UB-110.

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An image of the controls, a mere portion of them, as found on a German submarine [UB-110] from that era of the Great War:

"German Submarine, UB-110. Photo of Control room looking aft, starboard side . . . This image shows manhole to periscope wall, valve wheels for flooding and blowing. Han[d]wheels for periscope gear, air pressure gauges."

That degree of complexity at the time was standard? And vital to the submarine diving, surfacing, running level under the water, etc. One little error at station and the whole boat and crew in peril.

A number of crewmen required to operate and UNDERSTAND FULLY WELL that sequence of events that must occur for the vessel to deploy and be effective in a combat environment.

These various controls AGAIN only a small portion [albeit very vital controls] of the whole. Extraordinary complexity even for the most mundane of functions and all being part of a much larger operation mandating teamwork of the most extraordinary order!!

NO ONE EVER SAID ANY OF THIS WAS GOING TO BE EASY!.

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Starfighter F-104.

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To be honest with, I was very surprised ANY of these F-104 Starfighters were still flying. A plane with in the inventory very controversial. Mission creep was the problem with the F-104. Designed primarily if not exclusively as an INTERCEPTOR.

"The 1950s jet launching tiny satellites"

"The first fighter to fly twice the speed of sound, the Lockheed F-104 was a controversial design. Now, decades after retirement, the Starfighter is taking on a new role."

"Starfighters Inc will launch the satellites from their base in Florida"

"Cubecab plans to launch very small satellites – known as CubeSats – using a rocket that weighs a similar amount. It’s much smaller, and therefore cheaper, than any other launch  method currently available."

MAGNITUDES FASTER OF A LAUNCH ON QUICK DEMAND AND ALSO IN ANY ORBIT AS DESIRED IN CONTRAST TO CONVENTIONAL METHODS OF PLACING A SATELLITE INTO OUTER SPACE!

"How will CubeCab launch these tiny satellites? Simple – they’ll use Starfighters."

A F-104. Itty-bitty wings and itty-bitty cockpit strapped to a big engine. A Cold War interceptor now  a launch platform for satellites?

"Cubecab will strap its lightweight rockets, each carrying a satellite weighing around 10kg [22 pounds], on to the kind of underwing ‘pylons’ usually used to fire missiles. And Starfighters Inc, a Florida-based company which still flies a handful of F-104s, will take their pint-sized payloads up to the edge of the stratosphere and fire them into orbit."

See an animation of such a satellite launch. A F-15 military aircraft rather than the retired but still potent F-104 carrying a rocket in a zoom climb to about 60,000 feet [20 kilometers], well above much of the earth's atmosphere and already on an upward trajectory!!

coolbert.

Convicts.

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If you are offended by language of a foul nature hit Escape now. Otherwise continue.

Bashi-bazooks Russian style?

From an Internet web site very favorable to the cause of the Ukraine an interesting article

"Russian Lieutenant-Colonel Exposes Kremlin’s Tactics of Hybrid War against Ukraine (+18) "

"On August 19, 2016 InformNapalm international volunteer community published an investigation and an exclusive radio intercept of telephone conversations of a Russian Armed Forces Lieutenant-Colonel Stanislav Yershov."

Bashi-bazooks within the Muslim cultural domain convicts during a time of war released with the proviso that they join irregular military forces active in the combat and see action.

THE RUSSIAN AT THIS VERY MOMENT MAKING USE OF SUCH PERSONS IN THE ONGOING CONFLICT BETWEEN UKRAINE AND RUSSIA?

“'… There are lots of cons, lots of fucking escaped cons from Russia here' – this phrase is yet another confirmation of the use of Russian criminal convicts as the personnel for the 'armed forces' of LPR [Luhansk People’s Republic] and DPR [Donetsk People's Republic]. Yershov goes on to promise his colleague 'a wealth of experience in working with this riff-raff', once he gets to his destination. Paratroopers from the 80th Lviv Air Assault Brigade (AAB) [Ukrainian] showed InformNapalm editors photos of the 'militiamen' captured near Svitlodarsk. All of them bore tattoos, typical for the Russian criminal subculture."

Russian convict art form I believe as during the period of the GULAG. Nothing has changed much from that time? See the Internet images a collection of such "art". Prisoners captured in the war between Russian and Ukraine are examined for such "decoration" as SOP?

Such persons hardly ever making for good soldiers. A "wealth of experience" in commanding such men to mean a lot of experience in handling BAD!

See previous blog entries the topic of which was the use of criminal elements as soldiers during a time of war, both current and historical:

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2016/05/bashi-bazook-syria.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2012/06/ghosts.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2014/03/frenchmen.html

coolbert.

South Ossetia.

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From Sputnik we have some details regarding those Russian military exercises indicative of an enhanced degree of readiness. Snap checks, drills and inspections what they are called.

1. "Russia Starts Drills in South Ossetia as Part of Snap Check"

"Russian military on Tuesday started drills in South Ossetian mountains as part of the ongoing snap combat readiness inspections, Russian Southern Military District's press service said in a statement."

. . . .

"Snap combat readiness inspections are running across Russia's Southern, Western and Central military districts, as well as the Northern Fleet, Aerospace Forces and Airborne Troops on August 25-31".


2. "Russia Starts Drills for Reconnaissance Units in Far East, Siberia"

"Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday started reconnaissance drills in six regions of country's Eastern Military District, the military district’s spokesman said."

. . . .

"reconnaissance units would also practice use of advanced equipment, including drones, as well as cooperation with different arms of service."

Sputnik as is Russian Times a propaganda arm [??] of the Russian government? But still having interesting articles without question. ONCE pronouncements as such during the Soviet era would have been classified TOP SECRET! Now the bosses in the Kremlin want the whole world to know of what is occurring.

coolbert.

OPFOR Russia.

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From some previous blog entries here and here you might think that World War Three [WW3] is upon us.

From the Saker through Ron Unz we have a divergent viewpoint.

A very long read but worth the time. Those key points in the nutshell:

"Assessing the Russian Military as an Instrument of Power"

* "Russia is not the Soviet Union"

* "The Russian armed forces are relatively small"

* The Russians are *not* coming

* "The true 'reach' of the Russian armed forces"

* "The real meaning of A2AD [Anti-Access/Area Denial]"

* "The Ukraine is located well inside Russkie-land"

* "Conclusion: Russia ain’t the Soviet Union and it ain’t the USA"

Be satisfied and rather happy that things are not as bad as they might appear? I surely hope so.

"When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come." - - Mark 13:7.

coolbert.

Chibok II.

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Conclusion.

The abduction of those teenage girls to be taken as wives by the Boko Haram terrorists reminding one of the so-called myth and legend from antiquity, "The Rape of the Sabine Women"?

"The Rape of the Sabine Women is an episode in the legendary history of Rome, traditionally dated to 750 BC, in which the first generation of Roman men acquired wives for themselves from the neighboring Sabine families."

THE ENTIRE THEME AS IS THE SUBJECT OF MYTH AND LEGEND HARDLY LIMITED TO ROME AND THE SABINE WOMEN!

"Comparable themes from Classical Antiquity are the Battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs and the theme of Amazonomachy, the battle of Theseus with the Amazons"

THE VICTOR DURING A TIME OF WAR HAVING AS SPOILS THE WOMEN OF THE ENEMY TAKEN AS WIVES OR CONCUBINES EVEN MAKING FOR GOOD ARTISTIC SUBJECT MATTER AS HAS BEEN FASHIONABLE ACROSS CENTURIES.

Artistic representations of the theme and subject as described "popular during the Renaissance" BUT HARDLY LIMITED TO THAT PERIOD!

"The subject was popular during the Renaissance as symbolizing the importance of marriage for the continuity of families and cultures. It was also an example of a battle subject in which the artist could demonstrate his skill in depicting female as well as male figures in extreme poses, with the added advantage of a sexual theme."

"To the ancients and to the Renaissance the theme symbolized the victory of civilization over barbarism."

The image accompanying this blog entry done by Picasso of much more recent vintage!!

Rome of yesteryear, Chibok of today?

coolbert.

Chibok I.

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I was afraid of this. As it was almost 3,000 years ago so it still is now.

From Steve a comparison made which seems to be quite accurate.

Those teenage Christian girls as kidnapped by Boko Haram a pitiful few escaping or being rescued, NOW married to Muslim men and many presumably as with Amina having given birth or with child!

"Escaped Chibok girl: I miss my Boko Haram husband"

"Abuja, Nigeria (CNN) — Escaped Chibok girl Amina Ali Nkeki says she misses her Boko Haram fighter husband and is still thinking about him three months after escaping the militants' camp.
Amina Ali, who was held hostage by the terrorist group for more than two years, says she was married off a year into her ordeal and later had a baby girl, Safiya."

About three hundred boarding school girls kidnapped by Boko. The Muslim girls finally released, the Christian girls kept! Married to Muslim men [perhaps even much older Muslim men] or Boko Haram insurgents/guerrillas/terrorists, in the latter case those young females representing a prize-of-war.

The capture of women during a time of war to be taken as wives or concubines having an ancient and venerable tradition, notwithstanding the modern perspective that such behavior is disdainful and abhorrent.

Think of the "Rape of the Sabines" from antiquity. So-called legend and myth. Perhaps after all NOT legend and myth!

Amina escaping on her own and not through the efforts of the Nigerian military. Amina is ALONE in this regard?

To be continued!

coolbert.