Overextended?

(Source)

This comment on yesterday's post by fellow Lexican, all around good guy, and retired officer of the Naval Service (who goes by the moniker Air Boss* - for such he once was), made me do a little research.

We need to stop fighting multiple undeclared wars all over the world without the full participation of the American People. If there was a Draft Lottery that meant the rich and well connected would be fighting, being injured, and dying overseas this situation would soon be rectified. This state of affairs is wasteful of valuable national treasure and additionally often places the burden of service on those who receive the least from our society.

So off to the depth and breadth of the Internet I went, refining my search terms, reading here, rejecting there, until I arrived at one of the Smithsonian's websites where the opening graphic was found, examined, and found to be just what I was looking for.

The article (click on the link under the map above) was rather interesting, it's short, just a few paragraphs, but well worth your time. Pay special heed to the last paragraph. Go, read it, I'll wait right here.

While the Middle East and Afghanistan gets most of the press, did you notice that our troops are also engaged in combat of one sort or another on the African continent? While I did know that, I didn't know how widespread that involvement was.

Is our military overextended?

I think so.

What say you?





* Also known as the air boss, the air officer (along with his assistant, the miniboss) is responsible for all aspects of operations involving aircraft including the hangar deck, the flight deck, and airborne aircraft out to 5 nautical miles from the carrier. From his perch in Primary Flight Control (PriFly, or the "tower"), his assistant and he maintain visual control of all aircraft operating in the carrier control zone (surface to and including 2,500 feet, within a circular limit defined by 5 nautical miles horizontal radius from the carrier), and aircraft desiring to operate within the control zone must obtain his approval prior to entry. (Source)

Shut Up and Soldier

(Source)

As a rule I dislike most peace-time generals and admirals. They got their stars by not rocking the boat, by following the rules, in essence, by being a "company man," (or woman in these modern enlightened times). I seem to recall that in the Air Force, getting a new Air Force Chief of Staff brought uniform changes "just because." (I'm a general, I think our officers should all wear Royal Air Force type rank. Also, make the uniform look like a poorly cut business suit, not a military uniform. Yes, I lived through Merrill McPeak.)

As an enlisted guy I seldom got to hobnob with the star-bedecked upper echelons of the Air Force, but from a distance we all carefully noted their behavior, both on and off duty. FWIW, one of those flag officers in that opening picture is known personally by a member of my immediate family. An honorable guy, a likable guy, still and all, there was much he could have done (according to some) during his tenure on the Joint Chiefs, which some have argued he did not. I won't judge him by that, you do what the boss wants as long as it's Constitutional. FWIW, Obama was the boss for most of his tenure on the Joint Chiefs.

A further point I will make is that, unlike the enlisted oath, the oath sworn by officers in the Federal service makes no mention of the President of the United States.

I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

One should, however, bear in mind that the President is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, Article 2, Section 2 -

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

So you flag officers work for that guy in the White House, irrespective of how you personally feel about him (or her). If the occupant of that office bugs you that much, resign your damned commission.

I would also note that the Constitution dictates precisely how the President of the United States is chosen and what the qualifications are for holding that office. Also the circumstances under which a President can be removed from said office before the expiration of his or her term.

Recently a retired admiral (Navy, not Coast Guard, and whose name I will not mention) had an opinion piece in the New York Times (yes, it's behind a pay wall but you should be able to get a "one time good deal" for one article a month without signing anything) which, as they say, went up my ass sideways. (Pardon my French, though in French that would be roughly monta mon cul de côté.)

Seems the admiral has decided that the legally elected President of the United States needs to be shown the door. Primarily (as I read it) because the President no longer wishes to keep troops scattered around the world (though in this particular instance I gather that the esteemed admiral is really concerned about the Kurds, in Syria) fighting someone else's war. There I said it.

The admiral mentions the Greatest Generation -

We were reminded that the Greatest Generation went to war because it believed that we were the good guys — that wherever there was oppression, tyranny or despotism, America would be there. (Source)

Nope, they went to war because the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. They didn't really give a crap that the Japanese had been killing Chinese by the thousands since the 1930s, nor that the Nazis were busy killing Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Danes, Norwegians, Belgians, Dutch, British, Russians and others for quite some time before the Japanese fleet had even sortied to attack Hawaii. That whole "we're the good guys" shtick gets old after a while. We're not the world's policeman nor should we be.

Lyndon B. Johnson (hack-ptooie) once said "We are not about to send American boys 9 or 10 thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves." Perhaps the only thing he said as a politician which made sense.

And yes, of course he was lying. (58,220 Americans can attest to that, or would if they were still alive.)

I have no problem with the admiral's personal opinion of what the country should (or should not) do when it comes to fighting other people's wars, but the implication that he and certain other flag officers feel that the President is "destroying the Republic" and should be removed from office is sedition, pure and simple.

These men and women, of all political persuasions, have seen the assaults on our institutions: on the intelligence and law enforcement community, the State Department and the press. They have seen our leaders stand beside despots and strongmen, preferring their government narrative to our own. They have seen us abandon our allies and have heard the shouts of betrayal from the battlefield. As I stood on the parade field at Fort Bragg, one retired four-star general, grabbed my arm, shook me and shouted, “I don’t like the Democrats, but Trump is destroying the Republic!” (Source)

 Sedition, which is conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch, is a pretty serious crime -

18 U.S.C. § 2384 - U.S. Code - Unannotated Title 18. Crimes and Criminal Procedure § 2384. Seditious conspiracy 

If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both. (Source)

What the Hell is going on at the upper echelons of our society?

Seems like a Federal investigation might be in order, to look at actual crimes (like sedition) as opposed to imaginary ones. Oh, that oath you swore? Doesn't expire and I do recall that retired military members can still be court martialed for violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Article 94 bro, you should read it.

As we conservatives often say to those in the entertainment industry espousing their political opinions, "Just shut up and sing." In this case, "Just shut up and soldier."

I worry about our future.

Your thoughts?





Yes, I used to respect that admiral. No more. And yes, I am livid about his opinion. YMMV

Back in Action

(Source)

After feeling très misérable for the better part of a week, I decided to extend the weekend into Monday, for the sleep that was in it. I'm glad I did, though I will, no doubt, regret the loss of a day off sometime down the road, I really needed that extra day of stay in bed and let the body heal itself. Which it does if the damage isn't too severe. No doubt my blogging brother-in-arms, the Naval Air Cowman can tell tales of such things. (Which he often does.)

So here it is, Monday evening and whilst I'm not fully mission capable just yet, I'm effective enough to get my job done. I'm also past the sharing stage of this rhinovirus encounter so I won't be infecting any co-workers with same. No doubt they would return the favor.

As I often do when down for maintenance, I like to peruse the Internet for things of interest, news items, bon mots, and other tidbits. I am finding more and more that the number of complete idiots with access to the Internet is growing by leaps and bounds. There is little civility that I can see and an absolute dearth of manners.

Those who lean towards what is often described as the "Left" are perhaps the worst. Back in the day they would best be described as "sore losers." On the gripping hand, their are many on the so-called "Right" who seem to epitomize the term "bad winners." No side has a claim to absolute truth, most wouldn't recognize it if it walked up to them and bit them in the ass.

Just sayin'.

Some time back I indicated that an upcoming movie, T-34, had piqued my interest. It looked a bit over the top, but entertaining. Here's the trailer -

I noted over the weekend that the film was available on Amazon Prime, so I watched it. There were some historical inaccuracies (of course, even Russian Hollywood, or whatever they call it there, tends to sacrifice accuracy for story, sometimes it's just crappy research that does the filmmakers in) but overall it was most entertaining. I did have one majoe headache with the version I watched.

It was dubbed over in English, and not very well I'm afraid.

I have been watching a lot of Russian TV shows and films on the Second World War (or the Great Patriotic Was as they call it) and I'm starting to get the rhythm of the Russian language. Dubbing T-34 in English hurt my enjoyment of the film. Why do that Amazon? Why? I'm sure there is a Russian version with subtitles. (Just like the trailer above.)

I like watching a movie in its original language, with subtitles if possible. Wasn't always the case in Korea. Oddest film I ever went to there was a really over the top Chinese kung fu action film, in Chinese. It did have subtitles though. Korean subtitles. So I wasn't really able to follow the plot. But as it was an action film, the plot wasn't that important though I did get the gist of it.

Dubbing a film into English is not preferred but is acceptable if it isn't totally screwed up. Which was the case with another film on Amazon Prime titled Ambushed. Based on an actual event during the wars after the break up of Yugoslavia, the original title of the film (in Croatian) is Broj 55, or Number 55 - the number of the house where the action takes place.

Film looked interesting, so I decided to watch it. About twenty minutes in I couldn't take it anymore and had to switch it off. The dubbing on the film was horrendous. The voice acting sucked and the dubbing sounded like a bunch of "actors" of limited talent reading their lines inside a sound booth. No background noise, no ambient noise at all. They even had one character, who is apparently a backwoods kind of Croatian guy, speaking with an American hillbilly accent. A bad American hillbilly accent.

Sucks when people ruin things like that. I mean I get not wanting to have to read subtitles, it does distract you from the action on the screen, but hey, at least do a decent job of it.

If anyone knows where I can get this movie in the original language, let me know. It does look interesting.

That's all for now, it's back to work for me on Tuesday. Enjoy your day.

Suicide Squadron

Well...Had to use a long time delayed fuse on this posting as the Ladies in my life have dictated my location and activities for the next couple of weekends. This past weekend those dictates mandated a visit to my favorite National Park.

(No, Beans, Yosemite is #2, Yellowstone is #3. Haven't been to any in FL, so not on the list.)

We went to Big Bend. Yes...Again!

Turns out that MBD had only visited once. With a near tragic outcome. Visiting in Late May with a bunch of her girlfriends, they decided to go hiking on the Eastern Flats (AKA Desert). Seems they forgot my reminder that they needed a minimum of 1 gallon of water, per person, per day.

Fortunately, a group of recently commissioned Aggie Corps of Cadets, were behind them and managed to bring them back to civilization, and water, intact.

For some reason, I suddenly became more knowledgeable about certain things...like desert survival, to them.

ANYHOW, since SIL has never been to the park, and MBD has only been that one time we're returning. It's October, not May, we're going to hike the Chisos Basin and visit Santa Elena canyon, and only one day, visiting Ft Davis and McDonald Observatory on Sunday.

So I'm only bringing 8 gallons of water. If I don't respond to your comments this morning...Send Water!

Update: Water resupply unnecessary. All returned safely. After Action Report Next Week this time.

But, as I said, the weather has been pretty fallish lately. Some rain, but only enough to really settle the dust and keep me inside, so....videos.

 I discovered two that were pretty fascinating to me. Both were about the RAF's 617 Squadron. Now, Chanter Cognoscenti are going to quickly remember that 617 (pronounced Six-One-Seven, not Six-Seventeen, not sure why. Ask Sarge, he knows everything) are the "Dambusters".

 I first came to know their story via book and the movie, not sure which was first. It was when Dad was stationed at Webb. I mowed lawns for Pepsi and Cherry Pie money, and picked up a gig where I got to go to the Base Movie theater for free in exchange for mowing their lawn. That and the library were favorite haunts for my best friend Mike and I.

So when I saw this first video, I was intrigued.  It's part of a series on engineering and talks about how the attack on the dams was engineered.  It describes the process of figuring out how to destroy a dam in general, then engineering the bombs necessary to actually accomplish that.

I'm not trained in engineering, but I still found it educational.  YMMV.

And of course, once you watch one video on YouTube, all recommendations afterward are changed to reflect that video.

So, my eye was attracted to one entitled "What the Dambusters did next".   It is narrated by a retired RAF WSO (or whatever the RAF calls the backseater) who flew in GW-1 in a Tornado, was shot down and captured by Saddam's forces.  He tells an interesting story with some good footage and graphics to make the story a bit more understandable.   I'll embed the video, but it's over an hour long.  You might want to put a fresh pot of coffee on.  For those of you poor sods who have to go to work,  I'll run you through a short synopsis.

Having viewed the first video, I won't bore you with bouncing bomb stuff,  although having a very large bomb bounce off the water immediately (60 ft) below you several times had to be a wee bit sphincter tightening, no matter how fearless you may be.

The raid was lead by  Wing Commander Guy Gibson who, at the time, had over a hundred missions under his belt.  The "old man" as Wing Commanders are usually referred (behind their backs, of course) was 24 years old.  Yes, I re-read that a couple of times.  24!

Lancaster
Source

Another thing that I don't think I realized/remembered was the losses taken. Of the 19 Lancasters that launched, 8 were shot down with 53 aircrew killed and 3 taken prisoner.  Still 2 of the 3 dams attacked were destroyed and the last had minor damage.  Gibson was awarded the Victoria Cross for the mission, and the squadron's reputation was established.  Unfortunately, Gibson will be killed later in the war, at age 26, with 170 combat missions under his belt. 

However, as my 4 star Army General and Former Roommate is fond of saying "Excellence is it's own punishment.",  the reputation must be maintained.

In September, the squadron is assigned to attack the Dortmund-Ems Canal.  The mission is planned to use a very similar attack profile as used against the dams.  But whereas, the dam mission (did I say that?)  profile had the bombers coming in over large lakes, thereby minimizing AAA (HISSSS!!), the canal didn't have that limitation.  Of the 8 bombers assigned, 5 were shot down, including Gibson's replacement.  Only very minimal damage was achieved in the attack.

So, in two raids, essentially the entire squadron has been shot down.  Most of the experienced aircrew have been lost and, at best , are POW's.  Morale is extremely low and there's discussion among themselves of being the "Suicide Squadron".

The new wing commander, Leonard Chesire, decides that the low level tactics being used regularly are counter-productive, and develops different tactics to identify and mark the target while minimizing exposure.  Essentially, he, himself, the wing commander,  will find the target and mark it with small incendiary bombs while the rest of the squadron is still approaching at altitude.  He tries this on a munitions factory in France, making several passes, to encourage the French civilians working there to take shelter before the attack commences.  The attack is a success.

Amazing what leading from the front can do for morale.

However, weapons delivery technology is still primitive (by my 1980's and '90s experiences) so the squadron is used as the test bed for several new weapons.  The primary weapon of choice for the squadron were a12,000 lb bomb code named "Tallboy" and it's bigger brother the 22,000 lb bomb code named "Grand Slam".  These bombs were specifically designed to be gyrostabilised in flight.  These were effectively used against a heavily fortified U-Boat production facility as well as a hypervelocity cannon site being built to attack London.

Tallboy, Only 12000 lbs Source

Grand Slam Source

In September 1944, the squadron is ordered to attack the German Battleship Tirpitz which is being repaired in a Fjord in very northern Norway.  617 squadron takes off from Scotland, threads their way across Norway between radar stations, lands in the Soviet Union, refuels and attacks the Tirpitz on their way home, using Tallboy bombs.  The bombs score a hit rendering her unseaworthy,  so she is moved to another Fjord for larger repairs.

This Fjord is within range of the Lancasters from Scotland.  In conjunction with another squadron (Number IX), at least two Tallboy's hit the ship, one, dropped by an American, hits dead center, another, from IX squadron, also hits the ship .  The latter is the bomb officially credited with sinking the ship.  Those are the highlighted missions in the video.

Throughout the war, 617 Squadron flew 1599 sorties losing 32 Aircraft.

Post war, the squadron flew Avro Lincolns, the Canberra, the Vulcan, and the Tornado.

Avro Lincoln

English Electric Canberra

Vulcan

Panavia Tornado

 It is currently flying the F-35B.

Source for the Aircraft Pictures

Good on ya', Lads


So...if you've got an hour and change, this is actually pretty interesting.

...Where You Find It

October has long been a favorite month of mine. There is a crispness in the air which hints at the coming of winter, the afternoon sunlight has a muted look. The trees prepare for their long sleep, the growing season is over.

That picture above and the next two were snapped next to our local food emporium. I was just getting into my car when I noticed that the leaves were changing color and that many had already fallen.

Though you can't see it, there is a chain link fence just below the bottom edge of these photos. Behind your vantage point is a parking lot full of cars with people bustling about going in to shop, coming out with carts full of food. But from these pictures you'd never know.

Though I live in a small town, as such things are measured, it is twice the size of the town where I grew up. It can be noisy, even in the middle of the night, compared to some places I've been.

The place we stayed last weekend was about as rural as you can get, the nights there were calm and quiet.

The house was built back in the 1790s then refurbished in 2003, seven bedrooms, five baths, the house was chock full of family.

Saw deer grazing on the nearby hillsides twice, though I'm sure they were there every evening at around dusk. The views were spectacular, the company inside was comforting and warm.

We were graced with a full moon that weekend, seeing it rise over the Virginia hills was something to be forever remembered.

Late in the afternoon on Friday I could hear geese honking not far away, as I walked from the parking lot to the house, a skein of geese came up from the nearby pond, all in formation and gaining altitude as they headed out.

I had the chance to walk down to the pond with the senior granddaughter, she wanted to show me around as the kids had had more of a chance to explore. That little outbuilding has fishing rods, according to the brochure, the pond is stocked. What a marvelous place!

Monday morning as we prepared to leave, you could still see the rose petals on the walk from the wedding the day before.

As we packed up, I had the sudden, saddening thought that in all likelihood I would never see this beautiful place again. The place where my oldest daughter tied the knot with a very good man.

But I was privileged to have spent a long weekend there. I will always remember Guildford Farm.

Beauty is...




Yes, I am feeling better.

Still Under the Weather

The pilot fish is also a nasty bugger, if'n you ask me.

How about some music?

Just not feeling it, awfully glad it's Saturday, I might just stay in bed until Monday.

Talk quietly amongst yourselves...

Blah...

(Source)

Seiner Majestäts Schiff* Seydlitz sustained massive amounts of damage at the Battle of Jutland in the spring of 1916. She was sometimes known as the "Shell Magnet" -

Her baptism of fire took place at the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1914, against the HMS Lion, conceding three hits that caused a dramatic fire. Repaired, she went back into service only to hit a mine in 1916 and again repaired.

At the Battle of Jutland, she was hit by two torpedoes from the destroyers HMS Petard and Turbulent, and above 22 hits including 16 from the British latest fast dreadnoughts (381 mm). Managing to survive miraculously, she barely made it to the German coast, beaching with more than 5330 tons of seawater its bulkheads.

Again repaired, he reached Scapa Flow like the rest of the Hochseeflotte after the armistice, scuttled it in 1919, and was bailed to be demolished in 1928. (Source)

And why do I bring this up today? SMS Seydlitz looks far better than I feel right now.

Head clogged, hacking cough, with a bonus sore throat in the wee hours of Thursday morn.

Staying alive via NyQuil and DayQuil but still feel like death warmed over.

Rode hard and put away wet for you equestrian types.

Looking forward to the weekend and just staying in bed.

Sigh, life in the fast lane.




* Seiner Majestäts Schiff = His Majesty's Ship, SMS is the German version of HMS.