Monday, August 31, 2009

NICE SHOOTING

JERRY WRITES:
Target I "gonged out" today shooting 300WSM just shy of 1000 yards (956 yards per the range finder). On a hog hunt in Cutberth, Georgia - we were shooting from a covered bench from Georgia into Alabama!!


Good days my friend . . . good days . . . Semper Gumby =D ! ! !

A WORTHY CAUSE

I don't know if you are aware of Michael Yon.







"He's fearless ... provides a candid, soldier's-eye view ... from the very unique perspective of being there with them for weeks and months at a time ... delving deep into the human component."

-General DAVID H. PETRAEUS
Commanding General
Multi-National Force, Iraq



Micheal Yon is ex-SF, and he brings honor to the Regiment with his heroic work covering the wars going on out there, reporting from Iraq and Afghanistan since December 2004. Read his creds HERE.

"No other reporter has spent as much time with combat troops in these two wars. Michael’s dispatches from the frontlines have earned him the reputation as the premier independent combat journalist of his generation. His work has been featured on “Good Morning America,” The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNN, ABC, FOX, as well as hundreds of other major media outlets all around the world."



Michael Yon is the 2008 Weblog Awards Winner for Best Military Blog.




As early as February 2005, Michael described the violence in Iraq as a civil war. In 2006, he said we were losing in Afghanistan. In 2007, he was the first reporter to claim the success of “the Surge” in Iraq. When he first voiced these opinions, they were extremely controversial. Now they are conventional wisdom.

Now Michael needs your help. He obviously does what he does for little or no pay:

"I cannot operate in the war without your support. If support does not substantially increase, I will be forced to abandon war reporting in September. There has seldom been much interest in the Afghanistan war. True interest has been starkly reflected in the support for this mission. Each journey into Afghanistan, since 2006, has bled out resources from my operations. Reporting from Afghanistan is not sustainable at this rate."

In his blog there is a fascinating story about helicopters in the war zone, specifically the static that lights up in the rotors (I've often observed this phenomena myself). Yon has coined it the Kopp-Etchells Effect, in memory of two KIA corporals; one American & one British.


Today is pay day - every G.I. out there is a millionaire. Go to Michael's site and crack the code on the PayPal thing. I am going to lead by example on this thing and scratch out a check for $25; if every one of my regular readers contributes the same, this will equal six months pay for Michael.

-SEAN LINNANE SENDS

A DARING ESCAPE



A French security agent held captive by insurgents in Somalia escaped last Wednesday, 26 August. Although Somali officials alleged that Marc Aubriere escaped by killing three of his captors, French Foreign Ministry officials initially had no comment and could not even confirm the hostage’s escape.

Marc Aubriere and his colleague were kidnapped by Hizbul-Islamin rebellion on 14 July and after a month in captivity, Mr. Aubriere was able to escape and make his way to the presidential palace, where he found solace. "I escaped at midnight last night. The guards were very tired and sleepy. I didn’t kill anyone or injure anyone while escaping," Mr. Aubriere is quoted as saying. “Of course I feel better than one day ago. Yes I feel very well. I’m happy and I will soon see my family,” he added.

French security consultant Marc Aubriere told of how he sneaked past his Somali kidnappers while they slept then walked by night for five hours across Mogadishu, at one point coming under fire, according to RFI radio. "I'm doing OK and, even if my month and a half in detention was horribly long, I was well treated. There was no torture, nor fake execution," Aubriere told Radio France International. "On Tuesday, around midnight, I took advantage of my jailers falling asleep, tired out by Ramadan. I saw that my cell was badly closed and so I was able to make off without any violence," he said, according to a transcript provided by RFI. "In any case, if I'd fired a shot, other guards would have killed me. Then I walked through the night for almost five hours, guided by the stars to get to where I wanted to go," he said. "Mogadishu is deserted at night and the only men I saw were armed. I was shot at. I ran. I hid and by chance they missed me," he said.



French officials have not formally identified the former hostage beyond describing him as a government employee who was part of a two-man advance team in Mogadishu to help set up a Somali presidential security detail. He has identified himself in interviews with several media outlets since his apparent escape as 40-year-old Marc Aubriere, although it is thought possible that he gave a fake name. Official sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that "Aubriere" is an agent with the French overseas intelligence agency, the General Directorate of External Security or DGSE.

An Islamist official in Somalia claimed that a ransom was paid for the freed hostage, but both the French government and the agent himself have denied that and insists he escaped through his own means.


Team STORMBRINGER wishes "Bon Chance" to fellow adventurer Marc and of course our prayers are with his (unnamed) comrade - still missing and understood to be in the hands of a second Islamist group, the Shebab, which on Wednesday said that an Islamic Sharia court would decide his eventual fate.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

MARINE WAR DOG HERO

A Marine Corps Military Working Dog recently passed away; please review this touching tribute to a true canine hero:



MWD Flapoor was one of our great military working dogs who was on the front lines with our Marines during Operation Iraqi Freedom. His handler, Marine LCpl Brown, made this tribute video so we can all remember one of our beloved K9 heroes.

MWD Flapoor did two tours in Iraq. During his first tour, in 2005-2006, MWD Flapoor and his handler at the time, Cpl Poelart, were providing security at an Iraqi police recruitment center in Ar Ramadi when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the building. The bomb killed dozens of Iraqis wanting to become police and wounded dozens more.

The bomb set a precedent in that the first military working dog handler, Sgt Adam Cann, was killed in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom. MWD Flapoor and his handler were both wounded and awarded the Purple Heart. Cpl Poelart was eventually honorably discharged while MWD Flapoor recovered from his wounds and went back for a second successful tour in Iraq. Thank you for making this tribute LCpl Brown so we can all remember this amazing dog for his sacrifice and service to our country.

NOTHING GOOD WILL COME OF THIS




Nice clenched-fist salute there, Seňor Presidente-for-Life - you remind me of someone: MUSSOLINI







Hugo Chavez will visit Iran in the first week of September.

According to Venezuelan ambassador to Iran David Velasquez, Chavez's September tour is in line with unity and commitment to world peace. Chavez will also tour Syria, Libya, Iran and Russia to discuss Iran-Venezuela projects and the adverse military situation in Latin America "created by the US".

"Chavez does not want nefarious forces to rule a society, whereas today West with its imperialist forces and Washington is a threat to the world."

In the meantime Hugo Chavez has gone on the record stating he'd welcome Russian troops in Venezuela "because the North American empire has plans to invade Venezuela, to disarm Venezuela."

You can judge a man's character by the people he hangs out with; birds of a feather flock together:

The strategic alliance between Chavez and Fidel Castro, initiated in December 1994 when Chavez visited Havana for the first time and formally constituted in 2000, Chavez’s second year as president of Venezuela, facilitated the entry of the People’s Republic of China, Iran, and more recently Russia into Latin America.

North Korea, aka the hermit kingdom, also has expanded its presence in Latin America quietly through a strategic alliance with the Chavez regime which has been deepening since Pyongyang established an embassy in Caracas in 2006.

During the decade Chavez has been in power, non-state actors like the FARC and ELN of Colombia, European militant groups like the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and ETA (the Basque seperatist movement), and Islamic militant groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, among others, also have established a presence in Venezuela.

IRA and ETA, which also have longtime links with the Cuban regime in Havana, travel in/out of Venezuela via Cuba. Islamic militants – like Hezbollah, Hamas, etc. – use commercial air routes between Caracas, Tehran and Damascus.

Some local independent intelligence analysts also believe that radical Islamic activists loosely associated with militant groups possibly tied to al Qaeda have established a presence in Venezuelan territory over the past six or seven years.

International ethnic organized crime groups also known to be operating in Venezuelan include several Chinese triads, Russian mafiya, Neapolitan ‘camorristas,’ and Spanish, Brazilian, Mexican and several West African crime groups. Their core “business” in Venezuela is narcotics smuggling, the illegal arms trade, and money laundering.

Presidente Chavez routinely reaffirms that the United States is the greatest enemy of Venezuela, and the greatest evil in the world. He is on record, literally hundreds of times in the past decade, as saying that he wants to destroy the US Empire, destroy US capitalism, bring the US to its knees, etc.

Sounds like a nice enough guy, the kind of guy I'd like to kick back and have a beer with sometime. NOT.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

On August 29, 1944, 15,000 American troops marched down the Champs Elysees in Paris as the French capital celebrated its liberation from the Nazis.


An American M8 armored scout car in front of the Arc de Triomphe at the "Liberation Day" parade.


American soldiers watch as the Tricolor flies from the Eiffel Tower again, August 1944.

THE ROLAND SAGA







Thorvald the Wise recommends the biography of Warren Zevon: I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon by Crystal Zevon. He was really out there until he cleaned up his act.







The song "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" was co-written with David Lindell, an ex-mercenary who ran a bar in Spain where Warren was the resident musician early in his career. He never liked talking about the origins of the song and usually refused to answer questions about it.

A diary entry from Warren’s bio:

March 21, 1983 - Austin

Gimme a fine old hippie bar like Clubfoot’s - Randy Davis left his friend James Crumley’s new book “Dancing Bear” . . . Brendan Collins from Stiges visited after the show - we reminisced about ‘75. Three military-looking men bluffed their way backstage, claiming to be journalists. Mutually stirred up combative adrenalin - I politely refused to discuss Roland & challenged their questions, but they were ‘bad’ looking cats, one esp: his name was David Reeve - it turned out he was Special Forces & had enjoyed my stuff with his outfit, the “wild bunch” when they were training at Bragg. He said he “didn’t know if I was for real,” but it if it meant anything to me, he wanted to give me his Green Beret pin. He told me most of the “wild bunch” was left behind, his friends died in the jungle. His companions in Austin told me they knew I “wasn’t from this country” - ?! - did I know what the emblem meant - I assured them I did –
“De Oppresso Liber” - that means “to free the oppressed.” I was totally overwhelmed . . . I looked up & found David Reeve’s listing in the Austin directory & phoned him at 8a.m. to try and tell him he’d given me the greatest honor of my life - I could barely talk (although I talked too much).

Warren Zevon, 1947 - 2003

I always liked that song, ever since my early days as a paratrooper in the Holy Land, and especially later on during my service in West Africa. Now that I know about the Special Forces tie-in, I like it even more - Sean Linnane


Here he is singing it on the Letterman Show:



Thorvald reports it's a pretty restrained version of Roland, he's seen him do it live where it's a lot more intense.

- Thorvald the Wise, official Philosopher in Residence of TEAM STORMBRINGER, is an old friend of Sean Linnane.

STORMBRINGER SENDS...........

Some telling comments from Gadhafi's son today in the Glasgow Herald. He anticipates deals between Libya and London, Edinburgh; and he declares Megrahi is "an innocent man". Gadhafi himself states that the United States knew well in advance about Megrahi's release. This further backstops the indicators I covered on blog STORMBRINGER (23 August 2009) . that A) Megrahi's release was no surprise to London & the U.S., B) some kind of economic arrangement was agreed upon, and C) Libya was NOT responsible for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing; possibly Iran and/or Syria were. Politics makes strange bedfellows, that's for sure.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

MEMORABLE QUOTES: RAMBO



The film First Blood helped establish the genre about war veterans being ticking time bombs - a cliche the media loves to perpetuate - especially if they are Special Forces. The Sly Stallone Rambo persona spun off a series of cornball action movies, but the first one was poignant. Thumbnail synopsis: ex-SF drifter comes to town. Small town cops mess with him. SF vet declares war on small town cops. Bodies stack up like cordwood. Moral of the story: do NOT f*ck with or piss off ex-SF vets. Here are some memorable lines:

Teasle: Whatever possessed God in heaven to make a man like Rambo?
Trautman: God didn't make Rambo. I made him!



Teasle: He was just another drifter who broke the law!
Trautman: Vagrancy wasn't it? That's gonna look real good on his grave stone in Arlington: Here lies John Rambo, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, survivor of countless incursions behind enemy lines. Killed for vagrancy in Jerkwater, USA.
Teasle: Now don't give me any of that crap Trautman. Do you think Rambo was the only guy who had a tough time in Vietnam? He killed a police officer for Christ's sake!
Trautman: You're goddamn lucky he didn't kill all of you.

Trautman: I don't think you understand. I didn't come to rescue Rambo from you. I came here to rescue you from him.
Teasle: Well, we all appreciate your concern Colonel, I will try to be extra careful!
Trautman: I'm just amazed he allowed any of your posse to live.
Teasle: Is that right?
Trautman: Strictly speaking, he slipped up. You're lucky to be breathing.
Teasle: That's just great. Colonel, you came out here to find out why one of your machines blew a gasket!
Trautman: You don't seem to want to accept the fact you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. In Vietnam his job was to dispose of enemy personnel. To kill! Period! Win by attrition. Well Rambo was the best.



Teasle: Are you telling me that 200 of our men against your boy is a no-win situation for us?
Trautman: You send that many, don't forget one thing.
Teasle: What?
Trautman: A good supply of body bags.

Rambo: I could have killed 'em all, I could kill you. In town you're the law, out here it's me. Don't push it. Don't push it or I'll give you a war you won't believe. Let it go. Let it go.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

DR. RUTH WESTHEIMER, MEDIA DARLING & ISRAELI SNIPER

. . . from the worthy site of my good friend DOUBLETAPPER:




Dr. Ruth Westheimer, former Israeli Sniper, sitting on the hood of an IDF Jeep







The future Dr. Ruth Westheimer was born Karola Ruth Siegel in Germany in 1928, the only child of an Orthodox Jewish couple. In 1939, after her father had been taken by the Nazis, her mother and grandmother sent her to Switzerland to get her out of harm's way. She did not see her family again, as they were murdered in the Holocaust.


Ruth was 17 with no home, family or country when WW II ended. Like many other Jewish Holocaust refugees, she moved to Israel (the Palestine). Ruth, dedicated to the building of a Jewish homeland, joined Haganah, an underground Jewish military organization. She served as a sniper. Says Dr. Ruth of that interval:


"When I was in my routine training for the Israeli army as a teenager, they discovered completely by chance that I was a lethal sniper. I could hit the target smack in the center further away than anyone could believe. Not just that, even though I was tiny and not even much of an athlete, I was incredibly accurate throwing hand grenades too. Even today I can load a Sten automatic rifle in a single minute, blindfolded."


Her military career was cut short when she was seriously injured:

On her twentieth birthday, just 8 days after the Haganah was absorbed into the IDF, just as she finished up her watch, an Arab shell exploded at her feet, seriously injuring her.

"My legs were almost ripped off on my 20th birthday in 1948 in Jerusalem from cannon ball shrapnel which exploded in the residence where I was living. Three others were killed instantly and many more were wounded. The metal pierced both my legs, and there was blood everywhere. A cannon ball from Jordan had smashed through the window. I was thrown 20 feet. The strangest thing was that all I could think about was whether there might be some blood on the brand-new shoes I had just gotten for my birthday, and amazingly there wasn't even a drop on them, which was all I cared about in some kind of strange denial."

In an interview with Tom Foreman, Dr Ruth answered some questions about her experience in the fledgling Israeli Military, the Haganah and the IDF.

Tom Foreman: You were trained as a sniper?

Dr. Ruth: We were all trained in the forerunner of the Israeli Defense Force, and for some reason that I can't explain I'm a very good sniper. I can put five bullets into this little red circle (makes circle with her fingers). I know how to throw hand grenades...

Tom Foreman: There was a bomb that went off in the barracks.

Dr. Ruth: Yes.

Tom Foreman: Many of your friends were wounded as well?

Dr. Ruth: Yes and died. Boy you did your homework.

Tom Foreman: Do you think that some of those experiences of your life made you bolder? Many people comment that the thing that strikes them about you is that you so fiercely walk into any culture and you ask very intimate questions.

Dr. Ruth: I am what you call bold because the one thing that I've learned coming out of Nazi Germany is that I have to stand up and be counted for what I believe. And that's how people are listening to me, because they know it's not a put-on.

THE DESERT LIVES & BREATHES . . .

My good friend & brother-in-arms Erik is in the great Sonorra Desert of the American Southwest . . . a place I know well and love . . .


Mornings are beautiful there . . .


Erik is originally from this area, he was raised in the desert, so I asked him to track down some wildlife for STORMBRINGER . . .

Horned Lizards, known as Horny Toads, abound . . .

A coyote was here . . .

A snake - NOT a sidewinder - was here . . .

Hard to tell what we've got here, from the photo - I'd say some kind of lizard, although there is no tail drag. Not a bird. Maybe a small critter of some kind . . .

From a survival point of view, knowing where the animals go tells you 2 things: A) where to set your traps & snares, and B) where to find water. Now get busy with that shelter, the desert sun is coming up and it's going to get hot . . .

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

THE AMERICAN ARMY




"The reason why it is so difficult to fight the American Army is because they never follow their own doctrine."
- A Russian General





"War is Chaos, and the reason why the American Army excels at War is because they practice Chaos on a daily basis."
- a German General

Monday, August 24, 2009

MOMENTARY LAPSE OF OUTRAGE





We're talking about the Libyan intelligence agent convicted for THIS 1988 atrocity:




Sometimes it is not what is said or done that gives clue or reason to a series of events, but rather what is NOT said or done. In the curious case of the Lockerbie bomber's the release from Scottish prison last week, the distinct lack of hue & cry on behalf of the Obama Administration speaks volumes:

The United States Government immediately issued a statement to express "deep regret" at the decision: "The United States deeply regrets the decision by the Scottish Executive to release Abdel Basset Mohamed al-Megrahi," a White House statement said . . .


That's kind of lukewarm and vanilla flavored; it's hard to imagine the Oval Office was blindsided by this thing. In fact, it's almost as if the Obama Administration expected this thing to take place.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement is even more telling: "The United States is deeply disappointed by the decision of the Scottish Executive to release Abdel Basset Mohamed al-Megrahi who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which took the lives of 270 persons, including 189 Americans . . ."

Take note that in her statement Secretary Clinton does not label al-Megrahi a terrorist or a murderer or a killer, simply that he was convicted and sentenced. This is significant: the rumor in political and intelligence circles is that the American, British and Scottish governments do not believe the Libyans were responsible for the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988.

So if Libyan intelligence agents operating on orders from Mohamar Ghaddafi weren't responsible for the greatest act of terrorism up until that point in history, then WHO WAS? Please bear with me as I lay out the pieces to this puzzle:

The official reason given for Abdel Baset al-Megrahi's release, according to Scotland’s Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill, was "compassionate grounds" because the convicted terrorist is apparently dying from prostate cancer. Never mind the fact that practically every man in the world over the age of 65 has some detectable trace of prostate cancer.

When the story first hit the radar screens, this was presented as an arbitrary decision made solely by the Scots, the people who tried & convicted al-Megrahi in 2001 in an unprecedented trial that involved moving Scottish jurists to an international venue in the Netherlands. The excrement quickly hit the rotating ventilator when it was disclosed that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown discussed the issue with Colonel Gaddafi six weeks ago.

The legal expert who engineered the extraordinary legal footwork getting a jurisdiction together to try al-Mehgrahi, Robert Black QC FRSE, to this day has a close interest in the Lockerbie affair, not least because he was born and brought up in the town. In his website dedicated to Lockerbie, Black discusses the strong evidential case proposed by retired CIA case officer Robert Baer.

During his 20-year career with the CIA, Baer was known as the Agency's best man in the Middle East. Baer has repeatedly recently gone on record stating his suspicions that Lockerbie was not the work of the Libyans, that there is hard evidence that other nations - Iran particularly - were/are responsible for the atrocity.

The why's & wherefore's are as complex as the trail I have laid out up to this point. I am not a lawyer, I am a soldier, but this was explained personally to me by a connected Washington Beltway insider. His words rang true to me, so I present this to you:

In the spring of 1988 the United States Navy was involved in convoy missions escorting reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers past the Iranian coastline and through the hotly contested Straits of Hormuz. These operations led to the largest combat operations for American naval forces since World War II, during which two Iranian warships and three armed speedboats were sunk. It also marked the first anti-ship surface-to-surface missile engagement in U.S. Navy history.

The Iranian frigate IS Sahand (F 74) burns after being attacked by the Joseph Strauss and A-6s.

During the aftermath of these engagements, the US Aegis missile destroyer USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 civilian passengers onboard, mostly Iranians, including 66 children, ranking it seventh among the deadliest airliner fatalities.

It is believable that the Iranians would resort to a terrorist act to avenge this event, because they already had a track record of international terror operations against the United States and their own citizens abroad. Case in point: the suicide bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut in October of 1983, as well as the US & French Embassy bombings in Beirut at the same time, were both traced back to Iranian-sponsored terror organizations.

Basically, the shootdown of one of their civilian jetliners by an American warship gave the Iranian leadership legal justification to retaliate against the United States - what better a target than the largest jetliner in the world at the time, the Boeing 747, under the American flagship colors of Pan Am?

Then why, if the evidence for Lockerbie points to the Iranians, would Mohamar Ghaddafi be willing to accept responsibility for the event, and why would he give up one of his own intelligence agents as a scapegoat? The Libyans were an easy scapegoat - in the mid-1980s it would be difficult to find a Libyan intelligence agent in Europe who DIDN'T have plastic explosive residue on his hands. They might not have done Lockerbie, but they bombed the La Belle Disco in Berlin, killing 2 American servicemen and a Turkish woman.

It must be noted that at first Ghaddafi did NOT accept responsibility for Lockerbie - Libya's official admission of responsibility only came many years later, and with strings attached: in May 2002, Libya offered up settlement payments to the families of the 270 killed in the Lockerbie bombing, representing US$10 million per family. The Libyan offer was that 40% of the money would be released when United Nations sanctions, suspended in 1999, were cancelled; another 40% when U.S. trade sanctions were lifted; and the final 20% when the U.S. State Department removed Libya from its list of states sponsoring terrorism.

In December of 2003, the Libyan government announced its decision to abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs as an important step toward rejoining the international community. The Libyan WMD program was significant, apparently:

Libyan scientists revealed that, between 1980 and 1990, they had made about 25 tons of sulfur mustard chemical-weapons agent at their Rabta facility (which the CIA had long ago identified), produced shells for more than 3,300 chemical bombs, and tried to make a small amount of nerve agent. They had not mastered the art of binary chemical weapons, however, in which chemicals come together to form a lethal agent only when the bomb explodes. Thanks to sanctions, Libya was unable to acquire an essential precursor chemical.

On the nuclear front, Libya had developed highly compartmentalized chemical and nuclear programs that were often unknown even to the Libyans who worked at the facilities, they had already imported two types of centrifuges from the Khan network. Libya had also imported two tons of uranium hexafluoride to be fed into the centrifuges and enriched as bomb fuel. Libya had managed to acquire from the Khan network everything required to produce a 10-kiloton bomb, or to make the components for one, as well as dozens of blueprints for producing and miniaturizing a warhead, usually the toughest step in producing an atomic weapon.

So there was the stick: we wanted to close down the Libyan WMD program, and the Libyans were willing to barter with us in order to get their frozen funds back, to lift international sanctions against their country and shuck the pariah image they'd been living under for decades.

And here was the carrot: Lifting sanctions would allow U.S. oil companies back into Libya, where U.S. firms were at one time producing more than 1 million barrels per day and where oil facilities could be enhanced to reach 2 million bpd within five years.

Nobody in either of the Bush Administrations wanted to finger the Iranians, for whatever reason. My source suggests this may be because Syria was implicit in terror operations with the Iranians, and in 1990 President George Bush '41 saw Syria as critical to holding together the tenuous Arab Coalition assembled by US-led forces against Saddam Hussein in Operation Desert Storm, the first Gulf War. This sentiment continued under Bush '43, apparently; the Syrians were seen as key to winning great influence amongst the Arab nations of the Middle East.

And now this man is a national hero in his country:


This whole thing stinks to high heaven. Good thing I lost my idealism after the Ollie North Arms-for-Hostages thing back in '86 - S.L.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

UPDATE: "DON'T TAZE ME BRO!"



Lessons learned:

1) Do not "huff".

2) When Mister Policeman points the taser at you, do exactly what he says.

3) If you MUST "huff", see Rule #2 (above).

THE PHENOMENA OF GENIUS



What is considered a genius IQ score?

Different types of IQ tests are measured differently. Some definitions:

Mean = average.
Bell curve = a line drawn on a graph that looks similar to a bell.
Standard deviation = a distance that is measured away from the mean or average.

Let me explain.

The average score of an IQ test is usually 100. That is the mean. For many tests, the standard deviation is 15. (Others have different standard deviations.)

If you move 1 standard deviation in each direction from 100, you go 100-15=85 and you go 100+15=115. This gives you a range of 85 to 115. In a bell curve this means that 68% of all people score between 85 and 115 on the IQ. Half of that is 34%. So 100 to 115 is 34% of people.



Basically there are 4 standard deviations in each direction:
1 deviation is 68% of all scores. From 85 to 115.
2 deviations are 95% of all scores. From 70 to 130.
3 deviations are 99.7% of all scores. From 55 to 145.
4 deviations are 99.99% of all scores. From 40 to 160.

Most groups would consider that an IQ of 160 and above is at a genius level. That equates to 1 out of 10,000 people.

Outside factors may affect test scores. For example, a person may be genius-level IQ, but a language barrier causes them to score poorly on the written exam; hence, the test results show a lower-than-average IQ.

By the way, an average IQ and a great work ethic and dedication to succeed will secure you success in life.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

MEDITATIONS ON THE ART OF DEFENSE . . .






"The unknowing try to defend everything at once, but the knowledgeable look at the main point only; they parry the worst blows and stand a little hurt if thereby they avoid a greater one. If you try to hold everything, you hold nothing." - Frederick the Great





The following is part of an ongoing series or articles & seminar presentations I do on Military Leadership Principles adapted for business owners and managers. The thoughts below were contributed by an old friend who has also been my mentor since the late 80's - S.L.

In business, as in war, the purpose of defensive operations is to buy time, hold terrain, facilitate other operations, preoccupy your adversary, and erode his resources. Your situation & circumstances will always differ; the principles always remain the same. Defending forces await the attacker's blow and defeat the attack by successfully deflecting it. Waiting for the attack is not a passive activity - leaders/managers should seek to strengthen their forces through training and provide no advantage to an adversary before hostile actions begin.


SUCCESSFUL DEFENSE:

o Is aggressive.

o Uses accurate / integrated direct fire - think "Counter-measures."

o Maximizes firepower, ability to maneuver, and leverage protection - think: "Keep your options open."

o Denies your adversary the ability to use leverage or to gain initiative.

o Contains the following characteristics:
- Preparation
- Effective monitoring and surveillance
- Flexible, adaptive, and exploit opportunities
- Fusion of command & control, technologies, and precision fire



To be ready, one MUST:

PREPARE:

o Study the surrounding terrain in great detail with complete understanding - Be knowledgable & totally aware of your operational environment.

o Continually rehearse (either mentally or physically) actions to be taken if an attack occurs whenever and wherever you are at any moment day or night. Have contingency plans, policies and written SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) in place, and make sure your management staff are aware of them.

o Preparations are continuous and in-depth (PACE - Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency).

o Ensure outer perimeter reconnaissance and both inner and outer surveillance are effective and continuous. Be aware of when you are being observed, and when your perimeter is being probed.

o Apply deception wherever feasible - Throw out red herrings; give your opposition false targets to go after.


TO WIN WITHOUT FIGHTING - this is the greatest victory - Sun Tzu


o Make yourself a 'Hard Target' - create the ability / appearance of being "too hard to do."

o Know your job and be prepared to perform it in every way - "Fate Favors the Prepared."

o Detect reconnaissance and surveillance - Know when you are being watched, when your organization is being probed.

o Give your adversary nothing of value that is within your sphere of influence.



- contributed by STORMRUNNER – the "Deacon of Doom", old friend and mentor of STORMBRINGER.

Friday, August 21, 2009

RANGERS vs SF


The Chief of Staff of the Army asked his Sergeant Major, who was both Ranger and Special Forces qualified, which organization he would recommend to form a new anti-terrorist unit.

The Sergeant Major responded to the General's question with this parable: If there were a hijacked Boeing 747 being held by terrorists along with its passengers and crew and an anti-terrorist unit formed either by the Rangers or the Special Forces was given a Rescue/Recovery Mission; what would you expect to happen?

RANGER OPTION:

Forces/Equipment Committed: If the Rangers went in, they would send a Ranger company of 120 men with standard army issue equipment.

Mission Preparation: The Ranger Company First Sergeant would conduct a Hair Cut and Boots Inspection.

Infiltration Technique: They would insist on double timing, in company formation, wearing their combat equipment, and singing Jody cadence all the way to the site of the hijacked aircraft.

Actions in the Objective Area: Once they arrived, the Ranger company would establish their ORP, put out security elements, conduct a leaders recon, reapply their face cammo, and conduct final preparations for Actions on the OBJ.

Results of Operation: The Rescue/Recovery Operation would be completed within one hour; all of the terrorists and most of the passengers would have been killed, the Rangers would have sustained light casualties and the 747 would be worthless to anyone except a scrap dealer.

SPECIAL FORCES OPTION:

Forces/Equipment Committed: If Special Forces went in, they would send only a 12 man team (all SF units are divisible by 12 for some arcane historical reason) however, due to the exotic nature of their equipment the SF Team would cost the same amount to deploy as the Ranger Company.

Mission Preparation: The SF Team Sergeant would request relaxed grooming standards for the team.

Infiltration Technique: The team would insist on separate travel orders with Max Per Diem, and each would get to the site of the hijacking by his own means. At least one third of the team would insist on jumping in.

Actions in the Objective Area: Once they arrived, the SF Team would cache their military uniforms, establish a Team Room, use their illegal Team Fund to stock the unauthorized Team Room Bar, check out the situation by talking to the locals, and have a Team Meeting to discuss the merits of the terrorists' cause.

Results of Operation: The Rescue/Recovery Operation would take two weeks to complete and by that time all of the terrorists would have been killed, (and would have left signed confessions); the passengers would be ruined psychologically for the remainder of their lives; and all of the women passengers would be pregnant. The 747 would be essentially unharmed, the team would have taken no casualties but would have used up, lost, or stolen all the "high speed" equipment issued to them.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

RUSSIA HOLDS US HUMVEEs AS WAR TROPHIES


Russia Holds US Humvees as Trophies - Associated Press - 05 August 2009

MOSCOW -- A top Russian general says Russia has no intention of returning U.S. HumVees that Russian soldiers seized during the brief war with Georgia a year ago.
Deputy chief of the General Staff Anatoly Nogovitsyn says Russia considers the four Humvees to be war trophies and thus has no obligation to give them back.
Nogovitsyn told reporters Wednesday that Russia considered the subject closed.
The U.S. vehicles were seized in western Georgia. They had been used in joint military exercises in which U.S. trainers were preparing Georgian troops for deployment in Iraq.

This is par for the course; during the Cold War Russia stole military technology - and everything else - from us like it was going out of style, then they'd make such low-end Socialist copies it was pathetic. The Lada is Fiat rip-off and the Ural motorcycle is a WWII-era BMW.

Nowadays the Russian mafia steals whatever they want in the US and other countries - cars, trucks and even motorcycles - then they load it all in shipping containers and ship them to Russia via St. Petersburg and Finland where the Politburo gives them new titles: viola, legal property. I've seen cars from the US that still have American dealership stickers tooling down the road in Eastern Europe.

As so often happens with Russian technology, we will soon see this latest advancement of their military weaponry - a Russian Tactical Vehicle identical to the HumVee - appear in the next big May Day parade and other any photo ops they can conjure up.

Do they mean the CITY or the BAND ? ? ?



Sean Linnane is ON THE ROAD in Lancaster, Pennsylvania . . .

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

MAKES ONE WONDER . . .

Disturbing content on New Black Panther's MySpace page - By Kerry Picket, Washington Times July 30, 2009
. . . It all began when Mr. Jerry Jackson, member of the “New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense” (NBPP), stood outside a Philadelphia polling area with Malik Zulu Shabazz and another New Black Panther member during the 2008 presidential election. They later faced charges for intimidating voters on November 4th, 2008. Appointed to be a poll watcher in 2008 for the Democratic Party and the Obama campaign, Mr. Jackson is also an elected member of Philadelphia's 14th Ward Democratic Committee . . .



The NBPP member has not stayed away from expressing his views on a social media site like MySpace. Mr. Jackson's original MySpace site is chock full of disturbing images with explicit racial overtones.

NOTE: Since Friday evening (July 31st) to Saturday morning (August 1st), Mr. Jackson's MySpace page has changed radically since the posting of this blog. However, there are screen captures available below from Mr.Jackson's original MySpace page. A sample of some of the phrases and images on his MySpace page include:

***Warning the following image links are extremely offensive in nature***

"BLACK POWER,BLACK LOVE,BLACK UNITY,BLACK MINDS,KILLIN CRAKKKAS"

"F*** Whitey's Christmas"

An image of an execution scene from the cult hit film "Pulp Fiction"

A photo of a man holding a sign saying, "DEPORT WHITE PEOPLE"

A derogatory anti-cop poster titled "BEWARE OF PIG"

An image of Saddam Hussein before his execution and profanity towards the police

A photo of a cop sitting next to a black child in a toy car. Beneath the image the phrase "Racial Profiling: It Starts Early"

A photoshopped movie poster of the "Bourne Supremacy" is re-worded to say "The Bourne White Supremacy" A swastika is added to Matt Damon's cheek, and the scope of his firearm is photoshopped to look as if he is about to shoot a black man. The "n" word is used to describe who "Matt Damon hates" in this movie poster. The phrase, "They should have just stayed in Africa" is photoshopped at the top of the image.

Monday, August 17, 2009

QUOTES from the Masters . . .



On Problem Solving

"You only have to solve two problems when going to the moon: first, how to get there; and second, how to get back. The key is don't leave until you have solved both problems." - Neil Armstrong

"Any jackass can kick down a barn but it takes a good carpenter to build one." - Lyndon B. Johnson

"Problems are good, not bad. Welcome them and become the solution. When you have solved enough problems, people will thank you." - Mark Victor Hansen

On Life/Living

"Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." - George Bernard Shaw

"Life is what we make it. Always has been, always will be." - Grandma Moses

On Courage

"Courage is sometimes frail as hope is frail: a fragile shoot between two stones that grows brave toward the sun though warmth and brightness fail, striving and faith the only strength it knows." - Frances Rodman

"To dream anything that you want to dream, that is the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do, that is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself, to test your limits, that is the courage to succeed." - Bernard Edmonds

On Getting Started

"Each indecision brings its own delays and days are lost lamenting over lost days...What you can do or think you can do, begin it. For boldness has magic, power, and genius in it." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Think big, start small." - Patricia Fripp

"Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start." - Nido Qubein

"The most important key to achieving great success is to decide upon your goal and launch, get started, take action, move." - Brian Tracy

On Goals

"All things are created twice. There's a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation of all things. You have to make sure that the blueprint, the first creation, is really what you want, that you've thought everything through. Then you put it into bricks and mortar. Each day you go to the construction shed and pull out the blueprint to get marching orders for the day. You begin with the end in mind." - Stephen Covey

"The ultimate reason for setting goals is to entice you to become the person it takes to achieve them." – Jim Rohn

Saturday, August 15, 2009

SPYPLANE


"Dragon 55" taxiing to parking at RAF Fairford during a swap over. This aircraft is in a Senior Span configuration - A Pod, Ruby Sensors under the wings, an array of aerials underneath and a CDL below the tail pipe.

COMBAT TALON



MC-130H Combat Talon II (Special Operations)

A Trio of SpecOps Birds


A pair of MH-60 Pave Hawks trail their MC-130 tanker in a demo of precision flying. The primary mission of the MH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter is to conduct day or night operations into hostile environments to recover downed aircrew or other isolated personnel.