Clark Griswold
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Everything posted by Clark Griswold
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He seems gullible, just a gut feeling based on the few articles/interviews of his I have read. I think he believes basically hook, line and sinker anything anyone writes about how the AF doesn't give a shit about the Army, USMC and how the Navy is perfect. His background professionally is all in academia with no gaps for military, government or private service and as you said, no real check from reality that would open his ideas to the tactile reality of the cultures, motives, strengths, weaknesses, obsessions and quirks of each of the services. If he had that first hand knowledge from a stint of service, particularly with anytime working jointly, I think he would be able to more readily see the competitive and somewhat cutthroat nature of the jockeying for money, power and prestige all branches of service have with each other. Just the nature of the beast and everything that any branch says about another branch should be taken with a generous dash of salt.
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Not a bad idea, send a message, reduce risk and start the process of getting our people and shit out of the declining Turkish republic. Unfortunately, that is why we probably won't do it.
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A new seaplane to love. First AG600 off the line. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-07/23/c_135534988_2.htm We can not allow a seaplane gap... ************************************************** CCTV video on the AG600
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Yup - Erdogan is applying what pressure he can for extradition of Gulen without causing damage, just being annoying... if he ups the ante then lets pull up stakes and throw cold water on direct military to military cooperation with Turkey. Interesting article on Erdogan's jet and what is reported on Coup F-16s trying to ID it for an intercept (seems they were more interested in forcing a landing than a shootdown)... Switched transponder to a Turkish Airlines code and cut all nav / strobe lighting, F-4s tried to provide cover for his jet but had no AAM... https://warisboring.com/pilots-flying-old-f-4-fighters-were-the-turkish-presidents-most-loyal-aerial-defenders-f05322e31146#.c10c9h3u9
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3 days and still on generators at Incirlik: http://www.stripes.com/news/incirlik-relying-on-generators-to-power-operations-1.419841 The question is starting to get asked is it a good idea to keep nuclear weapons in Turkey: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/07/19/an-old-nuclear-weapons-deal-raises-new-questions-about-u-s-bombs-in-turkey/
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Hadn't heard of this, just googled it and they are still unaccounted for, would have thought they would be in port by now. Kind of Hunt for Red October, assuming it is mainly the officers who were part or supporters of the coup.
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Follow up to story on re-tasking of CAS to New Syrian Army for BAI against an ISIS convoy. Impressive results: 200 enemy vehicles, 300 enemy KIA. http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/2016/07/15/diverting-fallujah-syrian-town-right-call-target-isis-general-says/87135774/
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Almost did: At height of Turkish coup bid, rebel jets had Erdogan's plane in their sights http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-plot-insight-idUSKCN0ZX0Q9
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This is a long time coming but Erdogan and company need to be shown the door: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stanley-weiss/its-time-to-kick-erdogans_b_9300670.html Just to put a cherry on top of it after kicking their a$$ to the curb, cozy up to Greece... The shoot down of the Su-24 should have started the process (at least pushing the other members publicly for it) but as always, the Leader from Behind just let an opportunity pass. He's supporting ISIS, he's undemocratic, an Islamist, a thug and a loose cannon; other than that he's a great guy... http://www.newsweek.com/impossible-beat-isis-erdogan-power-442767
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Yup - my tin foil hat is on as this does not seem unreasonable given the historical track record of successful vs unsuccessful coups http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3693729/Did-Erdogan-STAGE-coup-based-Turkish-cleric-facing-extradition-botched-rebellion-claims-president-orchestrated-plot-justify-clampdown-civil-rights.html I hope all is well for our folks at Incirlik; shit is getting very real, they arrested the Turkish Wing Commander there: http://www.wsj.com/articles/turkey-arrests-incirlik-air-base-commander-1468760920 Turkey is important but as long as Erdogan and his cronies are in power and slowly changing it to a quasi Islamic authoritarian state, we should greatly cool our support and engagement with him. Having Turkey solidly in our camp is great for the geography, airspace and logistics to deal with the various crises out of the ME but given Erdogan, it may be something the West will have to do without.
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Purging the Turkish Military is beginning with a degrading treatment on the way http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/turkey-coup-disturbing-picture-shows-8437742
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CNN says Turkish F-16 just shot down a helicopter commandeered by coup plotters, not everyone is on board with the change in management...
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From Wikipedia so take with some salt but seems reasonable on what aircraft Erdogan could be on, how long he could stay airborne, how far he could get if anyone offered him asylum... The government of Turkey has a VIP fleet which is managed by Turkish Airlines on behalf of the President of the Republic and Prime Minister. The fleet primarily consists of an Airbus A319 CJ(TC-ANA) and a highly modified and armed (Air Defense missiles) Airbus A330-200 PRESTIGE (TC-TUR). The fleet additionally contains 2 G550, 2 GIV and 2 Cessna Citation V. When the President of the Turkish Republic of any aircraft the call-sign is "Turkish Republic One- Heavy". If not Germany then another NATO country I guess would be his best spot to land. Just saw he landed in Iran - wants to go to Qatar
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Reports of Erdogan refused landing rights - plane diverted out of country http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2016/07/15/erdogan-seeks-asylum-in-germany-report.html?via=desktop&source=copyurl Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Trying futilely to get back to CAS topics... Bring back the A-4 Skyhawk (to the AF this time...) updated & specialized for CAS or BAI...
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More of an off ramp... Nah, that's the place Jabba runs across the DMZ...
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Su-25 documentary and article on their deployment to Syria. http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russias-has-its-own-10-warthog-syria-enter-the-su-25-13988
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Sarlac Pit
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CAS vs. BAI in the news, this story is making the rounds. Doesn't say anything other than they were "US jets" but raises the issue of priorities. No judgment on my part for the re-tasking as apparently a juicy ISIS target came up and assets were dynamically reallocated but our allies lost some dudes, that will have an effect on they way they perceive our value of them. http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/07/politics/syria-iraq-isis/index.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/07/06/u-s-jets-abandoned-syrian-rebels-in-the-desert-then-they-lost-a-battle-to-isis/ From the second article: “Hanging out our supposed allies to dry doesn’t achieve much and undermines our legitimacy and credibility,” Maxwell said. “It’s hard to establish and maintain rapport with these organizations if we say one thing and do another.” Break - Break Reading material on another interesting CAS case study: CAS at Khe Sanh https://books.google.com/books?id=Qw02ILaqfHQC&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=CAS+in+Vietnam+high+threat&source=bl&ots=1v6f6xAcTk&sig=vh9wjmu1MWlXCWr2bgNrLGwu3Tg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjDqZnuwOHNAhXHSyYKHSTaAGMQ6AEIKDAC#v=onepage&q=CAS in Vietnam high threat&f=false
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Tragic losses yes, but epic effects...
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Back to basics might be the new black with a resurgent Russia, China on the build up, etc... Army http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/05/20/heres-a-reason-for-army-to-get-back-to-basics-it-isnt-good-at-remembering-them/ Air Force http://www.afgsc.af.mil/News/ArticleDisplay/tabid/2612/Article/715384/ellsworth-launches-for-large-force-exercise-in-prtc.aspx Getting back to Large Force Exercises with an enemy that has more than VBIEDs and AKs is long overdue. On the idea of CAS within a threat envelope, I always wondered if the Concept Bird of Prey aircraft could have been developed into a light LO CAS / RECCE platform at relatively low cost. No big gun but if you could have an LO platform to deliver X SDBs or JDAMs against the SA-22s & 6s, that moves the needle significantly. With all the development successes and programs coming in on time and on budget, I am sure this could happen... CAS can be done in a High Threat Environment, ref Battle of Hoth...
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Power, unlimited power!
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Further thought on this idea, feasibility of CAS in a High Threat Environment, and while I am not aware of any specific work analyzing this I have considered a historical precedent, the Yom Kippur War, where Israel had command of the air (not exactly Air Superiority) andt a significant and effective threat from the ground in AAA, SA-2 & 3's that extended a threat envelope well over the FEBA, resulting in the loss of over 100 aircraft. Has anyone in the CAS community studied this or has it been discussed (assuming it can be discussed openly here) Israeli CAS tactics where only a "fast pass" in support of TICs might be possible due to a not yet suppressed threat? I imagine this could be a possibility in an AOR where an advancing enemy ground force is operating a long range threat (S-300 or above) from a no-go political boundary and if their offensive is not blunted quickly the facts on the ground will be such that the conflict is over. Baltics, Eastern Ukraine, Iraq or Afghanistan bordering Iran, etc... Could CAS still be effective and be morphed into a "fast pass" with a quick re-attack but the asset escapes after delivering a PGM but before it is engaged? As always OPSEC trumps everything, probably not much discussion can be had here but an idea.
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Not a bad article and I can't find a fault with his argument that some missions are effectively impossible but reading it I believe he was imagining a high threat environment where CAS is being performed but without support from ISR, EA, SEAD/DEAD, Decoys, Cyber & Space, etc... If there was a scenario where a ground element requires CAS and where CAS assets could receive SAFIREs from high end threats, they would likely have Growler, CJ, Compass, Rivet, etc... support. A CAS asset is not going in alone in that environment as it is going to be a brawl with everyone shooting trons to shut down sensors & links and likely UAVs to serve as lookouts for pop up threats and to hopefully soak up said surprise SAMbush while the manned asset either attacks or escapes the threat A-X performs the CAS, Growlers jam in the immediate vicinity, Rivet supports from standoff, MQ-9Cs operate where threats are suspected to be and sounds the alarm if detected / take one for the team if the threat starts to emit-target I could see this coming up (CAS in a contested to possibly contested environment) in Syria if we had to recover downed aircrew or support SOF in Russian backed government controlled areas of Syria, possible but not likely.
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Another article from War on the Rocks contributor Mike Pietrucha on CAS in a high threat environment. BLUF: We aren't / can't really do it (sts) http://warontherocks.com/2016/06/the-myth-of-high-threat-close-air-support/ Right, wrong, not relevant? Discuss..
