The USAF screws the Army...again.

The USAF screws the US Army once again.

Remember the C-27?  The Air Force wrested control of that program away from the Army based on the Key West accords...The Air Force stated that they could manage the program better and would see to Army inter-theater needs...then budget cuts hit and the Army is still without its airplane and the Air Force decided to mothball it.

But wait!  It gets worse!

The US Army is trying real hard to be a player in the new Pacific strategy and in order to be a player needs to get its troops to the scene as quickly as possible.  What does that require?  How about strategic airlift.  And what is the USAF also cutting?  C-5's and C-130's.  Not to mention the A-10's that are a close air support specialist.  Want to see the politically correct version of events?  Check this out from DoD Buzz...

As for the other aircraft the Air Force wants to go away, many of them are cargo planes. It plans to get rid of 27 C-5As, 65 C-130s and all of its C-27Js. They’ll probably end up with the A-10s, F-16 and F-15s in the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB. Most of those aircraft could soon be harvested for parts, but Schwartz said airmen will protect the C-27s for now.
“Type-1000 storage is essentially recoverable storage,” he said. “You don’t use the airplanes for spare parts.  You don’t pick and choose and cherry– pick, which type-2000 storage allows you to do.  So obviously, type-1000 storage is more expensive.  It requires sort of ongoing surveillance and so on.  So that — the disposition is not final-final, but those are the options.”

My boy Elements of Power will disagree, and I can't wait to hear from him but if we're really talking about "jointness" then the USAF needs to get a bit more serious about its air lift responsibilities...oh and a second look at retiring the A-10 might be in order too.

Retired Navy Admiral (and carrier pilot) fully endorses the F-35.

BlackFive hits it out the park again...read it there but a tidbit...

Why does Stufflebeem so heavily tout the F-35?

But many fail to realize that the F-35C, with its data exchange and interoperability capabilities, will make the entire Carrier Strike Group (CSG) more capable, effective and lethal. Using similar methods in exercises like Red Flag, the F-22 Raptor made both air and ground units more effective by providing enhanced situational awareness of the battlespace; so will the F-35 provide better maritime awareness to the CSG including both Airwing assets as well as surface forces. The F-35C will make the CSG a better, more capable fighting centerpiece of American military power and force for good around the globe.

Very interesting.

If my memory is correct this is the first time I've heard full support for the F-35 from a high ranking Navy Officer (the flag ranks never actually retire). 

About time.

Just plain cool...different, but cool.

Marines face off with insurgents

Monday Mudballing...30 Jan 2012

I was reading this article from the Washington Post this morning and it has me thinking about a number of issues.

Dependents Overseas

The Army took the first hit but the tidbit from the referenced article has me wondering...

There are about 80,000 U.S. service members stationed in Europe, along with more than 200,000 family members and civilian employees.

The savings that will be realized by removing the overhead of dependents and civilian employees from overseas locations could and should be realized world wide by the US military.  It should be a USMC, USN and USAF imperative too.  That one move alone should save a tremendous amount of money.  Additionally it should allow bases to be consolidated or even shut down.  This is an obvious, uncontroversial move that should be implemented immediately.  Oh and I'm mainly looking at you USAF---shut down those European air bases!

US and European views of each other

This was predicatable but still eye opening...

In Washington, the long-held “vision of Europe is that there’s a bunch of reasonably rich countries, relatively lazy, and not standing up for American-initiated missions abroad as much as they should,” he said.
In contrast, Eide said, resentment and opposition to the U.S.-led occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan has reduced popular backing for NATO among many Western European countries. “NATO was identified simply as the organization that takes away our sons and daughters and sends them to faraway places to do nation-building in the desert.”

It won't happen but NATO is dead as an institution.  It is incapable of projecting power in a unified way and would be hard pressed to defend itself from a determined enemy.    We all focus on the equipment to fight wars but discount the will to fight.  I wonder if Europe still has the will (talking about its people, not its military) and they think that we're cowboys that gallop around the world imposing our will.  Like a bad marriage, we need a divorce.

Defense Budgets

Label this sad, but predictable...

U.S. and NATO officials fret that the cutbacks will further erode military weaknesses that were exposed during last year’s air war in Libya. Several European countries quickly ran out of munitions and had to order them on an emergency basis from Washington. European militaries also lacked capability to refuel their own planes or conduct adequate surveillance from the air.
“If there ever was a time in which the United States could always be counted on to fill the gaps that may emerge in European defense, that time is rapidly coming to an end,” Ivo Daalder, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, told reporters in Washington last month.
At the same time, Europe’s austere economic outlook is leading to a “further weakening of the core ability to defend ourselves,” said Norwegian Defense Minister Espen Barth Eide.
Oil-rich Norway is an exception to the trend; it is increasing its defense budget. But Europe’s overall economic woes are exacerbating existing tensions within NATO, Eide said in a recent speech at the Center for Security and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

We live in interesting times.

I can't wait to see how this turns out but if we suffer one more economic shock, I can see the US fully divesting itself of Europe, turning to the Pacific and not looking back.

Check out this piece of shit SEAL "faker"...

via KitUp!

Listen to this bastard laugh when he talks about child rape.  A bullet to the back of the head would be too merciful!

24th MEU preps for final certification exercise.

All photos by Sgt. Richard Blumenstein

Resident Evil finally looks interesting.

My boy "Everyday No Days Off" Blogspot found this and it looks like Resident Evil is finally interesting.

Good graphics.

Interesting storyline (well I think it will be...fighting zombies and mutated zombies gets boring...another team to the fight adds spice)...

Might be a game worth buying when it comes out.