June 2007 Archives

« Previous · Home · Next »

Two Incidents: Condition Yellow vs Condition White

By Lt Col P

This is not my first post on guns and the armed citizen, but this is the first in our brand new Firearms category. (Thanks, BR BullNav!)

Today, we contrast the results of being in Condition Yellow and being in Condition White. Those of you who are unfamiliar with the terms, please see my AAR on a defensive handgun course, and then follow the link to the Gunsite Color Code.)

In the first instance, a legally armed citizen-- and retired Marine, I'm pleased to say-- aced a pair of miscreants in south Florida when they held up a Subway and then tried to hold him up. Both were subsequently transported to the hospital where one assumed room temperature and the other might not be far behind him. Our Man was unhurt and it looks like he won't be charged either. (Thank God; take a look at this case.) Teaching points-- he is a long-time concealed carry permit holder, he clearly had a plan and had the skills and psychological conditioning to execute that plan. When he decided to act, he acted ruthlessly and decisively. Note his excellent diversionary tactics, which bought him time and distracted his adversary. It takes a cool mind and hand to do that. Well done, Marine, well done. (Note also that he apparently used a 1911 .45!)

In the second instance, there is nothing at all to be happy about. A young lady conducting a geological survey in a National Forest in Colorado met her end at the hands of a predator with a long criminal record. Given only the facts reported in the article, I think we can accept that she wasn't armed, she wasn't expecting anything bad to happen that day, and she wasn't even expecting that something bad could happen to her at all. Thus, she was not prepared, she had no plan, and she had no means to defend herself. She was spotted, assessed and targeted by a fillthy piece of human excrement, and sadly he prevailed. Teaching points-- today might not be the day that something bad happens, but you ought to conduct yourself as if it is; do not let any stranger get within striking distance of you, especially if you're way out in the woods all alone. This poor girl was utterly defenseless against a determined attacker, and all she could do was cry for help. Awful. (Note also that he was a paroled murderer, and he was carrying a gun. A good advertisement for the death penalty, and we see how much he was deterred by gun control laws.)

Condition White is no way to live, and sometimes it'll get you in very serious trouble. Better to recognize reality and get your mind and spirit in gear. The police, God Bless 'Em, no matter how active and numerous and energetic, can't be everywhere at once. The primary responsibility for your security is in your hands.

More Attacks In The UK-- "See You In Ramadan?"

By Lt Col P

Am watching Fox and the coverage of the attack on the airport in Glasgow. Bad, but it could have been worse. I just now tuned in after being out with the family.

Anchoress Jamie Colby talking to Col David Hunt (1455 eastern), Col Hunt made the following comments... car bombings appear to be "moving West" as some have predicted, these attacks seem to have an amateurishness that does not indicate direct AQ involvement, but "the commitment is the scary part."

No indications that the London and Glasgow incidents are connected, as in the work of the same group. Quite possible, and not surprising. In my opinion one of the enemy's most dangerous COAs is the profusion of independent self-starters, commited to the cause but acting on their own initiative. I think this is still absolutely true. Capabilities improve with experience, but as Col Hunt said, the commitment is the pre-requisite. Once you're commited to a course of action-- truly committed-- everything else is just planning, training and logistics. Where there's a will, there's a way, and that works for good and for ill.

Those of you might scoff at the capabilities of self-starting amateur cells, I urge you to think again. Take a look at a book called See You In November. This is the story of how three men wrought serious damage on guerrilla organizations in Zambia (and on the Zambians themselves) on behalf of Rhodesia in the 1970s. Yes, two were ex-SAS men, but one was just a volunteer farmer, committed to a cause and a quick learner to boot. If they were aided by the incompetence of the Zambian authorities, well, that didn't last forever. And don't be too quick to laugh too hard. Our border security is nothing to be proud of, and we have who knows how many useful idiots ready and willing to hamstring our effort.

I personally think it's only a matter of time before these sorts of attacks move yet farther West. We've already dodged a couple recently. You can bet that the cannier sorts of operatives have noted the mistakes of the Fort Dix Six and the Erie Seven and the JFK knuckleheads. I just hope we're not in for See You In Ramadan.

Another great Submariner from the greatest generation passes

By Bull Nav

I just found out that one of the greatest submariners ever, winner of the MOH, 4 Navy Crosses and a DSC has passed away:

CNO Statement on Passing of Retired Rear Adm. Eugene Fluckey
Release Date: 6/30/2007 1:34:00 PM
Special from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Every man and woman serving our Navy today joins me in mourning the death of retired Rear Adm. Eugene Fluckey, recipient of the Medal of Honor and a true naval hero. We extend humbly to his family our thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathies in this, their time of great grief and sorrow.

He was a true leader. Bold, innovative, he truly cared about his men.

In his final war patrol report as commanding officer of USS Barb, he had this to say about his crew: “What wordy praise can one give such men as these; men who … follow unhesitatingly when in the vicinity of minefields so long as there is the possibility of targets … Men who flinch not with the fathometer ticking off two fathoms beneath the keel … Men who will fight to the last bullet and then start throwing the empty shell cases. These are submariners.”

He will be sorely missed.
Bubblehead also has it.

Reality vs. the Gun Control Advocate

By John

Reality won.

“Excuse me, do you, do you know about guns?”

She's talking to me.

“A bit.”
“I'm terrified of guns.”

I hold out my hands as if checking for rain.

“Sounds crazy, I know, thing is—do you think the salesman is going to be much longer?”
“There's tons of paperwork if you buy a gun. Tons.”

Her eyes dart about, then she just looks at me straight-on:

“Thing is, he's going to kill me.”

True story. Read the whole thing, I doubt you'll find a more devastating indictment of the anti-gun lobby.

In other news, I can't believe Lt Col P hasn't created a "Firearms" category yet....

Update: Reality vs. Gun Control, example numero dos. Hotel Tango: Mary Katharine

Bullnav says: New category. Fixed.

Time To Buy Some Labatt

By Lt Col P

The Torch has a great idea. Good cause, good beer. What's not to like?

(They also stick to their own substantial peacenik population, not once but twice. If the title of that second link has some un-Canadian language, well, this is wartime and war's an ugly business. I'm glad to see them pulling no punches.)

Man, I love that site.

DING-DING, DING-DING... '89 ARRIVING!

By Lt Col P

The sharp-eyed Brother Rat BullNav brought something to my attention yesterday, but neither one of us was able to get on it because of work issues. He remembered an entry in the '89 section of VMI Alumni Review about our long-ball-hitting Brother Rat CDR Winton Smith taking command of a destroyer, USS Higgins. (The ship is named after US Marine Colonel William R. Higgins, who was abducted and murdered in Lebanon in 1988.)

BR Smith's change of command took place in May, so we're a little time-late. But hey, we're talking about the Class of '89 here, so that's nothing new. (Check out his bio below the fold.)

So congrats, Brother Rat! Sail that ship overseas and give 'em what fer!

"The world is on notice: those who threaten America’s interests or dare terrorize its citizens will face Colonel Rich Higgins and the 8,300 tons of pure American steel that now surround his spirit."

Read More »

The Politico Does Milblogs

By John

Ryan Grim at The Politico, which is a great rag that ya'll should be reading daily, took some time this week to profile milbloggers in his recurring Blogjam column.

Featured are Greyhawk and your humble scribe.

There's an ideological hotel tango in there to Lex, he'll know what it is. Oh and the 'enlisted people don't come here' line was actually Chris Michel's....or Ward Carroll's, I'm not sure. Either way it was funny.

Anyhoo, here are the interviews: OPFOR and Mudville Gazette.

Picture of the Day: Air Force Lads

By John

Well this warms my Irish heart...

The Air Force Thunderbirds perform their delta formation over the Salthill Air Show in Galway, Ireland, June 22. This is the first time in the Thunderbirds have performed over Irish soil. Photo Courtesy of the US Air Force.

Kilcullen in the Danger Room

By John

Our buddy Noah Shachtman scored a money interview with Colonel Kilcullen, who seems to be a man who understands the importance of blogging. Noah focused the chat on Baghdad's new network of security barriers:

Retired Colonel (and present-day blogger) David Kilcullen says that the walls were necessary to turn the security of Baghdad into a more manageable problem -- one that could handled with somewhat fewer American troops.

"The point of the walls was to structure the environment, to hold the city and keep it safe," he tells DANGER ROOM. "It's like [keeping] guard inside a concrete building, instead of in the middle of a field... You don't need vast maneuver forces to do it... It's the principle of economy of force."

Now that the eleven sets of walls across Baghdad have been built -- "controlling access, preventing attacks on the community, and preventing attacks from being launched on someone else," Kilcullen says -- "we're now in a position to move against the [insurgent] havens."

"Murders and sectarian killings have dropped 63%" in Baghdad's Adhamiya neighborhood, since the wall has been put in place, he claims. Residents are "thrilled."

That last line is important. A few months back, you couldn't open a newspaper without reading a story detailing just how pissed off Baghdad residents were about these walls, which invoked fresh memories of the more famous (and incredibly unpopular) West Bank security barrier in Israel. I should caveat here though, the wall is unpopular in the Arab world. The Israelis love the thing, as that beautifully simple solution effectively killed off Arafat's second intafada.

And now it's helping kill Sunni and Al Qaeda terrorism in Baghdad.

Walls work, folks.

Picture of the Day: From the Cockpit

By John

Capt. Al Basioa pilots a C-17 Globemaster III as it receives fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker June 22 during a refueling training mission over the Pacific Ocean. The C-17 from the 535th Airlift Squadron at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, and the KC-135 from the 909th Air Refueling Squadron at Kadena Air Base, Japan, are practicing for the upcoming 2007 Air Mobility Command Rodeo. Photo courtesy of the US Air Force.

I've been on both male and female ends of air-to-air refueling sorties. It's pretty cool. And weird. KC-10s have a 3 man seat where you look down through a window to the world, waving to the pilots as they vector in to gas up. Kind of an surreal experience, all this happening at 30,000 feet and all.

Worldwide Standard Does Paris

By John

In a manly sort of way, believe it or not.

The City of Lights is several times more expensive than it was back in the late eighties, it is even more overrun with pickpockets, but a 12-year reign by one of the more contrarian European heads of state has come to an end. Everyone asks now if France can restore its former glory, patch up its relations with Washington, and address the social dislocations that cause increasing strains with its Muslim population.

But most of these developments pale in comparison to how much the Le Bourget air show has changed since I first saw it twenty years ago. Called simply “the Paris Air Show” by most of those who attend it, the biennial aerospace extravaganza (officially, the Salon international de l'aéronautique et de l'espace de Paris-Le Bourget) symbolizes the long, distinguished history of aviation in France by being held at the same Le Bourget aerodrome where Charles Lindbergh landed after his 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic in the Spirit of St. Louis.

And so began the WWS Team's painfully awesome coverage of this year's world renowed aviation expo. There's a ton of articles on the various exhibits, so visit their June archives if you're thirsty for the whole shebang.

Here's what caught my eye:

First Impressions (with uber-nerdy Chicom leadership!)

Fire Scout

Predator in Paris

Israel Struts Its Stuff

The New Arms Race

And this interview with Senator James Inhofe was phenomenal:

Inhofe stopped himself as he was about to say that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter would allow the United States to maintain its air superiority, instead saying that "a lot of people don't realize, but during the 1990s--the drawdown during the Clinton administration--we cut back on modernization. In fact, I was so proud of [former Air Force chief of staff] General Jumper (VMI class of 1966, sends John), who had the courage to stand up in 1998 and admit that the Su series that the Russians were making were superior to our best strike fighters in some ways...so the F-22 and the Joint Strike Fighter are going to put us back [on top], unquestionably.

On F-22: "I think we need to get the numbers up."
Inhofe said that "we do need to have the F-22 [production numbers] enhanced, as well as the Joint Strike Fighter, as well as the C-17--our lift capabilities are more strained than they have been [at any time] in the history of the United States...[when the C-17 program got first started] we never dreamed we'd have Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and all the lift needs that we have today. So our deficiency isn't only in strike vehicles."

Yeah, we need to modernize. And it's hard not to justify the spending when you consider that A) our entire total force strategy is built on the cornerstone of air supremacy and B) our current defense budget is at one of its lowest points in history. Don't believe me? Then take a peek at this important looking graph courtesy of the Standard:

The pictures rock, btw.

Oh and on the topic of booth babes, and how no respectable expo is complete without em? Yeah, the Standard --in all their tireless effeciency-- has that angle covered as well:

Worldwide Standard's June archives is where you'll find the rest.

Colonel Kilcullen Reports

By John

Via Small Wars Journal:

I’ve spent much of the last six weeks out on the ground, working with Iraqi and U.S. combat units, civilian reconstruction teams, Iraqi administrators and tribal and community leaders. I’ve been away from e-mail a lot, so unable to post here at SWJ: but I’d like to make up for that now by providing colleagues with a basic understanding of what’s happening, right now, in Iraq.

This post is not about whether current ops are “working” — for us, here on the ground, time will tell, though some observers elsewhere seem to have already made up their minds (on the basis of what evidence, I’m not really sure). But for professional counterinsurgency operators such as our SWJ community, the thing to understand at this point is the intention and concept behind current ops in Iraq: if you grasp this, you can tell for yourself how the operations are going, without relying on armchair pundits of whatever political ilk.

So yeah. Go educate yourself.

Update: Grim at Blackfive simply mollywhops those who have chosen not to educate themselves, but still wish to be considered an authority on COIN ops.

And I discussed the same topic at Townhall some time ago: They Know So Much That Isn't So

Picture of the Day: Aussie Aussie Aussie

By John

06/17/07 - Australian army Warrent Officer Andrew Shore, with Reconnaissance Platoon, 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, jumps out of a DHC-4 Caribou aircraft with an MC5 freefall parachute over Rockhampton, Australia, June 17, 2007, during exercise Talisman Sabre 2007. The biennial exercise is designed to train Australian and U.S. forces in planning and conducting combined task force operations, which will help improve combat readiness and interoperability. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Chelsea D. Terrell)

Those Caribous kind of...well, suck... if you know what I mean. No offense to our Canadian brothers, who developed the thing. Just an ancient aircraft, is all.

I've heard rumblings that the Aussies want new C-17s (who doesn't?) But at a cool $202 million an airframe, and a national defense budget that barely scrapes above 18 billion in total expenditures, the Globemaster might be out of reach for our Australian friends.

Mike Sears Reports from Anbar

By Lt Col P

CWO4 Mike Sears has written to me with some selected comments on a recent trip he took to visit some units in and around Ramadi. Much of the news lately has centered, and rightfully so, on Bakubah and Diyala, but Iron Mike has some continuing good news from Anbar.

"Last week I spent time with the Marines of 2nd Bn 5th Marines and 5th ANGLICO in the city of Ramadi. It was a great week of getting out to the tip of the spear... I was given the opportunity to head out into downtown Ramadi which only months ago was still the wild west with heavy insurgent action and Marines in contact virtually everyday. Today under the command of 2/5 and with added Marines from the “surge” effort, Ramadi is a different place. [LtCol P historical comment: the CO of 2/5 was the XO of the very first Marine unit to serve with SOCOM, called MCSOCOM Detachment One, or simply Det One.]

"I visited the Combat Outposts (COPs) within the city and saw first hand the changes taking place. This after experiencing a three-vehicle convoy through the streets of the city, interesting feeling sitting armed to the teeth rolling through what has been a killing field for several battalions on their tours here, locked and loaded with eyes wide. Good old Marine Corps perseverance and the effects of the “Anbar Awakening” combined with outstanding leadership have paid huge dividends in this city. Attacks are on the decline, indirect fire on the base has been reduced and 2/5 has done an amazing job in working with the local Iraqi police and army here, assisting them to take control of their city, living in the COPs out among the locals. There is a much different story to tell here in Al Anbar than in Baghdad, but I will add never let your guard down-- just as we had arrived back inside camp Ramadi I stepped outside the vehicle to a loud earth shattering explosion that caused everyone to pause and look around as if we were receiving incoming, I later found out it was a SVBIED attack right outside the wire...

"On LtCol P’s recommendation I also hit 5th ANGLICO and had a good day with them, perfect timing as they had just come off a long mission and had some great stories to tell. When the topic of Ramadi came up we discussed the same issues I had with 2/5 and the turn around that is taking place here and all seemed to be in agreement, tribal engagement, the surge, and AQI overplaying their hand and the locals Iraqi’s seeing a better way have made for success in the city of Ramadi… Bottom line is we are winning. “

(When Milke says 5th ANGLICO he also means a good number of reservists from 4th ANGLICO, who mobilized and deployed with them. That is the sixth detachment that 4th ANGLICO has sent out to OIF. I happen to know a few things about that unit, oddly enough...)

Mike is right. Patient, persistent presence is winning the day. The genius of the IO message in the "No better friend, no worse enemy" slogan is apparent, and it is applicable at every level of war. 2/5's undoubted successes come on the foundations built by countless Marines (like Brother Slab) and soldiers before them, beginning with the first elements of I MEF in February 2004, when teams from 3d CAG engaged the provincial government day in and day out, and Army and Marine units lived with the unenviable and deadly task of dealing with the city that everyone knew was as bad as Fallujah and maybe worse. In such a way, over many months and years, and with much blood and treasure expended, is the war won. \

Good work, Mike! Now, keep your head down.

News Update you won't See in MSM

By Richard S. Lowry

This morning I received a press release from the Multi-National Division - Baghdad. It was an update to a story that started last May. Last month we heard that Coalition forces were erecting barriers around markets in Baghdad to protect them against vehicle-borne explosive devices, VBIEDs or simply - truck bombs. Within days of the initial report, our MSM reported that the Iraqi people were protesting the construction of the walls and that the Iraqi government had demanded that the construction be stopped. Some radical websites and third-world "journalists" even claimed that the Americans were trying to surround radical Baghdad neighborhoods with walls to virtually jail the citizens of violent sections of the city.

Nothing has been reported on the barrier system in over a month. I suspected that the uproar forced the suspension if the project. I was wrong. Instead of rambling again, I will just post the Army's press release. It provides another look at Baghdad you will not see in our beloved MSM.

Multi-National Corps – Iraq Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory APO AE 09342 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE RELEASE No. 20070624-08 June 24, 2007

Barriers emplaced, troops strengthen Palestine Market
By Staff Sgt. W. Wayne Marlow
2nd IBCT, 2nd Inf. Div. Public Affairs
Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO

BAGHDAD — Merchants and shoppers at the Palestine Market can now go about their business in a more secure setting. Soldiers with the 2nd Infantry Division’s 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment are almost complete with barrier emplacement in the market, located in the Rusafa District of eastern Baghdad. Work began May 1 and according to Maj. Bruce Vitor, squadron executive officer, was 95 percent complete as of June 19. Squadron leaders accompanied Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr., Multi-National Division – Baghdad and 1st Cavalry Division commander, on a tour of the market.

Over 1,800 concrete sections have been emplaced, but those won’t be the
only barriers involved in the project. “We talked with local nationals to convince them it was in their best interest to have the barriers emplaced,” said Lt. Col. James Phillips, squadron commander.

While merchants understood the need for security, they had concerns about the barriers. For instance, pastry and fruit vendors often rely on impulse purchases, so they were worried about their products not being seen from street. Others needed room to get push carts or scooters through, and others worried about access to driveways and delivery trucks.

“It’s a very dispersed market,” Phillips said. “We had to accommodate each block differently. We went business by business, block by block, and that really helped.”

Vitor said 3-61 Soldiers maintained regular contact with the merchants. “We talked with the store owners before, during, and after the emplacement. Each one had different concerns and we tried to accommodate them,” he said.

The barrier emplacement seems to be paying dividends, though Phillips cautions it is too early to declare it a success.

“Some of the merchants have said shopping has increased and that the shoppers seem more relaxed,” Phillips said “It’s as crowded as I’ve ever seen it.”

Also, some merchants are putting advertisements or paintings on the barriers. There were several obstacles along the way, such as destroyed bridges and intimidated contractors. But the barriers are up and benefits are being seen.

“Everybody understands the purpose and everybody would like more protection,” Vitor said.

He added the barriers are only one part of the security plan, which also includes checkpoints and patrols.

Richard S. Lowry is the author of "Marines in the Garden of Eden." http://www.marinesinthegardenofeden.com

Op-For North?

By Lt Col P

Great Canadian milblog-- The Torch. Some inside baseball (inside hockey?) but lots and lots of good stuff on "Afstan" and related matters.

Dare I say that we've found Op-For North?

SUNDAY UPDATE: The Torch's Mark from Ottawa wrote back to me to say that they've linked to us, and he has another good site for us-- MilNet.CA. Outstanding!

Every Little Bit Helps

By Lt Col P

I linked below to our favorite beefy Afrikaner's selfless effort to get much-needed gear to some Cav troopers he and his wife adopted. If you follow that thread and its comments, you'll see some nifty ideas as well as real altruism at work.

Now, because Op-For is a purple blog, I'm not sure we can hail one effort and eschew others in all good conscience. So, let me point you toward John Farnam's Quips, where has posted (more than once) the same basic idea, this time supporting a Marine Wing Support Squadron in Iraq.

Some of you might ask why Marines and soldiers seem to need the same things over and over, such as nomex gloves, magazine pouches and the like. The reason is that these things wear out, and replacements aren't always forthcoming.

Every little bit helps. Believe me, they appreciate it.

PS... We'd be happy to draw attention to other efforts for Navy and Air Force units too.

Ramblings From Richard

By Richard S. Lowry

I just got a telephone call from a reporter at a local talk radio station. He asked me if I wanted to comment on the AP story that there has been a dramatic increase in American casualties in the last few days in Iraq. I said that maybe it had something to do with the fact that General Petraeus had recently launched the largest military operation since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. His response was that he knew that there were some ‘raids’ in progress. I corrected him immediately. Then I went into a twenty-minute dissertation about all the good news that the MSM is ignoring.

The final surge Brigade was in place on June 15th and General Petraeus launched Operation Phantom Thunder with an F-16 airstrike on buildings filled with insurgents on the next day, June 16th. Phantom Thunder is comprised of several Brigade-sized operations. Operation Marne Torch kicked off on the 16th in the belts southeast of Baghdad, extending as far south as Salman Pak.

Operation Arrowhead Ripper is aimed at eliminating terrorists operating in, and around Baquoba in Diyala Province. The city has been surrounded with orders to the encircling force – nobody in, nobody out. A Stryker Brigade Combat Team is attacking house to house within the city. I was told last Monday by a senior Public Affairs Officer in Baghdad that the goal was not to clear Al-Qaeda from the city, but to kill them. There will be no running away to fight another day.

On Tuesday, seven al-Qaeda cowards attempted to flee the onslaught in an ambulance but alert Soldiers from 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Washington, stopped it. The Soldiers checked the ambulance and found a driver and six men, who appeared to be in their 20s and 30s. Yesterday, an Apache helicopter caught more than a dozen enemy trying to flee the area. They were quickly dispatched from above.

All the while the 3rd ID is on the offensive in the southeast in Operation Marne Torch. They are interdicting river borne smugglers on the Tigris River. Seventeen barges have been sunk. Insurgents have been captured and killed and weapons and explosives have been confiscated or destroyed. Just the other day, Operation Commando Eagle kicked off on the west side of the Tigris, south of Baghdad. This Brigade-sized operation is focusing on the countryside where the two missing soldiers were last seen.

That’s not all folks. Iraqi Army units fought rogue elements of the Mahdi Army in Nasiriyah early this week. There are other operations in the north, around Mosul and the Iraqi Army has taken up blocking positions on the west bank of the Tigris River, north of Baghdad, to insure that the insurgents in Diyala don’t spill over into Salhadin Province. The Marines are on the offence too. They are sweeping through the territory north of Fallujah in an unnamed operation.

All the while, Operation Fardh-al-Qanoon is alive and well in Baghdad. The Multi-National Force is holding more than 70% of the city with a “cop on every corner” 24-7. Several Special Ops have been conducted in Sadr City to round up more of Muqtada al-Sadr’s thugs.

This is a nationwide campaign that has been in the works for many months. This campaign is meant to seriously restrict al-Qaeda’s ability to bring their violence into Baghdad. It is also a major attempt to bring stability to the outlying areas and to push the enemy out of areas that have been uncontested for years. Also, while dealing a crushing blow to AQI, Coalition forces are sending a potent message to Muqtada al-Sadr, the Iranians, and any other insurgent organization, that MNF-I has enough manpower and resources to go after the enemy AND maintain security in Baghdad. Rear Admiral Greg Smith told me, “They know we are coming, they just don’t know when we are getting to their neighborhood.”

Now, the world should know why David Petraeus asked for five more infantry brigades and an additional Combat Aviation Brigade, it wasn’t just to play cop in the streets of Baghdad. He told me last night, “We're endeavoring to take it to them.”

Richard S. Lowry is the award winning author of the best selling book, “Marines in the Garden of Eden,” Berkley, New York, 2006. He is an internationally recognized military historian and author. Richard served in the U.S. Navy Submarine Service from 1967-1975 and spent the time from 1975 to 2002 designing sophisticated integrated circuits for everything from aircraft avionics to home computers. Richard turned to serious writing after 9/11 and published “The Gulf War Chronicles,” iUniverse, New York, in 2002. He is currently working on his next book project. “The Surge” will tell of General Petraeus’ attempt to win the peace in Iraq. For more information on Richard and his work, visit http://www.marinesinthegardenofeden.com

More from Arrowhead-Ripper

By John

I know Lt Col P already highlighted Mike Yon's coverage of Arrowhead-Ripper (he's in the thick of it), but I want to get a bit more into the details.

Baquba burns...

Surrender or Die: Battle for Baquba -

The combat in Baqubah should soon reach a peak. Al Qaeda seems to have been effectively isolated. The initial attack on 19 June achieved enough surprise that al Qaeda was caught off guard and trapped. They have been beaten back mostly into pockets and are surrounded and will be dealt with. Part of this is actually due to the capability of Strykers. We were able to “attack from the march.” In other words, a huge force drove in from places like Baghdad and quickly locked down Baqubah.

LTG Ray Odierno visited Baqubah on the 21st. Odierno clarified that this battle is to be final: we are not going to do this again. Odierno stressed to our commanders that they need to be thinking of an end-state that results in Iraqis taking charge, but that Iraqi commanders should not be given the reins until they are ready, so that the result is we set them up for success. Odierno’s timing was remarkable: even before he arrived, the commanders here were talking about end-state daily and, on a more sour note, our commanders have their hands full with the local Iraqi commanders who seem less competent (to be kind) than those I have seen elsewhere, such as in Mosul.

Our guys are winning. Al Qaeda is about to be strangled and pummeled to death in this town, but the local Iraqi leadership is severely wanting. This was most obviously noted in one area in particular, where there were some slight indicators of a possible humanitarian need. “Crisis” certainly is not the correct word, but there are displaced persons numbering at least in the hundreds. LTC Fred Johnson actually took me out there. (The access even to “bad” news is amazing with this Brigade.)

From what I've gathered, 4th SBCT is enveloping the city while 2nd SBCT clears the bugs. Mike is attached to the attacking 2nd Strykers, so he's in the sh*t right now.

Richard S. Lowry just pointed out to me over google chat that General Petraeus has been planning this for some time. Surging forces finally reached their full operational strength on 15 June, and on 16 June we went on the offensive. Take note that Senator Reid proclaimed the surge a failure before Arrowhead-Ripper's first bullets flew.

Bottom line: this is one of Al-Qaeda's last strongholds in Iraq and we are kicking their ass.

Arrowhead-Ripper

By John

Inside the operation. 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team is seen pinching off all lines of escape from Baquba. Thanks to Richard S. Lowry for sending.

Take note of the Darth Vader looking Stryker in the second half of the segment, and note the soldier using the high-speed looking eyepiece. That's the new Land Warrior System, and I believe this is one of the first times that the technology has been used in combat.

The clip is roughly 36 hours old, so enjoy.

And, Now There's This...

By Lt Col P

Thanks to all who wrote in re my previous post. And to those who perhaps thought I'd lost the bubble, trust me, I haven't. I was caught in a fit of gloomy hawkishness, possibly because I haven't been feeling well of late.

Anyway, I'm much better now.

This, in particular, has cheered me greatly.

"Big fights are ahead and we will take serious losses probably, but al Qaeda, unless they find a way to escape, are about to be slaughtered. Nobody is dropping leaflets asking them to surrender. Our guys want to kill them, and that’s the plan."

Damn right it is. Go get 'em boys.

On a related note, one can only be heartened by KduT's selfless gift to his adopted soldiers in the 3/2 Cav. See how quickly he scraped up the cash to get what these troopers needed, all from donations. That's dedication. I think he might need a little more help. No amount is too small.

Finally, as always, we must not forget the sacrifices being made for us in every clime and place. Americans are locked in combat and are taking casualties still. Our allies, especially our cousins to the North, are knee-deep in the fight as well; recently three of them gave their lives in Afghanistan.

And Then There's This...

By Lt Col P

I've been silent lately because everything I've wanted to post has either been time-late or has just come out wrong. So, I haven't been in the best frame of mind.

Then, I read this today.

The pessimist in me says, "Yep. That's about right." It reminded me instantly and just for a second of the old Megadeth tune, "Peace Sells, But Who's Buyin'?" (BR BullNav will appreciate the reference.) I made much the same observations when I was there in 2004.

The optimist in me says, "No way! What kind of mindless a--holes would turn down a chance at liberty??" What kind, indeed.

In all probability I think we're in one of those periods where we are making gains, but paradoxically it just looks like (or is being reported to be) a big fat mess. In my heart and in my mind I know that Michael Yon is on to something, and that we are marching forward steadily. But man, sometimes it looks ugly.

Be Not Afraid

By John

Mike Yon's latest is up:

In the short time since Petraeus took charge here, Anbar Province – “Anbar the Impossible” – seems to have made a remarkable turnaround. I just spent about a month out there and saw no combat. I have never gone that long in Iraq without seeing combat. Clearly, some areas of Anbar remain dangerous—there is fighting in Fallujah today—but there is also something in Anbar today that hasn’t been seen in recent memory: possibilities. There are also larger realities lurking up on the Turkish borders, but the reality today is that the patient called Iraq will die and become a home for Al Qaeda if we leave now.

But now the AQ cancer is spreading into Diyala Province, straight along the Diyala River into Baghdad and other places. “Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia” (AQM) apparently now a subgroup of ISI (the Islamic State of Iraq), has staked Baquba as the capital of their Caliphate. Whatever the nom de jour of their nom de guerre, Baquba has been claimed for their capital. I was in Diyala again this year, where there is a serious state of Civil War, making Baquba an unpopular destination for writers or reporters. (A writer was killed in the area about a month ago, in fact.) News coming from the city and surrounds most often would say things like, “near Baghdad,” or “Northeast of Baghdad,” and so many people have never even heard of Baquba.

And that's been this war's ebb and flow. Mosul, Ramadi, Fallujah, Tikrit, etc. Insurgents occupy one, are cleared out, and occupy another. It's a game of whack-a-mole, or whack-a-bug if you prefer. The difference in strategy here, brought on by General Petraeus, is that surging forces are positioning themselves as a semi-permanent force in each of these cities.

A soldier in Baquba. Photo Courtesy of Mike Yon

Now that could eventually give the insurgent forces nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Or they could disperse into smaller cells spread out through smaller towns and cities. Baquba looks like another new bughole that will need to be gassed. It sounds....sounds....like an unending cycle.

Here's why it isn't:

Today Al Qaeda (AQ) is strong, but their welcome is tenuous in some regions as many Iraqis grow weary enough of the violence that trails them to forcibly evict AQ from some areas they’d begun to feel at home in. Meanwhile, our military, having adapted from eager fire-starting to more measured firefighting, after coming in so ham-fisted early on, has found agility in the new face of this war. Not lost on the locals was the fact that the Coalition wasn’t alone in failing to keep the faith of its promises to Iraqis.

Whereas we failed with the restoration of services and government, AQ has raped too many women and boys in Anbar Province, and cut-off too many heads everywhere else for anyone here to believe their claims of moral superiority. And they don’t even try to get the power going or keep the markets open or build schools, playgrounds and clinics for the children. In addition to destroying all of these resources, and murdering the Iraqis who work at or patronize them, AQ attacks people in mosques and churches, too. Thus, to those listening into the wind, an otherwise imperceptible tang in the atmosphere signals the time for change is at hand.

Anbar was the beginning. This is how the war ends, not with a bang but a whisper.

This is how it ends...

By John

Probably somewhat exaggerated, but after Senator Reid declared the surge a "failure" before the surging forces even started major combat operations, I have to admit that this piece by Nibras Kazimi made for a rather pleasant read.

I hereby declare victory. I believe the Sunni insurgency in Iraq has collapsed, and all the casualty tallies that the insurgents are desperately trying to ratchet-up won't convince me otherwise. The odor of defeat hangs heavily around the "dead-enders" — a term I'd like to bring back into vogue because it's an apt description for those gangs that remain to be hunted down, and who will be responsible for the baseline violence we will continue to see there, but at levels Iraqis can live with and still prosper.

Three months ago, I wrote a column on these pages, "Jihadist Meltdown." In it, I envisioned the endgame of the insurgency — the prospect of jihadists turning on jihadists. Over the last two weeks, the Sunni strongholds of western Baghdad have witnessed street battles between the two main insurgent factions responsible for the bulk of violence in Iraq: Al Qaeda's Islamic State of Iraq and the Islamic Army.

This is how it ends, with the remaining vigor of the insurgency being marshaled by violent men against like-minded violent men, releasing that unique anger and resentment that splintering groups reserve for those nearest to them in ideology. The Sunni insurgency, initially unleashed against the American project for a new Iraq, has become an internal Sunni problem. Its concluding phase shall be a process of attrition among Iraq's Sunnis that they must endure over the next decade — to be spent stamping out the embers of the fire they so foolishly started.

Streiff at Red State called Nibras Kazimi a "usually reliable Iraq journalist." And if you know Streiff you're aware that he is always reliable in his even criticism and dedication to accurate, factual punditry.

This is how it ends. Yes. Emphatically yes. That's such an important point, folks. Premature withdrawal is decidedly not how it ends. That's how the conflict is prolonged, intensified, and spread throughout the region.

This declaration of victory is incredibly premature, agreed. But Kazimi's core point here, how the blossoming red on red violence will eventually be undoing of the Sunni and Al Qaeda insurgencies, is absolutely spot-on.

Picture of the Day: Viper Sunset

By John

Hey, so they look cool on the ground, too....

Col. Scott Dennis and Lt. Col. Rob Webb wait at the end of the runway June 9 while weapons loader, Tech. Sgt. Mike Przyiecki "safes" the F-16 Fighting Falcons' munitions after a combat sortie at Balad Air Base, Iraq. Photo Courtesy of the US Air Force.

IMAX's Operation Red Flag

By John

Like most IMAX films, this doc on the supreme logistical and technological achievement involved in running Red Flag is absolutely superb.

The obvious fighter eye-candy aside, what makes these clips particularly choice is their detailed attention to the Air Force's unique (and I do mean unique, no nation on Earth can match) ability to seamlessly integrate fighters, bombers, spy planes, tankers, and C2 aircraft from multiple nations into a single, synergistic strike package.

Brilliantly done, take a look.

...and part II:

You can order the two-disc DVD set here.

Our Elite Academies

By John

Heh. Soar Falcons, soar!

Pat Sajak needed a second to find the words....

Course I have an idea of how it'd look if the AFA cadet switched places with a VMI man:

Hotel Tango: Chick Pilot

Fire & Ice Lives Again

By Lt Col P

Earlier this year one of the greatest milbloggers, WO1 Mike Fay, the senior Marine Combat Artist, sustained a catastrophic hacking attack on his blog, Fire & Ice, that forced it to shut down. I'm pleased to say that it has risen again. Go forth and browse, and you will find a truly singular talent at work. Mike puts the "combat" in Combat Artist.

Now promoted to CWO2, Mike continues the fight on canvas as well as in cyberspace. He'll be exhibiting his work at the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, PA, from 7 July to 21 October. Folks, make time to see his paintings and drawings in person. Bring the kids.

BTW, also be sure to check out Mike's compatriots, LtCol (sel) Alex Durr and Sgt Kris "King of" Battles. They both did tours in Iraq, and produced some truly memorable pieces.

Read More »

More ANGLICO training

By Slab

I've been absent yet again, but rather than make excuses I thought I'd just post pictures of what I've been up to. I'm taking next week off as well to take a trip to Colorado, from which I will return a married man. Then it's back to the field for more training.

And lastly, Yours Truly testing the capabilities of a new headset by controlling an aircraft while wearing my gas mask. The aircrew reported no problems understanding me, and the Marines around me said they could hear my voice crystal clear over the radio speaker, even though they couldn't understand me when I tried to talk to them from 5 ft away. Not too shabby.

Picture of the Day: In the Weeds....Kinda

By John

Cause I'm not sure the Air Force lets you fly much lower than that....

Two F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 18th Fighter Squadron fly May 29 over the Pacific Alaska Range Complex in Alaska. The aircraft assigned to Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, flew in formation for the last time due to the deactivation of the 18th and 355th Fighter Squadrons. Photo Courtesy of the US Air Force.

Happy Birthday Hoo-Ahs!

By Lt Col P

To the U.S. Army-- 232 years old today!

"Since its birth on 14 June 1775—over a year before the Declaration of Independence—the United States Army has played a vital role in the growth and development of our Nation. Soldiers have fought more than 10 wars, from the American Revolution through the Cold War, the Gulf War, to the current War on Terrorism. This 232nd Birthday is a recognition of The Army's history, traditions, and service to the Nation, a Call To Duty, 232 Years of Service to Our Nation."

All of that, yes, but much more. More than can be written here, certainly.

So, to our man Charlie, to B5, to Joel, and to all our brethren in the Army, we say Happy Birthday!

Update: I emailed appropriate greetings to my BR Paul in Baghdad (Army LTC) and he replied-- "Yeah buddy!! 232 years of ass kicking for the nation!! Many celebrations here on Camp Victory..."

Thunderbirds Are Go!

By John

Jon Stewart broke from the political-guest norm on a recent episode of The Daily Show, interviewing Lt. Col. Kevin Robbins of the Thunderbirds.

And Robbins is right, btw. The Air Force is turning 60 this year, so yeah....we're kind of a big deal.

n-e way, here's the clip:

The money quote? "There are alot of sailors and marines in the audience. You uh, wanna take a swing at one of em?"

Answer: "Maybe a sailor but not a Marine."

Well, yeah.

As for Jon Stewart's callsign, I thought "Milquetoast" fit pretty well...

So That's What it Looks like...

By Bull Nav

070612-N-2889B-001 ARTIC CIRCLE (June 12, 2007) - Ship's Serviceman Seaman Recruit Jamal Powell, left, and Seaman Recruit Stephen Harmon stand forward lookout watch aboard guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60) as the ship navigates an ice field north of Iceland. U.S. Navy photo by L.t. j.g Ryan Birkelbach (RELEASED)

Ice that is.

Different perspective...

Phantoms of South Korea

By John

Reader John C. sends:

Here is a pic of one of our Phantoms at Osan AB ROK 51st fighter Wing.This pic was taken in 1984 right after the 3rd generation shelters were opened for business. They were suppose to be sealed in case of a chem attack. We could put 4 Phantoms in each one with wing tips folded. The girls (and I literlly mean teenage girls) at the paint barn at Clarke AB Phillipines would paint the sharks mouth on by hand after they painted the NATO paint scheme. We were sending two planes at a time to Clarke to be painted,a brutal TDY,lol. This was one of the first ones to go from the old lizard paint to the NATO paint pattern. That is a CAP-9 trainer missle on station 8a, and a ALQ119 jammer pod on the rt front AIM 7 station.

Very cool, thanks John!

Recruiting Numbers In....

By John

They're good. Not great. For the Army at least.

Navy and Air Force hit their target numbers.

Marines took care of business, as usual. 134% of their goal.

Read the rest at The Tank.

Picture of the Day: Final Flight

By John

A KC-135 Stratotanker with the Alaska Air National Guard's 168th Air Refueling Wing flies with two F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 18th Fighter Squadron and two A-10 Thunderbolt IIs from the 355th Fighter Squadron May 29 over Alaska. The five aircraft assigned to Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, flew in formation for the last time due to the deactivation of the 18th and 355th Fighter Squadrons. Photo Courtesy of the US Air Force.

Meh. Too bad.

Gay Explosion!

By John

Super!

Pentagon Confirms it Sought to Build 'Gay Bomb" - A Berkeley watchdog organization that tracks military spending said it uncovered a strange U.S. military proposal to create a hormone bomb that could purportedly turn enemy soldiers into homosexuals and make them more interested in sex than fighting.

Pentagon officials on Friday confirmed to CBS 5 that military leaders had considered, and then subsquently rejected, building the so-called "Gay Bomb."

Edward Hammond, of Berkeley's Sunshine Project, had used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a copy of the proposal from the Air Force's Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio.

As part of a military effort to develop non-lethal weapons, the proposal suggested, "One distasteful but completely non-lethal example would be strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also caused homosexual behavior."

Seems like a short term solution, as far as non-lethal options go. Unless the eggheads at Wright-Patt also figured out a way to chemically engineer Viagra into an aresol agent to go with...

And maybe attach a giant disco ball to the underbelly of a stealthy, gaydar evading HH-60 designed to hover over a target area while blasting ABBA's "Dancing Queen".....

Hey, it is the Air Force.

Your Air Force, people.

Hotel Tango: Lex, who always seems to be one step ahead....

We're Taking Over

By Bull Nav

Lex said it first, but it's true...

Gates Recommends Mullen to Replace Pace as Chairman
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, June 8, 2007 – To avoid a contentious reconfirmation process, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will recommend that President Bush nominate Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael G. Mullen to replace Marine Gen. Peter Pace as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

I think SECDEF has a great point in this article:

Gates said he intended to re-nominate Pace and Giambastiani but after consulting with senators of both parties came to the conclusions “that because General Pace has served as chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the last six years, the focus of his confirmation process would have been on the past rather than the future.”
He said the confirmation process would have the possibility of being quite contentious. “I am no stranger to contentious confirmations, and I do not shrink from them,” Gates said. “However, I have decided at this moment in our history, the nation, our men and women in uniform, and General Pace himself would not be well-served by a divisive ordeal in selecting the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

So, to refresh everyone's memory: 4 of 9 Combantant Commanders are Navy guys, and now CJCS will be, too...
UPDATE: Reader SJBill (and very informed reader at that) let me know that the news was over at the Flight Deck even before Lex had it.

Scurrry Airplanes Return!

By John

San Frans want Blue Angels out:

SAN FRANCISCO - The annual aerial show by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels — a San Francisco tradition dating back to 1981 that pumps millions into the local economy — is running into opposition from three local peace advocacy groups that are calling for a permanent halt to the popular Fleet Week flyover.
CodePink, Global Exchange and Veterans for Peace, Chapter 69, are working with Supervisor Chris Daly on a Board of Supervisors resolution to address concerns over the Blue Angels.

Daly acknowledged he is considering a call to halt the flyovers because, he said, “they seem dangerous and unnecessary.” Daly said he plans on introducing the resolution as early as Tuesday, but is still drafting the language. A resolution is not legally binding, but states a board position.

Which reminded me of this letter the editor from last year's Bay Area fleet week:

Editor -- Thank you, Fleet Week. My preschool-aged daughter, having heard your airplanes overhead all week, is now completely traumatized and afraid to go outside. She just heard a commercial airliner in the sky and ran inside shrieking, shaking, and trying to close all the windows and doors. We tried to have a fun family weekend enjoying free music in our park, but it was ruined by the thundering sound of those hateful airplanes overhead, forcing her (and most of the other children I saw) to throw her hands over her face and cower.

If there is ever an opportunity for me to vote on any proposition keeping this ridiculous event and huge waste of resources from marring the skies of my city again, you can bet I'll be the first in line to get it voted in.

Lex wins the discussion with:

You know, in a way - and no offense to the real people living in and about the bay area, SJBill - this would kind of be a relief. As a city, San Francisco has long ago stopped pretending that they support their military. We could stop pretending that we like San Francisco.

We don’t have to like San Francisco. We get paid to defend them. It’s our job.

The rest of the country?

We’re doing that for free.

Heh. An okay guy, Lex.

Syria Prepping for Assault?

By John

Yeesh, I thought these Mid-east state v. state fights went out with the October War and disco:

Israeli intelligence officials have been warning for weeks that Syria is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in anti-tank weapons, antiaircraft rockets, and other missiles, and bolstering its presence along the Israeli border.

Mohammad al Habash, a Syrian parliament member, meanwhile, told the Al Jazeera satellite channel this week that his country was actively preparing for war with Israel, which he said he expected to break out this summer.

Israel's performance during last summer's Lebanon War was unimpressive, to say the least. Maybe it was a poor enough showing that the Syrians and Iranians decided to give this whole "wiping off the map" thing another go. The Arabs do always seem to be on the lookout for new opportunities to lose a ground war against the IDF.

Snarkiness aside, this doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Syria border units consist of aging Soviet tanks spread out in a lame static array. That's a defensive configuration that well-disciplined armor units can easily demolish with an iron-fist of awesomeness....awesomeness like this:

Helicopters and tanks are mobilized as the Israeli army takes part in a military manoeuvre to conquer a Syrian outpost

Not mention the fact that the IAF is so in control of Syrian airspace that they could do touch-and-gos at the Damascus airport, just for kicks.

Bob Owens of Confederate Yankee suspects that this might be some sort of massive military subterfuge aimed at buying more time for the Iranian nuclear program. I disagree on this point, Syria fully understands the IDF's sting, so I highly doubt that they're going to take one of the team. Not on that level at least, not just so that the Iranians can have their bombs. And Iran already tried that game last summer, an attempt that was awfully transparent.

Plus, that sort of Syria-Iran double team pretty much gives the Israelis one good "bomb Iran for free" card, a justifiable casus belli that even those wastes of space in the UN couldn't touch.

I'm tempted to call shenanigans on this whole thing and chalk it up to more Arab blustering. They always talk a great game, but historically have never been able to physically deliver on their rhetoric.

Another Hezbollah offensive though? That I could definitely see.

John Wayne, Truck Driver

By John

Ace of Spades HQ has a phenomenal story of an American truck driver in Iraq who goes all Rambo on a handful of insurgents.

Just a taste:

Fred opened the passenger side door, leaned out and shot the guy off the hood. The driver must have been flooring it because the truck fell over on its side, Michael went flying out the door and landed in a sewage ditch next to the road. He later said he was covered in shit and piss and fighting for his life.

Yeah, it's a great story. Here's my only hang-up. Why are we paying American truck drivers 125k a year to drive trucks in Iraq? That's a job that Iraqis could -and should- be doing.

Picture of the Day: Sorks Move In

By John

F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 8th Fighter Wing and South Korean air force's 111th Fighter wing prepare to take off for a joint training exercise June 8 from Kunsan Air Base. South Korea. This is the first time since the South Korean 111th Fighter Squadron moved to Kunsan AB that the South Korean and American units have briefed, flown and debriefed together on a dedicated mission. Photo Courtesy of the US Air Force.

Hell I didn't even know the Koreans had moved into Kunsan. Are we BRAC'ing in Korea too?

And Semper Fi To You Too, Eh

By Lt Col P

If you read the comments on our posts, you'll know that we have some loyal readers north of the border. First among them, the prima inter pares, is Deborah Aylward, who always has a kind word and usually signs off with "Veritas et Fidelis Semper."

Now that made me think, because it's close to the Marine Corps' "Semper Fi." But where else have I seen "Semper Fidelis" as a military unit motto? Then I remembered it, from a plaque in Breckenridge Hall, Quantico.

Read More »

Died on the Field of Honor

By John

On 7 June, 2004, our brother Sgt. Ryan Doltz died on the field of honor.

He was a lion of a man, ferociously rehabilitating two broken heels to join his fellow soldiers in Iraq, and honoring his commitments as an enlisted man even though his VMI diploma more than qualified him to be an officer.

NJ.com reported:

A satellite phone in the combat zone 6,000 miles away brought the voice of Spc. Ryan Doltz to the tidy yellow house in Morris County for the final time on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old New Jersey Army National Guard soldier from Mine Hill was checking in, giving his parents, Cheryl and Raymond Doltz, an update from Baghdad.

"It was hot and it was dirty, but he thought things were improving," his mother said yesterday. The Iraqi children "loved candy." And while the Iraqi teenagers seemed to be behind much of the violence, the older Iraqis appreciated the stability brought by the occupation force that included her son's unit, the 3rd Battalion of the 112th Field Artillery.

On Saturday, the Doltz family learned their son was among four New Jersey National Guard troops from the Morristown unit to die in separate attacks a day apart in Baghdad.

"It's like a bad dream," said Edna Deacon, captain on the Mine Hill Volunteer First Aid Squad, which Doltz joined before leaving for Iraq.

In 1998, Ryan carved out his own little chunk of fame when he starred in a Norelco razor commercial that was shot at VMI. I remember Ryan telling me that the director picked him out of a crowd of cadets because he "looked like Tom Sizemore." Here's the commercial, Ryan is "baby-face."

I'll always remember 7 June as the day a friend directed me to this notice from VMI's Superintendent:

The Superintendent regrets to inform the VMI community of the combat death of Specialist Ryan E. Doltz, VMI Class of 2000, on June 5, 2004, in Iraq. Specialist Doltz was mobilized with the New Jersey Army National Guard's 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery, which deployed to Iraq in February. The unit was retrained to perform military police duties prior to its deployment. He died Saturday when an improvised explosive device was set off.

Specialist Doltz was a native of Mine Hill, New Jersey. He matriculated with the Class of 2000, but graduated with the Class of 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. He was a member of the Band Company. Many friends of VMI remember him as one of the four cadets featured in the national television commercial filmed at VMI for Norelco in 1998.

While attending VMI, Specialist Doltz was a member of the Virginia Army National Guard's Battery A, 1st Battalion, 246th Field Artillery in Martinsville. He earned an Emergency Medical Technician certificate while at VMI, and later qualified for the EMT certification in New Jersey. He was a member of the Mine Hill, N.J., Volunteer Rescue Squad until his mobilization.

While at the United States Army Field Artillery Training Center in Fort Sill, OK, Specialist Doltz won the Top Gun Award for military proficiency at section tasks associated with 13B10 training.

Among survivors are his parents, Raymond and Cheryl Doltz, a sister, Anne, and brother, Gregory, all of Mine Hill, N.J. Funeral arrangements are to be announced.

Funeral Arrangements (Updated June 10)

His death shook the entire VMI community to the core. Everyone....everyone loved Ryan. His Arlington National Cemetary funeral was attended by a sea of cadets, alumni, soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. At the time, I was working an hourly job at a local moving company while I waited for some medical paperwork to clear with the Air Force. When I told them that I'd need the afternoon off so I could attend Ryan's funeral, they coldly told me "no." I said "too bad, I'm going anyway. If you need me tomorrow, you can call," and walked off. Later that afternoon, as I was looking over the hundreds of active duty servicemen in attendance, I couldn't help but to wonder how many of them told hard-assed Commanders the same thing. Ryan had that effect on people.

I'll be forever grateful to Matt Burden and Kevin & Greg of Pundit Review for remembering Ryan on the anniversary of his death last year. Listen to the Someone You Should Know segment.

Our remembrance from last year.

If you'd like to do something in Ryan's honor, the Class of 2000 established a scholarship in Ryan's name not long after he fell. You can donate here.

As long as there is an OPFOR blog, Ryan will be remembered here every 7th of June.

Support Our Their Troops on D-Day

By John

Phenomenal D-Day idea from Blackfive:

Packages and Letters to our allies - I keep hearing that our allies don't receive the same level of support that our troops get from us. Let's change that today, of all days, the anniversary of D-Day.

For a British Soldier in Iraq:

British Soldier
c/o G1 Branch
HQ MultiNational Div (SE)
Basra, BFPO 641

And for a British soldier in Afghanistan:

British Soldier
c/o G1 Branch
HQ Helmand Province Task Force
Camp Bastion, BFPO 792.t

If you would like to send a postcard or letter of support to Canadian Troops in Afghanistan, please use these addresses (the first is Kabul and the second is Kandahar):

Any Canadian Soldier
OP ARCHER
KABUL 100
PO BOX 5113 STN FORCES
BELLEVILLE ON K8N 5W6

Any Canadian Soldier
OP ATHENA
PO Box 5058 Stn Forces
Belleville ON K8N 5W6

For the Aussies, you can send an email. See this site for more details.

Also, if you didn't catch Mary Katharine Ham's D-Day remembrance post, you're really missing out.

Lt Col P suggested that we pull Charlie out from the depths of deployment to do a historical Overlord post on his legendary Army unit, but Charlie is going to be a tough guy to get a hold of until November-December.

Laughing Wolf on 6 June:

Gold, Sword, Omaha... Names that should be known to all, but fewer remember them with each passing year. Fewer still are taught about them. Today, take a moment and remember. Take a moment, and teach. Stand silent for a moment, and remember all those who died this day, so that the light of freedom could shine again, for at least a while, on a continent gone dark. Go here and here to learn more. Follow the links within, and remember or learn.

Here's our post on The Rangers of Point Du Hoc from last year.

Finally, one of my all time favorite speeches, shamelessly stolen from Mary Katharine:

CWO4 Mike Sears is Getting Cranked Up

By Lt Col P

My good friend and colleague, and sole Marine Field Historian in Iraq, CWO4 Mike Sears, is getting cranked up to do some serious interviewing and documenting. Make it a point to check out his blog frequently.

Darkhorse

By Slab

I got my issue of the Marine Corps Times yesterday, was impressed with their cover story. They had a good article on one of the most storied battalions in the history of the Marine Corps, the 3rd Battalion of the 5th Marine Regiment. 3/5 used to call themselves "Consummate Professionals", but this was changed to "Darkhorse" in 2005. In the past year, 3/5 has been in the news after 7 Darkhorse Marines and one sailor were accused of killing a man in Hamdaniyah last April.

Marine Times, to their great credit, decided to focus on the valor and sacrifice of the Marines of 3/5.

In a large glass case, the images of two dozen Marines etched in wood and crystal glance from several shelves. Each piece represents the battalion’s fallen warriors, many young infantrymen who died in places like Fallujah and Ramadi, where they fought insurgents, patrolled neighborhoods and helped steady the fledging Iraqi government and security forces during three combat tours.

On a nearby podium lie three binders, two bulging with pages of award citations detailing the actions of 3/5’s men in the intensity and stress of combat. The citations represent bravery, determination and courage — of fighting up stairwells, assaulting trenches, dodging wounds and gunfire to evacuate wounded buddies — and include nearly every level of commendation and decoration leathernecks can earn for their actions in war.

3rd Battalion 5th Marines, which has seen combat from WWI France to Guadalcanal, the Chosin Reservoir, Da Nang, and the Al-Wafrah forest of Kuwait, has been to Iraq three times, and is getting ready for a fourth trip this year. They were part of the "March Up" in 2003, participating in the seizure of Baghdad. In November 2004, they took part in the assault on Fallujah. And last year they returned to Iraq to operate in the Fallujah and Habbaniyah areas. Through all of this, 6 Darkhorse Marines have been awarded the Navy Cross - more recipients than any other unit in this war.

Not much is said about 3/5's deployment to Iraq last year. Unlike the race to Baghdad and the assault on Fallujah, there were no great climactic moments. If you didn't know any better, you might think it was defined by the Hamdaniyah incident. However, I had the distinct pleasure of working alongside several Marines from 3/5, as I was in direct support of the battalion's Military Transition Team for three months. The pride and professionalism of these guys was amazing.

The 3/5 MTT team, when they finally got to meet some of the advisors they would be replacing in Jazirah, were told that they would be going into "the scariest environment imaginable". Their new home would be a small Combat Outpost in an area that had never been under Coalition control. When the old MTT team was preparing to occupy this new COP, the leaders reconnaissance was almost a battalion-sized operation, complete with Bradley IFVs on overwatch. When the 3/5 MTT actually arrived, they found themselves engaging in gunbattles almost daily. Their COP was hit repeatedly by enemy mortars, and by March they had the dubious distinction of being the most heavily mortared base in Iraq. In May, the insurgents loaded a 14.5mm heavy machinegun (similar to the Chinese Type 75 pictured here) in the back of a truck and attacked the COP. The Marines of MTT 3/5 loaded into a Humvee, drove out to meet their attackers, and brought back the heavy machinegun after killing or driving off all of their attackers.

That was a few days before I arrived. Within a few weeks it became apparent that MTT 3/5's aggressiveness had caused the enemy to give up direct attacks in favor of indirect methods such as IEDs and occasional mortaring. The Iraqis near the COP began to spend more time outside their houses, and they started to let their children play in the fields. Several of them thanked the 3/5 Marines for making the area safer. One even asked to pose for a picture with the gunnery sergeant who shot him accidentally during a heated gunfight weeks before.

Links to the citations for all 6 Navy Crosses are below the jump. It is stories like these, not Hamdaniyah, that make up the legacy of the consummate professionals of the Darkhorse Battalion. Remember to raise a glass in their honor at your next opportunity.

Read More »

Summer "Escape" Reading

By Lt Col P

A handgun course I took Memorial Day weekend caused me to realize again how tough the human spirit can be, which in turn lead me to think about the men who have sustained grevious injuries in this war and still volunteered to go back into combat. That, in turn caused me to remember a name from books I had read long ago-- Douglas Bader.

And Group Captain Bader gave rise to this post.

There exists in the literature of WWII a sub-genre of escape books, and some of them are among the best memoirs of that war. Several are among my own favorites, and made a powerful impression on me. So, here is a short list of suggested reading for your summer "escape," to remind us all that you can't keep a good man down.

Read More »

Picture of the Day: Airborne EOD

By John

This one's for Blackfive.....

Air Force members jump from a C-130 Hercules June 2 during an airdrop in support of the weeklong exercise Operation Hydra. The Airmen consist of firefighters from the 99th Civil Engineering Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., explosive ordinance disposal members from the 1st Civil Engineering Squadron at Langley AFB, Va., and members from the 823rd Red Horse Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla. Operation Hydra provides realistic training scenarios, exercising the 615th Contingency Response Wing's ability to conduct expeditionary mobility operations at three locations. The wing is practicing its "open an air base" concept while maintaining command and control of in-theater operations. Photo Courtesy of the US Air Force

SWO Action off Somalia Continues

By Bull Nav

This time in another vein.

Fox News is reporting that the USS CARTER HALL (LSD50) is engaging pirates off Somalia:

The U.S. Navy has fired warning shots across the bow of a Dutch ship that has been boarded by armed pirates off the coast of Somalia, FOX News has learned.
The USS Carter Hall also fired on three small boats that surrounded the commercial ship, the "Danica White," after her crew messaged for assistance after being boarded by pirates, the Navy said.

The CARTER HALL is part of the gator Navy, whose job is to carry around Marines (I am sure LTCOL P and Slab are familiar with it). They generally don't get into surface actions, but they could easily handle a situation like this as long as the suspect vessel does not outrun them. Since their armament is only small caliber weapons (.50 Cal and 25mm), this would mean that they had to be in close relatively proximity to the DANICA WHITE.

Fence Woes

By John

G-8 Security Fence Troubles Germans

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany -Bystanders gazed in curiosity and disgust Monday at the razor-wire-topped fence that will separate Group of Eight leaders from the rest of Germany during this week's summit — part of security measures that, for some, evoke memories of life behind the Iron Curtain.

Cutting across seven miles of verdant farmland near some of Germany's main seaside playgrounds, the fence is reviving memories of the Berlin Wall as authorities confront the modern realities of global terrorism and radical protest movements.

Hey, once you get past the dramatics and realize that both fences were designed to separate militant socialists from peaceful capitalists... it doesn't seem like that much of a stretch.

Kos is Konfused

By John

Sorry for the millionth, unoriginal iteration of swapping 'c's for 'k's when talking Kos.... it's just so hard not to, y'know?

So anyway, Jeff Emanual pointed me to this silly blog post by Markos, where he gets all huffy over the fact that military members can (and will) be disciplined for participating in political events while in uniform. It's silly because the post, a response to the disciplinary actions taken against an IRR Marine who attended an anti-war rally in uniform, is your prototypical emotional, kneejerk reaction that can only exist in the factless vacuum of the anti-war blogosphere. Kos writes:

So they'll prosecute me if I wear my Army uniforms to an anti-war protest? Really?

But that's not the point. As we've seen time and time again, we see military personnel, in uniform, all the freakin' time as backdrops to Republican pro-war events -- including with Mr. 28% -- and there haven't been any prosecutions of those folks.

Marine Cpl. Adam Kokesh has already been discharged. He has every right enshrined under the Constitution, including those of free speech and peaceful assembly.

And anyone that thinks otherwise, quite frankly, is legitimately and objectively un-American.

So there's two angles to play here. The first is what the DoD regs say about participating in political events in uniform. The second is the Kos line that Republicans "use" the military as props during political rallies.

Jeff decided to do the fact checking that didn't really interest Kos, citing the DoD regs forbidding military members from participating in this type of event. Regs that include members of the inactive ready reserve (IRR). It's a compelling and well-researched read, click here for more.

Now the fact that Republicans like Vice President Cheney and President Bush are often seen speaking at military events is true. Just like it was true for Democrats during the Clinton years. There is a stark difference between a servicemember attending a sanctioned speech at a military base and a servicemember participating in a political rally in uniform. I'd argue that having such poor knowledge of your military and the political process is un-American, but I guess I'll just write that off as conjecture.

All in all, his post is just....wrong. Not ideologically wrong....factually wrong. And it continues with our OPFOR driven-theme that much of the war punditry that you read in a given day is false, incorrect, or misleading.

Do, in large part, to guys like William Arkin and Kos.

New AOC Opens

By John

At Tyndall AFB. The new AOC (pronounced "a-ock") apparently fits in to some sort of post 9/11 NORAD/Hurricane Katrina function:

First Air Force celebrated the opening of the 601st Air and Space Operations Center here June 1 with a ceremony and tour of the 37,000-square-foot, $30 million combat center.

First Air Force, which also serves under the North American Aerospace Defense Command as the continental U.S. NORAD Region, provides air security and air sovereignty defense for the continental United States. Airmen at the new AOC plan, direct and assess air and space operations for NORAD and the United States Northern Command.

Conceived in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, the state-of-the-art AOC further enables 1st Air Force Airmen to protect America's airspace from attack as well as coordinate life-saving relief during natural and man-made disasters.

As you can see, they stuck with the Cheyenne mountain war-room design:

Okay, I understand shifting the NORAD mission from the traditional ballistic missile warning to a more air defense centered role, but.... if we were told that Cheyenne Mountain is closing as a cost-saving measure, why are we building multiple new AOCs to fill Cheyenne Mountain's shoes?

CMD Command Center, Cheyenne Mountain

Redundancy? We already had that, between CM, the NMCC, and our National Airborne Command Post. Just seems like we're fixing something that wasn't necessarily broken here.....Cheyenne Mountain was all but invincible....surely we still have use for such a facility in the post-Cold War world?

Plus, with Cheyenne Mountain gone, how are we going to trick the Broncos' Cheerleaders into visiting us?

Seriously.

65 Years Ago Today: Midway

By Bull Nav

What is commonly referred to as the "turning point" in the war in the Pacific occurred 65 years ago today. Lots of good resources out there to look at including some great background information by Steeljaw Scribe and the attack on the Japanese carriers that occurred on 4 JUN 42 described a the Naval Historical Center website here.
A couple of books of interest are Miracle at Midway, which I read a couple of decades ago and was a good history at the time, and Shattered Sword, which I have not read yet, but is on my list.
Truly an incredible battle, in which luck played as much a part as skill (which is more often the case than not).

Obscene amenities indeed

By Slab

I know I've been rather scarce lately, it's been a rather busy time for me. We had a couple of training exercises going up near Cherry Point which had their ups and downs (on one day, all of our scheduled air canceled due to weather EXCEPT a section of USAF F-15Es, which was slightly embarassing for those of us who sing the praises of Marine Air; and I think the Marines of VMA-542 will be telling stories for years to come about the two captains from ANGLICO who slept in Humvees in their hangar). I will tell you that the folks of Oriental, NC were very kind and generous, even as we targeted their houses and stores and directed Harriers on simulated bombing and strafing runs.

I read John's latest salvo against William Arkin yesterday, which reminded me of his "obscene amenities" remark. I kind of let that one pass at the time, and focused my efforts on other things. However, since I've been reminded of it, I thought I'd post some pictures of some of those "obscene amenities" that I've had access to in past deployments. Really just for my own amusement, hopefully a few of you will get a chuckle too.

UPDATE: I guess, to be fair, I should admit that even I found some of the amenities on Taqaddum and Al Asad to be a bit over the top. Understand that there is a significant difference in quality of life from the grunts like myself to the "Fobbits" hanging out in the rear. Many of the Fobbits play their own role in the war, some of them even have a rather essential role, but it's hard for those of us out on the "bleeding edge" not to resent the Mongolian BBQ in the chow hall and the shower trailers so easily available to them. Keep in mind, this post isn't meant to be a statement of any sort, just a humorous look at some of the hardships that contrast Arkin's "obscene amenities".

Read More »

NSFS Somalia

By Bull Nav

Back in the day, we used to have lots of big warships with big guns on them (the Phibian has plenty of good stories in his Fullbore Friday series). Battleships with 16" guns, cruisers with 8" guns, and destroyers with 5" guns. In WWII, the battleships and cruisers were used to "soften up" enemy defenses prior to an invasion, and then be on-call for fires as requested by Marines ashore. We continued to conduct this type of support in Korea and Viet Nam. We even used battleships for fires supporting Marines in Beirut in the early '80s.

Yesterday, we apparently saw the latest use of NSFS:

U.S. warship bombards Somalia militants

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- A U.S. warship pounded Somalia's remote coastal northeast, targeting Islamic militants hours after a gunbattle with Somali government forces that left eight insurgents dead, officials said Saturday.

We have forces in Africa (CJTF HOA) specifically for the Long War. This looks to be an example of local forces requesting US Navy support for an operation:

"The insurgency appears to be spreading to other parts of Somalia," said Ted Dagne, specialist in African Affairs at the Congressional Research Service in Washington.

Puntland Vice President Hassan Dahir Mohamoud said eight foreign militants were killed in the fighting and Somali forces were pursuing five others. He told The Associated Press there were no civilian casualties because the area is uninhabited.

Mohamoud said the Puntland government had requested the U.S. navy to help fight the militants.

Interestingly, it also appears that while this may have been quickly executed, it was not a spur of the moment decision:

Muse Gelle, a regional governor, said the militants arrived in the area near the port town of Bargal by speedboat on Wednesday. He said a U.S. destroyer attacked late Friday. Musa Ismail Mohamed, a former government economist who lives in Puntland, compared the area where the fighting took place to Afghanistan's Tora Bora, which U.S. forces beseiged in 2001 in a failed effort to flush out Osama bin Laden. "Americans should strike it harder than yesterday and then they will succeed. If they do not do that, then may be Bargal may become a stronghold for terrorists," Mohamed said Saturday, speaking on the phone from Puntland's main port, Bossaso.

While the 5" guns we carry on our destroyers and frigates are nothing like the big guns of days gone by, they are accurate and will still put a hurtin' on a target.

I hope we get some more information, because nothing official has been released:

Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, could not confirm U.S. involvement in Friday's fighting, but added: "The very nature of some of our operations, as well as the success of those operations is often predicated on our ability to work quietly with our partners and allies."

Actions like this, having exactly the right force in the right place to provide support to a coalition partner is what is going to help us in the long run.

Any comments from Slab? I think this is right up your alley...

A Submarine Underway

By Bull Nav

Ladies and Gentlemen: good evening. For your reading pleasure this weekend, I offer you a tale of a submarine getting underway and going to sea. I hope you find it acceptable.

On with the show…

On the 1MC: "Station the Maneuvering Watch."

For a submarine this announcement has the same meaning as, "Station the Special Sea and Anchor Detail" on a surface ship (you know, those big gray things that can submerge only once). Whether the ship is getting underway or is entering port, it means man stations per the approved watchbill. Typically the most experienced and proficient folks are the ones in key positions, and you have extra watches manned due to the unique nature of leaving or entering port. Additionally, a navigation brief has been held by the ship's Navigator for all the key watch standers to fully brief the upcoming evolution. This way you know what to expect in the way of traffic, tides and currents, weather, specific navigation aids, turns and turn bearings, etc.

By the time this announcement is made the Officer of the Deck (OOD) should already be suited up and on the bridge in order to take the watch. If in port, this requires relieving the Ship's Duty Officer (SDO) and assuming the deck and the conn.

In this case, I was ready to go.

Read More »

Picture of the Day: Mirror Image

By John

Let the record show that this will be the ONLY TIME EVER that I use dialogue from Top Gun in a blog post.

Charlie: So lieutenant, where exactly were you?
Maverick: Well, we...
Goose: Thank you.
Maverick: Started up on a 6, when he pulled from the clouds, and then I moved in above him.
Charlie: Well, if you were directly above him, how could you see him?
Maverick: Because I was inverted.
Iceman: [coughs whilst saying] Bullshit.
Goose: No he was man, it was a really great move. He was inverted.

And only because it's appropriate....

The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds perform an airshow after the 2007 U.S. Air Force Academy Graduation Ceremony May 30 in Colorado. The ceremony marks the culmination of four years at the academy and their transition from cadet to the Air Force's newest second lieutenants. Photo Courtesy of the US Air Force

The screenplay for Top Gun, mind you, was the same brilliant compilation of dead trees that brought us lines such as:

I see some real genius in your flying, Maverick, but I can't say that in there. I was afraid that everyone in the tax trailer would see right through me, and I just don't want anyone to know that I've fallen for you.

And: "She's a civilian, so you DO NOT salute her."

Last Time, I Swear

By John

So William Arkin of the Washington Post decided to respond to Blackfive, Badgers Forward, John Donovan, and I after we collectively called shenanigans on his milblogger column (John Donovan was far more gracious than I'm going to be...)

So....besides spelling my four-letter first name wrong, Arkin continues to neglect actual column writing in exchange for crawling from one disasterous point to another. Which gives me plenty of ammo, even though....ugh...I really do know better. I shouldn't stoop, y'know?

But, and this is what prompted me to respond (sigh....again), he completely missed what I was saying when I responded to his column on the military bloggers conference. And he kind of twisted our words around.

My inbox has been filled with comments from Red Sox fans and MilBloggers ever since I attempted to link the two last week. I used the metaphor of sports reporting to observe that Americans would be better off if we paid even a fraction of attention to the military that we pay to baseball. Also attracting comments was my post describing the tension between the YouTube generation's expectation of Internet access and the military's need to control its own.

Red Sox fans essentially said this: Hey, baseball's interesting. As fans, we're a part of something.

MilBloggers said this: War is not fun, and we are not merely fans. In many cases, we are soldiers. The implication was that only they are qualified to comment about their endeavor.

No. Arggh. No, no, no, no....emphatically freakin' no.

My point was that stupid people should not be considered authorities on military and national security. I have no problem with Hippy Joe launching a 4 hour lecture on the role of airpower in the tactical environment, but I do want people to realize that he'd be more in his element if he were discussing the role of water bongs in the campus environment.

Here's a better example. This picture...

...prompted this response from a commenter at Prosebeforehos:

That does not look to me to be an authentic fighting man of United States military. Where is his insignia? What type of weapon is that he is carrying? His cammo pattern appears something less than genuine issue. And, I’m not expert, but his boots do not apear to be G.I. –I think this guy could be a washed up police man who just got himself a life long job working for Halibuton. Can this man’s connection to The US Military be verified?

I don't want the commenter silenced. I don't want his freedom of speech limited, restricted, or infringed upon in any way. And I welcome the fact that he's involved in the national debate. But, it's important to recognize that he is absolutely, certifiably clueless. Card-carrying clueless. The fact that he can't properly identify an American soldier has already spoken volumes on his knowledge on the Iraq War. Now look, he has a constitutional right to voice his skepticism and I recognize that... but I am missing the clause in the Constitution where it says that type of punditry is actually helpful to the national debate.

Arkin is a military idiot. He had four years of experience in a 1970s Cold War military that is so different from today's force that he may as well have spent his time in the Bolivian coast guard. His columns, -"obscene amenities" anyone?- are weekly proof of his intellectual distance from soldiers and the Armed Forces at large, and his understanding of military blogging and milbloggers is just plain embarassing.

Arkin says "as the Iraq war has made abundantly clear, our government -- and our military -- needs the input of more people, not fewer. Thankfully, the Internet is ideally suited to providing it."

In other words, he wants opinion polls to dictate the direction of the war. Thankfully, we live in a Constitutional Republic and not a pure democracy, and mob rule is decidedly not how we run our wars. We trust experts more than we trust popular opinion and trends, from government to technology to yes...the military. But I am grateful to him for making this point, because it fits in beautifully with my narrative that William Arkin is a military affairs writer who doesn't understand the most basic tenets of military affairs.

This is a classic leftist move. The anti-war movement doesn't have the backbone of military expertise that the pro-victory crowd enjoys, so they inject this "everyone's voice is equal" crap into the national debate and pretend as if that's the best way to maintain an intellectually honest exchange.

Everyone's voice is not equal. That's naive. And stupid. My opinion on orbital mechanics is not "just as good" as some NASA egghead's, I'm not more informed on economics than the faculty at Harvard Business School, and I don't know more about flying fighter jets than Lex.

So why does Arkin constantly seek to water down the opinions of the experts (soldiers and milbloggers) while elevating the militarily clueless?

Awards

Subscribe

VMI Links

Military.com

Friends of OPFOR

Authors

Categories

Archives

Search

Credits