Monthly Archives: July 2008

Happy 4th from Afghanistan

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AFGHANISTAN (July 4, 2008) Sailors from Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan hold a vintage American flag with 48 stars, which was flown over Camp Eggers in Kabul, Afghanistan, to commemorate “Fourth of July” celebrations at the camp.

The 48 star flag was flown in the United States from July 4, 1912 through July 3, 1959.

Retired Navy Cmdr. Joseph Agra III acquired the flag in 2000 after a fisherman retrieved it from the water off the coast of the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines.

Agra has carried the flag to several locations and has flown it over camps in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. Beth Del Vecchiov

Fixing Leak$

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Photo: Gobbo1000.

What does it cost to fix a leak? Think of all the leaks each day in and around the government that promises to help us and protect us and those we love. What is the total tab, in US Dollars, to fix all those leaks.

How much of our money does the Congress spend to fix the damage caused by the leaks, and redesign the infrastructure to deter or prevent future leaks?

Does the leaker pay for the repairs?

Something to think about.

USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) arrives in Pearl Harbor

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PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (June 24, 2008) The aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) arrives in Pearl Harbor prior to the start of exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2008.

RIMPAC is the world’s largest multinational exercise and is scheduled biennially by the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Participants include the United States, Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, the Netherlands, Peru, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.

U.S Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Scott Taylor (Released)

Mexican Cartels and the Fallout From Phoenix

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Strategic Forecasting, Inc.

Mexican Cartels and the Fallout From Phoenix
July 2, 2008
By Fred Burton and Scott Stewart

Late on the night of June 22, a residence in Phoenix was approached by a heavily armed tactical team preparing to serve a warrant. The members of the team were wearing the typical gear for members of their profession: black boots, black BDU pants, Kevlar helmets and Phoenix Police Department (PPD) raid shirts pulled over their body armor. The team members carried AR-15 rifles equipped with Aimpoint sights to help them during the low-light operation and, like most cops on a tactical team, in addition to their long guns, the members of this team carried secondary weapons — pistols strapped to their thighs.

But the raid took a strange turn when one element of the team began directing suppressive fire on the residence windows while the second element entered — a tactic not normally employed by the PPD. This breach of departmental protocol did not stem from a mistake on the part of the team’s commander. It occurred because the eight men on the assault team were not from the PPD at all. These men were not cops serving a legal search or arrest warrant signed by a judge; they were cartel hit men serving a death warrant signed by a Mexican drug lord.

The tactical team struck hard and fast. They quickly killed a man in the house and then fled the scene in two vehicles, a red Chevy Tahoe and a gray Honda sedan. Their aggressive tactics did have consequences, however. The fury the attackers unleashed on the home — firing over 100 rounds during the operation — drew the attention of a nearby Special Assignments Unit (SAU) team, the PPD’s real tactical team, which responded to the scene with other officers. An SAU officer noticed the Tahoe fleeing the scene and followed it until it entered an alley. Sensing a potential ambush, the SAU officer chose to establish a perimeter and wait for reinforcements rather than charge down the alley after the suspects. This was fortunate, because after three of the suspects from the Tahoe were arrested, they confessed that they had indeed planned to ambush the police officers chasing them.

The assailants who fled in the Honda have not yet been found, but police did recover the vehicle in a church parking lot. They reportedly found four sets of body armor in the vehicle and also recovered an assault rifle abandoned in a field adjacent to the church.

This Phoenix home invasion and murder is a vivid reminder of the threat to U.S. law enforcement officers that stems from the cartel wars in Mexico.

Read more here.

In Praise Of Mavericks

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U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, at podium, speaks to students of the Air War College and the Air Command and Staff College in Polifka Auditorium, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., April 21, 2008.
Defense Dept. photo by Cherie Cullen

A true professional will strive to do something, not be someone
BY COL. MICHAEL D. WYLY (RET.)
ARMED FORCES JOURNAL

Civilians who serve as defense secretary rarely inspire the military men who serve in uniform. It is the profession of arms itself that has the job of exhorting, leading and studying the art of war. From time to time, however, it becomes the job of the civilian overseer to deter the military from stagnating and to prompt it to keep up with the times to serve the needs of modern war. We live in one of those times.

Robert Gates felt called upon to prompt uniformed officers accordingly when he addressed Air War College students at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base in April. His speech was more than a prompt; it was an inspiration. “The Armed Forces will need principled, creative, reform-minded leaders” who “want to do something, not be somebody,” Gates said.

The secretary continued by quoting Air Force Col. John Boyd: “If you decide to do something, you may not get promoted, and you may not get good assignments, and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors. But you won’t have to compromise yourself.”

For a defense secretary to quote a maverick colonel who left the Air Force as a pariah was a bold and risky step. But like the fighter pilot he quoted, he turned into the fight by describing Boyd as “brilliant” in his abilities “to overcome bureaucratic resistance and institutional hostility.” The secretary referred to Boyd as “a historical exemplar,” tracing his impact on our military from 30-year-old captain through to his continued intellectual contributions after retiring in 1975. And he praised Boyd for more than his intellect. He championed his character, quoting the colonel, who said, ”One day you will take a fork in the road. … If you go [one] way, you can be somebody. You will have to make compromises and you will have to turn your back on your friends. But you will be a member of the club and you will get promoted and get good assignments. Or you can go [the other] way and you can do something — something for your country and for your Air Force and for yourself.”

After they graduate and leave Maxwell, Gates warned the students: “You, too, will eventually face Boyd’s proverbial fork in the road. You will have to choose: to be someone or to do something.”

I knew Boyd as a colleague, a mentor and the most loyal personal friend. His contributions to the strength of our country ranged from airplane design through tactics and strategy air and ground, and the ethics of leadership. . . .

Read the rest here.

Misty

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In 1967, a group of combat-experienced fighter pilot volunteers were brought together in South Viet Nam to form a top secret squadron with a now-famous callsign — MISTY.

They were stationed first at Phu Cat Air Base, then in 1969, they moved to Tuy Hoa Air Base. Their mission was to fly fast and low over enemy territory, armed with only their cannons and marking rockets… so low that they could see the targets… SAMs, AAA sites, trucks, bridges, boats, bulldozers… whatever.

Their goal was straightforward: disrupt the transfer of enemy supplies and equipment down the Ho Chi Minh trail. When a Misty located one or more of these targets, he directed Air Force and Navy fighter strikes against them.

Mistys flew the two-seat version of the Super Sabre, the F-100F, and although they flew fast (350 to 550 MPH), and they continually jinked (i.e., changed direction) to spoil the enemy’s prediction of where to aim, still, 28% of the Misty pilots were shot down.

Their first commander, Colonel Bud Day, was one of those shot down, and he became a POW in the Hanoi Hilton.

Those who survived went on to important positions, including two Air Force Chiefs of Staff, seven general officers, two astronauts, numerous industry CEOs, and the first man to fly around the world unrefueled in a light aircraft.

Their web site is here.