#Marine Corps Field Exercise

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: The Reckoning Virus

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)

War with the Interaxie was an inevitable outcome for humanity and the entire galaxy knew it.

Border disputes, clashing rights over trade, subtle threats between delegates and near constant animosity between the two powers all but assured that they would come to blows. Along the entire shared border between the two powers a sense of dread and waiting could be felt on every world as if they could sense the brewing storm just over the horizon.

Yet humanity could not afford to be the aggressors for a change.

Unlike their previous conflicts the Interaxie had a well-organized military and an industrial power base to support them for decades of sustained combat. They had dozens of worlds to draw upon near limitless manpower reserves meaning any conflict could be drawn out into a bloody stalemate. While the humans were not unfamiliar with this style of warfare it was an outcome they did not wish to see realized.

To prevent this outcome humanity put a plan into motion called “The Reckoning”, which when completed would hand them victory in the war within a few months at best.

While the Interaxie were gathering their strength and hiding their growing fleet strength behind ‘military exercises” a series of shipments were being delivered to the core worlds of the Interaxie. They arrived at trade ports and were moved to waiting warehouses as their paperwork was checked only for the shipments to mysteriously vanish. It wasn’t unheard of for a shipment or two to go missing at such facilities, and though on some of the world’s their disappearance was noticed and investigated for the majority of others they were written off as clerical mistakes. The trade network between worlds was after all vast and overwhelmed by bureaucratic red tape so it was not unheard of for a shipment to be mishandled.

Such trivialities were soon overshadowed as the eventual war broke out and trade quickly shut down between the two powers. What had been mild border conflicts broke out into ruthless fleet sized engagements that turned entire systems into orbital graveyards of ships overnight. Human Hammerhead dreadnoughts were taking on entire swarms of Interaxie drone swarms in space while the Terran Marine Corps were barely holding their own against Interaxie armored divisions on the planets of Theta, Primus, and Dollore.

The fighting was intense and just as predicted the Interaxie began to call upon their vast manpower reserves early in an attempt to simply overrun human opposition and claim a swift victory. Legions began mustering on their core worlds waiting for transport to the front when the war took a turn for the worse for the would-be alien conquerors.

Without warning several viral outbreaks began to be reported from the Interaxie core worlds. Infected individuals began showing heightened states of aggression and delirium with the worst cases quickly devolving to bouts of madness and rage. What made it worse was when local officials quarantined an area in hopes of isolating the infected a new series of outbreaks would happen somewhere else entirely leaving containment out of the question.

It did not take long for civil unrest to break out as the virus spread into major populated areas and shortly after states of emergency to be declared. Factories ground to a halt as the workers fled the infection to protect themselves and their loved ones, farms and fields left unattended as their caretakers no lay lost to the grips of the disease leaving shelves unfilled and empty. Fights broke out for what supplies remained and though provisions could have been supplied from off world spaceports were soon overrun by those wishing to flee. When the infected reached a critical state of the virus’s development they began lashing out at anyone and everyone within arms reach resulting in the near total collapse of order on worlds as waves of infected ran through the streets

The legions that had been mustering to be sent the front soon found themselves being redeployed for containment or worse, becoming largely infected themselves and losing all combat effectiveness. Interaxie warriors were forced to put down many of their comrades who had succumbed to the virus leaving them horrified by their actions. It was worse for those deployed as part of containment teams who gunned down thousands of infected civilians on the quarantined worlds, many of which were related to the warriors by blood.

Within a month a dozen worlds had been locked under quarantine with another handful now desperately holding on as infection rates continued to rise, all the while the war with the humans continued. The sudden loss of manpower and war material was certainly noticed on the front and the humans shifted tactics. Every engagement they forced the Interaxie into using whatever reserves they had left as much as possible. Soon it was not uncommon for three Interaxie soldiers to be rationing one power cell for their rifles while their fleets lay in high anchor above their worlds due to lack of fuel to move them out of system.

Unable to meet the current demands of the war and handle the outbreaks spreading through their core worlds, the Interaxie soon sued for peace. The humans were not sympathetic with the Interaxie plight and their demands were steep.

1.       Three border systems would be transferred over to human control.

2.       A DMZ would be established from the newly taken territory and the remaining Interaxie domain which no ship from either side would cross.

3.       The Interaxie would be forced to repay a war debt to humanity in the sum of three trillion credits over the course of the next twenty solar years.

4.       Human monitoring stations would be placed inside Interaxie space to prevent future acts of aggression.

Had it been at any other time the Interaxie would have rather fought on until the bitter end than accept such harsh terms, but with the virus continuing to cripple their military and economy they were left with no choice but to relent and agree to the terms.

With that the Interaxie/Human war came to an abrupt end and the Interaxie redeployed their entire military forces to combat the growing viral outbreaks, all the while Terran Special Services watched from afar and grinned.

Several months prior to the war they had been responsible for shipping a number of unremarkable containers through a series of dummy corporations and unaffiliated alien trade networks until they arrived on the Interaxie core worlds. They bore no human markings and their paperwork was all in order leaving nothing for suspicion. Once they had been moved to the warehouses for processing TSS operatives quietly removed the containers and began distributing the contents across the worlds.

Industrial factories, mining complexes, agricultural farms, super markets, water treatment facilities, power plants; any and all critical infrastructure locations were located and seeded with the contents of the containers before the operatives quickly fled off world.

When war finally broke out a signal was remotely sent and each of the packages cracked open releasing their deadly contents. Swarms of tiny mosquitos genetically bred to carry what was known as the Reckoning Virus were soon released and began spreading the virus with every victim they came into contact with.

It was an ecological disaster of unimaginable proportion. Not only did the insects infect the personnel of the facilities they were placed in, but they also began to spread outwards and begin breeding in new areas. Any source of water soon became a deadly petri dish for them as they reproduced at an alarming rate releasing further swarms of insects. On these alien worlds they had no natural predators and what wildlife did attempt to eat them soon became deadly sick with the virus as well leading to rampant overpopulation of the bugs.

The Interaxie were well aware of the seemingly good timing the outbreaks had been for the humans and long suspected their involvement but could not prove anything as the TSS had planned for such eventualities. None of the devices used were of human origin and even if they could track down how they had arrived on world the series of dummy companies and alien trade networks used to ship them there resulted in a labyrinth of legal networks and commissions needed for even the slightest scrap of information that would lead nowhere.

For almost ten years the virus remained effective before the Interaxie were finally able to find a way to not only cure the virus but also eliminate the invasive species of mosquitoes, but by then the damage was already done. Both their military and trade had been crippled by the viral outbreaks and with several of their primary manufacturing worlds now defunct the flow of goods to the remaining worlds was almost a trickle. Extreme measures of rationing were implemented which only led to further discontent and civil unrest which in turn was brutally put down by military forces. What had once been a galactic power now had been reduced to a third rate kingdom barely able to hold a trade agreement out of their domain let alone ever again extend their power through military force.

[sgtgrunt0331-3]

A U.S. Marine with Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, moves through a simulated mine field during Integrated Training Exercise (ITX) 3-23 at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, April 16, 2023.

(Photo by Lance Cpl. Justin J. Marty)

[mariacallous]

The Athenian historian Thucydides once remarked that Sparta was so lacking in impressive temples or monuments that future generations who found the place deserted would struggle to believe it had ever been a great power. But even without physical monuments, the memory of Sparta is very much alive in the modern United States. In popular culture, Spartans star in film and feature as the protagonists of several of the largest video game franchises. The Spartan brand is used to promote obstacle races, fitness equipment, and firearms. Sparta has also become a political rallying cry, including by members of the extreme right who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Sparta is gone, but the glorification of Sparta—Spartaganda, as it were—is alive and well.

Even more concerning is the U.S. military’s love of all things Spartan. The U.S. Army, of course, has a Spartan Brigade (Motto: “Sparta Lives”) as well as a Task Force Spartan and Spartan Warrior exercises, while the Marine Corps conducts Spartan Trident littoral exercises—an odd choice given that the Spartans were famously very poor at littoral operations. Beyond this sort of official nomenclature, unofficial media regularly invites comparisons between U.S. service personnel and the Spartans as well.

Much of this tendency to imagine U.S. soldiers as Spartan warriors comes from Steven Pressfield’s historical fiction novel Gates of Fire, still regularly assigned in military reading lists. The book presents the Spartans as superior warriors from an ultra-militarized society bravely defending freedom (against an ethnically foreign “other,” a feature drawn out more explicitly in the comic and later film 300). Sparta in this vision is a radically egalitarian society predicated on the cultivation of manly martial virtues. Yet this image of Sparta is almost entirely wrong. Spartan society was singularly unworthy of emulation or praise, especially in a democratic society.

To start with, the Spartan reputation for military excellence turns out to be, on closer inspection, mostly a mirage. Despite Sparta’s reputation for superior fighting, Spartan armies were as likely to lose battles as to win them, especially against peer opponents such as other Greek city-states. Sparta defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War—but only by accepting Persian money to do it, reopening the door to Persian influence in the Aegean, which Greek victories at Plataea and Salamis nearly a century early had closed. Famous Spartan victories at Plataea and Mantinea were matched by consequential defeats at Pylos, Arginusae, and ultimately Leuctra. That last defeat at Leuctra, delivered by Thebes a mere 33 years after Sparta’s triumph over Athens, broke the back of Spartan power permanently, reducing Sparta to the status of a second-class power from which it never recovered.

Sparta was one of the largest Greek city-states in the classical period, yet it struggled to achieve meaningful political objectives; the result of Spartan arms abroad was mostly failure. Sparta was particularly poor at logistics; while Athens could maintain armies across the Eastern Mediterranean, Sparta repeatedly struggled to keep an army in the field even within Greece. Indeed, Sparta spent the entirety of the initial phase of the Peloponnesian War, the Archidamian War (431-421 B.C.), failing to solve the basic logistical problem of operating long term in Attica, less than 150 miles overland from Sparta and just a few days on foot from the nearest friendly major port and market, Corinth.

The Spartans were at best tactically and strategically uncreative. Tactically, Sparta employed the phalanx, a close-order shield and spear formation. But while elements of the hoplite phalanx are often presented in popular culture as uniquely Spartan, the formation and its equipment were common among the Greeks from at least the early fifth century, if not earlier. And beyond the phalanx, the Spartans were not innovators, slow to experiment with new tactics, combined arms, and naval operations. Instead, Spartan leaders consistently tried to solve their military problems with pitched hoplite battles. Spartan efforts to compel friendship by hoplite battle were particularly unsuccessful, as with the failed Spartan efforts to compel Corinth to rejoin the Spartan-led Peloponnesian League by force during the Corinthian War.

Sparta’s military mediocrity seems inexplicable given the city-state’s popular reputation as a highly militarized society, but modern scholarship has shown that this, too, is mostly a mirage. The agoge, Sparta’s rearing system for citizen boys, frequently represented in popular culture as akin to an intense military bootcamp, in fact included no arms training or military drills and was primarily designed to instill obedience and conformity rather than skill at arms or tactics. In order to instill that obedience, the older boys were encouraged to police the younger boys with violence, with the result that even in adulthood Spartan citizens were liable to settle disputes with their fists, a tendency that predictably made them poor diplomats.

But while Sparta’s military performance was merely mediocre, no better or worse than its Greek neighbors, Spartan politics makes it an exceptionally bad example for citizens or soldiers in a modern free society. Modern scholars continue to debate the degree to which ancient Sparta exercised a unique tyranny of the state over the lives of individual Spartan citizens. However, the Spartan citizenry represented only a tiny minority of people in Sparta, likely never more than 15 percent, including women of citizen status (who could not vote or hold office). Instead, the vast majority of people in Sparta, between 65 and 85 percent, were enslaved helots. (The remainder of the population was confined to Sparta’s bewildering array of noncitizen underclasses.) The figure is staggering, far higher than any other ancient Mediterranean state or, for instance, the antebellum American South, rightly termed a slave society with a third of its people enslaved.

The ancient sources are effectively unanimous that the helots were the worst treated slaves in all of Greece; helotry was an institution that shocked the conscience of Athenian slaveholders. Critias, an Athenian collaborator with Sparta, was said to have quipped that it was in Sparta that “the free were most free and the slaves most a slave,” a staggering statement about a society that was mostly enslaved (and about Critias as a person that he thought this was praise). Plutarch reports the various ways that the Spartans humiliated and degraded the helots, while the Athenian orator Isocrates argued that it was a crime to murder enslaved people everywhere in Greece, except Sparta. Sparta, with both the most slaves per capita and the worst treated slaves, was likely the least free society in the whole of the ancient world.

Nor were the Spartans particularly good stewards of Greek freedom. While their place in popular culture, motivated by films such as 300, puts the Spartans at the head of efforts to defend Greek freedom from the expanding Persian Empire, Sparta was not always so averse to Persia. Unable to deal with the Athenian fleet itself, Sparta accepted Persian money during the Peloponnesian War to build its own, selling the Ionian Greeks back into Persian rule in exchange for humbling Athens. That war won the Spartans a brief hegemony in Greece, which they quickly squandered, ending up at war with their former allies in Corinth.

Unable to win that war either, Sparta again turned to Persia to enforce a peace, called the “King’s Peace,” which sold yet more Greek city-states to the Persian king in exchange for making Sparta into Persia’s local enforcer in Greece, tasked with preventing the emergence of larger Greek alliances that could challenge Persia. Far from being the defender of Greek independence, when given the chance the Spartans opened not only the windows but also the doors to Persian rule. They also refused to join in Alexander the Great’s expedition against Persia, for which Alexander mocked them by dedicating the spoils of his first victories “from all of the Greeks, except the Spartans.”

Instead of a society of freedom-defending super-warriors, Sparta is better understood as a place where the wealthiest class of landholder, the Spartans themselves, had succeeded in reducing the great majority of their poor compatriots to slavery and excluded the rest, called the perioikoi, from political participation or citizenship. The tiny minority of Spartan citizens derived their entire income from the labor of slaves, being legally barred from doing any productive work or engaging in commerce.

And rather than spending their time in ascetic military training, they spent their ample leisure time doing the full suite of expensive, aristocratic Greek pastimes: hunting (a pastime for the wealthy rather than a means of subsistence in the ancient world), eating amply, accumulating money, funding Olympic teams, breeding horses, and so on. Greek authors such as Xenophon and Plutarch continually insist that the golden age of Spartan austerity and egalitarianism existed in the distant past, but each author pushes that golden age further and further into that past, and in any event, archaeology tells us it was never so.

And that lavish lifestyle was clearly very important to the Spartans because they were willing to sacrifice all of their other ambitions on the altar to it. Beginning in the early 400s, the population of Spartan citizens, defined by being rich enough in land to make the mess contributions that were a key part of military and social lfie, began to decline as Spartan families used inheritance and marriage to consolidate holdings and increase their wealth, from 8,000 Spartan citizens in 480 B.C. to 3,500 in 418 to 2,500 in 394 to just 1,500 in 371. The collapse in the number of Spartans who qualified for citizenship had disastrous effects on the manpower available for the Spartan army, causing Sparta’s strategic ambitions to all crumble, one by one. Yet efforts by Agis IV (245-241 B.C.) and Cleomenes III (235-222 B.C.) to arrest the decline were foiled precisely because the Spartan political system denied any political voice to any but the leisured rich, who had little incentive to change.

Sparta is no inspiration for the leaders of a free state. Sparta was a prison in the guise of a state and added little to the sum of the human experience except suffering. No American, much less any U.S. soldier, should aspire to be like a Spartan.

[ceresfromnationstates]

Character Ref Sheets: Rupert L. Price

Rupert Logan Price

Nicknames: Rupert, Rupie, Roop, SSgt. Price, SSgt. Rupert, that British staff sergeant

Age: 31 (As of mid 2019)

Birthplace: Bristol, UK

Current Location: MCB Camp Pendleton, CA

Nationality: Welsh/British/American

Physical description: Stout build, Amber eyes (White skin, light sunburn), Black hair

Bio: Being put in reserve means that he can strech his legs a bit more.

A former seasoned cop turned marine, what more can you ask for?

Though he hates his parents for a number of reasons, he still holds respect for them.

Members of his father's lineage is what inspired him to choose the path in life he took.

He'd visit his parents every now and then.

Joined the Phoenix Police Department and later, the Marine Corps out of an interest to carry on the family legacy.

Enlisted in the Marine Corps after his 9th year in service with the police force.

His interest in the police and military was from the books he read from when he was younger.

Lived in Bristol for most of his childhood and part of his teenage years, and only moved to the U.S. to enroll in high school.

While admittedly, he is an extrovert, he's also known to keep things to himself and would turn down most questions about it.

Stonefaced 24/7 because of everything he's been through in life.

Has a habit of sneaking past a crowd or through empty spaces and into private/lonely spots.

His socialization skils aren't terrible, but he still has some work to do on it.

Has an understandable, relatable and OK-ish sense of humor.

Mostly surfs the internet on his free time.

Loves collecting old books and movie posters .

While he makes it a point to keep his barracks bunk bed tidy, the same couldn't be said about his half of his shared barracks room.

Would sometimes collect old textbooks and answer the questions inside to exercise his brain.

Has a little-known interest about time and space thanks to his expertise in physics.

Has only participated in 2 skirmishes with the Toppat Clan throughout his years in uniform, and only met Galeforce once.

Was previously deployed to Iraq for close to a year and a half along with his unit.

Has been to Warminster, Parris Island, Camp Hansen, Yokota Airbase, Shoalwater Bay, and Grafenwoehr.

Known to be orderly and easily irritable by his fellow marines.

When not out in the field doing training exercises, he's a pretty chill guy so long as he isn't pissed off.

Often wonders about life without service.

Backstory (coming soon)

< Ellie | Masterpost | Dave >

[usafphantom2]

Inside The Air Force’s Biggest Live Air-To-Air Missile Shoot

Jamie HunterPUBLISHED Jun 12, 2023 11:32 AM EDT

An F-16C fires an AIM-9M Sidewinder during Exercise Combat Archer in May 2023. Jamie Hunter

“It’s incredibly important for us to get a weapons system evaluation of all of our munitions, whether it’s air-to-ground or air-to-air,” Col. Brian DeWitt, 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group (WEG) commander explains to The War Zone. To meet this requirement, the U.S. Air Force regularly invites its fighter squadrons to Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida to gain experience and hone their skills firing live missiles at real airborne targets.

In this exclusive five-part, week-long series, The War Zone brings unprecedented inside access to Exercise Combat Archer, also known as the Weapons System Evaluation Program, or WSEP, where not only U.S. Air Force, but also U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps units work hard to ensure that when a pilot locks up a target, it can be dealt a lethal blow.

The missile firing that occurs at Tyndall has a dual purpose. “Under U.S. Code Title 10, there’s a mandated requirement [for the military] to undertake both development and operational testing of its equipment, and part of that is to take fielded weapons and test them to ensure they meet requirements for sustainability, reliability, and lethality,” Col. DeWitt explains.

F-16Cs from the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw AFB and from the 93rd Fighter Squadron "Florida Makos" head out for a Combat Archer mission, with live missiles carried on their starboard wings. Jamie Hunter

The military airborne range complex over the Gulf of Mexico that abuts the Florida coastline is a hotbed of development testing for new weapons, as well as being a training environment for frontline forces.

WSEP dates back to the Vietnam War when squadron pilots and their weapons systems failed to meet expectations. During that conflict, sophisticated new air-to-air missiles didn't perform in the manner predicted by their developmental test data. It was recognized that the testing often failed to represent the environment pilots would actually face in combat.

WSEP was therefore established to give fighter squadrons the opportunity to employ air-to-air weapons in situations that are as close to a combat environment as possible. “This isn’t just a weapons evaluation, it’s about weapons performance through unit effectiveness,” says Col. DeWitt.

A Raytheon AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) loaded on an F-15C during Combat Archer in May 2023 complete with a brown band to denote a live rocket motor, and a yellow band to denote that it has a live warhead. Jamie Hunter

The 53rd WEG is a critical element of Air Combat Command (ACC), and part of the renowned 53rd Wing, which is one of the lead units responsible for Air Force operational testing and major test exercises such as Black Flag, which features strongly in evaluating cutting-edge USAF capabilities, as previously reported by The War Zone on more than one occasion.

The WEG is headquartered at Tyndall AFB, on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico in the Florida Panhandle. It is responsible for a key part of the Title 10 test and evaluation work for the Air Force in the form of the Combat Archer and Combat Hammer WSEPs.

While Combat Hammer is typically run out of Hill Air Force Base in Utah and focuses on air-to-ground munitions evaluations, Combat Archer is all about firing live air-to-air missiles, designed both to ensure the weapons work as expected, and that squadrons are suitably trained and equipped to effectively employ the weapons.

The packed Combat Archer flight line in May 2023 with a mix of F-16s, F-15s, and F-35s. Jamie Hunter

The WEG includes a number of distinctive units at Tyndall that each bring a key capability to the overall effectiveness of Combat Archer. The 83rd Fighter Weapons Squadron (FWS) is ultimately responsible for running the exercises. It includes weapons specialists and Program Managers (PMs), who coach each fighter squadron in the Air Force and Navy as they take their turn to participate in a WSEP.

“The Program Managers are aircrew instructors in each specific aircraft type,” explains Col. DeWitt. “They are the experts when the units come here. They teach the aircrews and fly with them, chase them through each shot and ensure they are employing correctly with the different missiles, which are typically Raytheon’s AIM-9M and -9X Sidewinders and AIM-120 AMRAAMs [Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles]. Some WSEPs also include aerial gunnery, firing at towed banners.”

A 93rd Fighter Squadron "Florida Makos" pilot gives the squadron hand sign of the jaws of the Mako shark. Jamie Hunter

Each year the WEG runs approximately nine Combat Archers at Tyndall (there are also occasional events at Hill AFB), and the visiting squadrons prepare for the exercise, deploy to Tyndall, and participate in the live firing, under the expert guidance of the PMs. Ultimately, the squadrons come to Tyndall to fire live missiles, to both check out new hardware and software on those weapons, and to give squadron weapons teams and aircrew the experience of actual end-to-end employment of their primary weapons.

“I also have a number of maintainers here that are weapons evaluators,” Col. DeWitt adds. “They follow, observe, and assist the deployed units to see how effective they are. Have they shown up with the right equipment and the right training? How can we help them so that when they go and do this for real downrange they have the practice, they feel good about what they’ve been trained on, and it’s not their first time doing it.”

An F-15C of the California Air National Guard gets airborne during Combat Archer. Jamie Hunter

Firing off live, high-tech missiles, near the Florida coastline isn’t without its challenges, including major safety and security concerns. Creating a realistic and safe training environment includes fitting missiles with telemetry packs instead of warheads and the jets themselves carrying telemetry pods to track their position in the airspace. Ultimately, the aim is successfully shooting at fighter-representative targets. Each performance — from the weapons-loading team to the pilots — is scored based on the probability-of-kill (pk) rate and targets hit during the sorties.

The huge Eglin Gulf Test Range and Training Range, which lies adjacent to Tyndall, is monitored, and controlled by the resident 81st Air Control Squadron. With oil and gas exploration, shipping, fishing, and a range of surface activities, the missile shooting areas must be ‘sanitized’ before the daily exercise activities can commence. This involves use of two surveillance-radar-equipped E-9A Widgets, which are operated by the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron (ATRS) and used to build an up-to-the-minute picture of the ocean’s surface inside the ranges. This enables the 83rd FWS team to build a safe ‘shoot track’ for each day’s WSEP activities.

Part of the 82nd ATRS mission also aligns directly with the Title 10 mandate in that the unit provides combat-configured, combat-representative, target drones for the missile shots. The Air Force uses both the Kratos BQM-167 sub-scale drone, and the Boeing-converted QF-16 Full-Scale Aerial Target (FSAT) to fulfill this role, and both are a critical element of each Combat Archer exercise.

A BQM-167 sub-scale drone operated by the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron is launched for a WSEP mission. USAF/Sara Vidoni

Combat Archer — focusing on air-to-air — is designed to make sure the complete weapons system works. That includes the munitions themselves and the process that takes them from storage, build-up, configuration, and loading, the jets being correctly maintained and configured to fire them, the mission planning, training, and ultimately the moment they are fired and guided to the target. Under scrutiny are the techniques and tactics that are used, to ensure they are all valid and work as planned when called upon. It is ultimately designed to ensure America’s fighter squadrons are ready for combat.

“In the past, we would focus purely on the weapon, from when [the pilot] pressed the ‘pickle’ button to how the weapon performed from there,” explains Col. DeWitt. “Today, we take a wider view of the whole picture to gauge what we need to improve on and where we need to spend money and employ training in order to make this whole process better. Training our people to build the weapons correctly, designing the weapons correctly — all the things that need to happen so that when the pilot presses the button the target blows up when it’s supposed to.”

An F-35A of the 4th Fighter Squadron taxies out at Tyndall AFB in May 2023 for a Combat Archer mission. Jamie Hunter

“It used to be a case of whichever unit was available on their schedule would come and do these evaluations, because previously we were mainly focused on the weapon," says Col. DeWitt. "However, we have now changed that to fit with the USAF’s Force Generation model. This means that we are now generally working with units that are getting ready to deploy on combat operations or be ready for combatant commanders to pull downrange when needed. So, they come here and get an outside look at how they're performing, whilst getting them some training and experience. So today, it’s a kind of certification program before they go into combat.”

WSEP has evolved. More than ever, it’s designed to put squadrons and their weapons to the test. These squadrons must be ready for the fight when called upon. WSEP makes sure the entire system works as advertised. But this is a complex exercise with a raft of distinct elements that are key to success.

In this week-long series, we go take an unprecedented look into Combat Archer and its many moving parts, including flying on multiple missile shoot sorties. In part two of the series, The War Zone focuses on the targets that pilots fire at, including how they are equipped and operate, and why some pilots have to fly 'hands-off' in QF-16 drones that are controlled from the ground.

[walkingthroughthisworld]

Everything the light touches An M1 Abrams main battle tank provides security during the Combined Arms Company field exercise at Novo Selo Training Area, Bulgaria, Sept. 16, 2015. The CAC is a newly formed armor element supporting the Black Sea Rotational Force.

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Justin T. Updegraff/Released)

[military1st]

A U.S. Army Soldier during combined urban assault training at Exercise Talisman Sabre 21 in Townsville Field Training Area, Queensland, Australia.

The U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Michael Jefferson Estillomo (2021).

[ghostlythunderbird]

“Inside the Mind of an Active Duty Airman” #2

This little series will be compiled to things ranging from asks/questions to things to help out writers who don’t know much about the American Military or Military life as a whole.

Objective #1: Deployments and TDYs

In military life everyone will go on at least one deployment over their military career. These deployments can range from a week up to sometimes 8 months or longer, with the average deployment lifespan being roughly 6 months from an Air Force Civil Engineer perspective. There are quite a few deployments that happen all around the US and in its overseas bases, some can be in the US in another start or can be overseas.

Did you know there aren't just single branch deployments or even single country ones? More often than not there is a chance with someone being deployed with other branches if there are specific duties that are needed, this is often called Joint Combat Training. This is also the same when the US military works with other countries, that can often be air mobility, land, and sea based exercises. Some of the most notable countries would be the United Kingdom, Australia, South Korea, France, Germany, and the Republic of Singapore to name a few.  

Now for TDYs, these are often called Temporary Duty Stations and they are different from a deployment. While a deployment is often in another country or sometimes in the middle of nowhere, a TDY is often at another base for training or special duties. These are often made by the chain of command and usually have at least a month's notice before the person has to report to their TDY station.

In preparation of becoming deployed or TDY every person has a form of out-processing to ensure that their records match for the duration of the time they are away from their home station. They also have to have their deployment bags ready, there are often checklists that are given out to ensure that the personnel have plenty of clothes, toiletries, and footwear for the entire duration.

Objective #2: Leave and coming off deployment

Coming off deployments can be either relaxing or stressful for personnel depending on the environment and workload. To help combat mental stressors and prevent from lowering morale and work productivity returning personnel are often given leave time to allow a steady readjustment. This is often referred to as R&R leave and depending on the lifespan of the deployment it is often roughly 2 weeks of paid leave time. There are also different types of leave that are often used in various situations.

Ordinary leave: This is the base level of leave that can be applied at any time, of course this is often at the discretion of one’s chain of command and can range from 2-30 days.

Rest and Relaxation (R&R) leave: Often only given out after Deployments and TDYs and ranges from 14-21 days.

Emergency leave: Only used if there is an Immediate family emergency or when there is a death in the family.

Objective #3: Clothing and Weaponry

This one will be relatively short as there are only a few clothing options offered by the military as well as weaponry.

Clothing: More often than not all military members will have a base military uniform that they use on a day to day basis. The branches have uniform patterns to set them apart although some may share the same patterns but there are subtle differences in the uniforms. (Army, Airforce, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard). For those operating in special forces or in special duties they will often be given a needed gear such as Cold and Hot weather gear for the needed terrain.

Weaponry: All members of the armed forces must know how to handle, operate, and clean their weapons. All branches have regular training and this can be more or less frequent depending on branch and career field, Most will be monthly, Bi-annually, or annually. The most common weapon types will be Rifles (M16 and M4), Pistols (Barrett M9, Sig Sauer P229), and Long Range Rifles (Barrett M82, M40, and Mk 22 MRAD). These will be the most common weapon profiles in current service in the US Armed Forces.

Objective #4: Military Selection and Boot Camp

Joining the military may sound easy, but believe it or not it's actually difficult to be selected to pass through even before you go to your boot camp. Everyone who has signed up has had to go through a selection process called MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) that determines your eligibility for military service. Here you have to go through your medical records, drug testing, range of mobility tests, and many other tests. This will often occur to help determine if you're eligible physically to apply for most jobs. But do beware as most MEPS actually try to disqualify you and often say you failed in a certain section that may hinder you from your selected job and might become a setback in starting your military service.

After surviving your MEPS process you then begin the road to getting ready to be shipped off to your basic training. Basic Training is where all members on your selected branch will train to gain the title of Soldier, Marine,Sailor, Airman, and Guardian. The US has different uses for each branch such as the Army and Marines are frontline combatants, the Navy as naval transport and support from the sea, and the Air Force as Air transport and air support for ground troops. So their basic training must reflect the military's base functions.

U.S. Army: Also known as BCT (Basic Combat Training) is roughly 9 weeks but that is not included in-processing and job training.

U.S. Marine Corps: The longest basic training at 12 weeks not including 4 days for in-processing. 

U.S. Navy: Aside from 1 week that is used for in-processing, there are 7 initial weeks for naval basic training.

U.S. Air Force: Known as Basic Training, the Air Force has the second shortest training out of all the branches at 8 weeks before moving on to Technical Training, where Airmen learn their individual jobs. 

U.S. Coast Guard: As the shortest basic training, the US Coast Guard only trains for 7 ½ weeks.

Thanks for checking out my blog! If you have any military questions or just need help on a military related fic don't be afraid so ask!

[rhk111sblog]

Troops of the Marine Battalion Landing Team-10 (MBLT-10) of the 4th Marine Brigade (4MBDE) of the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) recently conducted the ISLA 02-24 Field Exercise in the Province of Batanes with their ATGL-L2 Rocket Launcher, which is an RPG-7 type of Weapon

Here is the Link containing the original Picture at the MBLT-10 Facebook Page: https://web.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0PD7oDhNvqAPGKEiFXzmWDoNJ7aG7BXSCwnwognrEs3Aez4cd3HtsA4zWwMVequW1l&id=100064874733181

SOURCE: Marine Battalion Landing Team-10 Facebook Page Post, 07/31/24 – 0912H {Archived Link}

[georgemcginn]

DOD Featured Photos

Hiding in Plain Sight Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Logan Baker participates in a company-level field exercise at Mount Bundey T… Photo Details > View All Photos ABOUT NEWS HELP CENTER PRESS PRODUCTS Unsubscribe | Contact Us

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.11 (after 1900)

1903 – The first race at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin is held. It is the oldest major speedway in the world. 1905 – The Ninth Avenue derailment occurs in New York City, killing 13. 1914 – World War I: Australia invades German New Guinea, defeating a German contingent at the Battle of Bita Paka. 1914 – The Second Period of Russification: The teaching of the Russian language and Russian history in Finnish schools is ordered to be considerably increased as part of the forced Russification program in Finland run by Tsar Nicholas II. 1916 – The Quebec Bridge's central span collapses, killing 11 men. The bridge previously collapsed completely on August 29, 1907. 1919 – United States Marine Corps invades Honduras. 1921 – Nahalal, the first moshav in Palestine, is settled as part of a Zionist plan of creating a Jewish state, later to be Israel. 1922 – The Treaty of Kars is ratified in Yerevan, Armenia. 1941 – Construction begins on The Pentagon. 1941 – Charles Lindbergh's Des Moines Speech accusing the British, Jews and FDR's administration of pressing for war with Germany. 1943 – World War II: German troops occupy Corsica and Kosovo-Metohija ending the Italian occupation of Corsica. 1944 – World War II: RAF bombing raid on Darmstadt and the following firestorm kill 11,500. 1945 – World War II: Australian 9th Division forces liberate the Japanese-run Batu Lintang camp, a POW and civilian internment camp on the island of Borneo. 1954 – Hurricane Edna hits New England (United States) as a Category 2 hurricane, causing significant damage and 29 deaths. 1961 – Hurricane Carla strikes the Texas coast as a Category 4 hurricane, the second strongest storm ever to hit the state. 1965 – Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Army captures the town of Burki, just southeast of Lahore. 1970 – The Dawson's Field hijackers release 88 of their hostages. The remaining hostages, mostly Jews and Israeli citizens, are held until September 25. 1971 – The Egyptian Constitution becomes official. 1972 – The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system begins passenger service. 1973 – A coup in Chile, headed by General Augusto Pinochet, topples the democratically elected president Salvador Allende. Pinochet exercises dictatorial power until ousted in a referendum in 1988, staying in power until 1990. 1973 – JAT Airways Flight 769 crashes into the Maganik mountain range while on approach to Titograd Airport, killing 35 passengers and six crew. 1974 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 crashes in Charlotte, North Carolina, killing 69 passengers and two crew. 1976 – A bomb planted by a Croatian terrorist, Zvonko Bušić, is found at New York's Grand Central Terminal; one NYPD officer is killed trying to defuse it. 1980 – A new constitution of Chile is established under the influence of then Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, which is subject to controversy in Chile today. 1989 – Hungary announces that the East German refugees who had been housed in temporary camps were free to leave for West Germany. 1992 – Hurricane Iniki, one of the most damaging hurricanes in United States history, devastates the Hawaiian Islands of Kauai and Oahu. 1997 – NASA's Mars Global Surveyor reaches Mars. 1997 – After a nationwide referendum, Scotland votes to establish a devolved parliament within the United Kingdom. 2001 – The September 11 attacks, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks killing 2,996 people using four aircraft hijacked by 19 members of al-Qaeda. Two aircraft crash into the World Trade Center in New York City, a third crashes into The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and a fourth into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. 2007 – Russia tests the largest conventional weapon ever, the Father of All Bombs. 2011 – A dedication ceremony is held at the United States National September 11 Memorial on the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in New York City, and the memorial opens to family members. 2012 – The U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya is attacked, resulting in four deaths.

[sgtgrunt0331-3]

Lance Cpl. Joseph Gonzalez, with 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, posts security during a noncombatant evacuation operation exercise as part of Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course 1-24 at Lance Cpl. Torrey Gray Field, Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, Oct. 20, 2023.

(Photo by Lance Cpl. Justin J. Marty)

[near-stafford-va]

Stafford, VA, Has The Nicest Homes

One of the things you consider when moving to a new place is the availability of homes. With Stafford, VA, this will never be a problem. Larger family homes at much lower prices than in the communities closest to Washington, D.C., are one reason why some people choose Stafford County as their home. There are homes for every budget and price range. The inventory includes everything from townhouses for smaller families to large, gated-community luxury homes for buyers looking for the most space. Additionally, lot sizes are significantly larger than in Arlington or Fairfax counties to the north. Riverfront properties are also available if you want to be near the water.

Quantico Daycare Center

The Merit School of Quantico Corporate Center the best Quantico Daycare Center. It's located less than a mile from the Quantico Marine Corps gate in Stafford County, which is accessible from US Route 1 and I-95. I like the state-of-the-art facility in the Merit School. There's an infant daycare service through school-age care and premium Montessori programs for children ages 2-5. There are various programs from Merit School. You can select from baby steps, toddler explorers, preschool explorers, Montessori, preschool readiness, junior kindergarten, before and after school care, and summer camp. They serve Anne E. Moncure Elementary, Widewater Elementary, and Shirley Heim Middle School. For more information, call (703)-583-6158.

Quantico Preschool

The Merit School of Quantico Corporate Center is your kids' most excellent Quantico preschool. Parents in Quantico trust this childcare since it is the most reputable preschool. From the modest beginnings of this institution, it has taken care of kids through the school years. An excellent educational curriculum, age-appropriate activities, field trips, healthy foods and refreshments, transportation to and from the public schools they serve, and winter, spring, and summer camps are all provided by the school personnel. This private school offers a range of programs to meet your needs, including preschool explorations, readiness enrichments for children ages three to four, junior kindergarten, before- and after-school care, elementary school, and others. Call for additional information at (703)-583-6158.

The Cavalier Family Skating Centers USA Inc. in Stafford 

The Cavalier Family Skating Centers USA Inc. in Stafford, VA, is a place to enjoy exercise and time with family and friends. The skate rental costs $3, while the Roller Blade Rental costs $4 for all sessions. The skating time on Monday night is 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm with $7 admission. On Wednesday night, skate night is cheap because the admission fee is only $3. You can come and roll to your favorite music. On Friday, admission is $12 per person, and there’s loud music and fast skating during Friday. On Saturday, from 10:30 to 5:00 pm, there’s an open skate, and admission is $8. During Saturday and Sunday, admission pass is $12 and $8. 

Stafford Program Helps Children With Autism

The Stafford program benefits autistic youngsters. Tacos, baked potatoes, spaghetti, pancakes, and animal-faced toast are among the recipes. They're all family favorites that have contributed to the success of Cooking Autism Inc., a local nonprofit school-based program for autistic children. Cooking Autism has come a long way in five years, focusing on kids with Autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, down syndrome, and other intellectual and developmental challenges. Special-education teachers can apply for funds to the nonprofit twice a year. In exchange, participants receive a life-skills and cooking curriculum and resources to include in their courses. I like this move because it helps children with Autism. Read more.

Link to maps

The Cavalier Family Skating Centers USA, Inc. 1924 Richmond Hwy, Stafford, VA 22554, United States Get on I-95 N from Hospital Center Blvd 4 min (1.3 mi) Follow I-95 N to Russell Rd in Prince William County. Take exit 148 from I-95 N 7 min (7.5 mi) Take US-1 S to Corporate Dr in Stafford County 2 min (1.3 mi) Merit School of Quantico Corporate Center 400 Corporate Dr #100, Stafford, VA 22554, United States

[mariacallous]

Beginning on Feb. 3, only three weeks before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, the Russian navy held military exercises on the edge of Ireland’s territorial waters. The Russian maneuvers took place above the densest concentration of undersea communications cables linking North America and Europe. Six months later, more Russian warships, including the cruiser Marshal Ustinov, were spotted acting unusually in the waters of Ireland’s exclusive economic zone.

There is a lot of nervousness in Western capitals about possible Russian sabotage of critical energy and communications infrastructure following a series of mysterious incidents—explosions destroying several Russo-German gas pipelines at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, Norway’s declaration of a military alert after drone sightings over strategic sites, and the disruption of key internet cables near the Shetland Islands. Russian President Vladimir Putin, that much is certain, is seeking additional ways to raise the discomfort level for the West to undermine its support for Ukraine.

Don’t count on Ireland to have any part in countering or deterring real and potential Russian threats. With a token navy of six active patrol vessels, not a single submarine to cover its vast marine zone, and annual defense spending of barely more than 1 billion euros (about 0.3 percent of GDP), Ireland stands out as the worst-prepared European country to meet any meaningful threat—or even anything less than a meaningful threat.

While Europe is not short of nations that have shirked their military responsibilities and lack a credible security policy, the war in Ukraine has exposed Ireland as perhaps the biggest shirker of them all. Dublin’s blatant disregard for its own security and defense is bad enough for Ireland—which is entirely dependent on open trade routes and has major offshore gas fields. Ireland’s lack of an effective military also has a wider potential fallout. Given Ireland’s strategic location at Europe’s edge in the North Atlantic Ocean, few countries are as important in securing Europe’s vast Western borderlands.

Forget Germany and Europe’s other defense laggards—we need to have a serious conversation about Ireland, Europe’s worst security policy free rider.

Ireland lacks the basic abilities to defend its sovereignty. In a February report, the government-appointed Commission on the Defence Forces starkly exposed Ireland’s military shortcomings. The absence or near-absence of crucial capabilities—including intelligence, cyberdefense, radar, intercept jets, and heavy airlift planes—render the Irish forces “unable to conduct a meaningful defence of the State against a sustained act of aggression from a conventional military force.” That makes Ireland—and the 75 percent of trans-Atlantic undersea cables passing through or near Irish waters—totally defenseless.

Ireland’s mini-navy—six active vessels with roughly 800 total personnel and no subsea capabilities—is supposed to be responsible for policing 16 percent of the European Union’s territorial waters. Yet its staffing shortage is so serious that not even all six ships are available for deployment at any one time. Routine maritime operations are regularly canceled. Additional specialists are being hired from the private sector just to keep the ships afloat.

Pay and conditions are so bad that entire classes of naval service graduates are being bought out of their contracts by private employers seeking their technical skills. Even the cruise ship industry, hardly known as a workers’ paradise, has been able to poach Irish navy staff with better pay and conditions.

But as bad as things are in the barely patrolled Irish Sea, they may be even worse in Irish airspace. With barely 700 staff, the Irish Air Force (known as the Aer Corps) lacks the capability even to track aircraft across Irish skies. Irish parliamentarian Tom Clonan, a former Army officer, noted that Ireland is “the only country in the EU that cannot monitor its own airspace by primary radar. Nor can Ireland patrol its own airspace with even the most basic jet interceptor.”

The last Irish combat jets, decrepit French Fouga CM170 Magisters first built in 1952, were retired in 1998. Since then, the Aer Corps has comprised a motley collection of just over 20 helicopters and planes. Only two maritime patrol aircraft (the Spanish-Indonesian Casa CN 235, which doubles as a regional airliner) guard Ireland’s exclusive economic zone in the North Atlantic, an area of approximately 132,000 square miles.

The absence of combat or heavy airlift planes has left the Irish begging other European air forces for help in emergencies, most recently during the evacuation of Western personnel from Afghanistan. The Aer Corps’ lack of expertise means it has to send junior pilots to the United States and Australia to complete their basic training. Often, they train in modern aircraft models that the Aer Corps will likely never fly.

The effectiveness of the Irish Army—around 7,000 soldiers and staff and falling—is constrained by both its tiny size and lack of equipment. It has no heavy tank and no long-range artillery—just two batteries of medium-range guns. Ireland’s inability to transport any of its army quickly via air or sea renders it a largely static force.

So what exactly have the Irish been thinking all these years?

At the core of the problem lies a generational political neglect, which has led to a continuous deterioration in the effectiveness and morale of serving troops. Ireland—which is not a NATO member—has long been unwilling to develop its military forces as part of a credible security policy, including deterrence. In absolute terms, Ireland spends more on defense than each Baltic country, but the latter have a keen sense of their security needs, conduct regular exercises, and, as NATO members, host additional troops and equipment from allies.

Ireland also appears to feel little security obligation to its European Union partners. This partially reflects Dublin’s view of the obligations of EU membership in purely transactional economic terms. Finally, Ireland has long clung to a policy of military neutrality—a perfect political cover for neglect and a major reason why few Irish would countenance any direct role in military conflict.

Instead, Ireland has outsourced its security to Britain. The two countries have an agreement that effectively cedes control over Irish air space to the British Royal Air Force, including for tracking and intercepting aircraft. The benefit to Ireland is obvious: It keeps its airspace safe and secure without having to pay a single cent.

The war in Ukraine hasn’t jolted the Irish from their security-policy slumber. Unlike Sweden and Finland—also traditionally unaligned—Ireland has not reassessed its neutrality. Unlike Germany, Ireland has not had a sudden epiphany that a new era with increased security requirements has dawned.

Recent polls suggest the Irish are fine with this state of affairs. Two-thirds of Irish voters do not want to see any change to Ireland’s policy of military neutrality, a position that political leaders are loathe to seriously challenge. Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin and Defence Minister Simon Coveney have snuffed out any timely discussion by pledging to reflect on and redefine Irish neutrality at some unspecified future date. Prevarication continues to overrule all else in the Irish neutrality debate. If anything, Irish public discourse suggests that the political project of enshrining neutrality in the Irish constitution is anything but dead.

Even the Russian navy’s military exercises on the edge of Ireland’s territorial waters haven’t prompted a rethink. In fact, Irish defense spending will continue its long decline in 2023, at least in real terms: The planned increase of 5.6 percent—or just 67 million euros—is far below the current Irish inflation rate of 9 percent. The only discernible upgrade until 2028 is the acquisition of a basic primary radar system. All other weaknesses remain willfully ignored.

The reality is that neither Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine nor heightened worries about protecting Europe’s undersea communications and energy infrastructure will lead to any reordering of Ireland’s security and defense priorities in the medium term. Only direct experience of military conflict, possibly in the form of a Russian attack on Ireland’s undersea infrastructure, would have any chance of pushing Ireland into action.

In the words of Irish parliamentarian and former Army ranger Cathal Berry, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has exposed Ireland as Europe’s weakest link.