Fixing the military----

 

Yesterday I posted The down side of Totalitarian Rule of the military , and I may have just found some supporting evidence over at Danger Room:  How to Fix the Army: Sack All the Generals.

Tasty snippets: 

"Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis doesn’t have faith in Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno.

Or the rest of the U.S. Army’s generals, for that matter.

Writing in the August issues of The Armed Forces Journal (“Purge the generals“), Davis argues that it’s high time to sack the Army’s senior leaders for what he sees as an institutionalized epidemic of astonishing failures that not only go unreported, but are typically rewarded. All of it, he says, is creating a self-perpetuating culture of abysmal performance that won’t go away until the generals do." 

"And Thomas Ricks wrote in The Atlantic in November 2012 (“General Failure”) that, “To a shocking degree, the Army’s leadership ranks have become populated by mediocre officers, placed in positions where they are likely to fail. Success goes unrewarded, and everything but the most extreme failure goes unpunished, creating a perverse incentive system that drives leaders toward a risk-averse middle where they are more likely to find a stalemate than a victory.”" 

"He added: “Ironically, our generals have grown worse as they have been lionized more and more by a society now reflexively deferential to the military… No one is pushing those leaders to step back and examine the shortcomings of their institution. These are dangerous developments. Unaddressed, they could lead to further failures in future wars.”" 

But how to fix such an ingrained, systemic problem?

Whereas Yingling wanted Congress to intervene, Davis is looking for top ranking Pentagon officials of the civilian class to make a number of changes, including shrinking the group of 900 generals and admirals to a more reasonable number and change the promotion system to be more aligned with performance and success that would encourage “prudent risk-taking and nonconformist thinking.”

But more than anything, Davis argues that it’s time to replace “a substantial chunk” of today’s generals, starting with the three- and four-star ranks. Without this move, today’s leaders, who are products and benefactors of the existing system, don’t have the motivation to invoke substantive change.

 

These are the symptoms of a leadership that  values conformity over innovation, motivation and
thinking.  Simply stated these general's that "need to be sacked" are not in the positions they are in because they are failures, lazy , or unmotivated, but because these actions are expected, or more correctly the inverse is punished by the totalitarian rule.  Why stick your neck out if it is only going to result in your head getting whacked?  Just go with the flow.  Self preservation is paramount, right? 

 

That is unless one is a moral and free thinker...... A free and moral man. 

 

Scenario:

Butter Bar LT. and his men are pined down by heavy enemy fire.  His men are dying.  His orders are to call in air support if heavy resistance is encountered.  What does he do?  He has called for help, he has been told to wait....  His men are dying. 

 

The obedient servant waits and hopes.

 

The moral free thinker does something....  Anything!  He leads!  The command may be "Retreat!" or could be just as well  "Fix Bayonets and CHARGE!, but he will not sit and let him and his men die.

 

Just as the business man, inventor, engineer, playwright or poet must be free to create, so must the military commander be free to lead.  Free to be innovative.  Free to call bullshit when he or she sees it.  Free to carry out the moral mission assigned, without reprisal or political pressures......And this is why we have had the greatest military on the face of the earth.....and why today it is something, well a bit different. 

The down side of Totalitarian Rule in the military.

 

The down side of Totalitarian Rule of the military ----and what has made US Solders, Sailors and Airmen so effective in the past.

 

Originally.......This thought was originally sparked  at cblaake6's place linking to this article on Free Patriot. The article lists military officers relived of their commands and simply asks the question is this a purge or not.  I will let others decide if the ever growing list of Command firings is insidious, but my gut tells me the numbers are high...... for whatever reason. I have no idea myself, and can't speak to the if the numbers are high, low or average.  

One take on things is well stated at  In From the Cold who right now has a fine write-up on  The Air Force's nuclear troubles.  This article cites recent problems within The Air Forces "Bucket of Sunshine" Missile community and, I think rightfully so, blame poor leadership. 

What the real causes are, and if someone is in a place that knows, he probably not be able to reveal it.  (Need to find some real reporting on this)

 

  But back to Totalitarian Leaderships effect in a military.

 

Hypothetically,  what if we are seeing a purge of the leadership ranks for the purpose of totalitarian/ dictatorial rule?  What would we end up with? We have seen it in the past and Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot come to the top of my mind.  This leadership, first and foremost requires absolute loyalty to the dictator at all costs.  All other attributes are sacrificed at the expense of following orders, doctrine, and the chain of command.  Additionally one can not be "Too Smart", "See the big picture" or be innovative.  These traits do not play well with the totalitarian leadership.  Thinking for yourself is definitely a no-no. (Just Ask Erwin Rommel how being smart etc. worked out.)

 

The results, from a military leadership stand point, is ineffectiveness. A good illustration is the 12th and 21st SS Panzer Divisions  action  inaction, during the Normandy invasion. Though highly motivated,  loyal troops, with the best equipment, and closest to the invasion, they failed their basic mission because they waited for orders from Hitler to act.  Fear of the Command was greater than anything else.  The Totalitarian rule destroyed initiative. It destroyed innovation.  It destroyed thinking.
 

Contrast this with the opposite, Admiral Spruance ordering immediate launching of aircraft to attack the Japanese fleet at the start of the Battle of Midway.  He made a judgment call, based on his own intellect and initiative, with out fear of reprisal.  Days prior Nimitz broke regulation and procedure also to get the crippled Yorktown out of dry-dock and into the fight ASAP. Other innovations during this fight such as night launch and recovery of US aircraft from the Enterprise,  and the  launching Fighter and Attack aircraft near or beyond their range limits took place. (All risky never done before)  Result, the tide of the war was turned.   Our military leaders were trusted to and able (allowed) to think!

Fast forward to today.....  Is our military trusted to do its job?  Why are their lawyers on the battlefield?  Are our military leaders allowed to think and be innovative without fear?  Is anyone allowed to act quickly without orders?  I wonder who has the balls anymore to say "Nutz!" be to the enemy or ......, whatever.  Long story short, free men of free will, be it in the military, business, or otherwise are innovative, creative, and dare I say can be heroic, and the subjugated can never be any of these. 
 

(BTW: I doubt Lemay gave a shit about political correctness back in the day!)

367mph school bus bus!

Original story: Motoring enthusiast builds 367mph bus

Powered by an after-burning General Electric J79 engine from an F-4 Phantom Fighter, my first thought was that the big boxy School bus would have better aerodynamic propperties  than the aircraft it came out of.

Building your own Jet powered, car, tractor or Hover-round you might just need the IPB for the J-79 see the add to the right.

Army to court martial 'birther' officer. I say bring it on.

Headline on Drudge this morning linking to the MSNBC story Army to court martial 'birther' officer Lt. Col. Terry Lakin. I gave it quick read, looked at peoples comments, may of them accusing him of being a coward and just avoiding duty, but I decided to find out a bit more about him.  

With just a little investigation this man appears to be the real deal.  He wants a Court Martial!

Read:  Terry Lakin's Letter to Obama: April 8, 2010

Please visit and poke around http://www.safeguardourconstitution.com/  and make up your own mind.

Update:  Related link on WND NPR changes archive regarding president's birth  Thanks to: http://cmblake6.wordpress.com/

Who is LTC Terry Lakin

Lieutenant Colonel Terrence ("Terry") Lakin serves as Chief of Primary Care and Flight Surgeon for the Pentagon's DiLorenzo TRICARE Health Clinic. He is the lead Flight Surgeon charged with caring for Army Chief of Staff General Casey's pilots and air crew. LTC Lakin, selected for promotion to Colonel, is a native of Colorado, whose residency is Tennessee.

LTC Lakin's numerous awards and decorations include the Army Flight Surgeon Badge, Combat Medical Badge, the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Achievement Medal with one Oak Leaf Clusters, the National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Service Star, the Armed Forces Expedition Medal, the Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon sixth award and the NATO service medal. He has served previously in Honduras, Bosnia, El Salvador, Korea, and Afghanistan.

 For well over a year, LTC Lakin has asked through his chain of command and his Congressional delegation for proof that President Obama is Constitutionally eligible to serve as his Commander-in-Chief. He has explained to his superiors that he cannot understand how his Oath of Office to protect and defend the Constitution does not allow military officers to pursue this proof of eligibility.

LTC Lakin received military orders in late February for deployment to Afghanistan, including a requirement that he provide "copies of his birth certificate." LTC Lakin is prepared to provide a certified copy of his certification of vital record that lists his birth hospital, physician's name and other key information. He has provided this document for many other required processes, such as his commissioning into the military as an officer, his security clearance and his marriage license. He is the highest ranking officer to go public over this controversy and the first active duty officer to do so.

el Clicky for Vid:

Deep secrets: Former cold war agent gagged by the CIA

Interesting story regarding the Cold War "Uber" secret recovery of a Soviet Golf submarine in the Pacific.





Story: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7034913.ece

"David Sharp recalls every detail of the 1974 mission known as Project Azorian, one of the most ambitious, expensive and politically volatile clandestine operations launched by the CIA.


As one of the CIA’s agents in charge of recovering a sunken Soviet submarine and its cargo of nuclear-tipped missiles, Sharp spent 63 days at sea on what he described last week as a “marvellous engineering effort and a marvellous security effort to keep it under wraps”. "

As an interesting side note, after reading Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage a few years back,  I remembered reading as a kid an illustrated science encyclopedia about Howard Hughes mining manganese nodules from the ocean floor.  Blind Man's Bluff is a great book an definitely on my recommended reading list.

PAK FA Russian Fifth Generration fighter.

Story:  Russia unveils top secret new fighter.
Specifications:  Global Security

Video:


My observations:

I do not believe this aircraft will have true stealth capabilities that the F-22 enjoys. Stealth is in the details and the details tell all.  On the fuselage, in typical Ruski fashion I observed riveting, the engine intakes appear to be non stealthy as well as exhaust nozzles.  The fan blades of the engines will look as big as a barn to a modern western radar if careful consideration is not taken to the shape and placement of the engine.  This is very difficult to do and maintain high performance. It is unclear if the aircraft has an internal bay, one would assume it must to be a true Gen.V aircraft.  There is also a lack of "Z" notching of panels and doors seams, or any type of stealth coating on the canopy.  The cockpit of an aircraft as well as door/panel seams are huge radar reflectors and is difficult to mask.

My bet is that this aircraft has an ordinary RCS (Radar Cross Section) and is not a stalth aircraft at all. It will have to rely on  ECM techniques to mask it'self from western radars and at that point you know something is ouththere.  This bird is nothing more than a target when compaired to the F-22.

Thirty three Minutes

Link





About 33 Minutes


Protecting America in the New Missile Age

33 Minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age is a one-hour documentary produced by The Heritage Foundation that tells the story of the very real threat foreign enemies pose to every one of us. The truth is brutal - no matter where on Earth a missile is launched from it would take 33 Minutes or less to hit the U.S. target it was programmed to destroy.

Nuclear proliferation around the world, and the threat of a ballistic missile attack of some kind is mounting as more and more countries obtain nuclear technology. The ongoing threat toward America is also accelerating due to the fact that there are many rogue nations and terrorist organizations who either have or are seeking ballistic missiles and nuclear technology.

The challenges of protecting America and its citizens for President Obama's administration are great. Featuring rare footage and in-depth interviews with leading experts in the field, 33 Minutes is the definitive documentary exposing the untold vulnerability we all face and the action plan necessary to revive a strategic missile defense system that America uniquely can develop, maintain, and employ for its own defense and the peace-loving world's security.

Photo of the day.

Story: As seen at Barrys speach

Fort Hood

I am so deeply saddened and friggin pissed off by what happened at fort hood.  the F-ing scumbag murderer that took the dozen lives did so knowing that he would be unopposed for the most part.  I wish there were just a few side arms present when the "scumbag future hell dweller" started his evil escapade.  Some return fire would have saved lives, but no.  Sarcasm Warning: Not allowed to be able to defend yourself,  it's the American way.  I think it is time to reinstate the practice of at least the officers of our armed forces openly carry loaded side arms at all times.   At most a situation like this should result in two dead , not twelve.  (I will not get into the "religion of peace" just yet but reserve the right.)

Where is the Calvery?

I hear from the present administration that we need to hurry on a number of vital issues; such TARP,  The Stimulus Plan,  and  Health Care. It has even been stated that we dont even have time to read the legislation, and these programs must be expedited because the consequences are so dire. (OMG Hurry!)

But, when our military commanders on the ground request more troops the administration demands caution  and review.  Why the hem-hawing?  I ask what is the risk of sending more troops?  What am I missing?

I ask, what are the risks to national security, my men, and stability in the region.  What is the down side of too many troops, but I am thinking like a military person.

But Obama is not thinking this way.  I have yet to fully understand his line of thinking, rational, or logic but I am gaining some insight. In his recent pitch to the Olympic committee he used the word I about a gazillion times (actually I think it was in the twenties). This is unheard of for a US President and for most leaders too.  Most leaders rarely refer to themselves, and if they do, they do it in such a way as to minimize their individuality and to maintain focus on the team.  For example "I want this mission to succeed" vs "This commander wants this mission to succeed"  The over use of the word I by Obama is very telling.  It reveals a narcissism and self importance that would be comical if it wasn't so chilling at the same time. 

So the real questions are:
What is the risk to Obama in sending more troops? 
What mission will be jeopardized?
What are Obama true goals.

I am not sure what the answers are but the result is delay, and delay means the loss of initiative.  With the loss of initiative we become forced to react to our enemy,  we get put on a defencive/reactive posture, and that leads to Allied solders, Afghan security, and civilian lives as well as a campaign lost.

Related Story: White House angry at General Stanley

"secure the building" & IDF Hotties

The reason the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines bicker amongst themselves is that they don't speak the same language. For instance, take the simple phrase  "secure the building"

The Army will post guards around the place.

The Navy will turn out the lights and lock the doors.

The Marines will kill everybody inside and set up a headquarters

The Air Force will take out a 5 year lease with an option to buy.

Enough with the jokes, this is worth looking at: http://www.divinecaroline.com/22344/82720-an-intimate-portrait-idf