May 2011 - Argghhh!

Jim Dunnigan thinks so. What does the assembled commentariat think? I admit I have a bias in this which leads me to nod approvingly, as it meshes with my professional experience and study. Other's mileage may vary, alternate views are welcome!by James DunniganMay 10, 2011In Libya, NATO (mainly French and British) fighter-bomber pilots are learning a hard lesson about how effective ground troops can be at hiding themselves from air attack. The Libyan forces have quickly adapted to an enemy that...

It's Jörg Time, Of Course! Come Kids - Gather 'round and watch Jörg play with his beehive implement of destructshion...

This weekend was the opening of the Farmer's Market for SWWBO, and a time for maintenance of the Range and Arms Room of Argghhh! Needful stuff, as this shot of Firing Point 4 , the 150m berm shows. The current state of play is four firing points. FP1 is a 50 foot one, shot from the covered deck on the Castle Bailey. FP 2 uses the same target point, but is on ground level and serves as a 0-30 foot range for pistol. Targets have to be lower when configured this way, to ensure that rounds are impacting...

OKINAWA, Japan (May 2, 2011) Marines assigned to the 4th Marine Regiment embark an amphibious assault vehicle aboard the amphibious dock landing ship USS Tortuga (LSD 46) in preparation for Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT). CARAT is a series of bilateral exercises conducted with the naval and armed forces of participating southeastern Asian countries designed to enhance engagement and cooperation. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Aaron Hostutler)

The animal rescuers evidently figgered that as long as I still have four hours in the day available for sleep, that obviously means I'm not living life to it's fullest.Therefore, when they found a malnourished eight-week old White Shepherd / Yellow Lab female skittering frantically down a side street in a warehouse district, they immediately scooped her up, had happy thoughts, and told me they were bringing company.*sigh* Got her leashed to the door temporarily for the pic. She kept hiding...

The new, reputedly more environmentally friendly M855A1 5.56mm bullet for the services is being touted as a success story. One of the major aspects of the "greeness" is it uses a copper core vice lead. Well and good, if it works. My interest, aside from an interest in the troops having effective weapons is... does this mean we'll see the old stuff surplused out? If so... wheeeee!'Green bullet' as effective as M855 round - consistentlyMay 8, 2011In-Depth Coverage By C. Todd LopezABERDEEN...

That lucky SPL got himself a nice pair to play with.

DoD is floating it's version of cutting medical costs, which includes a $60 increase in TRICARE enrollment fees, if I read this right. Compared to what my non-DoD friends get hit with for year-to-year fee increases, I'm thinking that's not too bad.I know people get really exercised over this, but... we haven't had a fee increase in over a decade, and this is far better than what Rumsfeld proposed, and I can live with this. Yeah, I know, I know, "We were promised" etc. We've...