Raw Intel

... I raise you a deployment. Via Reuters; The Indian navy is prepared to deploy vessels to the South China Sea to protect India's oil interests there, the navy chief said on Monday amid growing international fears over the potential for naval clashes in the disputed region. India has sparred diplomatically with China in the past over its gas and oil exploration block off the coast of Vietnam. China claims virtually the entire mineral-rich South China Sea and has stepped up its military presence there. Other nations such as Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia have competing claims. Indian state-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has a stake in a gas field…

What is the view of the medium term future for the Navy? Join EagleOne and me on Sunday 14 NOV starting at 5pm EST as we discuss the way forward for the Navy in the coming decade with John Patch, CDR USN (Ret.), Associate Professor of Strategic Intelligence at the U.S. Army War College's Center for Strategic Leadership. We will touch on Counter-piracy vs. Antipiracy, the relevance of the Carrier, the Littoral Combat Ship, Naval Surface Fire Support, the relevance of Amphibious capability, and other topics that may come up. Join us live if you can, and pile in with the usual suspects in the chat room during the show where you can offer your own questions and …

Ummmm, yep. Rex just about nails it. In the main, the establishment American media abandoned its critical faculties during the Obama campaign — and it hasn’t reclaimed them since. Much of the Obama coverage was orchestrated sycophancy. They glided past his pretensions — when did a presidential candidate before “address the world†from the Brandenberg Gate in Berlin? They ignored his arrogance — “You’re likable enough, Hillary.†And they averted their eyes from his every gaffe — such as the admission that he didn’t speak “Austrian.†The media walked right past the decades-long association of Obama with the weird and racist pastor Jerem…

... in the Navy, we have something kind-of like that when LT Murphy has the conn.Looks like all that CYA hiding of INSURV reports, "optimal manning" and "transformational" concepts about the skills ships company need to have vice workers ashore is working like gangbusters. Maybe that had something to do with it ... maybe not. Either way - just a good thing no Sailors were hurt. Crews assessed damage on a U.S. Navy assault ship and a refueling tanker that collided in the Pacific Ocean off California, after the steering apparently went out on one of the vessels, the military said. The Wednesday morning accident between the amphibious assault vessel USS Essex an…

Is there a Fullbore attitude? Is there something about the game that can demonstrate an attitude that is hard to describe - but is essential to what makes an American an American? Perhaps. To understand the USA, you must understand football. Hat tip The Good Lt. View the full article

Osama Bin Laden is dead. Pointless to link any single article to this fact, as it will be every single headline in the world. I have heard from serious folks it was Navy SEALS. SEAL TEAM SIX. Naturally. View the full article

My kind of girl. View the full article

This yahoo feels entitled to spout his nonsense, and I feel just as entitled to respond: Star of TV’s Parenthood , Dax Shepard , compared the pro-U.S. military film that stars actual Navy SEALs, Act of Valor to Adolf Hitler’s Triumph of the Wil l . On his Twitter feed the one time Ashton Kutcher prank boy from Punk’d wrote: “Saw ‘Triumph of the Will’ tonight, oh wait, I mean ‘Act of Valor’ great action.†Apparently the reaction to Shepard’s obnoxious tweet, comparing this week’s #1 movie starring active duty Navy Seals to a Nazi propaganda movie was immediate, as he attempted to walk back his comments. Shepard lamely cla…

The upkeep ain't worth it and you have bigger fish to fry. Iraqi officials have discovered that they may have a real air force, after all. The Defense Ministry revealed Sunday that it had recently learned that Iraq owns 19 MIG-21 and MIG-23 jet fighters, which are in storage in Serbia. Ministry officials are negotiating with the Serbs to restore and return the aircraft. I know someone who might take a '21 for the mid-five figures. View the full article

John Byron is a retired Captain of the United States Navy. He is the author of about 100 articles & essays for Proceedings and was Proceedings Writer of the Year in 1983 and 1992. John wrote prize-winning essays in the US Naval Institute’s Arleigh Burke Essay Contest (1998, 2002, 2004, 2005) and was the first Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Strategic Essay Contest winner in 1982. Additionally, John was the primary adviser to Naval Institute Press on publication of The Hunt For Red October. A life member, I write to ask that you reconsider two disastrous decisions: changing the Institute’s mission; firing its CEO. My right to address you is found in the attached…

I thought this was just a rumor, but maybe there is more to it? Saudi Arabia, which has long considered the purchase of American littoral combat ships (LCS) with a lightweight Aegis combat system, is contemplating the acquisition of new DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyers that could be fitted with ballistic missile defense (BMD) capability. The U.S. Navy briefed Saudi officials in late May on the capabilities of the destroyers, which would be far more powerful than any ship currently in the kingdom's service. The U.S. Navy would not confirm whether the brief included BMD options, but sources did not deny that it was part of the presentation. …

Well ... I think it is more of a Syrian colloquialism. When on the receiving end of a MIG-29's 30-mm gun. View the full article

It never fails that in or around Veteran’s Day, someone decides to show the world what a total jackass they are. And this year doesn’t disappoint. Meet Sufolk University law professor Michael Avery. Professor Avery is a member of the law school staff. He’s a Harvard grad who also studied at Moscow University from ‘68 to ‘69 (and that tells you volumes). He once gave a talk in Cuba (with Fidel Castro in attendance) entitled "The Hypocrisy of US Policy Towards Terrorism." Another member of the law school staff sent an email around asking for support for deployed troops (including a law student from the school who is deployed) to include pretty basic stuf…

The following review by Elise Cooper is an exclusive for BlackFive readers. You can read all of our book reviews by clicking here or on the Books category: Dale Brown’s latest book, Tiger’s Claw , proves once again that he is able to bring to life a thrilling and dramatic story that could be in the headlines in the near future. Currently China is in a position to challenge America militarily, economically, and politically. After reading Tiger’s Claw people might understand how the Chinese-American rivalry will play out. The plot starts out with a powerful China and a US weakened by an economic downfall. After China launches its first successful test of…

Oh, he's only a 20-yr BM1. Didn't even graduate from High School. Snuck in to the Navy at 16 even.Really? Define "only."What more can I say but what is in his Medal of Honor citation? JAMES E. WILLIAMS BOATSWAIN'S MATE FIRST CLASS UNITED STATES NAVY U.S. Navy, River Section 531, My Tho, RVN Mekong River, Republic of Vietnam 31 October 1966 for service as set forth in the following Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. BM1 Williams was serving as Boat Captain and Patrol Officer aboard River Patrol Boat (PBR) 105 accompanied by another patrol boat when the patrol was su…

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…

A touching story about a man who went to Iraq and embedded with the unit his son was serving with when he was killed. . After he buried Darrell "Skip" Griffin Jr. and after the sympathy calls faded, the elder Griffin, like every American who has ever lost a beloved soldier, struggled to resume life's normal rhythms. But this is where Griffin's journey veered from others and took a twist so unique that it made the U.S. Army bend its rock-hard rules. The 55-year-old accounting consultant, who opposed Vietnam and had never served in combat, traveled to the epicenter of the Iraq war. There, he would trace his son's last days. The result, "Last Journey: A Fathe…

Packed away in one of my boxes is a speech I outlined back in 2004. It was concerning a concept, a word, that with the last few generations we seem to have forgotten about.This forgetfulness manifests itself in different ways and in different degrees throughout history’s path. This isn't the first time - but in our living memory it is acute.It was on a word that is both a concept and a worldview; stewardship. I can’t find my outlined speech, but I was reminded of it Friday when I read this line from David Brooks article, Why Our Elites Stink: … today’s elite lacks the self-conscious leadership ethos that the … old boys’ network did possess. If you went t…

Mark Steyn is painfully hilarious as always in his take down of the Secret Service and the general culture of entitlement to taxpayer money that is killing us. Unlike the government of the United States, I can’t claim any hands-on experience with Colombian hookers. But I was impressed by the rates charged by Miss Dania Suarez, and even more impressed by the U.S. Secret Service’s response to them. Cartagena’s most famous “escort†costs $800. For purposes of comparison, you can book Eliot Spitzer’s “escort†for $300. Yet, on the cold grey fiscally conservative morning after the wild socially liberal night before, Dania’s Secret Service agent of…

Click on this link (right click, save as) to see the actual signed memorandum by SecDef Hagel. Here is the text. Statement by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on the Distinguished Warfare Medal The Department of Defense announced on Feb. 13 the establishment of the Distinguished Warfare Medal to recognize the achievements of a small number of service men and women who have an especially direct and immediate impact on combat operations through the use of remotely piloted aircraft and cyber operations. I agree with my predecessor Leon Panetta that such recognition is justly warranted for these men and women and thank him for raising the level of awarenes…