War

Thursday, August 09, 2007

For when the zombies come

That Buck Rogers StuffWar

Intrepid engineers - both amateur and professional - have come up with some prototype portable laser weaponry for when the zombies come.  And one of these projects is even one you can build in your own home workshop.


Posted by Buckethead on 08/09/07 at 02:00 PM
That Buck Rogers StuffWarPermalink

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

It’d be more like a blog if there were actual, you know, posts

Just So You KnowWar

While it may surprise you, gentle reader, to hear that I am again guest posting on MO, considering that I am barely posting on this, my own website, the fact is that I have been Rossed to a large degree over the last couple weeks.  The end is in sight (or at least the headlight of the oncoming train) and my time for blogging should be substantially greater in the immediate future.  Unless I pick up all those freelance gigs I’m chasing.  Anyways, here is the first of this week’s Murdoc Online guest posts:

Greetings again, fellow Murdoc-cultists.  The great and powerful Murdoc is once again goofing off, and has asked me to take up the slack with a few posts for you to educate and amuse yourself, and to productively use your time at work. 

Our first topic is the troubled V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor, which is flying right over my head as we speak.  The 418th flight test squadron out of Edwards in California has temporarily relocated to the tiny, tiny airport in Winchester, Va, only a half hour from my fastness in the wilderness.  If you follow this link here, you can watch a very small video that shows some CV-22’s landing and whatnot, and hear the reporter mispronounce several words.

The reason the Ospreys are in my neck of the woods is simple.  They need the bad weather that California simply refuses to provide.  In particular, they’re looking for fog in which to test their terrain guidance systems.  There’s typically a lot of fog up here, so they shouldn’t have too much trouble.

The Air Force version isn’t scheduled to enter service until 2009, but the Marine MV-22 will be heading to Iraq in September.

I haven’t actually seen one yet, they’re actually flying a bit west of where I live.  I am thinking of driving the boy up to the airport to see if we can catch a glimpse of one of those, and if I do, I’ll post pics if I can get some decent ones.


Posted by Buckethead on 07/24/07 at 03:49 PM
Just So You KnowWarPermalink

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Stephen Colbert Gets It

That Buck Rogers StuffWar


Posted by Buckethead on 07/21/07 at 11:18 AM
That Buck Rogers StuffWarPermalink

Friday, June 29, 2007

Kilcullen Clarifies

War

Dave Kilcullen is one of the top commanders in Iraq. He’s written a short piece describing current operations. It rings so much truer than the punditry we are almost forced to endure (but then we turn the TV off). I hope he’s right—it sounds like he knows what he’s doing.


Posted by Ross on 06/29/07 at 11:34 AM
WarPermalink

Monday, June 18, 2007

Axis and Allies and Beer

EntertainmentWar

In the comments of the Pseudo-Linkzookery post, the conversation turned to wargaming - which was a bit of a surprise since if a thread drifts off topic here at Perfidy, the destination is usually zombies.  One of the many games mentioned was Axis and Allies, one of my personal favorites, and a game I have not had the opportunity to play (due entirely to Mrs. Buckethead’s bullheaded unwillingness to devote several hours to a boardgame.) It turns out that the Maximum Leader is a fan of the game as well, and so I propose that we set aside Bastille day as the first annual Perfidy Axis and Allies day.  It seems particularly appropriate given that the French had no part in WWII, and will also have no part in the game.

Anyone who is local to the metro DC area who might be interested in playing a round of A&A, let me know.


Posted by Buckethead on 06/18/07 at 06:18 PM
EntertainmentWarPermalink

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Airpower really is useful. We should get some.

War

My latest post over at Murdoc Online

As I expected, in the comments for my last post someone recommended that the battleships be brought back from retirement. We all love the battleships. Armored to the point of (near) invulnerability, graceful, powerful, and loaded with 16” guns. A battleship broadside delivers a mind numbing amount of shells on target. We dig that. It’s a spectacle. And of course, naval support of Marine landings is an important role. But how useful is it?

Step back a bit. There is a reason that battleships were relegated to a subsidiary role. And that reason is air power. The primary consideration is not that the airplane can deliver more firepower more accurately, because until very recently the accuracy bit was sorely lacking, and there is no way that a teeny, tiny airplane – or even many teeny, tiny airplanes – can deliver the weight of fire that a battleship can. I imagine that a single gun from a battleship weighs as much as a plane.

The reason that the carriers and their air wings achieved primacy in battle is the range and speed of the aircraft. Airplanes are faster than boats. Now, much faster. That is what allows a carrier to control a bubble hundreds of miles in diameter, while a battleship is limited to, essentially, line of sight.


Posted by Buckethead on 06/12/07 at 04:10 PM
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Sunday, June 03, 2007

The purity of essence of our precious category tags

No CategoryCrazy ForeignersDarwin Award ContenderFakeBloggingEntertainmentFilthy LucreHoly Shit!It'll Be a Cold Day in HellJust So You KnowLead Pipe CrueltyNaNoWriMoMusic WonkeryPartisan PoliticsPerfidyPerfidy AttacksPerfidy RespondsThat Buck Rogers StuffThe Miracle of ScienceUnmitigated GallWar

Patton has accused me of being overly concerned about wasting a scarce natural resource.  The category tag.  In this, of course, he is completely wrong.  Naturally, I could have argued that over-categorizing a post dilutes the utility of tags.  And I would have been right.  But that wasn’t the point.  I was attacking him on aesthetic grounds, and just to stick a stick in his eye. 

Just to prove that I am not some sort of homo-tree-hugging-enviro-commie, this post, which really is about everything, is tagged with every category we have.  And, when I have a free moment, I’ll add some new categories, and add them to this post.

So there.


Wednesday, May 16, 2007

You know, General Ripper was just a character in a movie…

War

Ministry friend and loyal minion Murdoc is discussing a turn of phrase that he and, apparently, Norman Podhoretz find applicable: World War IV.  Used to describe the current war on terror, it is a bit of language that has enough history that it can engender discussion for years.  And surely will.  But another term being used, not just in that discussion but across the media, is “bomb(ing) Iran.”

People of every stripe will, and have, demonstrated against bombing Iran.  Talking heads have advocated for or against bombing Iran.  Breathy media outlets report on the “secret” Pentagon plans to bomb Iran, while pilots somewhere are surely training to bomb Iran.

Unfortunately, what is not widely understood is that the verb in this context is really just a shorthand for a planned and carefully executed operation.  Without understanding that context and shorthand, the broader public allows “bomb Iran” to mean “terrorize from the air”, ie, dropping ordnance indiscriminately amongst the orphanages, baby milk factories, nuns, and puppies liberally scattered across the Iranian landscape.

What is not well understood beyond the chain of command is that it is the mission that comes first, and the assets to achieve come after.  Yes, capability influences the mission, but the thinking doesn’t start with “This is what we have, what can we do with it?”, but, “This is what we want to do- how can we achieve it?” Air power, in all its forms, is just another set of tools to apply toward getting the job done.  And despite the kook fringe’s acceptance that the President might conclude that muslims are responsible for water flouridation, scream “Cry Havoc!”, and order the Air Force to kill them all, that’s just not how strategy and the application of martial power work.

My point is that it’s not a terrific idea to use this turn of phrase when you really mean “use of military force against Iran”, against specific targets and for specific ends.  I think it’s ok to spell it out, especially when it becomes time to convince others of why you think it’s a good idea.

[Wik] Almost forgot- obligatory image of the aforementioned general below the fold:


Posted by GeekLethal on 05/16/07 at 03:14 PM
WarPermalink

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Seeking the ruin of souls

Holy Shit!War

Over the last week, I’ve been spending some time looking over the blogs of people I met at the milblogger conference.  Of course, all of them are chock full of brilliant writing, penetrating insight, late-breaking news and scintilating wit.  But one thing I saw yesterday really caught my eye over at Michael Fumento’s blog:

image

The guy with the tat was saved by Navy SEAL Michael Monsoor, who later died saving the lives of three of his fellow SEALs, and is now being considered for the Medal of Honor.  You can read the Monsoor’s story here or here.

I googled “Archangel Michael’s Prayer” to see if I could get the text of it, and google and wikipedia again came through:

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host —
by the Divine Power of God —
cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen.

It turns out that there is an interesting story or legend behind this prayer, which was once said in every Catholic Mass.  Back in the late 1800s, Pope Leo XIII had this experience:

“I do not remember the exact year. One morning the great Pope Leo XIII had celebrated a Mass and, as usual, was attending a Mass of thanksgiving. Suddenly, we saw him raise his head and stare at something above the celebrant’s head. He was staring motionlessly, without batting an eye. His expression was one of horror and awe; the color and look on his face changing rapidly. Something unusual and grave was happening in him.

“Finally, as though coming to his senses, he lightly but firmly tapped his hand and rose to his feet. He headed for his private office. His retinue followed anxiously and solicitously, whispering: ‘Holy Father, are you not feeling well? Do you need anything?’ He answered: ‘Nothing, nothing.’ About half an hour later, he called for the Secretary of the Congregation of Rites and, handing him a sheet of paper, requested that it be printed and sent to all the ordinaries around the world. What was that paper? It was the prayer that we recite with the people at the end of every Mass. It is the plea to Mary and the passionate request to the Prince of the heavenly host, [St. Michael: Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle] beseeching God to send Satan back to hell.”

Others have spun that into a legend that Pope Leo overheard a conversation between Christ and Satan, where Satan claims the 20th Century to try to destroy the church.  That would certainly explain some things, but I don’t think that Satan actually, you know, stopped on 1 Jan 2001.

“Those who roam the world seeking the ruin of souls”

That could describe all too many in this world.


Posted by Buckethead on 05/10/07 at 08:53 PM
Holy Shit!WarPermalink

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

The Milblogging Conference of Aught Seven

Perfidy RespondsWar

This last weekend, I was privileged to attend the second annual milblogging conference.  (Shouldn’t it be a milblogger conference? After all, it isn’t a gathering of milbloggings) As was the case last time, I had a fantastic time indulging my need to talk at great length about nearly anything.  My wife, who has heard everything I have to say about most things, no longer sees the value in listening anymore; and so a captive audience of people who also feel the need to talk at length about nearly anything is Buckethead heaven.  Which is proof, I guess, of the old saying about one man’s heaven being another one’s hell.

And this time, there was plenty to talk about, and, of course, much beer to be drunk.  The festivities started with what Blackfive referred to as the “Pre-Cock.” We gathered at Arlington’s legendary Car Pool before the official Cocktail hour and reception.  I was greatly pleased that Steve Schippert of Threatswatch was able to attend, despite needing to return home on Saturday for personal reasons.  Steve is a fantastic guy, and only a little silly when inebriated.  Many others were there as well – the aforementioned Blackfive, Princess Cat, Mike of USAA, Kevin, Noah Shachtman (now at Wired) and a few others who, while significant and entertaining individuals in their own right, have slipped through the cracks of my memory.

Moving over to the Cocktail Festivities, I hooked up with Murdoc and his wife, down from Michigan, and met his longtime companion commenter AW1 Tim.  Jon of Aaaarrggghhh was there handing out prizes (though none for me) and various and sundry other bloggers.  Rob the fast squirrel was there, and good company. 

After attempting to eat fajitas in a room with no tables, and spending $7 for Heineken, we went back to Carpool.  At this point, we lost a few people, but Noonan from Op-For, Threatswatch Steve, me, Cat, Rachelle, Scott (great guy, but he likes sleep more than beer – can we trust him?) Blackfive, Murdoc and a couple others kept going.  While I did not drink as much as I did on the Friday before the last conference, I did put down a few and a nice glass of the Macallan, and things got kinda hazy.

Went back and crashed at Cat’s and slept on the couch while she and Rachelle slept together.  Is that hospitality?  I think not.

Bright and early the next morning, we got to the conference just in time to miss the President address the conference.  I have to say that I missed a lot of the panels – if I sat down I started getting sleepy no matter how interesting the speakers – and there were some interesting speakers indeed.  But I had been short on sleep Thursday night, and only got a couple hours the night before.  Adapting my strategy, I generally spent most of the day outside the conference room, talking to the other attendees in smaller groups.

Had a fascinating conversation with the Armed Liberal of Winds of Change and Bill Roggio from the Fourth Rail, and at one point Bill turned to me after I said something and allowed that, “You’re awfully smart for a guy named Buckethead.” I still don’t know quite how to take that, but the sentence had the word ‘smart’ in it so I’ll count that a compliment.  And Noonan is not the spare.  Or so I have been told.

A big topic of discussion both in and out of the panels was of course the recent Army directive that all military bloggers must get all posts approved by chain of command.  It seems that there are two currents in the Army – one which wants to use the milbloggers to aid it in getting information out into the world, “winning the information war” and another group that is operating not on a Web 2.0 basis, but rather a 50s era corporate Web -.5 basis.  You can’t win, really, in keeping information contained.  It’s damn near impossible in this new world we’ve created.  What you can do is compete in an information ecosystem, and attempt to get your ideas, and your points of view respected.  That seems to be the consensus, and milbloggers (and I am truly not really one of them, except in spirit) feel that they have a key part to play in that effort.  I believe they are right.  Bill Roggio, for example, is a one man counterexample to the idea that only major media outlets can provide comprehensive coverage of the war – this guy doesn’t just comment on the news, he is an active producer of it. 

Noah Shachtman offered himself up for sacrifice in his panel, by defending the MSM.  This was not an audience predisposed to think kindly of the “regular” media.  You should have seen people rushing to the microphones to argue.  Noah was right, though, there isn’t a conspiracy.  But there is ignorance – and though Noah said that milblogs are a perfect resource for mainstream media, I don’t really see a lot of evidence that they are making use of it.

That was one of the things that I was talking about later with several people – in any instance where you have seen reporting on a topic with which you are intimately familiar, have you ever seen them get it right?  Ever?  And what makes you think that they get anything else right?

In the course of some of those conversations I also met American Soldier and Army Girl – active duty soldiers who are also active bloggers.  They are approaching the problems of blogging while on active duty differently – AS is anonymous, while Army Girl must deal with her chain of command.  Fascinating discussions, and both were great people to talk to.  of Soldier’s Angels (and Vivienne) were both charming.  Vivienne kept wanting me to pick up toys, which I was happy to do on a part time basis, but my Jocelyn has a prior claim.

At lunch, we had a presentation from Soldier’s Angels, a truly fantastic group that works with injured soldiers coming back from Iraq and elsewhere.  If you are looking for a good cause to donate to, or really even if you aren’t – throw some money their way.  They do incredible work.  The highlight of the lunch was Chuck Ziegenfuss, a soldier who was wounded severely in Iraq.  The guy is an amazing speaker – he told the story of how, after he was wounded, Soldier’s Angels helped him by (among many other kindnesses) getting him a laptop, and how that grew into Project Valour IT, which has now raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase laptops for other injured servicemen and women.  Besides being a hero and orator, Chuck is wonderfully profane and wicked funny.  I was honored to meet him.  Second best quote of the weekend came from him:

“Chuck, did you watch the DNC debates?”

“No, If I want to watch retards fight, I’ll throw a bag of candy under the short bus”

After all the official events wound down, we retired to the lounge.  There, I met McQ and Jon Henke; current and former members of Q and O.  I had a blast talking to both over the course of the rest of the evening as we wended our way though the hotel bar, to PFChangs, and back to the hotel.  Also met Lex, who does an excellent Irish accent while drunk.  For all I know he may do an excellent sober Irish accent, but I never saw him sober.  And no one has seen the Irish sober.  Spent some quality time talking to (and smoking with) Jacki, who is not a blogger though she probably should be.  (Remember, it’s not about fractals…)

Who else?  Tammi, Chuck’s wife Carren, Laurie from Soldier’s Angels, Homefront Six all the way from Hawaii – we had a great time talking early Sunday morning while Lex sobered up, that’s all that comes to mind at the moment.  I’ll have to call Cat and start asking, “Who was the one guy…” to fill in the rest.

Last weekend was one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long time.  Spending two days in the presence of a crapload of highly intelligent, motivated and articulate people is inspiring.  For those who, unlike myself, are inspirable anyway.  Thanks to Andi for putting it all together.

And despite my description, it was not all about drinking.  People who have done incredible work – the Soldier’s Angels, and everyone who has helped them – were honored.  There was a lot of good discussion amongst the bloggers of course, but there were non bloggers there who, I think, got an earful – hopefully a useful one.  And making new friends is never wasted.

Can’t wait for next year.


Posted by Buckethead on 05/09/07 at 07:03 PM
Perfidy RespondsWarPermalink

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Operation Polar Anvil of Crom

War

Company officers in Iraq are keeping gainfully employed by dreaming up names for their unit’s operations; personal fave above.

Since they mention they’re getting a little dry on new thoughts, particularly as they strive to incorporate the sentiment or actual word “Polar” in there somewhere, I might recommend Nordic themes:

Operation Ragnarok
Operation Fimbulvintr
Operation Niflheim
Operation Jotun
Operation Asgard
Operation Witch’s Tit

And allow me to make a submission on Johno’s behalf: Operation Penguin Patrol

Full article at today’s Stars n Stripes here.

[Wik] Also, if they tacked “Operation Polar” in front of most song titles by Amon Amarth, the young captains would be in good shape.

[Alsø wik] Matter of fact, it might be cool to use Amon Amarth as their unofficial polar soundtrack, what with the vikings and blood and the relentless snow and ice.  Just sayin’.


Posted by GeekLethal on 05/03/07 at 03:00 PM
WarPermalink

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

“…if it’s not seen the first time it can be deadly”

War

So says Romanian Air Force Major Cristian Popovici, commenting on exercises between his MiG-21s and USAF F-15s on the former commie’s home turf.

Yes, in terms of machine vs machine the Romanians would be hard pressed to come out on top; factoring in pilot experience tips the scales against them further.  But what would be the training value of proving that?  Instead, by running various scenarios Eagle drivers got a taste of quick, agile fighters that, as Major Popovici described, can’t be counted out if they get the drop on you.  Which, come to think of it, is probably true about most any adversary. 

Left unsaid is the fact that such training against those particular jets might be doubly valuable; China fields about a million MiG-21s.

Well, OK, 999,999 since our formidable recon aircraft took one out in ‘01.

Full article at Stars n Stripes here.


Posted by GeekLethal on 05/02/07 at 05:12 PM
WarPermalink

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Plan Red

Unmitigated GallWar

Should we need to invade Canada, we have at least one plan.  Back in the interwar period, the United States maintained a series of color coded plans for wars with various potential enemies.  Most well discussed of these was Plan Orange, which actually ended up being a big part of our actual war plans against Japan in the Second World War.  Less well known is Plan Red, the plan for war with British Empire. 

In the plan, the war was assumed to be continental.  I imagine that this is because it was an Army plan rather than a Navy plan, and as such, it focused on “Crimson” which is Canada.  The plan in its entirety can be found here, but the essentials are simple:

Step One, a joint Army/Navy assault on Halifax and the Maritime provinces to cut off Canada from reinforcements from Britain.  Step Two, land assaults from New York and Vermont toward Montreal and Quebec City, with Quebec being the primary target.  This would cut Eastern Canada off from the rest.  Step Three, assaults from Niagara and Detroit into Ontario.  Seizing these areas would deny the enemy their industrial facilities, staging areas for air attack, and secure control of the Great Lakes.  Step Four, a thrust towards Winnipeg to cut the Trans-Canadian railway and communications between the far west and Eastern Canada.  Finally, Step Five, an assault on Vancouver which would lead eventually to the occupation of British Columbia and deny Canada access to the Pacific.

This seems like a good plan, decisive strikes to disable communication, followed by occupation.  Seeing as 90% of the Canadian population is within a three-day march of the American border, Canada is not exactly easy to defend.  This plan, suitably updated to incorporate changes in the geo-political and military worlds, would likely have an even greater chance of success than it did in 1935.  Alongside the phenomenal American military advancements over the last few decades, Canadian military strength has greatly diminished.  Did you know that Canada once had the third largest Navy in the world?  Canada’s one real hope in ‘35 would have been to slow down an American offensive long enough for Britain to come to her aid.  Now, Britain would find it nearly impossible to come to the aid of her former colony in the face of opposition from the US Navy. 

The initial invasion would almost certainly be successful.  But the idea of 33 million pissed off Canucks no longer across an international frontier is not exactly heartening.


Posted by Buckethead on 04/19/07 at 04:47 PM
Unmitigated GallWarPermalink

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

The aliens are coming, hooray, hooray

Holy Shit!That Buck Rogers StuffWar

The blessed amazon fairy delivered another load of printed goodness at my doorstep.  Typically, the amazon fairy brings me science fiction that is more or less throw-away, enjoyable to read but whose thinks pass in and then out of my brain leaving little lasting impression.  Or history tracts that expand or deepen my knowledge of the past without notably changing my opinions of it.  But this last deposit was a little different.

The book in the plain brown wrapper was An Introduction to Planetary Defense, A Study of Modern Warfare Applied to Extra-Terrestrial Invasion.” The careful and attentive reader of this website will quickly discern why this title got onto my wishlist.  Of the four writers, I had only heard of the lead author, Travis S. Taylor, who had written a few science fiction novels for Baen Books.  From the bios in those works, I knew that Dr. Taylor was a bit of a big brain, working for NASA and various defense department projects, including the Breakthrough Propulsion Physics program at NASA before its untimely demise.  The name of the book and that last fact was enough for me to shell out the $35.

Was it worth it?  On balance, I think definitely yes.  There are problems with the book.  Let’s get them out of the way first.  The book is very poorly edited.  There are typos, bad grammar, and poorly formed sentences throughout.  That is irritating and distracts from the message the book is trying to get across.  The book is poorly balanced, by which I mean that certain points will be attacked in great detail, and the next bit, seemingly of equal importance, will be glossed over.  This creates a problem when the authors refer to something that was not adequately discussed further on, and my reaction is a resounding, “huh? Where’d that come from?” That’s the technical side.

On the idea side, I have far fewer problems, and where I do, it’s wishing that the authors had explored a topic a little more, or discussed something they didn’t.  More on that (oh, much more.  I’m going to go den Beste on their ass) later.  Despite the flaws that are, I imagine, the result of what looks like self-publishing, this book is chock full of interesting, thought-provoking meaty stuff. 

Why do I think so?  Let me count the ways…

In thinking about aliens, two things have always bothered me, and I hoped that An Introduction would address them.  The first of these problems is Fermi’s paradox, and the second is the remarkable optimism of SETI researchers.  I was happy to see that this book addressed both of them, and in spades.


Posted by Buckethead on 04/18/07 at 02:41 AM
Holy Shit!That Buck Rogers StuffWarPermalink

Monday, April 16, 2007

You wish to kill a human.  Cancel or Allow?

War

I find, to my embarrassment, that I am utterly unable to top this.  The Reg reports on a notional rule of engagement for autonomous killing machines.  Boiled down, it’s “Let machines target other machines, and let men target men.” But these quotes are priceless:

Many Reg readers will be familiar with the old-school Asimov Laws of Robotics, but these are clearly unsuitable for war robots – too restrictive. However, the new Canning Laws are certainly not a carte blanche for homicidal droids to obliterate fleshies without limit; au contraire.

It isn’t really made clear how the ask-permission-to-kill-meatsacks rule could really be applied in these cases.

Which seems to suggest that a robot could decide, under Mr Canning’s rules, to target a weapon system such as an AK47 for destruction on its own initiative, requiring no permission from a human. If the person holding it was thereby killed, that would be collateral damage and the killer droid would be in the clear. Effectively the robot is allowed to disarm enemies by prying their guns from their cold dead hands.

As clever as Mr. Canning is in trying to come up with these rules for our lethal robotic servants, in the end the three rules are going to add up to one thing: if it is human, kill it.


Posted by Buckethead on 04/16/07 at 01:38 PM
WarPermalink
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