Mongo's Montreaux

American Bushido

2012-01-17T20:32:00.000-08:00

Yeah, What He Said

2012-01-16T16:46:00.000-08:00

H/T to Starbuck

Don't Give a Damn Gun to a Damn Monkey

2011-08-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

This has to be fake. Still, post-worthy.

Word Up, Yo

2011-08-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

If You Can't Do The Time, Don't Do The Crime

2011-07-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

Or, um, okay, maybe the time idn't so bad, all things considered.

This kind of thing, though, might start a crime wave.

Obviously, He Had Numbers On His Side

2011-04-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

For as long as I can remember, the professionals I've known (to include Pops Mongo) have had a reverential respect for the Gurkhas.
I've never had cause to think that respect was misplaced.

Something New And Shiny

2011-01-08T18:32:00.000-08:00

A new organization is being spun up.

Voting With Their Feet

2011-01-07T17:49:00.000-08:00

Not only is the shrinking gene pool from which we get the Troops we need to maintain the predominant military force on the planet a problem, but retaining the good Officers to lead and employ them is problematic, too. The Atlantic drills down into why a lot of our best talent is voting with its feet.
The best point: It's not the money.
The next best is that you can't just try to change the culture. Change the system, and the culture will adapt. I made some similar points on breaking up the "cookie cutter" career path earlier. While I agree with the need to change in principle, I'm a little leery of Tim Kane's recommendations.

Here is how a market alternative would work. Each commander would have sole hiring authority over the people in his unit. Officers would be free to apply for any job opening. If a major applied for an opening above his pay grade, the commander at that unit could hire him (and bear the consequences). Coordination could be done through existing online tools such as monster.com or careerbuilder.com (presumably those companies would be interested in offering rebranded versions for the military). If an officer chose to stay in a job longer than “normal” (“I just want to fly fighter jets, sir”), that would be solely between him and his commander.

This approach is a little suspicious to me. True, it facilitates recognizing and rewarding niche brilliance, but my sense is that it would, over time, lapse into nepotism. If a guy is, in his own estimation, successful as a Lieutenant Colonel because of the Majors and Captains assigned to him, then there's a good chance he'll pull these guys into his orbit as a Colonel. This runs the risk of developing, as a co-worker of mine once succinctly put it, ,into "impenetrable titanium cylinders of excellence." Look at how the insularity and lack of perspective that Stanley McChrystal's hand-picked staff possessed laid him low. Also, a lot of "high-speed"--or at least high demand-- positions would become difficult if not impossible to break into if one hasn't had the right opportunity to fellate the right officers over the course of the years.
Still, the vast, heart-breaking numbers of Lieutenants and Captains that I got to know in Iraq, great young leaders all, who were determined to get out once they got home because of their disillusionment with their local leadership and the military bureaucracy bespeak the need for a change.

20th Century Cloak and Dagger Meets the 21st Century

2011-01-07T17:17:00.000-08:00

I'd heard a little bit about the Mossad hit on Hamas bigwig Al Mabhouh in Dubai, and that the Mossad bungled it. This article lays out what happened about as well as anything else out there.
It doesn't sound like the mission was "bungled" in the since that bad TTP were employed (after all, Al Mabhouh is deader'n shit), so much as the TTP weren't updated to meet the challenges of running such an operation under the Unblinking Eye that is life in the 21st century. Also, per the article, yeah, it sounds like hubris played a decisive role in the loss of deniability: assuming your opponent is a dumb ass is no way to preserve OPSEC, son.

Unleash the Hounds

2011-01-04T20:01:00.000-08:00

Dennis Miller is the funniest guy, and most perceptive commentator, in the country. I can say that shit because this is a blog and my opinion counts, dammit. Anyway, he's got a new special, "The Big Speech" coming out.
Here's a taste:

Only Half Right

2011-01-04T19:58:00.000-08:00

Matthew, over at Straight Forward in a crooked world, always has posts chock-full of good to know stuff. Okay, so you may never find yourself trying to exfil Zimbabwe with the kidnap victim whose release you just negotiated, but still, it'd be nice to know what you should have in your kit bag if you do, right?
But his observations on the recent Florida school board shooting are only half right, and to some extent miss the point--or at least, don't highlight the point that is missed by the law-givers and law abiding public. His half-right sentiments are

When you encounter an individual whose desire is violence, death and destruction you must meet him on equal terms. While it may seem brave for a man to try and lovingly talk a gunman into laying down his gun and save his life or for an old woman to swing her purse at a gunman it simply is not appropriate.

If you have a gun you shoot him, if you have a knife you make a strategic move to get behind him if you can and put the knife into the back of his skull or kidneys. If all you have is a fire extinguisher you blind him with the spray get out of the path of blind fire and use the canister to bludgeon him to death and leave his head a bloody pulp on the linoleum.

The problem is, even if you apply via the FL Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Division of Licensing (I know, right?) and get your concealed weapons permit, you won't have your weapon of choice on you at the school board meeting, because guns (and the other weapons covered by the permit) aren't allowed there; just like they're not allowed on school grounds. So, if you happened to be a concerned, civic-minded parent going to the school board meeting, you are stuck with going the (most dangerous, least effective) fire extinguisher route right off the bat (no pun intended). Whatever Mr. Duke's widow says, it is only by the grace of God that no innocents were slain.
Now tell me, after watching the video, did Mr. Duke seem distressed about breaking the law and bringing a gun to a school board meeting?

Hey, "Turbo," Ever Hear Of "Quiet" Professionals?

2011-01-03T21:05:00.000-08:00

WTF.

We Are All Screwed

2011-01-03T20:50:00.000-08:00

Just watched the infamous, nefarious videos from the USS Enterprise's XO-cum-CDR. You can find them at this here link. I got the link (I think) from CDR Salamandar.
I've heard a lot of hemming and hawing about the videos, and how much CPT--oops, Capt Honors had to do with making them, and how offensive they are and that any officer who would promulgate, let alone star in, such videos obviously has displayed a gross lack of judgment. Okay. I'll critique the film.
First--
-I'm an Army guy, not a fucking squid, so I may well misinterpret or flat-out get wrong some of the cultural stuff.
- I don't necessarily like the Navy.
-I have, however, a lot of Joint time under my belt. Not much time, though, working with Navy surface warfare or aviation guys.
-the only time I've ever been on aircraft carriers was to lilly-pad off of them, so I am absolutely unqualified to comment on carrier operations, culture, lifestyle, or humor.
That, said, let me comment on carrier operations, culture, lifestyle, and humor.
The videos were funny. Sure, the use of the pejorative "fag*" was used a couple times. This was done by the XO's aviation "alter-ego" aviator toward the SWO. Uh, other than the use of this heinous word, fag, the skit was a dig at naval aviators, who are often caricatured as looking down on everyone, especially at surface warfare guys. Note, too, that the SWO always hits back, usually by flipping the bird, although my favorite hit-back was, when masturbation was the subject, by stating "you've got the smoothest hands on the ship" or something like that. This can be interpreted to mean:
1) you do less work than anyone on the ship
2) your hands are so sleek and smooth because you jerk off more than anyone on the ship
3) I know your hands are so smooth because you spend so much time jerking me off
or 4) any combination of 1-3, which are all pretty funny going from a surface guy to an aviator.
So, the "fag" comments were, in my admittedly unschooled estimation, a way of poking fun at the aviators, not the fag SWOs. It was satire. Get over it.
Apparently, other than the fact that "fag" was used, the use of the term and concept of "masturbation" was deployed for comic relief. Gee, who'd've thought that on a ship with 6,000 crew members, deployed for 6-9 months, where fraternization with the opposite sex is cause for disciplinary action regardless of marital status, masturbation would be a running joke? And to actually mention it and joke about it on the ship's CCTV? Scandalous. I am shocked and appalled. Not.
Without a dog in the fight, let me just say that this guy (CPT, oops, I mean Capt Honors) was probably going above and beyond in trying to entertain the crew and humanize the chain of command. The Navy's rank structure is, in my experience, a lot more hierarchical than the Army's (much to the chagrin of a lot of senior Army guys). A Captain, in the XO position, is neigh unto a God upon the waters. The fact that a lot of the humor actually poked fun at and holes in the persona of the XO (e.g., waking up with guys in the sack with him; threads of continuity to rum, sodomy, and the lash, anyone?) shows that the guy was demonstrating that he wasn't an automaton. I'd be willing to bet, sight unseen, that if one were to view all the content of all of the XO's videos, one would find all kinds of admonitions to maintaining the standard, upholding the traditions of the Navy, and going above and beyond to support the war on terror.
I read some talking head somewhere that stated "the XO of that sized ship is pretty busy, how'd he have time to do anything else?" Because, numbnuts, he had a couple guys working production, and he made time out of his schedule to do something that--right or wrong--he viewed as good for the crew. And he has the time to do it because he only sleeps 2-3 hours a night. See that part about him taking a shower with his comms unit in a waterproof baggie? I'm betting that was only partly in jest.
To relieve a guy for these videos (made, I hear, two or three years ago), is a sad statement on the military. How about standing up for the guy, putting the vids in context, and explaining to the great unwashed punditry the cultural differences between a ship at war and the salons of PC circle-jerkery in the beltway?
All I can say is:
-thank God I never made any videos. Not that I'm ever going to get promoted again or be in command of something comparable to an aircraft carrier.
- If this is cause the relief of a proven, wartime leader, we are all screwed.

*In my job, having hung up the guns and now devoted to typing, filing, and making coffee, I'm known as a Former Action Guy. Hmmm, what acronym do you think I have to live with?

Rednecks Got Nothing On Vacationing Serbs

2011-01-03T10:11:00.000-08:00

Man, I thought US Grade-A Truck Drivin' Bocephus-listenin' Rednecks would hands down win any drunken "Hey, ya'll, check this shit out" contests.

After this Serb pulled his stunt, though, Team Redneck is going to have to up its game.

It's Procreation, Not Rocket Surgery

2011-01-03T09:57:00.000-08:00

DADT in a different culture.
And they really mean, "don't tell":

And, the impact of those experiences is already being felt in portions of Afghanistan, putting American forces squarely in the middle of complex moral, social and sexual issues. A source at Army Special Operations command tells In From the Cold that Afghan women, emboldened by the presence of U.S. troops. have complained about beatings they've suffered at the hands of their husbands. The domestic violence reportedly stemmed from the inability of the women to become pregnant and produce sons, highly valued in Afghan society.
When U.S. civil affairs teams (and other special forces units) quietly investigated the problem, they quickly discovered a common denominator. Virtually all of the younger men who beat their wives (over their inability to become pregnant) had been former "apprentices" of older Afghan men, who used them for their sexual pleasure. Upon entering marriage, whatever the men knew of sex had been learned during their "apprenticeship," at the hands of the older man. To put it bluntly, some of the younger Afghans were unfamiliar with the desired (and required) mechanics for conception.

DADT Repeal Is The Least Of Our Recruiting Woes

2011-01-03T09:34:00.000-08:00

The repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell may or may not have a deleterious effect on recruiting, but In From the Cold reports that we've got more serious problems than whether the God Fearing Hillbilly can serve (and fight, live, shower, etc.) with an openly out Johnny Swish; a vast swathe of our recruiting gene pool can't even pass the cognitive aptitude tests to get into the service.

Also mentioned is the issue of new recruits' physical fitness, or lack thereof. However, since most of our data on the portion of the population that is overweight or obese is drawn from the Body Mass Index, I'm less concerned about that. According to the BMI, pretty much every member of every NFL team would be obese or morbidly obese (to include them little skinny kicker fellas). While the BMI--and the Army's height/weight standards--tend to favor Thoroughbreds, there is a compelling argument that there is a military requirement for draft horses. The problem is that BMI doesn't allow one to discriminate between a lard ass and a hard ass.
And, going out on a limb here, as I'm not really in a position to evaluate or observe new soldiers in action, there are a couple of points that give me cause for pause before I condemn the Nintendo (or wii or X-box, whatever) generation. First, the guys making editorial comments are all older/senior guys. Every generation thinks those behind it are softer/have had it easier than they did. Second, attainment of physical fitness is a matter of will and motivation. If the Army can't supply that, then we've got bigger problems than the fitness level of Generation Couch Potato. Finally, fitness is to a great extent relative. A guy who can crush the Army PT test can get crushed by any randomly picked Crossfit WOD, and I know a whole lot of Crossfit fanatics that get gassed PDQ on the jiu-jitsu mats, unless they also train for that in their spare time*.

*Not going all billy-badass here dissin' my crossfit brethren; most WODs make me want to curl into the fetal position and start thumb-sucking.

A Mongo New Year; Kind Of Like A Redneck New Year, Only Everyone Was Sober

2011-01-03T09:06:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve Day, I took the Lads and Mongolette #1 out to the local range. There, we linked up with the unit marksmanship instructor. The Lads cut their teeth on employing pretty much anything that could launch a projectile, but it was time for Mongolette #1 to get her 101 course in combat handgunning, shotgunning, and use of the AR.

The day got a "two-thumbs up" from everyone.

Happy Christmas, Everyone

2010-12-24T13:15:00.000-08:00

Yes. Exactly That.

2010-12-19T20:04:00.000-08:00

Professor Hanson decries the lack of emphasis on the liberal arts, and he's right.

I Need To Stop Checking Funky News Sites

2010-12-14T18:24:00.000-08:00

I thought that we plumbed the depths of lame-o sexuality with this story.
I was wrong.
Things can be worse. So much worse.

An Elegant Solution to the Problem Set

2010-12-14T16:22:00.000-08:00

The title refers to an oft cited requirement in jiu-jitsu. It's not enough to just pummel one's opponent and batter him into submission--although that's always acknowledged as a sound means of ending the confrontation. Instead, it is better to confound him, confuse him, and let him be the architect of his own demise. A liberal application of "brute force and ignorance" may well solve the problem, but it's not the preferred method of engineering the end of the conflict.
This article brought that axiom to mind. The introduction of the stuxnet computer worm into the Iranian "bomb project" called for high-end artistry in at least three different and difficult endeavors (procuring the software codes, introducing stuxnet to the Iranian computing systems, and keeping the malignant code under the radar until it had done its damage). Also, the stuxnet computer worm achieved three different objectives (skewing research and application numbers, so that none of the data can ever be trusted; ruining the life-cycle of Iranian centrifuges; and eating into the Iranian supply of uranium by "spinning" worthless product), all of which will have a long-term, deleterious effect on Iranian nuclear ambitions.
Further, the later attack on two Iranian scientists--at least one of whom was a leader in the effort to mitigate the effects of stuxnet--demonstrates a sublime commitment to spoiling Iranian efforts to generate a nuclear weapon.
Stuxnet represents the high end of the art of cyber mayhem.
The authors of this op make Assange look like a piker.

I'll Be In My Bunk...

2010-12-02T20:36:00.000-08:00

Yeah, after watching this I needed some quiet time and a Camel.

A Uniquely American Story

2010-11-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

What other country could point to a story like this? A great American, who is, through determination and application, living the American dream.

On Traveling

2010-10-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, still no Trav-O-Rama pics from when I'm on the road. This is less because I'm doing high-speed stuff that requires OPSEC than from the fact that I temporarily misplaced my cheap-o camera's recharge/download cable.

Shoes- So, going through the (always full of ass-pain) security lines, as I came out of the metal detector and and was replacing my three gray bins full of stuff into their rightful places before grabbing my shoes and belt and moving to somewhere out of the traffic to put them back on, some uber-traveler wearing plimsole flip-flops and nylon shorts goes waltzing by me with a very superior look on his face. Kinda like "I've got this dicked and you still haven't figured it out." Uh-huh. Check it out, my little shower-shoe wearing Twinkle Toes: those shoes do you no good in anything but getting through security. If anything bad happens, your shoes are a big, fat liability.
Bad Thing 1: Terrorist /random nut job on the plane. Your shoes are zero protection, and you have zero chance of using them (still attached to your feet) as a field expedient weapon. Foot stomp? Shin kick? Shin rake? Knee-buckler? Place-kick to the jewels? Nope.
Bad Thing 2: In-flight emergency/crash landing. Your shoes won't protect your feet from debris, twisted metal, other people's shoes as they run over your ass to get to the emergency exit.
Bad Thing 3: Post emergency survival situation. So let's say you survive the crash and the ensuing fireball, and you're on the ground wherever Mr. Newton's gravity says the plane will land. How good are your flip flops in triple canopy? A swamp? A mountainside? Yeah, I thought not.
Anyway, suck up the extra five minutes it takes you at the security point and wear a decent, reliable pair of brogans when you travel.

-Fitness on the Road: So, being tired of having my PT regimen limited to the quality of the gym at whatever hotel I'm in, and bored with push-ups, flutter kicks, and Hindu squats in the room, I started traveling with a kettlebell (hey, I'm authorized excess baggage, why not take advantage of it?). So, my first trip out with the kettlebell, I leave the room at the ass-crack of dawn to get a workout in. I'm feeling very smug and superior--kind of a fitness version of Mr. Twinkle Toes above--and head for the elevator to go outside and find a grassy knoll on which to kick my own ass. Waiting for the elevator, I run into another dude--carrying a kettlebell! How weird is that? Guess I'm not as original and kettlebells aren't as esoteric as I thought.

-Fall to your knees and give thanks: ...for the 2nd Amendment. I'm currently in what will be for me the third country in a row which the State Department ranks "critical" for violent crime. The Force Protection brief I received upon getting in-country is enough to make one want to spend the trip huddled under the hotel bed in the fetal position, thumb sucking. The bad guys are armed to the teeth, the good guys are outgunned, and the general populace are victims. It sucks. That whole spiel about how when guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns is a cliche for a reason. That reason being that it's farkin' true.

SWAT!!

2010-10-29T19:15:00.000-07:00

SWAT explained here.
Newest installment.

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie calls Jon Corzine quintessential limousins liberal Democrat in America

Good For Her

2010-10-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

Katrina Hodge, Miss England, has completed her term as the island nations reigning beauty queen and will now go back to her old job--as a corporal in Her Majesty's army.

Good for her. Hey, it's not on the same scale as George Washington refusing to serve more than two terms and going back to private citizenship, but I'm more than sure that she could have cashed out on the deal and used it to leverage some sort of private sector gig.

Kudos.

Knives, Watches, Guns, and Shoes

2010-10-03T10:28:00.001-07:00

I'll never be a fashion trend-setter. My kids have to be cattle-prodded to go to market with me when I'm in my "shopping attire"--basically monkey-feet, MC-Hammer looking 1980's weightlifter pants, either a wife-beater t-shirt or an old flannel shirt with collar and sleeves ripped off, and of course, the ubiquitous man-purse. It's a fashion look I choose to call "Bohemian Steroid," and the eye-rolling it induces from my progeny is worth every penny I (don't) spend to achieve my sartorial splendor.
Still, there's some stuff that you've got to pay for if you want the product to "get it right." Knives, watches, guns and shoes are personal items I won't short on. In the interest of ensuring I've got the right tool for the job, I'll make my wife nuts with the price I'm willing to pay. Conversely, I'll usually do a pretty good job at ensuring that I don't confuse "want" with "need." If a $60 G-shock will give me the functions and reliability I need, I'm good with it.
But I can understand somebody wanting to pay a little extra to add some bling to the functional tool for which they are paying. Hey, if you want to shell out an extra $150 bucks for the Suunto you want instead of the G-shock you need, knock yourself out. It's a free country.
Still, are these guys asking almost 90 grand for a watch? And people pay that? Okay, I don't know what a tourbillion is, but still...

Dude, It Was In Your Butt

2010-10-01T16:53:00.000-07:00

Everyone gets a little creative license when blogging. So, I thought that there may well be a little exaggeration in tgace's post about what criminals/bad guys are saying vice what they mean.

Apparently, I was wrong.

Is Nothing Sacred?

2010-09-29T16:52:00.000-07:00

There are certain symbols, icons and archetypes with which one should not fuck. I'm not talking about cry-baby muslims who feel the need to run amok at the mere hint of a whiff of a rumor of some sort of "insult" to Islam. No, I'm talking serious shit, here.
True Grit is one of the best movies ever made. And John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn is probably the most iconic role that the Duke ever played.
You don't fuck with it...
Except.
Except the Coen brothers are outstanding film makers. And Jeff Bridges is probably the best of our current (sorry) generation of film stars. And the Coen brothers make really good films.
So something that never should have been, out of respect, out of homage, out of consideration for a work of art that can only be described as complete, is made and now looming over the holiday season horizon.
And I gotta say: I'm going to watch it, and I think it's going to be pretty good.
The Dude playing The Duke. Who'd've thought?

Holy Schnikes

2010-09-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

Okay, saw this post from Starbuck, but at the time I didn't have the pipes (or the inclination) to download it. Now that I'm back in the world of broad band, though...
Holy shit.
All I can say is, if I'd been in the crew compartment during this particular adventure, someone would've gotten an ass-whoopin at mission complete. 'T's all I'm saying.
In the meantime...Holy shit.

Airborne Murine Drug-Zombie Campaign

2010-09-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

What a great headline for the feel-good story of the year.

Great Concept, Killer Trailer

2010-09-25T16:44:00.000-07:00

Behold a trailer not for a soon-to-be-released cinematic extravaganza or for the ABC Movie of the Week. Nope, it's a movie trailer for a book. How awesome and original is that? Of course, awesome and original marketing techniques are required for the nexus of Star Trek and the Zombie Apocalypse. Double click to bring up der youtube; I can't seem to get the sizing right, dammit.

Meditations on Shooting

2010-09-25T13:57:00.001-07:00

Just got off the road. Sorry, for technical reasons, no pict-o-graphic travelogue this time. Just a couple of observations.
One thing that continually chaps my ass is Uncle Sam's insistence that when traveling, you only get 75% of your per diem on travel days. Now, this makes sense if you're driving to a conference 138 miles up the road. But if you're travel requires a dedicated day and the inclusion of planes, trains, and automobiles, you're screwed. So, the day I'm pulling down only 75% of what the Army says I need in order to feed myself, I either pay airport extortionist prices or opt for no chow. Great. Yuh, it's not like I'm breaking the bank if I get a personal (cardboard tasting) pizza and a coke for $16, it's just the cognitive dissonance built into the system that makes me nuts.
Anyway, enough sniveling.
On this last trip, I was reminded of this article from SSG Wall in the Small Wars Journal. It's a great look at training requirements for the production of a real shooter, vice a soldier who has been trained to the minimum standard, and is therefor vulnerable to the vagaries of the long-shot engagements that are prevalent in Afghanistan. One thing the article doesn't cover, though, is the fact that the little .223 varmint round we use is going to be a limiting factor on long range engagements regardless of the training and proficiency of the shooter. I hear the SCAR rifle from FN has 7.62 variants for the average rifleman, which would greatly increase the efficacy of long range engagements.
But above and beyond training shortcomings for individual riflemen in Afghanistan faced with long range engagements, how about training shortcomings for the M2? The M2 training troops get now is weak, to say the least. The "Ma Duece" .50 calibre machine gun is arguably the best crew-served weapon ever fielded by our or any other army. Since it went into production in 1932, no significant design changes in the gun have been introduced. It's kind of like the Great White shark: why evolve if you're badass enough? However, the training and range work paradigm for the M2 sucks. The outstanding advantage it gives our troops in long range engagements is attenuated by the crap training we give M2 gunners (I won't go into detail here; take my word for it. If you disagree, let me know and I'll disabuse you of any notion that we spend the appropriate amount of time and effort training our M2 gunners).
Also, though, we've kinda sorta ignored improving optics that will maximize the effects this great weapon system generates. Different story for tankers and aviators, but infantryman (and those using the M2 for ground combat, like loggies in a convoy) fire the M2 using iron sights, thusly
For limited visibility engagements, the AN/TVS-5 is used
The M2 is a remarkably accurate weapon. Max effective range (the range at which the average well-trained gunner will hit the target 50% of the time) is 1800 meters, which is just over tracer burn-out. However, max range (the distance the round will travel with lethal effects) is a whopping 4.2 miles. So, do you think ergonomic optics would be a bonus in the long-range engagements of Afghanistan?
When using the iron sights, the gunner lines up the target, guesstimates the range, and depresses the butterfly trigger with his thumbs. He uses the tracer and the impact splash signature to figure out his round strike, and then walks it in from there. At night, he uses the AN/TVS-5 night scope, but the scope 1) suffers a "white out" effect due to the gun's prodigious muzzle flash and 2) knocks the snot out of the gunner, not quite leaving him with a blackened eye, but close.
So, I can guarantee that wherever we're using it, the capabilities of this magnificent weapon are not being leveraged for Joe. On the Mungadai, both Max Lumber and 19 Kilo Joe were M2 black belts, able to hit whatever they could see. But that was due to experience, talent, and determination--not to any range work the Army provided for them.
And, whatever shortcomings with regard to optics the M2 has, I'm more than sure that the Mark 19 has the same issues. Note that the young Marine gunner has a big ass white light attached to the weapon system so that he can shoot over iron sights at night. C'mon, we can do better.
On the topic of doing better, I ran into this article (sorry, I should give some attribution to whomever first linked to it, but I was a wee bit inebriated last night and have no idea) debunking firearms myths. Well worth a read. The only thing I would add to it is that weapons proficiency is a perishable skill. As great a gunfighter as you may have been at some point, if you're not on the range every day, you're not a great shooter. Period.
There are a bunch of bad habits which seem natural when one picks up a weapon that one needs to unlearn to be a decent shooter (let alone gunfighter). James Rummel points out one: the languid lean. I agree with everything he says--per usual--but would add that the same phenomenon is prevalent amongst fistfighters, too. Most boxers or strike-based martial artists will have to fight the inclination to lean so that the shoulders are behind the hips. Most MMA guys will fire off their punches from an upright position, most boxers (with their fists festooned with tape, padding and leather) take care to put their shoulders well forward of the hips. But the natural inclination of the novice fighter is to lean back, away from the bad man trying to punch one in the face.

It's a Two-fer Kind of Day

2010-09-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

First, today is Bruce Springsteen's 61st birthday, so happy birthday to The Boss.

Second, the Colombians bagged Mono Jojoy, leader of the FARC.
Burn in hell, you murderous son of a bitch.

Blogging May Well Be Light...

2010-08-29T18:35:00.000-07:00

...on account of I think I'm going to pick up a new hobby:

Special rules govern the bagging of gators. Hunters are not allowed to use guns. Instead, they may use a pole, spear, bow and arrow, or rod and reel to catch the animal, then use a bang stick — a pole with an explosive charge on the end — to dispatch it point-blank before bringing it into a boat.

Might have to modify the rules a little bit, and throw out the whole "bang stick" schtick.After all, if you got an M4X and a Dead On annihilator, you don't need the bang-stick

Structure Always Trumps Function

2010-08-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

Now, see, this is the hallmark of an adaptive, flexible (and no, it's not the same thing, smartass) and learning organization. You need to solicit bottom-up input and ensure that your way of waging war has not become stratified or ossified. Like this guy. The good Colonel noted some deficiencies that seemed rather absurd in a war-zone, and brought attention to it.
Good for him! I'm sure his feedback will be considered valuable input in increasing organizational efficacy and efficiency. Thank God we've got an Army/DoD in which free-wheeling debate, constructive criticism, and organizational awareness are a preventative palliative against group-think and lock-step (goose-step?) organizational culture.
Man, I sure am glad that we've gotten beyond the pettiness and bald, blind ambition that subordinates the national interest to cheap individual agendas and unit chauvinism.
Nothing but totally kick-ass professionalism here! We are ready to...
Oh, they fired the guy. No shit.
I don't mind higher ups being self-serving, willfully blind pricks. Well, I do mind. But I can live with it as long as I can slide by/under/thru and still get the mission done. The thing that kills me, though, is the whole self- circle jerk about how organizationally great we are, when in fact we are, as a group, vain, vapid, and venal.
Some days, I want to suck-start my 9mm.

Il Bambino

2010-08-28T17:23:00.000-07:00

Not just for the similarities in their rather generous physiques, my own mental moniker for NJ Governor Chris Christie is Il Bambino.
The guy has the poise, confidence, and stunning ability to deliver that is typified by Ruth's predilection for generating home runs in white-knuckle situations. And, too, I think I can see the shroud of legend ready to wrap around Christie.
Chris Christie stands out as a politician that is worthy of the name.
Politicians themselves try to make a dirty word out of politics. Every time a politician's opponent brings up a perspective on an issue that he doesn't like, the politician squeals that "we're playing politics with the issue."
Hey, Asshead, politics is how we resolve issues without resorting to bloodshed. Politics is--or should be--the honest attempt by people of good faith to move forward on a contentious issue while maintaining a civil society. Why should "playing politics" be a bad thing? You're side is doing shit I don't like on a certain issue; I want to use that issue to illuminate the fact that your values, beliefs, and and philosophy of governance is diametrically opposed to mine. Seems to me that crying "playing politics!!" is the first refuge of a scoundrel. So, whine-weasel, if we don't settle our differences by "politics," how then do we settle them? Cutlasses at dawn? I'm kinda sorta good with that, but I've got an unhealthy kamikaze twist to my personality. I'm relatively sure that most constituents of our constitutional republic want their principally- based differences settled in a peaceable, rational manner. So, is there a better means than "politics?" Is there any reason that "playing politics" should be ignoble? I would submit that it's far better than "playing cutlasses."
Anyway, the Babe had the ability to crush home-runs without regard to the situation, the home field, the temperance or volatility of the crowd. Hitting home runs was what he did; all else was superfluous.
Kind of like Chris Christie; Christie is there to reform NJ state government. He's not there for aught else. So, when he gets on the stage, he crushes 'em home in a manner that reminds me of the Sultan of Swat ("reminds me" in a 21st Century, YouTube kind of way). There's him, the bat, the ball, and the fence. Questions about anything else are superfluous.
Observe how, when Christie and his administration swing and whiff, Christie accepts all responsibility, puts the whole thing in context(1 erroneous page in an application of 1,000+ pages), and then drives home the point.

I'd work for the guy in a heartbeat.

Physics Is A Bitch

2010-08-23T18:52:00.000-07:00

100 mph + concrete bridge = bad ju-ju.

Candidate # 2 Deserves Your Vote; Do More Than That

2010-08-22T17:21:00.000-07:00

Starbuck passes on to vote for Candidate Number Two.
Please, do.
The guy was shot four times in the head during the Ft. Hood massacre, and lived. Now, a new car would help him and his fiance try to achieve a reasonable facsimile of a normal life.
Good on ya if you vote.
Now, do more than be a point-and-click do-gooder.
According to the narrative for Candidate Number Two:

Because this candidate wasn't injured in Iraq, and because he was shot on a US Army base by another soldier, the Army doesn't recognize his injuries as combat related, so the army/government doesn't offer the support or help for them that a soldier injured in Iraq or Afghanistan would have received.
The vehicle they have is a small car that she has to cram and twist and push his wheelchair into the backseat. It sits down low to the ground so it is hard for him, being 6-1 to get in and out of. They wanted to get something bigger but know that they can't afford to get anything right now. A bigger vehicle would make life a bit easier; it would be very much appreciated.

Our government does a lot of stuff it shouldn't. Help influence them to do something they should. Write your local congressman, and your senators, and get them to weigh in on making this right. Reach down in your itty-bitty, mustard seed sized, purple Kool Aid pumping heart and take five minutes to square away not only this young troop, but all the others wounded at Ft. Hood that may be running into bullshit obstacles because they weren't in a "combat zone" when they caught the mail.
My own letter to my congresswoman is excerpted here, cut and paste if you want:

I am writing you today to implore your help for an anonymous Army Soldier. On the internet this evening, I saw a free-car lottery from Woodhouse Auto Family. Basically, this business gives away a free car to those in need. Because, in these trying times, there are so many needy, they post the stories of the free-car candidates on-line and people vote on who recieves the free car for the current free car giveaway extraveganza. Kudos to the Woodhouse Auto Family for pitching in, but in the current crop of candidates, one sticks out. (http://www.woodhouse.com/difference/vote.htm) Candidate #2. From the Woodhouse website:
This candidate was at Fort Hood, TX Army Base Soldier Readiness Center checking in after returning from a second tour in Iraq. He was 5 days away from going to Officer Candidate School and pursuing a long time dream of becoming an Officer in the army. That all changed that day when one man that this candidate had never met, came in and started shooting. The gunman's goal was to kill as many Americans as he could and then take his own life.

This candidate saw the laser pointed at his head and was shot 4 times.

An American Soldier, shot four times in the head during the 05 November 2009 massacre, is one of the candidates for a car that will help him as he tries to heal up, complete his physical therapy, and resume--to the extent he can--a normal life. However, I was extremely distressed to read that:
Because this candidate wasn't injured in Iraq, and because he was shot on a US Army base by another soldier, the Army doesn't recognize his injuries as combat related, so the army/government doesn't offer the support or help for them that a soldier injured in Iraq or Afghanistan would have received.
The vehicle they have is a small car that she has to cram and twist and push his wheelchair into the backseat. It sits down low to the ground so it is hard for him, being 6-1 to get in and out of. They wanted to get something bigger but know that they can't afford to get anything right now. A bigger vehicle would make life a bit easier; it would be very much appreciated.

Ma'am, is this true? Are the soldiers wounded, broken, and traumatized by Major Hasan's murderous shooting spree unable to avail themselves of the best treatment and recovery therapy that the Department of Defense has to offer because of where and by whom they were shot?

On the website, the soldier is anonymous. But I would ask you to look into this in order to ensure that all the victims, all of the patriots who put on the country's uniform and were in a Deployment Processing Center, are taken care of, supported, and rehabilitated with the best our country can offer. That they were shot at Ft. Hood, Texas rather than somewhere in Iraq or Afghanistan makes them no less casualties of the war on terror.

Thank you

It's A Catchy, Toe-Tappin' Tune

2010-08-21T22:32:00.000-07:00

This Is So Cool...

2010-08-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

...and I'm so glad it didn't come out before my son left for college; I had enough problems with bottle rockets and potato guns.

So, Where Exactly Is Starbuck?

2010-08-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

We're sure that Starbuck is actually in Europe, right?

Because reading this I'm a little afraid that he's kitted up as a Stormtrooper, performing deeds of derring-do in Miami.

AAARRRGGGHHH!!!! Or, "It's Clobberin' Time!!!"

2010-08-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

Y'know, there's a lot of good that can come from reading heroic fiction--even if that fiction's a comic book. My parents used to let me read comic books because, then, at least I was reading*.

Now, we've got some junk science headshrinkers that are saying that comic book heroes, particularly as portrayed in popular movies, are bad for young men's development.

Carlos Santos, PhD, of Arizona State University, also found that a boys’ ability to resist at an early age, the superhero machismo of being emotionally stoic, autonomous, aggressive and physically tough -- stereotyped images of masculinity -- were more emotionally stable, friendly and had better psychological health in middle school.

Uh-huh. And I'm sure these geeks define being in "better psychological health" as more able to cry, and more willing to give a buddy a hug when he's feeling blue.

So we've got a cabal of shrinks that is determined to disincentivize being emotionally stoic, autonomous, aggressive, and physically tough. Hey kids, instead of going to see the new Wolverine movie, we're going to do flower arranging!! Yay!!

First, I've spent a lifetime trying (and often failing) to matriculate and master stoicism, autonomy, aggression, and mental, physical, and moral toughness. Geez, not only do we need to put the kabosh on those movies, but we probably ought to round up and burn as many copies of Epictetus as we can find. Show me how, from a societal point of view, whatever values/attributes with which the shrinks would replace stoicism, autonomy, aggression, and mental, physical, and moral toughness, and describe how it would be better from both individual and societal perspectives. Life ain't an episode of Oprah Winfrey, schmuck-o.

Second, the movie lauds the old superheroes when they were confined to comic books, but denigrates their attributes when they show up on the silver screen. But here's the deal: these movies are popularly acclaimed or panned based on how true the screenplay stays to the hero depicted in the graphic novel. Scorn one, you've impugned the other.

Finally, I hope the shrinks know psychology and anthropology better than they do comic books.

...today’s aggressive, emotionally unavailable, detached and self-engrossed macho versions of superheroes like “Iron Man”, rarely address the virtue of doing good for humanity unlike the superheroes of yesteryear like Superman and Green Lantern.

Hey, dumbass, the Green Lantern turned bad and died an evil, genocidal maniac.

Know what I did this weekend? I went to see The Expendables with my son. And I'll guaran-damn-tee you that'll create less male behavioral problems than if we'd stayed at home watching Oprah.

*Yuh, a little hyperbole there; I read a lot. Mostly because we either didn't have a TV or didn't have any channels in English. Mostly.

On The Mosque At Ground Zero

2010-08-17T19:27:00.000-07:00

It always amazes me, that I can (and, in a general sense, am) labeled as a right wing extremist because I think the Constitution is the best social contract ever written--or established--and that it should be followed.

So now, I'm amazed to find that I'm also a bigot. A xenophobic bigot, actually, because I don't think a mosque should be established at ground zero (don't give me any of that "two blocks away" twaddle; the damn building got hit with aircraft debris, that counts as ground zero). I know I'm not as deep a thinker as all my more socially attuned betters who have carefully considered the issue and decided that it's the sensitive, tolerant thing to do, and anyone who doesn't agree is a...what, take your pick: racist Islamophobe bigot neanderthal. Okay, guilty on the neanderthal bit.

But, I'm a neanderthal who speaks, reads, and writes pretty dinkum Arabic, in a pinch. A neanderthal with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. A neanderthal who's logged waaay more time than most in the Middle East--and that's not counting combat tours, either. I've studied and written (in professional venues) a lot on cross-cultural communications with Muslims and Arabs, and more than a little on IO/Strategic Communications to boot. But hey, don't let that detract from my troglodytic conviction that, from a War on Terror (I know, we're not supposed to say that anymore) perspective, putting a mosque on or near ground zero is bad ju-ju. That's from a professional military point of view that doesn't take into account how heart-wrenching such an edifice would be to those (bigoted racist Islamophobes) who lost friends, family and loved ones on 9/11.

Yup, just me and my brother bigoted racist Islamophobes hold that opinion. Even if such brethren are, uh, muslims:

"What the citizens of the U.S. fail to understand is that the battle against the 9/11 terrorists is not their battle. It is a Muslim battle – one whose flames are still raging in more than 20 Muslim countries... I do not think that the majority of Muslims want to build a monument or a place of worship that tomorrow may become a source of pride for the terrorists and their Muslim followers, nor do they want a mosque that will become a shrine for the haters of Islam... This has already started to happen: [the Islamophobes] are claiming that a mosque is being built over the corpses of 3,000 U.S. citizens who were buried alive by people chanting 'Allah akbar' – the same call that will be heard from the mosque..."

JFK Bombers Convicted

2010-08-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

Well, two of the four, anyway. Morons.
Sentencing will be on 15 Dec.

Better Than The World Cup

2010-06-18T19:41:00.000-07:00

There's a place in sports for guys who use blow-dryers, don't like contact sports, and enjoy running (even though running, as we all know, breeds cowardice).
But while the blow-dryer hair gel set is all agog at the World Cup, a far more manly contest is on.
Fuerzas Comando 2010 is on! (note: the link will show up in Spanish, if you don't hable, you can switch it to English on the Google translator widget at the bottom of the page)
Basically, commandos/Special Operators from around the Western Hemisphere gather to compete against each other in sniping, CQB, and other Special Operations skills. This year, 18 countries are competing for the cup, including the US. The competition is usually held in a different country every year. This year's venue is the Dominican Republic. Good stuff, check it out.

A Quick Round-Up

2010-06-05T10:16:00.000-07:00

Posting has been and will probably continue to be pretty light. Work is busy, family stuff is busy, and thus blogging necessarily frequently falls by the wayside. Though it's a beautiful weekend, and the sun is out, it's not quite time to start drinking yet, so here's a quick round-up:
My lovely commute: frequently, on my long (ass-ripping) commute home from the greater Miami area to the Keys, I'll take Card Sound Road instead of the Overseas Highway; especially on the approach to weekends. Traffic is considerably lighter, the scenery is much more bucolic, and one doesn't have to worry about the general mayhem caused by the eternal and infernal construction. The drive is about 8-miles longer on Card Sound, but you don't have to contend with alcohol-fueled, drug-crazed partiholics that think that they can make it to Key West in under two hours.En route, one passes Alabama Jack's, a famed way point for Keys-bound travelers that is sort of a covered but un-walled eatery/bar. Good food. Cold beer. Mmmm. Earlier this week, though, there was an added attraction: apparently a Customs and Border Patrol bird had had to make an emergency landing when it experienced a "land-this-sucker-now!" maintenance problem. As someone who has cut, blown, and chopped a couple of landing zones, the parking lot of which the pilots availed themselves is itty-bitty, in terms of LZs. I guess the choices were put it in the drink (bad), put it in the mangroves (worse), or shoot for the postage-stamp sized parking lot. All in all, a pretty good piece of flying. I didn't stop and talk to the crew, as I figured, were it me, after a sphincter tightening landing I would not appreciate some goober coming up to observe, "so, looks like you had a mechanical issue, eh?" I didn't want to get punched in the eye, and plus there were cigars and cold beer waiting at home. Of course, there were cigars and cold beer in the truck with me, but consumption rates being what they are, I had to get home most ricki-tick.
Gaming: I've never been a huge gamer. The kids enjoy their various games/systems, but I've never really gotten into it. I did rack up about a million dead Nazi bastards on the first Call of Duty, but that's because sometimes you get home from work and absolutely have to kill somebody, and a virtual kill is a little more socially acceptable than other options. Once I wore out the PS2 and it gave up the ghost, though, I never really looked real hard for a replacement. I guess one of the big games out there now is Counter Strike, and a whole lot of people take it seriously.
So seriously, in fact, that cheating has some severe repercussions.

The Arizona border control law has a lot of people up in arms. Basically, I'm a control the border first type of guy. In fact, I kind of think the border should be controlled by a barrier that can be seen from space ("virtual fences" are like the "virtual kills" mentioned above. They might make you feel better, but achieve no real-world results). I also think that, once the borders are controlled, we can have a debate about how best to "reform" our system--especially on the legal immigrant side. Every couple years, we matriculate quantum leaps forward with our information technology, but these seem to have impacted our legal immigration timelines not at all.
I understand that there are varying opinions over this. And I try not to get too agitated by the rank hypocrisy of the Mexican government. But this type of thing makes me lean toward being a very, very Ugly American. Oh, reeeally? You feeling lucky, pendejo?

One of life's great questions has been answered. But it begs more, zen-like questions: Does it not smell, or can you just not smell it? Thought provoking. Sort of a vegetable-based koan.

Trusting our troops: I posited after the official (piece of shit) report on the Fort Hood shootings came out that our troops should be armed in order to protect themselves, but that it would never happen because commanders don't trust their troops enough to have them walking around home station locked and loaded. Herschel Smith* from the Captain's Journal alerts us to the fact that the same thing may be happening in theater.

Some soldiers are being ordered to conduct patrols without a round chambered in their weapons, The US Report has learned from an anonymous source at a forward operating base in Afghanistan. Our source was unsure if the order came from his unit or if it affected other units.

I agree with Mr. Smith that such orders aren't only negligent, they are criminal. But the real problem is that commanders who give such orders do not trust their troops. Personally, I'm of the mind that anytime you issue a troop a weapon, it should come with ammo and the weapon should be loaded. At least with sidearms and carbines. Sniper and crew served weapons should have ammo to hand, but keeping them loaded could be deleterious either to the ammo or to the proper functioning of the weapon.
So the mental calculus needed to reach this type of order is: "we are in a COIN fight, less violence is better. My troops need to minimize the level of violence they employ in their problem solving techniques, but still need to be able to defend themselves. I cannot trust them not to react precipitously in an ambiguous situation, so I am going to slow down their ability to employ lethal force by telling them to patrol without a round locked into the chamber."
This is, if reported accurately, green tab cowardice.

Speaking of snipers, this is a good article. My only beef with most sniper articles is that they under-report the role played by the spotter. At the distances discussed by the articled, there is a good chance that the sniper can not even see the target once he adjusts his optics for windage and elevation. It is the spotter, for once accurately described as observing the round strike and doing the calcs to bring the sniper a hit.

*Herschel Smith is a doughty, imminently readable blogger who provides a great perspective on all things military and especially all things related to the USMC. I feel compelled to clarify, though, that he is not the Herschel mentioned here. That Herschel was my grandfather, about whom a family member wrote, after reading the blog post

Sounds like the Uncle Herschel I remember. He was my hero too, and a classic cowboy. I'll never forget him waving goodbye to YYY and ZZZ after a Christmas dinner, then turning around saying, "Hot damn, the Baptists have left. Break out the booze." He proceeded to open the trunk where there was at least one case of whiskey. Daddy used to tell us about Uncle Herschel riding the wild mustangs from Kilgore where they brought them in on trains. He said by the time Herschel got them home, they were all bucked out and made good horses.

Some things just make you proud.

Small Town Memorial Day

2010-05-31T15:22:00.000-07:00

In memory of those who gave their last full measure of devotion.

Retraction, Sorta Kinda

2010-05-27T15:54:00.000-07:00

Apparently, the police who accompanied the SEIU protesters to the private residence of Greg Baer were "shadowing" the protesters, not escorting the protesters. Well, that certainly makes it all better. The DC and Chevy Chase police officers really help to clarify the situation. In the front side of the interview, they talk about coordinating with each other and the protesters' liaison; of course, toward the end of the interview the Chevy Chase guy says that the protesters didn't coordinate with a liaison because they didn't want the police there. Okay. The officers also state that the DC police did not escort/shadow the protesters into Maryland. They had a smooth, coordinated hand-off with the Maryland police at the state line...except that the Maryland police did not make any arrests because they arrived after the protest started breaking up.
All in all, not a great performance by the police. And the verbal wrangling over trespass/disorderly conduct esoterica comes out as pretty weak when contrasted with the video of the protesters on this guy's lawn. And while I may have to further ameliorate my comments on the police, the demeanor of the mob does nothing to negate the concerns expressed in the thought experiment.
BONUS: If you've ever doubted Mongo's Rule #1*, ever thought that the 2nd Amendment did not establish an individual right to bear arms, or ever thought that the citizenry needs no access to private weapons because the police provide that protection, listen to the police officer from about 09:12 to 09:20. That pretty much says it all.

*If you don't have a gun, you're chum.

Who Dares, Wins

2010-05-24T17:46:00.000-07:00

In military service, there is often friction between the soldiers and the warriors.
In this particular instance, the warriors won.

It's The Sun, Stupid

2010-05-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

I remember comparing anthropogenic global warming advocates to loin-cloth wearing shamans dragging a virgin up the slope of a volcano to pitch her in and keep the fire gods appeased.

I feel so validated.

H/t Taranto at Best of the Web Today

A Discomforting Thought Experiment

2010-05-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

Let's say you've got two kids. You're on the way home from a weekend baseball game with Kid 2. Kid 1 is home alone, because he's a little older and he's been instructed not to leave the house and provided with an emergency contact list. If you're a modern day uber-parent, you've also probably told a couple of neighboring adults that Kid 1 will be home, and you've asked them to keep an eye on the place for the 2~3 hours that you're gone.
Now, on the way home, you turn onto your street and find an angry mob outside your house. They're carrying signs denigrating you and your profession, and are on your yard and porch. The mob's vitriol is way past aggression, and looks to be edging up to full-out violence. Kid 1 is terrified enough that he's locked himself in the bathroom.
Apparently, this all part of the new politics of intimidation.
Interesting. Whatever martial prowess I've been able to matriculate over the years, I certainly never considered portable mobs of protesting union rent-a-thugs in the gamut of potential bad-guy opponents.
So, the thought exercise: what if it were your house, your yard that had come under the protesters' siege? What if it were your child that was so terrorized he felt compelled to lock himself in the bathroom? I know the automatic, knee-jerk reaction would be that it's "game on." Note to SEIU thugs: Casa de Mongo is a bad, bad place to decide to hold a protest and threaten aggression. I've a lovely assortment of street-sweepers that would more than level the playing field. Punks.
Most states' laws dictating use-of-force by citizens use the reasonable man test as one of the elements of the justified use of force. In most states, the way I've heard it phrased is that if a reasonable man has a reasonable belief that he is under threat of life, grievous bodily injury, or sexual assault ("man" and "he" being used in the proper English sort of way to include women), then the man can use the appropriate force necessary to defend himself and/or extricate himself from the situation.
So, where does this fit in? How would you react? And it would be, I'm sure, pure reaction. I don't think anyone plans to come home to a (possibly violent) mob on one's property.
Fortunately, you look over the crowd and--whew!--see some police officers. They'll surely help you out to...ooh, yeah, sorry. See, the police are there to escort the protesters from DC to your neighborhood, well, to your house, actually. They are out of their jurisdiction. So, what the hell are they doing there? Can they act to protect you if the crowd goes bad? Will they (since they escorted) "defend" the mob from you if you feel threatened enough to employ violence? If the crowd does go bad (throws rocks or bottles, hits with sticks (from the protest signs) or displays with intent to employ any type of weapon, are the cops legitimate targets, as they are out of their jurisdiction and have, through overt action, demonstrated that they are with, conceivably part of, the mob? What'n hell are the police doing escorting thugs to a demonstration that is on private property??
The guy this happened to, Greg Baer, is a white-collar, business-type lawyer who probably hasn't had a fight since the third grade, if ever. Apparently, the SIEU decided to protest at his house because he's the deputy general counsel for corporate law at Bank of America. The SIEU thugs say that they chose Mr. Baer's to protest at his residence because BoA has been foreclosing on so many people, and they're just looking out for the common man, the little guy who has no resources with which to combat the nefarious bank. They fail to mention that the SIEU is in hock to BoA to the tune of about $90 million.

Schmucks.

The sad thing, for our country, is that Chicago rules cut both ways. I would highly encourage political activists to tone down their assaults on citizens in their private homes, and assaults on families. We are, I get the feeling, edging up to the border of a place we don't want to be. The video below is a classic, but what if the terms weren't how far you were willing to go to "get Capone," but instead to "defend your family? Your property?"

H/t Powerline

Herschel Would Be Proud

2010-05-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

I went into the military for two main reasons.
1. It was all I ever wanted to do. I can't imagine having chosen any other profession. I'm a little amazed that 20-odd years have flown by. And I'm still trying to figure out what I'll do when I grow up (professional athlete and Indian Chief are probably out of the running; I could still be a fireman somewhere, though).
2. I had to find an honorable way to avoid the implicit familial obligation to commit myself to a lifetime of ranching in Alabama. Back-breaking, before-the-sun-comes-up 'til after-the-sun-goes-down, day-in-day-out whatever the weather ranching. I've enormous respect for cattlemen. It's an unforgiving, all day, every day, ball-busting profession (profession, not job). I come from a family tradition of cattlemen. They are my heroes. And there's no way in hell I was going to do that for a living. It's truly a calling, and if you're not called, stay the hell away. I liked the cows. I liked the horses. I liked the guns and the auction barns and the honky-tonks and the ranges and pastures. But I didn't love it. And being a cattleman is a labor of love.
So, when I saw this political add (posted up on AoS) it brought me back. This guy is not a poseur. I can imagine putting boots up on the rails of the Kennett-Murray auction barn and spitting tobacco juice with this guy*. He's for real. God Bless 'im.

*Alabama cattlemen taught me to set a horse, gave me my first beer, my first shot of whiskey, my first lessons in shooting, first taught me the intricacies of the ambush (because we were going to By-God get the sumbitches that were putting sugar in the tanks of the cattle trucks). They also first, through the auspices of Herschel, exposed me to tobacco. As I looked around the Kennett-Murray auction barn, every cowboy there was chewing on some sort of tobacco. Plug, leaf, and pulverized. Some seemed to spit incessantly, some spit never. When I asked one of the cowboys about it, he said, "well, boy, some spit and some gut it." I begged a pocketknife and a rind of Cannonball plug off of Herschel. The juice was pretty sweet, and I didn't know then to have a container on hand, so I gutted it. Which went well for about 15 minutes. Then I stumbled outside and heaved into a big rubber-made trashcan on wheels. I was just tall enough to hook my chin over the lip of the trashcan. When I went back in and told Herschel I'd tossed my world-class cattleman's breakfast, he said,"That's all right, boy; it'll get the worms out." I think I was eight.

About That Oil Spill...

2010-05-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

I'm a little confounded that, as British Petroleum and the US Gov't (pretty much in that order) generate options and possible solutions to the oil leak out in the Gulf, I've not heard anyone mention demolitions.
I know more than a little about demolitions, more than I ever wanted to know about fluid dynamics, and absolutely nothing about oil drilling, petro-engineering, or marine geology. Still, if we think we can hit a "bulls-eye" at 5km subsurface with that top-hat thingie, are you telling me we can't properly position a couple of shaped charges to shut the damn leak down? You gotta be kidding me.
I've oft been criticized for an overt enthusiasm with and for demolitions. And even in the schoolhouse, I was upbraided numerous times for my robust employment of the P-factor (in demo calcs, P= Plenty. Admittedly, I never came close to Dirty Pat's trademarked, patent-pending "dirty diaper charge," which was a thing of beauty and a work of art).
With the pressure of 5 km of incompressible water up above the leak, I find it hard to believe that there is not a charge array that could shut the fucker down. I mean, BP guys are now pinning their hopes on golf balls and shredded tires, and no one's talking C-4? That's rooty-poot, man.

Scenes From Down South

2010-04-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

C'mon, Grow a Pair

2010-04-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

South Park has done more to deflate cultural shibboleths than any other show I've seen. Comedy Central has backed their skewering of about every sacred cow out there. Until they backed down from Islam. So, I guess free speech is pretty cool...until you've got to accept a little risk to practice it. Knuckleheads.
From Day by Day.
H/t Powerline.

Because I Am Welsh

2010-04-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than to be good. And some times it's better to be quick, too.
RIP Mr. Lane. We salute you and those like you.
H/t Jay Nordlinger

Not Getting Political, Just An Observation

2010-04-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

Y'know, like a lot of my brethren in the unwashed proletariat, I was a little concerned over the seemingly extra-constitutional procedure used to manifest our new Health Care law. Call me a wild-eyed savage, but I was a little concerned that we might not be manifesting the will of the governed the way a representative republic should. I know, I got a little shaken, must've been from listening to too much Rush Limbaugh on my long (ass ripping) commute.
I apologize. I got a little shaky there contrasting Adams, Madison, Mason, Jefferson, et al with Pelosi, Reid, and Stupak.
But now I've been calmed by seeing the stellar intellectual crowd holding the reins and this, well, this absolutely demonstrated that I was hysterically under the sway of those tea partying bastards. Sorry guys, I don't know what I was thinking. I'm ever so much better now.
Our Founders would be proud.

The Professor of War

2010-04-01T17:45:00.000-07:00

Mark Bowden, author of Blackhawk Down and Killing Pablo, has written an in-depth profile of GEN Patraeus.
Worth the read.
H/t NRO

"We Don't Anticipate That," or, Consummate Professionalism

2010-04-01T17:35:00.000-07:00

Now, see, this is why Boss Mongo isn't allowed to brief Congress. I've done the staff work. I've created the briefs. I've been the sole subject matter expert that can explain the whole shebang to the briefing officer. But under no circumstances have I ever been allowed to actually be the guy testifying. 'Struth, there is wisdom in that. I can guarantee you that my response--voluntary or involuntary--could in no way have matched the deadpan professionalism of this outstanding admiral.

H/t Powerline

Why Ask Why?

2010-03-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, read this article in a the UK Telegraph stating that GEN McChrystal and CSM Hall have decided to do away with some of the amenities on large Afghan bases like Bagram and Kandahar. Burger King, TGIF, etc are about to disappear because, in the Command Sergeant Major's words, "what it comes down to is focus." Uh-huh.
The whole line of reasoning, in both the UK Telegraph and in the CSM's post on the unit blog, sounds a wee bit mangled to me. Okay, the CSM states that "this is a war zone, not an amusement park." Thanks for clearing that up, Sergeant Major. I'm sure that the studs on their second, third, or fourth tour in the box were befuddled by the Pizza Hut trailer (yes, most of the concessions like BK and Pizza Hut are in little trailers, which only have an ordering window and a picnic table out front). In a previous post, I found and linked to a pretty good analysis that argued that

In Iraq and Afghanistan, army combat troops often get 200 days of combat in one 12 month tour, which is more than their grandfathers got during all of World War II.

I'm thinking that few of the kids that are over there have any illusions about where they are and what they are doing. Accusing a troop who looks forward to a whopper--maybe even something so decadent as a whopper with cheese--of not being mission focused, or of thinking that he's been sent to Coney Island for a year, is pretty fucking insulting.
Look, I'm sure that there are reasons for shutting down concessions that the troops enjoy--but I'm also pretty sure that those reasons have more to do with Command perceptions than reality. Those who say that "perception is reality" don't have a tight enough grip on reality.
First of all, the reasoning that troops pushed out on small outposts don't have BK, Pizza Hut, et al is specious. REMFs will always get over compared to front line (or "on outpost") troops, that's the nature of the beast regardless of how many concessions you close.* Okay, the troops on outposts don't have hot chow, running water, or electricity. They are fighting for the mission and their lives every day. So closing Burger King is supposed to give the FOBbits what, moral parity? Have all the FOB Dining Facilities stopped serving Surf & Turf once a week? I've served both on FOBs and out in the field, and I can tell you that
1. Nothing the FOBbits could go through would make me cut them any slack, and
2. Although I never thought of it in these terms then, knowing the privations any REMFs were going through would not have ameliorated my own bitches about my own hardships.
Oh, and do you think a troop assigned to a far-flung outpost might enjoy a Whopper when he passes through the FOB on that rare occasion when the mission pulls him back?
Mongo Rule #4: Never begrudge anyone a good deal.
Another reason proffered for saving our troops from the threat to good order and discipline that consuming french fries boiled up in hydrogenated vegetable oil is that Afghanistan-based units need the storage space and convoy volume in order to support the surge that are currently encumbered by concessionaires. Uh-huh. Then I'm sure that there is a staff study out there showing that combat troops are shorted because of (Burger King- rather than Dining Facility-bound) sesame seed hamburger buns.
Also, let's at least be consistent. The CSM expounds on the decision on the ISAF blog, but while his post has a lot of good Sergeant Major shit in it, it doesn't provide a lot of clarity to the decision making process. Burger King is being closed, but the Green Bean coffee shops are staying open. Let's see, where do people generally go when their explicit purpose is to fuck off? A burger stand, or a coffee house? Do the troops on the combat outposts have Green Bean and Starbucks, but not Burger King, so that's why the BK has to go?
I guess this is one of those command imponderables: why ask why?

*I remember waay back when I was a young 2LT Platoon leader during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. I had a lot of frustrations trying to accomplish the mission within our incredibly austere logistics environment. My units Deployment SOP stated that troops had to deploy with two pairs of boots. Within a few short weeks of working daily in ankle-deep sand, most troops' boots were abraded all the way through, and the guys were binding them up with 100 mph tape (the mil version of duct tape). Digging a foxhole in the sand was ever so much fun, but once we had cracked the code on the digging/sandbag emplacement kabuki dance that would let us actually dig a name-tape deep foxhole, we were still screwed because we couldn't get the 4x4 planks of plywood that we needed to use as the base of our overhead cover. We were eating MREs for every meal, except that the unit strove to provide us with a hot T-ration meal, with some sort of reasonably fresh salad and one soda pop per man at least once a week.
So after we had been there (Saudi Arabia) for a couple/three months, I get tagged one month to go to Corps to pick up the cash for the monthly battalion casual pay. My unit dropped me off at battalion, which gave me a ride up to brigade. After that, I pretty much had to hitchhike to division and from there to corps. The whole thing took about three days up and three days back, and is a story unto itself--especially the return trip. For whatever reason, some reg or policy stated that I had to have a side arm. So I had to turn in my M16-A2 and draw a M1911 .45, which was older than me, if not my father, and sort of rattled a lot if you shook it. Yuh, I was real happy hitchhiking home with a ratty-ass pistol and a briefcase with around $50k in it. What could possibly go wrong?
The point of the story is what happened when I got up to corps. First I had to get a legal brief from the Staff Judge Advocate pukes (reverting to my Infantry mindset for the purposes of the story). The huge GP Large Tent was totally floored with...4x4 pieces of plywood that you can be damn sure should've been up front providing troops with some means of building overhead cover. Every corps puke REMF bastard was wearing a brand new set of boots--desert boots!--specifically designed to withstand the Saudi sands. I (no shit) saw pallets of soda pop strewn about, and almost had a fucking aneurysm when I watched a couple young troops grab sodas off the pallet, take a couple quick swigs, and then toss their cans into the 55-gallon drum still half full. I also saw pallets filled with bundles of glassine envelopes with some kind of cardboard element inside. I found out that these weird widgets were water-operated MRE heaters. Who knew? I asked a couple of people that seemed associated with supply and/or transportation when these pallets--pallets!!--of MRE heaters would be pushed to the front. No one seemed to know. They never were.
Needless to say, the whole trip was an awakening.

An Elephant, An Ant, And The Punchline,"Did I Hurt You, Darling?"

2010-03-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

I meant to post on this jackassery this weekend, but got caught up in domestic stuff (Panthers Girls' Softball win 10-1, meow!) . Not a big deal that I'm two days late, because the event itself was rooty-poot.
Earth hour: WTF is that about?
So, for one hour during the evening, we're supposed to turn off our lights, and presto! change-o! We'll make an impact on man-made global warming, or (now that the "warming" piece isn't working out so well) Man Made Climate Change. Or, if you're an egghead that has to prove your point by establishing unassailable intellectual acumen, Anthropogenic Climate Change. Phooey.
Y'know, even before the whole climate gate thing kicked in, I had some serious doubts about the whole "man-made" global warming spiel. I'm not going to try to document it here, and besides, you can go to Rush Limbaugh to get real citations for 100,001 reasons to throw the bullshit flag. While not a scientist, I'm pretty big on the scientific method and use it as a lens through which to view a lot of life [yuh, my primary lens is the martial arts, no doubt and don't get your panties in an uproar; but check it out, when I'm out on the mats and I've heard about, seen, or experienced a certain tactic or technique, I immediately break out the ol' scientific method: let's see if we can turn this observation into a hypothesis into a theory for the appropriate conduct of close combat through trial and error]. I don't see that from the protagonists of the Global Warming crowd. Do you?
I hear plenty of shrill screams that the science is settled. I hear plenty of "denier" ad hominem attacks. And, most damningly, I hear constant, almost plaintive excuses as to why or how the raw data of the "theory" can't be turned over for independent verification. Huh?
Despite the "elephant/ant" joke alluded to above, the imagery that the hysterical global warming crowd evokes is that of a breech clout-clothed shaman, his hair festooned with peacock feathers and his body whitewashed in a lime-paste coat dragging a screaming, kicking virgin up the volcano in order to throw her in, and thus appease the fire gods and prevent an eruption.
Schmucks.
So for our designated time-hack for earth hour, I lit up the house (and a cigar), vacuumed every damn room while I had the kids keeping the laundry wheel spinning, and cooled the house to a nice 61 degrees--oh, and I had all the girls (trading off between folding and loading iterations) run shifts through the shower and had them blow dry/curl/flatten/whatever their hair.
Earth Hour my...pale moon.
Of course, maybe like most people, I don't deserve a vote because I'm too stupid, so democracy should be suspended while my intellectual and moral betters figure out what's good for me--and the planet.
Poseurs.

Practice...And Clear Days

2010-03-28T15:16:00.000-07:00

-Operating in temps below -40C? Not a problem.
-Iron sights, because optics won't survive the cold and give your position away, anyway? Piece of cake.
-Half your face shot off? Just doin' the job, man.
-Total body count? Oh, around 700 (200 up close with a sub-machine gun).

Any way you slice it, Simo Häyhä was a stone cold stud (no pun intended). Yeah, "the White Death" is a pretty pretentious moniker, but I'd say he earned it...

H/t to AoSHQ

There's Always a Silver Lining...Or Not

2010-03-15T20:10:00.000-07:00

Another from Mr. Rummel: The Sad Facts of Life.
My personal favorite:

SFOL#67: All warnings on medicine bottles are bullshit. You can always take more than 6 of anything in 24 hours, and you can drink alcohol with EVERYTHING.

A Point To Ponder

2010-03-15T20:01:00.000-07:00

Hell in a Hand Basket poses a question that strikes close to home. I've not been posting much lately. Not because I've lost my desire to blog, but more because I'm stuck with the ingrained ethic of "if you can't do it right, don't do it at all." So, while there are a plethora of subjects I'd like to blog about, I'm chary of putting out weak or poorly formulated posts.
Everyone knows that a blog entry is not going to be as refined as, say, a submission to a professional journal (and, uh, I'm not doing that, either). Still, I'm a far cry from establishing a decent "blog balance." Working through it.
Cutesy comments about current events are one thing. But serious topics deserve serious consideration and a decent rendering of the pro's and con's.

It's Kind Of Like "Conjunction Junction," Only For Today

2010-03-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

If they'd shown me this in Econ 101, I might've passed the damn course. Good piece of work, because whichever side you believe in, the vid makes you pound your chest, proclaiming "see what I'm talking about?"

H/t (gulp) The Daily Kos

It Ain't About How Hard You Hit

2010-03-10T19:05:00.000-08:00

Generally, This Just Isn't Done...

2010-03-10T18:52:00.000-08:00

...But in this particular case, there's an exception to policy. Usually, aviators aren't awarded he-man studmuffin nifty rad hep cat macho points. Whatever heroic actions they take, are counterbalanced by the blow-dryers and beeswax lip gloss--er, balm. However, Flight Lieutenant Ian Fortune has given the whole of the aviation community bonus + man points for about the next three years.
Well done, LT.

Imperial Hubris

2010-03-10T13:59:00.000-08:00

Blackfive points out that we're doing it again, foisting our American culture on a hapless indigenous culture for what are probably invidious reasons.
Blood for oil? Nope.
False accusations of WMD? Nope.
It's even worse: reflector belts.

People In The Keys Are Pretty Laid Back...

2010-03-09T13:39:00.001-08:00

...but if the Obama administration and NOAA ram through all these fishing regulations/restrictions, I do believe the Conch Republic will secede from the Union.

How Low Have You Sunk...

2010-03-09T13:37:00.000-08:00

...when your breastmilk is declared a biohazard?

H/t Drudge

RIP, COL Bob Howard

2010-02-24T21:39:00.000-08:00

COL Bob Howard, one of our country's most highly decorated warriors, was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery last Monday. Rest in peace, sir.

I'm Sorry But...

2010-02-22T19:58:00.000-08:00

...Am I really supposed to give a F@*# about curling? Really? This is a sport? Actually, one would think that this is THE sport given the amount of coverage. I must be missing something.

Criticism Where Criticism is Due

2010-02-22T19:29:00.000-08:00

Fuck. Sackcloth. Ashes. Hairshirt. Scourge. This report on the "Quiet Professionals" serving in Afghanistan is comprehensively damning. Recommend that you go to the link, watch the video provided there, and then read the article in full, to include the comments.
There are plenty of arguments I could bring up in extenuation or mitigation of the condemnations provided in the link. But still.
The only comment I will make, to all those who condemn USASOC for "allowing" this video to be published is this: The military has no control, no vetting, no screening, no censorship over the press once the press has gained access an event, unless there is something classified in the report. In other words, the only control the military has is the binary option of whether to admit access. After that, the press can slice and dice it however they want. Punto.
So, the silver lining is that DoD had enough confidence in its SF troopers to allow 60 Minutes three months of embedded access. The downside is that it was this particular team.
Without seeing the other four thousand hours of video taken, all I can say is: Epic Fail

So What You're Saying Is, "Basically, I'm a Parasite"

2010-02-22T17:22:00.000-08:00

Got wind of this article from Blackfive: How To Leave A Soldier.
Although the authoress is well-written and expunges any internal venom or vitriol from her narrative, the article, to me, as a committed military professional, is simply stunning. I may well be taking the whole thing too personally, as her former husband's career timeline pretty much parallels my own, except (not denigrating the ex's) mine--and my family's--was/is tougher.
The article is the most ego-centric screed I've read in a while, to the point that it almost seems like parody. Every deployment, every friction point, is examined and articulated strictly in the terms that it affects the authoress.
In fact, when I review the authoress' timeline, she had a pretty fucking easy ride. The deployments that caused her relationship--or, her commitment to her relationship--to dissolve were often years apart. This passage, in particular, leads me to thinking that I'm reading the musings of an ego-centric bitch

Then came 9/11. My husband, like so many others, saw the attacks as a call to action. He went back on active duty and volunteered for a tour in Egypt. Our children were old enough to miss their father now. I put a calendar up in the kitchen so we could check off the days, took them both for cupcakes to cheer them up as we walked home from kindergarten. A part of me was proud of how brave we were all being. The other part was weary with being brave. I took a job at an independent bookstore and started spending time with the young, funny, book-reading guys I met there. When John came back things were awkward. I couldn't stop myself from being angry, couldn't help feeling abandoned.

So, you resent the fact that your husband couldn't refuse the sweet siren song of duty after your country was attacked and he figured that he had the training and experience that might just help preserve our country and our way of life. But hey, at least you got to spend time with young, funny, book-reading guys at the bookstore in which you worked. I mean, what better foil against which to compare your manly, balls-to-wall husband than a bunch of snarky, wise-cracking, haven't-done-shit-in-the-real-world post-adolescents who are still probably living off of Mom and Dad--mostly Mom.
What makes me foam at the mouth is the total moral vacuity of the authoress. When I look at the sacrifices that I've seen a multitude of Army wives go through--not to mention my own wife, and our kids--I pretty much want to vomit. There is no awareness at all of serving a greater good. Of any sort of cognizance at all of sacrificing for something above and beyond one's own self. Instead, it's all about her.
Hey, Toots, I've seen Army wives suck it up to a degree you can't even imagine. I've seen women that have put up with circumstances that would drive a Valkyrie to her knees. I've seen a snowed-in housing block where the sole husband not deployed (with a four-wheel vehicle) stomped house to house asking "Okay, so what do you need above and beyond diapers, milk, and bread?" I've known Army wives who have seen their husbands deployed two of every three years since 911 because of the husbands' particular skills and training. I've seen wives who've had to follow behind the Chaplain and Notification Officer again and again, because their husband was the Commander, and try to help a new widow pick up the pieces of her shattered life, while still scared spitless over her own husband's fate. I've seen a street marked in chalk, where all the wives could gather of an evening, with the chalk marks delineating where all could get reception on their baby-monitors.
This woman is a disgrace because she doesn't once acknowledge the impact of her (former) husband's service beyond how it impacts her. She doesn't acknowledge that the service and sacrifice of an Army wife is as great and significant as that of the Soldier himself. She can see no further than how it affects her.
The great irony is that she now lives in Manhattan with her avowed Marxist husband, cuddling over hot cocoa at night over some book or other, without realizing that the fact that she doesn't cringe every time a jet flies over is because of her ex.
Yeah, leaving a Soldier on deployment is easy, bitch.

CDR Salamander's Epic Win, And...

2010-02-14T14:56:00.000-08:00

As far as I know, CDR Salamander was the instrumental guy in bringing to justice this douche-nozzle buttscab: a guy who figured that he could go out in public representing himself as the ultimate warrior.
The guy was wearing US Army dress mess, with rank declaring him a Brigadier General. Because, you know, there are so many twenty-somethings that attain the rank of BG; I'm sure the little soul-patch facial hair was what swayed the promotion board. Take a look at the mess jacket: this cat had awards that even Han Solo didn't have.
Okay, so, dude misrepresents and steals valor, dude gets prosecuted under the Stolen Valor Act, and all is right with the world.
Watch the video at the link. My only addition to the conversation on this nifty rad hepcat is this:
Note how on the video, the intrepid investigative news team bangs on the door, and confronts a Military Age Male who states that that guy doesn't live at that address. Now look at his hat: it's the official CIA ball cap that you can buy at the gift shop at Langley.
"No, Mr. Reporter, I'm not the guy misrepresenting himself as Super Trooper. Nope, I'm Mr. Super Spy Guy. James Bond, Jack Bauer, they've got nothing on me, man." Too bad the news crew wasn't quick enough off the mark to pick up on that.
Loser.

Heaven, Thy Name Is Scotch Whiskey

2010-02-14T13:16:00.001-08:00

I'm looking for something in particular, so this is turning into a CDR Salamander type of day. Any way, throwing this post out there just to let Pops Mongo know that yes, Timmy, dreams really do come true*.

Of course, now he's going to make me do an RFF and come up with a whole CONOP on how to 'jack the crates. Man, it's tough being a mongo...

Beat :Navy, Oh Yeah, and Go Army Too....

2010-02-14T13:13:00.001-08:00

Some day, I gotta get tech savvy enough to do this whole Hitler thing...

h/t CDR Salamander

The Most Important Manual Of All

2010-02-07T08:24:00.000-08:00

Starbuck looks at a random selection of Army Field Manuals, and explodes the myth that they are written at an eighth grade level.
He misses the most important Field Manual of all (and my personal favorite) though: FM 22-102, Wall-to-Wall Counseling. While there are some people you just can't reach, there is a vast demographic that can be re-calibrated through a mutually enriching ballistic dialogue.

You should wall-to-wall counsel a soldier when he needs it And all soldiers occasionally need wall-to-wall counseling.

Determining when this most severe of leadership techniques is warranted requires the leader to intimately know his soldiers and be aware of when a soldier is far enough gone that a swat in the head is the only thing that will adjust his behavior.

Scenes From Down South; No Narrative

2010-02-07T08:03:00.001-08:00

Every News Story You've Ever Seen

2010-01-29T19:21:00.000-08:00

Nails it: the template for each and every news report you've ever seen. Now I know why I don't watch the news on TV, because I see the same thing over and over again.
H/T AosHQ

Does Not Compute

2010-01-29T04:08:00.000-08:00

Okay: Ew, yuck, I think I need a shower now.
Doesn't add up. So, you're a skank, and you figure you'll get over on the system and score a box of Marlboro Reds by trading some guy sex for smokes. Disgusting, but it's a free country.
But then, you have the Knight Errant of the Turkish Blend arrested because the sex wasn't very good. So, you're willing to trade ass for butts, find some schmuck who thinks this is a good thing, and then you're devastated, shocked, and vindictive 'cause you didn't get quality sex? Fat, stupid, and reeking of nicotine is no way to go through life, chicas.

Scenes From The Area

2010-01-28T18:25:00.001-08:00

I haven't really 'ginned any "street scenes" posts since The Mungadai re-deployed. But street scenes in S. Florida can sometimes be as interesting (although rarely as lethal) as street scenes from Iraq. So, with a little bit of narrative, here's some local color:

On my (ass-ripping, have I mentioned that before?) long commute every day, this is my favorite caution sign.Of course, I've yet to actually see a croc trying to cross the road. If I do, I'm thinking new shoes and luggage.

Not to sound too provincial, but I found seeing the Muslim profession of faith prominently displayed in S. Florida a little jarring. Then again, the poor guy that owns the truck, if he saw me, might have found a uniformed guy taking pictures of his truck and the legend on the rear windshield a little jarring.

After my thirteenth or fourteenth consecutive night shift, I splurged on the way home this morning and grabbed chow (and, uh, a couple Bloody Mary's) at one of my favorite diners. If you're ever headed south on Hwy 1 in the Keys and see this sign, do yourself a favor and pull over for great eats. Due to the lovely weather, and the dearth of sunshine I've had lately, I ate outside under the awning. I was just pondering weather to indulge in a third Bloody Mary (just to help get to sleep, don't'cha know), when I heard the awful racket of heavy pipes tuned low. Jeez, the ground shook. Across the street, the Rat Patrol had arrived. I thought the vehicle was too cool, and crossed the road to check it out. This, in and of itself was a comedic event. I was coming off an all-night 16 hour shift. In the wee hours of the morning (about 0300), I'd taken a break and ran the 8-mile loop around the airfield, just to keep the blood pumping through the remainder of the shift. As I'd done the run in my monkey shoes, six hours later I was a little hobbled up. That, and the two Bloody Mary's, made scuttling across Hwy 1 (not known for its surfeit of tip top drivers) look like an outtake from Benny Hill. I'm sorta glad I was the only one around with a camera.

The vehicle was even more awesome up close. I dug the high-mod up suspension. (For anyone interested, note that the vehicle is for sale. You're welcome. No finder's fee necessary but gratuities are always appreciated)

The 105 mm shell case rear turn indicators (and note the Mermite container in the back. Hot Chow!) Also, the Kilroy graffiti was a nice touch.
The engine was definitely not GI issue.
The interior was bare bones, high-speed and functional.
And for the sticklers for detail out there, note the .50 cal door handles and front turn signals.

I'm not into all things hooah, but for this victor I'll make a grudging exception.

Protecting the Force: A Boss Mongo Recommendation

2010-01-25T23:30:00.000-08:00

I just realized: in casting aspersions upon the DoD Fort Hood Report, I committed the cardinal sin of the potshot blogger. I bitched and kvetched without offering a better countersolution. So, here goes:

Instead of spending an inordinate amount of money and man-hours implementing the recommendations of the report (the recommendations regarding Force Protection anyway, I've got no opinion on all the recommendations--and there were lots of them--on the peripherals), spend a little bit of time and money standing up a Guardian program (I'm using the term Guardian because it's an FBI reporting program that the report recommends we get nested with. My Guardian is better). Or whatever name fits.

Do a threat vulnerability assessment of each military post; analyze which areas would be the most lucrative targets for an active shooter scenario. Then identify the "right" ratio of Soldiers that should be armed in order to keep that area safe. Then ask for military members to volunteer to act as armed Guardians on their post. Guardians would:
-be in the rank of Staff Sergeant or above
-receive a SECRET clearance, with the background check enhanced the way that the Fort Hood report says that MAJ Hasan's should have been
-undergo a psych screening, like unto the screening that our snipers go through before their training
-in states/counties allowing a CCW permit, Guardians would receive the training and permit, in states without CCW, Guardians would draw their weapons from the arms room or the Provost Martial at the startof the duty day and relinquish them before leaving post
-each post with a Guardian program would have an Army shrink dedicated to monitoring Guardians
-Guardians would receive an intensive entry level training program, and then have a required number of range and situational training hours per month
-Guardians would be thoroughly familiarized with the layout,"reaction plan" and anticipated timelines for all lucrative/vulnerable targets on the post (PX, Commissary, schools, day care, SRP centers, hospitals), they would know the local SWAT/SRT plans and reaction times for all these locations, and would train periodically with those higher-end units
-Guardians would carry concealed throughout the duty day both at their place of duty and wherever they might go on post through the course of the day
-Guardians would receive an additional skill identifier that 1) counts toward promotion and 2) goes with them when they change units/posts, so that the pool of Guardians is always growing
-the Army already has a designated Force Protection compact pistol, the M11, which Guardians would carry instead of the M9 (just because I don't like the M9, and hey, it's my program, right?)

Two minutes and forty seconds after the first 911 call, first responders were at the scene of Hasan's shooting spree, 90 seconds later Hasan was incapacitated. In the interim, fourteen people were killed and 43 others were wounded or injured. How much lower would those numbers be if trained, motivated, and armed Soldiers with the charter to protect their brethren were in that SRP Center when Hasan started shooting?

I'll guarantee you two things: this solution would have a better chance of stopping or mitigating another active shooter scenario on an Army installation than all of the recommendations in the DoD report, and Army leadership will never, ever acquiesce to this sort of program. Too risky, from the bureaucracy's point of view.

Oceans of Diamonds on Uranus

2010-01-25T23:08:00.000-08:00

I'm not touching that headline. But the possibilities are endless.

A Timely Update

2010-01-25T23:02:00.001-08:00

Writing that last post reminded me: I still haven't heard back from these guys.

By Bureaucrats, For Bureaucrats

2010-01-25T21:49:00.000-08:00

I've heard bad things about the Fort Hood killings AAR. I just sat down and read the whole thing.

Protecting the Force: Lessons from Fort Hood is dreck.

First, as reported, the document doesn't cover the "alleged perpetrator's" (and that whole "alleged" bit pisses me off) religion. Doesn't mention Islam, Islamic extremism, jihadi, takfiri, Muslims, extreme Muslims or the Religion of Peace. Apparently, the authors of this report obviously got the guidance not to write anything that might attenuate diversity. After reading the whole thing, I went back and word-searched all those terms, as I might have missed it when my eyes sorta glazed over reading about the DoD's shortcomings in providing Memorial Service support (really: finding 4.11).

Actually reading the report, I realized that most of the pundits and polemicists that have decried this piece of desktop dung couldn't imagine the scope of its awfulness because they're outsiders looking in. As someone eking out my living in the bowels of the Defense bureaucracy, let me tell you; as bad as you may have heard this report is, it's even worse.

First of all, it's one of those reports that is so chock full of bureaucrat-ese, it is probably four or five times longer than it needs to be. Second, it runs up recommendations with no concern for cost or efficacy. Basically, it proffers that the answer to a failure of the bureaucracy is...more bureaucracy. For example, did you know that for the DoD to stop "internal threats" such as MAJ Hasan,

An effective protection system requires robust information sharing and command and control structures that facilitate active information gathering on potential threats, and disseminating the analysis and assessments of the threat derived from such indicators to the appropriate levels of command. While leaders at Fort Hood responded well under the stress of a rapidly evolving crisis, we are fortunate that we faced only one incident at one location. We cannot assume that this will remain the case in the future.
Our command and control systems must have the right architecture, connectivity, portability, and flexibility to enable commaners to cope with near-simultaneous incidents at multiple locations. Commanders also require the tools to intercept threats before they conduct their attacks, physical barriers, and access controls to prevent unauthorized access, and appropriate response forces to defeat attackers who have gained access to DoD facilities. (p8)

Gosh, that helps clarify the situation.
Apparently, statutory and regulatory guidance prevents the release of the "alleged perpetrator's" performance evaluations, although the report does point to failures in that regard by Hasan's supervisors. According to open source reports, the guy was a shitbag whose chain of command passed him along with adequate reports despite shortcomings in his academic prowess, duty performance, and physical fitness.

Hey, we all lament the officer and NCO evaluation system. Apathy or lassitude on the part of Hasan's chain of command could well have stemmed from a well-founded suspicion that it wouldn't do any good, anyway. The way that our evaluation system works, the uneducated layman could put the report cards of the single best officer and single worst officer in a battalion side-by-side and a) not pick out which one is the best and b) think that they were both pretty good performers. I have been counseled numerous times in the past that writing a negative report on a guy, even when that report was fully justified by a robust package of counseling, "just wouldn't be worth the effort," and that the subject of the report would probably win on appeal. I would be interested to know whether Hasan's raters were truly derelict in their responsibilities, or were just cowed by the prospect of investing an extraordinary amount of work in justifying a negative report and having it all come to naught, anyway. The report charges the DoD to

Reinforce the serious effects of failure to reflect fully, accurately, and completely all aspects of professional, ethical, and personal career development in performance appraisals. We can only deal with internal threats if we can rely on the quality of the information reported in our official records

without ever considering that DoD also needs to facilitate the flip side of the coin. Writing a negative evaluation (and making it stick) should not require effort like unto an Everest expedition. And that's without even considering that the guy was a minority, and that the DoD had gone to great expense to train and educate him. I'm not saying that his chain of command shouldn't be sanctioned for not shithammering him. I am saying that DoD makes it oft times extremely difficult to do the right thing. A fact that the report blithely ignores.

The report states that because of his SECRET security clearance, Hasan had pretty much open access to the installation.

In the Fort Hood incident, the alleged perpetrator held an active and current SECRET security clearance based on a February 2008 National Agency Check with Local Agency and Credit Check of background investigation. Although accomplished in accordance with current guidelines, this background investigation did not include a subject interview or interviews with co-workers, supervisors, or expanded character references. We believe that if a more thorough investigation had been accomplished, his security clearance may have been revoked and his continued service and pending deployment would have been subject to increased scrutiny.

Okay, let's think about this. All Army officers have a SECRET clearance. Qualifying for one is a pre-commissioning requirement. The DoD already has a huge backlog in performing clearance investigations, and that's without performing subject/co-worker interviews for SECRET-level clearances. Is the report suggesting that we increase the burden on an already over-tasked system by an order of magnitude by having all SECRET clearance candidates interviewed? Or, do we diminish the scale of the increase by using common sense to levy more in-depth investigations on those with certain...uh...attributes that might make them more high risk? Hmm, what would such attributes or characteristics be? Let me think on it, I'm sure it'll come to me.

For that portion of the readership composed of my military brethren: Do you enjoy all those annual training requirements you have to attend? You do? Good, get ready to add another one, because DoD is going to

Integrate existing programs such as suicide, sexual assault, and family violence prevention with information on violence and self-radicalization to provide a comprehensive prevention and response program.

Great. I just love all that training. Y'know, the Army is so big on establishing metrics for every mission, has anyone ever established that all those classes actually do any good? I mean, good for the actual Soldier, not good for the command so it can cover its ass by saying "hey, we did our annual training." I have been to relatively few of these sessions that I thought would really do any good, although some are as effective as they are necessary.

The report, to me, seemed a study in jackassery. It levied a lot of recommendations against DoD that would be either peripheral or useless in stopping another attack. It didn't consider the costs in money, time, or effort that its recommendations would place on Commanders--even though all the recommendations are purportedly to help Commanders frustrate future attacks. This rag is definitely "by bureaucrats, for bureaucrats."

Is there anything at all positive about the report? Sure.
Know what the name of the US Postal Service's anti-workplace violence program is called?
The Going Postal Program. Really. (p C-5)

I Blame Global Warming

2010-01-24T20:11:00.001-08:00

The recent cold snap experienced down here devastated the fish populations. While my own observations are anecdotal, I went down to my jetty the other morning and counted 27 dead fish in the area between the jetty and the boat ramp (an area about 10m X 15m). The whole of the island smelled like dead fish.

Haitian Vacation

2010-01-23T22:01:00.001-08:00

Posting will be light until we get the Haiti relief effort up and running smooth. Big units go into full-scale 24/7 operations by slicing some of their bloated staff into a night ops crew; minimal impact on the organization except for sleep schedules. In itty-bitty units like mine, you gird your fucking loins and run a marathon at a wind-sprint pace.
Also, I will for the most part pass on posting about Haiti. I'm a little too close to Haitian relief efforts to be a disinterested commenter. I'd wind up either being a contrarian or a cheerleader, and neither is appropriate. Maybe later, when the AARs are written, I'll toss off attaboys and bullshit flags, but not right now.

Sherlock Holmes vs James Bond

2010-01-23T19:16:00.000-08:00

...Is an analogy used in Fixing Intel: A Blueprint for Making Intelligence Relevant in Afghanistan. The comparison and contrast may have lost a little luster since Sherlock Holmes has been bad-assified in the new movie (thoroughly enjoyed the movie by the way. One point to ponder: in issuing the coup de grace hit on a hand-to-hand opponent, Holmes analyzes the efficacy of and then employs a liver punch, only it's wrong. So, film gaffe or safety measure so that kids don't run around exploding each others' livers?) but the paper is, in my humble opinion, a great overview of the shortfalls of our current information and intelligence architecture and a decent roadmap where it needs to go in order to better serve our national interests in Afghanistan.

In an effort to practice what they're preaching MG Flynn, Deputy Chief of Staff, Intelligence for ISAF and his co-authors have produced an eminently readable paper that "critically examines the relevance of the US intelligence community to the counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan." The authors avoid delving into egghead esoterica and succinctly flense the current modes and methods of procuring intel in Afghanistan and offer up sound recommendations on improving the system. The authors proclaim that

The most salient problems are attitudinal, cultural, and human. The intelligence community’s standard mode of operation is surprisingly passive about aggregating information that is not enemy-related and relaying it to decision-makers or fellow analysts further up the chain. It is a culture that is strangely oblivious of how little its analytical products, as they now exist, actually influence commanders.

The study demands that the intel community shed its current "Powerpoint" mentality and start banging away on MS Word. The authors point out that the intel community doesn't provide Commanders on the ground the breadth and depth of information needed for a Commander to matriculate enduring positive effects for Afghanistan. Instead, by focusing primarily on anti-insurgent (as opposed to counterinsurgent) intelligence, the intel community predisposes Commanders to adopt a "capture/kill" mentality against the Taliban, rather than an "isolate, diminish, and starve" approach. Thus

“A military force, culturally programmed to respond conventionally (and predictably) to insurgent attacks, is akin to the bull that repeatedly charges a matador’s cape – only to tire and eventually be defeated by a much weaker opponent,” General McChrystal and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan Command Sergeant Major Michael T. Hall recently wrote. “This is predictable – the bull does what comes naturally. While a conventional approach is instinctive, that behavior is self-defeating.”

The changes that the intel community needs to make are to begin looking in depth across the breadth of Afghanistan and focusing on every dimension of Afghani society that might provide a lever or fulcrum to a Commander. The best analogy offered on how the system needs to change its perspective was a neo-Clausewitzian comparison of the COIN intel requirement to that of a political campaign in that

To understand the dynamics of this process, it is useful to think of the Afghanistan war as a political campaign, albeit a violent one. If an election campaign spent all of its effort attacking the opposition and none figuring out which districts were undecided, which were most worthy of competing for, and what specific messages were necessary to sway them, the campaign would be destined to fail. No serious contender for the American presidency ever confined himself or herself solely to the “strategic” level of a campaign, telling the staff to worry only about the national and regional picture and to leave individual counties and election districts entirely in the hands of local party organizers, disconnected from the overall direction of the campaign. In order to succeed, a candidate’s pollsters and strategists (the equivalent of a J-2 staff) must constantly explore the local levels, including voters’ grievances, leanings, loyalties, and activities. Experienced campaign strategists understand that losing even one or two key districts can mean overall defeat. (Recall, for example, the defining impact of two Florida counties – Miami-Dade and Palm Beach – on the national outcome of the 2000 presidential election.) To paraphrase former Speaker of the House Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill’s famous quote, “all counterinsurgency is local.”

The proposal to build Stability Operations Information Centers, each with a healthy demographic of journeyman analysts that go out with every possible ground element in order to survey and collate information picked up by every available sensor, is sound. The folks who live and operate in a given area will know everything knowable about it--up to and including minutiae that they don't even realize will be important in gleaning a better picture of cause and effect within their respective AOs. As the paper says, "The soldier or development worker on the ground is usually the person best informed about the environment and the enemy. Moving up through levels of hierarchy is normally a journey into greater degrees of cluelessness."

The most important piece of the paper, though, is that it emphasizes, again and again, that intel is Commanders' business. Leaders need to constantly push their intel shops to collect, evaluate, and assess the relevant information and intelligence that they need to shape their campaigns. Too often, Commanders demand that their intelligence be diluted into bite-size bubble charts that may track what happened, but not how or--more importantly--why.

The Stability Ops Info Centers would in many ways replicate the intel procedures prevalent in current intel Fusion Centers. However, while Fusion Centers usually concentrate on "red" activity (enemy activity), The SOICs would concentrate on "white" activity (the population, economy, development and government). So, an example of the efficacy of the SOICs would be when

An NGO wanting to build a water well in a village may learn, as we recently did, about some of the surprising risks encountered by others who have attempted the same project. For instance, a foreign-funded well constructed in the center of a village in southern Afghanistan was destroyed – not by the Taliban – but by the village’s women. Before, the women had to walk a long distance to draw water from a river, but this was exactly what they wanted. The establishment of a village well deprived them of their only opportunity to gather socially with other women.

The authors also make a good argument for keeping the intel system bifurcated along the Fusion Center/SIOC dichotomy. Access, timeliness, and customer culture between the two intel venues differ so wildly that it is best to keep them separate.

I would push, though, for a trifurcated (yuh, I invent words as I go along) architecture. Rather than a red vs. white paradigm for collection, analysis, assessment, and dissemination, I'd like to see a "black, grey, white" paradigm. Black for lethal/bad guy targeting, white for all the DIME stuff, and grey for those actors about whom we're not real sure. Many of the persons, infrastructure, locations, and organizations on which we collect would probably be graded on a sliding scale along that spectrum, depending on which dimension was prioritized. For example, a local political figure might be pro-Coalition (white) and have a lot of influence with various tribal shuras (white), but he might have sticky fingers when it comes to aid money (grey), spend a little too much time with certain criminal elements (grey) and meet regularly with his brother's wife's cousin's husband, who just happens to be a Taliban bigwig (black). In order to get the holistic view that the authors want, the firewalls betwixt the different targeting systems would have to have access points so that analysts could braid the information coming from the three areas into a coherent picture. I don't think the introduction of grey intel necessitates a whole new third type of center, I just think that there's got to be an overarching means of getting the full picture of any particular person, place, or thing. Get this right, and Sherlock Holmes becomes the bad ass he needs to be without requiring James Bonds "double-0" status.

Speaking of Phonetic Anomalies...Like I Was Saying

2010-01-09T12:30:00.000-08:00

This report has me trying not to dislocate anything patting myself too hard on the back:

A timeline provided by the State Department officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, showed that an initial check of the suspect based on his father's information failed to disclose he had a multiple-entry U.S. visa. The reason was that AbdulMutallab's name was misspelled.

"That search did not come back positive," said one official, who called it a quick search without using multiple variants of spelling.

Like I said, spell it in standardized Arabic, optically scan it, turn it into a bar code, and disseminate.

Here's To All You Ladies Celebrating Mongo Day

2010-01-09T12:23:00.000-08:00

Glad the Mongo clan could be of service...
The difference in spelling is a phonetic anomaly from the Irish...

Happy New Year

2009-12-31T07:36:00.001-08:00

The System Worked As Well As Anyone Else's...Right? C'mon, really, Right?

2009-12-30T16:54:00.000-08:00

My thinking 'til now was: This many years after 9/11, the foiled Christmas Air Terror Attack is just embarrassing. So much went wrong, in so many dimensions of national security, that everyone involved in national security should probably be more than just a wee bit humiliated.
Then I read this:

MOGADISHU, Somalia — A man tried to board a commercial airliner in Mogadishu last month carrying powdered chemicals, liquid and a syringe that could have caused an explosion in a case bearing chilling similarities to the terrorist plot to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The Somali man — whose name has not yet been released — was arrested by African Union peacekeeping troops before the Nov. 13 Daallo Airlines flight took off...

Okay, whoa. Time the fuck out. We ("we") miss this Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab guy. That's embarrassing. Then we find out that a month ago a UFA clone ran a rehearsal in Somalia and got caught by African Union peacekeeping troops. Now, I don't want to sound like an American chauvinist (I am, just don't want that perception to interfere with making my point), but we just got skunked by the African Union peacekeeping force. That's like the LA Lakers getting blown out by Brownie Troop 394.
Forget calling for "heads to roll." That doesn't happen anymore. Instead, we need to get cross-cultural and historical, and bring back a golden oldie as the official means by which someone that fucks up this bad expresses remorse for poor duty performance. Seppuku.

Sniper Stuff

2009-12-30T10:44:00.000-08:00

It looks like the three primary sniper schools (Army, Marines, SF) are starting to do some cross-talking and sharing of lessons-learned. Good. No tactical military endeavor is so much an intersection of art and science. And, too, our combat troops--to include and especially snipers--are experiencing more actual combat than any in our history:

Earlier patterns of combat were different. For example, during World War II, the bulk of the Allied troops in Europe went in after June 6, 1944. The fighting in Europe ended eleven months later. In the Pacific, the fighting tended to be episodic. A few months of combat, followed by many months of preparing for the next island invasion or battle. In Vietnam, not a lot of people went back for multiple tours, and those who did spend a year with a combat unit, spent less time in combat than they would in Iraq. Even during Vietnam, it was noted that many of those who were in combat for 200 or more days, did get a little punchy.
In Iraq and Afghanistan, army combat troops often get 200 days of combat in one 12 month tour, which is more than their grandfathers got during all of World War II.

The linked article isn't on sniping, it covers PTSD and the chemical changes the syndrome induces (I'm not smart enough on the science to do a chicken-or-egg disquisition). As a comparative analysis of combat experience logged since WWII, though, the article reasonably argues that our troops are the most experienced our country has had, ever.

And speaking of all things sniper, Stephen Hunter, the Fyodor Dostoyevsky of the sniper novel, has a new book on the streets. So, looks like everything stops on the Mongo reading list until I download and devour I, Sniper.

American History or Mungadai Heresy?

2009-12-30T08:31:00.000-08:00

Chuck Norris is iconic to the Mungadai, so I hesitate to put this out there. Still, a good thought on which to meditate.

H/T to Mr. Rummel at Hell in a Handbasket

And Speaking of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

2009-12-29T17:50:00.000-08:00

So, Richard Reid pulled his stunt with the shoes less than six months after 9/11, and ever since we've had to doff our shoes at the security checkpoint at airports.
The 2006 terror plot of the "hair gel and anal salve" Al Qaida set ensured that now we cannot carry on more than an itty-bitty smidgen of any sort of liquid onto a plane.
We're hearing about new TSA rules that will force passengers to sit for the last hour of any flight with nothing in their laps and without recourse to the restrooms (because, of course, AQ terrorists are not savvy enough to use the lavatory 65 minutes before touchdown). But (butt) does that really ensure our safety? I think not.
Nope. Since ol' Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab chose to squirrel away his PETN in his jockey shorts, and said shorts didn't raise a single alarum, there is only one fail safe TSA countermeasure available...

Damn, flight bumped again...

Apparently, It's Judo Day

2009-12-29T13:24:00.000-08:00

Judo 101

2009-12-29T12:39:00.000-08:00

Any regular readers (all three of you, give or take) have probably begun to suspect my penchant for judo and jiu-jitsu, and that it is one of the optics through which I try to view most situations and/or problems.
I don't watch much television--not that I'm one of those anti-television snobs. Aside from reality shows, content on TV is better than it's ever been. I just have too much to do otherwise with working out, MA training, work, family stuff, and professional reading (and drinking. And fishing). So I'm coming late to the game with watching the Human Weapon series on the History Channel. Still, found it, and enjoyed their installment on Judo. The show provides a good overview of Judo history (with its Jiu-Jitsu roots) and principles. Anyone looking for a quick Judo 101 could do worse than to watch the show. Part one is embedded below, but I recommend all four installments.

A Modest Proposal In The Interests of National Security

2009-12-29T09:51:00.000-08:00

The foiled Christmas terrorist attack--the system worked!-- highlighted an ongoing peeve of mine. How many ways can you mangle, make up, or imagine you will see in the press the spelling of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's name? There are conventions for transliterating non-romanic languages into English, but they still give us a plethora of spelling options for, in this case, Arabic names.

Look at the high fashion, Italiana-guarded, Barbie-curl coiffed titular head of Libya. According to Wikipedia:

Because of the lack of standardization of transliterating written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been transliterated in many different ways into English and other Latin alphabet languages. An article published in the London Evening Standard in 2004 lists a total of 37 spellings of his name, while a 1986 column by The Straight Dope quotes a list of 32 spellings known at the Library of Congress.^[83] This extensive confusion of naming was used as the subject for a segment of Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update in the early 1980s.^{[citation needed]}

In 1986, Gaddafi reportedly responded to a Minnesota school's letter in English using the spelling "Moammar El-Gadhafi".^[84] The title of the homepage of algathafi.org reads "Welcome to the official site of Muammar Al Gathafi".^[85]

"Muammar Gaddafi" is the spelling used by Time magazine, BBC News, the majority of the British press and by the English service of Al-Jazeera.^[86] The Associated Press, CNN, and Fox News use "Moammar Gadhafi". The Edinburgh Middle East Report uses "Mu'ammar Qaddafi" and the U.S. Department of State uses "Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi". The Xinhua News Agency uses "Muammar Khaddafi" in its English reports.^[87]

So, Gaddafi is a guy who wants everyone in the room to know who he is and that he is there. Were it up to him (and, unfortunately, oft times it is) trumpets would blare and pigeons would fly every time he made an entrance, and we can still document 30~40 different open source methods of spelling his name.

Now suppose that you're just some schmuck that wants to infil the US--or US airspace, anyway--in order to blow up innocent civilians, cause significant property damage, and generally terrorize as much of the US population as you can. With a name like Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, how many different spelling variations can you come up with in an effort to thwart the various and sundry bureaucracies charged with keeping your sorry ass out? Even if there were, for example, a couple of small irregularities between your hand-printed immigration card, and your passport, and your driver's license, and your visa card, and your actual visa, would an English-speaking official either notice or think it was significant? Suppose Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had had the mission to infiltrate the US and put boots on the ground for a period of time before executing his plan (like, say, spend some months in a Florida flight school before being ready or able to execute the mission)? If he could get into the US, he could drive from coast to coast, stopping at motels to rest or see the sights, without ever using the same spelling twice. Any bureaucracy, or any ad hoc conglomeration of bureaucracies ostensibly collaborating to catch the guy, suffers a workload that expands geometrically over space and time trying to track the guy down, and that's without him employing any other countermeasures than playing scrabble with his name.
All applications for non-immigrant visas (you can see one here) are written exclusively in English. In fact, the Visa application is topped with big red letters that say, in part,"Your answers must be in English and must use English characters." I can understand the philosophy that in order to come to the States, you should at least have enough facility with the language to fill out the paperwork. Of course, this is not the philosophy upon which DOS bases its requirement to actually fill out the form. Any non-English speaking individuals seeking to fill out a visa can go to the local Embassy or Consul and get assistance filling out the form. So, if your name originates from the Arabic alphabet (or the Cyrillic, or Kanji, or Hangul, or...), then your name in the English alphabet is pretty much whatever approximation you choose that more or less is phonetically close enough. Does this seem like an administrative weakness that can be exploited?

Arabic is tough to learn; to even be a competent "basic" speaker, you have to learn a whole new alphabet. The Army has a whole curriculum based off a transliterated English alphabet; the transliterated alphabet only aids in phonetic rote memorization. Even this many years after 9/11, it is probably too much to expect that our alphabet soup of bureaucracies would have enough competent Arabic linguists to manage even the "by exception" guys on various watch lists, let alone all the Arabic native speakers who come into contact, for whatever reason, with our US Government.

So, what if we had all applicants fill out a bubble sheet, like unto that which Americans fill out for any standardized academic test (e.g., the SAT), possibly linked in with some sort of biometrics, and that gets translated into a standardized bar code that code be scanned, databased, and disseminated electronically.Above is Gaddafi's name in such a standardized format.* It couldn't take too long to 'gin up some code that would enable us to digitally track his comings and goings in the US--I mean, if he's not allowed to pitch his big tent in Central Park. If every applicant/immigrant with a name not derived from the English alphabet used this, it would probably make everyone's life easier. A guy named Abdulmutallab on the watch list couldn't spoof the system by writing Abdel Mu'talib. When he did apply for a visa, every one in government with a responsibility to safeguard the homeland (which should be everyone in Government) would be able to bounce his standardized name off of his own lists. Failure to properly render one's name in one's native language when one chooses to apply for any permissions or dispensations from the USG would mean no further access to our government (or our country) without a lengthy appeal process to determine why you bungled your name in your own native tongue.

An added benefit is that this isn't even "profiling." We just want to do you, Mr. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab the courtesy of getting your name right. So that we can better and more efficiently act on your request for a visa (driver's license, whatever). The fact that we can better and more effectively shithammer you if you're a terrorist, well, that's just a happy coincidence.

*And Gaddafi's name proves the point. My own facility with Arabic ranges from poor to not-quite-as-poor, depending on how much I'm using it. As it's been years since I've read any Arabic press with Gaddafi's proper name in it, this was a surprise: If pronounced exactly as spelled in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), Gaddafi's name is more like QaTHafi. I'm reasonably sure the proliferation of D's rather than Th's in the middle of the spelling of his last name is due to a variation between MSA and Libyan dialect. So, even if a guy is making an honest effort to accurately transliterate his own name, the difference between the Arabic spoken and written word can throw a spanner into the works.