Will Hugo go?

Venezuela moves 10 Divisions to the Colombian border; Ecuador deploys additional troops to the Colombian border as well. Why?

Well, Colombia did what it had to do and gave the #2 FARC leader what all Communist terrorists deserve, 62gr of justice.

A top commander of Colombia's left-wing guerrillas the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) has been killed in combat, the government says.

Colombia's Defence Minister described the death of Raul Reyes as the "biggest blow so far" to Farc.

Reyes, 59, also known as Luis Edgar Devia, is the first member of Farc's ruling secretariat to be killed in combat in the group's 44-year history.

He died with 16 other rebels during an attack near the Ecuadorian border.

Reyes was killed in an air raid followed by a ground operation, Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said on Saturday.

The rebels had been in a camp 1.8km (1 mile) on the Ecuadorian side of the border across from the province of Putumayo when the attack was called in, Mr Santos said.

No. Like anyone who has been in a bar fight in South Florida will tell you - there will be much posturing, yelling, and chest thumping - but with the 300# Bubba named Sam sitting at the bar watching the two bantam weight Latins facing each other off - Hugo won't throw the first punch.

Just one month

No idea....and if I did I would keep it to myself. Tough for everyone involved.

The skipper of the frigate Thach was fired this week for a “loss of confidence” in his ability to lead his crew, a Navy official said Friday.

Cmdr. Steven R. Rasmussen, a 1988 graduate of the Naval Academy who took command of the ship Oct. 6, 2006, was relieved of command Thursday by Capt. Michael Gilday, said Cmdr. Jane Campbell, aNaval Surface Forces spokeswoman in Coronado. Gilday is commodore of San Diego-based Destroyer Squadron 7.

“Loss of confidence is the reason behind it,” Campbell said, declining to provide details of what prompted the decision. Rasmussen did not go to flag mast, and his firing “is administrative, at this point,” she added.

Rasmussen was scheduled to hand over command in about a month, Campbell said. He was temporarily reassigned, but no other details were available.

Cmdr. Dave Haas, who was slated to replace Rasmussen this spring, took command of the ship Thursday, she said. “He was already scheduled to have a change of command within a month or two,” she noted.

From the high highs to the low lows in no time. Command can be that way.

His firing came about a week after he and Thach’s crew were recognized by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy for interdiction missions during their six-month deployment in 2006 to Central and South America.

During a Feb. 19 ceremony aboard the ship, Patrick M. Ward, the acting director for supply reduction, cited Thach’s crew for interdicting 29 tons of cocaine, the most of any Navy asset that year, and presented the United States Interdiction Coordinator Award and special coins to 50 crew members.

“We were extremely fortunate to be part of such a robust and capable team. Everyone in the process worked tirelessly to complete these operations in a safe and effective manner,” Rasmussen said, according to a Feb. 27 Navy News article about the ceremony.

Tough stuff.

Hat tip Bill.

An inconvenient AFG truth

While some combine ignorance of the Command & Control structures in Afghanistan with a cute but clueless "OEF Wayback Machine" statements, the facts on the ground provide a short burr in their hobby-horse saddle.

Militant attacks in eastern Afghanistan are down sharply compared with a year ago, a top U.S. general said Sunday.

Army Brig. Gen. Joseph Votel said aggressive military operations, improved Afghan governance and outreach to tribal elders have given U.S. and Afghan troops the upper hand heading into this spring, when militant activity is expected to undergo an annual post-winter spike.

"I think if there's going to be an offensive in the spring — the offensive is going to be ours, led by the (Afghan National Security Forces)," Votel told reporters at Camp Blackhorse, an Afghan army base east of Kabul.

There have been 36 attacks so far this month in the eastern Afghanistan region where U.S. forces are based. That number is on pace to be 35% below the total last February of 110, according to NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

ISAF has tallied 25 roadside bomb attacks in that region so far this month, compared with 62 last February. Border attacks have dropped from 24 last year to six this year.

There is one place in AG that is still a US primary operation (with Polish help mostly); that is in Regional Command East. Other areas on AFG, well not as well.

While the security situation in Continental NATO's German and Nordic RC(N), Latin (Italy and Spain) RC(W), and bunkered Capital (France, Italy, and Turkey) turn from Green to Yellow, and in the South our British, Canadian, Aussie, Dutch, Dane, and Estonian allies wait with lustful eyes on the approaching Marines - something funny is happening on the way of Omamania; the truth just keeps coming out that it isn't the USA that is the problem. Hmmmmmm.

Sunday Funnies

USS NEW YORK (LPD 21) Christening

Snopes it if you want, but the ship with WTC steel in her bow was Christened today. Solid web page on her here, along with some nice video. Too bad it doesn't also have the figurehead from the other USS NEW YORK too! Pick below is from her launching in DEC07.

As an interesting side-bar; a previous USS NEW YORK (AKA USS ROCHESTER) at the bottom of Subic Bay between Alavar Pier and the northern end of the runway here.

Hat tip Roger.

Boeing prangs it

Well, at least GE will make the engines and the good 'ole boys in Al-a-bam-a will build it. The profits mostly go to the EU, but such is a competition.

Northrop Grumman Corp. won a U.S. Air Force program valued at as much as $35 billion to build 179 aerial refueling tankers with partner European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. in a surprise decision that breaks Boeing Co.'s half-century hold on the business.

Northrop, based in Los Angeles, and its team won an initial contract of $1.5 billion for development and design of four test aircraft and five options valued at $10.6 billion to build 64 aircraft, the Air Force said in a statement today. Boeing was the unanimous pick to win in a Bloomberg News analyst survey this month.

The new aircraft, to be named the KC-45A, will replace Boeing-built KC-135 tankers flown by the Air Force since 1956. If all contract options are fully funded, the tanker program would become the largest Pentagon project since 2001 when Lockheed Martin Corp. was chosen to build the Joint Strike Fighter.

``This was definitely a surprise win,'' said Peter Arment, an analyst with Greenwich, Connecticut-based American Technology Research, who has a ``sell'' rating on Boeing stock. ``Northrop had a plane with more capability for cargo and fuel capacity and those capabilities made it very compelling. The Air Force decided that was the direction they wanted to go in.''
...
The two bidders took different approaches to the contest, with Northrop and EADS offering a larger plane to carry more fuel, cargo or passengers, and Boeing offering an aircraft closer in size to the current fleet.

Northrop's 192-foot-long KC-30 carries 250,000 pounds of fuel, 24 percent more than the 202,000 pounds that Boeing's 159- foot KC-767 can haul. The current tanker is 136 feet long and carries 200,000 pounds of fuel.

Can we now build the Visby, Nansen, or something?

Even an Admiral's order has its limits

This is kind of funny in a, "Are there other things out there to invest authority in...."

Why I ever thought of the Permanent Military Professor program, I will never know.

Last fall Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler, the Academy's superintendent, ruled that the American and Brigade of Midshipmen flags were no longer to be marched down the center aisle and dipped before the altar during religious services.

Because his authority is somewhat supreme within the walls of Annapolis, you'd think that would have been the end of the discussion.

But now the flags are back in the chapel and reportedly it is the admiral who has avoided the Protestant services for the past two Sundays.

A spokeswoman for the Naval Academy would not say directly whether Fowler is boycotting the services, which is what advocates of the flag ritual claim, but only that "attendance at religious services is a personal and private matter and is optional for all faculty, staff and midshipmen."

Fowler was unavailable for comment on this story because he was on travel, his spokesman said.

The 11 a.m. Protestant service at the Academy's famous chapel is the only one throughout the Navy where the flag has been incorporated in that way, and there is no authority for it, an Academy spokeswoman told Military.com on Feb. 22.

The practice of dipping the flags before the altar at the Protestant service goes back about 40 years, Academy spokeswoman Deborah Goode said. In a statement issued to Military.com Feb. 22, Goode explained their return somewhat cryptically: "Following continued evaluation, parading and dipping the flags was incorporated back into the 11 a.m. Sunday Protestant services."

Hat Tip Over-the-hill-Spook.