Bollinger Delivers 47th Fast Response Cutter to USCG, Last of 6 Headed to Persian Gulf

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Sentinel (Webber)-class 154-foot Fast Response Cutter USCGC Clarence Sutphin (WPC-1147) in Key West, Florida, shortly after delivery. Note that she doesn’t seem to have her PATFORSWA gear installed/mounted yet, and may pick it up at the USCGY in Maryland. Photo: Bollinger Shipyards.

Via Bollinger:

LOCKPORT, La., — January 6, 2021 – Bollinger Shipyards LLC (“Bollinger”) has delivered the USCGC CLARENCE SUTPHIN to the U.S. Coast Guard in Key West, Florida. This is the 170th vessel Bollinger has delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard over a 35-year period and the 47th Fast Response Cutter (“FRC”) delivered under the current program.

The USCGC CLARENCE SUTPHIN is the final of six FRCs to be home-ported in Manama, Bahrain, which will replace the aging 110’ Island Class Patrol Boats, built by Bollinger Shipyards 30 years ago, supporting the Patrol Forces Southwest Asia (PATFORSWA), the U.S. Coast Guard’s largest overseas presence outside the United States.

“Ensuring that the brave men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard have the most state-of-the-art, advanced vessels as they work to build and maintain the necessary regional alliances to ensure maritime security in the region is a top priority,” said Bollinger President & C.E.O. Ben Bordelon. “Bollinger is proud to continue enhancing and supporting the U.S. Coast Guard’s operational presence in the Middle East and ensuring it remains the preferred partner around the world.”

Earlier this year at the commissioning ceremony of the USCGC CHARLES MOULTHROPE, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Karl Schultz lauded the “enhanced seakeeping” capabilities of the PATFORSWA-bound FRCs, saying “these ships are truly going to be game-changing in their new theater of operations” and “offer increased opportunities for integrated joint operations with our Navy and Marine Corps colleagues” as the Coast Guard seeks to be part of the whole-of-government solution set in the region.

PATFORSWA is composed of six cutters, shoreside support personnel, and the Maritime Engagement Team. The unit’s mission is to train, organize, equip, support and deploy combat-ready Coast Guard Forces in support of U.S. Central Command and national security objectives. PATFORSWA works with Naval Forces Central Command in furthering their goals to conduct persistent maritime operations to forward U.S. interests, deter and counter disruptive countries, defeat violent extremism and strengthen partner nations’ maritime capabilities in order to promote a secure maritime environment.

Each FRC is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished themselves in the line of duty. Clarence Sutphin, Boatswain Mate First Class, USCG, was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his courageous actions during the invasion of Saipan Island in 1944. His citation reads: “For heroic achievement in action against enemy Japanese forces during the invasion of Saipan, Marianas Islands, on June 15 and 16, 1944. Swimming with a line through heavy surf to a tank lighter stranded on a reef, SUTPHIN remained aboard under mortar and artillery fire until the boat was salvaged. Returning to the beach, he aided in salvaging another tank lighter under enemy fire and, when a mortar shell struck a group of eight Marines, promptly treated the wounded and moved them to a first aid station. His courage and grave concern for the safety of others reflects the highest credit upon SUTPHIN and the United States Naval Service.”

About the Fast Response Cutter Platform

The FRC is an operational “game-changer,” according to senior Coast Guard officials. FRCs are consistently being deployed in support of the full range of missions within the United States Coast Guard and other branches of our armed services. This is due to its exceptional performance, expanded operational reach and capabilities, and ability to transform and adapt to the mission. FRCs have conducted operations as far as the Marshall Islands—a 4,400 nautical mile trip from their homeport. Measuring in at 154-feet, FRCs have a flank speed of 28 knots, a state of the art C4ISR suite (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance), and stern launch and recovery ramp for a 26-foot, over-the-horizon interceptor cutter boat.

As we have covered in previous months, the FRCs are a very interesting class of patrol boats, with one recently returning from a 7,000-mile extended patrol in remote island chains.

Besides their stabilized MK 38 25mm gun and half-dozen M2 mounts, the six-pack of FRCs headed to Bahrain are equipped with the CG-HALLTS system, a hailer that has laser and LRAD capabilities, as well as a special S-band Sierra Nevada Modi RPS-42 pulse doppler with full-time 360-degree coverage, and other goodies to include four Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs) on the O-1 deck. Additionally, the already experienced cutter and boarding crews of PATFORSWA have to go through 5-6 weeks of Pre Deployment Training (PDT) with the service’s Special Mission Training Center at Camp Lejune.

Laying Down the LAW

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The Pentagon recently announced a contract for a half-billion dollars worth of M72 Light Anti-Tank Weapon variants.

The award, to Arizona-based and Norwegian-owned Nammo Defense Systems, amounts to a $498,092,926 firm-fixed-price contract for the full-rate production of assorted M72 LAW models variants and components to include training systems. The U.S. Army Contracting Command in Newark, New Jersey issued the five-year contract with an expected completion date in December 2026.

Developed in the 1960s to offer a more man-portable one-shot weapon in lieu of the 15-pound 90mm M20 “Super Bazooka,” the original 5.5-pound 66mm M72 LAW has seen continual service since then, although it has gotten heavier and better since then. The above images are from 1968 Vietnam, 1983 Grenada, and 2008 Iraq. The LAW endures, it would seem. (Photos: National Archives)

“With more than a million systems delivered, the M72 represents one of the most successful shoulder-fired systems ever developed,” says Nammo of the popular system that, besides military service with more than 20 countries since it was first adopted in the early 1960s.

U.S. Army just a breath away from the Next Generation of squad weapons

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The Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapons program– which plans to replace the 5.56 NATO caliber M4 Carbine and M249 SAW with two new man-portable weapons that share a common 6.8mm caliber– is right around the corner from becoming a reality.

In the past week, Picatinny Arsenal and Project Manager– Soldier Lethality, have issued a $20 million contract for Olin-Winchester to set up the Lake City Army ammo plant for the production of the new 6.8mm rounds in General Purpose (GP), Special Purpose (SP), Reduced Range (RR), and blank cartridges.

Next Generation Squad Weapons program submitted cartridges

This was almost immediately followed up by the selection of Wisconsin-based Vortex to supply as many as a quarter-million optics for the country’s planned Next Generation Weapons platforms. The 10-year contract, announced late last week, covers the production and delivery of up to 250,000 XM157 Next Generation Squad Weapons-Fire Control systems.

With the ammo being set up for production and the optics package selected, all that is left for the NGSW program is to announce the winner of the contract for the weapons themselves. The current contenders for that award, as listed by the Army, are SIG Sauer, General Dynamics– OTS, and Textron Systems.

An award is likely sometime in the coming weeks and would stand to become the biggest change in combat small arms since Curtis LeMay ordered a batch of early AR-15s from Colt for his USAF Security Police in 1962. 

8th & I Showing how it’s Done

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Via Marine Barracks Washington, Marine Corps Ceremonial Marchers and Body Bearers standing tall: 

Marines of Marine Barracks Washington 8th & I weathered the snowstorm to honor a fallen brother on Monday, 3 January 2022. Retired Colonel Donald C. Morse was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Thank you for your service, sir. Fair winds and following seas.

(Photos by Gunnery Sgt. Donell Bryant/Marine Barracks Washington, 8th & I)

(Photos by Gunnery Sgt. Donell Bryant/Marine Barracks Washington, 8th & I)

(Photos by Gunnery Sgt. Donell Bryant/Marine Barracks Washington, 8th & I)

Notably, Col. Morse, 59, was former Commander, 2nd Tank Battalion.

The battalion-strength “Oldest Post of the Corps” traces its founding to 1801 and Lt. Col. William Ward Burrows, the second Commandant. Located on the corners of 8th & I Streets in southeast Washington, D.C., the Barracks supports both ceremonial and security missions in the nation’s capital.

Its current CO is Col. Teague A. Pastel (USNA ’96).

Its three primary units are Company A –comprised of 1st and 2nd Platoon, which are ceremonial marching platoons; the Silent Drill Platoon, and the Marine Corps Color Guard Platoon– Bravo Company— consisting of the Ceremonial Marchers of 1st, 2nd and 3rd Platoons along with the  Marine Body Bearers— and the Guard Company which stand post at Camp David and the White House.

The Barracks is also home to the Marine Drum & Bugle Corps as well as the Marine Band and is the site of the Home of the Commandants, which, along with the Barracks, is a registered national historic landmark.

Blue Ridge Smoke Break

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77 Years Ago Today: Two riflemen from E Company, 1st Battalion, 317th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division, take a moment to roll their own cigarettes in Goesdorf (Luxembourg), 10 January 1945. Left is SSG Abraham Aranoff, Boston, Mass., right is Private Henry W. Beyer of Grand Rapids, Michigan. These men had been fighting for 27 days straight, most of it during the German counter-offensive in the Ardennes known today as the Battle of the Bulge. They’d just been pulled out of the lines for a short, well-deserved break.

…At least the Sarge put the safety on his carbine before pointing it at his buddy. Also note the bullet holes on the wall behind them. Signal Corps image via Mads Madsen, Colorized History.

Nicknamed the “Blue Ridge” division as, when it was originally formed in the Great War, a majority of its troops hailed from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia, the 80th Infantry Division was reactivated in 1942 and arrived in Europe, where it landed on Utah Beach on 3 August 1944. It would then spend the next nine months pushing from France to the Ardennes and on through to Bavaria and into Austria.

The 80th ID helped liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1945 to provide relief to the 6th Armored Division, which had arrived the day before. Several weeks later, as the “Blue Ridge” Division pushed into Austria, it liberated Ebensee, a subcamp of the Mauthausen concentration camp, and is recognized as a Liberating Unit by the US Army’s Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The 80th suffered 17,087 battle casualties in WWII– however, both of the above GIs made it back home and lived long lives.

As noted by WW II Uncovered: 

After the war, Abraham Aranoff returned to New York and he and his wife Bertha started a family. He retired in West Palm Beach Florida. Abraham passed away on August 15, 2008 at the age of 96.

Henry W. Beyer enlisted with the US Army on May 1, 1944 in Grand Rapids Michigan. He was 25 years old. Henry was discharged from the Army on January 14, 1946. Henry and his wife Frances relocated to Columbus Ohio where he worked in retail sales. Henry passed away on February 28, 1998 at the age of 79.

Hull Pals Toughing it Out

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And you thought you were cold!

9 January 1918, “a soldier of the 12th Battalion [aka Hull Sportsmen, or 3rd Hull Pals], East Yorkshire Regiment, on sentry duty on the firestep of a snow-covered trench in the Arleux sector near Roclincourt, France.”

Photo by 2nd LT Thomas Keith Aitken, IWM (Q 10620).

Part of Kitchener’s Pals Battalions of the “New Armies,” the Hull Sportsmen picked up its nickname easy enough as it was originally a service battalion formed at Hull on 2 September 1914– during the Battle of the Marne– by Lord Nunburnholme and the East Riding TF Association. Also known as the Hull Tradesmen’s Battalion, it joined the 10th Battalion, East Yorkshire under orders of 92nd Brigade, 31st Division, and shipped out for Egypt in late 1915, just missing the joy that was Gallipoli.

More needed on the Western Front than in the push against the Ottomans in Palestine, it moved to France in March 1916 and took part in the butchery that was the Somme followed by the Arras Offensive in 1917.

The Medical Officer (of the Royal Army Medical Corps attached to the 12th (Service) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment (92nd Brigade, 31st Division)) bandaging the face wound of a man of his battalion in the line in the Arleux sector near Roclincourt[Arras], 9 January 1918. Imperial War Museum image Q11545

Suffering extremely heavy casualties, the Hull Sportsmen were disbanded on 8 February 1918, roughly a month after the above image was snapped. Its survivors who could still serve were folded into other units as replacements while those that couldn’t were sent back home.

Hey Girls, Want to Check out Our New Tiger?

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8 January 1945: This German Panzer VIB, (Königstiger) tank #312 (SS-Oberscharführer Peter Kisters), of SS Panzer Abteilung 501, was knocked out by 90mm M36 tank destroyers of the 628th “Victory” Tank Destroyer Battalion, attached to support the paratroopers of the 82nd “All American” Divison, near Coronne, Belgium.

Signal Corps Photo 111-SC-198889 from the National Archives.

Formed five months prior to Pearl Harbor as the 28th Infantry Division’s anti-tank battalion, the 628th was largely formed from Pennsylvania National Guard members. Shipping out for England in April 1944, they were assigned to support the 1st Infantry and 29th Infantry at Normandy, where they landed at Utah Beach with M10 Hellcats.

Fighting to the Falaise Pocket and through Belgium to the Siegfried Line and the Hurtgen Forest, around which time they upgraded to M36s, they really came into play at the Battle of the Bulge to help blunt the German offensive in the Ardennes, fighting in turns with the 5th Armored, 78th Infantry, and 3rd Armored Divisions.

On New Year’s Day 1945, the 628th was chopped to the All Americans for 11 days to give their light infantry some muscle in clearing the area west of the Salm River. In their time with the paratroopers, the battalion lost four M36s and 14 men but chalked up six panzers in return– including two Tiger II tanks.

Finishing the war deep in Germany, the 628th was inactivated on 14 November 1945, their scoreboard holding 56 tanks by then.

Meet .30 Federal Super Carry

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There have been a few .30-caliber rimless handgun rounds over the years that met with mixed success, for instance, the .30 Mauser– the round that most C96 Broomhandles and a fair amount of early Lugers were chambered in– as well as the .30 French Long (7.65x20mm Longue) of MAS 38/Mle. 35 and Pedersen Device fame. However, their days have come and gone.

With that being said, meet a new take on an old idea: Federal on Wednesday announced a new caliber that is more compact than 9mm NATO and more effective than .380 ACP– the .30 Super Carry. 

Calling it, “the most revolutionary advancement in self-defense history,” the Federal Premium .30 Super Carry at introduction runs a 100-grain .312 caliber bullet. When loaded in Federal’s HST profile self-defense line– with the 100-grain JHP reaching a velocity of 1,250 fps to pull down an energy load of 347 ft./lbs.– the company says it has a .530-inch expansion and 15.5-inches of penetration in ballistics gel. 

Federal 30 Super Carry sandwiched by 9mm and .380 HST loads (Photo: Federal)

The key takeaway from the specs is that the .30SC is slimmer overall than the 9mm, allowing more cartridges to be loaded per magazine, typically two more in the same length stick. For instance, in a Smith & Wesson Shield EZ that would normally have a 9mm capacity of 8+1, when available in .30SC that capacity would grow to 10+1 rounds.

Federal’s parent company, Vista Outdoors, is set to deliver loads from its Remington and Speer subsidiaries, while both Smith & Wesson and Nighthawk Customs reportedly have pistols inbound.

More in my column at Guns.com.

NATO Scrambled Fighters 370 Times in 2021

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Via NATO Air Command:

NATO fighter jets scrambled around 370 times across Europe in 2021, mostly to check aircraft flying unannounced near Allied air space.

Around 80 percent of the missions, 290 in total, were in response to flights by Russian military aircraft.

Russia Air Force Ilyushin Il-78 Midas, RF-94269, and a German Luftwaffe Eurofighter Typhoon over the Baltic. In related news, Germany declared the MBDA-made Meteor missile ready for use by the Luftwaffe in the summer of 2021

An Italian F-35 intercepts a really modded Russian Ilyushin Il-18, the rare EW/COMINT sniffing Ilyushin IL-22PP Porubschik (RF-90786), near Allied airspace in the Baltic Sea Region. The Italian Air Force was the first to deploy 5th Gen fighters in Baltic Air Policing. Photo courtesy of Italian Air Force.

Classic-on-classic! Early 1980s F-16A Fighting Falcon fighter jets of the Portuguese Air Force out of Siauliai Air Base, Lithuania, intercepted Russian military aircraft, including a newly modernized Tupolev Tu-95MS Bear bomber, during an Air Policing mission over the Baltic, November 2021.

Last year’s figures are actually down from 2020, as noted by the alliance in December 2020:

NATO air forces across Europe scrambled more than 400 times in 2020 to intercept unknown aircraft approaching Alliance airspace. Almost 90 percent of these missions – around 350 – were in response to flights by Russian military aircraft.

Roof Inspectors, 1945 Belgium Edition

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7 January 1945. Original Caption: “S/Sgt. Urban Minicozzi, from Jessup, Pennsylvania (Headquarters Company), and Pfc. Andy Masiero, from Newburg, New York (A Company), stop to reload while sniping snipers from the roof of a building in Beffe, Belgium. 1st Battalion, 290th Infantry Regiment, 75th Infantry Division.”

Original Field Number: ETO-HQ-45-6556. Photographer: Corrado. Signal Corps No. 111-SC-198884 via NARA. National Archives Identifier: 148727200

Note that the Soldier in the foreground looks to have a rarer “gas trap” M1 Garand and has his bayonet tied, fighting knife style, to his right leg just above his boot.

Constituted on Christmas Eve 1942 and assigned from the start to the brand-new 75th Infantry Division, the 290th Infantry Combat Team trained at Fort Leonard Wood the next year and shipped overseas in late 1944, landing in Wales in November. Disembarking at Rouen on 13 December, they were rushed to Belgium “by motor convoy and boxcar, utilizing the same 40-and-8 cars that had been the scourge of doughboys in World War I.”

On Christmas Eve 1944, “2nd and 3rd Battalions, 898th Field Artillery, Company B 629th TD Battalion, Company B 750th Tank Battalion, and Company B 275th Engineer Battalion, units comprising the 290th Regimental Combat Team, moved forward to establish a defensive area in the vicinity of Biron, Belgium. This order had scarcely been accomplished when it was followed by a second one directing units of the 3rd Battalion to occupy the town of Hotton, and hold it at all costs.”

Some units had their first contact on Christmas Eve, with the entire division engaged by Christmas. 

U.S. Army infantrymen of the 290th Regiment, 75th Infantry Division, fight in fresh snowfall near Amonines, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge, Jan. 4, 1945. Note the M3 Grease Gun to the right and M1 Carbine to the left. (Photo: U.S. Army)

The unit was thrown headlong into the Battle of the Bulge, earning combat honors for the Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe in the course of fewer than six months.

Appropriately, the motto of the 75th ID is “Make Ready.” Arguably, the 290th should have a Christmas tree on its badge.

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