en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/3473747 Comments by Move_Forward http://www.dodbuzz.com/2012/04/16/despite-crash-v22-program-remains-bullish/#IDComment340645646 Come on Cunningham. You compare an aircraft with less than 150,000 hours to Army aircraft with over 3 million hours in combat. The MV and CV-22 are great machines...at twice the price of a 170 knot new CH-47F or three times the price of a rebuilt D model. The Chinook carries far more weight and troops at altitude and you know it. Heck the UH-60L and M can hover at higher altitudes with more useful loads than a MV-22 burning far less fuel. Tue, 17 Apr 2012 01:53:08 +0000 http://www.dodbuzz.com/2012/04/16/despite-crash-v22-program-remains-bullish/#IDComment340645646 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/02/19/a-hypothetical-interview-general-martin-dempsey-fiction/#IDComment296776955 MY: But General, the Apaches can’t react as fast as the door gunner, right? General: MY, the door gunner on the side of the aircraft where the patient is being brought, has zero fields of fire. The gunner on the opposite side cannot fire to the front or rear. Both door gunners have only the unaided eye or night vision goggles not directly tied to their weapons like the Apache gunners optics. And don’t forget MY, during half the day, the enemy cannot see the red cross because it is nighttime. If they do see it, they know those pesky Apaches are nearby, don’t they. Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:48:39 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/02/19/a-hypothetical-interview-general-martin-dempsey-fiction/#IDComment296776955 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/02/19/a-hypothetical-interview-general-martin-dempsey-fiction/#IDComment296776300 MY: General, why don’t we take the red cross off our MEDEVAC aircraft so that the enemy won’t know they are unarmed? General: Well gee MY, considering that a pair of Apaches are flying overhead with a 30mm gun, 2.75” rockets, Hellfire missiles and phenomenal night vision optics, and the enemy knows it because of the red cross, I suspect they are likely to avoid the optimal fields of fire and sudden death they know would follow should they open fire on our MEDEVAC aircraft. Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:47:26 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/02/19/a-hypothetical-interview-general-martin-dempsey-fiction/#IDComment296776300 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/30/death-taxes-and-war/#IDComment281394589 Of course home prices are related to a specific type of speculation and income-based inflation. When a pair of immigrants move into a neighborhood and can afford a million dollar house (a house identical to my mom's next door sold for $1.1 million a year ago) because they both have good Silicon valley engineering jobs, prices rise for everyone else not in computer jobs or with two great incomes. I was just out in California for Christmas. I saw a lot of luxury cars, and new houses on lots that used to have smaller, older houses. The land prices are inflated. Yet incomes are still high enough to afford the expensive house and car. If they can swing both, they can pay higher taxes. They came to the U.S. and benefit from our economy. The least they can do is support our federal government through a fair tax rate. As long as we encourage high house prices through loan bail-outs and mortgage interest deductions, housing inflation will screw up the rest of the economy. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 03:01:37 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/30/death-taxes-and-war/#IDComment281394589 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/30/death-taxes-and-war/#IDComment281376523 As for estate taxes and capital gains on investments, both could also be based on the total gains made. A lower rate on inheritances and investment gains up to a certain monetary point would make sense while a higher rate would be charged on those with inheritances and capital gains on investments that exceed $1 million. Part of our screwed up economy has been out of control inflation on housing prices in coastal and big city areas. My mom's $30K house in the bay area in 1966 is now worth over a million and it is a basic 2100 ft2 tract house. The insistence on larger houses than Americans used to own is another problem driving up house expenses. Higher house prices drive up state and city employee wages which drives up state taxes and reduces federal income tax paid...when added to deductions for high interest paid on mortgages. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 02:32:14 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/30/death-taxes-and-war/#IDComment281376523 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/30/death-taxes-and-war/#IDComment281371836 As Niall Ferguson pointed out on Fareed Zakaria this past weekend, the Republican insistence on the message of no new taxes on the rich is hard to defend. When President Eisenhower made his "military-industrial complex" speech, the top tax rate was 91%. As late as 1981, it was 69.13%. Reagan and the Republicans reduced it to 50% in 1982. The Republicans in the Clinton years had it at 39.6%. All these figures under Republicans were far higher than today's 35% since 2003. The relative wealth of the rich has increased by 275% while the rest of us picked up the tab. If we want an effective defense in a dangerous world, taxes on the wealthiest of us must increase. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 02:25:05 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/30/death-taxes-and-war/#IDComment281371836 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/29/13-military-pilots-rebuke-the-joint-chiefs-of-staff/#IDComment279276154 To add to Si Simmons' bibliography, suggest downloading a 1984 Army history product "Dustoff Army Aeromedical Evauation in Vietnam." Read about the exploits of Medal of Honor winner MAJ Patrick Brady who flew 3 different aircraft on four trips to evacuate 51 wounded Soldiers landing in a minefield under heavy fire. On another occasion he had made four trips in heavy fog to evacuate 18 litter and 21 ambulatory patients. Obviously, neither situation would have been feasible with one or two patients per lift...even if only one flight medic was aboard. During the war, it also was realized that a UH-1D could only lift 183 lbs at 95 degrees in the highlands while the replacement UH-1H could hoist at 20' over the jungle with over 1000 lbs payload. Obviously, the HH-60 hovers with considerably more payload, but it remainss weight-constrained in high/hot out of ground effect hoist hover conditions to far less than the max gross weight cited by one of Yon's pilot. In the final major Vietnam battle of Lam Son 719, initially it was taking up to 7 hours to get an armed escort for MEDEVAC missions. Seems like the Army has come a long way. Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:45:29 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/29/13-military-pilots-rebuke-the-joint-chiefs-of-staff/#IDComment279276154 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/29/13-military-pilots-rebuke-the-joint-chiefs-of-staff/#IDComment279096672 I recall the original USAF CSAR replacement winning candidate was a MH-47, to carry additional PJs, armament, medics, security, and patients..because CSAR is a separate mission from MEDEVAC.. Does Yon think we should replace all our H-60s with Chinooks? If HH-60 MEDEVACs can carry larger numbers and support mass casualties at multiple locations because they have more space and power, why is that bad? Obviously a Chinook will not fit in every potential H-60 LZ. Does Yon advocate using more distant LZs and adding additional delays in getting the patient to the larger LZ? Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:42:24 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/29/13-military-pilots-rebuke-the-joint-chiefs-of-staff/#IDComment279096672 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/29/13-military-pilots-rebuke-the-joint-chiefs-of-staff/#IDComment279095050 Agree with Forbes that compromises are possible. However, many pilot responses are theater or region-specific, yet often reinforce the need for more MEDEVAC space and weight availability.No mention is made of the need for greater power margins for the hoist mission. One pilot even mentioned his experience was in RC-S/SW which are at considerably lower altitudes than RC-East where hoist missions are more likely. Others cited they could always cram more ambulatory patience into Pedro space available. That clearlly means more space and power for more ambulatory patients would exist without the door gunners and guns.. Others mentioned making multiple trips or sending more aircraft if they lacked space and power. But with multiple casualties elsewhere a possibility, isn't it preferred to take more per aircraft trip...because you have the weight and space available. WIll a 60 year old Yon be saying we should have more MEDEVAC aircraft because we can only carry and work on one patient at a time and mass casualties in multiple areas have split up available assets. Not every war will have the limited casualties of Afghanistan. Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:40:08 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/29/13-military-pilots-rebuke-the-joint-chiefs-of-staff/#IDComment279095050 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment275468857 "For those of you too pithy to listen to a mere specialist..." I contrast what I knew as an E-4 to what I knew when I left the Army as a an officer, to what many of the full colonels to 3-star generals know who served decades through Desert Storm, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq. There is no comparison. Nor was their service and rank the result of careerism. I do listen carefully to the experiences of multi-tour E-4s through E-6s that I instruct. Mike, you and all the current Generals I went to school with passed 4 semesters of West Point math. I have my doubts that Carl would have. My Valedictorian, biochem Magna Cum Lauda daughter is a brilliant 3rd year Med student. That doesn't mean she should be providing advice or passing judgment on multi-year doctors. Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:27:45 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment275468857 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment274572549 Carl said: "I don't think that you know what you're talking about. Mortalities do NOT tell the story of "success." The point of fighting wars (crazy thought coming! crazy thought coming!) is to achieve realistic foreign policy solutions." Says the National Guard Specialist who thinks he knows more than the Generals recommending surges that he belittles...while you cite that the sky will fall if an unlikely terrorist should succeed in attacking a stateside chemical plant or train...and you claim Soldiers in Vietnam would have been better off without Hueys.... Realistic foreign policy solution: Prevent terrorist access to nuclear weapons and other realistic mass-casualties producing terrorist weapons. Prevent a nuclear Iran. Read the article recommended by twitter commenters at SWJ (Peter Munson and Doctrine Man are clueless?) on the Israeli perspective on Iran nukes. Do you see the Israelis packing it up and giving up because it's hard? Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:53:25 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment274572549 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment274532928 Numbers reveal trends that war critics are unable to fathom unless facts are in their face. Because they cannot recognize the surge’s success and that lack of earlier resources created the Taliban resurgence, they spread negativism thus encouraging a faster withdrawal. The resulting fewer troops now are more likely to be injured because they no longer dominate as much area on the battlefield. Perhaps we forget that we have lost fewer Soldiers in a decade than were lost in a few hours of Sept 2001. Perhaps most do not comprehend how close Iran is to getting nukes, or how many could die if al Qaeda or LeT accessed a Pakistani nuke. Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:49:46 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment274532928 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment274532629 Vietnam 1967 486,000 troops at end of year, 11,153 killed, or one in 44 killed 1968 537,000 troops at end of year, 16,592 killed, or one in 32 killed Afghanistan 2010 98,000 troops at end of year, 499 killed, or one in 196 killed 2011 91,000 troops at end of year (far more during year), 418 killed, or one in 218 killed Forgive the heartlessness of this analysis. I believe it is a necessary one to counter cynics who heartlessly reduce the morale of serving service members by disparaging their reason for serving and doubting the success of their efforts. Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:49:13 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment274532629 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment274496706 "Another thing that you might consider is that a key reason more people aren't dead -- even though the wound rate for frontline troops in OIF and OEF is similar to Vietnam and other modern wars -- is because of factors that have absolutely nothing to do with guerrilla warfare but rather because of innovations in field medicine and personal/vehicular armor." Perhaps you can elaborate on how 300,000 wounded in Vietnam correlates to 14.000 wounded in Afghanistan over a similar time frame. Don't forget that the Soviets had 14,000 dead over their ten years. If it is a function of numbers of troops, why did fatalities decrease during the surge? If the surge was not a factor, why were British and Canadian results so mediocre relative to US contributions to Helmand and Kandahar provinces when the US took charge with greater numbers? Consider that many of the severely injured who survived Afghanistan wounds would have been added to the death tolls in earlier wars. Instead they survived and instead of being added to a relatively small death toll...they exaggerated the number of wounded, but not killed. Statistics can lie at times. Other times, such as your comments about technology's contribution, they tell the genuine story....name-calling aside. Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:55:11 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment274496706 http://www.dodbuzz.com/2012/01/24/csba-our-weapons-mix-is-out-of-whack/#IDComment273568870 The A2/AD and Outside-In Advocates seem oblivious to the concept of aerial refueling. They show slides depicting only fighters from Turkey and outside the Straits of Hormuz able to reach Iran. Meanwhile if we use Desert Storm and OIF/OEF as an example, there would be hundreds of aerial refuelers over Saudi Arabia and Pakistan providing support so that F-22s and F-35s could bomb the entire of Iran. Considering the cost of soon to be discontinued Global Hawks, its hard to envision a cost-effective stealth UAS loitering over China...where J-20s would make short work of them since they would be unescorted and some aspect of them would be detectable or visually evident. Nevermind that UAS could not find SCUDs in OIF in far more open terrain than China. Do they believe the Chinese would never use those 3000 miles of tunnels and the hugging of civilian cities to disguise those TBM? Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:33:46 +0000 http://www.dodbuzz.com/2012/01/24/csba-our-weapons-mix-is-out-of-whack/#IDComment273568870 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment273296283 Weak, non-factual response. Obviously the deaths and injuries are tragic but small in comparison to past conflicts. Why aren't our historians out there contrasting the artillery bombardments of WWI and II to show that despite heavy bombardment, ground forces can survive. This 1500 Chinese (or less for Iran) TBM A2/AD stuff against multiple targets is historically non-consequential compared to a 10 hour artillery preparation with one million shells in a 30 x 5 km area during WWI's Battle of Verdun.. A quick look at several JOG-Air maps accessible via the University of Texas map library reveals obvious axis of advance along the coast and 100 miles inland leading from Pakistan. Iran has 70 million. Pakistan has 180 million and nukes. Any more questions? Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:46:20 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment273296283 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment272706527 So you really believe that beating Iran would be harder than beating Iraq? Didn't those two fight for years to a draw with Iraq having the far more superior armor force? How long would Amadinejad and Khameini last with US forces occupying the Straits and sanctions still in place on Iranian oil? We don't need to start anything. But continued threats by Iran raise the price of oil and Israel may not wait for permission. If we want to restore the economy, oil costs must decline which does not happen with Iran making constant threats which will expand when they have nukes. Of course we could keep blocking offshore and Alaska drilling and the Keystone pipeline. That would bring down the price of oil...oh wait.... Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:02:46 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment272706527 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment272703616 Come on Mike: You said: "paying living wages to our teachers, policemen, and firemen" My DoD civilian wife has been a child development teacher, supervisor, and CDL bus driver at varying levels of responsibility for 30 years. If she worked in a shore CA or MA city, or DC she would be getting that starting cops $80K with a retirement of $70K instead of the $4600 annuity and annual $40K income she has accumulated...and she will probably need to work until 67. Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:57:41 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment272703616 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment272639410 The starting salary of a policeman in the bay area exceeds $80K and you can bet that given the direction of the California debt, some future democratic administation will figure out a way to bail out the state. The $4-6 trillion figure is fantasy. Raising taxes on the wealthy would reduce our deficit. When Eisenhower made his famous speech the top tax rate was 91%. How is that war on drugs working out? If we had mandatory national service, we could get control of some of the other issues mentioned regarding excess costs for state and some federal workers (not DoD, my wife is DoD and has a fraction of the pay/benefits of most blue state workers). Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:15:22 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment272639410 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment272634980 You might start by reading the CSBA study or at least its slide show. What's fiction is one of its slides depicting AA/AD preventing fighters from flying far into Iran except from Turkey or well outside the Straits of Hormuz. Never mind that all manner of aerial refuelers would be over the top of Saudi Arabia. However, they at least make an effort to include ground forces if you inform yourself on the correct slide. A heavy force invasion from Pakistan would be identical to all recent experiences where forcible entry simply was unnecessary because a willing ally knew which side to side with.... Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:08:47 +0000 http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/01/22/yon-owes-us-more/#IDComment272634980