Sunday, September 27, 2009
Military News: Medal of Honor Posthumously Awarded to Army Sgt. 1st Class Jared Monti
Friday, September 25, 2009
Law Enforcement: Terror Case Is Called One of the Most Serious in Years
Bravo to the local law enforcement agencies and the various federal agencies involved in uncovering this plot. This deal also highlights the importance of promoting ‘DIY counter-terrorism’. What I mean by that, is everyone hears about the ‘lone wolf’ concept, of some nut job or group learning how to assemble an operation and the key components of an operation all on their own. There is so much information available online to learn how to make explosives or how to correctly conduct an operation, that it can empower the individual to do whatever they want to do. In my view, we must apply good sound police and investigative techniques to finding these guys, but also empower the citizenry with the knowledge necessary to identify these threats. This case totally highlights the importance of that.
This window licker named Zazi bought a ton of hydrogen peroxide at a beauty supplies store, and thanks to the store attendant, he was able to put two and two together and reported the suspicious activity to authorities. They took it from there and uncovered a massive terror plot. That beauty store attendant is what I would define as a ‘lone sheepdog’ or the counter to the ‘lone wolf’, and good job to you sir. –Matt
—————————————————————-
Terror Case Is Called One of the Most Serious in Years
By DAVID JOHNSTON and SCOTT SHANE
September 25, 2009
WASHINGTON — Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, senior government officials have announced dozens of terrorism cases that on closer examination seemed to diminish as legitimate threats. The accumulating evidence against a Denver airport shuttle driver suggests he may be different, with some investigators calling his case the most serious in years.
Documents filed in Brooklyn against the driver, Najibullah Zazi, contend he bought chemicals needed to build a bomb — hydrogen peroxide, acetone and hydrochloric acid — and in doing so, Mr. Zazi took a critical step made by few other terrorism suspects.
Quotes: Michael Yon on Media Relations
I think this quote is one of the best out there on the subject of media relations. And coming from Michael Yon, and in the context of all he has done for the war effort, I thought it was definitely worthy of quoting here on FJ.
The other point I want to make is that this quote applies to our industry as well. We have learned time and time again that the media, and the public (opinion and the Streisand Effect) will fill the information void for us, if we are not proactive and strategic about our relations with the media and the public. –Matt
—————————————————————–
“This war is moving fast and there is no time for games. If a general does not want to tell his story, someone will tell it for him. He will have failed by losing another winnable media battle.” –Michael Yon
Read the rest of the story here.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Military News: McChrystal–More Forces or ‘Mission Failure’
So it all comes down to this? This totally reminds me of the Petraeus/Iraq surge debate, and the political back and forth on Iraq strategy. One of the things that I keep thinking about with this, is the impact on this industry. If these troops are approved, then contractors will be coming in to support that upswing in numbers. If these troops are not approved, then the training of Afghans will become a priority, and no doubt, contractors will be important for that mission as well. Hell, contractors have been involved with training for awhile, and just look at all the Afghan Border Patrol contracts?
In both scenarios, we will answer the call.-Matt
—————————————————————–
McChrystal: More Forces or ‘Mission Failure’
Top U.S. Commander For Afghan War Calls Next 12 Months Decisive
By Bob WoodwardWashington Post Staff WriterMonday, September 21, 2009
The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warns in an urgent, confidential assessment of the war that he needs more forces within the next year and bluntly states that without them, the eight-year conflict “will likely result in failure,” according to a copy of the 66-page document obtained by The Washington Post.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Military News: Natick Camo Study and a Review By Soldier Systems Blog
Interesting news and we will see how this goes. I have personally thought that UCP was a terrible pattern for the areas of operation we are in right now. It works great for sage brush country though, and I highly recommend it for coyote hunting here in Boise, Idaho. It is also great for hiding on sofas. lol But for Iraq or Afghanistan, I just don’t see it.
Overall, my favorite pattern is the Desert MARPAT uniform for desert stuff. It looks like that is one of the top uniforms according to the Natick study as well. I own a combat jacket that is Desert MARPAT and it is great for work. Although I would probably suggest getting a jacket with the quick dry shirts built in the main body of the shirt. Those work great for body armor, and it looks like there are some fire resistant models coming out that will make that uniform even more sensible. (check out the Propper story below this one at the SS blog)
If I was to match a pattern to our AO’s, I would say Desert MARPAT for Iraq and maybe Multicam for Afghanistan. But having one pattern for the troops, for all environments we fight in is just stupid. Bravo to the Marines for at least recognizing the need for regional camo patterns for their troops and that is taking care of your people.
One thing I would be interested in, is if Natick studies patterns that have been washed out over time? Soldiers and Marines wear their uniforms for awhile out there, and the color contrasts change and get lighter on the uniforms. Combat and field use tends to do that to a uniform. So a study on what uniform works best when aged would be very cool. I know UCP gets really light blue looking when it gets old.
I highly suggest putting Soldier Systems blog on your RSS reader, or whatever you use to track blogs and websites. They are definitely equipment mavens and thanks to Matt for giving me the heads up. –Matt
——————————————————————
From Soldier Systems Blog
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, or failing to read Soldier Systems Daily, you know that in response to Congressional calls for a new camo pattern for operations in Afghanistan, the Army announced that they would test two patterns in October. The Army Times obtained a Natick test report for a camouflage study conducted from 2007 – 2009 of 18 different patterns. This report has now been released by the Army to the press and Soldier Systems Daily has extracted some of the major points from this test report. This is the first in a series of reports that attempt to make some sense of the report and cut through much of the conjecture and hyperbole found on the internet.
Check out the blog and story here.