Press release from CENTCOM 1/5/2007:

NEWS RELEASE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101
Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894

U.S. Central Command Launches NEW Podcast on Website

TAMPA, Florida -Today, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) launched a new podcast on their website. The weekly podcast will feature stories from around Central Command’s area of responsibility. The weekly episodes will provide visitors to the CENTCOM website a readymade means of accessing information about events in the Middle East, Southwest Asia and the Horn of Africa, as well as RSS feeds with up to the minute news.
The Central Command podcast is available at http://www.centcom.mil to download as an MP3 audio file, or via subscription to the podcast RSS syndication feed.

CENTCOM’s unique access to the region will take you to the Iranian border in Iraq and hear from coalition members working with the Iraqi Border Patrol to the villages of Somalia to features about post-earthquake Pakistan.

The inception of this medium to the website accommodates a diverse audience and provides them with another method of acquiring news and information about Central Command and the units on the ground.

“We are really excited about the addition of podcasting to the CENTCOM web site. This brings a whole new dimension to our capabilities and allows our users to access information that is not available anywhere else” said Central Command Public Affairs Director Colonel Jerry Renne.

Podcasting technology enables users of personal audio players to receive broadcasts of audio media via an Internet feed to which users can subscribe.

These feeds deliver audio broadcasts to your desktop. You can listen to these files on your computer or load them on to your MP3 player and take them with you. The word “podcasting” combines the words “broadcasting” and “iPod.” The term can be misleading since neither podcasting nor listening to podcasts requires an iPod or any portable music player.

The content of the weekly podcasts include a look at coalition forces fighting the Global War on Terror within the region, an opportunity to hear from Central Command’s top leaders, interviews with troops on the front lines in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa and specials from the 27 countries within the command.

USCENTCOM is one of the five geographically defined unified commands within the Department of Defense. The command is responsible for planning and conducting United States military activity in a region consisting of 27 countries that make up the CENTCOM AOR.

We also want to encourage you to subscribe to our latest news and press release feeds delivered directly to your email inbox via FeedBurner.

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Or, if you use a feed reader, you can subscribe directly by clicking here.

Good ideas come and they go and other ideas seem to just keep recycling themselves.

From Popular Mechanics comes this “Tech Notes” on “Project ISIS.”

“Project ISIS” has the ring of a James Bond movie, but it actually comes from an acronym (albeit a clumsy one) for a new curved radar array being developed by Raytheon and DARPA, the Pentagon’s research arm. The Integrated Sensor Is Structure concept calls for such arrays running along the wings, tail and underbelly of military or commercial aircraft. Eventually, it could replace the flat-panel radar antennas typically found in a plane’s nose, providing improved surveillance capabilities and better 360-degree threat detection. ISIS technology is set to debut in 2009 as part of a colossal unmanned airship parked at more than 65,000 ft. over combat zones.

I wonder what the staff at DARPA has been smoking on their spare time…

Frank Luke with his Spad XIII (Credit: Wikipedia)

Hmmmm….I began reading a little about flight history when I was but a young guy. Tales of the top aces of WWI were pretty exciting, but I do recall the daring do of a man named Frank Luke. He liked balloons, but not to fly them, to “bust” them. His exceptional skills at downing enemy observation balloons earned this young man from Phoenix, AZ the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Gary Powers (Credit: Wikipedia)

I also recall a story about a man named Gary Powers about a day in May 1960. The 1st, to be exact…

SA-2 Guideline/ missile on Transporter (Credit: Wikipedia)

It seems we thought flying “high” over enemy territory made us invulnerable, yet, a missile named by NATO the “SA-2 Guideline,” fielded in 1957 for the purposes of engaging our B-52 Stratofortresses, had an operational capability between the altitudes between 1500 and 82K ft. Gary Powers found out the hard way, and I believe our intelligence agencies had a lot of egg on their faces in the aftermath of the Powers shoot down. Call it an intelligence failure, for that’s what it was.

Oh, and yes, the SA-2 Guideline is still in service with countries around the world. It was used very effectively by the North Vietnamese to do what it was designed for: Shoot our B-52’s out of the sky, much to the dismay of my fellow Air Force vets.

Some basic issues, that even a Black Shoe like me can understand: If you have an active radar system to find things, sensors on the other end of the search can find the radar. back in the Vietnam War days, we had developed and deployed missiles that could be told to find a signal and home in on it, then, upon arrival at the source of the signal, to detonate (and thereby destroy the radar). Those are called “anti-radiation missiles.” The technology has generally been used to go from an air platform to a surface (slow/not moving) target. In the case of an airborne platforms making the emissions, if the target is not moving very fast, it doesn’t take a whole lot of calculations to get a weapon to the target…

So…my point? All you need is a dedicated pilot in an aircraft that can get to 65K ft, or a Surface to Air Missile with the same altitude capability to sort of ruin our day. Of course, of you have Klingon type cloaking systems in development to pair up with ISIS, I may have to change my tune on the topic…

Credit: Ace Pilots

I get a certain degree of amusement from the bumperstickers I see.

Bumper Quotes was “found” the other day.

I reckon it just might shut me down in my quest to bring a few smiles to us all…

Scanning the new mags while drinking coffee located this item of interest:

Phish Tank.

Wondering what “phishing” is? Details here.

What is PhishTank?

PhishTank is a collaborative clearing house for data and information about phishing on the Internet. Also, PhishTank provides an open API for developers and researchers to integrate anti-phishing data into their applications at no charge.

So, a central clearing house, where you can check out if the email you’re looking at is legit, or an effort to undo you financially….You can even send in your items to help the greater good!

Think of it like a Snopes like site for checking out what’s true and what’s not…

I discussed the binary nature of people, as made very clear to me while sitting in a crowd of about 15K fans last week.

I got thinking about that more about that last night and think I’ll call the spectators “Zeros” and the people on the field of competition “Ones.”

Anyhow, I’m stretched out on the couch two nights ago, watching the Lightning/Wild game in HD, and during the second intermission, which I’m not intently watching, there’s some discussion of the Wild’s inception, and a quote and a picture were tossed up on the picture tube. I didn’t recognize the person, but I assume it maybe was one of the Wild’s first coaches. The quote was about how he had looked for people who thought the name on the front of the jersey was more important that the name on the back of it….

Yep, echoed by the sentiment of Coach Wooden, when I heard him a few year back on the radio. He turned away great players who thought the team was there to support them and not the other way around. I’d say his track record says he was right to do that.

“A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork.” – John Wooden

Good philosophy, for the coaches, but equally important for the people wearing the jerseys to live up to.

I got an email a few weeks back and it said the Florida DMV site allowed you to attach two names/phone numbers to your driver’s license, so law enforcement can get a hold of someone for you in an emergency. Being a little bit skeptical, I surfed over there and sure enough, there’s a way to do that….

Here is the link, if you don’t believe me (or need to use it)

So, like putting a contact named “ICE” (In Case of Emergency) in your cell phone directory, it might be helpful to get your Next of Kin set up in the local driver’s license listing for a really, really bad day.

Hopefully, you’ll never have to be grateful for this database.

A wee bit late for the sun passing over the yardarm, but here nonetheless….post your good stuff!

My sea story? In a word….Seabats. I know, you think I’m pulling your legs, but…RADM Bernsen has seen ’em….and so has this guy. Today is your day to tell me how you can connect the dots.

And when you have that assignment completed, tell me about your seabat experiences….

The last few days have led to some introspection on the nature of my blogging. Sure, I have opinions, and thoughts, but what I know best, and no longer being plugged into current operations, I know the history of the Navy I served in. In addition, the Navy’s role, while important for the global support capabilities, in, until the rise of the Chinese Navy, rather secondary, necessarily so, to the front line Marines and Grunts who are the only ones who can take it directly to the enemy in the way all wars are eventually won. The support of the Navy to those ends, such as close air support, and the manpower to let the trained trigger pullers stay in the field certainly is of more importance right now.

Anyhow, I think for a while, I’ll spend some time catching up history. I went to the Wikipedia entires for three ships, two that I served on, and edited some history that I personally was around for.

So, for today, for all of you who have served, take a few minutes and see what isn’t told in a forum where you can directly add to the storage of actual events, and add some of what you know…..

Maybe one day when my professional background fits the current events better, I’ll add more to the multitude of commentaries.

Last month, I was engaged in a serial posting “The Ratchet and the Governor – Tools for Today” and Part III discussed how our model of sports could help us see a manner in which we could fight the war on terror.

I attended another even a few nights back and the next day I realized something I have been around my entire life, yet it didn’t strike me as consciously as it has now, particularly in light of the political divisions, and it is tied in to sports, too.

I have never been one to watch sports much. I have played and competed in several, and even don’t prefer to sit and watch any of those, unless it’s a last resort type situation. You have to watch the Super Bowl, because it’s the Super Bowl, but other than that, I might, while channel surfing (which I don’t watch much TV, either), stop and watch downhill skiing. I think I’m attracted by the speed and adrenaline factor here.

This leads into sitting in an indoor setting, with maybe 15,000 fans. While there are great things to emulate from the experience, it also (to me) clearly points out our differences. Many there are very knowledgeable about the rules and the play, but, I’d venture wouldn’t dare to put on skates and pads to take up a hockey stick and get slammed into the boards.

So….they are relegated to observing the game. Completing this experience, many, sitting at higher angles, with a completely different, and much uncluttered view of the rink, are wont to yell out the “right way” things should be done. I’d be willing to bet, many of these people have never played hockey, or any sport at a professional level.

In any case, I feel inclined, on this end of the binary scale to place these sorts of people and call them “spectators.”

These “spectators” are the media reporters, demonstrators, politicians, and people on the sidewalks, and all seem to “know” the war is not being fought right, and is, at best, a questionable adventure at best.

The other category are those who have managed to understand there is more to life than sitting on the sidelines and offering uneducated advice. These are the competitors. It’s easy to recognize them. They are wearing a uniforms and are in, near, over, or supporting the War on Terror.

I know, it’s fairly apparent that we are becoming so clearly split into these two categories. I would note, however, the number in each category is markedly out of balance, with the spectators far outnumbering the competitors. This is the point of contention, made more striking by many who have come to believe that “self-esteem” is not just about feeling good about your self, but means you can tell everyone around you how to do things to suit you, so you can feel good. Huge difference in the two issues. One side if self satisfaction, the other is blatant selfishness, of which we have way too much of.

If we can correct the balance, and make it more equitable for getting into the future, it requires more people step up to the plate, and become competitors, which in turn requires a total attitude change and acceptance of a teamwork mentality, and that of the need to sacrifice some personal comfort, so others may also enjoy life. Required, also, is the need to submit to the leadership and wisdom of the coach, knowing they are in that position because of the very reason they have more experience, hand in hand with responsibility as well.

How to do that? Simply put (SU)³.

Teddy Roosevelt had much to say on this topic in at least two speeches, one of which I posted here, the other the one where the oft used quote about it’s the man in the arena trying greatly and failing greatly…..

Ok, I feel better now, having brought out a subconscious pattern into my conscious world view.

After my bumper sticker sighting post of a few days ago, I just wondered if the defeatists have managed to roll this one out:

“Stop Global Winning.”

It certainly could display an attitude that winning is not the thing to do, or so it would seem…