Had enough with a media that trashes everything, even the good done by the US Military?

Captain B of One Marine’s View wants to take out a FULL PAGE AD in a major newspaper for this coming 4th of July, in support of our troops.

Had Enough?” is here….

He’s still open for which paper and what to say in the ad, but…it’s all premised on getting the funds together to pay the freight.

He has a donate button on the right sidebar of his blog, labeled “Donate cigars for troops here!” It will do the job…

Think about it….what better way than to proclaim we believe in the goodness and sacrifice of those young (and not so young in some cases) men and women who are forging the future for not only us, but humanity.

Dadmanly has a post on the recent discussions on the roll over problems with the Up Armored HMVEEs. It is one of many, which I will use for a jumping off point for the discussion of “we’ve been here before.”

Asa recap, it wasn’t all that long ago the MSM was lambasting the Military for not having “enough” armor on HMVEEs, which, were never intended to be patrol vehicles by design. They were cargo carriers to get supplies to the front, but…that’s another entire story in how equipment is developed and fielded by the US Armed Forces, as a function of Defense Analysis, brought to the Pentagon in the early 60s, by a gentleman you may recall named Robert McNamera.

Be that as it may, after the sceeching from the front pages of major papers, and in other forms of media communications, the Pentagon lept into action and got armor on the HMMVVs, sometimes, and at first, by troops scrounging for steel plates and getting out the trusty welding torches. Troops with skills are not always a bad thing, but there are times that well intentioned “local” efforts cause some consequences that can’t be forseen. Conversely, sometimes the “shore based” or stateside development organizations are too stuck in traditional thought to see a good idea, or, they are more often constrained by budget allocations from doing more. That also leads to another discussion, where too much money spet, when it is working to save lives (which is hard to quantify) ends up an issue in the media, where the demands are made to call people on the carpet to explain their “excessive and unnecessary” expeditures. So, once more good, hard working, thoughtful and intelligent people, in uniform, as civil servants, and as contractors, get caught trying to tip toe through a minefield.

On December 10th, 1941, the British battleship HMS PRINCE OF WALES and battlecruiser HMS REPULSE were sunk in the South China Sea by a Japanese air attack. Within a few short days, the Japanese Navy forever changed the face of war at sea. Proving the capability of aircraft launching and attacking from long range as the effective method of projecting power. The sun set on the era of the large captial gunship that day.

Read the rest of this entry »

Do you remember this picture?

SSG McNaughton is looking to run in the New York Marathon this coming November and is asking for a little help.

Impact a Hero – Walk/Run/Wheel

Click on the picture above to get to the donation page for SSG McNaughton.

I’ve also added a link on the Charities Page of this blog for this donation request.

HT: Gulf Coast Pundit and Black Five

Thanks to Mudville Gazette for the Open Post!

Well, the boys at the lab have been at work, and this is one of the “fruits” of the fertile minds of our engineers. Boeing just pulled in a contract for $86M to make lots of these….

The pilot just stares at the target and the data is fed to the aircrafts weapon systems. Now any yahoo with eyes and no ADD/ADHD might be able to become aces…

I really think it adds much to the old saying of “giving them the ‘evil eye.'”

Thanks to Mudville Gazette for the Open Post!

Note: Our wounded service members need some help…see details on Valour-IT funding laptops with voice recognition software here.

Thanks for your considertaion of this great project!

The devil is in the details. While some still are wondering why Osma bin Laden wasn’t a target of greater priority, a guest post at Black Five by the resident retired SEAL pointed me to an Army Times article that has some real detail to it.

Thank, Froggy, for cluing me in.

To begin with, it was the SEALs who were having the party for the ZarqMan, bu the DELTA boys had been hot on the trail and the article discusses the near miss of capturing Zarqawi by DELTA, supported by Rangers in a Tom Clancy style read. I bet the Ranger LT is sitting in his quarters, kicking himself in the butt for not letting the M240 gunner do his job, So much for that medal for you, LT….

On the other hand, I’d say when the end did come for Zarqawi, he was well aware that the boys from the Great Satan’s neighborhoods and cities were dead set on being the ones to help him to the hereafter.

Once you get past the story of the capture and the three suicide bombers, then the article discusses Zarqawi’s operational emphasis towards creating a force with the ability to conduct standing maneuver type operations, not merely terrorist style attacks here nad there. The hint that he was soliciting more foreign help and personnel from Iran, particularly at this point in time, is scary indeed. It does indicate he was doing reasonably well as keeping the insurgency alive, and had the possibility of growing it, but….not without caling for resources from outside Iraq. The good news in that is he had lost the support of the Iraqis.

Since the early morning hours of 6/8/2006, the world, and Iraq, are much safer places as a result. How did we get al-Zarqawi? We all did…

Cross posted at: It’s That Time Again, Boys And Girls – OTA

I picked this up on Milblogs.

Valour-IT is a charity that funds laptop computers for wounded service members. These laptops are equipped with voice recognition software, provided by Dragon Software, and it turns the lives around that have been turned upside down.

Check my tab above for “Charities” and not Valour-IT is the top one. A simple click takes you to the Soldier’s Angels Valour-IT donation page. There’s plenty of info there to brief you in.

More detailed info on the work is found at the Project’s website….

I know it’s not Veteran’s Day, but this is a project worthy of regular donations to help those who have given so much to keep us safe.

PS: Hey, all you Milbloggers: How about get this word out? Get a blogburst going….

Cross posted at: It’s That Time Again, Boys And Girls – OTA
Stuck on Stupid Weekend Open Post
Point Five Weekend Open Trackback
Outside the Beltway – Beltway Traffic Jam
TMH’s Bacon Bits – Bacon Break Full Moon Weekend
The Right Nation
Church and State
The Bullwinkle Blog
Common Folks Using Common Sense
Stingray – A Blog for Salty Christians
Mudville Gazette Open Posts

Note: Our wounded service members need some help…see details on Valour-IT funding laptops with voice recognition software here.

Thanks for your considertaion of this great project!

Official CENTCOM video here…

I nominate this movie as the movie of the day.

Thank you, Viper pilots, for your finely honed air to ground delivery skills. I bet you had to confirm/repeat back 493 times that you had the right target….so thanks for your patience.

How ’bout these lyrics: “500 lbs once, 500 lbs twice…I bet that sure made him feel nice!”

Update: Maybe these lyrics: “500 lbs once, 500 lbs twice…so how about the rest of you guys playing nice?”

Also: Throughout the day, there have been hints of someone inside al-Z’s organization ratting him out. I can see a few possibilities that make this credible. ONe certainly could be he was getting too full of himself and from the inside, they weren’t able to have a coup, to let another rise up in his place. So, how do you do it? Like the stories of war from early times, act nice to your enemey and convey to them that you can help them get the “bad guy (of the day).” That leaves the way open for them to move up into the power vaccum.

Or….consider how successful the world has been in cutting off funding sources for the insurgents. Could a conversation have happened something like this:

Osama: “Hello, Zarq-man? It’s me from somewhere on the border of Pakistan.”

al-Zarqawri: “HEY! OBL! What’s happening?”

OBL: “Zarq, you know how we’ve been squeezed for funds lately, with those infidels stealing the money from our bank accounts, right?”

al-Z: “I sure do…you know it sucks when you get unexpected million dollar cuts in operation budget, when some banker gets all righteous.”

OBL: “You’re dead on…and to think I have to deal with all of al-Qaeda cuts, not just the regional ones you have to take…anyhow, I was thinking last night, then I had this dream, when I woke up, jerking around like an epilectic, and I realized I had a vision from Allah. He said since the Great Satan’s boys (and girls) are offering $25M for you, we could really rebound from our current budget crunch if they were to catch you. How’s this sounding to you so far?”

al-Z: “Let me get this straight: One of my boys rats me out, and the infidels catch me and send me to Club GITMO, and you pocket the reward money. Am I understanding this right?”

OBL: “Oh, yeah. Thant’s what I like about you, you catch on to complex issues quickly. So, how soon can we pull this off?”

al-Z: “Well, it sucks to be me right now. Had you considered you being the one turned in? They are offering more for you than me.”

OBL: “You’re been a good friend, but, to be honest, I’m a little concerned about the bad press you got us when you delivered those 17 heads to the hospital. That was really bad PR. I think you’re liking the butcher role too much.”

al-Z: “Yeah, I can see your point. Give me a few days to set up a safe house and a few innocent civilians to hang out with me. I figure you can get another bounce, and keep that Iranian slacker out of the news cycle for a little while, if they find dead babies in the rubble of my safe house.”

OBL: “Good man. And, think of the fact that you’ll get the 72 raisins before me. Heck, at the rate this war is going, you might want to get a head start on me soon.”

So there you have it, the Z Man was killed because of the budget shortages and over runs…a scary thought indeed, and to be realistic, maybe not too far off. I’m sure $25M will help the planning for a few months….

Get to Iowahawk for the post death Zarq Man AAR, and also another one at GM’ Corner!

From a post late last night on Little Green Footballs titled “Progessives Supporting the Troops Again”has comments from an attendee of the meeting with John Kerry at an “off the record meeting” with Daily Kos supporters, where they got to see a new movie “The Road to Guantanamo.”

Extract from the “movie review” by Hollywood Liberal:

This film illustrates in crystal clear detail why the U.S. military needs to recruit very dumb, totally uneducated, and mostly southern cracker soldiers who are already racist bastards who have never left their hometowns and believe all the garbage they are taught in school about how we are the good guys, and everything we do is just and right. The Army can then brainwash them to treat other human beings in such a grotesque and inhuman manner.

Sad…

Contrast this kind of thought process with the recently well written commentary by CDR Salamander on politicizing the military and as further discussed by Chapomatic.

Ships have “Breakaway” music and flags. These are used at the end of an alongside replenishment, when, as soon as all lines connecting the ships are cleared, the throttles are advanced and the replenished ship moves ahead of the one it replenished from, on the same course, at first. This is when the Officer of the Deck usually yells into the pilot house for the Boatswain’s Mate of the Watch (BMOW) to hold the 1MC (General Announcing system) mike to a cassette player (and I’m sure now a CD player), to play the music over the weather deck (topside) speakers. Simultaneously, the Signalmen “break” the breakaway flag on the side towards the other ship.

For all my 20 years in, this was done as a matter of routine. I began my career on a replenishment ship, so I saw many ship depart from alongside, and heard a variety of music played. For the most part, many ships had their theme music, and almost exclusively played that. A few ship were the song of the moment types, and would just play something appropriate.

For my first deployment, our ship would be accompanied by USS CONYNGHAM (DDG-17), and ADAMS Class guided missile destroyer, with 2 5″/54 Mk 42 guns, and a MK 13 Missile launcher, loaded with SM-1(MR) weapons. That class of DDGs are impressive to watch slicing through the water, with a narrow beam and an elevated bow that gracefully sweeps upwards. They were the picture of the front line guided missile “tin cans” from the 50s and 60s.

CONYNGHAM had a great crew and a CO that made them do it right and fast. From the outside, professionalism oozed out of everything they did. Their ship handling was smart and they were on time and on target. Their breakaway flag white background, with a large green shamrock. Their theme music was the Star Wars title track. When they completed an UNREP (Underway Replenishment), the crew would stand at attention until they cleared our side, then they would move like aggravated ants to prepare the ship for the next evolution. The horsepower generated by their four 1200 PSI boilers and twin shafts could get them up to speed quickly and on their way to their next evolution. Being a “shoe” on a “fat ship,” I longer to be a destroyerman, so I would watch, as much as my duties would allow the destroyers that had come alongside. I was always impressed with the seamanship of the CONYNGHAM’s crew. Departing with the Star Wars music playing impressed me every time.

Later the USS SPRUANCE (DD-963) was added to our battle force. She was a few years old now, but because she was the first of the class, she was the proof of concept for the 29 (and later 30) hulls like her to follow in her footsteps. In any case, assigned to our battle group, she would be making her maiden overseas deployment. Unlike previous destroyers, she was powered by 4 GE LM-2500 Marine Gas Turbines. 20,000 horsepower each, with two shafts, and throttles were usually controlled directly by the watchstanders on the bridge.

SRPUANCE’s theme song was, you guessed it, Star Wars. Their breakaway flag was a large yellow background, with large block red letters saying “BEWARE JET BLAST.” this mimicked the warning seen painted on the island of an aircraft carrier.

One day, the SPRUANCE was alongside before CONYNGHAM. At the completion of refueling, lines cleared, the music came on, the flag was broken, the turbine whine ramped up in seconds and she seemed shoot ahead of us. The CONYNGHAM followed her into station alongside us on the same side. Somehow, it was never the same for me to watch the proud, but aging DDG, play Star Wars and display her flag, as she steamed out ahead of us. No matter how professional, the SPRUANCE had her hands down on performance.

Years later, I was driving one, and the thrill is quite excellent.

I found these words in the comments section of the “D-Day Rembered” on Little Green Footballs. They are worth posting:

Tomorrow, the sun will rise, as it does every morning but tomorrow it will be June Sixth, the sixty second anniversary of D-Day.
Right now, on this very minute sixty two years ago, tens of thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen took one last look at loved ones, dashed off a last letter and otherwise did whatever they could to calm their nerves. They had boarded their ships or were boarding. The largest armada ever assembled sailed out to determine the fate of the world.

Eisenhower made the decision to go and the world would never be same again.

Sixty six hundred allied troops would not be alive in 24 hours. Thousands more would be injured. In the cold industrialized mechanized planning that was D-Day, half of the soldiers were there so their bodies would offer shelter, weapons and ammo to the survivors.

By late morning tomorrow, when you are having that second cup of coffee, sixty two years ago Omaha beach was a gory bloodbath, our soldiers were being slaughtered to the point that Gen. Omar Bradley was not sure the invasion had worked.

How safe and easy are our lives. We owe so much to this, the most magnificent army in history, a generation of brave men who stormed ashore because they believed in something greater and something better, the very lives that we lead today.

They followed orders and charged into a hopeless situation without question. Sheer mass was the only armor they had. As I have for the past couple of years, I write to honor their memory and perhaps say one new thing that might help others appreciate and remember.

D-Day was a triumph of planning and production but it is mostly a triumph of the spirit of the nation that calls itself the United States of America. It was an expression of a nation’s will, its character and its future as the greatest power on earth.

After D-Day, the US would be the greatest power the world had ever seen. The American nation had shown that it was capable of doing anything, including the impossible, of fighting for the ideals of freedom against any odds and against any enemy. And winning. After D-Day, some might question America but D-Day was not just an event it was transformative to the nation itself the springboard to today.

Any nation that wishes to supplant the US from its global peak will have to commit deeds of greatness that will enable that nation to transcend the nation that risked everything for freedom and gave the world a vision of freedom and equality that I hope shines forever.

One night I had a wonderful dream. A bugle blew in heaven and an endless troop of soldiers marched to the gates themselves and presented arms and saluted; the honor guard of heaven were the allied soldiers of June 6, 1944.

No other place of honor is good enough for what they did.
So I ask you to take a moment and think about the day that gave birth to the modern world and remember the brave men who made it possible.

Thank you, BabbaZee, for the reminder.