Fort Campbell SOF Three Gun Match

My sunburn today is fairly comprehensive! I spent yesterday out at the Rattlenake Ridge range for the FTCKY SOF Three Gun Match. My employer, ATS Tactical Gear, donated a customized Glock 19 as a raffle prize. The custom work was done by a friend of ours from 5th SFG, and it it's impressive. I'll get a pic of it before it gets transfered to the guy who nabbed it this week.

The 5th Group guys were ready for this match; they'd been practicing quite a bit for it. The top spots last year were taken my 160th guys, with Tony Ely winning the match. That guy can shoot, and has been a serious competitive shooter for a long time. I think it's because he's pilot-tall, which means he doesn't have as far to go to present the gun all the way out like I do. That's what I keep telling myself, at least. What the reality ends up being is that he's better than I am and I have a long way to go to get into that league. lol!

Tony has since moved forward in his career and is posted elsewhere these days. Even so, the Group guys had something for them this year. I watched runs by several of my friends that were just plain fast, with really good hits and clean run after clean run.

Special mention, though, really needs to be made of the guy who doesn't want the attention: my brother-frumma-nuther-mother Matt E. Matt's practice consisted of a hundred rounds of pistol drills that we did a week ago. No carbine at all. He was the first shooter on stage 5, which was where his squad started the match, and got his eye pro sprayed with oil from an "excess of lube", as he called it. He was shooting with an occluded eye, and didn't shoot a couple of targets. Right off the bat, he was down 9 points. However, he won every stage his squad shot from that point on, was the only shooter I can remember cleaning the entire steel stage. After that first stage, he shot better than some guys that get paid to shoot. Out of 59 shooters (IIRC) he finished 20th. I'm really, really proud of how well he did, but it means I can't shoot the match now. He set the bar too high for ATS employees! LOL!

Other than Matt, I think the rest of the top 25 were all Group guys. Several of our gunfighter friends finished way up at the top of the standings. They did well, and so did the Nightstalkers. Bottom line is, if you're an enemy of this country, you don't want these guys knowing who you are, much less where you are. It won't end well for you, I promise!

I wish I had video skills. Pelosi is beggin' to be mocked!

I'm sure you've seen the classic Badger Badger Badger movie. It's been on the 'net for quite a while. It's quite funny, really; I like it.

But now is when I wish I had some video editing skills. I saw Nancy Pelosi lying her ass off on TV this morning, saying she didn't know about water boarding, when we all know she was thoroughly briefed on it. She's trying to cover her substantial butt, and the documentation says the opposite of what she's claiming. In the history of the human race, that's been called lying the whole time.

So, that being the case, for some reason the first thing I thought of while watching her lie was the Badger Badger Badger video, but with different lyrics. Something like this:

Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar

Nancy! Nancy!
(repeat)
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
A snake! A snake! Snake! A snake! Ohhhhh it's a snake!!
Liar
Liar
Liar...

If you have the skills, feel free to use this idea. Just make sure I get to see it.

Cool Stuff to do in Louisville: The Frazier Museum

A few weeks ago, I visited Louisville, and I'm finally blogging about it.

Upon breakin' my best friend's step-son out of Fort Knox for his Family Day Pass, we decided that there'd be more to do in Louisville than the area directly surrounding the base, so we meandered our way down to that town. Tony's goals for the weekend were pretty simple: eat a bunch of stuff that wasn't completely healthy, and sleep in big time. We succeeded admirably.

We ended up in a hotel over near the airport that was just a few minutes down the freeway from downtown, and another few minutes from the University of Louisville. Being in the area of a University means lots of cheap eats, and the manager at the hotel recommended the 5th Quarter steak house. Turned out to be an excellent suggestion.

Saturday, after a trip to Crack Barrel, we planned to hit the Frazier International Museum, and then wander across the street to the Louisville Slugger museum and factory. Except that we never made it across the street. Turns out that the Frazier is stocked, on three floors, with armor, flails, maces, broadswords, pole arms, pikes, lances, voulges, spears, rapiers, sabers, pistols, revolvers, rifles, carbines, cannons, and some really kick ass dioramas, or tableaus as they seem to prefer to call them. We ended up spending about five hours there, and if they weren't closing, I think I could have spent a few more. This place was everything I love: sharp pointy stuff and things that go BOOM!

They had a really cool exhibition that was done shortly after we reached the third floor. Two living historians gave a demonstration of swordsmanship by way of acting out the scenes from Romeo and Juliet. The point was to describe the fights as they might have actually happened between the Montegues and Capulets, two families that were more or less at war. In addition to acting out the dialogue, they also explained the weapons, even going so far as to tell us something I didn't know: the derivation of the term "swashbuckler". It comes from a fighting style that was common at the time of the Romeo and Juliet. the "swash" refers to the slashing, cutting style of swordsmanship, where the "bucker" refers to the small, round shield used with the weak hand that has that name. Those guys were really, really good. A tip of the ATS hat with the "Kill Bad Guys Like a Champion Today" patch on the back to them.

This is the Armada tableau, depicting the English kickin' the ever lovin' crap out of the Spanish armada. Tactics made the difference once again.


This next one is from the Battle of Balaclava, more famously known as "The Charge of the Light Brigade". Professionalism in the face of blundered leadership. Note the wild eyed look on the face of the horse. They did an excellent job with this one.


This last one I included as much because I thought it was extra cool as for my friend Matt E. who's a big, big fan of the movie Zulu. The Battle of Rourke's Drift. This photo is not, in my opinion, the best angle to see this scene:


The tableau photos are from the Frazier's website. Those are some great quality pics! Much better than I'd be able to do with my digital camera!

After spending all day at the museum, we wandered around a bit and took a drive down River Road. We found Joe's Crab Shack, and despite the crazy long wait-no doubt because of the 50 top they set before us-we ate more than we should have again...which was one of the stated goals. Again, success. The aforementioned hat drew the attention of the manager as he was walking by. He stopped, took a long look at it, and said "That's what I thought that said. I just wanted to be sure". I just grinned and told him "It was a gift from a friend." He left with a disconcerted look on his face. lol!

Sunday meant we had to get him back to base, but we had enough time to hit Crack Barrel again, and went to see "Fighting". Decent movie, but we saw it more because there was nothing else we wanted to see than it being the first choice. :) I dropped Tony back at Fort Knox, and eventually found my way back home. The best news we heard was that somebody got caught by a Captain at Kentucky Kingdom in civilian clothes. The order was Class A's or Class B's all weekend. Oops!

We had a great time, and I'm really, really proud of that young soldier. He's still got about a month of AIT to do, then it's off to Texas to be a Cav Scout. He's a smart young man, and a self starter. He's going to do great things in the service.

He's got another graduation coming, so I'll be up that way in about four weeks or so. I'm really looking forward to that one.

Star Trek: Yup!

Went with Paul J. to see the new Star Trek today. I gotta say, overall its a very enjoyable movie. Even if it was a PG-13 and Simon Pegg wasn't in this one enough, I liked it, especially in contrast to the movies that came before it.

The existing flicks are OK, although I'm not a big fan of the ones with the TV show cast in 'em. Much like the James Bond series and the new Batman franchise, the new one is just better than its predecessors. Bad Attitude Bond and Mean and Nasty Batman are improvements over the previous versions, and in total, so are the cast of the new ST.

There are a couple of character interactions that I thought were outside the canon of the original, and the young Spock isn't as comfortable in the role, in my estimation, than Leonard Nimoy, but those are huge shoes to fill. Still, he was good in the role, and Karl Urban was surprisingly good as Bones. In the past, his performances could be characterized as...how to put it...wooden. As Bones, he channeled just enough of Deforest Kelly to let you know who he was, while still putting his own twist on it. I didn't figure out who Nero was until I looked it up on IMDB. Great performances abounded.

Go see it. Its a good story and quality escapism for a couple hours, and it's just plain fun. I'm looking forward to seeing the others in this franchise.

Consider your heroes

I got to meet a legend, hero and great American today. Tony Pryor was in the store today, meeting another great American who's just become Surefire's Director of Military Sales. Between the two of them, they've killed more people that the plague (they were all bad). Matt and I got to spend a bit of time hanging out with those two, and it was, as it usually is with those kind of dudes, just sitting at the feet of the masters. There's all kinds of stuff to be learned from listening to a couple of pros talk shop.

Once they'd left, Matt and I kinda looked at each other, grinned and just marveled at how cool it was that one of our heroes was hangin' out and buyin' some stuff. I made a comment about how weird it would seem to a run-of-the-mill average citizen that we care so much about a guy like him coming in, and we wouldn't care that much if George Clooney or "some other faggit", in Matt's words, was there. It brings an interesting question to light: who are your heroes?

The older I get, the less I care about celebrities, especially those that are famous for being famous rather than being talented in a particular area. They're just people. Sure, they do things that are entertaining and get well compensated for that, but for the most part, what they give is escapism...and stupid, uninformed political statements. That I may want to go see somebody's performance in a movie doesn't mean that their popularity means anything more than that they are good performers. Most of them don't contribute much to the country as a whole, although there are exceptions.

There are only a few ways that celebrities, whether they be musicians, actors, athletes, or artists, can get my attention, much less respect. One of those is to take their own time and put it in with the USO or visiting troops on posts across the country. There are those, like John Wayne, who used their celebrity to make things better for America's defenders. Others have used their positions to make things better for their fellow citizens, and some put their hands were their mouth is and work. But a lot of Americans consider them to be royalty for being celebrities, and that's just wrong.

Take some time and look at who your heroes are. Consider why exactly they're your heroes, and what they do to make this a better place. If that's not what they do, perhaps you should consider changing the criteria that put them on that pedestal for you.

When all else fails, post pics of the kid

I actually had something to do last weekend: I was in Louisville with my best friend's step-son, who I signed out of Fort Knoxxx upon his graduation from Basic. Upon delivering him back to said Fort on Sunday, he begins his six weeks of AIT, and then he's off to Fart Bliss. It is said there is no base in the country that has been more misnamed.

So, since I haven't written about that yet, and I'm not going to now, here's a recent pic of Schwaggie, complete with new tail cap on the Scout light. That's the V61, which doesn't have the "fence" that the stock cap (V59, I think?) has. Much easier to manipulate, but more prone to light ND's.

The "why" of ammo shortages

Got this in a newsletter e-mail from the NSSF:

FAST FACTS . . .
ANSWERS TO AMMUNITION AVAILABILITY QUESTIONS

NSSF has received numerous calls regarding shortages of ammunition. Many of these callers have expressed concern that the supply of ammunition is not able to keep up with the current demand.

In order to provide the best information possible on the issue of ammunition availability, NSSF interviewed ammunition manufacturers across the United States. Here's what we have learned:

Is there truly a shortage of ammunition?

The shortage of ammunition is real and is caused by several factors including:

*

A significant spike in consumer demand
*

Law Enforcement demand for training and readiness
*

Department of Defense demand for training and readiness
*

Higher prices from commodities

What calibers are in the highest demand?

The high demand for ammunition extends across caliber lines. The increase can be seen in most handgun, rifle and rimfire ammunition and on certain shot shell products such as buckshot.

What are manufacturers doing to keep up with demand?

In order to help keep up with demand for ammunition, manufacturers are working at full capacity (24/7). It is believed that any ammunition shortage is likely a temporary issue; however, it will take time for supply to catch up with demand.

How long will it take for supply to catch up with demand?

While it is believed that supply will be increasing, the great unknown is what demand will be later in the year. Since there is no way for manufacturers to predict how long consumer demand will be sustained at its current, unprecedented level, it is impossible for manufacturers to forecast the timeline for when the current backlog will begin to improve.

If that's true, at least it puts the situation in perspective.

The Toughest Man that Ever Was

I've been a Christian most of my life. I didn't realize that I was supposed to keep track of the date, or I would have. I think I was about six, maybe seven when I got saved. I come from a Christian family, my Dad being a Chaplain and pastor since before I was born. I grew up in the church, and have read the Easter story many, many times.

The description in the Bible of the beating that Jesus took is fairly graphic, but the written word sometimes doesn't convey the reality of what it was. I just watched The Passion of the Christ (I know, I'm slow on getting to things sometimes). I think Mel Gibson did a very accurate portrayal, in terms of the description in the Scriptures, of what Jesus had to endure for his task to be completed.

Historians have good records of how things were done in those days. The cat-o-nine-tails is well documented (and far more brutal than popular culture depicts it), as well as there being a pretty good idea of how crucifixion worked and was done. Caning is still done in some parts of the world, but with limited numbers of strokes because it's so painful and damaging. And there was more.

The point I think I'm trying to get at is this: I'm a 6'6", 300 pound gorilla who can take a shot. I've had bad injuries that hurt big time. I used to be an athlete, and I used to actually train at raising my pain threshold. Yeah, I was a weird young man in some respects. But there's no way I could have taken all that Jesus did and made it all the way to the cross. He fell and got up when I don't think a single man ever on the planet still could have. He was near death when the Romans were done beating, whipping, and tearing him, and yet he still managed to carry His cross most of the way to Golgotha. He lived through being nailed to the cross, and was still able to talk coherently to the criminal who asked for forgiveness. Bottom line: no one has ever been tougher than Jesus.

Kyle Lamb's thoughts on sights

Shooting while focusing on the target instead of the sights seems to be "coming back around" again. I've been shooting since I was 16. This idea has never really left, but has come and gone in popularity several times in the intervening 26 years of my life. It seems to be coming back into vogue again.

My opinion means squat next to Lamb's, but here's my take on it: if you can't get the gun up to eye level and need to shoot somebody or somebodies, it can be done at waist level, just out of the holster (the Speed Rock). On the occasions that I've done this drill-and I've only ever done it in classes and on the range-I've made same hole hits several times. Perhaps I should shoot from there more often...except that the distances are about as far from the target as one wall is from another, minus the depth of a couple bodies, in a hallway. Otherwise, making hits, especially as distances widen, happens most accurately with sights.


In case you're saying "who's Kyle Lamb?" Here's a thumbnail: retired as a Sergeant Major from the US Army, most of that with Special Forces Operational Detatchment-Delta, AKA The Big Boys, and known in popular parlance as Delta Force. As I understand it, one of the last jobs he did there was as the Force Mod guy. That's the guy that determines what new equipment meets the standards and needs of America's best combat shooters. He was there in some of the worst places American fighting men have ever gone, including Somalia (yeah, he was in the Battle of Mogadishu) and Iraq, among other places that can't be talked about. All that to say, he knows what it's like to be shot at and return fire, and made a career of it at the highest level possible. When Lamb talks, only a fool fails to listen.

And, because its cool and because this the standard of excellence, check out the 2X2X2 drill. Watch Lamb's last run at the end, and realize that these are "A" zone hits; his controlled pairs are right on top of each other at a speed I'm not even near. 1.26 seconds...Wow.

Only one post? Well, here's Jura then.

I was scrolling up and down my blog, and noticed in the column at right that there was but one post regarding whisky. Hard to believe, but the numbers don't lie. So, in order to do something about that, I gotta mention Jura 10 Year Old.


The bottle I have was a gift from one of the world's greatest people, Brother Murray. Brother Murray is the MCLMM/Baconforce representative in the beautiful northern land of Scotland. He sent me the bottle of 10 y.o. that came with a cool Jura flask for my birthday. I have been blessed with the best of friends.

Jura is an Islay single malt, but it is much different from the other Islay whiskys, primarily in that it doesn't have the strong peaty smokiness of SMS like Laprohaig. Its a 40% strength, deep amber gold whisky. It has a really great color. For some reason, it reminded me of sunsets in the west. I had a lot of good times related to sunsets in the west; that mental image brings a grin to my face.

The thing I found most interesting about this distilling is the finish. Some single malts have a distinct...ummm....pinch to them when you first put them in yer maw. There's kind of a bite to them, at the edges of the tongue. Jura 10 y.o., though, doesn't do that. It does have an agreeable warmth to it, but not until you swallow. Its unique in that respect; I can't recall another SMS that I've had that has the same characteristic in the same way.

Describing food or drink is difficult for me; I don't understand notes, hints of brine or leather, or basically "get" any of the other pretentious attempts to put into words what is tasted or smelled. Suffice it to say, I like this a lot, and I'm quite humbled that I have friends that are willing to send such gifts to me. I don't deserve them.

At least I classified.

I went out to Rattlesnake Ridge yesterday with Paul J. and Matt E. to shoot an IDPA Classifier. Matt had already classified with both his Glock and Wilson CQB, whereas Paul and I hadn't. I didn't have any extra .45, so I used my MnP 9mm. We had about ten shooters, and oddly enough, most hadn't heard of the MnP. When chatting with other shooters after I shot and basically waiting around and hanging out, when they asked "What do you shoot?" I answered "MnP 9", and got a quizzical look in return. I typically had to expound "Smith n Wesson MnP 9mm", which got an affirmative response. Maybe I wasn't doing it right.

Paul, as usual, shot like he was using a laser instead of a pistol. He dropped six points on the third stage, where the typical shooter will drop somewhere between 20 and 30. He was shooting deliberately to be accurate, so the only thing that's standing between him and classifying "Expert" is speed. He's pretty phenomenal. Matt improved his time and ended up in sharpshooter again, even though he wasn't happy with his shooting overall. Last match, he placed 3rd, even ahead of some of the best shooters we know.

In discussing it, we decided that we will be working on some of the harder aspects of the Classifier, and tuning up those skills. The Classifier isn't the hardest course of fire ever, but the strings are long-20 or 30 rounds per section of each stage, something like that-and the skills that it tests can't be hidden. You can either do a fast failure drill, or not. You can shoot well one handed, or you can't. It really does an excellent job of showing you where you need to improve. My accuracy was adequate, but there are places I can improve my speed, and I botched my tactical (administrative or reload with retention) reload by not having my plan set ahead of time. I thought I had a plan, but I guess I tried to change it in the middle, and added time. The other areas were probably drawing from concealment and getting that first good shot off faster.

I brought my camera, but totally forgot I had it with me and didn't get any photos. Rats. I also picked up a good sunburn on my face and neck. Since we've been so bundled up all winter long, I kinda forgot how that whole sun thing works again. Oops. At least I looked cool in my Oakley M Frames and Peltor Comtacs. lol!

Now, you've read all this, and now you're wondering: hey Haj, where did you classify? Well, I did indeed classify. I'm smack dab in the middle of the Marksman class. I don't have my score handy, it hasn't been posted yet. On the plus side, at least I didn't just barely make it, but I've got a ways to go to get into the next class, too. Got some practicing to do!

T.A.L.L.

I've been pondering of late, which is typically a good way to come to some unusual conclusions and topics. Sometimes it's crucially important stuff, like what to do with all the Obama threads on the forum, what is CAG using, or the frequent topic: entertainment.

Pondering entertainment brings one to consider those that entertain. Most are celebrities, because that comes with the territory. Being high profile means that a lot of people know your name-they think they know you, but do they? I don't think so-and know what you look like. While parts of that suck, parts are easy to let go to your head. We see it all the time. Lookit Lindsay Lohan.

LiLo has pretty much trashed her career with her excessive lifestyle. Apparently, movie makers just don't want to put up with it, regardless of how willing she is to get naked. Its such a shame, too. The girl has talent. She might be able to make a comeback if she can get it together. I hope she does, because she does have talent.

Somebody asked Bill Murray once what it was like to be rich and famous. He thought for a moment, and said "why don't you try just being rich, and see if that doesn't do it for ya". I'm thinking he really knows the what's up. LiLo was getting rich, I guess, but being famous seems to have been the downfall.

There are plenty of hot young actresses in Whollyweird these days. Lots of them come and go, but there are a few that seem to be able to handle the rise and avoid the fall. They're the ones I hope have long, long careers and make tons and tons of money. To that end, I think I'm gonna start a series. The first two on the list are two of my faves:
Anne Hathaway


and Jordana Brewster


They are the first of the Anti-Lindsay Lohans. Yeah, I have a thing for brown eyed brunettes. lol!

Yay! New carbine stuff! Surefire Scout Light

I got this little bad boy given to me today. How I got it is a little convoluted, so I'm not gonna go into it, but I will say this: its handy to have connections. lol!

The Scout is based on the Executive Elite series of lights. They have a sub-one inch body diameter, which the 6P and it's cousins have. There's an internal mount that's machined as part of the body, and the head is one of Surefire's new LED lamps and TIR lens that focuses the beam. Expensive, but soooo worth it. Shwaggie looks very sexy with her new light. Chances are more than good that the tail cap is going to be replaced with a non-shrouded one, and the light will probably be moved back. As it is now, I have to change my grip to actuate the light reliably.


Make sure to note the Knight's Armament flash hider, a gift from a high speed friend of mine. Like I said, it's good to have some connections.

Ammo is gettin' scarcer and scarcer

Man, this is getting rough. I'm sure its pretty much the same across the country: there's very little ammo to be had right now, and I'm betting the reason, again, stems from the Gummint. There was a rumor last week that all imported ammo had been banned by Executive Order. I searched for almost a week and can find no proof of it, but apparently consumers are not willing to take the chance and are scarfing up ammo like Pac-Man on one of the magical blue pills in the corner. What he's doing with those blue pills is a topic for another time.

The Obamanation Administration hasn't seemed to figure out that they're driving all of this every time one of their loudmouth figureheads steps up and makes a comment about guns or gun control. Every time they hint at it, it causes a whole 'nother wave of buying and supplies dry up. Again. It doesn't help that Wal Marts all over this area appear to be willing to sell all their ammo shipments to one of the local dealers or their employees. I generally don't like rationing, but if it has to be to spread product around as much as possible, that's what should happen. It doesn't do any good for shooting around here to sell a bunch of guns that can't be fed. Its not healthy for the sport, which could grow with match shooting, training, and all that goes with it.

Zerobama has been the greatest gun salesman the country's seen in quite some time; certainly much better than Clinton ever was. The "leadership" in Congress is watching what's going on, and I think they realize what's happening. The Obamanation didn't get a supermajority of voters. In fact, he didn't break even and won on Electoral College votes. This was not a Reagan-style landslide. So, while there's quite a bit of Hope for the Change of the Hope of the Change, there are plenty of pissed off gun owners, and a large number of them are new gun owners. Now that most of the campaign promises have proven to be as valuable as dust and the Marxism that we know Teleprompter Jeebus believes in is starting to show, gun control legislation is a bad, bad idea. The Speakers of the House and Senate both know that it's the third rail, and came out against it publicly. That doesn't mean they've changed their minds, it means they've realized that they could easily lose the House and Senate again, with the Presidency a short while after that. They know they're just lucky that a true Conservative didn't get nominated in the last election.

If you haven't already, make sure your representatives know where you stand on gun control, and join a group that can lobby for your rights, be it the NRA, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, Gun Owners of America, Second Amendment Foundation, Citizen's Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, or any others. There are more, and Google will bring 'em up. We've got to be vigilant and make our voices heard. I recently joined the NRA again, and will be looking into others. Now's the time to kick some ass!

Combat Focus Shooting: what's different here?

I've been pondering this question for a couple of days now, and I don't have a good answer. I was watching Wednesday Night at the Range on The Outdoor Network-might as well, there's rarely anything else worth watching on Wednesdays-and caught the "Best Of" episode that was the season finale of Shooting Gallery. That episode centered on Rob Pincus' Combat Focus Shooting.

I watched it in hopes of finally finding out what was different, other than a couple of shooting positions, about CFS. Looks to me like it's no different, except for a couple of TTP's, than the way everybody should be doing it anyway: thumbs forward isosceles. Don't jerk the trigger. They don't focus on the front sight, which is different from the way the best shooters in the world are taught, but the show didn't go into what to focus on instead.

Basically, I'm trying to figure out what's different and better about CFS than the way the best combat shooters in the world are trained. I'm not seeing it. Additionally, I don't see a reason to listen to what Rob Pincus has to say in contrast to what Larry Vickers, Kyle Lamb or Pat Rogers does. I know their backgrounds. Rob Pincus' background is a lot less clear.

Obama's War

I didn't intend to blog on politics today, and as both of the readers of my blog have probably noticed, I have avoided commenting on the new administration because I know I don't have anything good to say. However, watching the news this morning, the war in Afghanistan has become a hot topic, and it concerns me deeply.

The administration is planning a surge in troops there. They've been talking about that for months, at least. That's not news. What is news if you look deeper is that they're trying to do it all the wrong way. They're talking about increasing the number of troops there dramatically. Heard that before? They're talking about mechanizing it, bringing in tanks and other armor. Sound familiar? They're planning to bring in infantry is large numbers. Does that ring a bell?

What's the problem here? More troops means more fighting ability in the battle space, doesn't it? The Soviets used somewhere between 80,000 and a little over 100,000 troops there, most of which were conventional infantry (the 40th Army, IIRC). They brought tanks and armored personnel carriers, artillery and lots of trucks. They ended up leaving quite a lot of it there, too.

This isn't a conventional war. The conflict in Afghanistan is Unconventional Warfare. As such, and as was already proven by the take down of the country in a matter of weeks, it is a mission that is the very definition of a Special Forces mission. Not the CIF, not any other direct action unit, but a straight up, textbook Special Forces mission.

If you're not familiar with what SF does, their job is Unconventional Warfare, including FID (Foreign Internal Defense) and creating insurgencies. Their tasking is to either stabilize or destabilize a country and either foment or put down rebellion, depending on the situation. These are the guys that, along with the Northern Alliance, took down the Taliban in a matter of weeks. According to most accounts from people who were there, the reason that OBL and the Taliban weren't crushed completely is that conventional forces got involved and didn't let SF do what they do. See the books Ghost Wars, Masters of Chaos, and The Mission, The Men and Me.

Nations continue to get in the way of what they do well. This is no exception. We have the perfect force to fight this war, and aren't allowing them to run with it. Now, to be fair (I know, its hard to believe I'm saying that), this situation didn't unfold entirely on the watch of the Obamanation. They are, however, going to be the ones that perpetuate it. Why is that? Well, because he has no experience and has surrounded himself with cronies and Clinton administration retreads.

Increasing the number of troops isn't the answer. Decreasing them might be, if the Powers What Be would allow the organization most able to do this job to do it completely. Unfortunately, there are bureaucrats that won't allow that to happen, because it doesn't make them look good. And then it's political business as usual, rather than selling out to win the fight. In the end, I'll blame the Obamanation. Again.

Foot in Mouth disease: the Obamanation is at it again

I can't say that I'm at all surprised that BHO has made more stupid statements in a few months than most Presidents have made in a year, but I find it interesting that even the developmentally disabled are calling him out on it. Now, make no mistake: he's still getting the world's supply of Kid Gloves Treatment (KGT), but there's the beginning hints of a backlash comin'. I always figured that the Press, who think they're the smartest dumb people in the world, would not tolerate having an even dumber smart person as the Stumbler in Chief. BHO, by the time he's done, will prove to be the President that takes the cake for being arrogant and incompetent, as well as being overexposed.

C'mon, I gotta hear what his NCAA brackets are on ESPN a short time after hearing from his camp that he's "overwhelmed"? And how come he hasn't mandated a college football playoff system yet? Ya got a lot of work to do, BHO. Don't do something moronic like trying to push gun control again when your side of the problem created the mess we're in. I dare you to try to be non-partisan and find a solution that doesn't include your tax and spend current policy.

Taken: This Cool Movie is Haji Approved

Went and saw Taken this afternoon. I guess I was a little surprised that it was still in the theaters, but it point of fact, there isn't much else out there. Already saw "Watchmen". Other than being a little taken aback by the nudity in a movie about superheroes, it was very "meh" to me. Taken, however, had something that seems to be a bit of a trend these days: the somewhat older guy gettin' mad and kickin' teeth in. Taken is one of those movies, except for one thing that Hollywood got wrong. Again.

One thing that older heroes know that younger ones don't is that they understand support and networking. Check out "Burn Notice". The 40 something former spy relies on people that he sometimes doesn't like because he knows he needs help. Older dudes have spent a lot of years, even just by virtue of being on the planet for a longer amount of time, developing a network of contacts in a whole range of different areas. The father in Taken, a CIA "preventer" (probably in the paramilitary branch; the dudes that took down the Taliban with 5th SFG), had been places and done things that developed a specific set of useful and deadly skills over his career. He was a skilled man among skilled men. And therin lies Hollywood's mistake. Again.

Without giving too much away, the father in the movie goes to France to find the daughter that was kidknapped there. The thing is, he did it alone. This guy had a group of experienced bad asses that he'd worked with for years. He called one and got a modo intel dump. He made contact in Europe with a couple guys that were still in the biz but were behind desks now. And yet, he went about the investigation and splitting of wigs by himself.

This is a problem for me. I have several very good friends with kids. If somebody were stupid enough to take my friend's kids, all I'd need was a call or a text. "Meet me here, bring heat". I'd be out the door as soon as it took to grab the gear bag. I pray a day like that never comes, but what must be must be. Don't mess with my friends and their kids.

I guess the reason the movie was made the way it was that if they'd done it the way it should have gone, dude would have rolled up in Paris with a couple Para branch dudes and a couple recently retired CAG guys, and the movie would have been over in just about an hour and 15 minutes; 48 hours in real time. The flick they made was supposed to be over the course of 96 hours. The old dude was sandbaggin', I guess.

Dangit, I hate winter

Yeah, winter reared its ugly head again and rained out the IDPA match I was all psyched to shoot today. It wasn't the rain; we still woulda shot anyway. The problem is that the targets (IDPA targets are cardboard with scoring rings embossed on 'em) basically dissolve on the target stands in the rain. The fairly important head zone wilts and falls over. I kinda think that makes it more realistic, but its tougher to score, I guess. lol!

We were standing around talking while waiting for the rain to stop or slow down or pour somewhat less, and somebody said they had heard the solution for this particular problem: dry cleaning bags. They're cheap and easy to replace. Ya just lift 'em up to paste the targets and replace 'em when they get too torn up to see the A-zone. If we'd have known that ahead of time, we'd have shot the match, and I would have qualified below whatever the minimum passing score was. :)

Something to consider in a carry gun

My friend and coworker Matt made an interesting point today in regards to carry guns. I've already thought the topic through, but he put it in an interesting light that made me check my thinking.

Obviously, people are becoming unhinged in this sluggish economy. There have been several high profile multiple murders in the past couple of weeks, which will undoubtedly have the opposite effect that they should: instead of making it easier for citizens to defend themselves, we all know that if Congress introduces any legislation, it will be to restrict the lawful use of guns, rather than to simplify things. They should be thinking in terms of allowing people access to the best tools and carrying methods to defend themselves.

Be that as it may, the point is that carrying a gun can be a lifesaver; not only you and yours, but potentially several other people's as well. So, consider this: if that happens, and some nut job starts lighting up the Wal Mart parking lot while you're there, do you want the small, easily carried pocket gun like a Kel Tec, or do you want the more difficult to carry but far easier to work with real fighting gun? If you have to, at the drop of a hat, switch on and return fire, what tool do you want in your hands to get to it with?

The chances of needing to do so are admittedly slim, but it's certainly more of a possibility than it's ever been. The world hasn't been a safe place since...well, ever..., even here at home. With situations getting worse and a political hack who owes the Unions and the far left in the Oval Office, the promised Eutopia isn't going to happen, and the people who are gruntled now will get disgruntled in short order. At that point, it may very well be time for good men to raise the black flag, spit on their hands and start closing accounts. If you carry, you may very well be in that position at some point. When the balloon goes up and you have to make a 75 yard shot from under your car across the parking lot, what do you want to have in your hands: the tiny, easy to hide, small caliber pocket gun, or a real fighting gun in a serious social caliber? That's a decision you're going to have to come to grips with.

Nothin'.

I'm leading a very boring life these days. More often than not, I'm working six day work weeks, with the remaining day being spent doing things like wash and dishes. That doesn't leave a lot of interest to blog about. The only interesting thing on the horizon is an IDPA match next week.

The match director is a retired 5th Group CIF guy who shoots like a house afire, according to my friend who's shot with him. With his experience, the course of fire should be really interesting and fun. I'm really looking forward to it, even though I'll be lucky to finish in the middle of the pack. I did a bit of work today at the range to prepare, but was only there for an hour before having to leave to go to work.

I even joined the IDPA today. There are lots of things about IDPA that don't thrill me, like reloads with retension and courses of fire that don't take advantage of the AWB sunsetting, but I understand why that wasn't changed. My MnP mags are 17 rounds. If stages were set up that took that into account, you'd have to shoot a case of ammo to do a match. I haven't figured out the way around that yet that works more or less universally, but I haven't given up on thinking about it yet.

I just really hate the idea of time applying to an administrative reload. The only time to do that is when you're not actively engaged, not under fire, and not in immediate threat of contact. When that time comes, you have some time to work with. Otherwise, shoot to slide lock and speed reload. It seems to me that its a match device now to influence the complexity of the course of fire, rather than a test of the application of the skill. I watched a lot of video of IDPA matches, and there's a faster way to do that (which is how I'll do it), but it's not how it's taught by gunfightin' schools. Guess we'll see which way I do it under match pressure. I'm sure that's how I'm gonna end up in the middle...if I'm a little lucky.

WTH?

Why am I still awake at 3:13 a.m.? I have a comp day today, but I think I'm gonna waste half of it sleeping! That's it; I'm off to bed!

Deez is teh awesumz

Variations on the lolcat theme, with Barack Hussein Obama as the source of comedy. He's going to be providing a lot of this in the future, so you need to keep track of this site starting now:
IMAO

I hate YouTube.

I was checking out Dave Sevigny's record setting FAST drill video over at Pistol-Training.com. First, I gotta say: "Wow." Dave is one heck of a great shot. Second, looking around YouTube has gotten to be no fun at all.

There's a bunch of great vids, showing all kinds of interesting stuff, especially shooting. Jessie Abbate just impresses the heck out of me with her skills, and there are some good learning clips to be seen there, too. Good, useful stuff.

Its just...YouTube has got to shut down the dumb ass comments. I can't stand 'em anymore. There are way, way too many people that have no idea what they're talking about, talking...and talking...and talking. With the amount of garbage pecked out on a keyboard over there, Chap Stick could make a killing on Crack Chap, for all the out-the-ass comments there. There needs to be some kind of check system to prove that the jackass that is posting of what he has no knowledge of, and that he gets smoked for it. Its just out of control.

C'mon, Barack Hussein Obama. Fix this. You're all set to mandate a playoff system for College Football and to pay for mortgages that need to fail. The least you can do is to take a moment and fix this. It makes as much sense to get involved with this as it does for most of the crap you and your cronies in Congress are perpetrating, and at least this won't hurt me...unlike your Stimulus plan.

A great quote from Pat Rogers

Found this posted on LF by Pat Rogers, in a discussion of the scout rifle concept that Jeff Cooper espoused ( and had a moment of popularity of, and saw fade away into obscurity again). Pat's comment is in the context of the rifle, not the popularity; all that stuff in parenthesis is my opinion. At any rate, he said:

"I don't hunt, but prefer to buy guns than not."

I knew there was something to like about that guy. He's on to something there. :)