Tag: Military

Cutting The Fat

Good Stuff, Military

SecWar (how I love that new title) Pete Hegseth has apparently read the Riot Act to the fat cats at the upper end of the chain of command:

“The era of politically correct, overly sensitive don’t-hurt-anyone’s-feelings leadership ends right now at every level,” Hegseth said at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia.

He also announced at the meeting new directives for troops that include “gender-neutral” or “male-level” standards for physical fitness as well as an end to “woke” culture in the military, according to the Associated Press.

Hegseth also said he is changing fitness and appearance standards for the military, while setting the “Golden Rule” test.

Hegseth began his speech by saying: “Welcome to the War Department.”  He also said: “The era of the Department of Defense is over.”

The secretary said the mission of the Pentagon is “warfighting: preparing for war and preparing to win, unrelenting and uncompromising in that pursuit.”

“Our warfighters are entitled to be led by the best and most capable leaders,” he said. “That is who we need you all to be.”

“We lost our way, and we became the ‘woke’ department, but not anymore,” Hegseth also said.

The secretary said that he is sending out 10 new DOD directives regarding physical fitness and grooming requirements, including a return to “the highest male standard” for combat positions.

“If you do not meet the male level physical standards for combat positions, cannot pass a PT test, or don’t want to shave and look professional, it’s time for a new position or a new profession,” he said.

Hegseth added that “it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops. Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the world. It’s a bad look.”

Everyone agreeing with Pete, raise your hands…

Watch what happens to recruitment numbers…

Wait, What?

Military

Simple, rugged, cheap, low-maintenance… what the hell is a cropduster doing in today’s U.S. dotmil?

Just about everything, it seems.

Sheesh, pretty soon the Pentagon will announce that the Jeep Wrangler will replace the Hummvee and the Colt Government 1911 is going to be re-adopted as the official military sidearm.

Okay, maybe not.

Floating Swarms

Military

A while ago I opined that what the U.S. Armed Forces needed was not MOAR COMPLICATED weapons systems, but simpler, even old-fashioned kit that would do more or less the same tasks for much less money, with a much greater redundancy (i.e. losing one multi-million weapons system out of the dozen on hand to enemy action would not cripple either our wallet nor our force, when instead we had a hundred and fifty simpler weapons systems capable of doing more or less the same job).

Seems like some smart people think the same way about the Navy:

The Navy’s problem remains its obsession with blue-water ships and big-budget contracts instead of stepping back and rationally thinking about what is actually needed to fulfill requirements at a cost-effective level in terms of construction, use, and the risk of combat losses. The enemy of “good enough” is the desire for perfection and there is no reason to spend time and money reinventing the wheel when a proven gunboat design already exists that is good enough for the Navy’s littoral combat needs. A modern version of the Fairmile D motor torpedo boat—the famous Dog Boats of the Royal Navy’s coastal forces in World War II—is what the U.S. Navy needs today.

And the author goes on to explain how it would all work, and it’s a compelling argument.  A couple hundred of these bad boys, suitably updated, would definitely put a wrinkle into someone’s turban or Mao jacket, if you get my drift.

Read it all, and let’s hope someone in the Navy Department reads it as well, without throwing the thing straight into File 13.