Weaponsman has a pretty interesting piece up on clandestine shooting ranges. Of course, he takes it from the view of the IRA, who (any likely still do) conducted firearms training right under the noses of the authorities. Pretty neat take on how to keep your activities out of view (or sound) of the locals.
The old tire and steel drum range trap
And yes, I do believe that it is a production of Silencerco for their Salvo 12 line.
On the 6th of August, 2014, with the proclamation of Commandant of the Marine Corps General James Amos, MARSOC was officially re-flagged as the Marine Raiders. According to the Commandant ,who announced at a MARSOC change of command ceremony that all units within the parent command would undergo a name change. For example, the 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion would now be known as the 1st Marine Raider Battalion et al.
The Marine Raiders were elite units established by the United States Marine Corps during World War II to conduct amphibious light infantry warfare, particularly in landing in rubber boats and operating behind the lines.
“Edson’s” Raiders of 1st Marine Raiders Battalion and “Carlson’s” Raiders of 2nd Marine Raiders Battalion are said to be the first United States special operations forces to form and see combat in World War II.
The Marine Raiders and Navy Corpsmen of WWII earned 7 Medals of Honor, 136 Navy Crosses, 21 Distinguished Service Crosses, 330 Silver Stars, 18 Legions of Merit, 6 Navy & Marine Corps medals, 3 Soldier Medals, 223 Bronze Stars, and 37 Letters of Commendation in their brief service.
Just read that the USAF plans to replace its 350~ remaining A-10 “Warthog” close air support attack aircraft, which have proven reliable across the past thirty years…..
We give you the A-10 at full Brrrrrt…(The Idaho Air National Guard supports Exercise Combined Resolve II with A-10 Thunderbolt II jets at the Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, May 19, 2014. U.S. Army photo by Visual Information Specialist Gertrud Zach/Released)
With 256 MQ-9A Reapers…which are good for 1500# of ordinance but can remain on target for 14-42 hours depending on load and version. Which would you rather see flying above you if you were a Joe or Devil on the ground?
The Reaper!
PACIFIC OCEAN (July 23, 2014) Airman Zachary Frey, from Scott City, Mo., left, and Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class Kyle Roest, from Battleground, Wash., adjust a night vision scope on a .50-caliber machine gun on the fantail of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). Nimitz is underway conducting routine training exercises. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Eric M. Butler/Released)
Centerfire Systems is selling some scratch and dent DPMS AR-15A/3 carbines in used condition that have been re-imported into the country. Now they look like they have seen lots of use and may have some missing cosmetic parts, but they are only $449
Rumint is that they were used by U.S. contractors overseas.
Back in 2012 I blogged about Senior Chief Horne, who while serving on an 87 foot WPB off the California coast, lost his life.
Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III of Redondo Beach and three others were on an inflatable boat in pursuit of suspected drug smugglers in a panga. Investigators say that the panga was running dark with no lights on when it was spotted near Santa Cruz Island around 2 a.m. Sunday.
The Coast Guard cutter Halibut deployed its small boat, and the crew chased after the smugglers with its law enforcement lights on.
Authorities say the suspects suddenly turned, and at a high rate of speed, hit the Coast Guard inflatable head-on, throwing two Coast
Guard members into the water.
Horne, 34, sustained a traumatic head injury and was pronounced dead at the Port of Hueneme. The other Coast Guard member suffered minor injuries.
Well, the Coast Guard is remembering Senior Chief Horne by gracing one of the new 154-foot Sentinel class fast response cutters, now under construction at Bollinger Shipyard, with the cutterman’s name. The ship will have a heck of a monicker to live up to.
CJ Chivers found another instance of a DIY heavy sniper rifle. Ever since the days of the Boys Anti-Tank gun and Finn Lahti 20mm, armies have been on the lookout for high-caliber rifles that could assassinate soft-skinned vehicles and strait-up murder a building. These guns are proving popular on the modern battlefield as they are capable of harassing fire at long distances as well as putting important bits of kit such as commo and radar arrays out of business with a well-placed round.
Maj. Gen. John Singlaub, (U.S. Army, retired), has quite the resume. Born in 1921, he graduated from UCLA in the ROTC program during WWII and chose infantry as a young 2nd LT, but soon found himself as part of a 3-man Jedburgh Team of the OSS, dropping behind Nazi lines in occupied France where he worked with local Resistance groups and waited for the Allies to land. From there he found himself in Manchuria, Korea, Vietnam, and so forth. In 1977, while Chief of Staff of the U.S. forces in the ROK, he was relieved by Jimmy Carter after he publicly criticized the Commander-in-Chief.
In the 1980s, retired from the Army and not-officially a member of the Intelligence Community anymore, he was the fixer and organizer that helped funnel training, money and equipment to the Contras in Nicaragua (this included recruiting non-agency assets like Robert K Brown and his Soldier of Fortune magazine crew as trainers, as detailed in Brown’s excellent memoir).
Well, at 93-years young, the General is still making public appearances to veterans groups and others and he is still pretty sharp
“You can’t fly a satellite or a drone over the enemy position and find out what’s in their minds, what they are planning,” Singlaub said. “It’s just impossible. You have to have human intelligence, and the way you have human intelligence is to seduce some of the enemy to give their secrets to us. We need to have a clandestine service.”
According to the BBC, Iran has supplied Iraq with attack jets to help it counter an offensive by Sunni rebels led by the Islamist group ISIS/ISIL.
The jets, Russian-made SU-25s (NATO reporting name Frogfoot) are low-key strike aircraft comparable to the U.S. A-10 Warthog (but without as much armor or smart-weapon capability), seem to have come direct from Iranian Air Force stocks. Since ISIS is a Sunni group (and Iran is the largest beehive for Shiites), Iran has a vested interest in keeping these insurgents on the run.
As far as the jets go, they make a good fit for Iraq as they used to fly the same model (albeit with Saddam-era Sunni pilots), and are easy to operate and maintain. Plus the Iranians don’t have to worry about these handful of counter-insurgency aircraft being turned against them in a real way should the two countries ever return to the old 1980s says of open combat.
And by making brownie points in rushing these old Froggers to Baghdad while the Iraqis are still wait-listed for brand new Block 50/52
F-16s coming from the U.S, the Iranians are loving it.