This is coolbert:
Again from the Tribune today:
"'Green Fleet' ships sail amid cost debate"
"WASHINGTON - - A Navy oiler slipped away from a fuel depot on the Puget Sound in Washington state recently headed toward the central Pacific and into the storm over the Pentagon's controversial green fuels initiative."
"the USNS Henry J. Kaiser carried nearly 900,000 gallons of biofuel blended with petroleum to power the cruisers, destroyers and fighter jets of what the Navy has taken to calling the 'Great Green Fleet,' the first carrier strike group to be powered largely by alternative fuels."
An American aircraft carrier strike group while on one six month deployment will normally use about 1 million gallons of AVGAS [aviation gasoline] A PORTION OF WHICH WILL BE MERELY DUMPED AT SEA!!
"The Pentagon hopes it can prove the Navy looks as impressive burning fuel squeezed from seeds, algae and chicken fat as it does using petroleum"
Please note THIS IS NOT PURELY BIOFUEL BUT A MIX OF BIO9FUEL AND NORMAL PETROLEUM PRODUCT!! WHAT PERCENTAGE IS BIOFUEL IS NOT MENTIONED!!
That cost however for the biofuel [mix?] just staggering!
"Some Republican law-makers have seized n the fuel's nearly $27-a-gallon price, compared to roughly $3.60 for conventional fuel."
This project more than anything else an attempt to demonstrate the feasibility of allowing the American military to become totally self-sufficient with regard to fuel!! That dire circumstance of a general war and the U.S. military cut-off from an abundance of foreign supply by some sort of unforeseen conflagration now avoided!!
Cost also much reduced when such biofuel manufactured on an industrial and massive scale.
And according to Senator John Mc Cain:
"I don't believe it's the job of the Navy to be involved in building - - new technologies,"
NO! Senator John is wrong!
That man who might have been President is obviously not aware of that program prior to the Second World War [WW2], the U.S. Navy funding research into diesel engines of prodigious size. Research as done by the railroads, an engine sought that could power locomotives [rather than coal-fired steam engines] OR submarines.
Research most fruitful, American subs during WW2 indeed propelled into battle by diesel engines having a dual purpose, civilian railroads and military warships!!
coolbert.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Olympics.
This is coolbert:
Lots of good stuff in the Chicago Tribune today all of which has a military dimension.
We begin.
"FOCUS ROAD TO LONDON"
"Olympic-size security"
"Britain will deploy troops, fighter jets and even missiles for the London Games, but critics see tactics as overkill."
London's security measures to include, military forces terribly arrayed and ready for battle:
* Personnel - - 13,500 military. [not including civilian security and police]
Naval forces consisting of:
* HMS Ocean. [amphibious assault ship]
* Marine units. [Royal Marine Commando]
* HMS Bulwark. [assault ship and landing dock]
Air defense consisting of:
* Typhoon fighter jets.
* Puma helicopters.
* Rapier missile system.
* Starstreak missiles.
* E-3D Sentry.
I would have to think all and every measure having been taken to prevent a repetition of Munich 1972 or the 9/11 attacks.
Quite a contrast with the ancient Olympics. Even during a time of war, TRUCE declared for the duration of the Olympics and contestants the safety and safe passage of which was deemed inviolable without exception.
British strong boys of the Royal Marine Commando and Special Air Services [SAS] I would have to think on call and ready for any contingency, practiced and at the ready.
Pray and hope for the best, prepare for the worst. And it must be so!
coolbert.
Lots of good stuff in the Chicago Tribune today all of which has a military dimension.
We begin.
"FOCUS ROAD TO LONDON"
"Olympic-size security"
"Britain will deploy troops, fighter jets and even missiles for the London Games, but critics see tactics as overkill."
London's security measures to include, military forces terribly arrayed and ready for battle:
* Personnel - - 13,500 military. [not including civilian security and police]
Naval forces consisting of:
* HMS Ocean. [amphibious assault ship]
* Marine units. [Royal Marine Commando]
* HMS Bulwark. [assault ship and landing dock]
Air defense consisting of:
* Typhoon fighter jets.
* Puma helicopters.
* Rapier missile system.
* Starstreak missiles.
* E-3D Sentry.
I would have to think all and every measure having been taken to prevent a repetition of Munich 1972 or the 9/11 attacks.
Quite a contrast with the ancient Olympics. Even during a time of war, TRUCE declared for the duration of the Olympics and contestants the safety and safe passage of which was deemed inviolable without exception.
British strong boys of the Royal Marine Commando and Special Air Services [SAS] I would have to think on call and ready for any contingency, practiced and at the ready.
Pray and hope for the best, prepare for the worst. And it must be so!
coolbert.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Moulin.
This is coolbert:
Jean Moulin. The Frenchman in the fedora with scarf.
Jean that man little known outside of France but that one man whose remains enshrined in the Pantheon, the ideal most epitomizing and exemplifying the French Resistance during World War Two [WW2] those in opposition to Vichy and the German occupier.
Moulin dying either by torture [at the hands of the infamous Klaus Barbie] or a self-inflicted death again after having been subjected to prolonged and frightful torture.
Jean without question a hero of the first magnitude, even "perhaps" beyond that of Joan of Arc?
"Jean Moulin, who unified [the] French Resistance, is one of the greatest heroes in France, perhaps supplanting even Joan of Arc."
"Yet he is completely unknown outside France."
At least until now that is.
And the betrayal of the man to the German still a subject of controversy even after seventy years!!
Those Free French of the Interior [FFI] under the command of General De Gaulle, Moulin specifically tasked with the mission of organizing the Resistance, creating a viable military force of the various guerrilla factions, BUT MUCH MORE THAN THAT!!
Moulin NOT A MILITARY MAN but an organizer and planner able to bring order out of dysfunction and chaos and bringing focused and concentrated energy where previously only dissipation existed!!
That FFI properly understood as MORE than a mere military force, NOT just guerrillas/partisan FIGHTING UNITS but also a civilian apparatus and PREPARING FOR THE LIBERATION OF FRENCH FROM THE GERMAN OCCUPIER and political transition in the aftermath of the war!!
Moulin FIRST able to unify the three non-communist partisan factions, those fighters most aligned with De Gaulle but practicing factionalism.
A unified military structure most desirable for concerted and focused military action under a single command, DE GAULLE ANTICIPATING AND PREPARING FOR THE D-DAY INVASION BUT NOT WANTING TO MAKE THE FRENCH POPULACE TO SUFFER GERMAN RETALIATION AND RETRIBUTION [Ouradour Sur Glane during the war just one instance]!!.
This was the Secret Army [maquis]! "Secret Army"
"three major non-communist resistance movements, whose leaders were Captain HENRI FRENAY (Combat), EMMANUEL D'ASTIER DE LA VIGERIE (Libération), and JEAN-PIERRE LÉVY (Franc-Tireurs)."
Moulin and De Gaulle wanting at some point to also incorporate into the French Resistance those communist and socialist elements and fighting units, again, the desire for focused and concerted action, military action to be taken as part of the Allied invasion of France and the subsequent battle that was to follow.
[guerrillas and partisans most effective when their operations in support of a conventional military campaign!!]
In addition to the fighting units, the consolidation thereof, Moulin also able to organize and bring under control:
* "Services des opérations aériennes et maritimes (SOAM) for parachute drops and landing" [Lysander aircraft operations and parachute drops of men and supplies from England.]
* "Wireless Transmissions (WT)" [communication with England and De Gaulle.].
* "Bureau d'Information et de Presse (BIP), a central press agency for the Resistance, to furnish clandestine writers and editors with all the information they needed for their journals." [black, white and gray propaganda.]
* "Comité Général d'Etudes (CGE), a consultative commission of eminent jurists who would draft a plan for the political, economic, and administrative structures of France immediately after the liberation."
De Gaulle and his representative within the FFI Moulin knowing full well that the insurrectionist/guerrilla/partisan fighting elements ONLY ONE part of the whole, that structure of French government as existed prior to WW2 inadequate those Free French preparing not only for the D-Day invasion and the Liberation of France but for the aftermath of the war and inevitable political upheaval as well. The context properly understood steps and measures taken!!
coolbet.
Jean Moulin. The Frenchman in the fedora with scarf.
Jean that man little known outside of France but that one man whose remains enshrined in the Pantheon, the ideal most epitomizing and exemplifying the French Resistance during World War Two [WW2] those in opposition to Vichy and the German occupier.
Moulin dying either by torture [at the hands of the infamous Klaus Barbie] or a self-inflicted death again after having been subjected to prolonged and frightful torture.
Jean without question a hero of the first magnitude, even "perhaps" beyond that of Joan of Arc?
"Jean Moulin, who unified [the] French Resistance, is one of the greatest heroes in France, perhaps supplanting even Joan of Arc."
"Yet he is completely unknown outside France."
At least until now that is.
And the betrayal of the man to the German still a subject of controversy even after seventy years!!
Those Free French of the Interior [FFI] under the command of General De Gaulle, Moulin specifically tasked with the mission of organizing the Resistance, creating a viable military force of the various guerrilla factions, BUT MUCH MORE THAN THAT!!
Moulin NOT A MILITARY MAN but an organizer and planner able to bring order out of dysfunction and chaos and bringing focused and concentrated energy where previously only dissipation existed!!
That FFI properly understood as MORE than a mere military force, NOT just guerrillas/partisan FIGHTING UNITS but also a civilian apparatus and PREPARING FOR THE LIBERATION OF FRENCH FROM THE GERMAN OCCUPIER and political transition in the aftermath of the war!!
Moulin FIRST able to unify the three non-communist partisan factions, those fighters most aligned with De Gaulle but practicing factionalism.
A unified military structure most desirable for concerted and focused military action under a single command, DE GAULLE ANTICIPATING AND PREPARING FOR THE D-DAY INVASION BUT NOT WANTING TO MAKE THE FRENCH POPULACE TO SUFFER GERMAN RETALIATION AND RETRIBUTION [Ouradour Sur Glane during the war just one instance]!!.
This was the Secret Army [maquis]! "Secret Army"
"three major non-communist resistance movements, whose leaders were Captain HENRI FRENAY (Combat), EMMANUEL D'ASTIER DE LA VIGERIE (Libération), and JEAN-PIERRE LÉVY (Franc-Tireurs)."
Moulin and De Gaulle wanting at some point to also incorporate into the French Resistance those communist and socialist elements and fighting units, again, the desire for focused and concerted action, military action to be taken as part of the Allied invasion of France and the subsequent battle that was to follow.
[guerrillas and partisans most effective when their operations in support of a conventional military campaign!!]
In addition to the fighting units, the consolidation thereof, Moulin also able to organize and bring under control:
* "Services des opérations aériennes et maritimes (SOAM) for parachute drops and landing" [Lysander aircraft operations and parachute drops of men and supplies from England.]
* "Wireless Transmissions (WT)" [communication with England and De Gaulle.].
* "Bureau d'Information et de Presse (BIP), a central press agency for the Resistance, to furnish clandestine writers and editors with all the information they needed for their journals." [black, white and gray propaganda.]
* "Comité Général d'Etudes (CGE), a consultative commission of eminent jurists who would draft a plan for the political, economic, and administrative structures of France immediately after the liberation."
De Gaulle and his representative within the FFI Moulin knowing full well that the insurrectionist/guerrilla/partisan fighting elements ONLY ONE part of the whole, that structure of French government as existed prior to WW2 inadequate those Free French preparing not only for the D-Day invasion and the Liberation of France but for the aftermath of the war and inevitable political upheaval as well. The context properly understood steps and measures taken!!
coolbet.
Monday, July 9, 2012
AAMG.
This is coolbert:
From a variety of Internet sources some images from the Great War [WW1] - - machine guns as used by ground forces in the anti-aircraft role.
Especially from that period of 1917 onward:
"As aircraft started to be used against ground targets on the battlefield, the AA guns could not be traversed quickly enough at close targets and, being relatively few, were not always in the right place (and were often unpopular with other troops), so changed positions frequently. Soon the forces were adding various machine-gun based weapons mounted on poles. These short-range weapons proved more deadly"
German blitzkrieg tactics as first used at Riga, 1917, always incorporating the three elements of:
* Movement forward by special units of Storm Troop [Sturmabteilung] using infiltration tactics.
* Poison gas delivered on target by artillery shell.
* Ground strafing aircraft.
That means to combat the ground strafing aircraft [often flying nape-of-the-earth] the machine gun, mounted either with an ad hoc apparatus or atop a pole. That pole allowing for total three hundred sixty [360] degree coverage if and when the target presented itself, engagement from any direction possible.
Heavy machine guns the weapon of choice during the WW1 era. That anti-aircraft-machine-gun [AAMG] best defined as:
"Heavy machineguns"
"A machine gun is rated heavy when it cannot be carried and operated by a single man. The class can be extended to all machineguns with a recoil too powerful (because of caliber or rate of fire) to be controllable without a mount."
Heavy in my mind defined as a machine gun of fifty [12.7 mm] or greater even or having a water-cooled jacket for the barrel or the entire apparatus [gun, tripod, ammo] not being able to be carried by ONE man.
To the images. Posed I would think in most instances and not real coverage of combat action:
A "clump" of massed AAMG even if not successfully engaging and shooting-down an approaching enemy aircraft, force that adversary to fly higher and take evasive action, negating an efficient strafing or bombing mission.
coolbert.
From a variety of Internet sources some images from the Great War [WW1] - - machine guns as used by ground forces in the anti-aircraft role.
Especially from that period of 1917 onward:
"As aircraft started to be used against ground targets on the battlefield, the AA guns could not be traversed quickly enough at close targets and, being relatively few, were not always in the right place (and were often unpopular with other troops), so changed positions frequently. Soon the forces were adding various machine-gun based weapons mounted on poles. These short-range weapons proved more deadly"
German blitzkrieg tactics as first used at Riga, 1917, always incorporating the three elements of:
* Movement forward by special units of Storm Troop [Sturmabteilung] using infiltration tactics.
* Poison gas delivered on target by artillery shell.
* Ground strafing aircraft.
That means to combat the ground strafing aircraft [often flying nape-of-the-earth] the machine gun, mounted either with an ad hoc apparatus or atop a pole. That pole allowing for total three hundred sixty [360] degree coverage if and when the target presented itself, engagement from any direction possible.
Heavy machine guns the weapon of choice during the WW1 era. That anti-aircraft-machine-gun [AAMG] best defined as:
"Heavy machineguns"
"A machine gun is rated heavy when it cannot be carried and operated by a single man. The class can be extended to all machineguns with a recoil too powerful (because of caliber or rate of fire) to be controllable without a mount."
Heavy in my mind defined as a machine gun of fifty [12.7 mm] or greater even or having a water-cooled jacket for the barrel or the entire apparatus [gun, tripod, ammo] not being able to be carried by ONE man.
To the images. Posed I would think in most instances and not real coverage of combat action:
British troops manning a Vickers AAMG ad hoc mounted.
British Lewis gun with bipod and air-cooled barrel.
French St. Etienne gun operated in an ad hoc manner and NOT aiming at a ground strafing aircraft.
American gun crew manning what I believe is a Hotchkiss AAMG.
This is obviously a posed picture? Gun is mounted on a pole in this case.
Maxim guns mounted on poles. Total traverse available if needed.
This Maxim gun able to engage low-flying ground strafing aircraft. An ideal.
A "clump" of massed AAMG even if not successfully engaging and shooting-down an approaching enemy aircraft, force that adversary to fly higher and take evasive action, negating an efficient strafing or bombing mission.
coolbert.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Conscription!
This is coolbert:
From only today, thanks to Ynet we have these articles, the secular Israeli mad as hell and ain't gonna take it anymore.
Universal conscription, the military draft, a hot button item in Israel.
For many decades, contrary to popular opinion, NOT ALL Israeli youth reaching the age of eighteen required for perform military service. Those secular Israeli YES but not those of the ultra-Orthodox.
Haredim [ultra-Orthodox] young men and women exempt from conscription, those in religious rabbinical studies not required to perform their military service. This having been the case ever since the time of David Ben Gurion.
Haredim at one time a very small segment of the total Israeli population, that exception to the rule [universal military conscription] not being a matter of significance.
The haredim now a much larger percentage of the overall Israeli population, this now becoming A MATTER OF SIGNIFICANCE. Those haredim seen as draft dodgers and shirkers.
What was true in 1948 is not true now. Rabbinical students in name only getting a deferment to their advantage and creating a lot of anger and resentment among the secular Israeli.
"Disabled IDF veterans gear up for protest rally"
"Protesters to lead procession in Tel Aviv, urge PM Netanyahu to enact universal draft legislation"
"Protesters call for equal burden"
>"Some 12,000 people hold mass rally in Tel Aviv urging government to enact universal draft legislation. 'Equal draft – social justice,' call activists. Diskin: Something is rotten in our leadership"
"Halutz leaves Kadima, slams Mofaz"
"Former chief of staff says politicians should take action rather than demonstrate. 'We can't let this issue turn into political capital; we can't hide behind words'"
The famous Israeli author Amos Oz writing on the subject thirty years ago the secular Jew in conflict with the religious Jew, the latter taking advantage of the former and not appreciative as seen by the general Israeli public.
A few yes for deferment, a whole bunch NO! That is the perception.
coolbert.
Roy!
This is coolbert:
Here from the Red Star Kennel web site the full and complete [?] story of the Black Russian terrier.
The war dog of choice for first the Soviet and now the Russian military.
The product of Red Star Kennels very selective breeding program.
[Red Star at one time providing prodigious numbers of guard dogs for the GULAG? This might be so. Dogs chosen and bred for viciousness and needed in enormous numbers during the time of Stalin!]
The Black Russian terrier a mix of various breeds carefully chosen for specifice traits and characteristics that would make for a good war dog.
NOT necessarily a KILLER but a war dog able to perform a variety of functions vital to a military effort.
But NOT a vicious killer, that is clear.
That original Giant schnauzer stud dog Roy mixed with with a rottweiler.
The final mix of Black Russian terrier resembling the schnauzer, rottweiler, airedale.
A dog large in size, about 100-120 pounds, a minimum of fifty Kilograms,
NOT a dog easily carried as is the Malinois.
That Black Russian terrier guard dog, a sentry dog, a mine detecting dog, and perhaps an attack dog able to KILL on command [?].
Appear to be a shaggy hairy dog that is not suited for hot climates? That is what the appearance is to me.
A dog definitely requiring:
* A strong alpha master.
* Lots of grooming.
* Lots of exercise.
[Dogs of all creatures so studied when at a pace, running, the only animal becoming stronger the further and further it runs. Man and horses not able to compete over such a long distance as the dog. Dogs not having sweat glands and panting to dissipate heat but able to pursue a prey as not other animal can!!]
Puppies now available in the U.S. but I would have to think for persons ONLY that know to handle and care for a dog and are willing to devote a lot of time to the critter.You must dominate this dog and not the other way around.
coolbert.
Here from the Red Star Kennel web site the full and complete [?] story of the Black Russian terrier.
The war dog of choice for first the Soviet and now the Russian military.
The product of Red Star Kennels very selective breeding program.
[Red Star at one time providing prodigious numbers of guard dogs for the GULAG? This might be so. Dogs chosen and bred for viciousness and needed in enormous numbers during the time of Stalin!]
The Black Russian terrier a mix of various breeds carefully chosen for specifice traits and characteristics that would make for a good war dog.
NOT necessarily a KILLER but a war dog able to perform a variety of functions vital to a military effort.
But NOT a vicious killer, that is clear.
That original Giant schnauzer stud dog Roy mixed with with a rottweiler.
The final mix of Black Russian terrier resembling the schnauzer, rottweiler, airedale.
A dog large in size, about 100-120 pounds, a minimum of fifty Kilograms,
NOT a dog easily carried as is the Malinois.
That Black Russian terrier guard dog, a sentry dog, a mine detecting dog, and perhaps an attack dog able to KILL on command [?].
Appear to be a shaggy hairy dog that is not suited for hot climates? That is what the appearance is to me.
A dog definitely requiring:
* A strong alpha master.
* Lots of grooming.
* Lots of exercise.
[Dogs of all creatures so studied when at a pace, running, the only animal becoming stronger the further and further it runs. Man and horses not able to compete over such a long distance as the dog. Dogs not having sweat glands and panting to dissipate heat but able to pursue a prey as not other animal can!!]
Puppies now available in the U.S. but I would have to think for persons ONLY that know to handle and care for a dog and are willing to devote a lot of time to the critter.You must dominate this dog and not the other way around.
coolbert.
Armor.
This is coolbert:
Here with some additional armor, tracked and wheeled and semi-wheeled vehicles that could be added to the inventory of the "Drive A Tank" "experience". Something different indeed. NOT but merely a British Chieftain available to drive but also:
American M113 armored personnel carrier. As with the ACAV in Vietnam.
French Panhard wheeled armored car. This particular version with 90 mm gun.
American World War Two era M3 half-track.
Soviet era tank T54.
South African Buffel wheeled armored personnel carrier.
Participants of the "Drive A Tank" experience able to choose from a greater variety.
That course as driven either cross country or road-bound or a combination thereof, through mud and fording small man-made watercourses, up and down hills, crossing trench lines and breaking through walled barriers, etc. Smashing fifty gallon drums flat, bash an automobile out of the way [or crushing that auto flat!]. Put human manikins [dressed in military uniform] in the your path and run them over.
You take your pick.
For each and every armored vehicle, again, a CONEX full of spare parts needed.
And the rougher the ride more maintenance needed, the ride hard on the body, protection for the head a must. One severe jostle and you can split your noggin open instantly on the thick bulk head of one of those vehicles!!
Drive day or night during hours of darkness using either active infra-red or passive night vision devices for visibility.
All sorts of ways this can be done.
And also no main guns allowed. Maybe mounted but disabled not fire-able.
That T-54, Panhard, and M113 for example I would have to think a whole lot of nations the world over having surplus tanks and other armor for sale at a good price.
Devoted readers to the blog can suggest other armor that can be added to my meagre selection? Let me hear from you!
coolbert.
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