Raw Intel

Facepalm. Just facepalm. Eight days ago, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal ordered barges to begin vacuuming crude oil out of his state’s oil-soaked waters. Today, against the governor’s wishes, those barges sat idle, even as more oil flowed toward the Louisiana shore. “It’s the most frustrating thing,†the Republican governor said today in Buras, La. “Literally, yesterday morning we found out that they were halting all of these barges.â€â€¦ [T]he Coast Guard ordered the stoppage because of reasons that Jindal found frustrating. The Coast Guard needed to confirm that there were fire extinguishers and life vests on board, and then it had trouble conta…

American navalists must endure the hardships of a long march in the winter of their discontent. In this struggle we will see who is dedicated, who is strong, who will be best to bring the fight when the season changes and time is right to advance sea power to its proper place. The self-promoting amongst us will fade away. The weak shall perish. The dishonorable will change sides. The ideologically unsound will confuse themselves and others. This will be a filtering, a purifying, an ultimately strengthening trail of The Terrible 20s. We are only partially through this march, but we are already seeing a healthful pruning of our ranks. The first tranche of the careerists, th…

If it's April, it's time for a return visit by Ross Kennedy to Midrats! A little under a year ago, we had Ross on to discuss the impact of COVID and related structural issues to the global supply chain. A year later, we find conditions have not just remained, but with war in Ukraine and a new COVID variant working its way through coastal China, in many ways the global trade in essential items has turned for the worst. If you are worried about the cost and availability of fuel, food, and everyday items you've spent the last decade assuming were always going to be there at a price you're happy with, then you need to join us from 2-3pm Eastern this Sunday. Ross is a U.S.-bas…

As outlined first and foremost by B.G. Burkett's book, Stolen Valor - we all know that the fakes and poseurs out there are not just harmless braggarts. They are harmful frauds that smear those who actually served, and through their false statements, absorb funds and benefits from those who deserve them.The Supreme Court - being without benefit of having served - just doesn't get it. They killed the Stolen Valor Act and there is nothing more to be done.What we can do is continue to do what we have done for years and the internet makes possible. Find the poseurs and publicly shame them. Partner with local news organizations to get the word out. If we no longer have the law…

My father would be having a cow. I can hear him now, "Stand up straight d@mnit. He's no better than you are." First a Saudi, then a Hawaiian, now a Dane. Bad national habit. View the full article

It is all still here - and we're on a Russia kick today. On top of that ... it is the details, details that I like. Wearing a tie, and an ill-fitting one at that, on the bridge. Old school CRTs. Paper and crayons. What looks like very unsanitary Bakelite handsets ... but besides that ... they do have some nice lines those Russian ships. View the full article

Hat tip ThatGuy. View the full article

Maybe it's Baghdad Bob. Sump'n. Here is a problem; a free press relies on honest information from government sources and industry in order to produce stories. The press also should make sure and have the right reporters focus on the right areas. When you have government sources living in PPTland, industry in full Bu11sh1t Bingo mode, and the press is full of restaurant and theater critics - I guess you git howlers like this from The Australian. They carry three helicopters and special forces units with armoured vehicles that can roll off a ramp into action, while fast gunboats can be launched from the stern. All at once? On bank holidays too? Does it …

I am going to anonomize this as I don't want every to tease this COS. Those who have been in the rodeo awhile will be able to narrow down who this is .... but .... Shipmate has to be thinking to himself, "I am a senior Captain in the world's largest navy. I have a respectful record of service at peace and war. I am the Chief of Staff at a significant command with oversight of thousands ... nay ... tens of thousands if you count in right ... and ... sigh ... sequestration can bite me." From: [redacted] CAPT [redacted] , N01Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2013 17:30 To:[redacted] _ALL_[redacted] Subject: STAFF BUDGET REDUCTION Staff, I am sure that you all hav…

Rocket parts: check. Fishing plans: check. DVR programmed: check. Hmmmm .... what else ... Full story here. Before everyone laughs about tricky rivers ... all those who remember Naval Base Charleston raise your hand! View the full article

Can you have a long war in Asia without putting a boot on the mainland? Should we be thinking that through? Have we looked at a map? Ponder with me over at USNIBlog. h/t CMD http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Z13H-FRyDH0:Rgat6d_HksI:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Z13H-FRyDH0:Rgat6d_HksI:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Z13H-FRyDH0:Rgat6d_HksI:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Z13H-FRyDH0:Rgat6d_HksI:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspo…

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Happy New Year everyone on The Front Porch! 2022 will be 18th year that we've been meeting together here at CDRSalamander ... come July my alter-ego will be legal to vote. Damn, time flies. So many of you I see here have been with us from the beginning. I've only had the pleasure of meeting a few of you IRL, but I do appreciate you taking time from your busy lives to visit here, see what I think you might find interesting, and add your flavor to the stew. Some of you I count as friends, and almost all friendly acquaintances. I really do appreciate all of you and enjoy our exchanges here ... even when you tell me I'm wrong. I learn more from you as a collective than anyth…

Are you familiar with the case of Lieutenant Ridge Alkonis, USN? Much to my shame, until this AM I was not. Let's get everyone up to speed. From Andrew Jeong at WaPo; While stationed in Japan in May 2021, Alkonis was driving home with his family and their Australian labradoodle after a visit to Mount Fuji, near Tokyo. They had gone to an area about 8,000 feet high and accessible by car. After parking, the family hiked on a mostly flat trail for a few hours, Brittany Alkonis said. On their way home at 1 p.m., Ridge Alkonis was talking to his oldest daughter as he drove. But mid-sentence, Alkonis suddenly fell unconscious, his family said. The vehicle, going about 25 mph,…

I've always wished we stayed aligned with our Commonwealth allies and stuck with 11 November as Remembrance Day. Yes, we have Memorial Day, but I always thought the vibe - which if you have served with our Anglosphere friends you can feel - of Remembrance Day was more powerful and useful. I didn't really know what to put up today until I ran across a picture of one of our greatest Americans, President Eisenhower, in a speech he gave to veterans the year he was elected to the Presidency. After the events around the national humiliation at the end of August that closed the door for us on the Afghanistan conflict - regulars here know we've invested time here and over on Midr…

This Saturday will be the 12th anniversary of one of the worst American foreign policy decisions of this century. I rank it third after the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the 2021 negotiated surrender to the Taliban in Afghanistan. While time has mostly held to account those responsible for the 2003 Iraq invasion and perhaps things are too fresh and political for a true accountability for the Afghanistan disgrace, there is no excuse for the complete lack of accountability for what was done to Libya in 2011. All three disgraces, as it is with most military operations by the USA in the last 60 years, does not owe its disgrace to the military being tasked to execute an operation,…

We picked Option A it appears. I remember when we thought about Option C and believed Option B was too long. I have extended thoughts on the Afghanistan withdraw announcement today over at USNIBlog. It's been a long time coming ... but regular readers here know that. Come on by and give me your thoughts. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=A_rxYai-AN4:JiIqTl4iUrM:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=A_rxYai-AN4:JiIqTl4iUrM:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=A_rxYai-AN4:JiIqTl4iUrM:V_sGLiPB…

If it seems like a long time ago, I guess it was. For me at least, it seems not. As I do every year, this is how I saw it. View the full article

Words work, until they don't. The world finds itself where it is today because soft words were not backed up with very hard iron. The crisis in Ukraine did not start in the last year ... it was only a matter of time. Come take a trip down memory lane with me over at USNIBlog. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=JwUcCFCB2jA:VtvQ85_WSAQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=JwUcCFCB2jA:VtvQ85_WSAQ:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=JwUcCFCB2jA:VtvQ85_WSAQ:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f…

Time to catch up with something that, sadly, was lost in the twin storms of the recovery of the pilot and WSO shot down by Iran, and the trip to the moon and back by the crew of Artemis II. For navalists and those concerned with America’s navy and maritime industry, this is some of the best news we have heard in decades. The first to break the news on April 2nd was TradeWinds News’ Eric Priante Martin. A budget proposal by US President Donald Trump will contain what is described as the largest government ship order package since World War II. Scheduled to be released on Friday, it will contain $65.8bn in orders for the US Navy alone, with the vessel proposals spanning bot…