Signaleer

U.S. Central Command | Mission accomplished: Marine Osprey squadron flies last mission of Afghanistan deployment

2012-01-18T20:00:00.003-06:00

A Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey squadron flew its final combat mission, to complete its deployment to Afghanistan.
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162 has been deployed at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, for more than six months. The Marines will soon return to Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C.
The squadron’s final mission in Afghanistan was to transport Marines with 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment to a small patrol base in Helmand province, who will relieve Marines of 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment.
“These Marines are extremely proficient, and helpful to us ‘ground pounders,’” said Staff Sgt. Ricky Lara, a platoon sergeant with 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. “My guys have a lot to worry about once we get on the ground but in the air we know we are in the good hands of our fellow Marines.”
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162 flies the MV-22B Osprey. The Osprey has the ability to takeoff vertically like a helicopter, and then tilt its rotors forward granting speed and maneuverability comparable to a traditional airplane.
The Marine Corps relies on the versatile Osprey for various missions in Afghanistan including troop and cargo transport, battlefield illumination, aerial resupply and assault insert of combat troops. Marine Corps Ospreys are deployed as part of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), the aviation combat element for the southwestern regional command of the NATO International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

U.S. Central Command | Mission accomplished: Marine Osprey squadron flies last mission of Afghanistan deployment

Report Calls for Dispersing US Bases in Mideast | Military.com

2012-01-18T20:00:00.001-06:00

An influential Washington think-tank called Tuesday for the U.S. military to redraw its map of bases throughout the Middle East to keep out of range of new Iranian weapons that could threaten American troops.
In a new report, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments warned that Tehran's investment in anti-ship and precision guided missiles designed to strike targets throughout the region, combined with sophisticated air defense systems, means that U.S. may have to shift its presence in the region in the coming decade.
The U.S. also needs to change the forces it deploys, the authors concluded. It should focus on trimming older, un-stealthy, short-range strike fighters in exchange for stealthier, long-range bombers and unmanned aircraft that can penetrate Iranian airspace to deliver knockout punches on hardened targets, said Mark Gunzinger. He briefed reporters Tuesday morning on his new report, "Outside-In, Operating from Range to Defeat Iran's Anti-Access and Area-Denial Threats."

Report Calls for Dispersing US Bases in Mideast | Military.com

2012-01-18T10:11:00.001-06:00

An influential Washington think-tank called Tuesday for the U.S. military to redraw its map of bases throughout the Middle East to keep out of range of new Iranian weapons that could threaten American troops.
In a new report, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments warned that Tehran's investment in anti-ship and precision guided missiles designed to strike targets throughout the region, combined with sophisticated air defense systems, means that U.S. may have to shift its presence in the region in the coming decade.
The U.S. also needs to change the forces it deploys, the authors concluded. It should focus on trimming older, un-stealthy, short-range strike fighters in exchange for stealthier, long-range bombers and unmanned aircraft that can penetrate Iranian airspace to deliver knockout punches on hardened targets, said Mark Gunzinger. He briefed reporters Tuesday morning on his new report, "Outside-In, Operating from Range to Defeat Iran's Anti-Access and Area-Denial Threats."

Report Calls for Dispersing US Bases in Mideast | Military.com

2012-01-18T09:45:00.001-06:00

An influential Washington think-tank called Tuesday for the U.S. military to redraw its map of bases throughout the Middle East to keep out of range of new Iranian weapons that could threaten American troops.
In a new report, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments warned that Tehran's investment in anti-ship and precision guided missiles designed to strike targets throughout the region, combined with sophisticated air defense systems, means that U.S. may have to shift its presence in the region in the coming decade.
The U.S. also needs to change the forces it deploys, the authors concluded. It should focus on trimming older, un-stealthy, short-range strike fighters in exchange for stealthier, long-range bombers and unmanned aircraft that can penetrate Iranian airspace to deliver knockout punches on hardened targets, said Mark Gunzinger. He briefed reporters Tuesday morning on his new report, "Outside-In, Operating from Range to Defeat Iran's Anti-Access and Area-Denial Threats."

Report Calls for Dispersing US Bases in Mideast | Military.com

U.S. Central Command | Mission accomplished: Marine Osprey squadron flies last mission of Afghanistan deployment

2012-01-18T09:43:00.001-06:00

A Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey squadron flew its final combat mission, to complete its deployment to Afghanistan.
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162 has been deployed at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, for more than six months. The Marines will soon return to Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C.
The squadron’s final mission in Afghanistan was to transport Marines with 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment to a small patrol base in Helmand province, who will relieve Marines of 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment.
“These Marines are extremely proficient, and helpful to us ‘ground pounders,’” said Staff Sgt. Ricky Lara, a platoon sergeant with 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. “My guys have a lot to worry about once we get on the ground but in the air we know we are in the good hands of our fellow Marines.”
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162 flies the MV-22B Osprey. The Osprey has the ability to takeoff vertically like a helicopter, and then tilt its rotors forward granting speed and maneuverability comparable to a traditional airplane.
The Marine Corps relies on the versatile Osprey for various missions in Afghanistan including troop and cargo transport, battlefield illumination, aerial resupply and assault insert of combat troops. Marine Corps Ospreys are deployed as part of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), the aviation combat element for the southwestern regional command of the NATO International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

U.S. Central Command | Mission accomplished: Marine Osprey squadron flies last mission of Afghanistan deployment

2012-01-18T08:57:00.001-06:00

A Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey squadron flew its final combat mission, to complete its deployment to Afghanistan.
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162 has been deployed at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, for more than six months. The Marines will soon return to Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C.
The squadron’s final mission in Afghanistan was to transport Marines with 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment to a small patrol base in Helmand province, who will relieve Marines of 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment.
“These Marines are extremely proficient, and helpful to us ‘ground pounders,’” said Staff Sgt. Ricky Lara, a platoon sergeant with 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. “My guys have a lot to worry about once we get on the ground but in the air we know we are in the good hands of our fellow Marines.”
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162 flies the MV-22B Osprey. The Osprey has the ability to takeoff vertically like a helicopter, and then tilt its rotors forward granting speed and maneuverability comparable to a traditional airplane.
The Marine Corps relies on the versatile Osprey for various missions in Afghanistan including troop and cargo transport, battlefield illumination, aerial resupply and assault insert of combat troops. Marine Corps Ospreys are deployed as part of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), the aviation combat element for the southwestern regional command of the NATO International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

U.S. Central Command | Mission accomplished: Marine Osprey squadron flies last mission of Afghanistan deployment

European Unit Withdrawals Could be Only 1st Step | Military.com

2012-01-18T07:54:00.003-06:00

The Army is keeping quiet about official details, but Army spokesman Col. Tom Collins said the service intends to announce its formal plan for cutting the active force in the coming weeks.
Currently, the Army’s active ground force is made up of 22 infantry BCTs, 15 heavy BCTs, seven Stryker BCTs and the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which has been designated to transform into another Stryker BCT.
For now, the Army plans to retain all of its Stryker BCTs. Stryker units are the largest in the BCT structure, with three maneuver battalions.
It’s still unclear which of the five heavy and five infantry BCTs the Army will cut from the active force, but combat capability and strategic location inside the U.S. and abroad are some of the considerations Army planners will look at when cutting, said the official who spoke to Military.com.
Army leaders say 520,000 is the right number for the active component. Army planners would have to get very creative if the economic state of the country forces the service to cut to a number below 500,000, the senior Army official said.
“You’ve got to look at support brigades and headquarters elements,” the official said. Maybe “one HQ can take care of 10 units. We are looking at division, corps and theater assets.”
Another option is to look at cutting headquarters elements from some BCTs and attaching the maneuver battalions to other BCT formations. “If I cut five more BCT HQs and take all of the battalions and put them in other units, have I reduced the combat power?” the official asked.
A recent study by the Institute for Defense Analysis recommended that that Army move some of its heavy BCTs over to the National Guard. But this is not a popular solution inside the Pentagon, since it would take longer to bring a heavy unit in the Guard up to deployment readiness, the official said.

European Unit Withdrawals Could be Only 1st Step | Military.com

William McGurn: Obama Brings Back the Constitution - WSJ.com

2012-01-18T07:54:00.001-06:00

Conservatives can be a grudging lot. That's especially true when it comes to President Obama. Even where he's been in the right—whether it be killing Osama bin Laden or promoting charter schools—we can be stingy with praise.
So let us now, in full public view, credit his greatest public service as president: He is sending Americans back to the Constitution.
Yes, in the Bush years the air was also thick with accusations that the Constitution was being "shredded." We now know that the professed concern for the Constitution was fake. We know it was fake because the same Bush claims of executive authority in war that provoked such apoplexy in our pundits, professors and politicos have for the most part been embraced by Mr. Obama—all to the distinct sound of silence.
Today we have a wholly different order of constitutional complaint. Where the accusations against Mr. Bush were led by prestigious law faculties and law firms, those against Mr. Obama reflect a more popular hue. Where the indictments of Mr. Bush were largely limited to war policy, those against Mr. Obama's extend broadly to all areas of policy: foreign, economic and social. And where critics of Mr. Bush were obsessed with outcome, the discontent with Mr. Obama has been magnified by the uneasy sense that he is changing the fundamental rules of the game.

William McGurn: Obama Brings Back the Constitution - WSJ.com

Pakistan Taliban Leader Reported Dead in US Strike | Military.com

2012-01-18T07:53:00.003-06:00

Intercepted militant radio communications indicate the leader of the Pakistani Taliban may have been killed in a recent U.S. drone strike, Pakistani intelligence officials said Sunday. A Taliban official denied that.
The report coincided with sectarian violence -- a bomb blast in eastern Pakistan that killed 14 people in a Shiite religious procession.
The claim that the Pakistani Taliban chief was killed came from officials who said they intercepted a number of Taliban radio conversations. In about a half a dozen intercepts, the militants discussed whether their chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed on Jan. 12 in the North Waziristan tribal area. Some militants confirmed Mehsud was dead, and one criticized others for talking about the issue over the radio.

Pakistan Taliban Leader Reported Dead in US Strike | Military.com

Idea to Take 'D' Out of PTSD Studied | Military.com

2012-01-18T07:53:00.001-06:00

The president of the American Psychiatric Association says he is "very open" to a request from the Army to come up with an alternative name for post-traumatic stress disorder so that troops returning from combat will feel less stigmatized and more encouraged to seek treatment.
Dr. John Oldham, who serves as senior vice president and chief of staff at the Houston-based Menninger Clinic, said he is looking into the possibility of updating the association's diagnostic manual with a new subcategory for PTSD. The subcategory could be "combat post-traumatic stress injury," or a similar term, he said.
"It would link it clearly to the impact and the injury of the combat situation and the deployment experience, rather than what people somewhat inaccurately but often assume, which is that you got it because you weren't strong enough," Oldham said.
The potential change was prompted by a request from Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the Army's vice chief of staff, who wrote to Oldham last year, suggesting APA drop the world "disorder" from PTSD.
"Calling it a disorder contributes to the stigma and makes it so some folks -- not all, but some folks -- don't get the help they need," Chiarelli said.

Idea to Take 'D' Out of PTSD Studied | Military.com

Intelligence: U-2s Ends A 22 Year Mission

2012-01-07T08:06:00.001-06:00

On December 18th, the last (for the moment) American U-2 mission was flown over Iraq. These missions began in 1990, after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, and continued until December, 2011. The last decade has been the busiest for the U-2 in decades. Because of the spy satellite quality sensors carried by U-2s, and a limited number of spy satellites up there, there was always more demand for U-2s sorties than could be provided. Three years ago, for example, two 41 year old U-2s achieved a record 25,000 hours in the air. One of these aircraft had made three belly (landing gear up) landings, requiring extensive rebuilding after each incident.

Intelligence: U-2s Ends A 22 Year Mission

Counter-Terrorism: Pakistan Backs War Against NATO

2012-01-06T11:00:00.001-06:00

On January 1st, the Pakistani Taliban agreed to halt all terror attacks inside Pakistan. In return, the Pakistani military will not interfere with Taliban movements, as long as these movements are part of supporting Taliban attacks against NATO forces in Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban will deploy their forces into Afghanistan under the leadership of Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar. This deal is supposed to include the autonomous Haqqani Network, which often links up with the Taliban, but considers itself a separate operation.
The Pakistani Taliban also promised to force smaller terror groups to cease attacks inside Pakistan. This is supposed to include kidnapping, theft, and sundry crimes committed in the name of God. Some Islamic terror activity is actually gangsters committing crimes under the guise of Islamic radicalism. Some of this stuff will continue but the Pakistanis expect the suicide bombings, assassinations, and attacks on troops and police to cease.
This odd turn of events is the result of years of American pressure on the Pakistani government to get the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies to stop supporting and protecting Islamic terror groups. Pakistan has been doing this since the 1970s and created the Taliban in the early 1990s. Even though many of the Islamic terrorists have declared war on Pakistan in the last decade (because Pakistan sided with the United States after September 11, 2001), the Pakistani military still sees their terrorist allies as an asset. The Pakistani government is less enthusiastic about this but admits, to the West, that the Pakistani military is autonomous in many ways.

Counter-Terrorism: Pakistan Backs War Against NATO

Counter-Terrorism: The Curse Of The Internet

2012-01-06T10:58:00.001-06:00

Last year, several Islamic terror organizations make a major effort to recruit via the Internet. Apparently this was not very successful. This is partly because supporters of Islamic terrorism are more inclined to talk about it, than actually take action. That's partly because Islamic terrorists have earned themselves a bad reputation within the Islamic community because of all the publicity given to the many Moslems killed by terror attacks. Another bit of unappetizing reality is the fate of so many Islamic terrorists, especially if they catch the attention of the Americans. There, the best you can hope for is a quick death. If you are really unlucky, you get captured, prosecuted and sent to a supermax prison for a life of isolation and not much else.
Another reason for fearing recruitment calls over the Internet is the fact that multiple intelligence and police agencies monitor the Internet for signs of recruiting, and any other terrorist activity.
While it was initially believed that the Internet was a boon to Islamic terrorists, this has not been the case. The main reason for this is that the Internet gives terrorists the illusion that they have a safe, secure form of communication. But there are so many eavesdropping tools available to police, that can detect this communication, that the net result is the Internet has become a prime counter-terrorist weapon.

Counter-Terrorism: The Curse Of The Internet

India-Pakistan: Desperate, Cornered And Willing To Kill

2012-01-06T10:47:00.001-06:00

The Pakistani military is still feuding with NATO and its own government. This has been going on since the American raid into Pakistan last May, which killed Osama bin Laden. Both the U.S. and Pakistani politicians were appalled at the duplicity of the Pakistani military, which had always insisted it had no idea where bin Laden was. Pakistani politicians have always feared and despised their own military. During Pakistan's brief history (since 1947) the military has forcibly taken control of the government half the time. Usually, the reason given was massive corruption and incompetence in an elected government (accurate accusations). But this was often an excuse to settle a dispute between politicians and generals over who could steal what. The latest such incidence was in 1999, when the military increased their unauthorized (by the civilian government) attacks on Indian troops along the Kashmir border. This led to a brief war (which Pakistan, as usual, lost). In response, the elected government tried to remove the head of the military (Pervez Musharraf) from his job, but instead Musharraf took control of the government. But, as always happens, the military eventually becomes very unpopular, because they are no more effective at running the country than elected politicians.

India-Pakistan: Desperate, Cornered And Willing To Kill

Air Force Will Lose Hundreds of Planes in New Pentagon Plan | Danger Room | Wired.com

2012-01-04T11:46:00.001-06:00

Danger Room has learned that around 200 airplanes, mostly older models, will eventually be retired without replacement. That represents about a 5 percent reduction in the overall fleet of about 4,000 aircraft. Exactly which planes will go is unclear. But under any scenario, the positions of thousands of airmen who fly and maintain those planes will be phased out. The majority of those airmen will be reservists and Air National Guardsmen.[Emphasis added]

Signaleer’s take—this is backward. If there are to be reductions it should be in the Active side. Let the Guard and Reserves, that operate for a fraction of the cost, pick up the slack.

Air Force Will Lose Hundreds of Planes in New Pentagon Plan | Danger Room | Wired.com

News from The Associated Press

2012-01-04T11:44:00.001-06:00

A stray cat that survived two trips to a Utah animal shelter's gas chamber now has a new home.
Officials at West Valley City's animal shelter in Utah say the cat named Andrea hadn't been adopted for 30 days when shelter officials tried to put her to death in October. She survived, so they gassed her again.
Shelter officials detected no vital signs and presumed she was dead after the second try, so they put her in a plastic bag in a cooler. But when they checked the bag, they saw she had vomited on herself and had hypothermia but was alive.
The shelter then decided to stop trying to kill her.
"It was just one of those things where they thought this cat obviously really wants to live," West Valley City spokesman Aaron Crim told the Salt Lake Tribune (http://bit.ly/ylvSDw ). "Let's give it a chance to find a permanent home."

News from The Associated Press

Mexican Grand Warlock predicts Obama loss in 2012

2012-01-04T11:29:00.001-06:00

Mexico's Grand Warlock predicted US President Barack Obama would fail to win re-election and two more Latin American leaders would be diagnosed with cancer, in a traditional New Year's forecast Tuesday.
The Grand Warlock, or "Brujo Mayor" in Spanish, leads a Mexican tradition of "brujeria" or sorcery centered in the southeastern city of Catemaco.
The Grand Warlock, also known as Antonio Vazquez, said that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who claims to have beaten an unspecified cancer, would have a "terrible relapse."
Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, former Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Paraguay's Fernando Lugo have been diagnosed with cancer in recent years.
Chavez suggested last month that the spate of cancer among leftist leaders could be a US plot.
Vazquez, who sports a long grey beard, put the cancer cases down to "witchcraft" against Latin American leaders, during a Mexico City news conference giving his 25th annual predictions.
Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled for more than 70 years to 2000, would return to power with its candidate Enrique Pena Nieto winning the presidency in July, according to Vazquez, who bases his predictions on tarot card readings and observations of the stars.
Vazquez, who claims to have a 75-80 percent accuracy rate, last year said the euro would weaken and recession would return to developed economies but he also predicted, incorrectly, that a Latin American leader would be assassinated

Mexican Grand Warlock predicts Obama loss in 2012

Attrition: Race And Recruiting

2012-01-04T11:22:00.003-06:00

Social trends in the civilian population have always had an impact on who joins the American military. Currently, the African-American community has a problem with women being more likely to graduate from high school and college than men. This makes it difficult form African-American women to find a husband within their own community, and makes it difficult for African-American men to find work. The result is that African-American women make up 31 percent of women in the military while African-American men make up only 16 percent of troops (about the same as the percentage of African-Americans in the general population.) About half of military women are married, and about half of those married military women married military men. Only about seven percent of military men are married to military women, but this is largely because only about 15 percent of military personnel are women.
White women are underrepresented in the military, as they are only 53 percent of military women, while 78 percent of civilian women are white. This is apparently due to the fact that white women graduate from college at a higher rate than most other gender/ethnic groups and are the job candidates that most employers have no problems hiring.
The military began seeking women more aggressively when conscription ended in the early 1970s. Since then, the number of women in uniform has quadrupled while active duty strength fell by nearly half. Women are as, if not more, capable than men at most of the support jobs soldiers do. Only about 15 percent of troops are in combat jobs. Moreover, the army can be as selective with female candidates as they are with the males. Standards have always been high, and this helps African-American females, and hurts African=American males.
White men are in the military at about the same proportion as they represent in the general population. White males make up a disproportionate number of combat troops, largely because minority males prefer technical jobs that will help them eventually get a civilian job. Many white males join combat units because of patriotism, seeking adventure or a combination of both.

Attrition: Race And Recruiting

Electronic Weapons: Roll On Knowledge

2012-01-04T11:22:00.001-06:00

The U.S. Air Force has taken a U.S. Marine Corps idea for an "instant gunship" and developed an "instant reconnaissance aircraft" along the same lines. The "instant gunship" is known as "Harvest Hawk" and it's a system that enables weapons and sensors to be quickly rolled into a C-130 transport and hooked up. This takes a few hours, and turns the C-130 into a gunship (similar in capabilities existing AC-130 gunships). The sensor package consists of day/night vidcams with magnification capability. The weapons currently consist of ten Griffin missiles and four Hellfires. These are lightweight missiles, so more can be carried.
The "instant reconnaissance aircraft" is known as "Senior Scout" and it quickly equips a C-130 with equipment that enables the transport to collect visual and electronic data from areas it flies over. On the larger C-130J, this leaves room for the aircraft to carry passengers and cargo as well as Senior Scout. This means that a C-130J that regularly makes trips between two bases, can just as regularly carry out surveillance on the ground below. The route the C-130J follows on these cargo runs can be modified a bit to suit intelligence needs on the ground.

Electronic Weapons: Roll On Knowledge

Marine | New York Gun Law | Prison Sentence | The Daily Caller

2012-01-03T08:39:00.001-06:00

Ryan Jerome was enjoying his first trip to New York City on business when the former Marine Corps gunner walked up to a security officer at the Empire State Building and asked where he should check his gun.
That was when Jerome’s nightmare began. The security officer called police and Jerome spent the next two days in jail.
The 28-year-old with no criminal history now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of three and a half years in prison. If convicted, his sentence could be as high as fifteen years.
Jerome has a valid concealed carry permit in Indiana and visited New York believing that it was legal to bring his firearm. He was traveling with $15,000 worth of jewelry that he planned to sell.
The online gun-law information Jerome read was inaccurate, however, and his late September arrest initiated what may become a protracted criminal saga. He hasn’t yet been indicted by a grand jury, but there may be little legal wiggle-room if he is.
“If he does get indicted, and they want to give him something less, then the legal minimum would be two years,” noted Mark Bederow, Jerome’s attorney. “They couldn’t even offer less if they wanted to.”
Jerome isn’t the first out-of-state visitor to volunteer that they had a gun, only to be put through the wringer. In December, Tennessee nurse Meredith Graves noticed a “no guns” sign at the World Trade Center site and asked where she could leave her weapon, only to face similar charges.
Also in December, Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler was arrested after attempting to check a pistol — for which he has a California concealed carry permit — at a New York airport.
The law in New York has the potential to wreak havoc on the lives of unwitting and otherwise law-abiding visitors, Bederow explained to The Daily Caller.
“The law itself is clear,” he said, “if you knowingly possess a loaded firearm in New York, then you are technically guilty of a serious crime. The fact that somebody in another state has a valid concealed carry permit is, legally speaking, irrelevant in New York.”
But the recent spate of tourist arrests wasn’t what was intended when the law was passed, said Bederow. “Subjecting the toughest gun laws in the country — here in New York — to subject these people to them is just not a good use of discretion.”
“The law is not equipped to deal with these situations, and they happen all the time,” he added. “Here are people trying to be responsible.”

Marine | New York Gun Law | Prison Sentence | The Daily Caller

Who knew?

2012-01-01T05:43:00.001-06:00

Gaga, Beiber help huge New York crowd see in 2012

Who knew there were so many blind people in New York last year?

Flag burning Occupy Charlotte camp 4 charged - WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC

2011-12-31T09:48:00.001-06:00

Four protesters, including the spokesman of Occupy Charlotte, were charged after setting fire to two American flags early Friday near the Occupy camp in Center City, police said.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police weren't sure earlier if the four men who set fire to two flags were associated with the Occupy Charlotte movement.
But, WBTV has learned that one of the men is the media spokesman for the Occupy group and has been the contact person listed on press releases from Occupy Charlotte.
The fires happened with in feet of the group's encampment.
Earlier reports indicated one flag was burned, but a police report says that 2 US flags were burned.
Officers said they noticed the suspects lighting something on fire directly in front of the Occupy camp along Trade Street around 12:30 a.m. Friday morning.
Police swarmed the area, and detained the men while firefighters were called in to knock down the flames. About $30 worth of damage was caused to landscaping at the site.

Flag burning Occupy Charlotte camp 4 charged - WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC

US Ends Afghan Info Center Aid After Criticism | Military.com

2011-12-29T09:31:00.000-06:00

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul this week said it would cut off aid and called back staff working at an Afghan government media center after a press conference held there that criticized foreign troops over civilian casualties, center officials said Wednesday.
Ezatullah Safi, deputy director of the Afghan Government Media and Information Center, said it was told after the press conference that the embassy would review its aid to the center.

An Afghan fact-finding team appointed by President Hamid Karzai on Saturday blamed NATO-led troops for what it said was the unnecessary killing of dozens of civilians. The press conference the team held at the center criticized foreign forces as "brutal."

But U.S. Embassy spokesman Gavin Sundwall denied that the U.S. moves were linked to the criticism.

"This decision to begin the transition was under consideration and happened to coincide with the press conference," Sundwall said.

Just watch. If the administration has time, this will become the flashpoint issue, the excuse, for full withdrawal from Afghanistan, just as legal immunity was for Iraq. There are negotiations that can be made, and could have been made in the former case, but they won't be, because this is the cover, the excuse, that will be used.

Wanted: Full Auto for Accuracy, not Rock 'n Roll | Military.com

2011-12-29T09:26:00.000-06:00

The Army began using three-round burst setting in 1986, when it adopted the Marine Corps-developed M16A2 as a replacement for its fleet of M16A1s. The A2 fired the M249 squad automatic weapon’s M855 round and featured a number of modifications over the A1, such as improved sights, a rounded handguard and, of course, three-round burst instead of a full-auto capability.

The Marines developed the burst setting to help riflemen conserve ammunition instead of wasting it during long bursts of full-auto fire. But the Marines and the Army later realized that the mechanics of the three-round burst setting caused an inconsistent trigger pull in the semi-auto mode. This means that the trigger doesn’t feel the same every time a shooter fires, making it harder to shoot with the same degree of accuracy from one shot to the next.

“The trigger is the soldier’s primary interface with the weapon for delivering the round,” said Lt. Col. Tom Henthorn, chief of the Small Arms Branch at Benning’s Soldier Requirements Division.

This is one of the reasons U.S. Special Operations Command equipped its M4A1 carbines with full-auto triggers in the mid-1990s.

The Army’s senior leadership decided to start issuing M4A1s last year as an interim step as it moves ahead with the M4 Product Improvement Program and its improved carbine competition, which could ultimately replace the M4.

“We had some M4A1s on the range … and even the guys from the Army Marksmanship Unit had thought we had [improved] the trigger somehow,” Henthorn said. “The AMU guys were fairly impressed with the trigger.”

Korea: The Prince Of Potential Takes Over

2011-12-27T10:04:00.000-06:00

Kim Jong Ils death might be considered a good career move. He had made a desperate promise that, by 2012, North Korea would undergo a massive increase in living standards. Amazing things were supposed to happen by Kim Jong Ils birthday on February 16^th. This was in response to the growing popularity of consumerism in North Korea and knowledge of the higher South Korean and Chinese living standards. Most North Koreans are having a hard time getting enough to eat, but in the capital, Pyongyang, the promises included 100,000 new housing units. The capital is a special place in North Korea. You need permission to live there, and the city is obviously much better off than the rest of the country. This is because the most loyal, and crucial, government employees live in Pyongyang. However, Kim Jong Ils building plans had turned out horribly wrong. Not only would the plan not produce 100,000 new apartments, but many were built using substandard materials and unsafe practices. Hundreds of students drafted to help in the construction were killed or mutilated by work accidents. The construction managers were under tremendous pressure to get the 100,000 new apartments built, at any cost. The new buildings were so poorly built that Pyongyang residents feared being given an apartment in one of the new buildings. Some of the shoddy new buildings had already collapsed, and city residents were wondering how the government would spin the collapse of finished, and inhabited, ones.