Fashion Hunter: U.S. Military

Showing posts with label U.S. Military. Show all posts

P-51 Mustang Red Nose

Flying along with these fellows ... well, that's almost heaven (via Theo Spark):

What Do We Say When Johnny Comes Home?

One of my favorite anti-war songs, from T.S.O.L., mainly because it's so haunting on the apathy. Joe Wood sings on "American Zone," during a period when Jack Grisham had left the band. I really enjoyed the studio recording, but I don't see it online, so just turn this up on your tablet:

There's blood on the streets again today
All the people dying what a price we have to pay
Around the world they're fightin'
It's not that far away
feel the darkness
Can we change our ways?

[Chorus:]
We live in the American zone
Free of fear in our American home
Swimmin pool and digital phone
What do we say when Johnny comes home

Johnny just got back from war today
Beruit weekend, the powder keg
He was 20 years old and he lost both of his legs
We're all really sorry today

[Chorus]

What do we say
What do we say
What do we say
When Johnny comes home
and he lost his legs.

Taliban Shoot Down U.S. Copter in Afghanistan

At Los Angeles Times, "31 U.S. troops, 7 Afghans killed in Taliban attack on NATO helicopter."

In a rare event, Taliban insurgents shoot down a Chinook helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade near Kabul. It's the largest single-incident loss of military lives since the war's start.

And at New York Times, "31 Americans Killed as Taliban Shoot Down a Copter." (Via Memeorandum.)

Marine Corps Tries to Stop Nude Bathing at Camp Pendleton

We saw some live training exercises last time we drove down to Pechanga, taking the coastal route on I-5 South to Highway 78 East.

At Telegraph UK, "US Marine Corps tries to stop nudists using training beach." (Via Theo Spark.)

Oshkosh M-ATV MRAP at X-Games 17 (Los Angeles)

I've written about the MRAP previously, but it was quite an experience to see one of these mofos up close. The word is BIG!!

(The Navy set up a big recruitment station at the X-Games.)

The MRAP is a high-mobility mine-resistant ambush-protected combat vehicle. The units were developed as a key anti-insurgency vehicles, designed to protect soldiers from IEDs (improvised explosive devices). By 2005, in Iraq, roughly half of all combat casualties were due to IED attacks. Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who retired in June, said the deployment of MRAPs in Iraq and Afghanistan has saved "thousands of lives." The Oshkosh M-ATV page is here.

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Click to enlarge the image below:

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M-ATV MRAP

Mila Kunis Accepts Invitation to Marine Ball

That invitation was a bold move. Mila Kunis is a looker.

At Fox News, "EXCLUSIVE: Mila Kunis Says She'll Accompany U.S. Marine to Corps Ball." (Invitation video here.)

At National Review, Daniel Foster reports on the news, and adds: "On an unrelated note, I feel I should inform Blake Lively that I am still stag for the next NR Christmas party."

Well yeah!

Via WeSmirch.

U.S. Builds Up Electronic Attack Arsenal

At LAT, "U.S. is using electronic warfare to attack in waves":

In the skies above Libya, the U.S. Navy has been deploying a small fleet of supersonic EA-18 Growler jets to "jam" Moammar Kadafi's ground radar, giving NATO fighters and bombers free rein to strike tanks, communication depots and other strategic targets.

It's the latest demonstration of "electronic attack" hardware — the "EA" in the Growler's name. Armies have been waging electronic warfare since World War II, but today's technology packs a strategic wallop unforeseen even a decade ago.

With foreign adversaries continuing to improve their radar capabilities and air defense networks, and terrorists worldwide using modern consumer electronics to trigger explosives, the United States is spending billions of dollars in a massive effort to respond. These jammers, for instance, spew radio waves and emit other electromagnetic noise to jumble enemy electronic signals.

"War fighters have gone from using physical weapons like spears and knives, to chemical weapons such as gunpowder and explosives, to electronics with radio waves and computer codes," said Peter W. Singer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "It's a natural evolution in warfare."

At a time when the defense budget is being eyed for cuts, electronic attack technology is one of the few areas — along with drones and cyber security — in which President Obama wants to boost spending.

16th Annual Pechanga Pow Wow

I headed back out to Pechanga yesterday for the Native American Pow Wow at Pechanga Resort, and also a spectacular fireworks show last night.

News reports are at North County Times, "Pechanga Pow Wow tradition carries on," and Southwest Riverside News, "16th-annual Pechanga Pow Wow celebrates Native American culture."

Hundreds of tribal members from throughout the U.S. congregate to Pechanga for the annual event in hopes of sharing their pride, traditions and indigenous culture with surrounding community members.

I missed the morning grand parade, but here's some pics from the evening, around 6:00pm with temperatures still around 90 degrees. Hot.

Tribal dancing and a crowd shot:

It's a festival event, with lots of vendors. Militant Indian paraphernalia is common:

This gentleman kindly stopped so I could take a picture:

Militancy goes hand in hand with ethnic separatism, an ideology ruthlessly exploited by hardline neo-communist anti-Americans (recall my reporting from Phoenix last year):

And at a vendor's stand a couple of spots over, a Lori Piestewa shirt on sale for $25.

Private Piestewa was a Hopi and the first Native American woman killed in combat while serving in the U.S. armed forces and she was the first woman killed in the Iraq war of 2003. Piestewa died an American, and think all Americans should be proud of her service to country. And I know that many Native Americans take great pride in their military service, so there's a tension there when we confront the militant imagery alongside the patriotic.

The Future Still Belongs to America

Great piece from Walter Russell Mead, at Wall Street Journal:

It is, the pundits keep telling us, a time of American decline, of a post-American world. The 21st century will belong to someone else. Crippled by debt at home, hammered by the aftermath of a financial crisis, bloodied by long wars in the Middle East, the American Atlas can no longer hold up the sky. Like Britain before us, America is headed into an assisted-living facility for retired global powers.

This fashionable chatter could not be more wrong. Sure, America has big problems. Trillions of dollars in national debt and uncounted trillions more in off-the-books liabilities will give anyone pause. Rising powers are also challenging the international order even as our key Cold War allies sink deeper into decline.

But what is unique about the United States is not our problems. Every major country in the world today faces extraordinary challenges—and the 21st century will throw more at us. Yet looking toward the tumultuous century ahead, no country is better positioned to take advantage of the opportunities or manage the dangers than the United States.

RTWT.

There's not a lot to quibble with, although Mead might underestimate the challenge of transnational terrorism --- which is promoted by powerful regional states --- to the stability of the international system. If the issue is geopolitics and the rise and fall of great powers, then, yes, America's well positioned for continued primacy for generations. Other than that, I think folks will appreciate systemic arguments like this when the economy's expanding and unemployment's declining.

President Obama Misspeaks at Ft. Drum (VIDEO)

The gaffe is at 3:30 minutes at the clip, and the text is at Shallow Nation, "President Obama Fort Drum Speech Video June 23, 2011: Address to 10th Mountain Division Soldiers." Turns out some of our uniformed personnel are not pleased. See Blackfive, "PRESIDENT OBAMA'S TERRIBLE MISTAKE" (via Memeorandum). And don't miss the comments. It's literally painful.

The president had a rough day. Blows his Ft. Drum speech, losing a little more respect among our service personnel, and heckled at the LGBT fundraiser. All I can say is keep it up. It's less than 18 months until election time, and some folks believe Obama will be a one-termer.

Highlights of F-35 Flight Testing

At NAS Patuxent River, Md., NAS Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, and Edwards AFB, Ca.

Via Theo Spark:

Liberty Belle B-17 Crash

At LAT, "Restored WWII bomber crashes."

Dakota Thunder

See Rapid City Journal, "Air show brings out young and old alike."

Malibu Organizes Shore Leave for Crew Members of USS John Paul Jones

I've mentioned numerous times my visit to the USS Abraham Lincoln in 1999. The aircraft carrier parked about a mile offshore from Santa Barbara harbor. It was anchored for four days. I saw a lot of guys dressed in their white uniforms cruising up and down State Street downtown. Local charter operators were hired to ferry tourists out to the ship. There were some sailors showing visitors around the lower deck, where aircraft are housed and maintained when not in use. But after that, I was allowed to cruise around on the flight deck. The carrier was facing west, into the sunset and I sat out on the edge of ship, just a few feet from the safety nets. It was a trip. A whole world unto itself, it seemed. And as I've noted, this was at the end of the 1990s, shortly after the U.S. airwar over Kosovo. American power was at a pinnacle and no one was talking about American decline.

Anyway, I'm reminded of that with this story at Los Angeles Times. The USS John Paul Jones is in Malibu and the organizers put together a "Navy Days" festival for sailors to spend time ashore. See, "Navy crew welcomed to Malibu for shore leave":

Surfers in Malibu are used to sharing the waves with paddleboards, sailboats and the occasional Russian billionaire's 390-foot yacht. On Friday they were startled to see a 505-foot Navy destroyer anchored off Surfrider Beach near the Malibu Pier.

The destroyer John Paul Jones was making the Navy's first-ever port call in Malibu and giving its 270-member crew shore leave there for the weekend.

The community-organized Navy Days is offering sailors free shuttle rides up and down the 26-mile-long city, beach volleyball and kayak excursions, and discounts at shops and restaurants Saturday and Sunday.

The crew and their families have been invited to a barbecue at Sharon Gee's family-owned Malibu ranch. Athletic facilities and an art museum at Pepperdine University will be open to crewmembers, and 10 university shuttle vans will offer sailors transportation to Sunday morning church services.

"Some crewmembers have signed up for museum tours at the Getty Villa," said City Councilman Jefferson "Zuma Jay" Wagner, who operates a Malibu surf shop. "This is not your same old Navy."

Locals planned the event for a year, and some said they don't expect another opportunity like this in their lifetimes. RTWT at the link.

Also, check this page for information on the USS John Paul Jones.

Britain and France to Share Aircraft Carriers

I think every American should read Tom Clancy's, Carrier: A Guided Tour of an Aircraft Carrier. The ships are the sine qua non of global power projection, and a key indicator of great power status. CSM just reported last month on the increasing prestige of carriers among nations, amid heightened international security demands requiring that kind of operational mobility. See, "Aircraft Carriers Gain Naval Clout." At the clip below is the USS Abraham Lincoln, which I visited in 1999. It's a Nimitz-class carrier. The last carrier from the group is the USS George H.W. Bush, commissioned in 2009. The Navy is moving to the Gerald R. Ford class carrier program, with the first two ships expected to be commissioned in 2015 and 2019. Ten carriers from that groups are expected to be deployed, guaranteeing a global U.S. ocean-going preponderance throughout most of the 21st-century.

I mention this just as news reports indicate that Britain and France are set to share aircraft carriers. See Telegraph UK, "We should share aircraft carrier, say French." I wasn't quite sure what to think of this, so checking around I found this at Reuters, "INTERVIEW-French navy boss sees Libyan military humanitarian aid":

ENTENTE CORDIALE

One area earmarked for cooperation is the use of aircraft carriers. In a sweeping review last year, Britain cut its defence budget of 36.9 billion pounds by 8 percent in real terms up to 2015, scrapping its only aircraft carrier.

While the short distance between coalition bases and Libya means an aircraft carrier is not essential, Forissier said a British carrier would have been useful to reduce air time, boost attacks and relieve the Charles de Gaulle.

Forissier would like the French flagship to return to base to replace older Super Etendard jet fighters with the latest Rafales. If it were forced to continue its operations "it would only begin to have serious problems in the autumn," he said.

A new British carrier, the Queen Elizabeth, due by 2020 will be designed so each country could fly its planes off the other's ship. The aim is to have one carrier at sea at all times.

British crew will learn on the Charles de Gaulle so that the Queen Elizabeth can enter operation once finished. One British watch officer is currently operating on the French vessel.

While similar foreign policy aims made a Franco-British alliance inevitable, national sovereignty remained, he said.

"France needs its aircraft carrier and Britain needs one to carry out its sovereignty as it wishes, but what is important is to make the planes inter-operable so that we can train on either one in periods of maintenance."

Forissier believes the two governments should consider building together a cheaper carrier to be used for training.

"If we both want to have a permanent operating presence then we'll both need two aircraft carriers and I don't think given the financial situation our governments have the means."

While Paris has hardly touched its military budget, Forissier said he was "stunned" by the Royal Navy cuts, at a time when it has had costly operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"The Royal Navy, which was always an example for us, is in a tough situation," he said. "It makes me wonder whether we'll also have to go through this in the future."

Part of avoiding that has been the closer cooperation.

"I know in Great Britain you pay tribute to Nelson and here we pay tribute to Napoleon, but really we have good reasons to work together," he said, looking at a painting celebrating a French naval victory over the Royal Navy in 1781.

Now, go check out James Fallows, who suggests we not belittle China's efforts to deploy an aircraft carrier fleet, "Please Read This Article About the Chinese Navy." And whether one agrees with Fallows or not, the key to remember is that at one point Britain's navy was the unrivaled master of the seas. Today the U.S. fills that role. Britain and France are now both struggling to maintain a single operational aircraft carrier, while in the U.S. our outgoing secretary of defense has recommended military downsizing. It all relates in the rise and fall of nations. Quite an interesting set of interrelated developments.

Congressman Allen West: Political Correctness Biggest Threat Facing America Today

At the Heritage Foundation:

Memorial Day Tribute — United States Navy

Via Terri Green, on Facebook:

In lieu of our weekly multimedia production, we felt it appropriate to honor our fallen shipmates. We remember their sacrifice this and every day.

WASHINGTON — After reviewing computer files and documents seized at the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed, American intelligence analysts have concluded that the chief of Al Qaeda played a direct role for years in plotting terror attacks from his hide-out in Abbottabad, Pakistan, United States officials said Thursday.

The C.I.A. had Bin Laden’s compound under surveillance for months before American commandos killed him in an assault on Monday, watching and photographing residents and visitors from a rented house nearby, according to several officials briefed on the operation.

The documents taken at the Abbottabad compound, according to American officials, show that Bin Laden was in touch regularly with the terror network he created. With his whereabouts and activities a mystery in recent years, many intelligence analysts and terrorism experts had concluded that he had been relegated to an inspirational figure with little role in current and future Qaeda operations.

A rushed examination of the trove of materials from the compound in Pakistan prompted Obama administration officials on Thursday to issue a warning that Al Qaeda last year had considered attacks on American railroads.

The documents include a handwritten notebook from February 2010 that discusses tampering with tracks to derail a train on a bridge, possibly on Christmas, New Year’s Day, the day of the State of the Union address or the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, officials said. But they said there was no evidence of a specific plot.

More at the link above, and at Los Angeles Times, "Al Qaeda had U.S. trains in its sights, U.S. officials say."

Added: From ABC News, "Osama Bin Laden Evidence: Al Qaeda Considered 9/11 Anniversary Attack":

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