Northern Fleet.

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From MARCONI through Harry:

The Russian Northern Fleet about to begin a long deployment that might cause consternation in some quarters [understandable given the state of world affairs and the Syrian crisis] but seen in the context of having been planned for a year is really nothing to worry about.

"As regards the Northern Fleet being activated - it is always activated! It is the Russians largest fleet, and some would say, most important. Their aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov is due to sail from Severomorsk in the next few days, along with Cruiser Petr Velikiy and Destroyer Severomorsk. As well as these there will also be support ships, Nikolay Chiker, Sergey Osipov and probably at least one more. This deployment has been planned for over a year and has nothing to do with the recent arguments between Russia and, well, the rest of the West!"

DO NOT WORRY!

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Infamy?

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Here some items of interest both with a military dimension to them. Thanks to Jungle Trader for the tips.

1. Missing.

"Pentagon Says Dozens of Afghan Soldiers Missing in U.S."

I might think these Afghan nationals taking advantage of a situation, not necessarily terrorists or sent agents of the Taliban. Persons for the most part merely wanting to participate in American society without sinister agenda!

2. Tennessee.

"U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Tennessee: 'Eight individuals, including six Fort Campbell soldiers, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Nashville, Tenn. yesterday and charged in connection with a conspiracy to steal sensitive U.S. Army equipment which was ultimately sold and shipped to anonymous eBay bidders, including some located in foreign nations'."

In particular: "Many of these items were advertised as 'Army Special Forces' and U.S. Government Issued". Ft. Campbell the home base of a Special Forces Group and the Special Operations Aviation Regiment, both undoubtedly possessing top-of-the-line and quite possibly classified equipment! Stolen and for sale on the black market for which there is a thriving trade in such items.

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Cannonballs.

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Danger, danger!

Thanks to the tip from Jeff:

"Hurricane Matthew Unearths 150-Year-Old Civil War Artillery in South Carolina"

"On Sunday, explosives experts were dispatched to Folly Island, South Carolina, after a resident found what appeared to be at least a dozen Civil War cannonballs uncovered by Hurricane Matthew".

. . . .

"Unfortunately, while ordnance from the war is a fascinating part of American history, it can also be a serious hazard. In 2008, a Virginia man was killed after a Civil War-era cannonball he was restoring exploded in his driveway, sending shrapnel through a neighbor’s porch a quarter-mile away."

This "Virginia man" blown to pieces I remember the incident quite well as reported at the time. AN EXPERT REPUTED TO BE ONE OF THE FOREMOST EXPERT ON AMERICAN CIVIL WAR ORDNANCE AND THE SAFE DE-FUSING OF SAME.

Apparently a manufacturing defect to blame [that being the reason the cannonball did originally detonate] and which would have evaded even the most meticulous, safe and detailed handling imaginable!!

BE CAREFUL! BE VERY CAREFUL!

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Hello Walls!

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First came Saudi, then came Jordan.

One wall, two walls, a whole bunch of walls.

This tells me the Islamic State is not being defeated BUT is here to stay for the indefinite future? The WALL WOULD NOT BE BUILT IF ISIL WAS ON THE ROPES?

Thanks to the tip from Steve:

"The Great Wall of Jordan: How the US Wants to Keep the Islamic State Out" By William M. Arkin

"… The Obama administration is spending close to a half a billion dollars to build a sophisticated electronic fence along Jordan’s northern and eastern borders"

"The wall, which began as a $20 million project in 2008 to erect a set of surveillance towers along a 30-mile (50 km) stretch of the border with Syria, has since expanded into a program costing half a billion dollars . . . . Called the Jordan Border Security Program or JBSP, the wall is ostensibly meant to stop weapons of mass destruction from getting out, but since 2013 has refocused on detecting Islamic State fighters and arms smuggling"

"When completed later this decade, the border wall will have a camera-studded high-security fence, plus a network of ground sensors and a set of fixed and mobile surveillance towers that will be able to see and detect activity five miles away on either side of the fence."

And will take some time to build! NOT done until "later this decade"! ISIL is here to stay as unpalatable as that may seem and only being accepted so in a grudging manner?

AND THIS FENCE SURELY IS AN INDICATION THIS IS SO?

coolbert.

War Warning?

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1973 deja vu all over again?

NOT since 1973 has there been such an order given or such an occurrence been the case. At least to my knowledge.

Consider this a WAR WARNING?

From the Daily Mail Online:

"Russia orders all officials to fly home any relatives living abroad, as tensions mount over the prospect of a global war"

* "Russian officials have been 'told to bring relatives home to the Motherland'"
* "Failure to act will put promotion chances at risk, according to local reports"
* "Comes amid worsening relations between Russia and US over Syria crisis"
* "US has pulled plug on Syria talks and accused Russia of hacking attacks"
* "Russia has moved nuclear-capable missiles nearer to the Polish border"

CONSIDER THIS TO BE ALL BLUSTER OR IS IT AN INDICATION OF SOMETHING MUCH MORE SERIOUS?

The recall of diplomatic officials, staff, military advisers and their families on such a wide-scale basis quite often is a precursor of WAR.

Again, at least to my knowledge, NOT since the Yom Kippur/Ramadan war of 1973 have the Soviets/Russians in such an abrupt and precipitous manner withdrawn personnel from a nation that was on the verge of war.

"Israeli intelligence intercepts discovered that Soviet military advisers — and certainly their families — were leaving Egypt [October 4th and 5th], Aman [Israeli military intelligence] should have realized that war may have been imminent."

NOT ONLY "may have been imminent" but WAS imminent!!

Hope and pray we are not seeing a repetition of 1973!

coolbert.

Corn Flakes.

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From that previous blog entry regarding the North Vietnamese sapper and his training::

"We learned how to crouch while walking, how to crawl, how to move silently through mud and water, how to walk through dry leaves." - - NVA sapper,.

AUSTRALIAN SAS TROOPS ON SURREPTITIOUS PATROL DURING THE SECOND INDO-CHINA WAR FINDING CONDITIONS DURING THE DRY SEASON DIFFICULT AT BEST.

"The seasons in Vietnam often had a huge impact on how fast a patrol could move without being seen or heard. In the dry season the vegetation thins and is left to dry and rout on the ground . . . Many patrol members hated patrolling in the dry season"

"'The problem with the dry, and in places it was exacerbated by the Americans defoliating some areas, was that we could see far greater distance s which meant that we could also be seen from the greater distances. In addition to that, because of the very dryness of the leaves and twigs on the ground in some areas where we might have had reasonable cover from view, we could be heard moving over long distance. It was like walking on corn flakes. To get a feel for it, you need to spread a packet of Kellogg's Corn Flakes onto a pavement and then try sneaking over them without making any noise.'"

Difficult to do at best. Walking quietly while on patrol with dried leaves and twigs underfoot being crushed making a distinctive sound not conducive to stealth!

BUT THE VIETNAMESE COMMUNIST SAPPER KNEW HOW TO WALK ACROSS DRY LEAVES AND TWIGS SILENTLY!

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Compulsory!

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From Freeper:

"Sweden to reintroduce [compulsory] military service"

"Sweden said Wednesday it would reintroduce compulsory military service from 2018, eight years after it was abolished. The Scandinavian nation, which has not seen armed conflict on its territory in two centuries, ended conscription in 2010 after it was deemed an unsatisfactory way of meeting the needs of a modern army. 'I hope that we are going to find a path to a more stable, robust and functional means of recruitment,' Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist told a news conference. The new policy will affect Swedes born after 1999, according to a report by a former member of parliament"

AND WHAT EXACTLY  "more stable, robust and functional means of recruitment" WOULD THAT CONSIST OF?

This move WILL NOT BE POPULAR with the Swedish young people? More than likely.

See this previous blog entry as germane to the topic of Swedish conscription:

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2016/09/fortress-gotland.html

coolbert.