September 22, 2012

A Highland Festival of Note ⁴

Scotland, US Navy, USMC • Tags: Haggis, Highland Games, Ladies from Hell, Ligonier, Marines, Navy, Pipe Bands, Pipers, scotland

The sky was exactly what would be expected for a festival that claims to celebrate the highlands of Scotland. Sunny one moment and dark grey and foreboding the next.

The weather didn’t deter the faithful though as people from all over Western PA and anyplace within reasonable driving distance headed out to the Ligonier Highland Games at Olde Idlewild Park.

The parking lot was full to overflowing (as proved by the brand new dent on the rear bumper of my car).

But the people were exactly as one would expect at a typical highland games: excited to hear the bands, see the lovely dancers, and smell the amazing foods waiting to be eaten.

If you’ve never been to a games but you suspect that you are even vaguely Scottish (twice removed on your Mother’s side for instance) you should seek one out. What I like about this game setting is the timing. Fall in Western PA reminds me a bit of summer in Western Scotland (all two weeks of it).

Moderate temperatures which makes wearing a kilt much nicer and the coolness in the air seems to help the pipes sound even more fantastic than they normally do.

You meander through the booths like a wild stream through the woods of Idlewild. The bumper stickers say it all: “If it isn’t Scottish, it’s CRAP”. The funny thing is, I always end up walking away a little more laden with stuff that isn’t crap in my knapsack. Well, it keeps the economy rolling along I suppose. I am sitting at the keyboard wearing my latest amnesia/Alzheimer’s present to myself. It’s a beautiful black polo shirt with the Clan Crest and my last name sewn on it in bright letters. I call it that because someday when my memory fades my wife can just dress me up in one of the many fine shirts I have bought over the years and if I am ever in doubt, I can merely look at the name for a quick reminder.

There is something for everyone… Shetland Ponies, dogs of every breed, color and size, pipe bands and solo pipers and wee lads and lassies dressed in their highland finest.

As I mentioned before, there is also a fine selection of foods. The Scottish are world renowned for their skillful cuisine that I am sure most countries would die for. Actually, most of what is served helps you along the way to the final resting place. Scotch Eggs, Bridies, Meat Pies, Haggis, Banger’s and Mash and a full assortment of American fried and grilled foods for the non-Scottish members of the family.

If it wasn’t for the never ending skirl of the pipes caused by the solo pipers practicing by a tree, you could probably hear the arteries of many of the patrons hardening as they swallow their treats. I will freely confess that it isn’t a good games for me without at least a tasting. Special note to the gentleman behind me: Texas hot sauce is not normally found at the Meat Pie tent. I’m sure its delightful but its not normally served.

The real delight for me though is the massed bands marching onto the field. The sound of well over a hundred pipers echoing off the nearby hills is amazing and takes you far away to another place and time. The staccato drumming and muffled beat of the big drums adds a crisp line of rhythm that keeps even the most excitable child in line if only for a short time. The well placed feet follow a practiced pattern and they come down the field in a way that reminds you of the bold army they once led. No wonder the enemy called them “The Ladies from Hell”.

Everyone is a family member or part of a larger “Clan” on days like today. The military men who served in Vietnam are all getting on in years now but still wear their caps with their kilts. The Navy boys form the Holy loch keep a keen eye out for a brother with Dolphins or Surface Warfare Pins on their khaki shirts. The Marines sport their own shirts and hats but you can tell them by their walk. They are American’s first, but are proud of the lineage that sets them apart as Scottish blooded warriors.

The Festival and Games are over for another year. Just ahead will be celebrations for Saint Andrews day in November. January brings Rabby Burns Birthday Celebrations and all the Haggis your heart can stand. Cold winter nights up north are just a reminder of the hardships our ancestors faced to help build this new land. But in the far reaches of the hollows and lanes, you can bet that somewhere, some young piper is practicing for the next season. Some athlete is dreaming of how he will get the next few feet from his throw. Some dancer meets in a practice hall and listens to hour after hour of the pipes learning how to control that critical step.

They will meet again in September of 2013 in the woods near Ligonier as their predecessors have for over 54 years. And all of us who love the history, mystery and revelry of Scotland will gladly join them there.

Will ye no come back again?

Mister Mac

^{By the way, if anyone saw the guy who hit my car, send me a note to my private email. A kind soul wrote their license plate number on a napkin and the police think they know who did it, but it would be nice to have a witness. (It happened between 10:30 and 2:00 PM) Thanks}

July 30, 2012

The Die is Cast; Vandegrift does the impossible ¹

American History, Leadership, US Navy, USMC, World War 2 • Tags: Admiral Ghormley, General Vandegrift, Guadalcanal, Marines

America and her allies were woefully unprepared to fight the kind of war they found themselves with in the Pacific. The attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent attacks around the Pacific Rim decimated the plans and the resources of the forces that would become allied in their opposition to Japanese aggression. Traditional forces were not readily available and even the ones that were had not been trained or equipped to fight in the faraway jungles of the islands. These small islands were to become stationary aircraft carriers of a sort and the Japanese saw them as a way to strangle their enemies lines of communication and supplies.

The American’s had a weapon to fight this new threat but even the Generals and Admirals of their own forces were slow to see its real value in the lead up to the war. The United States Marine Corps was viewedas a “naval police force” by many of the leaders in the other services. Despite her rich history of non-traditional warfare dating back to Tripoli, inter-service rivalry and mission infringement kept the Corps at a minimal level for many decades. The Army saw little value in the amphibious war capability and felt that the priority of capturing and creating improvements to existing ports was a better way to deliver large combat forces.

The war that you plan for is seldom the war you actually get to fight.

The enemy are decidedly uncooperative in times of conflict and the war in the Pacific was no exception. Long range bombers were still a distant dream and the state of all allied forces were somewhat in question in June of 1942. As previously mentioned http://theleansubmariner.com/2012/07/29/two-battles-that-determined-the-course-of-a-war/ the high command in Washington had barely reached a consensus on a solution.

The Navy thought that MacArthur would unnecessarily expose their carriers to risk, and that Tulagi should be seized first to lessen the danger from the Japanese and establish a base in the Solomons for future operations. They also thought that command should be through Nimitz to his subordinate, Vice Admiral Robert L Ghormley, Commander South Pacific Area and South Pacific Force (COMSOPAC). MacArthur objected as he thought he would be the logical choice since the amphibious objectives were in his area.

The Joint Chiefs decided that Ghormley would command the Tulagi part of the operation after which MacArthur would command the advance to Rabaul. The US Navy and Marine Corps would attack and seize Tulagi, Guadalcanal and the surrounding area while MacArthur made a parallel advance towards New Guinea. The boundary between Southwest Pacific and South Pacific was shifted to reflect the change and King notified Nimitz (and hence Ghormley) to start planning for an operation. Major General Alexander A Vandegrift was notified that his division (1st Marine Division) would spearhead the attack.

No one could have been a better choice for the role than Vandegrift. A southerner by birth, he was raised in the traditions that forged the men of the Confederacy in Virginia.

He tried without success to achieve a position in the US Military Academy and was rejected. Later, he was selected as a Marine Corps Officer. When he had approached his Senator for a confirmation, the Senator said that if he was selected, he would be forever doomed to fight small wars in the southern hemisphere. For much of his career, that ended up being true.

The strength of that experience was that when the nation found itself in need of a jungle warfare fighting force, the Marines brought the needed skills immediately to the battles. Not only that, but the Marine officers between the wars had experimented and innovated new techniques in landing against an entrenched force from the sea. They struggled against an even more entrenched way of thinking put forth by traditionalists that such a campaign would be futile.

The Marine Corps persevered in their struggles

With a force of only about 20,000 they pushed forward with their development of new strategies and when the call came, they were the obvious choice. Unlike the other services, they remained in constant action during the years between the wars. From the banana wars to service in the far east, Marines of every rank were being built and tested for a larger role.

On March 23 1942, Vandegrift received his second star and command of the new First Marine Division. The band of brothers were being assembled in New River, North Carolina. He had already been the assistant commander practicing practice landings on Solomon’s Island in the Chesapeake Bay (prophetically enough). His task was to build a force of fighting men from the old salts around the globe from a force of roughly 11,000 men to over 19,000.

The Old Salts were joined by old Gunnery sergeants and grizzled old hands from China and the fleet

Men who had fought in the battles in France in WW1 were joined by jungle fighters and seasoned troops of every kind. They were joined by the new breed as well… Marines who had answered the call when the US was attacked by a foreign and devious enemy. This blend of men is the one that was called upon to do the impossible: sail halfway around the world to develop a new way to fight an enemy that had already been tested in blood letting battles.

After arriving with his men in Wellington, New Zealand, General Vandergrift and his staff were ordered to meet with Admiral Ghormley and his staff in Auckland. The Admiral handed Vandegrift the Top Secret orders and Vandegrift was shocked with his orders. The Joint Chiefs wanted him to prepare plans and execute an invasion of Tulagi – Guadalcanal by August 1st.

From Operation Watchtower: The Battle for Guadalcanal (August 1942-February 1943)

“For Vandegrift, the news was far from welcome as he had not expected to go into action until sometime early in the new year and his division was spread out between Wellington and the United States, with part of it on garrison duty in Samoa. In just under a month he would have to make operational and logistical plans, unload his ships and reload them for combat, sail to the Fiji Islands to conduct a rehearsal and then sail to the Solomon Islands. Reconfiguring the division’s supplies would have to be done in New Zealand’s Aotoa Quay, a confined area that could only take five ships at a time. To make matters worse, the dock workers went on strike so that the Marines had to do the work themselves and the rains came which were driven by a cold persistent wind. Some food and clothing was lost due to being left unprotected in cardboard boxes that tended to disintegrate in such conditions. Finally it was discovered after the loading was complete that there was not enough room for all the motor transport to go aboard and so about three-quarters of the heavy prime movers were left behind. Vandegrift also had the problem of a serious lack of intelligence about Guadalcanal. The division’s intelligence officer, Lt Col Frank B Goettge set up an extensive interview programme with former residents of the area to glean as much information as possible and a photo reconnaissance mission by Lt Col Merril B Twining and Major William B Kean yielded a large number of useful photographs of the north coast of the island. To protect the flanks of the main assault a number of smaller objectives on Florida Island, Gavutu, Tanambogo and others would be seized just prior to the main landing. “

The only moment of grace for Vandegrift as he tried to pull together his far flung forces in the face of such overwhelming odds was the granting of a delay of one week by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The new invasion date: August 7 1942. But Vandegrift and his staff were not about to let this chance at victory slip away. They put their hearts and souls into planning for the great struggle ahead. The fight to stop the Japanese advancement would begin on the beaches and in the jungles of these “stinking islands”.

The Marines that were to land first carried bolt action weapons that dated back to the first war. They only had supplies sufficient in the field for 60 days instead of the planned 90, a fact that would come back to haunt them in the days to come. They would be tested by the enemy, the weather, the terrain and the very nature of their characters. But the worst news was yet to come. Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher was about to make a challenging situation even more challenging.

Next up: Cancel the Dress Rehearsal

Mister Mac

February 26, 2012

But look at all the money we saved… ³

American History, US Navy • Tags: Air Force, Korea, Marines, National Defense, Navy, Seapower, Secretary of Defense

With the current drive to save money, the post Cold War Navy is being reimagined once again. This exercise in policy is as old as the nation itself, but has had some very dramatic consequences over the past 61 years. Studying a white paper recently, the role of the Navy has always been dependent on the political and economic winds of change. The types of ships and subs is determined by strategies that can change at any time and the results are almost always dramatic.

As hard as it is to believe, after Word War 2, the United States went from being the predominant Blue Water force in the world to being a target for destruction by its own government.

The new “Secretary of Defense” which resulted from the National Security Act of 1947 was no fan of the Navy. Louis A. Johnson, in a conversation with one of the Navy’s admirals infamously said:

Admiral, the Navy is on its way out. There’s no reason for having a Navy and a Marine Corps. General Bradley tells me amphibious operations are a thing of the past. We’ll never have any more amphibious operations. That does away with the Marine Corps. And the Air Force can do anything the Navy can do, so that does away with the Navy.

Both Johnson and Harry Truman were convinced that all future wars would be fought using superior technology. Just as some now see unmanned drones as a way to project power and limit loss of US forces, they saw a time where defense dollars could easily be cut and put to use in other places.

The outrage by the Naval leadership took a very public form and was known as the Admiral’s Revolt. From the Secretary of the Navy on down, the protest led to firings and demotions for anyone who would not publicly toe the line set by Truman and Johnson. The first super carrier USS America was cancelled and a program of systematically shutting down the Navy and Marines was begun.

From Wikipedia:

“By 1950, Johnson had established a policy of faithfully following President Truman’s defense economization policy, and had aggressively attempted to implement it even in the face of steadily increasing external threats posed by the Soviet Union and its allied Communist regimes. He consequently received much of the blame for the initial setbacks in Korea and the widespread reports of ill-equipped and inadequately trained U.S. forces. Johnson’s failure to adequately plan for U.S. conventional force commitments, to adequately train and equip current forces, or even to budget funds for storage of surplus Army and Navy war-fighting materiel for future use in the event of conflict would prove fateful after war broke out on the Korean Peninsula.

In June 1950, the lightly armed South Korean Army and its U.S. advisors found themselves under attack from North Korean aircraft and waves of well-trained infantry equipped with Soviet tanks and artillery. In an initial response, Truman called for a naval blockade of North Korea, and was shocked to learn that such a blockade could only be imposed ‘on paper’, since the U.S. Navy no longer had the warships with which to carry out his request.

Ordered to intervene in Korea by the President, U.S. armed forces were short of both men and equipment. Army officials recovered Sherman tanks from World War II Pacific battlefields, reconditioning them for shipment to Korea. Army Ordnance officials at Fort Knox pulled down M26 Pershing tanks from display pedestals around Fort Knox in order to equip the third company of the Army’s hastily formed 70th Tank Battalion.

Without adequate numbers of tactical fighter-bomber aircraft, the Air Force took F-51 (P-51) propeller-driven aircraft out of storage or from existing Air National Guard squadrons, and rushed them into front-line service. A shortage of spare parts and qualified maintenance personnel resulted in improvised repairs and overhauls. A Navy helicopter pilot aboard an active-duty warship recalled fixing damaged rotor blades with masking tape in the absence of spares.

Army infantry reservists and new inductees called to duty to fill out under strength infantry divisions found themselves short of nearly everything needed to repel the North Korean forces: artillery, ammunition, heavy tanks, ground-support aircraft, even effective anti-tank weapons such as the M20 3.5-inch (89 mm) Super Bazooka. Some Army combat units sent to Korea were supplied with worn-out, ‘red-lined’ M-1 rifles or carbines in immediate need of Ordnance overhaul or repair.

Unlike the U.S. Army, the Soviet Union had retained its large World War II surplus arms inventories and kept them in a state of combat readiness. With this abundance of military hardware, the Soviet Union had supplied the North Korean Army over a period of several years with heavy tanks, machine guns, mortars, combat aircraft, and artillery, together with instructors to train the North Korean Army.

As a consequence, initial combat encounters by the 24th Infantry division and other Army units at the Battle of Osan with North Korean armored spearheads proved disastrous. Ironically, only the U.S. Marine Corps, whose commanders had stored and maintained their World War II surplus inventories of equipment and weapons, proved ready for deployment, though they still were under strength and in need of suitable landing craft to practice amphibious operations (Johnson had transferred most of the remaining craft to the Navy and reserved them for use in training Army units).

As U.S. and South Korean forces lacked sufficient armor and artillery to repel the North Korean forces, Army and Marine Corps ground troops were instead committed to a series of costly rearguard actions as the enemy steadily progressed down the Korean peninsula, eventually encircling Pusan.”

The consequences were painfully dramatic. The 24th Division suffered over 3,600 casualties in the 17 days it fought alone against the 3rd and 4th North Korean divisions. The “police action” dragged on for close to four years and technically still exists today. North Korea has a nuclear capability and a history of erratic leaders. Johnson was eventually forced to resign and the rest is history. The United States Air Force built it’s strategic inventory but political decisions limited its use. Even the carpet bombing employed during the Viet Nam war failed to prevent the eventual capitulation of our allies.

Ships are expensive to maintain and to build. Greater technology requires more complicated weapons platforms. Electronics can be overcome with more sophisticated systems and devices. God only knows what the Chinese and modern day Russians are scheming now to counter the aircraft carrier battle groups that we rely on so heavily now. But a balanced approach to the defense posture will continue to be need in a world increasingly hostile to our way of life.

How much does freedom cost?

What price would you put on one of those Marines or Navy Corpsmen who were at Pusan and never made it home? We will be tested again. We will need men and women who are willing to stand in the breach for our defense. Every ship, every submarine, every amphibious craft will prove once again to be the best way to project American power.

There are two types of people in the country today.

There are those with good intentions who feel that a weaker posture will encourage diplomacy and good will. Talking with our adversaries will result in an understanding that will prevent violent actions. Then there are people who see the history of mankind. Counting on the eventual goodwill of someone who is currently inclined to kill you and your people is a fool’s game. The choice between the two camps is that simple.

Mister Mac

November 17, 2011

Caught in the Crossfire ²

Leadership, Submarine, Uncategorized, US Navy, White House • Tags: Australia, China, Marines, Oil, Straits of Malacca

Its 3:00 AM and everyone in the control room party has managed to find a comfortable enough position to hide the fact that they are half snoozing. The room is rigged for red and the boat is plugging along at 4 knots at 150 feet. Even the Auxiliaryman of the Watch has laid his clipboard down as he reposes on the comfy naugahide cushion covered trashcan.

Then at 3:06 everyone gets a quick reminder how fast things can change as the forward torpedo room bilge alarm starts flashing and chirping on the BCP. The Chief of the Watch turns to the AOW and gives him a kind of a nasty look since its obvious that someone wasn’t watching the level in the potable water tanks…

Life is kind of like that sometimes.

You are just cruising along when out of seemingly nowhere an alarm sounds. It could be nothing. Or it could be an indicator of something much bigger. Maybe that little flashing light is a warning that events not yet clearly understood could spiral out of control.

There was a pretty interesting alarm today in the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/world/asia/obama-addresses-troops-at-final-stop-in-australia.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2&ei=5065&partner=MYWAY

The far east has been an evolving maze of activity for the past decade. The US presence has been decreasing with the loss of bases, ships, attention and focus. A large part of that has been the number of assets dedicated to fighting the War on Terror. Iraq and Afghanistan have rightly or wrongly consumed much of our attention and the Far East has slowly evolved into an unsettled existence.

I was kind of surprised that the CiC would announce to the world the permanent posting of 2500 Marines in Australia.

I am not sure what their purpose is or why they are needed there. Their proximity to the vital sea lanes is the official line from the DoD but if shipping was the major deal, why not build more ships and planes? I have been to the area a number of times and I can assure you its pretty wide open. Don’t get me wrong, I love Australia and would gladly put my uniform back on to help defend her. The match up just seems a little off balance.

Caught in the crossfire?

More surprising to me though (and it probably should not have been) is the reaction to the Chinese. The article speaks about “concern” and even contains a not so veiled threat to Australia about not getting caught in the crossfire. Are we at war? Did I miss something here? wasn’t this supposed to be the “Age of Aquarius” or some such silly nonsense?

Its pretty routine for people to dismiss alarmists like me. I am not formally schooled in international diplomacy and I am not privileged to any insider information. However, I am pretty skilled at reading maps and I can count. As much as I admire the United States Marine Corps, I am pretty sure that 2500 of their finest will still have trouble overpowering 2.8 million active duty Commies even on a good day.

^{Over 60,000 vessels transit the Strait of Malacca per year. If the strait were blocked, nearly half of the world’s fleet would be required to reroute around the Indonesian archipelago through Lombok Strait, located between the islands of Bali and Lombok, or the Sunda Strait, located between Java and Sumatra. I find it kind of interesting how many Mine Warfare ships the Chinese Navy has. Does 391 seem a bit high for a country at peace?}

http://www.globalfirepower.com/country-military-strength-detail.asp?country_id=China

When you have a Commander in Chief who has broadcast what the ChiCom’s perceive as weakness since the day he took office, you should expect that at some point they will start actively and aggressively testing the limits of our actual commitment.

Frankly, I love the Australian people but I am not so sure I would put too much faith in anything offered by a government that routinely lies to its own people (Fast and Furious, Solyndra, GM’s actual bail out cost, support for Israel, and anything Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid say).

The most frightening statistic for me on the Global Firepower charts is this: despite the fact they consume over 8 billion barrels of oil per day, they are only able to produce 4 billion.

At some point, their reserves are going to be out leveraged by their needs. I wonder where they plan on getting the rest of their oil needs from. Talk about getting caught in the crossfire.

Didn’t we do this war back in the 1940’s?

Mister Mac

Post Sript:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/us-satellites-compromised-by-malicious-cyber-activity/

Now who in the world would want to mess with our satellites???

theleansubmariner

The original lean from a stealthy source

Tag Archives: Marines