Halloween!

Yup, got my internet back here on Halloween. So what am I going to post about?

I did post earlier today. At work. On my (ahem) lunch break. No really. I wasn't pretending to work while I was actually blogging. Seriously, I'm not kidding.

Don't believe me? Okay, you asked for it.

Oh yeah, I dig 강남 스타일!

Flint Knives and Bearskins

At Chez Sarge we are practically living in the late 19th Century.

I have no internet connection!

How very primitive. I might as well be in Outer Mongolia. Living in a yurt. Herding goats. Yes, it feels practically Neolithic.

Other than the satellite TV, the cell phone and a number of modern appliances. Heh.

This is just a quick post to answer the question "Where is the Old AF Sarge? I'll bet the old bastard is asleep at the helm again!"

Nope, just sans internet.

Hopefully the fine folks at Cox Communications will have Chez Sarge back up on the WWW real soon.

Until then...

Keep your powder dry!

Still Standing

Hurricane Waves Coming Ashore at Narragansett, RI

I'm still here. Haven't posted a thing since the 24th. Major bout of laziness could be the reason. Another possibility was getting ready for Hurricane Sandy. Really bad weather on the way does tend to make one focus on that and that alone.

So the storm has passed. No damage to Chez Sarge, only lost power for at most 30 seconds. That occurred 4 or 5 times. I basically stopped counting after the third time of resetting the clock on the microwave. (Stove clock hung in there like a champ!)

Did start to write a post last night. Stupid internet connection went down. Decided that it was a sign from God, so got off the computer and watched the Weather Channel the remainder of the evening. That rather quickly paled. One can only watch Jim Cantori describe the water level at Battery Park in NYC so many times before the bloom is off that rose.

I expect I'll be along later with (as Suldog likes to say) "more better stuff".

Useless Notions

According to the old calendar on the wall, today is United Nations Day.

Woohoo!

I must admit, I always thought that "Turtle Bay" (in New York) was an actual bay. You know, a body of water enclosed partially by land which is attached to a larger body of water. The encompassing land making the bay distinct from the larger body of water to which it belongs. (Like Cape Cod Bay, Narragansett Bay and Chesapeake Bay, all attached to the larger Atlantic Ocean, but partially surrounded by land.) Nowadays it's a neighborhood in Manhattan.

So to resolve my confusion, I went to Wikipedia. Not my most trusted source for facts, but it does in a pinch. According to Wikipedia:

Turtle Bay, which received its name in the 17th century, was a valuable shelter from the often harsh weather of the East River, and it also became a thriving site for shipbuilding.

Okay, so it used to be an actual bay. But that's not exactly the point of this post. The point is that the United Nations, the UN, is what I like to call a "Useless Notion". And of course, the UN is located in the Turtle Bay area of Manhattan. (Hence the spiel near the beginning of the post.)

Alright, so a bunch of folks got together near the end of World War II and thought it would be a good idea to have some extra-national organization to keep future bad guys in line. Of course, this time it would work because, unlike the League of Nations, the United States would be involved. (And would foot the bill, and would do all the heavy lifting, and would provide the land, etc., etc., ad nauseum.)

Perhaps a good idea. All the good guys get together and pool their various strengths to deter bad guys from causing trouble in the international neighborhood.

Problem is, they let the bad guys join too.

Now the UN is nothing more than a big alliance of nations. Where the little countries get the same number of votes as the big countries (that would be one each). Ah, but you have the Security Council, where the really big important nations can veto things. It's not like it's a democratic process. There are 15 member nations on the Security Council, five are permanent (China, France, Russia, the UK and the US). So what happens when say, one member nation invades another member nation.

Well, the Security Council can vote to take military action against the offender. But if the offending nation is a client state of one of the Big Five? Vote could be 14 in favor of kicking the offending nation's a$$. Then all the Big Five nation who is buddy-buddy with the offender has to do is veto that. Result, no action takes place. Of course there may be strongly-worded announcements and perhaps even sanctions. But if one of the Big Five is not in favor of taking action. Nothing is going to happen.

Nothing.

So what's the point of the UN? What good have they done since being founded?

Two answers: not much and very little.

It might have been a good idea at the time. But the UN is no longer of any use, to anybody except Third World loonies and dictators.

Should the US continue to be a member? My opinion is: NO!

Give them a "Notice to Vacate the Premises" and let them take their idiot debating society somewhere else.

Yeah, Happy UN Day.

Welcome Aboard!

Bounty Hunter Rhino

Talked to the Missus last Friday. She is once again "forward deployed" assisting the progeny with their ever occurring life-altering events. Three times this year, for over four months in total.

April: Off to assist the WSO as Big Time was deployed and the day care folks don't operate at night (VFA-106 does however. Little Bit is still rather young to be left on her own. She's only two!)

July-August: Another WSO assist. Big Time was still deployed and the WSO was again flying at night. Also the WSO had to prepare to make the jump from Oceana to Lemoore. Someone's gotta pack all that stuff! (As a military wife, the Missus is all too familiar with packing up a household while the uniformed one is off making the world "safe for democracy".)

October: A combination Naviguesser/WSO assist this time. The newest granddaughter is "in the house" out west, so the oldest and his spouse had the mother-in-law for two weeks and the Missus for two weeks. Then the Missus was off to Lemoore. (Someone had to help unpack all that stuff from Oceana, doncha know?)

So, the topic for last Friday (as usual) was along the lines of "how are the kids?" 'Twas then the Missus mentioned that the WSO and Big Time were at a "Hail and Farewell" on the base. Of course their participation was mandatory as they were being "hailed". Big Time as VFA-122's newest instructor pilot and the WSO as VFA-2's newest WSO.

Now with all of that background out of the way, here's the phone conversation Your Humble Scribe had with the WSO on the ensuing Saturday. Post-Hail and Farewell.

YHS: So how was the Hail and Farewell?

The WSO: Not bad, we had a good time. We drove there and walked back, it wasn't that far from where we're staying.

YHS: I can guess why you walked back.

The WSO: Don't go there Dad...

YHS: Alright, I won't. So how do the guys in VFA-2 seem? Good guys?

The WSO: Heh, bunch of drunks.

YHS: So you fit right in?

The WSO: Pretty much...

Like they say, "No slack in fighter-attack".

War is Hell

General of the Army of the United States
William Tecumseh Sherman
1820 - 1891

"War is cruelty. There's no use trying to reform it, the crueler it is the sooner it will be over.

"War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen, and I say let us give them all they want."

- William Tecumseh Sherman

The good general knew what he was talking about. These two quotes attributed to him summarize my personal beliefs concerning war. If you're going to get into one, don't screw around. Otherwise just surrender and accept the consequences. Don't waste the blood of your people if you're not in it to win.

Having a well-trained, well-equipped and well-supported military is an absolute necessity for any nation. In the first place to deter any potential enemy from attacking and in the second place to punish an enemy if they decide to attack anyway.

However, even if a nation has a well-trained, well-equipped and well-supported military, it is of no use whatsoever if the political will to properly use that military is absent.

Rational nations do not go to war. Those days are over. It is the irrational we must deal with, people so barbaric or utterly removed from humankind that they do not recognize reason. They understand one thing and one thing only. Force.

An armed force, once committed to war, is good at only two things: blowing things up and killing people. It cannot perform "nation building". It is most emphatically not a police force.

The idea is to inflict such punishment upon the enemy that they will either sue for peace or risk being utterly destroyed. It also sends a message to other potential enemies. Pour encourager les autres, as the French would say. Mess with us and die. That, to me at any rate, is the idea.

"Global Force for Good" - really? I do think we want to give our global neighbors the idea that we're the good guys. If you don't mess with us, we won't mess with you. If you're in trouble and need help, we'll do our best to help you out. In the latter case I'm thinking help on scene, bringing in relief supplies, evacuating the injured and generally being a good neighbor in the event of a disaster.

The whole point of the military is for deterrence in peace time and to blast the enemy to Hell in war time. That's it, in total, nothing else.

Before entering into a war, have an objective. Is it the destruction of the enemy's forces to compel him to quit the fight? (And not start it up again down the road.) Is it the retaking of a piece of real estate that rightfully belongs either to you or to an ally? What is the point of committing your armed forces to combat?

If the objective is hazy or unrealistic, do not go to war. Period. Full stop.

If you don't have the forces to commit, if the people do not support the effort. Do not go to war.

Do not go to war to give somebody the right to vote in some foreign land. If those folks want the right to vote, LET THEM FIGHT FOR IT!

Do not go to war to bring democracy to some foreign land. In many places in the world democracy is an alien concept. People are not the same no matter where they live. Different cultures and customs make people different. Sometimes those customs and cultures are similar to ours. Most times, they're not.

There are exceptions. Genocide is perhaps the worst crime one group of people can inflict on another group of people. That is worth going to war over. Go after the bastards committing that crime, slaughter them, cut them to pieces. Attack them and pound them until they either cease and desist, or simply cease to exist. Make any would-be dictator think twice before going on a rampage.

Do it because it's right, not because there's oil or other resources to be had. And once it's done, turn over the reins of power to the locals. Perhaps give them some aid to get their act together, but once they've got a handle on things, get out. It's their country, you've eradicated a threat now move on, go home.

If attacked, we go after the people who directed or ordered that attack. Kill them without mercy, track them down and kill them where they stand. Do not negotiate with them, do not bargain with them. If you leave the bastards in charge after launching a few cruise missiles, they will not be deterred. You want to make it hurt, you want to make it hurt so bad they would never, ever think of attacking you again. And if, for whatever reason, they do attack you again, punish them even worse the second time, leave not one brick standing upon another. Hit them and keep hitting them until there is nothing left to hit. Make them realize that attacking you is the stupidest thing they ever did.

And for pity's sake don't go after them in order to arrest them and bring them to trial. That's what police do. If you don't have the will to go after them, file a complaint with Interpol, and move on, no doubt with your tail between your legs!

War is horror. War is death and destruction. Those who would attack us must be made to understand that they will pay. And will pay dearly.

Go to war to WIN. Or learn to live with the consequences of doing not enough or doing nothing at all. There is no middle ground.

Any way, that's how I see it.

Rant complete.

A Drismal Friday Eve

F/A-18E Rhino
Big Time's Ride

It's Friday evening here on the shores of Narragansett Bay. It's drizzly and windy but surprisingly warm for this time of year.

That term "drismal" in the title? Got that from a lady at work. Combination of "drizzle" and "dismal", for those of you who (like me) wouldn't be able to figure that out on your own. Uh, what's that? You figured that out at first glance? Darn, I am dense! (For another example of my mental density, see Couple Fries Short of a Happy Meal.)

Any-hoo...

I have not done much posting lately. I have a "serious" post in the works, sort of my views on waging war, which I'm sure y'all can't wait for. But wait so ye shall, I've been getting far too serious lately and it's time to "lighten up".

That being said....

Another fun Navy production (VAW-113 Black Eagles' version of the All American Rejects "Move Along".)

Then we got a little multi-service action in this one. (Army, Navy, Air Force - didn't see any Marines, perhaps they just know better!)

That's it for now. Gotta go call the WSO out in Cali.

Doggone different time zones!