A Break In Coverage

There will be a dearth of posting in the next 20 days or so, as I am traveling to JRTC. There aren't too many LAN drops in the swamp, I'll post if I can...but expect full sarcastic service to be restored later in MAY.

Old Helicopter P0rn

An OH-6 Loach and AH-1 Cobra do their thing...not in Vietnam, but at an air show in FL.

Events Other Than IEDs In Iraq

Every day brave men and women are putting their lives on the line around the world trying to rid us of some of the most evil people mankind has ever known. You'd never know it from a casual reading of most media sources.

From an OPSEC point of view I can understand the reluctance to disclose operations because of the fear that the targeted individuals will deduct what we are up to based on the information disclosed. But on the other hand when CENTCOM issues a press release, why isn't the story picked up on a wider basis? All the components are there for compelling reporting, human drama, danger, and most importantly something important that effects each and every citizen in this country.

My theory is, if the reporter doesn't necessarily agree with our(USA) reasons for fighting this conflict he/she is unlikely to report (reward in their eyes) on the efforts of those participating in the conflict. Instead they are much more likely to report on events that conform to their preconceived notions...like car bombs and kids dying in the streets. Any event that goes counter to this is an aberration and not deemed important. I guess one could ask at what point do the stories that run counter to their beliefs pile up that they are forced to re-examine their opinions?

I'm sure there are some who can read the linked story below and see failure in the fact that they didn't get Zarqawi. These folks need to be reminded that we are at WAR. In WAR the ENEMY gets a vote. It is ridiculous to believe that the military forces of the US will be victorious in every single engagement on the battlefield. There will be setbacks. There will be days where we come out on the short end of the stick. Does that mean that all is lost? Does that mean that we are loosing? Does that mean it's all not worth it? If you answered YES to any of those questions you need to pull your head out of your fourth point of contact and get a clue.

Read the following for a taste of what is going on while you sit at home worrying about the price of gas and if that Latina will be working at Starbucks tomorrow or off protesting wearing her Che t-shirt.

H/T Texican Tattler
This is the ARTICLE from Marine Times

SpecOps unit nearly nabs Zarqawi

By Sean D. Naylor
Times staff writer

Just nine days before al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi released his latest video, a special operations raid killed five of his men, captured five others and apparently came within a couple of city blocks of nabbing Zarqawi himself.

Then, the day Zarqawi’s video debuted, special ops forces killed 12 more of his troops in a second raid in the same town.

The raids in Yusufiyah, 20 miles southwest of Baghdad in the heart of the Sunni Triangle, were the latest battles in a small, vicious war being waged largely in the shadows of the wider counterinsurgency effort.

It is a war fought by a secretive organization called Task Force 145, made up of some of the most elite U.S. troops, including Delta Force and SEAL Team 6. They have one goal: hunting down Zarqawi, Iraq’s most wanted man, and destroying his al-Qaida in Iraq organization.

Expensive Fixed Wing P0rn

The F-22 as seen at Tyndall AFB, FL...your tax dollars at work.

COS to Whiners...SHOT OVER.

A Message from the Army COS to the whiners...H/T COUNTERCOLUMN

This article from Stars and Stripes

Schoomaker calls retired generals' comments 'inappropriate'
By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, April 27, 2006


ARLINGTON, Va. — Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker on Wednesday criticized retired generals who have come out against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other defense leaders, calling their comments “unfortunate” and “inappropriate.”

“I was retired, and you didn’t see me doing it,” Schoomaker told reporters during a Washington press breakfast. “If I thought what these officers were saying was true, I would not be here.”

Schoomaker suggested that if the generals were so unhappy with their civilian masters, they should have left their jobs in protest.

“I think we have a responsibility, while we’re in uniform, if we can’t put up with what’s going on, to pick up our saddle up and move on,” Schoomaker said...

Well, I guess we know how the COS feels...

Apache P0rn

A little 30mm and 70mm action for this Saturday.

Girl Friday

I'm back for a few days, and Vanessa Gleason is here to welcome the weekend.

Now She Has A Gun!

Eva's back and she's pimping her new movie...she also is quite the shot (if we take her word for it) From NEWSWEEK

Newsweek
May 1, 2006 issue - Q&A: Eva Longoria
That desperate housewife Eva Longoria is trading in her yoga mat for a gun in "The Sentinel." As her hair was being done, she chatted with NEWSWEEK's Nicki Gostin.

I heard you're a really good shot.
I grew up on a ranch, and my dad educated us really early about guns. We've been target-shooting since I was 5. We had boxes of bull's-eye paper.

Did you hunt and skin animals?
Yeah, but I don't want to talk about that too much because I've gotten calls from PETA. It's part of my upbringing. We didn't do it for cruelty. That's how we had dinner! We skinned our dinner.

So you really are a good shot.
Yes, I shot better than 90 percent of the police officers in the country. When we did Secret Service training, all my shots were dead on. Kiefer's were a little spread out, and Michael Douglas's were not even on the paper. They were everywhere.


I didn't know there was some master database that one could go to so actors could quantify their firearms expertise. I'm sure someone told her this to suck up, although I have no trouble believing she shot better than the guys...someone is going to have a cow that she bested "Jack Bauer". Next thing you know she'll be shooting in competition with the folks at the Texican Tattler...but don't hold your breath.

Light Posting Ahead

I am currently in Florida on business, and connecting to the internet is spotty...so I won't be posting very much in the next few days.

In the meantime, why do some BBQ restaurants (especially those in N FL and S AL) have pictures of smiling pigs on their signs? Does anyone really believe that the pigs whose meat were used to make the sausage and pork that folks are consuming inside went to their deaths happy in the knowledge that they would make a tasty meal?

Apache P0rn

Shot Over!

Some Things Just Aren't Right

There are some things that just shouldn't be done. This is one of them...aparantly West Point has something called the Cavalry Scout Club...as you can see by the picture above, I guess that entitles some of the members to dress up like real Cav Soldiers and wear a stetson. Are there no CAV Officers serving at West Point who can straighten these guys out?

I know their hearts are in the right place...there's just something about them wearing a stetson that strikes me as wrong...Oh well there's a lot worse things they could be doing I guess.

It's San Jacinto Day!

This is from the San Jacinto Museum of History website.


On the morning of April 21st, General Houston held a council of war. The majority of his officers voted to await Santa Anna’s attack in order to leverage their position. General Houston let each man in the council plead his case. Then he made a decision, which he kept to himself until that afternoon: they would attack.

Around 4:30 p.m., the Mexican soldiers awoke from their afternoon siestas to the smell of gunpowder and cries of vengeance. Flushed with victory from the siege of the Alamo, Santa Anna had failed to post sentries to monitor the Texans’ activities.

In eighteen minutes the Texians were in control of the Mexican camp.

The Mexican soldiers were far more trained in martial field tactics and strategy than their Texian opponents. But they were unable to organize under the feverish surprise attack. And the short-range unorthodox brawling of frontiersmen with long knives and clenched fists did not work in their favor.

Over 600 Mexican soldiers were killed, and over 700 were allowed to surrender; nine Texians were killed or mortally wounded. Sam Houston was shot in the ankle. Santa Anna was found the next day hiding in the grass and dressed as a common foot soldier.

For Mexico, the defeat was the beginning of a downhill martial and political spiral that would result into the loss of nearly a million square miles in territory. For the Texans, their victory led to annexation into the United States and the United States' war with Mexico. In the end, the United States would gain not only Texas but also New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming.

As a result of the Battle of San Jacinto, almost a third of what is now the United States of America changed ownership.

Hello Detroit Free Press Readers!

I just noticed I have a link on a story about Blogs and the SECDEF in the Detroit Free Press on line edition...don't know about the paper itself.

I get the feeling that whomever pasted that link on there, hasn't ever read my blog. For the most part I try to stay non political and remarks I've made about the current dust up are/were my impression that some former GO's have gotten their panties in a bunch because the SECDEF has probably treated them to the same leadership style as these GOs used on their subordinates over the years.

Additionally for someone to believe that everyone in the military would march in lockstep for going on 5 years now about the way the GWOT has been run is ridiculous. Especially given that during the same time the SECDEF has been transforming the DOD moving it toward something that is diametrically opposed to the way things have been done in the past.

Anyway...enjoy yourself, don't expect too many shattering relivations around here. If you would like something more biting try COUNTERCOLUMN or ROFASIX.

Girl Friday

2004 Playmate of the Year Carmella DeCesare says have a great weekend and don't try to start nothing...she's an accomplished bar fighter. Don't believe me...look it up.

Welcome Boston Globe Readers...

My little blog was quoted in the Boston Globe today.

They said,"One man, describing himself as a helicopter pilot, ''Outlaw 13," who posts on guidons.blogspot.com, wrote that ''a lot of folks in the head shed have heartburn with" Rumsfeld."

This was pulled from this ,POST :"It seems to me that a lot of folks in the head shed have heartburn with the SECDEF."

Which was preceded by this paragraph: "I am currently reading the book Cobra II, and while I've skipped ahead and read the chapter about OBJ RAMS and the shoot-down of Vampire 13 (which I must say, was well researched and fairly accurate by all accounts), the opening chapter reads like an OP/ED piece in your standard major east coast newspaper (which could be because one of the authors writes for the NY Times). These gentlemen pretend to get inside the heads of all the major players in the GWOT and make some bold statements about the motives and reasons about why things were done they way they were at the beginning of the war. Needless to say there is a lot of finger pointing going on by people who should know better."

To top it off I posted this in March about a book called "COBRA II"...long before the current SECDEF versus the Retired General panty twisting contest.

I have never been inside the Pentagon, I've got no inside info about what currently serving GO's might be thinking about the SECDEF, and it constantly amazes me that there are people out there who actually believe that everyone in the US Army believes and feels exactly the same way about everything to do with the war. It would truly be shocking if no one actually disagreed with how the SECDEF was doing his job.

Bottom line all this crap is just talk and will accomplish nothing other than give the politicians something else to scrap about and maybe give some Hajji hope that we are about to fall apart and quit.

She's at it AGAIN!?!

FRIDAY 21 APRIL UPDATE!!: The evilness of this woman's plan has now become apparent to me...she has a movie coming out today...and I've have fallen for this sham. I feel so USED. The shame of it all.

Eva is at IT again!

Yes she's a beauty, but Longoria has brains too (NO SHIT?!?...And I thought she had been lobotomized)
Mon Apr 17, 2006 08:19 AM ET


By Bob Tourtellotte
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Eva Longoria is annoyed. The Latina beauty on hit television show "Desperate Housewives" is bugged by all the newspaper, magazine and Web gossip about her sex life when there are more important issues to think about.

She is as comfortable talking about U.S. immigration policy and the plight of migrant farm workers as she is having her bikini-clad body on a mega-sized magazine cover spread out in the Nevada desert so that it can be seen from outer space.

Longoria, 31, is a beauty, but her brain is big, too and she wants folks to know it. So when the media focuses on her sex life with boyfriend Tony Parker, as happened last month, Longoria gets irritated. (Not nearly as irritated as us...or I would bet Mr. Parker after you decided to spew about your "relationship")

Once again for all those aspiring models and actresses out there...when someone gives you a bikini (see picture above) and pays you to appear in a magazine...they aren't paying you for your intellect. It's nice that you're smart and all...but frankly the readers of MAXIM or STUFF could give a rats ass about your views on illegal immigration (by the way GWB agrees with your point of view you twit...quit parroting the party line it doesn't really support your smart person act).

So try and realize how the gravy train works...we aren't interested in what you think we just want to look at your (insert favorite body part here). You can talk about how much you love puppies, wild flowers etc. and how hot you find men in uniform...other than that keep your big yap shut...your career will thank me for it.

KW P0rn

OH-58Ds from 1-25 ATK flying in Iraq in the summer of '04.

The Easter Bunny Hates You!

Photo is from Cowboy Blob

This is pretty funny stuff...don't show the kids.
The Easter Bunny Hates You

Warthog P0rn

An aircraft I've always thought was pretty cool, but generally treated pretty badly by the USAF HQ, the A-10 Warthog...known officially as the Thunderbolt II.

The first shot was at the 2004 Temple Air Show in Temple TX.

The next two shots were taken at Hogsmoke 2004 at Alexandria, LA as you can see the weather was pretty crappy.

The last shot was taken during my Korean vacation courtesy of Uncle Sugar.

Easter Bunnies

An Easter celebration in a confused simpler time.





That will teach that little bastard to cut across my property!

Hope you have a Happy Easter...or for you heathens have fun today, the seventh day of the week.

Apache P0rn

Shots from my recent field expedition...

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

While I know that these numbers I'm about to spew aren't really stats...I felt that the Mark Twain quote was appropriate to this situation.

Currently there is a lot of thrashing around and general breathless reporting of the fact that 6 count them 6 former retired General Officers have come out of the closet demanding that the POTUS fire the SECDEF.

Do any of you have any idea of how many General Officers are now serving on active duty? I don't so I started surfing around the INTERNET and found the answer HERE. For those who don't want to go there and are willing to take my word for it the answer is 881 yeah you read it correctly eight hundred and eighty one officers ranging in rank from Brigadier General all the way to General (Four Star). SO if one was to imagine how many retired generals there are...well, that would probably be more than 881.

So is it unusual that 6 of these guys might have issue with a guy who doesn't suffer fools gladly, who has developed an idea about how he want to fundamentally change the military, who has (by all reports) a gruff leadership style.

What is unusual is that these former retired Generals might actually think that they are doing some good by getting on the news and demanding that the SECDEF resign. Do you actually think it will happen now? How can someone who is supposed to be politically attuned (how else do you get to that rank anymore) be so tone deaf? If they are in fact that tin eared it's no wonder they and the SECDEF aren't on good terms. Go sell your books elsewhere cry babies, your comments definitely aren't helpful to what's going on...and I've yet to read in any of these whining critiques of the SECDEF anything that remotely resembles constructive criticism.

Girl Friday

Lisa Matthews, 1991 Playmate of the Year says have a great weekend.

Southpark and the Prophet

'South Park' Creators Skewer Own Network

By DAVID BAUDER

NEW YORK (AP) - Banned by Comedy Central from showing an image of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the creators of "South Park" skewered their own network for hypocrisy in the cartoon's most recent episode.

The comedy - in an episode aired during Holy Week for Christians - instead featured an image of Jesus Christ defecating on President Bush and the American flag.

In an elaborately constructed two-part episode of their Peabody Award-winning cartoon, "South Park" creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker intended to comment on the controversy created by a Danish newspaper's publishing of caricatures of Muhammad. Muslims consider any physical representation of their prophet to be blasphemous.

When the cartoons were reprinted in newspapers worldwide in January and February, it sparked a wave of protests primarily in Islamic countries.

Parker and Stone were angered when told by Comedy Central several weeks ago that they could not run an image of Muhammad, according to a person close to the show who didn't want to be identified because of the issue's sensitivity.

The network's decision was made over concerns for public safety, the person said.

Comedy Central said in a statement issued Thursday: "In light of recent world events, we feel we made the right decision." Its executives would not comment further.

As is often the case with Parker and Stone, they built "South Park" around the incident. In Wednesday's episode, the character Kyle is shown trying to persuade a Fox network executive to air an uncensored "Family Guy" even though it had an image of Muhammad.

"Either it's all OK, or none of it is," Kyle said. "Do the right thing."

The executive decides to strike a blow for free speech and agrees to show it. But at the point where Muhammad is to be seen, the screen is filled with the message: "Comedy Central has refused to broadcast an image of Muhammad on their network."

It is followed shortly by the images of Christ, Bush and the flag.

A frequent "South Park" critic, William Donohue of the anti-defamation group Catholic League, called on Parker and Stone to resign out of principle for being censored.

"The ultimate hypocrite is not Comedy Central - that's their decision not to show the image of Muhammad or not - it's Parker and Stone," he said. "Like little whores, they'll sit there and grab the bucks. They'll sit there and they'll whine and they'll take their shot at Jesus. That's their stock in trade."

Parker and Stone did not immediately respond to a request through a spokesman for comment.

It's the second run-in over religion in a few months for the satirists. Comedy Central pulled a March rerun of a "South Park" episode that mocked Scientologists. Isaac Hayes, a Scientologist who voiced the Chef character on the show, resigned in protest over the episode.

"South Park" again got the last word last month with an episode where Chef was seemingly killed and mourned as a jolly guy whose brains were scrambled by the "Super Adventure Club," which turns its members into pedophiles.

Only last week, "South Park" won broadcasting's prestigious Peabody. Awards director Horace Newcomb said at the time that by its offensiveness, the show "reminds us of the need for being tolerant."



Me personally I didn't really "GET" that Southpark was letting their own network "HAVE IT" for not allowing them to show a cartoon of Mo. They did a pretty good job of poking fun at "Family Guy" and pointing out the general spinelessness when it comes to this issue...but honestly I've seen better. The catholic League guy has a pretty good point but the wrong target...they did what they (Southpark) did with Jesus to point out the dual standard...but I guess that's lost on him and apparently Comedy Central.

Vice Chief Disagrees With TRADOC...sort of.

This is from ROTORHUB News

Nashville, Tenn: US Army is not getting out of the deep attack – as some have said. Panel of top leadership, including Gens Cody, Curran, Sinclair and Packett took time during a panel here to deny an impression Apaches would be put on close fight duties and not do heavy attack. Consensus was there’s a new definition of what deep means anyway. Sinclair says it’s more defined by time and is a shaping question more than anything else. Cody – Army VCS – says the deep attack continues and is more a ‘joint’ concern than ever before but the impression the Apache is somehow being pulled back is just wrong.

Reading this closely though doesn't necessarily give one the impression that they do in fact disagree with the TRADOC commander (whose comments I talked about HERE) All it tells me is the definition is changing and we are calling it shaping operations now...so quit bothering us.

Not that these aren't smart men, because they are, but Army aviation has suffered over recent years because its leaders are among the most inexperienced aviators in the unit. Now if a commander was smart he would search out his experienced people and seek their advice, the not so smart, unsuccessful commanders would ignore that voice of experience and go their own way because they were commanders...sometimes it worked, some times it didn't, but it's not the smartest or best way to do business...but hey that's the nature of the beast that is Army Aviation...not that any of that has anything to do with the story above...I'm just saying...don't ya' know.

What the HELL do I mean by that last paragraph? Well, I have yet to read any article or paper on small unit or team tactics in Army aviation. Every article I have ever seen published in professional journals covers logistics or the big picture (my unit is great). While that is all fine and good, it ignores the fact that commanders became static in their thinking about how to fight the enemy. There were people within aviation that have tried to change how we do things and until aircraft started getting shot down they were resisted...now we scramble to change things...when tactics should have been a gradual constantly re-evaluated changing process all the time. We are just now getting in the ballgame...and its because of that static rigid thinking...in some ways we became the Soviet Army that we defeated...no original thought, fight the plan not the enemy...it's a shame that people had to suffer to get to this point. Let's hope it doesn't ever happen again.

Thanks to ROFAsix for pointing the ROTORHUB News thing out to me!

No Tears in Heaven

The four Soldiers sat around an olive drab painted footlocker playing cards. Actually, the group was comprised of three Soldiers and one Marine, all wearing desert camouflage uniforms, their blouses removed exposing brown t-shirts, not because they were hot, rather it was just more comfortable to have them off.

You owe it to youreself to go and read THIS at SGT Hook.

Here's a portion below...

“Let’s go for six Top,” the Marine Captain said to his partner.

“Six it is then Sir,” First Sergeant McNeely agreed. Julian McNeely was from Newark, New Jersey and had served in this man’s army for just over 17 years. He took a lot of shit for his first name while coming up through the ranks, especially while at basic training, but only his brother got away with ribbing him about it in recent years.

Julian McNeely’s partner in this game of spades was Captain Mike Williams from Sarasota, Florida. Private First Class Williams attended the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia and graduated as Second Lieutenant Williams on September 9, 2001. He enjoyed playing cards with Top McNeely and the men, it kept his mind off of missing his wife and daughter...

What follows is classic...read it now.

Greatest Helicopter Ever

Now I'm sure people who don't know me would expect that if you asked me for my opinion on what I thought the greatest helicopter ever would be I might reply the mighty AH-64...well, I hate to disappoint all the gun pilots out there, but I'm here to tell you the UH-1 Iroquois takes the prize hands down. First flown in the 50's it's still going, has done everything there is to do and will keep going as long as you can find a few parts and gas. There's something to be said for simple and easy...if you get a Huey started it will fly...turn on the battery, pull the trigger and 40 seconds later you're flying, try and say that about most of the stuff we fly in the Army today.

I've got around 2000 hours in a Huey with around 200 of those in combat...I will always remember that aircraft as being my favorite...the past and future champion!

Other Helicopter P0rn

A Coast Guard Dolphine takes off from Ellington Field in Houston, TX.




Some kind of troop transport helicopter makes a landing at FOB Ferrin-Huggins in Iraq.

Fixed Wing P0rn

An F-16 from Shaw AFB, SC in a bank at the former Carswell AFB, Fort Worth, TX...Spring '05

Maxim Ain't Got Nothing On The First Team

Renowned AAFES P0rn magazine, MAXIM is celebrating its 100th issue by placing a giant version of the magazine cover in the Nevada desert (see below) H/T Texan Tattler



As you can see it features Texan and attention whore Eva Longoria (added bonus there is now a picture of Eva available that is as big as her ego). Maxim bills this stunt as the first advertisement visible from space....well the 1st CAV Division pulled a stunt like that 2 years ago (see below) but we didn't use an over hyped semi clad actress of marginal talent we used the division patch so it went un-noticed.

Helicopter P0rn

A AH-64D from B Company 1-227 ATK (Reapers) heads across West Texas. An ice cold Dr Pepper awaits whomever can identify the terrain feature behind the helicopter.

Deep Operations a Thing of the Past For Apaches?

U.S. Cuts Role Of Apache for Deep Attack
By GREG GRANT
04/03/06

Battlefield experience in Iraq has shown that the U.S. Army’s premier attack helicopter, the AH-64 Apache, is highly vulnerable to small-arms fire. Therefore, it will no longer play a prominent role in the service’s deep attack mission, said the Army’s head of doctrine.

Gen. William Wallace, who commanded ground forces in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and now heads the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, said he would shake up the way the Army conducts deep attack operations.

“Less integration of Apache helicopters,” more Air Force ground-attack aircraft, and “more use of Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, perhaps even with unitary rounds that are long-range precision,” Wallace said Feb. 16 at the Association of the United States Army’s winter symposium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Questions about helicopter survivability arose early in the Iraq war when 34 AH-64 Apaches undertook a deep attack mission against a Republican Guard division positioned south of Baghdad. Every airframe was hit by ground fire, one Apache was downed, and 27 of the 33 that returned to base were so heavily damaged they couldn't’t fly until repaired. Since 2001, the Army has lost 85 helicopters in Iraq and Afghanistan to ground fire and combat-related accidents...

E-mail: ggrant@defensenews.com.
defensenews.com/story.ph...7858&C=thisweek (subscription required)
Also posted at Kiowa Pilots

It's interesting to read that some within the Army are still debating the usefulness of the attack helicopter deep attack. Entire careers have been made on the concept of Deep Attack. There were at one time several Attack Helicopter Regiments consisting of multiple Squadrons of AH-64s whose sole reason for existence was to conduct deep attacks against the Russian hoard. The concept has been used a few times since the end of the cold war, first during Operation Desert Storm (successfully), then in the Balkans we had Task Force Hawk that never really got into the fight for a number of reasons...some not of their own making (incomplete grade) and finally when OIF began the above mentioned operation (un-successful).

There are a couple of things that need to be highlighted about this type of operation. First, a Deep Attack is a HIGH RISK operation. A commander is committing the major portion of his attack helicopter assets to a cross FLOT (forward line of troops...behind enemy lines to those who don't get it) operation to engage and hopefully destroy second echelon (or in some cases the main attacking force before they have been fully engaged) enemy forces.

Second, Quite naturally the enemy wants to protect his assets...for a Deep Attack to be successful, commitment of assets other than attack helicopters must occur. This means that the Deep Attack becomes the main effort for the command conducting the operation. Intel, Artillery, CAS and even logistics are all affected by this and must be allocated correctly for mission goals to be achieved.

So what does all this mean? Does it mean that cross FLOT, deep operations are dead for the attack helicopter community?

I would say what it means is that commanders need to insure that the items required to execute the mission need to be present before we execute. What do I mean by that? Before operations like a Deep Attack take place there is something called a GO/NO-GO briefing. During this every area needed for mission success is talked about, INTEL, LOGISTICS, SUPPORTING FIRES, availability of crews and aircraft...etc. There is a different go/no-go for each operation , but you get the point. Commanders first of all are driven, mission oriented and never want to tell higher that they can't do something, but they also must have the moral courage to say no when the conditions aren't met to conduct operations. When SEAD is fired an hour early, when the CAS isn't there, when Intel doesn't know exactly where your target set is, when your flight routes to the engagement area are drawn over towns and cities and can't be moved, when you don't have enough gas to launch the entire attacking force conditions aren't set. All of these things happened prior to the Karbala fight but the aircraft still launched and came back shot to hell without accomplishing the mission.

For someone to say the AH-64 is susceptible to small arms fire misses the point entirely. All helicopters are susceptible to small arms...it's a question of how much and where the fire hits the aircraft. During OIF II aircraft from 1-227 ATK took fire and continued the mission successfully in places like Sadir City, Falujia and Najaf. Crews are constantly looking at individual tactics trying to asses the best way to get things done from an operational point of view...the aircraft and aircrew training is not the problem.

A Deep Attack is a tactic like a raid and before it is undertaken some serious thought needs to occur about risk versus reward and I don't think that was always done...especially during war games like WARFIGHTER or NTC rotations. Is the Deep Attack dead? I don't know and frankly I really don't care if deep attack is dead or not especially as I have other fish to fry right now...but I do believe it's a good idea if people within the Army are seriously discussing this type of operation. On the other hand if they are using the model of a flawed operation as the reason an entire method of operations should be discarded, that is faulty logic and not the type of critical thinking I would expect from my senior leaders.

Now back to my regularly scheduled service of booby pictures and aircraft p0rn.

It's Friday! I'm Back and So Is Girl Friday!

Monica Leigh is ready for the weekend...I sure as hell am. (The ration cycle was A-M-A...for those who are interested. The only MRE I ate was a spaghetti with meat sauce. The first meal I had in the field was a garden salad with your choice of dressing followed by the main course of chicken fajitas with chocolate cake for desert. Sorry to shatter those field illusions for some out there...at least the cots and the bugs still suck, so you can take some comfort in that.)

Break In Coverage

I'm going to the field for a few days...so hang loose till I get back.

Thanks for your support!

Hot KW on KW Action

Two OH-58Ds from 1-25 ATK 25th ID taxi out of the FARP at Camp Taji, Iraq in 2004.

Spring Forward!

Unless you live in Arizona, Hawaii, the territories or places other than the USA, its time to move your clocks forward one hour.

I hope you enjoyed your hour less of sleep last night...that is if you had something to get up for this AM.

Fixed Wing P0rn

An F-18F "Super Hornet" does a high alpha pass at the Wings Over Houston air show last October.



An A-10 from Davis Monthan AFB, AZ beginning a hard turn back to re-engage.