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Happy Columbus Day
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Secretary Mattis’ remarks to the Association of the United States Army Annual Conference.
AUSA Remarks – As Delivered – Oct 9, 2017 by dodretention on Scribd
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United’s final 747 flyby at SF Fleet Week
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Fourth Soldier killed in Niger identified
Via:
Sgt. La David T. Johnson, 25, of Miami Gardens, Fla., died in the Oct. 4 ambush, but his body was not recovered until Oct. 6.
After attending Carol City High and training as an auto mechanic at ATI Career Training School, Johnson enrolled in the Army as a lightwheeled vehicle mechanic in 2014. In addition to the Army Achievement Medal; the Army Good Conduct Medal; the Global War on Terrorism Medal; the Army Service Ribbon; the Army Parachutist Badge; the Army Air Assault Badge; the Driver and Mechanic Badge; and the Marksmanship Qualification Badge – Sharpshooter with Rifle, he received Canadian Parachutist Wings after participating in operations with the Canadian Armed Forces.
Sgt. Johnson was apparently a support soldier assigned to 3SFG, but not a Special Forces soldier himself.
What is very unusual is that it took 2 days to recover his remains. Ordinarily, extraordinary efforts would have been made to recover him during the fight. But then, Special Forces training and advising in most of Africa have a very light footprint. They have to be fairly discrete. The last thing any legitimate African government wants is to let the opposition accuse it of allowing colonialism.
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I’ll Just Leave This Here. You’re Welcome.
H/T to Weena, the birthday girl. URR here.
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The Fight for the Valley of Tears
The 44th anniversary of the beginning of the Yom Kippur War is today. On that day, 6 October 1973, Syrian armor attacked on the northern flank of Israel, crashing through the thin IDF defenses in the Golan Heights with an infantry division and more than 200 tanks.
At the end of the savage four-day fight, the Israeli 7th Armored Brigade counted nine operational tanks available out of the original 120. The men had fought nearly without end for three days, with little water or food, and almost no sleep. However, they had smashed the Syrian 7th Infantry Division, and destroyed more than 600 tanks and armored vehicles.
Lieutenant Colonel Avigdor Kahalani, commander of the 77th Battalion of 7th Armored Brigade, recounts those grim and desperate days in his tribute book, The Heights of Courage. The book is a must-read for anyone wanting to know more about the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and the men who fought it.
URR here.
(Added linkie)
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Cummins developing revolutionary new diesel engine for U.S. Army | Fox News
Cummins Inc. has landed a $47.4 million contract from the National Advanced Mobility Consortium to develop a revolutionary new type of diesel engine for the U.S. Army that promises to be lighter and more efficient that those currently in use.
The Advanced Combat Engine (ACE) project is a joint venture between Cummins and California-based Achates Power, who has designed an opposed-piston engine that works on a two-stroke combustion cycle and eliminates the need for a valvetrain.
via www.foxnews.com
Opposed piston diesel engines have been tried before (in aviation applications, of all places) but with only moderate success.
Has technology advanced enough to make them practical?
The article claims a possible bump on 50% power density over the benchmark Cummins VTA-903T that powers the Bradley and several other vehicles. A boost from 600ph to 900hp in the same space would have serious implications for future armor design.
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F-16s, B1-B Lancer and F-18 To Fly Over Kern County – turnto23.com Bakersfield, CA
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. –To mark the 70th anniversary of Capt. Charles “Chuck” Yeager’s legendary first supersonic flight on Oct. 14, 1947, Edwards Air Force Base is launching two formation flights which are scheduled to pass over Southern California schools October 13.
The first formation – two F-16 Fighting Falcons, a B-1B Lancer and an F-18 Hornet from NASA – will fly on a route over the Antelope Valley and Bakersfield, California.
via www.turnto23.com
SoCal Peeps, get your cameras ready. There's a long list of LA and Orange County cities as well.
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A little more on 2LT Spenser Rapone.
Reportedly from a counseling statement circa 2015.
So, two years ago, one of the instructors, or tactical officers (I don't know what LTC Heffington's duty was) clearly saw that Rapone was unsuited to commissioned service.
Who overrode his recommendation?
**EDIT** One sharp eyed reader notes that this appears to be a part of a sworn statement, not a counseling statement. Question- what was the basis for taking a sworn statement- which is usually part of some sort of formal or informal investigation.
**UPDATE**
Full sworn statement.Heffington Sworn Statement 18 Nov 2015 Signed (2) by Paul Conner on Scribd
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Prayer
"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit." (Psalm 34:18, NLT)
"The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, 'The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!'
The LORD is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD.
For the Lord does not abandon anyone forever. Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion according to the greatness of his unfailing love." (Lamentations 3:22-26; 31-32, NLT)
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