This is a really cool documentary, and it covers far more than the history of Col David Stirling’s adventures. Stirling was the founder of the SAS, which is a remarkable accomplishment and story on it’s own, but the history that intrigued me the most was what he did in retirement. Specifically his private military ventures and the private war he waged in Yemen. This was a privately funded war, waged by professional soldiers and forces in Yemen, with the approval of Britain.
This is also another example of a modern private military force, winning a war. They did it, and this would be a great source for a case study on the potential of private military forces. Stirling was quite the risk taker, and certainly an innovator back in his day. It is also pretty relevant to today’s issues with private military companies, and of the politics of the middle east and the defense industry. Check it out and go to the youtube link to watch the whole series if you are interested. They also discuss his work in Oman and the business he did with Saudi Arabia. Very interesting stuff. -Matt
Ok, I have to say it. I watched this video at TED and instantly thought–Opensource Military Hardware wiki (OMH). The same concepts these guys applied to farm equipment and the basic tools of a society, can easily be applied to weapons and military equipment manufacture. And in fact, if you watch what is going on in Libya or even Mexico, it is already happening on the world stage.
Honestly speaking, mankind has been doing this since the time of spears. What makes this unique though, is the concept of open source and collaboration. That some engineer in Sweden combined his knowledge with some student in Ethiopia, to help some Peruvian maker shop put together a cost effective armored vehicle that works. And the whole world can access the same open source material via a wiki.
Of course the down side of this type of wiki would be ‘everyone’ could access it. That makes this a dangerous idea. But on the other hand, OMH is going to happen regardless. The internet already provides plenty of resources for folks to check out and use.
The other idea is that OMH could be a closed wiki, only available between partner nations. That way, one nation could give preferred poorer nations a means to protect themselves from neighbors. The thought here is ‘give a man a fish, you feed them for a day’….’but teach them how to fish, and you feed them for life’. To basically give countries a means to create their own defense industries, as opposed to giving them expensive weapons and hardware and expecting them to be able to maintain this costly equipment.
This is also a PMC 2.0 topic. Companies have built homemade armored vehicles in places like Iraq, and often these designs were based on whatever ideas those contractors in the field had come up with. Imagine if a company had access to an OMH, and could cheaply build the equipment they needed in whatever country they were operating in? You could either make an OHH ‘tank’, or go through the risk of open markets and hostile neighbors to purchase such hardware?
Or if your logistics sucks, and you need an armored vehicle yesterday, OMH could come in extremely handy. Lot’s of angles to go with this concept, and definitely check out the video below. -Matt
Edit: 11/29/2011- Check out this wiki. It is called Open Warfare.org. and it is pretty much doing what I was talking about in this post. Making public projects based on open source information and using the feedback of a the crowd. Check it out here.
Sometimes, the best example of strategy can be found in the simplest and most interesting places. I believe this scene in the movie called No Country For Old Men, is a fantastic example of the importance of picking the right strategy. These two men in the scene were involved in a game of hunting one another, and the character played by Woody Harrelson named Carson Wells lost. The hitman played by Javier Bardem is named Anton Chigurh, and he obviously had a better strategy for this game. Anton also summed up the very essence of winning, be it business or war. He says: ‘If the rule you followed brought you to this…..of what use was the rule?’. Words to live by…-Matt
Interesting development. Although what the rebels need is what every military unit needs to be successful. They need to be organized, disciplined, trained, well equipped, well led, have unit cohesion, and most of all, have excellent strategy. So my question with the whole ‘robots with machine guns’ thing, is how does this advancement in their DIY weapons development, help in winning their war?
The other thing that strikes me here, is this whole DIY weapons movement going on in places like Mexico, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya? What would be fun is to start a whole new website just to track this very unique ‘makers’ industry. Much of it seems to be based on mimicry. They see a photo or video of a professionally made weapon system, and they try to copy it. This mimicry strategy helps to explain why you see the same type of armored vehicle design in Mexico, Iraq, or an attempt to armor vehicles in Libya. -Matt
I had to post this awesome story that I am sure will please a few folks out there. This town organized their efforts to counter the Westboro Baptist protesters and were able to protect the funeral of a fallen Marine. I am grateful for what this town did and I certainly hope it catches on throughout the US. In fact, what would really be cool is a non-profit organization designed to protect funerals like this, using strategy and tactics that can defeat scumbags like this. Such a group would be immensely popular with veterans and the families, and I am sure folks would donate to this cause.
The other reason why I like this, is this is an example of the people ‘taking matters into their own hands’. Obviously this country or even the states of the US are not organizing to protect these funerals because of freedom of speech issues. I cherish the right of freedom of speech, and will defend that right with my life. But I do not support protesters at funerals, and I don’t think most Americans support that concept. So this is the gray area of law and the common good, and in this case, I support the people doing what they have to do to smother the Westboro voice and protect funerals. Call it ‘doing the right thing’ and protecting the sanctity of our fallen warriors.
Here is the video of the funeral and it is a hard one to watch. The tribute song is awesome. Semper Fi Staff Sgt. Jason Rogers and rest in peace. -Matt
A couple of days before, one of them (Westboro protestors) ran his mouth at a Brandon gas station and got his arse waxed. Police were called and the beaten man could not give much of a description of who beat him. When they canvassed the station and spoke to the large crowd that had gathered around, no one seemed to remember anything about what had happened.
Rankin County handled this thing perfectly. There were many things that were put into place that most will never know about and at great expense to the county.
Most of the morons never made it out of their hotel parking lot. It seems that certain Rankin county pickup trucks were parked directly behind any car that had Kansas plates in the hotel parking lot and the drivers mysteriously disappeared until after the funeral was over. Police were called but their wrecker service was running behind and it was going to be a few hours before they could tow the trucks so the Kansas plated cars could get out.
A few made it to the funeral but were ushered away to be questioned about a crime they might have possibly been involved in. Turns out, after a few hours of questioning, that they were not involved and they were allowed to go on about their business.
Link to Ole Miss Sports forum post here.
