Target Centermass

Day: January 16, 2006

  • Monday Post-MNF Link Dump

    Man, I could go for some football right now. Instead, I’ve been checking out these stories.

    Media Zinger o’ the Day

    Landing like a solid right cross hidden behind a good left jab [emphasis added].

    Witnessing former Vice President Gore’s speech today in which he basically accused President Bush of criminality for warrant-less eavesdropping on Americans was fascinating in part because it demonstrated just how spicy a Washington speech can be when the person giving it has nothing left to lose.

    Where Have I Heard This Tune Before?

    Filed under Iran-Playing-the-World-Like-a-Fiddle.

    A POTENTIAL breakthrough in the nuclear stand-off with Iran came last night when the Iranian ambassador in Moscow praised a proposal to move Tehran’s uranium enrichment programme to Russia.

    As Britain, the United States, Russia, France and China met in London yesterday to discuss how to handle Iran’s illegal nuclear development, the country was facing the growing certainty that it would be referred to the UN Security Council.

    While China remained resolutely silent on the possibility of sanctions – a move which it has the power to veto – Russia made significant moves towards the western stance on Iran’s nuclear programme.

    Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, said last night that his position is “very close” to that of the United States and Britain. And it appeared that he could hold the key to a resolution when Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Gholamreza Ansari, welcomed an offer to move the Iranian uranium enrichment programme to Russia.

    Such a move would mean Iran, which is developing a missile which could reach Israel, could not acquire enough material for a bomb.

    “As far as Russia’s proposal is concerned, we consider it constructive and are carefully studying it. This is a good initiative to resolve the situation. We believe that Iran and Russia should find a way out of this jointly,” said Mr Ansari.

    Banned in Iran: CNN

    Allowed in Saddam’s Iraq for a willingness to filter news for the tyrant, banned from Iran for a mistranslation. From a journalistic standpoint, which is more degrading?

    Iran banned CNN from working in the country due to its mistranslation of comments made by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a recent news conference.

    The indefinite ban, announced Monday on state-run television, highlighted the continuing tension between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear program.

    In remarks Saturday, Ahmadinejad had defended Iran’s right to continue nuclear research. State media have complained since the news conference that CNN translated his words as “nuclear weapons” instead of “nuclear technology” or “nuclear energy.”

    “Due to mistranslation of the words of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his press conference, activities of the American CNN in Tehran are banned until further notice,” said a Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry statement read on state-run television.

    CNN acknowledged the mistake in its U.S. broadcast.

    Yet Another Reason to Despise the Media

    A long-time military deserter has been identified and taken into custody.

    A US Marine who absconded from his base more than 36 years ago as a protest against the Vietnam war has been arrested and may face a court martial.

    Ernest Johnson Jr, 55, fled his camp in North Carolina in 1969 after becoming disenchanted with the war in Vietnam.

    […]

    Mr Johnson said he began to doubt the wisdom of joining the Marines after news emerged in 1969 of a now-infamous massacre of Vietnamese civilians at the village of My Lai.

    […]

    “I just decided I didn’t want to be a part of killing anybody. That’s about as plain as I can say it,” Mr Johnson said.

    A spokesman for the US Marines said Mr Johnson could face a maximum jail term of three years and a dishonourable discharge if found guilty.

    A decision has not yet been taken on whether to transport him back to Camp Lejeune, in North Carolina.

    However, the US military has previously dropped charges against similar deserters, instead giving them a less-than-honourable discharge.

    Why do I see this as a reason to despise the media? Well, there is this little tidbit at the end of the story.

    Captain Jay Delarosa denied the arrest was part of a campaign to send messages to modern-day Marines.

    “The purpose in apprehending such individuals is… simply an end result of a decision he made long ago.”

    That means that, during a wartime period with retention rates well above military expectations, some idiot in the press asked the question about an ulterior motive for capturing a deserter. If they cannot find a morale problem, they are quite willing to insinuate one. The approach of today’s practitioners of journalism, a craft I grew up loving, absolutely disgusts me

  • ARNG Transformation Taking Shape

    As a former Guardsman, I find this analysis of the almost-wholesale restructuring of the National Guard intriguing (hat tip to the Officer’s Club).

    The Army National Guard’s transformation, highlighted by the organization of 34 new modular brigades, continues to march toward a programmed completion date of 2008.

    The transformation to these cost-effective, rapidly deployable formations is occurring in the midst of ongoing deployments overseas in support of the Global War on Terror, as well as extensive deployments here in the United States for Operation Noble Eagle and for domestic disaster response.

    […]

    For much of 2005, the Army Guard contributed half of the Army’s combat forces on the ground in Iraq. These combat-proven units in many cases returned to immediately begin transformation to the new, modular configuration, with the goal being to make them identical in structure and manning to their active Army counterparts – though at a considerably cheaper price, since the Guard units are manned by part-time citizen-soldiers.

    Seventy-three percent of all Army National Guard units are affected by transformation – the largest shift in Guard force structure since the end of World War II. The transition began in fiscal year 2005.

    As in the active component, the Guard’s brigade combat teams come in three types – Infantry, Armored (formerly called “Heavy”), and Stryker. In addition to the BCTs, the Army Guard will also be fielding a number of new modular supporting units – six “Fires Brigades,” 10 “Combat Support Brigades (Maneuver Enhancement),” 11 Sustainment Brigades, 12 Aviation Brigades, an Aviation Command and three Sustainment Commands.

    As in the Regular Army, the eight Army National Guard Divisions are shedding all their organic structure and transforming to a modular, deployable command and control headquarters.

    In peacetime, the Guard division headquarters will have training and oversight authority for four or five BCTs located in the same geographic area. In wartime, each division will have a variable number of BCTs and support units attached to it depending on its mission.

    In addition, Guard division headquarters will have the capability to exercise command and control in a domestic emergency, as did both the 35th and 38th Infantry Divisions following Hurricane Katrina.

    […]

    The transition to 34 Brigade Combat Teams represents a considerable reduction in the Army National Guard’s combat force structure from only five years ago. In 2000, the Army Guard consisted of eight complete infantry divisions, each consisting of three maneuver brigades, plus 16 separate brigades, an Armored Cavalry Regiment and an Infantry Group, for a total of 42 ground maneuver brigades or their equivalent. The Army Guard’s authorized strength of 350,000 in 2000 was the same as it is today.

    The transition is even more dramatic when compared to the Cold War height of the Army Guard in 1989, when strength stood at 457,000 and the Guard fielded 53 ground maneuver brigades or their equivalent.

    The reduction in forces is equally dramatic in other branches, most notably Field Artillery. There, the Cold War reserve of 17 Field Artillery Brigades and a Corps Artillery Headquarters that are currently in the Guard will shrink to six “Fires Brigades” by 2008.

    […]

    Overall, the conversion to modular units led to a large decrease in the number of field artillery and armor battalions in the Guard, and an increase in the number of cavalry squadrons.

    Despite the broad and sweeping changes, several nods to history have been acknowledged so that the proud heritage of individual states could be recognized or maintained.

    Extensive evaluation and input from the states since then has led to a few significant changes to the Army National Guard picture.

    Perhaps most noticeable is the new designation and insignia that will be worn by Virginia’s Brigade Combat Team. Initially, the unit was to be designated the 116th BCT, 29th Infantry Division, and Soldiers would have continued to wear the 29th Infantry Division patch they currently wear.

    Virginia’s leaders decided instead to designate the unit the 116th Infantry BCT and adopt the shoulder sleeve insignia of the former 116th Infantry Brigade, the famed “Stonewall Brigade.” That patch sports a profile of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, the legendary Confederate commander from Virginia, astride his horse.

    In another change from the October announcement, Louisiana’s 256th BCT will continue to be called “Infantry” for tradition’s sake, even though its structure will remain that of an “Armored” BCT.

    The Army Guard will also have two armored BCTs – the 116th in Idaho and the 278th in Tennessee – that will adopt the designation “Cavalry BCT” because these units have long histories of service as cavalry organizations.

    Another example would be the resurrection of Texas’ 36th Infantry Division and its distinctive T-patch to replace the 49th Lone Star Armored Division, discussed previously.

    The Officer’s Club had graphical representation of the new structure of a heavy brigade combat team, which I’ve managed to track down to Global Security.org (click on image for larger version).

    Heavy Brigade Combat Team TOE