Category: Military

We Need to Rethink Our Assumptions About Nuclear Weapons Use
One of the Strategic Purposes of the Kursk Offensive

I was struck by the messaging of the Ukrainian government over the last 24 hours—and just how it has tied the need for long-range strike into the strategic purpose of the Kursk Offensive. Its both an immediate question, and at the same time a broad one about how and when nuclear weapons might be used. What Ukraine is doing, is driving an invasion force directly through an existing consensus—basically saying the emperor has no clothes when it comes to nuclear weapons usage. The Ukrainians are saying all your assumptions and strategic plans on nuclear weapons are wrong—and they seem to be right. The implications of this are profound.

The Kursk Offensive and Nuclear Red-Lines

The Kursk Offensive by Ukraine clearly has a number of strategic objectives. There is an attempt to force the Russians to redeploy forces to try and stop it (and to protect the Russian border as a whole). There is the attempt to politically embarrass Vladimir Putin by showing that he cant protect the very soil of Russia itself. There is an attempt to demonstrate to the world that the Russian Army remains deeply flawed. And there is the objective of destroying Russian forces as they have to be sent to try and stop the Ukrainians offensive. Its one of the reasons that the offensive makes strategic sense for Ukraine—it has a large number of potential benefits, from the battlefield to geopolitics.

However one other possible benefit—or at least strategic goal—has risen to the fore in the last 24 hours. It shows the final hollowness of all the nuclear threats that have been used for years to limit aid to Ukraine. This is actually a profound moment in intellectual thinking—as the Ukrainians are driving a coach and horses (or more obviously a Bradley IFV) directly through almost all earlier assumptions about when and how nuclear weapons will be used. They are invading, taking and possibly holding the sovereign soil of a nuclear power—and in doing so they are upending everyone’s way of thinking about nuclear weapons.

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Combat Strike Operations Order 35
509th Composite Group U.S. Army Air Force

Taking off from Tinian island at approximately 2:45 a.m. with Colonel Paul Tibbets as command pilot of the ‘Enola Gay‘, the B-29 ascended to operational altitude as it flew to Iwo Jima island to rendezvous just before 6:00 a.m. with the accompanying observation and photography aircraft

At 08:09, Colonel Tibbets started his bomb run over Hiroshima and handed control over to his bombardier, Major Thomas Ferebee.
The release at 08:15 went as planned, and the gun type atomic bomb containing about 141 pounds of uranium-235 took 44.4 seconds to fall from the aircraft flying at about 31,000 feet to a detonation height of about 1,900 feet above the city.

Due to a crosswind, the bomb missed the aiming point, the Aioi Bridge, by approximately 800 feet and detonated directly over Shima Surgical Clinic with the force equivalent to 16 kilotons of TNT.
The radius of total destruction was about 1 mile, with resulting fires across 4.4 square miles.

Around 70,000 to 80,000 people, including 12 U.S. prisoners of war, were killed and another 70,000 injured.

We landed on the moon. Now we can’t even keep the Gaza aid pier afloat.

America is famous for doing great things.

Tomorrow [yesterday] is the 55-year anniversary of one of our greatest accomplishments: landing man on the moon. As millions around the world gathered around their TVs and radios in 1969, three bold Americans had traveled 240,000 miles to plant a flag beside the Sea of Tranquility.

The United States summoned its scientific, financial and moral will to achieve something endless generations of mankind had barely considered possible.

Can America still do great things? It hardly seems so.

We popularized use of the internet about 30 years ago and that certainly changed things; for the better, and the worse. The fall of the Soviet Union was another herculean accomplishment, a few years before that.

Since then, there hasn’t been a whole lot. Smartphones, Bitcoin … Vaping? That hardly swells the patriotic heart.

Just last month, we celebrated the 80th anniversary of D-Day. The United States led more than eight nations, using 7,000 ships and landing craft manned by more than 195,000 sailors to deliver nearly 133,000 troops in a single day.

We haven’t had much American ingenuity of late
More recently, we fled a hard-won victory in Iraq and were chased out of Afghanistan by tribesmen sporting small arms. Today we can’t seem to stop the Russians in Ukraine and mostly ignore China’s increasing threats against Taiwan.

We can’t even keep a small pier afloat off Gaza.

Remember the pier? In his March State of the Union address, President Joe Biden announced its deployment to “enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day.”

‘Secure the Border Act’is a racist lie. Voters must defeat it

A small flotilla of ships and 1,000 soldiers and sailors built the modest dock offshore, taking more than two months to do so at a cost of $230 million.

Once installed, trucks delivered humanitarian aid a few yards into Gaza. There, much of the aid remained, unused. In its first month, about 250 truckloads made it through – 4,100 tons worth – which is half of the daily deliveries in a single day before the war. Not exactly Operation Overload.

Pier has experienced one problem after the next
Since its installation, the pier has only been functional for about 20 days. Excuses were legion: bad weather, rough seas, no trucks to bring aid off the beach, attacks from the locals.

Pray that shooting of Trumpwill unite America to rethink our angry division

“The pier is humanitarian theatre,” Refugees International President and former USAID senior adviser Jeremy Konyndyk said. “Much more about political optics than humanitarian substance.”

Though it was intended to last until at least September, it was heavily damaged in a storm and parts of it washed up on the shores of Ashdod. The U.S. military got it working again on June 8 … then suspended operations for two days and hauled it back to Ashdod, fearing a storm.

On June 20, the Pentagon insisted the pier would return soon and would be in Gaza to stay. “We have not established an end date for this mission as of now, contrary to some press reporting on the matter,” Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said.

The Biden administration agreed, with one official stating that “the maritime pier is a critical additional conduit for aid deliveries.”

If only we could have given pier a quiet burial at sea
This week, they gave up and hoped no one would notice. “The maritime surge mission involving the pier is complete,” Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, said at a news briefing Wednesday. “So there’s no more need to use the pier.”

During its brief deployment, an estimated 8,000 metric tons of aid were delivered via the pier. That’s the equivalent of about 600 trucks worth — the number humanitarian agencies claim need to enter Gaza every day.

Meanwhile, the war continues.

At this point, few Americans expect another “giant leap for mankind.” But “one small step” would be nice.

BLUF
Imagine what could happen if the enemies of our country, our freedoms, and our way of life were to gain access to military bases. It’s a frightening situation to think about, so it’s a good thing we don’t have to because the sentries at the gate (unlike many in the current administration) know the stakes and won’t kowtow to DEI, political politeness, or whatever the sucker-punch game of the day is. Beyond those gates are the very reasons they are willing to give their lives.

Concerning Trend: Foreign Nationals Probing Military Bases While Commander-in-Chief Naps.

We won’t soon forget KJP saying it’s “inappropriate” for anyone to assume that the President needs a nap, especially because Joe Biden himself told Democratic governors two days ago that he was no longer scheduling events after 8 p.m. so he can sleep, according to CNN. While President Biden catches up on his ZzZs, America’s enemies are actively working to bring death and destruction to America.

It’s been a month since the public became aware of a disturbing trend: foreign nationals attempting to penetrate U.S. military bases and surveil the homes of high-ranking officers. Acknowledged by the Navy when Admiral Daryl Caudle, U.S. Fleet Forces Commander, sat down with Fox News’ Bill Hemmer on America’s Newsroom:

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Army Admits Link Between COVID Vaccine and Soldier’s Heart Condition.

Investigative reporter Catherine Herridge is back. She’s on her own without any strings attached to biased MSM networks.

Herridge’s first report focuses on the military’s mandatory COVID vaccine, which led to at least one soldier’s heart condition.

Army Specialist Karoline Stancik suffered a heart attack right after she had the Moderna vaccine. She had pacemaker surgery earlier this month.

Stancik has had to take 27 medications a day since the first heart attack.

“I was left behind and trampled,” Stancik told Herridge.

Stancik never had a heart condition before the vaccine, noting that she could run 10 miles at one time and play basketball. Now she has trouble just standing up.

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After 82 Years, a Hero’s Remains Are Coming Home

World War II was one of history’s deadliest conflicts. The Pacific theater of that conflict was particularly nasty; my mother’s oldest brother served as a Marine in that theater and harbored bad feelings towards Japan for the rest of his life, despite that nation’s dramatic post-war changes. And in that theater, one of the greatest war crimes was the Bataan Death March.

In that event, roughly 76,000 prisoners of war, 10,000 of them Americans, the balance Filipinos, were force-marched from the tip of the Bataan Peninsula to a town called San Fernando, where they were crammed in rail cars and taken to Capas, where they were forced to walk another seven miles to the former training base, Camp O’Donnell, where they were held prisoner. Only 54,000 of the original 76,000 survived the march; captives were beaten, shot, bayoneted, and beheaded en route if they faltered or fell. After reaching Camp O’Donnell and until the end of the war, 26,000 more Filipinos and 1,500 Americans died while being held as POWs by the Japanese. Many of those who died were buried in mass graves, and since the end of the war, the United States has been making efforts to identify remains and bring them home for burial.

Today we learn that the remains of one more American serviceman are, after 82 years, coming home.

A 20-year-old soldier from Louisiana who died as a prisoner of war during World War II has been accounted for, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) said Monday.

U.S. Army Pfc. Joseph C. Murphy was serving in the 31st Infantry Regiment in the Philippines in 1942. While he was serving, Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands, sparking months of intense fighting in the region. During this time, thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured as prisoners of war.

Murphy was among those reported captured when U.S. soldiers in the Bataan peninsula surrendered to Japanese forces, the DPAA said, and was one of tens of thousands of POWs subjected to the Bataan Death March in the spring of 1942. After the 65-mile trek, Murphy and other soldiers were held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1.

Murphy’s remains were identified after an effort began in 2019 to use DNA as well as dental records and other anthropological data to identify the remains.

It’s to the credit of the DPAA that, after over eight decades, this effort is still ongoing and they are still bringing our men home. It’s a painstaking process; of that we can have no doubt, but it’s worth doing, even at this distance in time. Not only does it show respect for our fallen from that conflict, but it serves as reassurance to today’s soldiers, airmen, sailors, and Marines that if you fall in a foreign land, America will spare no effort to bring your remains back.

Now that he has been accounted for, a rosette will be placed besides Murphy’s name on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial. He will be buried in his Louisiana hometown in early August.

This is the proper form. Thousands of Americans fell in the Bataan Death March and the subsequent imprisonment. The legitimate roles of our federal government are few, but expending some resources to identify those who have fallen defending our nation and our constitution is a worthwhile effort, and we can hope that Pfc. Murphy’s family, at long last, has some closure.

 

Israeli Special Forces Disguised as Palestinian Refugees for Hostage Rescue

Israeli special forces were disguised as Palestinians looking for a place to live when they rescued hostages from Gaza during the weekend, two Israeli security sources told ABC News.

Special forces were already in position near the hostages before being given the “go” command, which was given at 11a.m. local time.

The helicopters carrying the hostages and wounded officers landed at Sheba Medical Center in Israel a bit later.

The hostages were in “good medical condition” when they were rescued, according to IDF officials.

6 June 1944, United Kingdom

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Forces:

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944. Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned. The free men of the world are marching together to victory.

I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory.

Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

Bud Anderson, last surviving World War II triple ace pilot, dies at 102

The last surviving World War II triple ace pilot died at age 102 this week, more than 75 years after serving in the U.S. Air Force and flying missions over Europe, the Washington Post reported.

Brigadier General Clarence E. Anderson, better known as “Bud,” died peacefully in his sleep on May 17, his family said in a statement on his website.

“We were blessed to have him as our father,” the statement read. “Dad lived an amazing life and was loved by many.”

Anderson is survived by his two children, four grandchildren and five great grandchildren. His wife, Eleanor, died in 2015.

Anderson, who was born in California and learned to fly at 19, served two combat tours during World War II, according to his website. He escorted heavy bombers over Europe from November 1943 to January 1945, flying 116 combat missions and destroying over a dozen enemy aircraft in aerial combat as part of the 357th Fighter Group, nicknamed the “Yoxford Boys.” He was the highest scoring ace in his squadron, according to his website.

bud-anderson.jpg
Bud Anderson.CEBUDANDERSON.COM.

Anderson’s other military service included serving as the commander of a squadron in post-war Korea and as the commander of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing during combat in Southeast Asia.

During his military service, Anderson earned 25 medals, including two Legion of Merits, 16 Air Medals and “many campaign and service ribbons,” according to his website. He has also been recognized as a fighter ace, or a pilot who has destroyed five or more enemy aircraft in aerial combat, three times over.

When not overseas, Anderson was a fighter test pilot and served multiple roles, including as the deputy director of flight test operations at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. In total, Anderson logged over 7,500 flying hours in more than 130 types of aircraft.

Duxford Air Show
World War II fighter pilot Bud Anderson stands alongside a P-51C Mustang, Princess Elizabeth, at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, in Cambridgeshire.CHRIS RADBURN/PA IMAGES VIA GETTY IMAGES

Anderson retired from the Air Force in 1972, and joined the McDonnell Aircraft Company and spent 12 years serving as the manager of a test facility at Edwards Air Force Base in in California. He retired fully in 1984, published an autobiography in 1990, and quit flying at 90 years old but continued to lecture on the topic and consult on computer flying games, according to his website.

Anderson was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2008 and the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in 2013, according to his website. He received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2015. In December 2022, he was given an honorary promotion to Brigadier General at the Aerospace Museum of California.

While submarines were highly effective in the Pacific, submarine duty was very dangerous.

Legendary U.S. World War II submarine located 3,000 feet underwater off the Philippines

The final resting place of an iconic U.S. Navy submarine that was sunk 80 years ago during World War II was located 3,000 feet below the ocean’s surface, the Naval History and Heritage Command said Thursday.

The USS Harder – which earned the nickname “Hit ’em HARDER” – was found off the Philippine island of Luzon, sitting upright and “relatively intact” except for damage behind its conning tower from a Japanese depth charge, the command said. The sub was discovered using data collected by Tim Taylor, CEO of the Lost 52 Project, which works to locate the 52 submarines sunk during World War II.

uss-harder-1716497945678.jpg
4D photogrammetry model of USS Harder (SS 257) wreck site by The Lost 52 Project. The Lost 52 Project scanned the entire boat and stitched all the images together in a multi-dimensional model used to study and explore the site. TIM TAYLOR AND THE LOST 52 PROJECT.

The USS Harder, led by famed Cmdr. Samuel D. Dealey, earned a legendary reputation during its fifth patrol when it sunk three destroyers and heavily damaged two others in just four days, forcing a Japanese fleet to leave the area ahead of schedule, the command said. That early departure forced the Japanese commander to delay his carrier force in the Philippine Sea, which ultimately led to Japan being defeated in the ensuing battle.

But Harder’s fortunes changed in late August 1944. Early on Aug. 22, Harder and USS Haddo destroyed three escort ships off the coast of Bataan. Joined by USS Hake later that night, the three vessels headed for Caiman Point, Luzon, before Haddo left to replenish its torpedo stockpile. Before dawn on Aug. 24, Hake sighted an enemy escort ship and patrol boat and plunged deep into the ocean to escape.

Japanese records later revealed Harder fired three times at the Japanese escort ship, but it evaded the torpedoes and began a series of depth charge attacks, sinking Harder and killing all 79 crewmembers.

harder-photo-1716497988210.jpg
USS Harder (SS 257)NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND

The “excellent state of preservation of the site” and the quality of the data collected by Lost 52 allowed the Navy’s History and Heritage Command to confirm the wreck was indeed Harder.

“Harder was lost in the course of victory. We must not forget that victory has a price, as does freedom,” said NHHC Director Samuel J. Cox, U.S. Navy rear admiral (retired). “We are grateful that Lost 52 has given us the opportunity to once again honor the valor of the crew of the ‘Hit ’em HARDER’ submarine that sank the most Japanese warships – in particularly audacious attacks – under her legendary skipper, Cmdr. Sam Dealey.”

Harder received the Presidential Unit Citation for her first five patrols and six battle stars for World War II service, and Cmdr. Dealey was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. During his career, Dealey also received a Navy Cross, two Gold Stars, and the Distinguished Service Cross.

dealey-1716498024023.jpg
Commander Samuel D. DealeyNAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND

Taylor, the Lost 52 Project CEO, previously located other submarines lost during World War II, including the USS Grayback, USS Stickleback, and USS Grunion. Taylor received a Distinguished Public Service Award from the Navy in 2021 for his work.

The Naval History and Heritage Command said the SS Harder wreck “represents the final resting place of sailors that gave their life in defense of the nation and should be respected by all parties as a war grave.”

Other famed warships have been found in the waters off the Phillipines. In 2015, U.S. billionaire Paul Allen located the wreck of the Musashi, one of the two largest Japanese warships ever built, in the Philippines’ Sibuyan Sea.

Last September, deep-sea explorers captured images of three shipwrecks from World War II’s Battle of Midway, including the first up-close photos of a Japanese aircraft carrier since it sank during the historic battle in 1942.

Skynet smiles……

CHINA SHOWS OFF ROBOT DOGS ARMED WITH MACHINE GUNS

The Chinese military recently showed off numerous robot dogs outfitted with machine guns on their backs during the country’s biggest-ever drill alongside Cambodian troops, as Agence France-Presse reports.

The terrifying gun-toting robodogs were part of a massive 15-day military exercise called “Golden Dragon” in a remote training center in central Cambodia and off the country’s coast.

During the drill, journalists watched as staff took the robodogs for a walk — but reportedly never fired the machine guns strapped to their backs.

It’s a dystopian vision of what the future of warfare could look like. Experts have long warned that the use of armed drones or “killer robots,” particularly autonomous ones, is an ethical minefield that should be internationally banned from the battlefield.

But that hasn’t stopped military forces and even local enforcement in the US from investing in the tech while arguing that their use could save human lives.

Follow the Leader

It’s not the first time we’ve come across quadrupedal gun-toting robots. Last year, the Pentagon announced that the US Army is considering arming remote-controlled robot dogs with state-of-the-art rifles as part of its plan to “explore the realm of the possible” in the future of combat.

A US-based military contractor called Ghost Robotics has already showed off such a robot dog, outfitted with a long-distance rifle.

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In a case of classic irony, the ship named after the President who warned about the Military Industrial Complex, gets stuck on deployment because the aforesaid MIC supposed to produce naval surface combatant ships is TARFU.

In Red Sea, US Navy paying the price of shipbuilding failures
The Littoral Combat Ship was designed with the current crisis in mind, instead it turned into a boondoggle. Here’s why.

The United States Navy recently extended the deployment of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower while it patrols the shipping lanes of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden protecting commercial shipping from Houthi rebel attacks. The Eisenhower left its homeport at Norfolk on October 14, more than 200 days ago.

The Ike’s sailors aren’t the only ones being forced to spend more time away from home. Many of the carrier’s escort vessels have also seen their deployments extended.

The Navy is struggling to meet some of its operational requirements in part because it simply doesn’t have all the ships it expected. The current threat to navigation in the Red Sea is precisely the scenario for which the Navy invested so much time and resources building the Littoral Combat Ships. The LCS program was sold to the American people as a “networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals.”

The Houthi rebels launching missiles and drones from shore and hijacking commercial shipping in the confined waters of the Red Sea meets the textbook definition of an asymmetric threat in a littoral region. Yet the “little crappy ships,” as they have come to be known, are nowhere to be seen inside the Red Sea. Rather, the Navy has to keep a carrier strike group composed of Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers on station longer than anticipated in an attempt to keep an important maritime choke point open.

The Littoral Combat Ship is one of two major shipbuilding failures from the past 20 years. The other is the Zumwalt-class destroyer. Both programs began in earnest in the years after 9/11 and almost immediately ran into trouble. The Zumwalt program saw massive cost growth which forced Navy leaders to slash the planned fleet size from the originally planned 32 to 7 and finally to the three which were actually built. These three ships cost nearly $8 billion each while failing to deliver promised combat capabilities.

The Littoral Combat Ship program cost $28 billion to build a fleet of 35 ships. According to the Government Accountability Office, the Navy expects to pay more than $60 billion to operate the fleet for its expected 25-year lifespan. Like the Zumwalt, the LCS program’s combat functionality is far less than expected. The ships were designed to be modular with crews swapping out mission systems in port for different missions. Engineers could never get the mission modules to work properly, so the scheme was abandoned.

The LCS program does excel in spectacular breakdowns. The USS Milwaukee famously broke down shortly after it had been commissioned and had to be towed into a Virginia port while its crew attempted to sail the ship to its intended San Diego home for the first time. Other ships suffered from saltwater corrosion, cracked hulls, and broken-down water jets. The Freedom-class variant LCS had trouble with the combining gear linking its diesel engine with the ship’s turbines. The problems grew so bad that Navy leaders essentially threw up their hands and began retiring ships decades before they should have smelled mothballs. The Navy decommissioned the USS Sioux City after a single deployment and less than five years after the ship entered service.

Navy leaders are now scrambling to develop the Constellation-class frigate to fill the capability gap that should have been filled by the Littoral Combat Ship. They decided upon a safer acquisition strategy with the new program by selecting the European multipurpose frigate, a proven design already in service with the French and Italian navies, rather than starting at the drawing board. The Navy awarded Fincantieri Marinette Marine the detail design and construction award for the first ship in April 2020.

Of course, the Navy isn’t simply purchasing a fully developed ship. Engineers began with the existing design and have spent the past several years “maturing” it. Like many such endeavors, changes to one shipboard system necessitated modifications to others and the entire process spiraled. Navy leaders had expected to have the first ship to be delivered in 2026, but they recently announced that because of design problems, supply chain issues, and a shortage of skilled workers will delay the first ship by an additional three years.

The U.S. Navy’s last successful comparable surface shipbuilding program was the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate. The final ship of that class, the USS Ingraham, was commissioned in 1989.

Herein lies the danger inherent with unrealistic acquisition programs. When service leaders convince themselves that a radical design will work before the concept is actually demonstrated in the real world, they commit themselves, potentially for decades, to a program that may fail. By spending so much time and money on the Littoral Combat Ship program, the U.S. Navy squandered 40 years of shipbuilding time. That is an enormous lost opportunity cost and now our hard-pressed sailors enduring extended deployments are paying the price.

Service leaders, the civilians leading them, and members of Congress need to remember this case the next time a defense contractor presents them with a bunch of slick conceptual drawings and then fills their ears with promises of transformative capabilities they can deliver at rock-bottom prices. As the homesick sailors aboard the Ike understand well now, if it sounds too good to be true, it definitely is.

Supreme Court rules in favor of veteran who sued over GI Bill limits

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in favor of a veteran who unsuccessfully tried to use both his Post-9/11 GI Bill and Montgomery GI Bill benefits, saying that Veterans Affairs officials erred in limiting his education support.

The 7-2 decision could have far-reaching impact on student veterans who use up their VA benefits but still wish to continue degree programs. Lawyers for the plaintiff have estimated as many as 1.7 million veterans nationwide could benefit from the ruling, but federal officials have estimated the number to be less than 30,000 individuals.

The case has been closely watched by veterans advocates for nearly nine years because of its potential ramifications. VA pays out more than $8 billion in education payments annually, and the Supreme Court ruling could boost that figure even higher.

The legal fight centered on Jim Rudisill, a 43-year-old Army veteran who was wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq in 2005. Rudisill used all of his Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits shortly thereafter, but later wanted to tap into his unused Montgomery GI Bill benefits to attend Yale Divinity School as part of the process to become an Army chaplain.

When VA officials denied that move, Rudisill sued, claiming they were unfairly limiting his options. Writing for the majority, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson called the government’s denial “nonsensical” and reversed lower court rulings supporting VA’s position.

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Today is Camerone Day, the anniversary of the Battle of Camerone.

On this day in 1863, 3 officers and 62 men of the French Foreign Legion exemplified stoic determination in the face of overwhelming odds.

The Legionnaires under Captain Jean Danjou, retreating in good order from Palo Verde as a diversion, made a stand in an hacienda in the Mexican town of Camarón de Tejeda and were surrounded by as many as 2000 Mexican troops.

When called on to surrender, by Colonel Francisco de Paula Milán, the Mexican commander, Captain Danjou replied, “We have munitions. We will not surrender.”

In the ensuing battle, nearly all of the Legionnaires, including Captain Danjou, were killed. When the last 5 unwounded men ran out of ammunition, under the command of Lieutenant Maudet, they loaded their last round, fixed bayonets, and charged the enemy.

Inevitably, they were surrounded and captured.  The last remaining NCO, Corporal Maine, insisted that the wounded be treated, the survivors be sent with their arms back to France, and that the body of Captain Danjou be escorted for a proper military burial. Colonel Milan reportedly said; “Que podré negar a cierto hombres? No, estos no son hombres, son demonios.” What can I refuse to such men? No, these are not men, they are devils.

The Foreign Legion celebrates this day as an annual holiday where, on parade, the wooden prosthetic hand of Captain Danjou is carried as a high honor.

In a nutshell, the military is going to have real problems trying to pull this off.

Might Turn Out That POTATUS’ Gonzo Gaza Pier Plan Was a Blessing in Disguise.

No, no, no – I haven’t lost my cotton-pickin’ mind. Hear me out on this one.

Let’s recap what the plan was for those in the backseats.

POTATUS used the time he spent shrieking during what was billed as a “State of the Union” to drop the little bombshell that he was directing United States assets – read that as our military – to build a “floating pier” off of Gaza for humanitarian relief. That declaration was immediately followed by a blatant lie about “no US boots” would be “on the ground” as part of this evolution. Anyone with half a brain hearing this – which, in fairness, automatically excludes POTATUS – knew it was an impossibility to build such a thing WITHOUT “boots on the ground.”

US forces will build a temporary dock on the Gaza shoreline to allow delivery of humanitarian aid on a large scale, Joe Biden announced in his State of the Union speech, amid warnings of a widespread famine among the territory’s 2.3 million Palestinians.

…“Tonight, I’m directing the US military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters,” the president said.

He promised “no US boots will be on the ground”, and said: “This temporary pier would enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day.”

Those same rational types also realized that it would put any American personnel on or offshore directly in harm’s way, like rubber ducks in a carnival tub for the taking.

That was my main problem with potentially yet another administration-orchestrated snafu where only our military paid the price for their supreme incompetence and indifference to risk. I will admit to voicing boisterous and vociferous objections at every opportunity.

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Yeah, this’s sure going to help things………..

Marines Ditch 100-Year-Old Marksmanship Standards.

The United States Marine Corps announced earlier this month it is changing the shooting standards to which it has adhered for more than a century. The new system will reflect accuracy as well as the speed at which a Marine delivers hits on target.

Re-evaluation of the century-old marksmanship qualification standards began in 2018, when a combat lethality study found an unexpected loss in proficiency in engagements at unknown distances, or when the Marine or target were on the move. The Marine Corps is investing $34 million to better train its troops with the new system, phasing out an approach that required delivering 30 rounds at established distance in two minutes. The old scoring system didn’t differentiate between lethal shots and those that may not stop an aggressor or readily identify distances problematic for a particular shooter.

“This is about increasing lethality,” Col. Gregory Jones, commander of the Weapons Training Battalion—part of Training Command at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia—told Stars and Stripes. “This is not your granddad’s rifle range.”

Marines are required to annually prequalify and qualify with their rifles. If a prequalification score met standards, it could be accepted for both in the past. Now it must be at the expert level, not just at marksman or sharpshooter performance, to do so.

In addition, the Marine Corps has begun allowing entry-level shooters to support rifles with their magazines. The change reflects improvements in magazine design and strength as well as widespread success using the approach in civilian competitions.

“The rifle range in 1907, it’s not bad or good. It’s what we had when we had … a 1903 Springfield [rifle], which was an 1890s technology,” Jones explained to Stars and Stripes. “Now we have an M-16A4. The test is not as true a measure of lethality as it was when we had older, outdated technology.”