A note about med kits

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These days, a well-rounded 21st-century man often leaves the house with several things in addition to their wallet, keys, and mobile device, namely: a small knife/multitool for multiple tasks, a larger knife for larger tasks, a small yet powerful flashlight, the most effective handgun they can get away with while still being comfortable and concealable, and the civil version of an IFAK.

My solution to the latter is pedestrian but, in my mind, effective:

I use a SWAT (Stretch, Wrap, and Tuck) Tourniquet which comes with a lot of advantages
A. It is multi-purpose beyond just being a TQ, and can be used as a pressure dressing or elastic bandage, something other TQs can’t do.
B. It can be used with minimal training as a tourniquet, which is important if I have to instruct someone on the fly to use it, perhaps on myself.
C. Because of its design, it can be used higher into the groin and axilla than other TQs
D. It is largely disposable
E. As it doesn’t have a windlass, it is easier to conceal and get through entry control points. I have flown with a SWAT-T dozens of times and never had TSA gripe me about it while nicer TQs with metal windlasses sometimes get barred for carry-on.

Besides the SWAT-T, I have a small ziplock with assorted band-aids for various size ouchies, iodine, gauze pads, prep pads, butterfly closures and a couple of vent chest seals to help “close the box.” Another small pouch holds a CPR face shield and a pair of gloves although in most cases compression-only is the way to go.

All of the above folds up in a thick double-sided handkerchief that in a pinch can make a large (though nonsterile) bandage if nothing else is available, be used to help clean an area for assessment, or serve as packing over a more purpose-made dressing. Be sure to launder it weekly and swap out your hankies regularly, while checking your TQ and kit for wear and compromise. Remember to review, renew, and refresh.

Weight, all told, is 5-ounces and, when folded up, fits neatly in my back left pants pocket, even in khakis. As I have a minimalist wallet that I front pocket carry, it is all good.

Of course, you could go larger, including an NPA and other goodies, and I have a couple of much bigger backpack-sized kits in my Jeep and house and make sure to have one on the range each time, but this kit above is for personal EDC pocket carry.

While speaking about medical kits, be sure to get regular introductory and refresher training from reputable sources when it comes to this stuff and always remember, “First, do no harm.”

I recently ran across this cheat sheet via the Proactive Response Group that, while substitution for training, is nonetheless pretty neat.

via the Proactive Response Group

By the light of the full moon, 29 years ago today

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Here we see John Charles Roach’s 1991 painting, “Adroit Marks the Way for Princeton.”

“With the use of hand flares, USS Adroit (MSO-509) marks possible mines in an effort to extract the already damaged USS Princeton (GG-59) from a minefield. USS Beaufort (ATS-2) stands by to assist.”

US Navy Accession #: 92-007-X

At about 0715 on 18 February 1991, Princeton was patrolling the Northern Persian Gulf off Failaka Island during Operation Desert Storm and set off not one but two Italian-made MN103 Manta bottom-mounted influence mines, buckling her hull in three places as well as locking her starboard propeller shaft and port rudder. Just three hours later, USS Tripoli (LPH 10), also struck a mine and was able to continue operations until relieved several days later.

Still, the 9,600-ton Princeton fared remarkably well for a ship that hit two mines and remained afloat, with her Aegis system coming back on-line 15 minutes later, allowing the cruiser to be nominally ready to defend herself if attacked and even project air cover for the range of her Standard missiles.

The Canadian destroyer HMCS Athabaskan (DDG 282) stood by to provide assistance while the Acme-class minesweeper Adroit moved in to lead the way out of the minefield after dark. The Iraqi minefield was later confirmed to hold more than 1,000 mines, many of advanced European designs.

Both Adroit and Athabaskan have been paid off and sold to the breakers while USS Beaufort (ATS-2) went on to a second career in South Korea, but Princeton remains very much in service.

Every good thing comes to an end

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Described as a “light cruiser” by Janes and others at the time, the Type 82 RN destroyer, HMS Bristol (D23), when ordered in 1963, was pretty impressive for a tin can, weighing in at 7,100-tons. For reference, this was almost twice the size of the Daring-class destroyers that preceded her or the Charles F. Adams-class DDGs under construction at the time for the U.S., West Germany, and Australia.

HMS Bristol, the only Type 82 destroyer built.

Further, the previous HMS Bristol afloat had been a Town-class light cruiser during the Great War, so the label of cruiser seemed to fit, although the admirals no doubt thought the “destroyer” descriptor would help provide a modicum of camouflage from the bean counters.

However, the Admiralty in the end never saw money for more of the Type 82s– or the large carriers they were to protect– and Bristol was to be the sole ship of her class.

The follow-on Type 42 destroyers were much smaller vessels with aluminum superstructures, akin to the Adams and Darings– only even more slight. Tragically, two early Type 42s, Sheffield and Coventry, were sent to the bottom in 1982 after suffering from Argentine airstrikes. Debating whether larger and more capable Type 82s in the same position would have survived is academic, but it does make you wonder.

Bristol was in the Falklands too and served as Task Force flagship after the carriers left for Portsmouth once Port Stanley fell.

Type 82 destroyer HMS Bristol depicted during the 1982 Falklands War, HMS Invincible clearly visible steaming to her starboard.

Soon after, her days with the fleet were numbered and she was paid off in 1991 after 18 years of frontline service.

Since 1993, she has been docked at Whale Island, Portsmouth, and used as a floating training and accommodation ship both for RN personnel and youth groups like the Sea Cadets.

“Hosting up to 17,000 visitors, including Sea Cadets, annually for 50 weeks a year, she provides the closest thing to a sea-going experience without leaving port,” notes the RN. 

Now, after filling that role for 27 years, the Sea Cadets noted last week that: “HMS Bristol will no longer be with us after the end of 2020.”

Last refit in 2010 for a ten-year lifespan extension, her hull is deemed by the RN to not be worth the pounds these days.

The Royal “Navy’s Most Modern Aircraft Carrier” circa 1955

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British Movietone just posted this great short about the newly commissioned HMS Ark Royal (R09) in October 1955, “shortly leaving for the Mediterranean.”

The video includes a short clip of her plankowner skipper, Capt (later RADM) Dennis Royle Farquharson Cambell, CB, DSC– the pioneer who shot down the first German aircraft in WWII by a British pilot and later went on to invent the angled carrier flight deck. Also shown are Ark Royal‘s interesting 1950s FAA airwing to include early Hawker Sea Hawk jets, which were just joining the fleet, and late-model Grumman TBM-3E Avengers, which were on their way out.

Notably, Ark Royal would go on to be the last large deck British carrier in service in the 20th Century, only retiring in 1979, at which point she flew F-4 (FG1) Phantoms and Buccaneer S2 strike aircraft.

FN Still Cruising Along on M4 Contracts for Another 5 years

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South Carolina-based FN America beat out a crowd of other vendors to land a whale of a military contract for new M4s.

The company was awarded a $119,216,309 firm-fixed-price contract for a mix of two 5.56 NATO-caliber weapons– the M4 Carbine, NSN: 1005-01-382-0973, and M4A1 Carbine, NSN: 1005-01-382-0953. The contract, awarded by Picatinny Arsenal on behalf of Project Manager – Soldier Lethality (PM SL), was made public last Thursday and stemmed from a March 2019 solicitation for which six bids were submitted.

I visited the company’s Columbia, South Carolina facility, last summer and FN said at the time they made roughly 500 M4s every day.

After they’re test fired, they’re disassembled, cleaned, then reassembled and given a 101-point inspection. Then, they’re literally dipped in preservation oil and packaged 50 rifles to a large wooden crate.

Gonna be a lot more crates over the next several years.

More details in my column at Guns.com 

Jumping on The Rock

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Paratroopers of the 503d Parachute Regimental Combat Team landing on Topside, the high ground of Corregidor, NARA.

One of the most oft-forgotten U.S. Army combat parachute jumps of all-time was made 75 years ago this week. While everyone knows and celebrates the mass drops at D-Day and Arnhem, and even the earlier Avalanche and Husky landings for Italy and Sicily, the leap made by the Operation Topside drop on 16 February 1945, made by 2,350 men of the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team (PRCT) is overlooked.

A mass low-level drop made by sky soldiers of the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 462nd Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, and the C coy/161st Airborne Engineer Battalion onto the high ground of the Japanese-held rock fortress of Corregidor was to link up with a low ground beach-landing made by the 34th RCT and take on the 6,700-man garrison which had been in residence since 1942.

Paratroopers, supported by ground forces, landing on Corregidor in the combined assault launched on Feb. 16, 1945 LC-USZC2-6468

It was also one of the only jumps that were extensively filmed by Signal Corps photo crews. For your inspection, 12 minutes of silent films of the 503rd prepping and being dropped Topside on The Rock, showing details of ruined Fort Mills:

Fighting 18-knot crosswinds to come down in a rocky, uneven drop zone that soon got very hot, the 503rd fought non-stop through the night of 18 February, when their action came to a head at Banzai Point.

American troops fighting Japanese in the fortified tunnels on Corregidor, NARA.

The Rock was not finally pacified until 26 February. Only about 50 Japanese were captured.

18-year-old PVT. Lloyd G. McCarter earned a well-deserved MoH on Topside, as well as a medical discharge only to die at his own hands a decade later in Idaho.

He was a scout with the regiment which seized the fortress of Corregidor, Philippine Islands. Shortly after the initial parachute assault on 16 February 1945, he crossed 30 yards of open ground under intense enemy fire, and at point-blank range silenced a machinegun with hand grenades. On the afternoon of 18 February, he killed 6 snipers. That evening, when a large force attempted to bypass his company, he voluntarily moved to an exposed area and opened fire. The enemy attacked his position repeatedly throughout the night and was each time repulsed. By 2 o’clock in the morning, all the men about him had been wounded; but shouting encouragement to his comrades and defiance at the enemy, he continued to bear the brunt of the attack, fearlessly exposing himself to locate enemy soldiers and then pouring heavy fire on them. He repeatedly crawled back to the American line to secure more ammunition. When his submachine gun would no longer operate, he seized an automatic rifle and continued to inflict heavy casualties. This weapon, in turn, became too hot to use and, discarding it, he continued with an M-1 rifle. At dawn, the enemy attacked with renewed intensity. Completely exposing himself to hostile fire, he stood erect to locate the most dangerous enemy positions. He was seriously wounded; but, though he had already killed more than 30 of the enemy, he refused to evacuate until he had pointed out immediate objectives for attack. Through his sustained and outstanding heroism in the face of grave and obvious danger, Pvt. McCarter made outstanding contributions to the success of his company and to the recapture of Corregidor.”

The unit suffered 169 dead and 531 wounded in addition to more than 210 injuries in the drop itself. Keep in mind it only jumped with 2,300 men.

For its successful capture of Corregidor, the unit was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation and received its nickname, “the Rock Regiment” from it, which is shown on its current Distinctive Unit Insignia.

Today a monument to the Rock Force stands on Corregidor.

This monument is adjacent to the Topside parade deck that honors the ROCK FORCE, the 503rd Regimental Combat team that made the daring airborne assault to liberate Corregidor during World War II.

Meanwhile, the 1st and 2nd battalions, 503rd Infantry Regiment, are currently active and assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade, based in Vicenza, Italy.

For more information, read Triumph in the Philippines by Robert Ross Smith and the Luzon Campaign by Andrade

Big Navy wants to bench the first LCS quartet to pass on the savings, or something like that

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Going back to the old Zumwalt Redux “Streetfighter” concept, the littoral combat ship program was envisioned to crank out an armada of cheap (err, affordable) but deadly and fast ships ready to go into harm’s way in the dangerous shallows where you may not want to risk a billion-dollar Aegis cruiser or destroyer.

Streetfighter, in concept, 1999ish

After all, in the enemy’s coastal region, even dated weapons like Great War-era moored contact mines, speedboats with RPGs, and 105mm howitzers left over from World War II can be killers and don’t need a lot of C4I that can be easily disrupted.

When it comes to doctrine, the LCS were the outgrowth of the PT-boats of the 1940s, PGMs of the cold war, and Reagan(Lehman)-era PHMs of the 1980s.

USS Aries (PHM-5) back in her fighting trim

Somewhat less than a frigate/destroyer escort, and a bit more than a patrol boat. For lack of a better word, they were expendable, to turn a phrase

Now, heading out the door are the first four of the LCS fleet, the initial two of Marinette Marine’s Freedom-class monohull models– USS Freedom (LCS-1) and USS Fort Worth (LCS-3)— and the first two of Austal’s Independence-class trimaran design– USS Independence (LCS-2) and USS Coronado (LCS-4). Further, funding for more of either type is zeroed out after FY2020.

Now to be fair, all four ships were basically beta tests for the follow-on boats and have seen lots of unexpected teething problems on everything from hull design to propulsion, electronics to berthing areas, and everything in between.

The Navy is arguing in their latest budget justification that it would be a case of good money after bad to continue to upgrade these little tubs to make them worthy of keeping around.

“These ships have been test articles and training assets, and were key in developing the operational concepts leading to the current deployment of LCS ships today,” says the Navy in a statement. “But canceling their modernization allows us to prioritize lethality and survivability where we need it.”

However, these are low-mileage tin cans, with Coronado only in the fleet for five years and 10 months. Even the oldest of the four, Freedom, was commissioned in 2008.

Of note, the plan restores funding for USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75)‘s refueling and the carrier’s associated airwing– although let’s be honest, the Navy was never going to retire her with another two decades of life on the ship’s hull. It also includes around $350 million over the next two years for the planned Future Large Surface Combatant (LSC) and Small Surface Combatant FFG (X) while chipping in about $3B for the Columbia-class SSBNs.

Odds are, the Pentagon will be overruled by the Dems in the House or the Republicans in the Senate and the funding will be added to keep these four fairly young LCS around, which may be the gamble the Navy is banking on.

If not, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were swiftly passed on via FMS to Saudi Arabia in a warm transfer, as the Kingdom is eager for more hulls at a good price to both keep their oil lifeline going and continue their blockade of Yemen.

Speaking of which, USS Normandy (CG-60) just reeled in another undocumented (*cough, Iran, cough*) dhow off Yemen, a mission that could arguably be performed by an LCS with an on-board helo and a LEDET/VBSS team of some sort.

Included on the boat’s manifest were 358 missile components including 150 Delavieh anti-tank missiles, Iranian versions of the modern and uber dangerous Russian 9M133 Kornet, basically a budget Javelin.

200209-N-PC620-0005 ARABIAN SEA (Feb. 09, 2020) The crew of the guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60), in accordance with international law, seized an illicit shipment of advanced weapons and weapon components, which held 358 surface-to-air missile components and “Dehlavieh” anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), intended for the Houthis in Yemen, aboard a stateless dhow during a maritime interdiction operation in the U.S. Fifth Fleet area of operations, Feb. 9, 2020. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael H. Lehman)

And the beat goes on…

Stopping in at the Navajo Lodge, 80 years ago

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In April 1940, Russell Lee, a 37-year-old prolific shutterbug who worked for the government’s Farm Security Administration, crisscrossing the country to document American life, stopped in at the Navajo Lodge along U.S. 60 in Datil, New Mexico.

Pretty cool looking place. A rustic relic of the Old West filled with Navajo rugs, trophies, furniture crafted long before the days of pressboard IKEA junk, and guns. Oh, the guns.

Speaking of guns…check out this gun rack.

How many can you name?

More details after the jump to my column at Guns.com.

Remember Valentine’s Day! Naval edition

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On this day in 1797, a British fleet led by Admiral Sir John Jervis on the HMS Victory defeated a Spanish fleet of Portugal at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. This battle was one of the opening salvos of the Anglo-Spanish war, which would continue for over a decade.

Battle of Cape St. Vincent, 1797 by Robert Cleveley

The RN had 22 warships under their flag while the Spanish had a massive fleet numbering 36 including no less than 24 ships-of-the-line. After the day’s combat was over, ADM Don José de Córdoba y Ramos had lost four ships– including the massive 112-gun first rate San José— and some 3,250 men killed, missing or captured. The British still had all of theirs, as well as some captured from de Córdoba, at the cost of 73 dead.

From the U.S. Naval Academy Museum:

The Naval Academy Museum has a number of medals cast commemorating the victory as part of its Malcolm Storer Naval Medals Collection. This medal has “A VALENTINE PRESENTED TO SPAIN BY ADM JERVIS XX” stamped into the edge.

USNAM 1936_007_0010_08

Revolver Taco Lounge

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You often see crazy ornate guns coming out of Mexico, sadly those often displayed are M1911 .38 Supers and AKMs owned by narcotraffickers.

A notable example of a commercial Colt 1911 Aztec Jaguar .38 Super Serial #29 of 300. This one sold for $3,424.99

However, there are many no doubt owned by regular citizens who bend over backward to slice through federal red tape to be able to legally possess firearms. And when you consider you can typically only own one or two guns in your life, the odds you may get them customized are pretty high.

Many Mexican-Americans continue that tradition here in the U.S.

With that, Vice (don’t groan, it is a good short doc) visits with 77-year-old Arturo Rojas Castelan, son of a blacksmith, who balances his time engraving guns and working as a dishwasher at his family’s Mexican restaurant, Revolver Taco Lounge, on Main Street in Dallas’s trendy Deep Ellum district, where he works the afternoon shift.

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