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Vet 0369

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Everything posted by Vet 0369

  1. Absolutely looks like a subterfuge smoke screen to me (“Oh, no, we’re absolutely complying with the international restrictions. See how we are restricting the use of sensitive technologies!”) Wink,Wink, Nod, Nod.
  2. Being much, much older, during my time in the military during both conscription and volunteer timeframes, the only “major” designations were Soldier, Sailor, Marine, Airman, and Coastguardsman. In the Marine Corps, we then sub classified by combat arm as Grunt (all Infantry and Artillery), Tankie (all Armor), and Winger (Air Wing). We never felt the need break it down any further because we were all Marines and every Marine, from the lowest Pvt and newest 2nd Lt are trained initially as Infantry. Every year, every one of us was required to pass tests on Combat andInfantry knowledge. If you failed the tests, you didn’t qualify for promotions. I don’t know if it is still used, but every Sgt. and above was evaluated on a “Fitness Report,” which is the same one used to evaluate Officers. The most important question was “How willing would you be to serve with this Marine in combat?” Humans like to sub-classify others into groups so they can feel superior to those not in their sub group. Marines don’t need to do that because we’re ALL MARINES FIRST AND FOREMOST!
  3. Hmm,I don’t know how old you are, but the first political campaign I remember was for a Presidential election. The auditorium in my school was a balloting site. The winner of that election was Dwight D. Eisenhower, a retired five-star General, who was the Supreme Commander of the European Theater of Operations during WW II. Coincidentally, he was also the one who began our involvement in French Indochina/Vietnam.
  4. The issue with all the “conflicts” (not wars, as only Congress is authorized to declare war) was not the fault of the military Commanders, Units, and Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen, it was the conditions and restrictions put on them by the politicians. I remember a very disgusting order the Marines were given after the Mai Lai massacre. When they were on combat patrols, they weren’t allowed to load a magazine into or load their weapons until they received fire from the enemy. You can be assured that they “lock and loaded” as soon as they were out of sight of their command tent. For historical reference, the command “lock and load” comes from flintlock muskets where you would pull your “lock” back to half-cock, tear open the paper powder cartridge with your teeth, prime your pan with some powder, then “load” by pouring the remaining powder down the barrel, and ramming the ball that was still tied in the paper down to your breach plug. And remember to never go off “half-cocked” and hope you don’t have a “flash in the pan” while you’re standing “ramrod straight.”
  5. Here in the U.S. the small gardens are called “Victory Gardens.” They are quite popular all over the country.
  6. It would also be illegal in the U.S. The Legislature and Executive Branches cannot create any law or regulation that would create “two classes of Citizens.” If you want to have a Draft, it must apply to everyone equally, and don’t get started on why Women don’t have to register for Selective Service.
  7. This maneuver in the USMC is called a “dual” or “double envelopment,” where you have a base of fire with two maneuver elements (generally at Company strength).It is used at the Battalion level and higher only. A Company and below will use a “single envelopment” with a base of fire and one maneuver element (Platoon or smaller). This is because coordinating two maneuver elements and the base of fire is much, much, much more complicated and difficult than a “single envelopment.”
  8. I would hope that those who are paying attention to the situation and not the propaganda, would begin to stockpile non perishable food stuffs and water instead of the vodka that those in denial might be stockpiling.
  9. All marines were trained in First Aid, and that was performed only after the fire fight or assault was completed. The Corpsmen basically worked on the wounded in a Triage manner. The standing rule of a grunt was that if you perform First Aid on someone, you used their med kit, not yours.
  10. LOL, there is a reason EVERY Marine wants a K-bar! In fact, I still have one, and I can still shave with it, sort of!
  11. When I went through recruit training at Paris Island , NC, we practiced our bayonet skills with each other all the time, even when we weren’t actually involved in “formal” training. That was primarily because we had M-14 rifles with solid stocks. I don’t ever remember doing bayonet training with M-16s though because those stocks have recoil buffers and the stock could break with a good hard butt stroke to the head or the groin.
  12. Ok, having “worked on the inside,” and having a discussed or been a party to discussions on “creative” ways to obtain money fo “pet” projects, I can say with much certainty that virtually every Administration, Agency, Department, Division, Directorate, and office unit, including the Judicial and Legislative Branches of the Government has done, and continues to do the same, no matter which Party is in power. Regarding the U.S. Federal shutdowns, there have been four. They were one under Clinton in 1995-1996, one under Obama in 2013, and two under Trump in 2018 and in 2019. I was personally involved in the shutdown in 2013. All four shutdowns occurred basically after almost all of the Moderates in the House and Senate had either retired from office or been voted out by the two groups of extremists. Before that time, the opposing parties actually negotiated their positions in “good faith.” Fun fact, most Federal employees actually look forward to a shutdown (starting saving up in August for the bi-weekly income loss) because Congress has always passed a bill to pay everyone in arrears after the shutdown ends and there is a new budget. Basically extra vacation time for which they weren’t charged.
  13. The most probable “danger” to the U.S. for Ukraine is that the Federal Budget ends at 23:59 on September 30, 2023. Without a new budget already in place, the Congress will have to pass a number of Continuing Resolutions for the Executive Branch Departments to continue to operate. In this current Congress of basically two extremist groups of Legislators and Senators, with few moderates left on either side, based on my own past experiences, no budget will be passed until at least the end of December.
  14. LOL, I can accept this definition, however ….. Since you mentioned U.S.A., the country of the United States of America is an outlier that might just throw that definition into the dust bin. The population of the USA is made up of many, many, many small “ethnic,” as defined by culture, language, religion, heritage, etc. populations. Collectively, this “population” is known as “American.” If ethnicity is defined simply by shared culture, heritage, religion, language, etc., then would the majority of Canadians, Bermuda, Bahamas, etc. be defined as Americans, while those countries with a Spanish or Brazilian culture and heritage (including the Quebec Quois (probably spelled wrong) in Canada not be classified as “Americans?” As it is, I believe the term American originally applied to any native or citizen of any country in North, Central, and South America because the “Old World Powers” wanted to separate them culturally from Europeans. These terms are nothing more than labels that people apply to others to allow themselves to feel superior to the “subsets” in some way. That practice is more commonly known as RACISM. And yes, the Americans have engendered more than enough of that, but probably no more than any other existing country in the world.
  15. Based on my experience as an Executive Branch Federal Employee, basically the only way that Congress can guarantee that the funds are spent as appropriated, is to “earmark” the funding for a specific program/purpose. For example, in once read an FAA Reauthorization Act (it had to be done every two years if I remember correctly), in which Congress specified that a certain amount of the monies must be used to hire x number of Flight Standards Inspectors. That was to prevent funds being siphoned off and diverted to other programs within the FAA.
  16. I would suggest that there is no such thing as an “ethnic” Russian or an “ethnic” Ukrainian or an “ethnic” Pole, or an “ethnic” anything for that matter. Everyone’s DNA is so diversified, that all you can tell is that the largest part is from a “generally current” population. A much better LABEL would be “cultural” instead of “ethnic.”
  17. Well, since the powers that be haven’t sought to include me in their strategic planning operation on the Joint Chiefs of Staff Orr the Headquarters of the Marine Corps, the only thing that I KNOW is that there is TALK of supplying the Marines with Tomahawks. As far as we know, this could be anything from a Navy/Marine Corps ploy to get more funding from The Congress, to a disinformation campaign to induce the Chinese to think long and hard about how they would proceed in the South China Sea. Since I don’t KNOW anything more, and have already expressed my “opinion,” this will be the last post I make on this subject until something changes.
  18. And, if the USMC felt it wouldn’t need long-range artillery, why would it need Tomahawks? I can guarantee that the USN will have a Task Force assigned to any Marine operation. The USN is there to support and protect any landing, as it has in every Marine landing during, and since WW II (except the opening phase of the Solomons when the Navy support ships were ordered out of the area due to fear of a Japanese Naval counterattack). The Navy will have Tomahawks if they are needed, and the Marines will “Seize and secure advanced naval bases” as they always have. Marines like to refer to the Navy as their taxi drivers, but the Marines also work very hard to ensure the Navy has a parking space, gas station, and Quik-Mart available for it.
  19. Well, it is said that militaries tend to train “to fight the last war.” Unless a Country is planning to fight a “new” type of war, e.g. Germany rebuilding it’s forces for combined arms (infantry, air, and armor), the upper echelons of any military will tend to be very conservative in it’s thinking. The current leaders of the U.S.M.C. and USN have shown what I consider to be excellent foresight to determine that the next U.S. regional conflict as the South China Seas, and realigning the U.S.M.C. assets by divesting itself of it’s armor and long-range artillery. I applaud the foresight of the Commandant.
  20. Sorry for all the dupes. For some reason it wasn’t reacting when I clicked on the button.
  21. I don’t know yet if anyone else posted this reply to this yet or not, but here goes my take. That “child” looks like a store mannequin to me. The drone, if armed, didn’t attack, so it did its job protecting the crews of the vehicles. Works for me!
  22. Hey, moving in any manner is preferable to not moving at all.
  23. Of course they did. I would expect nothing less of the extremely professional and transparent Russian “investigations.”
  24. It doesn’t have to be the “post WWII occupations” methods of punishment, e.g. women’s shaved heads and firing squads for the men. I would expect, even with the “calls for blood vengeance,” trials for the accused followed by imprisonment and eventual banishment to Russia with no opportunity to return to Crimea or Ukraine. That will be extraordinarily difficult due to the Russian war crimes, but when it comes down to the “brass tacks,” that will be Ukraine’s decision to make, and no one else’s.
  25. This! To distill this whole thing down: 1) Remember our own history. In the American Revolution of 1775, a maximum of 33% of the population of the thirteen British Colonies even supported the Revolution. Of that one third that supported it, only about one-third of them i.e. one ninth or 16.5 % of the entire population, actively supported it. And, there was a full 33% of the entire population that “actively” opposed it. 2) Always plan for the worse case scenario. This is something that for some reason, most military and political leaders do not do. If the Joint Staff War Colleges are teaching that leaders must do this, it is apparent that most leaders aren’t listening, maybe because they’re smarter than everyone else, otherwise, they wouldn’t be the leaders?
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