nasty.  As in threatening democracy nasty.

IF and its a big if...food prices jump, we have periods of extremely---as in unbearably high oil prices---then you could see widespread unrest.  Not only in Europe but here in the US.

That my friends is why I have more than the FEMA recommended amount of food stored.  That my friends is why a person in New York would consider my collection of firearms an arsenal.

Are you ready in case of the worst and if not then I suggest you redo your Christmas shopping list to something a bit more practical than the latest consumer electronics.

Pic of the day and modest proposal. Ban black gear.

U.S. Army Soldiers with the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team security force climb down from their positions during a site assessment of the Dowry Rud check dam in Spin Boldak district, Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Nov. 19, 2011. DoD photo by Senior Airman Sean Martin, U.S. Air Force. (Released)

Look at these Soldiers doing real work in Afghanistan.  Out on patrol and not at a major combat base but out and about doing Soldiers work...no civilian comparison here.  But notice one thing.  They're all wearing multicam which is doing its job quite well and whats busting it up?  Black rifles, black admin pouches, black nvg mounts etc....

Its past time that the US Army and US Marine Corps fix the black rifle problem.

Surely Duracoat or another manufacturer can come up with a fix that's durable enough to meet military standards.

Fix real problems!

Enough of the foolishness!