Horseshoes and hand grenades

First of all, thanks for all the support during the Weblog Awards voting - especially EagleSpeak, BLACKFIVE, NeptunusLex, Ninme, Argghhh!!!, TheRandomYak, Martin Andrade, and others I may have missed who linked/endorsed CDR Salamander. Just as important are those who put up with my "vote-for-me" reminders and took the time to vote as often as they did. In the end, we came in 3rd with 21.49 % (751). Second place was TheDebateLink with 22.93 % (801), and coming out "on top" where she prefers to be, is my newest girl-in-every-port, Miss Al-a-bama BlueGal. Though we don't agree on much besides her hotness, she does a good job on her site. Both #1 and #2 are Left-of-center blogs with a general topic spread. When I consider that (with a push by EagleSpeak's and Martin Andrade's voters, thanks guys) in the Flappy Bird grouping I came represent the Right side of the equation, that is quite humbling considering the quality blogs in the group - and the fact that I try to keep this at least 50% Navy/military related that narrow-casts a bit - though I know that I drift off more than some of my most loyal readers like.

So, in summary - again - THANKS ALL!!! Considering that the Right doesn't get into the group-play/group-vote thingy as well as the Left - I think everything went very well.

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As a side-bar, this PodCast from Martin Andrade Blogs just nails the Iraq Surrender Report (10% I don't agree with - but 90% is solid). This guy is good. Go to his spot and pay him for a visit. I just added him to my blogroll.

Your mother wears combat boots...

..and she is packing heat.

Spc. Craig A. Wayman promoted his mother, CWO4 Wendy A. Wayman to her current rank, then she turned around and promoted her son to specialist. Wendy serves with the Multi-National Corps-Iraq; Craig is assigned to Troop C, 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, also in Iraq.

What a great story. You know he catches grief for his mom...but in a good way. Oh, wouldn't this be a nice story for CNN.....

Last chance to vote!

Hat tip Andi at MilBlogs.

Sen. Obama; about your ears....

Man, oh Manishevitz - the '08 race is going to be fun to watch. From Rush (I know, but he is just reporting it)

Obama up in New Hampshire being treated like a god making a speech. Now, apparently before he made the speech, Maureen Dowd had written something about his big ears. Obama, after the speech, made a beeline for Maureen Dowd who was in the audience to tell her that he didn't appreciate her writing about his big ears. Now, there's a lot of noise here and it's very muddy. I'll translate it for you, but here's how it sounded.

OBAMA (off mic): You talked about my ears, and I just want to put you on notice: I'm very sensitive about -- What I told them was, ''I was teased relentlessly when I was a kid about my big ears.'"

Welcome to varsity football Senator. Get a thicker skin, and don't give away your "tender bits." If you think MoDo's ear comment and the return of your own little Rezko whispering campaign is bad - you haven't seen anything yet. Sen. Clinton's SPECOPS and irregular warfare teams haven't even started to go at you.

Last chance to vote! A very gracious Shipmate Eagle1 as offered his support even - we need a big push today, as we are third.

Hat tip Drudge.

Fullbore Friday

USS New York (CA-2). Also ACR-2 for some of you. Why her? Well, she is one of the ships I can say I have see the "professional work" of. She participated in shelling of El Morro Castle at San Juan, Puerto Rico on 12 May 1898 during the Spanish American War and participated in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba. In taking the tour of El Morro Castle, they point out all the places where the ships hit the castle. Pretty neat stuff.

Speaking of New York, did you know they have a no kidding, official Naval Militia? More neat stuff.

CIWS to C-RAM

Ah, yes...I can hear her now.

Noting that the United States sent several Phalanx anti missile systems to Iraq last year, to protect the Green Zone from rocket and mortar attack, Canada is considering taking Phalanx systems from some of its warships, and shipping them to Afghanistan, to protect the Canadian base at Kandahar. The Canadian Phalanx systems will need some new software, which the Americans are apparently willing to provide.

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Another pitch for voting! Still a goofy schedule that only gives me about 20 minutes of computer time a day, so sorry for the light posting. How about a sympathy vote! Click the banner and vote every day through the 15th!

"Just needs more salt"

Of course, because you are already close to perfect when you have Chicken Fried Bacon.

Riverine procurement - Alpha Foxtrot Uniform

Coming up on three years since we invaded a nation with one of the world's major Riverine systems, two years since I asked the question, and over a year since the CNO said, "Go," our Riverine forces are still not in the fight. Sure, they are scheduled and equipped, as covered here and other places - but things have just seems too slow, and disjointed.

The first of three riverine squadrons is scheduled to deploy to Iraq sometime early in 2007.

The deployment will mark the first time since Vietnam’s swift-boat era that the Navy has patrolled inland waterways. In Iraq, until now, that mission has been performed largely by Marines, but the leathernecks are needed more urgently for ground combat.

Each squadron, when it stands up, will consist of about 220 officers, petty officers and enlisted sailors and 12 boats. Their mission will include making ports more secure and cutting the lines of communications for terrorists, pirates and drug smugglers.

For the time being, they are being trained by Marines at Camp Lejeune, N.C., because the Navy command currently doesn’t have either a suitable training center or the right kinds of boats.

In September, 60 sailors from Riverine Squadron One, preparing for deployment, completed a seven-week coxswain course, learning the basics of maneuvering small, armed boats on narrow waterways.

Five-man crews, consisting of a captain, coxswain, an aft and bow gunners with .50 caliber machines guns and two mid-ship gunners with 7.62 mm machine guns, learn to operate their craft at speeds exceeding 35 knots.

Sailors train on two types of boats. The small unit riverine craft is 38-feet long, and can carry up to 16 combat-loaded troops. The riverine assault craft is 34 feet, 11 inches in length and can carry up to 15 passengers. Both have a range of about 250 nautical miles. They can fit into a C-130 transport aircraft for rapid deployment.

This explains part of the problem. Congress is not helping - neither is the Potomac Flotilla.

Critics on Capitol Hill are worried about the speed with which all of this is happening. The House Armed Services Committee, in its report on the 2007 defense authorization bill earlier this year, said it “remains concerned with the maturity of the operational concept” of the unit “and has reservations about the rapid pace of its development.”

The committee urged the Navy to develop its operational requirements for the command more fully. It also encouraged the service to investigate options for advanced composite hulls for the specialized missions that the unit will be required to perform.

Such hulls, the committee said, could provide the Navy with the technology for critical capabilities in speed, weight, draft, stability, wake and g-force reduction. The committee recommended a $10 million increase in funding to develop and build a prototype advanced composite riverine craft.

Retired Capt. Pete Frothingham, director of warfare requirements, programs and plans, conceded the Navy could have done a better job in explaining what these units would do and why they are needed. “One of the pitfalls in standing up a command very quickly was that we didn’t get out early on and explain it as clearly as we should,” he said. “That’s now understood. We’ve been doing a lot of show-and-tell.”

As for an advanced composite riverine craft, the Navy is investigating that possibility, Frothingham said. One candidate that the service is eyeing closely is called Stiletto. It is a high-speed, carbon fiber-reinforced craft that the command is testing.

Made by M Ship Co. of San Diego, Calif., Stiletto is an 88-by-44 foot rectangular box, with one panel of windows and few protruding antennas, which makes it hard to detect. It can travel at speeds up to 55 knots with a range of 500 nautical miles. Its hull design increases stability and maneuverability in shallow waters, according to company officials.

At present, however, the Navy has made no commitment to Stiletto, Frothingham emphasized. “There are a lot of other craft out there,” he said. “We’re looking at a number of them.”

Advanced composites offer great potential, he added. “They aren’t cheap, but big screen TVs weren’t either when they first came out. Eventually, prices came down. Maybe that will happen with advanced composites, too.”

Complete insanity. Composite hulls that cannot be field repaired. Huge Stiletto type hulls that cannot go up most main rivers, much less tributaries. We do not need hyper expensive hulls made out of exotic materials that cannot be repaired by a GM3 in three house with gear the boat has with it. We do not need boats for "specialized missions." We need Riverine warfare craft.

Riverine warfare is the Navy version of clearing a city block by block. Little has changed in the last century outside of COTS equipment and other incremental changes in the tools we use. This isn't rocket science. This shouldn't take this long. This is a Navy and national disgrace. Period. Don't even try to spin this. Look at what the Army and Marines have done in the last half decade. WE need to fix this. This is OUR problem. Faster, better. We are better than this.

The peacetime, bureaucratic priorities of this are stunningly 180deg out of phase, and would be funny if they weren't so non-focused on the warfighting requirments.

Meanwhile, the Navy continues to institutionalize the command. This summer, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen approved the expeditionary specialist qualification program and a new pin for graduates of the program to wear with their uniforms.

To qualify, sailors must complete a set of training including marksmanship, weapons maintenance, land navigation, field communications and expertise in setting up expeditionary camps.

The program and pin are part of an effort to establish a career path within the field of expeditionary warfare, similar to that with the submarine and naval aviation communities, and thus encourage recruitment, promotion and retention of sailors, Frothingham said.

Is this it? We have built a monster of a staff and tail in area code 757 to "support" Riverine Warfare - and this is it? This was a chance to demonstrate "Transformation." It does demonstrate a transformation; but not what we want.

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Another pitch for voting! Also, I have a goofy schedule (note the post time) through Friday, so if posting seems spotty - it because I'm earning my gov'munt paycheck. Click the banner and vote every day through the 15th!