I suspect they might be a little sore, what with you carrying my fat ass these last couple-a days! I pulled a muscle in my head, and am day-to-day. More content soon.
Category Archives: stupid
Samantha Power to the UN?
Our (erstwhile?) Israeli allies have to be thrilled with this. Drudge has a link to Power’s 2002 remarks (see above) regarding US “intervention” with Israel, presumably to halt what Power terms time and again in her remarks as “genocide”.
Then, as Drudge also links, there are the 2008 campaign remarks about former SecState Hillary Clinton.
“She is a monster, too – that is off the record – she is stooping to anything,” Ms Power said, hastily trying to withdraw her remark.
Ms Power said of the Clinton campaign: “Here, it looks like desperation. I hope it looks like desperation there, too.
“You just look at her and think, ‘Ergh’. But if you are poor and she is telling you some story about how Obama is going to take your job away, maybe it will be more effective. The amount of deceit she has put forward is really unattractive.”
Power, married to Administration official and Socialist laywer Cass Sunstein, is yet another ill-qualified, America-hating, far-left activist whose version of reality will be sure to cause problems. She was a journalist, covering the Balkans in the 1990s, and her point of view is largely shaped by the micro and not the macro issues of statesmanship and international affairs. While Power has campaigned for US-led military intervention to prevent genocide, apparently the killing of nearly a million Iraqis by Saddam Hussein’s Nazi-inspired regime does not qualify, as she opposed the Iraq war. Nor, can I recall hearing in her “religious freedom” exhortations, a public peep about the massacre of Christians across the Middle East and Africa since the 2008 election of Barack Obama.
However, the appointment of “humanitarian” interventionist Samantha Powers, coupled with the Obama Administration’s assertion that international permission rather than that of Congress is the ticket to use of military force, creates potential for yet another interesting showdown between Obama and Congress regarding that pesky old Constitution. It also proves decisively that the Obama Administration has learned nary a thing from its consistent and disastrous appointment of ill-suited, inexperienced ideologues charged with execution of any kind of coherent foreign policy for America.
Cue the calliope music.
DAMMIT!
Dammit, dammit, dammit!
NO! I am not eligible for the senior citizen discount!
I know she was only trying to be helpful.
But still. I have eleven years to go, for goodness sake.
Now I wanna watch Matlock!
A couple of thoughts on shipbuilding
I mentioned in a previous post I was unimpressed with Navy’s management of the the resources it has been given, primarily in terms of shipbuilding. Surprisingly, the Navy’s shipbuilding budget isn’t the prime driver of the overall budget. Personnel and the operations and maintenance accounts are larger. But the whole point of a navy is to operate ships, so getting shipbuilding right is a first priority.
There are a couple bright spots in the Navy’s program. First, the Virginia class nuclear attack submarine program has been pretty successful, on time, on budget, in spite of some seriously stupid mandates. The Lewis and Clark class of underway replenishment ships has been relatively successful as well. And while the Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) carrier currently under construction is stupendously expensive, so far no major embarrassments have come to light. Not bad for a ship that contains quite a few technological innovations. Whether the Navy can afford to buy as many as they need is an open question, but as a program, the Ford has been reasonably well run.
Subs, logistics, and carriers are doing OK. That leaves amphibious shipping, and surface combatants.
Amphibs- Two current classes are under construction. The San Antonio (LPD-17) amphibious transport dock ship is replacing forty year old predecessors. The earlier class of LPDs were relatively simple ships. Some of the changes causing the LPD-17s to cost more are more or less inevitable. Greater volume for berthing spaces for the embarked Marines, greater air conditioning capacity, larger internal volume to accommodate larger Marine vehicles, and improvements in aviation facilities, communications and networking, and ship control facilities were needed. Similarly, changes in environmental law mandated making the ships “greener” than previous ships. All that costs money.
But almost from the start, the design of the LPD-17 was ripe for “gold plating.” While every warship needs at least some level of armament for self defense, historically, ‘gators have have only the most basic outfit. The assumption has always been that they would be escorted by destroyers or frigates and the ‘gators own weapons were strictly to handle any “leakers.” But the original design for the LPD-17 included a Mk41 Vertical Launch System missile magazine and all associated missile control systems. Eventually, that plan was deleted strictly on costs grounds.
LPD-17 was one of the first classes to be “stealthy.” The shaping of the hull, and an enclosed mast to minimize the ship’s radar reflection would seem to be a relatively low cost choice, but in fact added quite a bit to the cost of designing and building the ship. How effective such measures are is very much in dispute.
Reliability issues, quality control issues, and some odd choices in materials have also plagued the ship. Follow on ships seem to have fewer quality control issues, but still, the “utility infielder” of amphibious ships is staggeringly expensive.
The other class of amphibious ship under construction is the LHA-6 America class. The Navy’s huge LHA-LHD ships are bigger than most other navies aircraft carriers. Earlier LHA-LHD ships combined a huge flight deck, large spaces for troops, vehicles, cargo, and impressive command and control spaces (for the embarked Marines and for the amphibious shipping group’s admiral) with a large floodable well deck that could accommodate landing craft.
The LHA-6 is controversial because it eliminates the well deck in favor of much increased aviation facilities, primarily to allow it to embark a larger number of F-35B STOVL aircraft then earlier classes. With the well deck eliminated, spaces for vehicle storage and cargo are also much smaller. The Navy claims that the other ships in any amphibious group will suffice to haul and land the needed vehicles and cargo. That’s debatable. The last time the Navy tried an “all aviation” approach to the helicopter carrying amphib, the major complaint from the fleet and the Marines was that it lacked a well deck. In fact, there is a strong debate right now whether follow on ships in the America class should revert to a well deck design.
Surface combatants.
The traditional family of surface combatants has been cruisers, destroyers, and frigates. The current cruiser class, the Aegis Ticonderoga class, is aging. Of 27 originally built, 22 remain. Sooner or later, they’ll need replacement.
The Navy’s only destroyer class right now is the DDG-51 Arleigh Burke class. An extremely successful design, the Burkes are the ultimate evolution of the Spruance class destroyer design of the early 1970s. An astonishing 61 Burkes have been built, not counting near sister ships serving in Japan and South Korea.
The only frigate class is the hugely successful Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7) class, of which 51 were built, again, not counting sister ships built for allies. But the Perry’s are old and tired. The ship’s main armament, the Mk13 missile launcher that fired the Standard SM-1MR air to surface missile and the Harpoon anti-ship missile, was removed from US Navy ships due to maintenance costs. Effectively neutered, the “Figs” still have decent anti-sub capability, but mostly serve now to provide presence, and fulfill tasks such as vessel board/search/seizure. There are only about 30 Figs left in the fleet, and they aren’t going to be around too much longer. The Navy has no plans to build a new frigate class.
That brings us to the Littoral Combat Ship. When the LCS program was started, the Navy swore up and down that it wasn’t a frigate, and wouldn’t be used for frigate missions. Never mind it was pretty much frigate sized (well, a little smaller), and was to be built in frigate numbers. And since there is no frigate design to replace retiring Figs, all the handwaving from Big Navy can’t conceal the fact that either LCS will take over Fig missions, or the missions simply won’t get done.
Here we are a decade into the program, with 24 of a planned 55 ships either commissioned, building, or contracted for. And yet, only now is the first ship on its first real deployment. And only now, with half of the planned buy contracted for, has the Navy admitted that the ships need more armament than the various vaporware proposals that have served as the main battery of the class throughout its development.
Our Navy has since the end of World War II been a largely home based, but forward deployed. The need for US ships to be able to deploy for six to nine months at a time in often austere environments drives up the cost and size of our ships compared to those of other navies. And generally, that’s a worthwhile investment. And in that same time period, we’ve tended to see two main thrusts in shipbuilding- high end ships suited for the main line of battle, that is, the fast carrier task force, and low end ships suited for escort of amphibious, replenishment, and merchant shipping. This is roughly a split between two major roles for any navy, power projection and sea control. The fast carrier task force (often in concert with amphibious shipping) projects power to impose our will on distant shores. Sea control provides us the use of sea lines of communication and denies them to our enemy.*
We find ourselves in the interesting position that the high end is actually fairly well provided for. It is the low end that has badly atrophied. From World War II destroyer escorts through the 1980s Perry class frigates, the low end had been built with a focus on open ocean anti-submarine warfare, largely due to the enormous Soviet submarine fleet. Having been caught short of escorts for the Atlantic in two world wars, the Navy was determined to have at least some capability in place at all time. But with the demise of the Soviet Union also came the demise of that huge submarine fleet. And at the same time, the Navy found itself operating in constricted waters, facing a multitude of threats. Shore based aircraft, anti-ship missiles from land batteries or small fast attack craft, quiet diesel electric subs in shallow, congested waters, the threat of mine warfare in places like the Strait of Hormuz, and swarming attacks by small craft all posed threats that traditional open ocean escort designs were not well equipped to deal with.
Faced with the changing environment, the institutions of the Navy floundered. One idea, for a very specific, niche role, was to build a small combatant specifically for waters such as the Straits of Hormuz. This small, low cost ship, similar to fast attack craft of other navies in the region, would be responsible for dealing with other FACs or swarm attacks. It would be stationed in a friendly port in the region. Rather than deploying for 6-9 months at a time, it would deploy for a year or 18 months, and swap out its crew at the halfway point. Most routine maintenance would be done in the forward port, but periodic returns stateside would allow major overhauls. It was intended to be small enough and cheap enough, and most importantly, have a small enough crew, that quite a few could be bought for little impact on the shipbuilding budget.
But our Navy has long had a bias against small combatants. Every generation or so, a handful would be bought, then shuffled off to the backwaters of the bureaucracy, doing missions no one else wanted, or falling to the malign neglect of those communities that opposed them in the first place, but were tasked to support them. As this small combatant was proposed, two other important issues rose. First, the Navy’s fleet of mine warfare vessels were aging, showing a lack of capability against a modern mine warfare threat. Second, the “Revolution in Military Affairs” arrived, with the notion of the totally networked warfighting environment, and especially the idea of using unmanned vehicles in virtually every area of warfare. And so the “good idea fairy” came to add its two cents to the proposal for a small combatant. What originally began as a small anti-surface warfare ship soon needed the space, power, weight, and plumbing to support mission modules that could be swapped out to perform inshore Anti-submarine Warfare (ASW), or Mine Warfare (MiW), using remotely operated vehicles. And ASW requires the use of helicopters, so the ship had to have a flight deck, hangar, and all associated support. And since the Navy was designing an unmanned helicopter system, might as well make sure it could carry and operate three of those, in addition to a conventional helicopter. Oh, and those mission modules? Build the ship with the space and weight reserves for them, but we have no real idea just how big or heavy they will be since we haven’t designed them yet, let alone tested how they perform at sea, as opposed to on PowerPoint. Worse still, while its fairly easy (if not cheap) to build a 1000 ton ship capable of 40-50 knots, the Navy insisted that this growing ship (roughly 3000 tons) meet that same speed requirement, without really putting any great thought into the cost/benefit analysis of that requirement.
Let’s talk about ship speed vs. cost for a moment. Yes, you can build a ship that goes that fast. A traditional hull form with sufficient power will get you anywhere from 30-35 knots at a reasonable price. But speeds above that require vastly increased power, or a different, more exotic hull form, or more commonly, both. Vast increases in power mean more of the ship is taken up with the powerplant, and need more fuel. They also tend to be inefficient, as ships don’t spend a lot of time at top speed. So you also need a second powerplant for routine operations at lower speeds. In the case of the LCS, this means huge gas turbines for top speed, and diesels for routine speeds. But the top speed on diesels alone is actually lower than the cruising speed the rest of the fleet normally operates at. The LCS also has an unusual hull form, with its own issues. Even with the huge powerplant, the LCS is very sensitive to changes in weight and balance. This means further restrictions on the size and weight of any future mission modules, restricts the growth potential of the ships, and has implications for damaged stability.
The worst thing the Navy has done in the LCS program (other than start it, I suppose) is that where they first wanted to vastly different technology demonstrators to highlight the choices available, and show the best future path, when it came time to choose between one or the other, the Navy chickened out and chose both. Two entirely different designs, two different hulls, two completely different poweplants, two different sensor suites, two different combat systems**, two entirely different training pipelines and two entirely different supply and contractor support chains all mean any hope of cost savings through mass production are gone.
Is there future in the Navy for a relatively small (3-4000 ton) combatant? Sure. There will always be a need for low end ships. Will future ships likely be designed to accommodate mission modules to swap roles? Maybe. The plug and play idea has a lot of merit, but foreign experience shows that most ships plug and leave the modules in, in effect, building variants of a basic hull design. We probably will see more of this modular approach to mission capability.
Will the Navy axe the LCS program and start a smarter approach to small combatants? Not likely. Will this folly suck money and political goodwill away from other more important programs. Almost certainly.
*That’s a gross oversimplification of naval strategy, of course. In the end, power projection provides the ultimate in sea control when you conquer your enemy and hold his ports and fleet.
**And neither system is supported by the existing infrastructure of the Navy, either. I’m not saying either system is good or bad, but they are both a complete break with 60 years of evolution in Navy combat systems.
Obama Jokes About IRS Audits as Punishment at Arizona State University in 2009
Glenn Reynolds at the WSJ told us about it in his May 18th, 2009 column:
Barack Obama owes his presidency in no small part to the power of rhetoric. It’s too bad he doesn’t appreciate the damage that loose talk can do to America’s tax system, even as exploding federal deficits make revenues more important than ever.
What did the President say in 2009, exactly?
“I really thought this was much ado about nothing, but I do think we all learned an important lesson. I learned never again to pick another team over the Sun Devils in my NCAA brackets. . . . President [Michael] Crowe and the Board of Regents will soon learn all about being audited by the IRS.”
Heh, heh. Good one. Reynolds reminded us of why such attempts at humor using the abuse of Presidential power are so ill-advised:
Should the IRS come to be seen as just a bunch of enforcers for whoever is in political power, the result would be an enormous loss of legitimacy for the tax system…. The notion that people who are audited are probably just “enemies of the regime,” coupled with the idea that big shots get a pass …is a recipe for widespread tax evasion.
It has been the recipe for revolution more than once.
H/T Andy H
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Filed under Around the web, history, obama, Politics, stupid, Uncategorized
Obama Scandal Roundup
After five years of sweeping every mess under the rug, some in the media are starting to think maybe this Obama character isn’t as shiny as a new penny.
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Filed under stupid
Obama: IRS Targeting Political Opponents “Outrageous”
Amid outcry over revelations that Internal Revenue Service specialists specifically targeted conservative groups for scrutiny before the 2012 elections, President Barack Obama said Monday that the tax agency employees’ reported conduct was “outrageous” and “contrary to our traditions.”
I spose it is a matter of which traditions. Socialist-communist regimes have a long history of such things. Sounding Buck Turgidson-esque, the President goes on to say:
…he does not want to judge the findings of an Inspector General investigation “prematurely” but said that if the reports of political targeting are found to be correct, those responsible must be held “fully accountable.”
Like in Fast and Furious, and Benghazi, and with ACORN, and….? You get the idea. Marco Rubio has weighed in, and his commentary could be extended to a great deal of this Administration:
“[I]t is clear the IRS cannot operate with even a shred of the American people’s confidence under the current leadership,” Rubio wrote. “I strongly urge that you and President Obama demand the IRS Commissioner’s resignation, effectively immediately. No government agency that has behaved in such a manner can possibly instill any faith and respect from the American public.”
“Baghdad Bob” Carney gets into the act, too:
In a statement earlier Monday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the president is “concerned” about the reported conduct of “a small number of Internal Revenue Service employees.”
Yeah? Like the ones at the top? Anyway, here is the President, expressing his outrage:
Oh yeah, I am still waiting for my Federal Income Tax refund.
Filed under Around the web, obama, Personal, Politics, stupid, Uncategorized
Sometimes, the Headline Tells You Everything You Want to Know, Part II.
“Horror as Bear on a Bike EATS a Monkey at the End of Sick Circus Cycle Race”
This is one of those headlines. The UK’s Daily Mail tells you the rest.
It is not clear when the latest video was taken but Shanghai Wild Animal Park said in 2006 that the Olympic event had been scrapped following complaints and ‘out of consideration for the safety of our visitors.’
The VISITORS? What about the poor damned chimp? I always said I was sure glad I was not a sailor on a Soviet Nuclear Submarine. I will have to add “monkey in a Chinese circus” to that.
Filed under Around the web, stupid, Uncategorized
No Money for Diapers?
I know I can’t take pictures, or video, without facing a lawsuit. I dearly wish I could, though it is likely that the idea of shaming some people would lead them even more to consider themselves “victims”, with the concomitant parade of State-salaried do-gooders egging them on and “advocating” for them.
Coming back from a quick lunch today, I see a very young mother, baby on her hip, toddler at her side. She is hitting the welfare office, across the hall from me. Her baby has a full diaper, evident as soon as I opened the hallway door. The guy in the hallway comments to her that the kid needs a change, to which she replies that she hasn’t got any money for diapers.
What DOES she have? Tattoos. A bunch of them. (No, that is not her, above. She was bigger than that.) Too many for me to count, not that I care to. What else? As I was heading TO lunch, she was out having a cigarette. Or two, or more.
Diapers can be found for about fifteen to twenty bucks a box, containing between 60 and 100.
Cigarettes in Vermont are almost eight bucks a pack. $72 a carton.
I don’t know what tattoos cost in Vermont these days, not having priced them.
Everything we need to know about the malignant decay of our burgeoning welfare state was standing in the hallway outside my office. Our money goes (we think) for diapers and formula. HER money goes for cigarettes, and Lord knows what else. But she NEEDS our money. She is entitled to it. And we are bound to give it to her. For the children.
How heartless are they who would take food out of her children’s mouths. And the cost of the health problems caused by the tobacco usage and weight issues must, and will, be borne by all of us, except her. Because health care is a basic human right.
Any guesses what my objection to such a paradigm has gotten me labeled as more than once? You betcha. Racist. Problem is that, without exception, the many, many people of similar appointment whom I see on a routine basis there and lighting up in front of the WIC offices, are the same race as me. Government handouts enabling a life without consequence are an addiction that robs people of pride, ambition, judgment, and morality. And yes, that is all about race. The Human Race.
Filed under girls, Politics, stupid, Uncategorized
The Ice Age Cometh!
Second Coldest Start To Spring In US History
It wasn’t just my imagination. Behold, from Steven Goddard’s Real Science post.
Huh. To show how significant this catastrophe is, all one has to do is “AlGorify” the data. (Not to be confused with “algorithm”, which could lend some statistical validity to the process.)
So, there’s where next year’s spring temperatures will be come the end of April. Just a little above freezing. 2015? Frozen solid. Anthropomorphic? I dunno. And I am also confused by what to do about it. When the coldest spring of 1975 happened, we were told that we needed to stifle industry and redistribute wealth to the Third World (and Environmentalists’ pockets) to keep the world from freezing. THEN we were told that we needed to stifle industry and redistribute wealth to the Third World (and the pockets of those same Environmentalists) to keep the world from roasting to oblivion.
I can’t for the life of me understand why 0.00000000035% of the data is not conclusive. Even though it was unevenly collected with a wide variety of instruments and methods. But hey, it is “settled science”, innit? Like predicting Presidential election results by counting four tenths of a vote.
Filed under anthropology, Around the web, history, Humor, Load Heat, space, stupid, Uncategorized
Holder Calls Citizenship for Illegal Aliens “Civil Right”
Eric Holder’s latest copy of the Bill of Rights, w/CH 1, as we say in the Corps.
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; orabridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed,
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.Add:
Creating a pathway to earned citizenship for the 11 million unauthorized immigrants in this country is essential. The way we treat our friends and neighbors who are undocumented… This is a matter of civil and human rights. (Except for the ones killed with Fast and Furious weapons)
Filed under Around the web, obama, Politics, stupid, Uncategorized
Boston Maggie Wins! Lindsey Graham Should STFU (actually GAFG)
Nobody, but NOBODY does outrage like our Boston Maggie. With a mix of sarcasm and incisive logic (now and then) she can unscrew the legs of a stupid argument in the blink of an eye. Perhaps it comes naturally to the Irish Catholic crowd in Boston. Regarding Boston terrorism suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, apparently Republican Senator Lindsey Graham thinks we should bypass giving the accused the rights due an American citizen who is a defendant in a capital case. Which makes Graham as despicable as anyone else who asserts such nonsense, irrespective of which side of the aisle they call home.
…like it or not, Tsarnaev is an American citizen. He gets due process. That’s it.
If we abridge the Constitutional rights of this piece of shit, we will be doing more harm than he or his brother could have hoped for.
Everyone is talking about “Boston Strong”. If we sell the Constitution down the river out of petty vengence, what is there to be strong for?
Read the whole thing. It is short, but oh-so well done. She nails it. It is not the people, nor the government, nor its officials, nor my seniors whom I am sworn to support and defend. It is the Constitution. The same document Senator Graham and every other Congressman was sworn to uphold. Irrespective of which side of the aisle.
So how ’bout we do it?
Filed under Around the web, Humor, islam, Politics, stupid
Goodbye to Pike, in the Furniture Van; Jonathan Winters dies at 87
Comedic genius and Marine Veteran Jonathan Winters has passed away at 87. Steve Martin called him one of the “great greats”, and so he was. A master of improv, and THE master of innuendo, Winters’ physical and intellectual comedy never failed to bring laughter.
Winters served in the Marine Corps during World War II, and was a regular on the Tonight Show, with Jack Paar and Johnny Carson, Dean Martin, and a host of others. He was in a million things, but my favorite of all time was as Pike, the driver of the furniture van, in Stanley Kramer’s 1963 comedy epic It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. ”D’ya know how many loads of furniture I’d have to take from Modesto to Yuma to earn that kind of money?” I’ve seen the movie close to forty times, and he makes me laugh, still, even when I know the lines are coming. To this day, when I have been trying to figure something out and it finally comes to me, I will say “That’s it! Sure! The Big W!!!”
Semper Fidelis, Marine. And thanks for the laughs.
Envy.
It’s ugly and unbecoming.
I was out this evening, washing the old girl, when a couple drove by in a black 2012 Corvette. The car slowed down, and I see Doctor Combover and Tammi Botox both snap their heads around to see my ’64 LeSabre in the driveway sparkling in the setting sun. It was clear instantly what they were both thinking, it was written all over their faces. ”Boy! I wish I had one of THOSE!”
It is understandable, because the LeSabre has a ton of features theirs doesn’t. Lap belts. Drum brakes, front and back. A trunk you could rent out to a college fraternity. Bench seats, front AND back. No pesky side mirror on the passenger side door. Or headrests to get in the way. A dimmer switch on the floor. A 4-barrel Rochester carburetor. Spark plugs. Voltage regulator. 2″ white sidewalls. A locking gas cap. Gigantic bake-lite steering wheel. A Delco AM Sonomatic radio. And sex appeal. Lots and lots of sex appeal.
See, there are hundreds and hundreds of 2012 Corvettes registered in Vermont, quite a number in this immediate area. Jaguars, too. Mercedes Benz? Dime a dozen. But, to my knowledge and that of a number of people in the know, mine is the ONLY 1964 Buick LeSabre on the road in the entire State of Vermont!
Don’t despair, I am sure your Corvette is nice enough, and I do hope you enjoy it. But it isn’t a ’64 LeSabre. It just isn’t. But please don’t be envious. Be happy with what you have. Even if you never know the joy of setting ignition timing or installing a water pump.
Our Political Navy: A Global Force for Far-Left Proclamations
Nothing says “ready for combat in the service of our nation” like an Earth Day message in which our Sea Services “leadership” admonishes us to believe in the pseudo-science of Al Gore and the radical Left environmentalists. Behold ALNAV 018/13:
3. DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY LEADERSHIP IS KEENLY AWARE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES AHEAD. CLIMATE CHANGE IS LEADING TO RISING SEA LEVELS AND LESS PREDICTABLE WEATHER PATTERNS IN THE AREAS WHERE WE TRAIN AND OPERATE. THE RAPID MELTING OF THE ARCTIC ICE CAP IS DRIVING NEW NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGIES AND PRESSING GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS. WE WILL CONTINUE ANALYZING THESE TRENDS AND WORKING TO ENSURE OUR FORCES ARE CAPABLE OF MEETING MISSION REQUIREMENTS. ONLY THROUGH A COLLECTIVE EFFORT CAN MILITARY AND OUR NATION PREPARE FOR THE CHANGES THAT MAY COME. WE MUST RECOGNIZE THAT OUR LOCAL ACTIONS CAN IMPACT THE SEVERITY OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES AND WILL DETERMINE OUR FUTURE READINESS.
But wait, there’s more.
4. FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY IS ON EVERYONE’S MIND THIS YEAR. LUCKILY, THE EASIEST AND MOST
EFFECTIVE EARTH DAY PROGRAMS CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED AT LITTLE OR NO EXPENSE. PICKING UP TRASH AT A LOCAL PARK, CLEARING DEBRIS FROM A BEACH, OR VOLUNTEERING WITH A LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT CAN ALL BE DONE ON A SHOESTRING BUDGET. BRING YOUR COWORKERS, FRIENDS, SHIPMATES, AND FELLOW MARINES AND INCREASE YOUR IMPACT EXPONENTIALLY AT NO EXTRA COST.
“Fiscal responsibility”? Oh please. Does that include not sending messages out that are blatant political indoctrination about “climate change” and how it has more of an impact on readiness than neglecting maintenance of our Navy’s warships, or cutting back on the training and education of our Sailors to perform their missions? So that we might instead have ad nauseum lectures and training about sexual assault, human trafficking, breathalyzers, cultural sensitivity, and all politically-sensitive things non-warfighting, and idiotic messages that waste everyone’s time like the above example? What really riles. however, is the last line of the message text.
MAKE A DIFFERENCE THIS YEAR.
We have a Navy and Marine Corps with tens of thousands of combat veterans from OIF and OEF. Many have been decorated for heroism in action against the enemy. Thousands have lost comrades and shipmates (not frigging CO-WORKERS, jackwagon!). Yet, we have a man who never served a single day in uniform directing us to make a difference. As if he would know what that really means. Despicable. Absolutely unconscionable.
I have a much more fiscally responsible suggestion. How about the Department of the Navy eliminate the position of “Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Environment)”. How about SECNAV Ray Mabus show Donald Schregardus and his $200,000+ salary to the door, along with everyone assigned to his likely considerable staff, and use the money instead to maintain and train a Navy for war? Just a thought. And if Ray Mabus isn’t capable of that, he needs to follow Schregardus off the taxpayer dole, post-haste. Perhaps we then can get someone who can provide a modicum of leadership worthy of our Navy and our nation. That’d be a switch.
Filed under Afghanistan, iraq, marines, navy, obama, Politics, stupid, Uncategorized, veterans, war
General Barry McCaffrey: Lauds “Marines’ Aversion to BS” On Women in Infantry
Time Magazine (of all places) carries General McCaffrey’s missive. Well worth the read (which contains a link to Marine General Newbold’s superb “Seven Myths about ‘Women in Combat’”).
The argument for women at rifle battalion team level is unsound. Makes as much sense as mandating women on all-male professional contact sports teams.
Life in a rifle company is still incredibly brutal, filthy, requires enormous physical energy and upper body strength, and calls for a spirit of personal violence. There is zero personal privacy. Bodily functions take place in close proximity.
Troops are constantly injured from carrying heavy loads and crashing down hills in the dark. They dig like moles to stay alive.
Infantry units live like wild animals during periods of extended combat. Mostly it is a business of self-selected young men. Most of these combat soldiers end up in these units because they actually want to fight.
One might think there would be some additional recognition of such opinions expressed by long-time practitioners of the craft of ground combat. But alas. Objective analysis gives way to activism and some other “isms” all too often.
As General Newbold rightly asserts:
Pity the truthful leader who attempts to hold to standards based on realistic combat factors, and tells truth to power. Most won’t, and the others won’t survive.
(H/T to Battleland)
Is the Navy finally taking a second look at its insane LCS policy?
Interesting news from Defense News about the future of the surface Navy.
A recommended re-evaluation of the next flights of LCSs — beyond the 24 ships now delivered, under construction, on order or with contract options — is only part of a classified memo, “Vision for the 2025 Surface Fleet,” submitted late last year by the head of Naval Surface Forces, Vice Adm. Tom Copeman, to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jon Greenert. The Navy’s current plans call for building 52 littoral combat ships, so if the service opted to go in a different direction it would essentially cut the LCS program of record in half.
VADM Copeman, in effect the senior Surface Warfare Officer, has a slew of good ideas.
The entirety of the LCS program is deeply flawed, right from the conception that the Navy really, really needed a ship that was virtually unarmed, yet could sprint at 45-50 knots speed, and yet be large enough (~3000 tons) to self deploy world wide. That mismatch of capabilities drove hull shape choices, power plant choices, limitations on construction standards (which directly influences both damage control ability, and useful ship lifetimes), sensor and weapons suite capability, and multi-role function.
Having chosen a flawed concept, the Navy double down on its insanity. The original idea of prototyping two competing designs, each with different hull forms, combat suites, manufacturing and support efforts and power plants, all pretty much never used before, had a lot to recommend it. The idea was that one or two of each competing design would be built, deployed, tested, and then the design best suited for the Navy would be put into serial production, and the other design shelved.
The problem was, both designs were so awful that the initial ship in each class has been complete for years now, and only this month has one of them even been able to finally depart on its first deployment. No real information on the abilities and liabilities of either design been accumulated.
But the Navy is desperately short on ships, a condition that is only getting worse. So the idea of downselecting to one program was tossed out, and both ships were ordered into production. One suspects a good deal of corporate rentseeking was at work here. Both design teams have spread around contracts to numerous congressional districts with powerful representatives, making it far more difficult to cancel either program. And if the Navy had chose just one design, the almost inevitable contract protest would have tied the Navy in knots for years, with cases winding their way through the courts, at immense expense to the taxpayer, and no benefit to the Navy.
So here we are, with the Navy already contracted for 24 of a planned 52 LCS ships (a dozen of each of the competing designs). VADM Copeman’s document is the first to see the light of day from Big Navy that even raises the possibility that maybe the LCS isn’t what the Navy needs. I’m rather surprised he hasn’t been hung from the yardarm yet.
Is upgunning one of the designs the right way to go? I don’t know. I suspect it isn’t, but it may be quicker than any alternative, which has a merit of its own. Drawing out a shipbuilding program over more years is rarely a way of saving money or improving the product. Personally, I’d probably rather see a “half a Burke” platform, with the powerplant cut in half, a smaller missile battery, and a lightweight SPY-1F/SPY-1K combat system. But the temptation to gold plate such a platform would be almost unbearable, and you’d quickly wind up simply buying more of the regular DDG-51 Burke’s, which, since the whole point is to find a low cost, low end ship, would defeat the purpose.
As to the Flight III Burke, with its Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) to replace the current SPY-1D/Aegis combat system, VADM Copeman is leery of pushing the Burke platform to such fine growth margins. That’s a fair concern. But personally, I’d like to see a short run of Flt III ships shake out the AMDR before we take the next logical step of building a newer, more powerful plant and hull. Built a little, test a lot, learn a lot.
Whatever differences of opinion I may have with VADM Copeman, I certainly am glad to see someone with some rational thought applied to the composition of the surface fleet, and the Navy’s shipbuilding program.
{Update}- Of course, CDR Salamander had his take up first, and more comprehensively.
General Dunford: Karzai “may… issue orders that put our forces at risk”
NBC News carries the story of the leaked memo.
General Joe Dunford is as fine a combat leader as the Marine Corps has produced, and that includes Mattis and Conway. While it is unfortunate that the confidential memo was leaked, it is heartening to know that General Dunford has a realistic assessment of the situation, is aware of the corrupt unreliability of our Afghan “allies”, and has the lives of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines in his command at the fore.
Karzai’s threat to “seize Bagram” is such an instance of putting US servicemen at risk. Should he order that, I would hope we would have the guts to kill the attackers in massive numbers, and then put a round in Karzai’s head. And then leave, with a note on the door that reminds them that the half-life of Plutonium 239 is 24,000 years.
Filed under Afghanistan, guns, history, infantry, islam, marines, stupid, Uncategorized, war
The Drone Medal and The People’s Defense Commissariat
MOTHAX talks about all of it over at The Burn Pit. Worth the read.
It’s been a pretty wild last couple of months for the Pentagon, especially for our outgoing Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta. First he drops the bomb about the women’s combat unit exclusion policy going away. Then the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs says that maybe the standard will have to be lowered so we can have more women in those units. Dire predictions flow every day from the puzzle palace about the effect of sequestration on the ability to fight and win wars. Then comes the suggestion that we lower troops pay. But while we’re doing that, we’re also expanding benefits to the spouses of same sex couples, even though that might violate the Defense of Marriage Act. Congress jumps in with hearings about what happened (or more accurately didn’t happen) to on the ground support of the Ambassador in Libya, and why the DOD didn’t have anything in place to help those men out. We may, or may not, be setting up a drone base in western Africa, and the drones may or may not be used to kill Americans who are working with Al Qaeda based on the legal papers that were leaked by the DOJ. And the nomination for Panetta’s replacement, Senator Chuck Hagel, is currently being filibustered. In April 170,000 retirees are being pushed out of Tricare Prime in the western States, and we’re still passing out flyers in Afghanistan discussing how being courteous to the locals will stop them from shooting at us.
Somehow this all added up to it being a good time to anger just about everyone not angered by the preceding by creating a medal for drone pilots that is actually higher up in the hierarchy of medals than things like the Combat Infantryman’s Badge and the Bronze Star….
He adds some excellent commentary from Fehrenbach circa 1950 and the problem with this whole idea of the “changing nature of combat”.
Americans in 1950 rediscovered something that since Hiroshima they had forgotten: you may fly over a land forever; you may bomb it, atomize it, pulverize it and wipe it clean of life—but if you desire to defend it, protect it and keep it for civilization, you must do this on the ground, the way the Roman legions did, by putting your young men in the mud.
I doubt anybody will be awarded the Drone Medal posthumously, unless it is from blood clots due to sitting too long. Like I said, worth the read. And a nice H/T to B5.
Filed under Afghanistan, Air Force, infantry, iraq, stupid, Uncategorized, war
More About Awards
Since there is no horse too dead, nor any cat too flat, let me suggest the following modifications to our Armed Forces awards chart:
Let’s have a look at the ones I would can, and why:
Defense Distinguished Service Medal- The same as the Distinguished Service Medal, except GOFOs get a separate one for doing something “joint”. Rescind it, and either replace with the DSM, or the star for additional awards of DSM.
Defense Superior Service Medal- The “joint” equivalent to the Legion of Merit. Another 0-6/GOFO bauble. Get rid of it. Award the Legion of Merit, or stars for additional awards.
Defense Meritorious Service Medal- You got it, the “joint” MSM. Rescind. Award MSM or stars for additional awards.
Joint Service Commendation Medal- Notice a trend here? You have a service branch, presumably. Make the Joint HQ convince your service branch that you rate your service branch’s Commendation Medal. If they can’t, maybe you shouldn’t have one. Certainly not some “joint” equivalent. Rescind.
Joint Meritorious Unit Award- Precisely the same rationale as the JSCM above. Except for the collective. If your outfit was that good, your service branch should award as appropriate.
Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal- Never understood creating an expeditionary medal for wars in which campaign medals were sure to be minted. I might be able to see it for guys in the Philippines and elsewhere, not in IRQ or AFG. BUT, we have the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for that. Rescind, and replace it with the AFEM.
Global War on Terror Service Medal- This formerly held the position of “Dumbest New Award”, but has been overtaken by the Drone Medal. Get rid of it. They already have the National Defense Service Medal for those who didn’t deploy. (Formerly known as the CNN Medal. As in “You saw Desert Storm on CNN? Me too!”) Rescind without replacement with a current equivalent.
Armed Forces Service Medal- “Significant activity”? Are you kidding me? Rescind without replacement.
Humanitarian Service Medal- Another non-warfighter feel-good award. Get rid of it. After Hugo ripped through South Carolina, Marines from MCB helped out cutting and clearing trees, and delivering water, etc. The base CSTAFF spent a formation droning (!) on and on about how they worked twelve hour days for two weeks to help out. Meanwhile, the Drill Instructors continued their 140-hour work weeks for the entire two year tour. So the Sgt from base motors was awarded this thing while my Sgt Senior Drill Instructor got zilch, and had his NCM downgraded to a NAM.
Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal- Makes the Humanitarian Service Medal look like the Iron Cross. Away with it.
Overseas Service Ribbon- Another “everybody gets one” trinket. You were PCS overseas, with all the concomitant bennies that the UDP bubbas pumping to WESTPAC didn’t have. Want a ribbon for being OCONUS? Ride a gator freighter for 200 days. Or do Camp Hansen unaccompanied.
Recruiting/Drill Instructor/Marine Security Guard Ribbons- Wrong, wrong, wrong. No “special duty” ribbons on a Marine uniform. Lousy idea from jump street, let’s get rid of them most rikki tik.
These are, of course, in addition to the Distinguished Warfare Medal, hereby unofficially known as the “Stays in Vegas” Medal.
Before you ask, yes, at least three of these are ones I am authorized. By comparison, my Dad came home from the Pacific, after eleven landings and almost three years, with four ribbons. One was a Navy Good Cookie, and another was the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon with four battle stars. Along with a PUC. He got a WWII Victory Medal on his way out in ’46. In 1991, we had people sit at Al Jubayl for two weeks and come home with five.
It would do us well to have senior Officers that look like warriors instead of Idi Amin, or BG McSoulpatch. Just sayin’. Any others I failed to mention that should go?
Filed under Afghanistan, Air Force, army, history, iraq, marines, navy, SIR!, stolen valor, stupid, Uncategorized, war
Quick Quiz
The above box displays which of the following:
a) The view out my window for the next couple days
b) The sum total of my contributions to this blog since Tuesday
c) Both a) and b)
I know. I need to get my ass moving on my next post.
Filed under SIR!, stupid, Uncategorized
Biden: Gun Control Measures Will Do Nothing to Stop Shootings
VP Biden made his admission to NBC News.
Which, of course leaves the question of why these gun control measures are being considered at all, if it is nothing more than the act of a Government disarming a populace of free peoples in violation of their Constitutional liberties.
“Nothing we’re going to do is going to fundamentally alter or eliminate the possibility of another mass shooting or guarantee that we will bring gun deaths down to 1,000 a year from what it is now,” Biden told reporters Thursday afternoon after he spent over an hour lunching with Democratic senators at the Capitol.
Then he says:
“But there are things that we can do, demonstrably can do, that have virtually zero impact on your Second Amendment right to own a weapon for both self defense and recreation that can save some lives,” he said.
Which is it? Will it save lives or will it not? And since when does infringing on the right to keep and bear arms not infringe upon the right to keep and bear arms? But wait, there’s more.
“I’m not saying there’s an absolute consensus on all these things,” Biden said, “but there is a sea change, a sea change in the attitudes of the American people. I believe the American people will not understand — and I know that everyone in that caucus understands — they won’t understand if we don’t act.”
Do SOMETHING. No matter how egregiously in violation of the Constitution. Why, one can almost smell the smoke from the Reichstag….
The tragedy in Chicago, the young teen who was killed in a turf-war drive by shooting, just what effect does a gun law have on that awful event? None whatsoever.
Joe Biden just admitted he knows that, too. Which should bring every last proposed gun control measure under the deepest suspicion. But with a beholden media, and a hypocritically anti-gun Hollywood, such is likely to not make a ripple without the voices of reason being raised above the din.
************************
The Jawa Report outlines the simple dishonesty of MSNBC in their knowingly false reporting of the testimony of Neil Heslin. Once again, as with the “Trayvon” case, MSNBC has edited footage to produce an entirely false impression, in its further demonizing of those of us who believe in our Constitutional liberties, Second Amendment included. As TJR notes, neither MSNBC nor Martin Bashir has apologized for their deliberate falsehoods.
Josef Goebbels, call the Ministry of Propaganda.
Filed under Around the web, guns, Politics, stupid, Uncategorized
Women in Combat Arms: The Perspective of a Warrior
The Late General Robert H. Barrow, former Commandant of the Marine Corps, winner of the Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Veteran of three wars, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, speaks on the notion of women in ground combat units. Thirteen and a half minutes. (The last three are dark screen.) Listen to it all.
Those who would dismiss General Barrow as hidebound, sexist, closed-minded, or any other of the various derogatory labels that tend to be employed by the feminists who push such agendas should feel a tinge of shame. If they are capable of such, which I doubt.
Those who comprise the Joint Chiefs of Staff, particularly CJCS Dempsey, CSA Ordierno, and Marine Commandant Amos, should be ashamed of themselves. They must know deep down that what a man like General Barrow asserts is the brutal truth. Yet they have nodded their heads in enthusiastic agreement with their political masters as a sop to the feminists and progressives who despise our military and everything it stands for. Gentlemen, you must do some serious soul searching. You KNOW that General Barrow speaks an unvarnished truth honed by 41 years of wartime service and leadership of men in some of the most bitter combat of the 20th Century. Are your current assignments and your careers so much more important than the lives of those you will unnecessarily risk to implement this corrosive policy?
The Commandant’s assertion that “we will maintain our high standards while ensuring maximum success for every Marine” smacks of the dishonesty of the “everyone gets a trophy” Left. War, we damned well should know, knows no such considerations. If we didn’t have such morally and intellectually bankrupt leadership spending so much time and money painting the Potemkin Village instead of training to win our nation’s wars, we would not find ourselves in the current fix.
Defense Chief Panetta to Clear Women for Combat Roles
Of course he does. He is leaving in February, so the damage will be in his wake. And the Democrats will gain big points from the far-left “DACOWITS uber alles” crowd.
“We are moving in the direction of women as infantry soldiers,” one senior defense official said.
No comment from the hordes of female volunteers who have successfully met the standard at the USMC Infantry Officers’ Course.
A few other things need to happen immediately. Beginning tomorrow morning. (Pardon if this is Marine Corps-centric, as the Corps is my service and its standards are the ones I shall address.)
As of 0001 on 24 January 2013:
All Marines must do a minimum of 3 pullups, 50 sit-ups in two minutes, and run 3 miles in under 28 minutes, and score a minimum of 135 on the formerly-male Physical Fitness Test. That means that pull-ups are five points apiece for everybody, and the run time score is one point for every ten seconds over 18 minutes. (Hint, you have to do considerably more than the minimum on at least two areas to pass, with the minimum score for each being listed above.)
Any Marines unable to pass the PFT will be placed on remedial physical fitness IAW MCO 6100.3, regardless of rank or gender. PFT failures will be annotated in directed comments on those Marines’ fitness reports. Promotion and assignment eligibility will be contingent on meeting the standard.
On the Combat Fitness Test, all Marines must conform to the formerly male standards, including the Movement to Contact, which will require a time of 4:13 or under for Marines aged 26 and below, the lift of the 30-pound ammo can for a minimum of 33 reps, with 91 being maximum, and Maneuver Under Fire time of 3:58 and under. All other formerly male age-specific scoring will apply. CFT failures will be annotated in directed comments on those Marines’ fitness reports. Promotion and assignment eligibility will be contingent on meeting the standard.
All Marines will adhere to the formerly-male body fat percentage requirements. Marines ages 18-26 will ALL have a maximum body fat percentage of 18%. Any Marine, regardless of gender, who exceeds that percentage (and it is graduated to a maximum of 21% for Marines over age 46) will be given the 60 day notification period, and then the 60 day caution period, IAW MCO 6100.3. Failure to adhere to body fat standards will be annotated in directed comments on those Marines’ fitness reports. Promotion and assignment eligibility will be contingent on meeting the standard.
All Marines, regardless of assignment, will be required to complete the annual MCCRE 25-mile, 8 hour conditioning march with 55 pounds of required march-order, plus organic Marine-portable unit equipment.
I doubt any of that will happen, of course. Because that kind of equality, rather than the “equality” loaded with special considerations that so many push for, would thin the ranks of female Marines dramatically. Instead, Panetta’s policy, like so many these days from the People’s Defense Commissariat, is about political grandstanding and not combat effectiveness or warfighting proficiency. I am sure the glowing appraisals of how all this works out are already being written, talking points for “impromptu” interviews and Commanders’ assessments scripted carefully.
Of course, any problems or failures that may possibly be encountered will be blamestormed in the direction of sexual harassment, hidebound chauvinism, discrimination, lack of “fairness”, or lack of “vision” on the part of those who might not nod enthusiastically enough. Certainly the problems won’t be attributed to the notion that mixed-gender combat arms units is as horrendously unwise now as it was fifty years ago, and will be fifty years hence. Not a chance of that.
“In fact, it’s important to remember that in recent wars that lacked any true front lines, thousands of women already spent their days in combat situations serving side-by-side with their fellow male servicemembers,” said Murray, who heads the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
Which is, of course, precisely the same as being in the Infantry or Artillery or Armor, where the MISSION of the unit is to “locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver, or repel his (or her, apparently) assault by fire and close combat.”
Whatever, I am sure it will work out fine. Just like in the movies. Where chicks kick ass all the time.
The move came at the recommendation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the sources said.
Why doesn’t that make me feel better? “Three bags full”.
Note: I have been very clear in my opinions that female Marines should be trained for combat. The Marine Corps has done so for a very long time, and done so successfully. I have served next to female Marines in combat. But combat incidental to other missions is NOT the same as that of units in combat arms. Despite the strident assertions of those whose interests are in furthering a special interest group instead of preparing for war.
Mabus and Kipling Discuss Readiness
Despite Federal spending that is almost $1 trillion higher than it was in 2008, with one war ended and another winding down, Secretary of the Navy Mabus informs us that Bread and Circuses are eating into the operating budget for this nation’s sea services, at precisely the time we are told we are executing a “strategic pivot” toward the Pacific. Which, if I remember my geography, is a fairly large body of water.
There is this bit of good news from ALNAV 006/13:
WE WILL ONLY BE ABLE TO SUSTAIN CURRENT FLEET OPERATIONS. WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SUFFICIENTLY MAINTAIN AND RESET OUR FORCES FOR FUTURE OPERATIONS.
The US Navy is buying biofuel at $26/gal when JP-5 is under $4 a gallon. We have untold numbers of senior Officers and Flag Officers obsessed with the metrics of a Diversity industry. SECNAV is demanding hundreds of thousands of hours be spent in sexual assault prevention training with no discernable benefit. Here’s betting the “belt tightening” he warns of encompasses virtually none of the social-political experiments that is Navy and Marine Corps personnel policy.
In the meantime, Rudyard tells us the inevitable result.
Our ships in every harbour
Be neither whole nor sound,
And, when we seek to mend a leak,
Or, if it is, the caulkers,
For lack of pay have gone away,
Mere powder, guns, and bullets,
Their price was spent in merriment
While we in tattered doublets
Beseeching friends for odds and ends -
Not so certain history is dead. Not so certain we aren’t. While SECNAV is long and loud regarding biofuels (“the stakes could not be higher”), he seems to have contracted laryngitis about expressing concerns to the President about his Navy’s short and long-term ability to actually fight if needed, and to push for the resources to meet mission. Because, apparently the stakes aren’t as high as being environmentally friendly.
How do you say “De Ruyter” in Mandarin?
H/T to JPP
Craig Swain
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