Feral Jundi

Monday, May 3, 2010

Books: Every Day Is Monday, By J. Michael Raab

Filed under: Books,Iraq — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 2:30 AM

   I want to get the word out about a cool new war memoir that I just came across. I have not read the thing, but it has been recommended by friends, and I know my readership digs these kinds of books.  Plus they make for great reads during your down time while deployed.

   Also, Mr. Raab is self publishing, which I have a lot of respect for.  Self publishing is tough because you do not have the same marketing and distribution resources as one of the big publishers.  It is still cool, because at least you can control all aspects of what you are doing with that book, and sometimes these books take a life of their own without the power of a big publishing firm. Either way, most authors would like to get their books out there to the masses and sell a bunch, and I am sure this author would appreciate some help.  So if you are a big time publishing firm that is reading this, or even a Hollywood guy, I would highly recommend checking out this book and getting in touch with Mr. Raab.

   One final mention.  At the website, you can see all of these Marines mentioned in the book, via some excellent youtube videos.  It is quite a thing these days to not only read about these men and the war they fought, but to see them in action through film only makes the story they have to tell that much more interesting and personal.  That is new media and that is pretty damned awesome. Check it out and Semper Fi. –Matt

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Every Day Is Monday

By J. Michael Raab

J. Michael Raab chronicles the emotions, heartache, and bond of five lifelong friends during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

*****

     In the wake of the September 11th attacks close friends are given the opportunity to come together and embrace the war on terrorism head on. Reuniting after being Honorably discharged from the Marine Corps five years prior, they find themselves re-enlisting in the military for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Every Day is Monday chronicles the emotions, heartache, and the bond of five men in their quest to find themselves, while dueling with an unforeseen insurgency in Iraq’s legendary Triangle of Death.

     Struggling with the Rules of Engagement and the politics of war, the team must skillfully maneuver through enemy territory as a sniper element to combat the ever-growing invisible enemy that hunts them. Daily events bring them closer together as they face the challenge of not letting their friendship come before military rank, and the desire for each of them to lead the pack. The only thing that keeps them from losing their sanity in the fog of war is the bond of calling one another…Friends.

Buy the book here.

Logistics: Energy Islands And Biodiesel

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk,Logistics,Military News,Strategy,Technology — Matt @ 12:57 AM

     A significant step in reducing the length, complexity and cost of the US military supply chain for fuel.

     According to army-technology.com, “Every 55,702 barrels of fuel burned in Afghanistan by the US military forces corresponded to one casualty…a 10% reduction in fuel consumption over a five-year period could lead to a reduction of 35 fuel-related resupply casualties over the same period.”

     Also, the development of mobile energy systems allows military commanders options for avoiding a trade-off between lighter weapon systems that offer greater range, and heavier weapon or support systems that offer greater armor protection.

     A report by Deloitte calculated that fuel makes up 50 percent of all convoy activity in Iraq and Afghanistan.

*****

    Today’s discussion is about the military going green. I really like the idea of this, because as the articles below have stated, it takes a lot of fuel to power a military during time of war. Fuel is also a strategic asset, and without it, an army can be dead in the water and lose a war. So I like the idea of bringing in alternative sources of fuel, and diversify the fuel consumption process. And I really like the idea of manufacturing fuel locally, via micro processing plants. Better yet, if those micro processing plants focused on fuel, power and water for the operations of the local base as well as the local population center, well then that is a win win situation for everyone.

     Imagine having the local populations focused on growing fuel, for their use and for the local military base’s use? Plus, each processing plant that we cart into that area, could be a gift to the local population when that military base leaves? Better yet, we could teach the locals how to make biodiesel, and an entire industry could emerge. We keep looking at alternative crops for the farmers in Afghanistan? How about we have them grow fuel for the war effort. I have also talked about that here before, and I really like that concept because it makes sense. I also determined in my research that fuel producing plants like Jatropha could be grown in the south of Afghanistan.

     What’s cool about Camelina Sativa or wild flax seed is that it can be grown very easily in ditches or whatever, and does not require a lot nitrogen or water. Therefore, it does not compete with the local food growing or suck in a massive amount of water. It’s a weed more or less, and I like the idea of turning weeds into fuel. It is also native to Central Asia, so that means it could be grown in Afghanistan.

     The energy island concept is very cool. An all in one processing plant, that takes in the biomass and converts it to fuel, heat and power for the base and the local community. If these ARIES systems can do all of that, that is impressive and that is the kind of thing that could win over populations for COIN strategy. It would keep locals busy processing fuel, it would provide power to light homes and streets so they can see threats at night, and it would invigorate business and make people’s lives more comfortable. Lots of benefits from an energy island. Plus it defines the ‘small and many’ aspect of war. You want multiple power/fuel sources, not just one big one in which all of your cookies are in one basket. So I like having multiple energy islands scattered throughout a war zone, and that makes strategic sense.

     There is also another benefit of processing fuel locally, as opposed to shipping it in. Contractors and military personnel are both tasked with transporting fuel in war zones. If it cannot be flown in, it is convoyed in. And like the quote up top has mentioned, how many deaths can we attribute to this high demand for imported fuel for the war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan? How many contractors have died, trying to bring in fuel or water to some outpost? It is an interesting question, and my thoughts on the matter is that if we can minimize the amount of convoy operations it takes to supply an outpost or some FOB, the better. –Matt

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The Green Side of War

Defense & Security News — By International Relations and Security Network

May 3, 2010

On Earth Day, 22 April, the US Navy conducted a test flight of an F/A-18 Super Hornet at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, run on a 50-percent mixture of a fuel refined from the crushed seeds of the flowering Camelina sativa plant. The flight of the Green Hornet, as it was called, followed an Air Force test a month earlier of an A-10C Thunderbolt II at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, fueled with a similar blend.

Both events had the purpose of testing the performance of biofuel/petroleum mixtures with an eye toward the eventual certification of the fuels for routine use. They also demonstrate the efforts of the Department of Defense to increase its use of renewable energy, not only for environmental reasons but also to protect the military from energy price fluctuations and dependence on overseas sources of petroleum.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Fish And Game: Coyotes In The News

Filed under: Fish and Game,North Carolina,Texas — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 4:14 AM

   Coyotes in the news these days.  Governor Rick Perry of Texas shot a coyote with a laser sighted .380 revolver, and I thought that was interesting.  No idea who the manufacturer of the pistol was.

   As to the North Carolina coyote population explosion, I am sure they will be able to deal with the problem as soon as they implement a comprehensive plan.  There are plenty of folks in NC that could handle the job of hunting the population down a little.

   My experience with coyotes is that they are very timid out west.  They are hard to stalk, and usually run on any sign of human or smell of human. Some times you might come across some coyote that are not like that, but most seem to be pretty skittish. –Matt

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North Carolina struggles with its wily coyotes

Apr. 29, 2010

By MARK JOHNSON

McClatchy Newspapers

The coyote, enduring symbol of the untamed West and scourge to ranchers and roadrunners alike, has crept on to the silhouetted landscape of urban North Carolina.

On to those dusty streets, heroes have stepped – hardened men, their coffee spoons jingling, aiming to teach these critters that there is law in these parts.

Yes, it’s a legislative study committee.

In recent months, coyotes have been spotted trotting across the runway at Raleigh-Durham International Airport and in Durham backyards. But call county animal control or state wildlife officials, and the best they can usually do is provide the name and number of a trapper for hire.

So the N.C. House of Representatives, led by Speaker Joe Hackney, bespectacled Chapel Hill lawyer and Chatham County cattle farmer, has cowboyed up.

Hackney gathered a posse of a half-dozen House members to the Select Committee on Coyote Nuisance Removal. They rustled up legislation this week that, even if it passes, won’t live up to the word “removal” in the committee’s name.

You see, there are 50,000 coyotes in North Carolina, according to the Wildlife Resources Commission. They’re in every county. State biologists put a GPS tracking collar on one in Tyrrell County, near the coast, and it walked 220 miles in 30 days.

“It’s not a matter of just standing up and saying let’s get rid of ’em,” said state Rep. Arthur Williams, who chaired the committee. “We’re going to have to live with ’em.”

Coyotes are clever. Wily even. When they settle down near people, they get used to being around humans, said state biologist Jon Shaw, whose territory stretches from Moore County to Mecklenburg County.

The committee’s bill would let landowners who raise animals apply to the state for a permit to use a neck, or collar, snare. It’s a flexible cable with a loop and a locking device that tightens around the coyote as it passes through to reach the bait.

The contraption is a role reversal from a whole peck of cartoon devices used by, not on, a coyote. Another device the committee heard about, deserving of having a large “ACME” logo, is the M-44 ejector. When the coyote bites the bait, the device fires sodium cyanide into the animal’s mouth. The varmint falls unconscious and dies within minutes.

What about shooting them?

“Yeah, you can shoot ’em,” Williams said. “They’re not animals. They’re predators.”

Texas Gov. Rick Perry this week recollected shooting a coyote with his laser-sighted .380-caliber pistol near his home in Austin a few weeks back.

“He became mulch,” Perry told The Associated Press.

For the firearms-averse, North Carolina state biologist Colleen Olfenbuttel told the committee that guard animals can scare off coyotes, but she mentioned more than guard dogs, according to the minutes of the meeting: “Llamas and donkeys have been effective.”

As in the days of swinging saloon doors, the orneriest will survive.

Story here.

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Texas gov. shoots, kills ‘wily’ coyote during jog

April 29, 2010

By JIM VERTUNO

AUSTIN, Texas — Pistol-packing Texas Gov. Rick Perry has a message for wily coyotes out there: Don’t mess with my dog.

Perry told The Associated Press on Tuesday he needed just one shot from the laser-sighted pistol he sometimes carries while jogging to take down a coyote that menaced his puppy during a February run near Austin.

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Jobs: Security Manager And Investigation Specialist, Tanzania

Filed under: Jobs,Management Positions,Tanzania — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 2:19 AM

   I am not the POC or recruiter for these two jobs, and please follow the links below.  Barrick is a huge mining company, and Buzwagi is the camp and area you will be working at.  Maybe some of our African readers can chime in about this contract or the location?  Good luck and let me know how it goes. (By the way, there might be a chance that the jobs have been filled and they just haven’t taken them down yet.  Either way, I would still send in a resume to be sure.) –Matt

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Barrick

Market Title: Security Manager

Employment Type:Contract

Primary Location:Buzwagi

Shift:Fly In/Fly Out

Site Name:Buzwagi

Requisition ID:2522

Buzwagi Mine in Tanzania is currently searching for an experienced SECURITY Manager.  The position reports to the General Manager, working on a 9/4 weeks roster.

 KEY RESULT AREAS:

Provide leadership to ensure that employees and contractors adhere to safety and environmental standards that exceed worldwide industry practice and any applicable legislative requirements.

·         Collaborate with each of the Departments, to ensure sustained development of a Safe, Healthy & Secure Work Environment on the Mine Site and within the Communities of contact.

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Letter Of Marque: Prize Law

Filed under: History,Legal News,Letter Of Marque — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 1:34 AM

    Self-interest was the driving force that compelled men of the sea to accept the international law of prize . . . [including merchants] because it brought a valuable element of certainty to their dealings. If the rules were clear and universal, they could ship their goods abroad in wartime, after first buying insurance against known risks. . . . On the other side of the table, those purchasing vessels and cargoes from prize courts had the comfort of knowing that what they bought was really theirs. The doctrine and practice of maritime prize was widely adhered to for four centuries, among a multitude of sovereign nations, because adhering to it was in the material interest of their navies, their privateersmen, their merchants and bankers, and their sovereigns. Diplomats and international lawyers who struggle in this world to achieve a universal rule of law may well ponder on this lesson. –Donald A. Petrie, The Prize Game, p. 145-46.

*****

   This is cool.  Mr. Petrie has written an interesting book that deals with prize law back when privateering was a common worldwide practice.  Prize law was the necessary foundation of laws that insured everyone who actually captured an enemy’s stuff, could legally keep it.  This applied to privateers, but it also applied to the various navies that practiced the concept of commerce raiding and taking prizes.

   On a side note, the US Navy continued paying prizes to it’s officers all the way up until the Spanish American War.  Imagine if today’s Navy could seize ships and be legally awarded that prize in a court of law?

   The other reason why I wanted to get this out there, is that if we are to apply the Letter of Marque to modern day problems, the other necessary component that made the LoM work properly back then was prize law and courts who adhered to those laws.  And because prize law dealing with privateering or commerce raiding has atrophied do to non-use, it is necessary to bring up some recent literature on the subject, as well as older texts. A good first step in that process, is to refer to the mavens on prize law, if such a thing exists.  Mr. Petrie and his book would be a good first step.  Studying Grotius would be another good step to create a modern foundation of prize law. (there are others listed below)  I am also positive that there are plenty of lawyers out there that could reawaken prize law in this context.

   If the readership has any links to prize law related articles or books, I would love to add that stuff and make this post a good place to collect that information. Prize law is also way outside my lane, and I really cannot give it the proper respect.  So if you are a lawyer, judge or legal maven, please step in and correct the record, or add to the stew of ideas here.  I am all ears. –Matt

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Prize being towed

La Blanche towing la Pique, a French prize, 1795

The Prize Game: Lawful Looting on the High Seas in the Days of Fighting Sail 

Donald A. Petrie

Product Description

In the Middle Ages, European nations raised standing armies to fight their foes. At sea, however, their resources were much more limited and largely dependent on privately owned vessels and their crews. To stimulate the growth and ardor of their fleets, the monarchs of Renaissance Europe offered the crews of their naval vessels and licensed privateers a chance to get rich by plundering enemy ships and cargoes. These actions gave rise to the doctrine and practice of maritime prize–a subject little studied but regularly referred to by C. S. Forester, Patrick O’Brian, and other popular writers about the era. Now, after a decade of research in European and American archives, Donald A. Petrie explains the origins of prize taking, the rules of the sea that became universally accepted among the maritime powers of the world, and the final decline of prize taking during the nineteenth century.

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