08-29-2007 - Patrick Bishop
Corporal Braveheart and The Battle for Afghanistan

Editor's Note: One of DefenseWatch's regular readers from "down under" sent along this item. It describes the tactical situation in Afghanistan faced by one unit of our British brothers-in-arms and the viscous small-unit war it fought in 2006 in villages and fields next to the Helmand River. A smart salute to these stout-hearted lads of the 3d Paras, living and dead. They do their country proud.

Corporal Bryan Budd, 29, was notably brave among men for whom courage was the norm and outstandingly competent in a culture that prized professionalism.... [he] had sacrificed his life for his men in an act of selfless heroism that thoroughly merited the Victoria Cross he was awarded four months later.

Full Story: Corporal Braveheart and The Battle for Afghanistan

08-27-2007 - Roger Charles
Update on Operation Helmet

Editor's Note:

OPERATION HELMET is still doing its great work to provide our frontline troops with the "best-available" helmet upgrade kits while an apathetic DOD acquisition bureaucracy shuffles toward the coffee pot, watching the calendar to get one more day closer to retirement, and treating this life-or-death issue as just another routine acquisition. Sadly, based on the following testimonials, the US Marine Corps continues to lead the way in its display of calloused indifference to the needs of our frontline troops on this critical piece of gear.

For those who may have missed them, last summer (2006) DefenseWatch posted two superb articles on the helmet/helmet liner issue. Ringing Ears Hear No Evil: Marine SYSCOM’s Lightweight Approach to Head Injury by Michael Woodson and Operation Helmet, A Saga of Doing the Right Thing by Sean O'Callahan.

SFTT offers a smart salute to all those involved with OPERATION HELMET, and the American's who have joined this superb effort to support the troops with more than lip service.

It's a scathing indictment of the "business-as-usual" crowd along the E-ring that five years into this war, our frontline troops still don't have the right, the "best-available" gear ...

Semper fidelis,

Rog Charles

Full Story: Update on Operation Helmet

08-25-2007 - Roger Charles
Battle in a LAV in Afghanistan

Editor's Note:

This is a great personal account from a Canadian brother-in-arms. It needs no explanation. But, I do want to express SFTT's deep respect and appreciation to this "stud" (Hack's term of high praise), and to all his fellow Canadian's who have stepped "once more into the breech."

Semper fidelis,

Rog Charles

Full Story: Battle in a LAV in Afghanistan

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has now joined the Army acquisition mafia in attempting to deny America's Grunts an honest chance for determining just what is the "best-available" body armor. In a flagrant abuse of discretionary authority, the DOJ's Office of Justice Programs has intervened in an unprecedented way to promote and support the obstructionism of the Army's acquisition mafia -- the common objective being to prevent Pinnacle Armor's Dragon Skin body armor from receiving a full and fair technical assessment.

Through its subordinate office, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), OJP has demonstrated an appalling willingness to sacrifice its heretofore vaunted reputation for scientific objectivity for some hidden bureaucratic agenda that places the lives of domestic law enforcement officials in severe jeopardy.

Just as the Army acquisition mafia has proven its willingness, even eagerness, to protect its current Interceptor body armor program at the expense of lives and limbs of our great frontline troops, so has OJP/NIJ now proven that it is willing to do the same -- sacrifice frontline law enforcement to protect favored programs and the hundreds of millions of dollars funding them.

The Military Industrial Complex has succeeded in obtaining DOJ/OJP/NIJ collusion in an effort than can only cost more lives and limbs. While favored contractors and their congressional enablers have ever reason to smile at the Army's successful recruitment of a new Executive Branch co-conspirator, this blatant and heavy-handed intrusion by OJP/NIJ may well prove a Pyrrhic victory.

Key details are enclosed. This is a complex matter at best, and the new terms and acronyms will certainly be confusing. That's the way large government programs are, even honest ones. For those programs corrupted by the special interests seeking to loot the public treasury, this complexity is one of their favorite and time-honored factors in forestalling scrutiny by the Congress, the media, and an informed, aroused citizenry.

This is the way the MIC and its allies like it. If the average American civilian can't understand the jungle of strange terms, unique procedures and clever spin from the government flacks, those on the banks of the Potomac who profit from hidden corruption have little to fear from being held to account.

SFTT urges every reader to persevere and read the entire sordid story portrayed below, including the links to other items. Literally, the lives of our frontline troops, and now, of our frontline law enforcement officials depend on your understanding the game that is afoot. Let your elected representatives know how important you think it is that our defenders -- abroad and at home -- have the "best-available" body armor, not the inferior versions favored on "K" Street in Washington.

Full Story

08-05-2007 - LTC Chuck Ferry
More Good News From Ramadi - Task Force 1-9 Infantry SITREP

In late March, we conducted Operation Chickamauga which was a battalion deliberate attack to kill, capture, and clear the enemy from the densely populated neighborhood called “Al Iskan”. After the experience of fighting during the previous months, the rifle companies really tore into the enemy that stood and fought during more than 13 fierce firefights inside the tight confines of the city. Baker and Dog Company, along with the Scout Platoon, Battalion Assault Command Post, and several attached Iraqi Army companies fought day and night for five days. We employed lots of Manchus on foot with Tanks, Close Air Support, and Attack Helicopters backing us up. In small arms contact, our Infantrymen hunted down and killed 18 armed insurgents with very few civilian casualties. Full Story

08-15-2007 (UPDATED 08-16-2007) - Roger Charles
Abusing Volunteers

Editor's Note:

Wonder when the US Government will come clean about the secret medical experiments it has conducted on America's Grunts for decades? Probably never.

The following editorial from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz proves that the Pentagon is not the only soulless bureaucracy that will screw the troops "for the larger good."

For newer DefenseWatch readers, here is a link to one of Hack's last columns, and one in which Hack wrote on this issue.

04-11-2005 Soldiers Shouldn’t Be Guinea Pigs

Semper fidelis,

Rog Charles

Abusing Volunteers

By Haaretz Editorial [Israeli newspaper]

A secret medical experiment that injected soldiers with the anti-anthrax vaccine, run over eight years beginning in 1998, raises alarming questions about the army authorities' conduct.

The army conducted the experiment, code-named Omer 2, under a cloak of secrecy, furtiveness and panic. Now, as details emerge despite the military authorities, it is clear that the soldiers involved have been brushed aside with half-truths and evasion.

Full Story

07-24-2007 - Roger Charles
Pace: Look for 12-Month Tours by Spring 2008

Editor's Note:

The question of tour lengths for our stout-hearted Defenders of Freedom is a hot one. Here's what the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff had to say recently, followed by an insightful analysis of some directly conflicting (and very credible) information from a senior congressional player, Representative John Murtha.

DefenseWatch has been aware for several months of very credible information that 18-month tours were being planned, but chose not to present this information due to its potentially upsetting nature to both the Soldiers and their families. Now that Gen. Peter Pace has knocked down this policy change, we think it appropriate to address the topic. We are pleased and fortunate to be able to present the ANALYSIS item that immediately follows the Star & Stripes article.

My own conclusion, for what it's worth, is to just watch events unfold, and see whose prediction was more accurate.

Certainly, few issues are of more interest to America's Grunts and their loved ones here at home.

Semper fidelis,

Rog Charles

Full Story

07-20-2007 - Roger Charles
Gates Honors 'Lion of Fallujah'

Editor's Note:

SecDef Robert Gate's recent tribute to a fallen Marine speaks for itself, but I cannot help noting the difference between his heartfelt words, and the use of an auto-pen by his predecessor to sign KIA (Killed In Action) condolence letters. Hack exposed this callous emotional detachment on the part of Donald Rumsfeld in the fall of 2004, see: With Deepest Sympathy, DefenseWatch 11-22-2004.

The difference between Gates' and Rumsfeld's approaches to this most personal aspect of their weighty responsibilities could not be more stark..

Semper Fidelis,

Rog

Full Story: Gates Honors 'Lion of Fallujah'

07-03-2007 - William S. Lind
On War #224: The Death of the RMA

Editor's Note:

DefenseWatch readers are familiar with Bill Lind's contributions to the continuing debate about the nature of war today, and the likely nature of war as it will evolve in the next several years.

His most recent piece is exceptionally important. In his inimitable style, Bill has described the connection between last year's disaster for the Israeli military in southern Lebanon, and the current situation facing the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lind believes, and I wholeheartedly agree, that you can take the Israeli "after action report" he cites below, and replace Israeli nouns with American nouns, and produce an almost perfect description of the pathetic state of military "thinking" among today's Perfumed Princes.

Instead of true innovation, based on a rational comprehension of the actual nature of war today, the US approach is to view military affairs as a business, and one not encumbered with the competitive forces of the free market.

For all the war colleges, think-tanks, and armchair strategists, Lind's description should be indeed sobering. But, I fear that little will change. Hack would probably quote Sun Tzu here, so I will, too:

"Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril."

I would add this quote from the same text:

"If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril."

Until our war colleges, our think tanks, and our national security establishment as a whole takes to heart Bill Lind's diagnosis, the US military overall will remain a mediocre warfighting machine, staving off battlefield defeat only by the valor and sacrifice of our tactical units, and the counter-productive massive firepower from the skies.

As a first step, we must not let the nature of war be described by "K" Street lobbyists whose overriding concern is a larger Christmas bonus. We must accept the reality of war as our enemies practice it.

In a land far away, and a time long ago, some of America's Grunts decorated their helmet covers with this saying:

"War is our business, and business is good."

I thought of just how true this is when I read the following paragraph from Bill's seminal column.

"The fact is, Pentagon policy has nothing to do with war, which has a great deal to do with why we are losing two wars. The Pentagon is the last Soviet industry. It is not about producing a product, least of all a product that works. It is solely, entirely, about acquiring and justifying resources. That the RMA [Revolution in Military Affairs] does supremely well."

Semper fidelis,

Rog

Full Story

05-04-2007 - Eilhys England Hackworth
Picking Up The Torch
My valiant, wonderful husband, Colonel David (Hack) Hackworth, one of America’s greatest heroes and most valor-decorated soldiers, died in my arms two years ago this May. During the last weeks we shared, he thought not a wit about himself; and his love for me burned so brightly I still feel surrounded by that awesome warmth. But he worried too about the frontline troops he spent his life protecting and particularly about Soldiers For The Truth, the foundation we started together. So I promised Hack I’d pick up the torch and keep SFTT viable – and continue our commitment to get the kids out at the tip of the spear the best leadership, training and equipment. Full Story

Eilhys England Hackworth with RI Senator Jack Reed, West Point '71, discussing SFTT’s new Basic Five Campaign.

This captain's message needs no clarification. His gear worked, the system worked, and he's back on duty, for a second combat tour. Godspeed, and my deepest respect and appreciation for your service!! Full Story

Those readers of DefenseWatch who have followed SFTT's efforts over the past year and a half to get honest and completely transparent comparative testing of all available both armor, including, but not necessarily restricted to both Dragon Skin and the currently issued Interceptor Body Armor system, know that from time to time there's been a tad -- okay, maybe more than a tad -- of anger in my writings on this subject. After all, it's truly an issue of life-or-death importance to America's Grunts. This column is however, written much more in sadness and sorrow than in anger. Full Story

President's Note:

Last year DefenseWatch did two articles (See: 03-01-2006 New Growler Causes Grumbling and 03-10-2006 Marine Corps' Use of Smoke and Mirrors to Conceal Catto Cart's Failures Won't Work)on the Expeditionary Fire Support System, more specifically on the prime mover for the towed mortar, which we tagged "Catto's Cart," in honor of the two-star Perfumed Prince who was instrumental in foisting this POS onto the Corps.

The two links below are to the web site of the Detroit ABC affiliate, Channel 7, WXYZ, that aired a few days ago its own, excellent investigation on the Growler. The first link is the story, and the second is a hidden-camera tour of the Growler plant, followed by a confrontation with the owner. The two videos speak for themselves, so without further ado, ck 'em out.

First, the investigative piece by the Detroit station: Clip 1:WXYZ Multimedia Steve Wilson Investigates the Growler Part I

And, here's the video (with heavily "bleeped" audio) of the tour of the plant and the subsequent confrontation with retired Marine colonel Curtis T. "Terry" Crews: Clip 2: WXYZ Multimedia Watch the Confrontation and Clip 3: WXYZ Multimedia Steve Wilson Investigates the Growler Part II

So, which vehicle would you want to take to war?

s/f,

Rog

02-28-2007 - Richard L. Stouder
Iraq: What Could Have Been, What Should Have Been...

President's Note: The author of this piece is a retired Colonel of Infantry, US Army. His essay should be required reading at all our Professional Military Education centers/schools/colleges. More than that, it should serve as the starting point for a congressional inquiry into how our senior military leaders so blithely tugged their forelocks and said, "Yes, master," when they should have said, "Over my dead body, sir!" Read it, and weep. And, while doing so, please recall that this is not some sterile academic exercise. America's Grunts are paying with lives, limbs and blood for the "go along" to "get along" mentality that permeates the Perfumed Princes and their careerist approach to what should be seen as a sacred trust. s/f, Rog Charles NB: The title was added by me; the essay came without a title.

By Richard L. Stouder, Director Technology Development and Deployment, National Security Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Editor's Note: No editing of this piece has occurred. Some may not like the author's tone, but it is his tone, not DefenseWatch's tone. The excerpt immediately following gives the reader an inkling of the frustration he feels about today's mess in Iraq. It could have, and he argues, should have been different.

So Bush the second was convinced we needed to go into Iraq and remove Saddam. We had a military plan that was developed and improved upon since 1992 and had been briefed to every SecDef that served during that timeframe. Success depended on very thoroughly thought out and war gamed force levels. The plan had very detailed concepts for post conflict operations. The first thing the serving SecDef, Rumsfeld, did was tell CENTCOM to trash the OPLAN. Rumsfeld and his advisors believed that we could win with "shock and awe" and didn't need many ground forces. In the total ignorance of Iraq and Arab culture, Rumsfeld and his advisors said they didn't have responsibility for nation building. Rumsfeld and his advisors based their justification on the current Iraq NIE. Who was the primary advisor, none other than Paul Wolfowitz. The Army and Marine Corps has been hand cuffed since they crossed the Line of Departure. The lack of ground forces has now proven to be the fundamental flaw of the Rumsfeld strategy, and we have never recovered from this. Full Story

01-31-2007 - Roger Charles
Latest Iraqi Army "Victory" - NOT

President's Note: The recent fight with the cult near Najaf has been portrayed by the trained liars as a great feat of arms for the Iraqi Army. The truth, as reported by our unimpeachable source, is starkly different, and does not augur well for the "Iraqization" of the war. s/f, Rog Charles

The "decimation" by Iraqi forces is propaganda. The Iraqi authorities did not attack the cult earlier because it was affiliated with Muqtada al Sadr. The attack was orchestrated by American forces after receiving intel that the cult was going to take over the shiite shrine Najaf. Most of the Iraqi soldiers in the attack ran away or refused to fight after they received heavy fire from the compound. It was only when American forces arrived from MNC-B and when US air strikes devastated the compound that the Iraqi's claimed success. We are claiming this victory for the Iraqis, because of the politics involved, but had it not been for US forces, the Iraqis would have failed miserably. My buddies in Iraq said the "new" strategy is for Americans to lead the attacks, not the Iraqis. This way we can claim the success for the Iraqi's, much like the way "social promotion" is used in American public schools. The Iraqi's receive the credit, even if they cannot do the job. A buddy told me the Iraqis have a new slogan "Let The Americans Do It." Last year US forces would make the Iraqis lead the way; now American forces lead the way with some Iraqi's in tow to make it look like an Iraqi operation. Iraqi Army and Police Units will deliberately arrive late so Americans will kick off the operation without them and after the Americans have won, the Iraqi's will show up at the very end and claim their Iraqi victory.

The "new strategy" is nothing more than Americans doing the job for them and giving them the credit.

01-08-2007 - Roger Charles
President of Pinnacle Armor Responds to Four Questions about NIJ Certification, & Related Issues
President's Note: Over the holidays I thought that DefenseWatch should provide some additional information on Pinnacle Armor's Dragon Skin body armor and the recent certification by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) that the Level III version of Dragon Skin had passed their test. Given complicated schedules on both ends, I decided the best approach was to submit four written questions to Murray Neal, the President of Pinnacle Armor, and give him the chance to respond via email. What fallows is both background information and technical data that will allow you, the reader, to better place into context what has prevented Dragon Skin from gaining such certification sooner, the major technical issues, and what the immediate future should bring.

Let me take this chance to ask each and every reader to remember those stout-hearted troops who have placed their lives and their futures in harms way in defense of our great nation. They deserve the best-available body armor, and, God willing, are now closer to getting it.

s/f,

Rog Charles

1. Can you explain why it's taken so long to finally get National Institute of Justice certification for your Level III Dragon Skin?

2. How is this September testing different from other NIJ testing?

3. I'm sure you have a plan to test your Level IV system. Can you describe it?

4. Obviously, you see this NIJ certification refuting some of the allegations that the Army has made. Which ones, and how?

Full Story