Giving the DoD’s latest Quadrennial Defense Review a close look, it seems as if the Pentagon poobahs hashed out a juxtaposed message for the Boys in (sky) Blue.
On page 10 of the executive summary of the 2010 QDR, it says that the US air force will be able to take advantage of F-22s and JSFs for air dominance and still buzz around in retro planes like the Super Tucano or Air Tractor when “training” counterinsurgency forces.
U.S. air forces will become more survivable as large numbers of fifth-generation fighters join the force. Land-based and carrier-based aircraft will need greater average range, flexibility, and multimission versatility in order to deter and defeat adversaries that are fielding more potent anti-access capabilities. We will also enhance our air forces’ contributions to security force assistance operations by fielding within our broader inventory aircraft that are well-suited to training and advising partner air forces.
That seems like a big victory for the COIN Air Force Wing advocates, but we’ll see what the details are when the services give their breakouts today (Colin and Greg are on the case).
The QDR lays out more COIN-related aviation moves, including fielding two new Navy helicopter squadrons dedicated solely for special operations missions. One has to wonder whether those aviation assets will help answer the mail for those worried about a lack of dedicated aviation elements for MarSOF troops. And the fearsom Spectre will get a makeover as well, with the Air Force buying converting 16 C-130Js and phasing out older AC-130s for a net of 35 aircraft from 25.
And, last but not least, my former Navy Times compadre will be glad to know the QDR calls for the Navy to add a fourth riverine squadron to the force. “PBR Streetgang this is Almighty do you copy, over…”
I wasn’t sure my post from yesterday would garner such a reaction, but I’d say the pros outweigh the cons 10:1.
Many of you mentioned that the last known bayonet charge might have been executed by a squad of Brit troops in Basra back in ’04.
Well, a little Googleing and low and behold it turns out that bunch of maniac Scots from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders got ambushed by about 100 Mahdi militiamen near Basra, fought it out, and when they ran low on ammunition, fixed bayonets and went to town.
Based on an after-action report found at this link, the intimidation factor of the bayonet and the surprise such a charge caused among the enemy used to engagements at a distance were pivotal.
The bayonet charge by British troops in Basra achieved tactical success primarily because of psychological and cultural factors. It also shows that superior firepower does not guarantee success by either side. In this case, the value of surprise, countering enemy expectations, and strict troop discipline were three deciding characteristics of the bayonet charge.
And, reading the report, you can’t help but come away from it thinking that while the insurgent is courageous in a sense that he’s willing to commit suicide in an attack on his enemy, and that he’s cunning in his building and implementation of weaponry, and that he’s agile in his ability to move quickly in tight spaces and mingle with the population — in the end their internal propoganda that the coalition are wusses just doesn’t make sense.
Propaganda by Sunni and Shiite jihadists regularly advertised the perception that American and British soldiers were cowards. Similar rhetoric increased after the battles of Fallujah in April2004, perhaps to steady the resolve of militia fighters in the face of aggressive coalition attacks.
In addition, British convoys did not engage significantly during previous ambushes, which probably validated the narrative for many Mahdi militiamen. Because many of the Mahdi fighters were teenagers, it is also likely that the Mahdi army used these ambushes for training and recruiting. The attacks were an opportunity for young fighters to use weapons in combat with little risk of serious reprisal.
Who would you pick in a hand-to-hand standoff — in a eyeball to eyeball fistfight? A Scot highlander or a pencil-necked Mahdi bomb clacker?
I pick the guy who eats haggis. Like this dude…
“I wanted to put the fear of God into the enemy. I could see some dead bodies and eight blokes, some scrambling for their weapons. I’ve never seen such a look of fear in anyone’s eyes before. I’m over six feet; I was covered in sweat, angry, red in the face, charging in with a bayonet and screaming my head off. You would be scared, too.”
Corporal Brian Wood Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment
In the end, the Brit counterassault killed 35 bad guys and left three UK troops lightly wounded.
Keep the bayonets brother!
PS — And here’s another young Brit who had to resort to his rifle blade when the chips were really down:
I read with sorrow a story this morning on Military.com that reported the head of Army basic training is moving to do away with bayonet skills.
It’s funny that just a few days ago I was discussing with a colleague why the military has all but abandoned the bayonet. I mean, there is no more intimidating device than said blade protruding from the barrel of a rifle. Think of a squad of Marines storming a house in the battle of Fallujah with bayonets fixed…talk about devil dogs.
There’s military effectiveness in having such a secondary weapon in close quarters battle when the quarters are REAL close. Taking the one and a half to two seconds to draw your combat knife from your armor could mean the difference between life and death. Having the bad boy already deployed for action could buy you those few precious seconds.
Besides, most of the combat knives hanging off Joes’ armor and MOLLE aren’t ever going to be used for anything more than tearing open a packet of country captain chicken.
But more than the tactical use of the bayonet, there’s that strategic objective — the intimidation factor. You have one of those bad boy Ka-Bars attached to your M4/M16, you’re going to get noticed…and in a good way. The enemy is going to focus on that blade coming at them instead of you, when the doors are being kicked — and besides, think of what the bad guys would think when they see that squad of Joes coming toward their compound with knives attached to their guns: they mean business.
Look, I understand Gen. Hurtling’s dilemma: too much training means we gotta shave off some marginal skills. And and sure some of you are going to generate some convincing arguments that knives should be kept off the end of rifles based on today’s longer-range engagements.
But let’s take a step back and maybe get a little medieval on someone for a change. Maybe the intimidation alone will keep the enemy from firing a shot.
Bushmaster has recently released its civilian version of the Adaptive Combat Rifle and displayed both the Civvie model and the so-called “Enhanced” version of the ACR intended for military customers.
Bushmaster rep Ryan Smith went through the features of the gun formerly known as the Magpul Masada and explained the Bushmaster was working the state national guard and law enforcement customers, while Remington was working the military deal.
As you well know, the Army is in the middle of an internal look at whether to replace the M4 as the standard issue carbine, and the ACR would be a strong candidate for the job. The ACR is the only rifle in the running that can undergo a quick and easy caliber change. A source with Bushmaster who declined to be quoted on the record said that Remington plans to offer the ACR in both 5.56mm and 6.8mm.
The Army could buy the Improved Carbine and Personal Defense Weapon all in one package…?
A DT reader sent us a note on the tip line directing us to a CNN story that states the US Military will remove the biblical cititations from its current inventory of Trijicon ACOG sights and that the company says it will no longer put the verses on their US military sales scopes.
Gen. David Petraeus, commander of United States Central Command, said Wednesday — apparently before learning of the company’s announcement — that the references were a “big concern” to the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps, which have contracts for the scopes.
“I hope you can sense … this is of serious concern to me and the other commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan because it can indeed create a perception that is absolutely contrary to what it is that we have sought to do,” he said.
He said U.S. troops are much more sensitive “about this kind of thing,” apparently, than is the contractor involved.
I have reached out to Trijicon for the official statement, but until then, take a look at the CNN story.
We posted an update to Tuesday’s story about the Trijicon rifle sight bible verse controversy on Military.com this afternoon.
Looks as if the New Zealand will be removing the citations from existing sights and will make a request that further ones do not onclide the New Testiment verse callouts.
New Zealand defense force spokesman Maj. Kristian Dunne said Trijicon would be instructed to remove the inscriptions from further orders of the gun sights for New Zealand and the letters would be removed from gun sights already in use by troops.
“The inscriptions … put us in a difficult situation. We were unaware of it and we’re unhappy that the manufacturer didn’t give us any indication that these were on there,” Dunne said. “We deem them to be inappropriate.”
The story also says the Aussies are assessing what to do.
We met some reps from EMA Tactical at the SHOT Show media day and learned about a couple items they’re flacking to the US market.
Mike Grandy showed us their new Countdown Magazine for the M4 class of weapons, which diverges from the traditional see-through countdown mags by incorporating a an actual rotating counter showing exactly how many rounds remain. The numbers are color coded green, yellow and red to indicate which 3rd of the load you’ve got left.
Unable to resist the draw of cool new camouflage patterns, I was drawn like from a Death Star tractor beam to the small setup belonging to a company called Special Operations Department — an inartful name, for sure, until you meet the product technical manager Max Valente and realize his company is Italian.
Max showed me an interesting pattern his company developed for the Italian special operations forces called Vegicam. He wouldn’t let me take a pic of the scheme and the only reason he talked about it was because I was snooping around his display and pulled a shirt in the Top Secret camo out of his duffel bag.
The camo was basically like a digitized multicam, but Valente said his camo is deployed to Afghanistan and “works much better than the MultiCam.” I asked him how he could say that and he just said photosimulation tests have proven it. Sorry I can’t provide a photo, but suffice it to say the camos I’m seeing here emulate the Crye colors, but veer away from the organic shapes.
Valente also pointed out his Desertico scheme, which is pictured above, and his intriguing Hybrid Coyote Sage solid color that he said spec ops and gendarmerie units wanted as an alternative to blatantly military patterns, particularly for PSD missions and semi-covert operations in town. All materials are Nomex FR.
Maybe some of the secret squirrel US types “shopping” here will be interested in this gear.
Military.com has a story coming out this afternoon on the whole Trijicon bible verse controversy. Since I’m at SHOT, I figured I’d start the company’s day off right by popping by their booth first thing to ask why in God’s green earth they put bible verses on their ACOG weapons sites fielded to US military forces.
I tried to speak with Tom Munson, the director of sales and marketing for Trijicon, and he refused to comment, referring me instead to a statement they were going to forward me on the issue.
The statement reads in part:
Our effort is simple and straightforward: to help our servicemen and women win the war on terror and come home safe to their families. As part of our faith and our belief in service to our country, Trijicon has put scripture references on our products for more than two decades. As long as we have men and women in danger, we will continue to do everything we can to provide them with both state-of-the-art technology and the never-ending support and prayers of a grateful nation.
So, they’re taking an unapologetic stance and are not saying whether they’ll stop putting bible verses on weapon sights used to kill Muslims. Sweet.
I realize the above photo is a little hard to read, but after the product spec it reads “JN 8:13 12″ – “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Military.com associate editor Greg Grant and I are attending this year’s SHOT Show in Vegas and we had an opportunity to demo some of the hottest products from vendors today at the couple ranges outside the gambling mecca.
One of the most interesting themes we ran across was the change in color from red laser sights to green. Technical reps from both Crimson Trace and Viridian told us that the green laser is much easier to pick up during daylight shoots and that since the red laser is closer to the invisible IR spectrum, the eye has a harder time picking it up in all environments.
We test shot some pistols and rifles with both the red version and green and agreed that picking up the green version was easier on mottled backgrounds (read camo) than the red. But the big down side is that the green light takes more power to produce, thus reducing battery life of the sight.
Stay tuned here and to Kit Up for more from the 2010 SHOT Show.
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