Welcome back Space Command

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United States Space Command (USSPACECOM) was formed originally back in 1985 during the height of the Reagan-era Star Wars flex that sent tremors through the hardworking proletariat missile troop commanders east of the Fulda Gap. Put to pasture in 2002, a decade after the Cold War thawed and Moscow became our new best friend, SPACECOM is back! 

SECDEF Dr. Mark T. Esper signed documents formally establishing U.S. Space Command as the nation’s 11th combatant command during a White House ceremony, 29 August.

Led by Air Force Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, the command “integrates the space capabilities of all services in maintaining the U.S. edge in space in an area of great power competition.”

The presser from SPACECOM itself:

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., Aug. 30, 2019 —
Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, Commander, U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM), ordered the establishment of two subordinate commands to support the warfighting efforts of the command — Combined Force Space Component Command (CFSCC), and Joint Task Force Space Defense (JTF-SD), immediately following the establishment of USSPACECOM Aug. 29, 2019.

Raymond appointed Maj. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting as CFSCC Commander, and Brig. Gen. Matthew W. Davidson as the Deputy Commander; with a mission to plan, integrate, conduct, and assess global space operations to deliver combat relevant space capabilities to Combatant Commanders, Coalition partners, the Joint Force, and the Nation.

Upon establishment, Whiting appointed Chief Master Sgt. John F. Bentivegna as the CFSCC Senior Enlisted Leader. Bentivegna will advise the Commander on matters influencing the health, welfare, morale and effective utilization of more than 17,000 CFSCC personnel.

CFSCC will plan and execute space operations through four distinct and geographically dispersed operations centers, including the Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC) at Vandenberg AFB, Calif.; Missile Warning Center (MWC) at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Colo.; Joint Overhead Persistent Infrared Center (JOPC) at Buckley AFB, Colo.; and Joint Navigation Warfare Center (JNWC) at Kirtland AFB, N.M. Additionally, the CFSCC will execute tactical control over globally dispersed Air Force, Army, and Navy space units that command satellites in every orbital regime.

“It is an honor and privilege to take command of CFSCC. We are at the dawning of a new, exciting, and challenging era for space; and CFSCC will lead USSPACECOM’s efforts to better integrate space warfighting effects into the operations of terrestrial warfighters,” said Whiting. “Through our tactical units and operations centers, CFSCC will provide space capabilities such as space situational awareness, space electronic warfare, satellite communications, missile warning, nuclear detonation detection, environmental monitoring, military ISR, navigation warfare, command and control, and PNT in support of USSPACECOM and the other Combatant Commands.”

As one of its primary roles, CFSCC will plan, task, direct, monitor, and assess the execution of combined and joint space operations for theater effects on behalf of the Commander of USSPACECOM to directly support ongoing operations in other Combatant Commands.

CFSCC will also provide support to, and receive support from, partner Coalition operations centers including the Australian Space Operations Center, Canadian Space Operations Center, and the United Kingdom Space Operations Center. Additionally, CFSCC will build capacity through Coalition, Commercial, and Civil partnerships to achieve combined force objectives.

Furthermore, CFSCC will execute command and control of assigned multinational forces in support of Operation Olympic Defender (OOD), as directed by USSPACECOM.

“Through the standup of the CFSCC and multinational force agreements in OOD, we will out-pace competitor nations in developing our space capabilities, generate greater space force capacity than our competitors, and integrate highly advanced multinational space capabilities with terrestrial coalition warfighting capabilities,” said Davidson. “Last month the United Kingdom formally announced their decision to join Operation Olympic Defender, our named operation for space; and we are excited the Royal Air Force is now providing an officer to serve as the Deputy Director of the CSpOC. The U.K. is a close ally and trusted partner in space, and we are looking forward to additional allies and partners joining OOD shortly. We are unequivocally stronger together.”

On 18 July the former U.K. Defense Secretary announced the U.K. formally accepted the U.S. invitation to join OOD; and the U.K.’s intentions to send additional U.K. personnel to join other international space operators at the CSpOC at Vandenberg AFB.

Space operators from Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom are currently stationed at Vandenberg AFB, working alongside U.S. space operators in CFSCC’s CSpOC. Additionally, national liaisons from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom are stationed at Vandenberg AFB in USSPACECOM’s Multinational Space Collaboration office.

“Space has become exponentially more congested, contested, and degraded domain during the past several decades. Due to emerging threats, and advances in technology, we must partner with allies and like-minded nations to preserve access to space, and leverage coalition space capabilities to ensure warfighters downrange have the systems they need to defeat the threats they’re facing,” said Bentivegna. “The establishment of the CFSCC is the result of years of working alongside allies and partners in and through space. As a coalition, we will continue to defend our nations’ interests throughout the space domain.”

On the downside, their crest looks like it cost about $19.

Ever fired No. 12 shot out of a 22?

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Growing your own tomatoes are a great way to save $2.71, all raised by yours truly, despite the best work of the local squirrels. 

Smoothbore .22s were once a common facet on the consumer firearms market in the U.S., first appearing in the 1930s with a shotgun version of Winchester’s Model 67 single-shot bolt-action rifle. Remington later followed up on this in 1939 with the Model 511SB (SB= smoothbore) .22 and, over the next two decades, Big Green would produce at least two other platforms with a similar concept.

Deemed “Garden Guns” for the patch of ground they were used to defend, they were pitched as pest-control devices for use with shot- or BB-loaded .22 rimfire cartridges, often deemed “snake shot” or “rat shot” for their typical targets. In Europe, such smoothbore bolt-action shotguns, chambered in the low-powered 9mm Flobert rimfire, were made by Webley & Scott among others and remain popular today.

The final Garden Gun produced in the U.S. was Marlin’s pre-Remington Model 25MG which went out of production in 2002.

However, in the sense of “everything old is new again,” Henry last week debuted a new .22 Garden Gun, this time a lever action.

This is actually a .22WMR shotgun…

More in my column at Guns.com 

That’s all, Huey: Taiwan Edition

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Hattip Defense Industry Daily:

Taiwan will retire its UH-1H fleet on October 30. The UH-1 has been in service on the island for 50 years. It will be replaced by the UH-60. According to local reports, the Army officially confirmed that it will decommission the UH-1H on October 30. The Ministry of Defense will hold a decommissioning ceremony. The UH-60 is a four-blade twin-engine medium-lift utility helicopter. In 2017, Sikorsky won a $135.4 million Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract by the Republic of China Army for the manufacture of 24 Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk utility helicopters. Taiwan is a mountainous island surrounded by ocean. This helicopter is perfect for a rescue mission in the mountains at the altitudes above 2,000 meters or out at sea in nighttime. Its best feature is nighttime reconnaissance.

Notably, the USAF still has some 60-ish 1970s vintage UH-1N Hueys still on hand for use in carrying security forces guys around ICBM fields. These are set to be replaced by 84 Boeing MH-139s (an upgraded version of the AgustaWestland AW139) starting in 2021.

Wishing you a happy Labor Day

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Hopefully, you have the day off. If not, proceed accordingly, setting your own level of commitment. Maybe work on your mustache.

Photographed by Lieutenant Commander Charles Kerlee, USNR. Description: National Archives Catalog #: 80-G-469326

Lieutenant Junior Grade H. Blake Moranville, USNR, napping in Fighter Squadron Eleven’s ready room on USS HORNET (CV-12), in company with VF-11’s mascot dog, circa January 1945. He was shot down while strafing Saigon Airport, French Indochina, on 12 January 1945. Captured by local French authorities, he ultimately escaped via China.

The eerie quiet before the end, 74 years ago

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“Pre-Surrender Nocturne Tokyo Bay.”

Painting, Watercolor on Paper; by Standish Backus; 1945. Depicting the old forts at Futtsu Saki, a narrow point of land jutting into the eastern side of Uraga Strait at the entrance to Tokyo Bay, a burnt-out Japanese destroyer, and the eeriness of the moonlight:

(NHHC: 88-186-Z)

The artist’s notes:

The forts at Futtsu Saki had to be approached and demobilized early on the morning of 30 August 1945. No landings from the sea had yet occurred and we did not know what sort of reception we would receive from the Japanese. From past experience, it was not expected to be healthy in all respects. Was there a division of troops in those forts waiting to mow us down as we hit the beach? Its very silence, the haunted quantity of the burnt-out Japanese destroyer, and the eeriness of the moonlight gave us all a foreboding.

The forts were, in fact, well-defended, by a full regiment but the artillery on hand was old. One of the first coastal defense forts in the country, the batteries used 15cm Krupp guns in steel cupolas and several emplaced Model 1890 Osaka-made (Armstrong-Whitworth designed) 28cm howitzers that the Japanese had at least twice dismounted and used as siege guns (at both Port Arthur and Tsingtao) back when they were still relevant.

Japan coast defense 280mm L/10 howitzers nicknamed “Osaka Babies” by the Japanese and “Roaring Trains” by the Russians when they were dismounted and used as siege artillery at Port Arthur in 1904. While dated, these beasts could still ruin a ship that came within their reach. 

It was a pucker factor for sure.

As related by Backus in his painting “The First Wave on Japan”

Watercolor on Paper; by Standish Backus; 1945; Unframed Dimensions 16H X 23W. (NHHC: 88-186-B)
“Futtsu Peninsula, Tokyo Bay: Seal-like Higgins boats create their own heavy seas as they carry Marines of the 2nd Battalion 4th Regiment ashore for the first test of whether the Japanese will resist or abide by negotiated surrender terms. It is tense for the next five minutes. The Japanese would logically wait until the Marines were at the shoreline to open a withering fire that could be a massacre. Since there could be no preparatory bombing or bombardment, it had to be done the hard way by head-on assault. The main group of boats landed here at Fort #2 while a small group landed at Fort #1 at the end of the spit beyond the hulk of a burned-out Japanese destroyer. The setting moon, which stood watch over the landing of the boats from the transport, is now relieved by the misty rays of the early sun.”

But the Forts were captured with no bloodshed on either side.

The first landing craft carrying Marines of 2/4 touched the south shore of Futtsu Saki at 0558; two minutes later, the first transport plane rolled to a stop on the runway at Atsugi, and the occupation of Japan was underway. In both areas, the Japanese had followed their instructions to the letter. On Futtsu Saki the coastal guns and mortars had been rendered useless, and only the bare minimum of maintenance personnel, 22 men, remained to make a peaceful turnover of the forts and batteries. By 0845, the battalion had accomplished its mission and was reembarking for the Yokosuka landing, now scheduled for 0930.

Members of the Yokosuka Occupation Force, 2/4 Marines, inspect a Japanese fortification on Futtsu Saki. [USMC 134741]. Besides the Marines, the landing force was accompanied by 10 U.S. Navy gunners mates familiar with large naval pieces to disable the captured guns. 

Battleship No. 39 Reopens

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The USS Arizona Memorial has been closed since May 2018 for a $2.1 million stabilization and limited reconstruction, but it will be reopened on September 1, 2019 (Sunday). The National Park Service, in coordination with the Navy and contractors, completed the final phase of construction this month, with CPO selectees putting the finishing touches on the monument.

“The National Park Service is excited to welcome our visitors back to the USS Arizona Memorial very soon,” said Pearl Harbor National Memorial Acting Superintendent Steve Mietz in a statement. “It is a great honor to share the stories of the men of the USS Arizona, and all of those who served, suffered and sacrificed on Oahu on December 7, 1941. That is the cornerstone of our mission here, and restoration of public access to this iconic place is critical as we continue to tell their stories and honor their memory,” Mietz said.

The Tombstones of Battleship Row

In the 1930s, the Navy built 16 fixed concrete moorings to relieve congestion at Pearl and to provide additional berthing space for capital ships. Established in pairs designated F1 through F8, North and South, the eight along Ford Island’s southeast side became known as the famed “Battleship Row.”

Today, the quays remain as tombstones to the opening act of the Pacific War. However, they were important far past 7 December 1941.

As noted by the NPS:

From the quays, American salvage workers accomplished unprecedented feats in the recovery of sunken battleships. Workers raised the USS California, USS West Virginia, and righted and refloated the USS Oklahoma. Extensive salvage work was performed on the USS Arizona. The quays were the foundations of the recovery, which lead ships like the West Virginia fighting throughout the remainder of World War II.

Now, as noted by the Park Service, “for the first time since 1941, the fleet moorings of Battleship Row are being examined, repaired, and architecturally reviewed in order to preserve these historic structures. It’s all part of a joint program with the Concrete Preservation Institute and the National Park Service to preserve and restore the moorings along Battleship Row.”

More on that, here 

Relic retrieval and historical interpretation

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The below Vesti report popped up this week showing a Russian Ministry of Defense expedition in the Northern Kuriles recovering old Japanese anti-tank guns/light artillery via helicopter. They are fairly well preserved considering they have been in a windswept saltwater environment for 75+ years. Of note, they also found reportedly 700 UXO items and kaboom’d same.

The island in question is Iturup (Yetorup) or as the Japanese call it, Etorofu-tō, and was part of the Japanese Empire from 1855 to 1945 when the Soviets came in and switched flags. Although Tokyo today still refers to it as an occupied island, the Russian news report, with Moscow’s own spin, says it was liberated by the Patriotic Red Army during WWII.

Iturup is perhaps best known in military history as the staging point for the six-carrier Japanese striking force (Kidô Butai) headed to Pearl Harbor in late November 1941.

IJN Zuikaku cruising from Hitokappu Bay, Iturup, in November 1941. The carrier Kaga and Akagi is seen in the background

Apparently people really like 9mm pistols

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Initial gun production numbers are in from 2018, showing an increase from the previous year’s figures and the solid popularity of 9mm handguns.

According to the latest figures from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, 8,669,259 new firearms of all sorts were produced last year. This is up from 8,327,792 released into commerce in 2017.

The largest single category of firearms produced in 2018 was in pistols chambered larger than .380ACP to 9mm, with 2,281,450 handguns logged. This is up significantly from 1,756,618 in the same category reported in 2017.

More in my column at Guns.com 

Polishing Togo’s ride

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Those appreciative of 20th Century naval history will find a slight bit of irony in this photo:

190824-N-HH215-1025YOKOSUKA, Japan (Aug. 24, 2019) Yokosuka area chief petty officer (CPO) selectees join members of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) in a community relations event where the CPO selectees and JMSDF members cleaned the historic Japanese battleship, Mikasa. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tyler R. Fraser/Released)

Commissioned in 1902, the Vickers-built 15,000-ton Mikasa was notable as Adm. Togo’s flagship during the Russo-Japanese War including putting the capital “T” in Tsushima.

Rebuilt after a magazine explosion, she was later decommissioned to comply with the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty and preserved as a museum ship, somehow managing not to pick up a dozen 500-pound bombs during WWII only to be restored in a campaign championed by no less a figure than Adm. Nimitz.

Mikasa is the only pre-dreadnought battleship still around (as well as Japan’s last battlewagon) and predates the elderly dreadnought USS Texas (BB-35) by a decade.

Keystone in Paris, 75 years ago today

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Here we see American troops of the 28th Infantry “Keystone” Division march down the Champs Elysees, Paris, in the hastily planned “Victory” Parade through the City of Lights, 29 August 1944.

American troops of the 28th Infantry Division march down the Champs Elysees, Paris, in the Victory Parade 08291944

Formed largely from Pennsylvania National Guard units, the 28th was called into federal service on 17 February 1941 then spent two years training stateside before they went overseas on 8 October 1943. Landing at Normandy on 22 July 1944, the division was thrown into Operation Cobra around Saint-Lô and stopped off in Paris soon after.

The below silent film from the National Archives shows the unit in fine form, complete with Shermans, M10 Wolverine tank destroyers, M8 Greyhound armored cars, heavy and light artillery, and tons of jeeps, trailed by French on bicycles to the delight of the crowd.

The 28th would go on to fight in the Hürtgen Forest, at the Battle of the Bulge, in the Colmar Pocket and against the Siegfreid Line, spending 196 days of combat and suffering more than 2,300 KIA.

Still, their boots and tracks echo along Paris streets today.

“28th Division” 25 August 1944, Army Artwork by Harry A. Davis, 1 August 1945 Gouache on paper, 19 3/4″ x 21 1/2″ U.S. Army Center of Military History

The city has been celebrating with a 75th-anniversary parade, ceremony, and events.

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