Wednesday, January 04, 2012

And so it begins...


Remember my warnings about the General's cutting troops before weapon systems?  Well now it begins.  Check this out...
The Obama administration will unveil a "more realistic" vision for the military on Thursday, with plans to cut tens of thousands of ground troops and invest more in air and sea power at a time of fiscal restraint, officials familiar with the plans said on Wednesday.
We're getting transformation whether we want it or not.  

F-35 over Cow Town...

F-35B production aircraft BF-8 flies over the city of Fort Worth during a company acceptance test flight on Dec. 8, 2011. BF-8 is a short takeoff/vertical landing (STVOL) variant aircraft that will be delivered to the U.S. Marine Corps.

F-35B production aircraft BF-8 flies over the city of Fort Worth during a company acceptance test flight on Dec. 8, 2011. BF-8 is a short takeoff/vertical landing (STVOL) variant aircraft that will be delivered to the U.S. Marine Corps.

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Pic of the day.

Cpl. William Cox, an armorer at the Joint Sustainment Academy Southwest, and a native of Amory, Miss., provides security as an MV-22 Osprey lands in Zaranj, Nimroz province, Dec. 30.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Bryan Nygaard)

Monday, January 02, 2012

Interesting.

Just doing some reading and ran across this article.  Not exactly related to the military but it does concentrate on leadership so in many ways it applies.  Check this part out...

Habit #3:  They think they have all the answers

Here’s the image of executive competence that we’ve been taught to admire for decades: a dynamic leader making a dozen decisions a minute, dealing with many crises simultaneously, and taking only seconds to size up situations that have stumped everyone else for days. The problem with this picture is that it’s a fraud. Leaders who are invariably crisp and decisive tend to settle issues so quickly they have no opportunity to grasp the ramifications. Worse, because these leaders need to feel they have all the answers, they aren’t open to learning new ones.
CEO Wolfgang Schmitt of Rubbermaid was fond of demonstrating his ability to sort out difficult issues in a flash. A former colleague remembers that under Schmitt,” the   joke   went, ‘Wolf  knows everything about everything.’  In one discussion, where we were talking about a particularly complex acquisition we made in Europe, Wolf, without hearing different points of view, just said, ‘Well, this is what we are going to do.’”  Leaders who need to have all the answers shut out other points of view. When your company or organization is run by someone like this, you’d better hope the answers he comes up with are going to be the right ones.  At Rubbermaid they weren’t.  The company went from being Fortune’s most admired company in America in1993 to being acquired by the conglomerate Newell a few years later.
Warning Sign for #3:  A leader without followers
Read the whole thing here...

No cover. Great concealment.

SAFAR, Helmand province, Afghanistan - U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. William Campe, a 19-year-old rifleman with 3rd Platoon, India Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment and Algonquin, Ill. Native, holds security while halted on a partnered security patrol with Afghan National Army soldiers here, Dec. 30. The ANA soldiers and Marines interacted with local citizens and spoke with an elder about biometrically enrolling the members of his village for identification purposes. America's Battalion is aiding the Afghan National Security Forces in assuming security responsibilities over Helmand province's Garmsir district. This interoperability is designed to further the expansion of stability, development and legitimate governance of Afghanistan by defeating insurgent forces and helping secure the Afghan people.

Sunday, January 01, 2012

No Costa/Haley Effect (CHE) but I like this holster.



New year, new gear.
Everyone else has been taken care of presents wise so it was time to treat myself.  Let me start off by saying that I carry concealed.  There are a bunch of nice holsters out there and I have a box full of them.

I guess I'm looking for perfection and have only found good enough so far.  A matter of taste, body style etc...I guess but to me more important than comfort is draw speed and retention.  That's where most of my other holsters have come short.

Small of back?

Are you freaking kidding me!  Not only do they print but its a retention nightmare if someone clocks that you're carrying concealed.

Shoulder holster?

Not if you live in the South where it can be 98 degree with 98% humidity!  A jacket is a must with those types of rigs.

Inside the waistband?

Ok, now you're getting there but at the traditional 3 o'clock position you're still easy to make.  If any bad (or good) guy knows what to look for its easy to spot.

Raven type close fit?

Only if you're at a class, the range, combat or in a real deal shit hit the fan situation.  Again, where I live you would need a jacket.

Fanny pack?

I'm not a tourist.

So what does that leave me with?  Let me remind you, comfort isn't the issue.  Retention and speed of employment is.

Easy.  It becomes a case of finding a holster for appendix carry.  I think (don't know yet case I just ordered it) that the Comp Tac 2 o'clock holster is the one for me.

Appendix carry is a retention dream.  Your weapon is in front of your hips so someone  coming from behind and "tackling" your gun is out.  With practice its the quickest to deploy (check out this vid on Teddy Medina from KitUp!).

And lastly its easy to conceal without having to worry about printing from the sides or behind.  I don't expect to have a CHE and you run go buy one because I like it, but I researched this pretty good and I don't think I went wrong.


Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Year.

This is me.


Wishing you and yours the very best for all of next year.


Be well.


Be safe.


Be alert.


2012 should be interesting!

Shooting sports...what was hot in 2011...

A quick look at what was hot in the gun world in 2011...I'm not saying practical, just what was hot...


Tacos....rather magazine tacos.  I don't know about using them in a tactical situation where you're in and out of the mud etc...but it works great on the three gun circuit.


Travis Haley.  This guy is a rock star in the gun world...He's on his own now and you can bet that when he gets behind a piece of gear that its gonna be a best seller.


Chris Costa.  The other rock star in the gun world.  No particular order with these two guys...if Chris is rocking a new set of ear muffs then expect the price to triple and for them to sell out regardless.

Aimpoint T-1.  This light sight is so popular for two reasons...first up is the fact that you see many guys running around with AR's that weigh as much as an M-14, and then second you have Costa and Haley running these lights on their weapons.


Kydex holsters.  The big boy on the block is the Raven holsters, but everyone is getting into the market.  Raven has a turn around time of 4 to 6 months -- another case of the Costa/Haley effect (known from here on as the CHE)...I don't know anyone with a Raven but kydex seems to be kydex...I'll have to see one up close to know the difference.

M&P pistols.  XD's were the rage last year, in 2011 it was all about the M&P's.  I blame this on Glock.  I'm a Glock fan and I can tell ya that gen 4 was a total clusterfuck.  That left an opening for everyone else and M&P charged right into the breech.








And the most innovative thing to come out of 2011 was the return to the War Belt concept.  Above you see John's setup.  He's serving with I believe the 1stMarDiv, and has the CAR to prove it.  Forget CHE, I'm following his lead.

F-22...not so super?


Check out this bombshell that Sweetman dropped on the USAF's premier fighter...
Without being persnickety, F-22 has delivered 40-some training and test aircraft, 60 sorta-combat-capable jets, and 80-some that have the new radar that should enable the aircraft do some of what was hoped for in the early 2000s - after more billions have been spent. Wastefully or otherwise.
Wow.

Let's break that down a bit.

40 training and test aircraft.

60 sorta combat capable jets.

80 that have new radar that SHOULD enable to do some of what was hoped for in the early 2000's.

A simple statement but so loaded.  The F-22 is touted by some to be the ultimate fighter but from a super Air Force advocate like Sweetman we just had this dropped on our plate.

Interesting.  But wait there is more.  Does this explain the push to cancel the airplane?  Does this explain the need to get the F-35 into service?  Is this why the USAF is so comfortable in simply adding new AESA radars to the F-15 and F-16?  Is the drop off between the performance of a F-15 with 4 AIM-120 missiles loaded conformally and the F-22 carrying the same load internally that different?  I would say probably not.

This whole F-22, F-35, Typhoon, Rafale, Gripen and F-18/15/16 is starting to make so much sense.

More to come I'm sure.

Update:

Read this story from Flight Global regarding the F-22 upgrade path...or lack thereof.

Under the common configuration plan, the combat-coded F-22 fleet is separated into groups of 63 Block 30 and 87 Block 35 aircraft.
The Block 30s are being upgraded with Increment 3.1 capabilities, which include air-to-ground and electronic attack modes for the Northrop Grumman APG-77 radar.
Meanwhile, the Block 35s will also be modernised with the USAF's most advanced air-to-air weapons - the Raytheon AIM-120D AMRAAM and AIM-9X Sidewinder. The package, named Increment 3.2, also adds an automatic ground collision avoidance system and the multifunction advanced datalink. The latter will allow the F-22 to transmit data to other stealth aircraft.
USAF officials are now debating whether to upgrade the 63 Block 30 aircraft to the Block 35 standard. If the proposal is accepted, the USAF would operate a fleet of 150 F-22s with identical capabilities.
But the Raptor fleet would still lack a number of features common to most modern fighters, including an infrared search and track sensor for passive targeting and a helmet-mounted cueing system to shoot at targets beyond the field of view of the fighter's air-to-air missiles.
It is possible, however, that the USAF will add new capabilities to the F-22 beyond the Increment 3.2 upgrades. One example is a distributed aperture system now installed on the Lockheed Martin F-35, which provides 360° optical coverage around the aircraft.
Wow.

Update 1:

"Me" is debating me on the merits of the F-22 vs. the F-15.  Let me put this puppy to sleep.  Service ceiling of the F-15---65,000 ft.
Service ceiling of the F-22---65,000 ft.
Max Speed of the F-15------Mach 2.5+
Max Speed of the F-22------Mach 2.2
The Mig-25 and its replacement Mig-31 can supposedly get up to 67,500 ft and top out at Mach 2.8...faster than a F-22 and since we don't know what the + equals on the F-15 how about we give those airplanes a tie?

"Nuff said.

Friday, December 30, 2011

The South and Midwest are the militaries recruiting grounds...

Lex has an article up that's a must read but this tidbit has me spinning with the words I TOLD YA SO!!!!
Stanford’s is a telling episode: The chief obstacle to ROTC’s expansion today is not antimilitary sentiment but a Pentagon that prefers to allocate its resources to surer recruiting prospects, primarily in the South and the Midwest. Last year the Ivy League had 54 students commissioned through ROTC, or 1% of total commissions, and the Defense Department is reluctant to launch new programs where student interest appears low.
Now Lex is primarily talking about Ivy League schools and ROTC...I contend that this probably extends beyond that to the enlisted ranks as well.  1% of total commissions from Ivy League schools?

You can bet its partly cultural, partly regional and add a big dose of ideology into the mix.  Patriotism just isn't fashionable on the coasts...at least the kind of patriotism that requires the sacrifices that the military demands.

For the Royal Navy, history repeats...


Sharkey Ward has warned about it.  I've argued about it over at Think Defense.  Now we have this from Defense News...looks like we've seen all this before...
Prime minister Margaret Thatcher was warned about the risks in slashing Britain's navy, a year before the 1982 Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands, secret files released Dec. 30 showed.
Her foreign secretary Lord Peter Carrington also warned defense secretary John Nott that axing Britain's Antarctic patrol ship would send all the wrong signals about London's willingness to defend the Falklands.

Documents released after 30 years locked away in Britain's National Archives showed that the head of the Royal Navy was fuming in 1981 about planned defense cuts.
First sea lord Adm. Henry Leach, who later told Thatcher that Britain could and should send a naval task force to retake the Falklands following the April 1982 invasion, was furious with her a year earlier over her "unbalanced devastation" of the armed forces.
"I note with regret but understanding that the tightness of your program precludes your seeing me personally as requested," he wrote in a stinging note to the premier.
"I am confident however that you will at least spare two minutes to read this note from the professional head of the navy before you and your Cabinet colleagues consider a proposition substantially to dismantle that navy."
Read the whole article but consider this.

The dynamics between the services is almost exactly the same on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Royal Navy has been savaged by budget cuts and by despicable behavior on the part of the leadership of the Royal Air Force.

Now this glimpse into a not too distant history reveals a couple of things....the Royal Navy has been here before...the Falklands War was not an "easy" victory...and the British government has not learned the lessons from the Thatcher Administration.

3rd Battalion , The Royal Regiment of Scotland (The Black Watch) on patrol

Soldiers from 3rd Battalion , The Royal Regiment of Scotland (The Black Watch) on a foot patrol near check point Kalang in Nad 'Ali district, Helmand, Afghanistan.Photographer: Sgt Wes Calder RLC

Soldiers from 3rd Battalion , The Royal Regiment of Scotland (The Black Watch) on a foot patrol near check point Kalang in Nad 'Ali district, Helmand, Afghanistan.Photographer: Sgt Wes Calder RLC

A soldier from 3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (The Black Watch) talks to a civilian on a foot patrol near check point Kalang in Nad 'Ali district, Helmand, Afghanistan.Photographer: Sgt Wes Calder RLC