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Tracer and Jedburg Packs on sale now for crazy low price! Get yours while they last, they are going fast!
www.blueforcegear.com/pack-mega-sale
It never fails to entertain
SERGEANT MAJOR: Don’t stand there gawping like you’ve never seen the Hand of God before! Now, today, we’re going to do marching up and down the square! That is, unless any of you got anything better to do. Well?! Anyone got anything they’d rather be doing than marching up and down the square?! Yes?! Atkinson. What would you…rather be doing, Atkinson?
ATKINSON: Well, to be quite honest, Sarge, I’d… rather be at home with the wife and kids.
SERGEANT MAJOR: Would you, now?!
ATKINSON: Yes, Sarge.
SERGEANT MAJOR: Right! Off you go! Now, everybody else happy with my little plan… of marching up and down the square a bit?
COLES: Sarge!
SERGEANT MAJOR: Yes?!
COLES: I’ve got a book I’d quite like to read.
SERGEANT MAJOR: Right! You go read your book, then! Now! Everybody else… quite content to join in… with my little scheme of marching up and down the square?!
WYCLIF: Sarge?
SERGEANT MAJOR: Yes, Wyclif?! What is it?!
WYCLIF: Well, I’m, uh, learning the piano.
SERGEANT MAJOR: Learning the piano?!
WYCLIF: Yes, Sarge.
SERGEANT MAJOR: And I suppose you want to go and practice, eh? Marching up and down the square not good enough for you, eh?!
WYCLIF: Well,–
SERGEANT MAJOR: Right! Off you go!
WYCLIF: Oh.
SERGEANT MAJOR: Now! What about the rest of you? Rather be at the pictures, I suppose.
SQUAD: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ooh, yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Right.
SERGEANT MAJOR: All right! Off you go!
SQUAD: Oh. Ooh. Great. That’s great. What a day. I want to see the Merle Oberon picture. Eh hehheh.
SERGEANT MAJOR: Bloody army! I don’t know what it’s coming to. Right! Sergeant Major, marching up and down the square. Left, right, left. Left…
NARRATOR #1: Democracy and humanitarianism have always been trademarks of the British Army…
SERGEANT MAJOR: Rubbish!
NARRATOR #1: Shh! …And have stamped its triumph throughout history, in the furthest-flung corners of the Empire,…
[mayhem]
…but, no matter where or when there was fighting to be done,…
[patriotic music]
…it has always been the calm leadership of the Officer class that has made the British Army what it is.
Griffin Armament is a firearm industry manufacturer founded by two Army Infantry sniper qualified combat veterans. Although they are best known for their high-performance signature reducing sound suppressors, founders Austin and Evan have recently leveraged their lifelong passion for precision rifle marksmanship and nearly a decade of notable research and development into a completely new product line, The Griffin Armament Superior Precision Rifle Modular Mounts.
Relatively featureless optics mounts have dominated the market space for nearly half a century. Contemporary mount design and technology dates back to the mid-1980s. This trend of industrywide complacency has officially ended with the announcement of this new product line from Griffin Armament.
Griffin’s SPRM™ mounts feature a unique patent-pending design that splits the rings on two parallel but offset planes, allowing for the integration of Accessory Interface Suite (AIS™) products on 5 mounting surfaces. This system affords mounting opportunities on both left and right sides, 45-degree mounting surfaces on either side, as well as the top mounting surface to be used for accessory interfaces. Griffin SPRM™ mounts deliver unsurpassed flexibility and utility to the discriminating user. Left-handed or right-handed shooters are equally supported with the SPRM™ mounts and accessories.
At the time of this launch, The Superior Precision Rifle Modular Mounts are available in multiple heights in 30MM, 34MM, and 35MM ring sizes. Models are available in both standard vertical (0 MOA cant) and cantilever orientations (15 MOA cant) . They are designed to support as many optic and firearm combinations as possible. From rimfire trainers to heavy gas guns, there is a Griffin SPRM™ model optimized to fit your rifle setup.
A heavy emphasis on anatomically correct positioning of optics was placed on AIS™ products, leading to the development of the RAPID TRANSITION OPTICS plates. RTO™ plates position secondary non-magnified optics on optical centerline relationship with the stock comb for comfortable, rapid, targeting with a simple roll of the host firearm. These plates currently support the following optic models: Aimpoint ACRO, T1/T2, H1/H2, Comp M5, Sig Romeo, Vortex Spark, Trijicon RMR , SRO, Holosun HE507C HS407C, HS508C, Leupold Deltapoint, J Point, Optima, Dr Optic, Meopta, Insight microdot, Burris Fastfire, Vortex Venom, and Viper, CMORE STS, RTS, STS2, and Vortex razor. Picatinny RTO™ plates are also offered. Flat mount AIS™ products support a myriad of optics as well as Wilcox RAPTAR, Simrad, and Picatinny (STANAG 4694 “NATO Accessory Rail”).
SPRM™ mounts are manufactured in the USA at Griffin’s Wisconsin manufacturing facility. Mounts are machined on state-of-the-art multi-axis CNC equipment from 6061 T6 aluminum. Manufacturing in-house provides Griffin Armament with the ability to control quality at levels rarely delivered by contract manufacturers. The geometries of Griffin SPRM™ mounts are machined to part datums probed on each part. Prior to machining, costly manufacturing time is dedicated to each part with Renishaw probe strategies coupled with Renishaw RTS set tool magazines. This ensures critical geometries are machined to positional accuracies of +-.0002”rather than depending on human loading accuracy in a much looser relationship to workholding based datums typically found in traditional optic mount industry manufacturing processes. By bringing aerospace industry segmented production engineering concepts and inspection equipment to optics mount manufacturing, Griffin Armament has successfully enhanced the state of optical mount quality. This persistent dedication to quality ensures that the theoretical mount quality and the actual production mount quality are inseparably linked for uncompromised, superior precision.
Griffin Armament’s unwavering drive and commitment toward the transformation the optic mount market segment will continue to serve as the catalyst for future product development. The SPRM™ mount platform was born from a passion for the pursuit of excellence in product development. The next generation of precision optic mount technology has arrived, Griffin Armament Superior Precision Rifle Modular Mounts.
SPRM™ Features:
• AIS™ (Accessory Interface Suite) allowing the user to mount accessories on 5 sides of the mount body
• RTO™ (Rapid Transition Optic) accessory support – ability to mount Rapid Transition Optic plates to the system for a 40° offset to the primary optic, maintaining identical optical centerline height
• Ambidextrous support
• Individually probed during the manufacturing process for peerless dimensional consistency
• Stanag 4694 Compliant attachment, for precise return to zero
• Utility patent pending to support future technology development in the electro-optics industry
SPRM™ Specs:
• Unibody construction
• 6061 T6 aluminum
• Type 3 milspec hardcoat anodizing
• 12 (qty), 8-40 T15 fasteners for ring clamping
• 4 (qty), 10-32 fiber lock patched T15 fasteners for rail clamping
For more information regarding Superior Precision Rifle Modular Mounts, Accessory Interface Suite products, or any of Griffin’s badass kit offerings, visit their website at www.GriffinArmament.com
Saab and U.S. defence company Raytheon have successfully completed a series of guided flight tests for the shoulder launched Guided Carl-Gustaf® Munition, featuring a semi-active laser guidance system. The tests were performed at the Mile High Range in Sierra Blanca, Texas, United States and at Saab Bofors Test Centre in Karlskoga, Sweden.
The test firings in Sweden that were performed during September 25-26, 2019 was in the presence of an international audience. Three munitions were fired in total; two against static targets and one against a moving target. A semi-active laser was used to guide the munitions to target impact. Other seeker technologies (e.g. imaging IR) were also demonstrated as optional solutions for the final product. The demonstration in Sweden further included dynamic warhead tests against various targets.
Saab’s Carl-Gustaf weapon system is used by the U.S. Armed Forces as well as the ground forces of more than 40 other countries. The guided munition will allow Armed Forces to accurately engage stationary or moving targets up to, and beyond 2,000 meters. The increased range, in combination with a Confined Space capability will offer troops greater tactical flexibility when selecting a firing position.
“The Guided Carl-Gustaf Munition is a next step in the evolution of the Carl-Gustaf system. It will be the most advanced Carl-Gustaf munition yet and will offer greater precision, minimise collateral damage and deliver outstanding performance with pin-point accuracy and multi-target capability,” says Görgen Johansson, Head of Saab business area Dynamics.
“Raytheon and Saab have been working together to start development of a precision-guided munition that will penetrate multiple types of targets, such as light armor, bunkers and concrete structures, at extended ranges. This lightweight round will overmatch potential adversaries while decreasing collateral damage, making it an ideal weapon when fighting under restricted rules of engagement,” says Sam Deneke, Raytheon Land Warfare Systems vice president.
In 2017, Saab announced its partnership with Raytheon to develop new weapons for infantry forces. The Guided Carl-Gustaf munition will be designed to increase the capability of the combat proven, shoulder-launched, multi-role weapon system Carl-Gustaf.
Video from the demonstration in Karlskoga
The 3rd of November is Kokoda in Australia. The Kokoda campaign began with a full-scale attack on the Australian 39th Militia Battalion on 29 July 1942. The battle lasted three months as the Australians were pushed back to their last line of defense on Imita Ridge. The Australians rallied at this point and forced the Japanese back across the track. Kokoda was recaptured on 2nd November 1942, and the Australian flag was raised at a service the following day.
The Kokoda Track/Trail Campaign was fought between the Australians, the Americans, ,and the Japanese. It was primarily fought between the Aussies and the Japanese. The campaign consisted of a series of battles fought between July and November 1942 in what was then the Australian Papua New Guinea
Kokoda was undoubtedly the most significant battle fought by Australians in the Second World War because it was fought so close to home. The Kokoda campaign saved Australia from possible invasion from the Japanese. Port Moresby held a robust tactical position and preventing the Japanese from reaching it was vital. The battle was fought over five months, and the odds were stacked heavily in favor of the Japanese, they outnumbered the Aussies 5-1, they had much better equipment, and a lot more of it, and at the time were considered the best jungle fighters in the world. The astounding feats performed by the Australian soldiers lead to the growth of Australia as a nation.
The Australian troops had to save Port Moresby from getting invaded from the Japanese because if so, the Japanese could have easily invaded Australia. The Australian forces fought exceptionally well in the harsh and unforgiving jungle of the Kokoda Track/ Trail. There were more than 600 Allies killed, and about 75% of the allied troops got sick, with diseases like malaria, dengue fever, and dysentery, to name a few.
The Australians fought against all the odds and without the help of Great Britain. It was also fought mainly by Militia (reserve) troops or “chocolate soldiers” as the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) called them because they were poorly trained, and it was said, “they would melt in the heat of battle.” At the start of the war, Australia sent its best troops the AIF to the middle east to help the brits. So, they stood up Militia Battalions to serve in Australia, to protect the homeland. Still, they used the loophole that Papua New Guinea was a territory, so they sent the 39th Militia there to help protect the island. This was one of the hardest fought battles in WW2 by anyone. I have attached a couple of links so you can read about this. As a lot of military units are getting back into the jungle, this is full of useful lessons learned and is an excellent piece of history. So raise a beer to the diggers and all the people that have gone before us.
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ABERDEEN PROVING GROUNDS, Md. — Seismic, acoustic and electromagnetic systems work to help Army find one of the oldest forms of field fortification: tunnels.
War is as old as human history. This means a lot of the reactive tactics and protective equipment must evolve in response to an attack becoming strong. As weapons became heavier and deadlier-swords went from bronze, to iron, to alloys of greater hardness and durability-the defense for them would evolve, protective clothing going from very thick fabrics, to leathers, to metals to the hard ceramics and Kevlar we know today.
Terrain use has evolved over time, too. As the stakes continue to rise and objectives evolve, merely taking hills, fields and transportation routes was always the start, but taking, holding and occupying towns and cities for longer periods of time will be key.
This means tunnels. Cities thousands of years old, such as Paris and its 200 miles of tunnels and catacombs, or modern American cities like New York, which has 665 miles of subway tunnels, will make tunnels a consideration of modern urban warfare. Newer cities may not have subways as an afterthought, but as a foundation of their planning. In India and China, for example, subway stations are the root of creating new cities as the population continues to grow.
Tunnels have been used to thwart invaders and penetrate fortifications since there were invaders and fortifications. For example, ancient Romans used tunnels-called qanats-to transport water to sustain their cities. Were any enemy able to find those tunnels, they could do incredible damage to the city of Rome.
Today, military thinkers like those at the Modern War Institute at West Point are considering underground warfare as a given, and they are considering the kind of equipment that would make underground warfighting most effective.
Project Manager Terrestrial Sensors, part of the Program Executive Office – Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors, has a key piece of tunnel warfare at the ready: Rapid Reaction Tunnel Detection equipment, or R2TD.
After all, to fight in tunnels, you have to find them first.
Dr. Steven Sloan, a research geophysicist with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, has been working with his team on R2TD system for more than half a decade, which is less a piece of equipment than a suite of tools.
“What we’ve found over the years is that there’s no silver bullet that works in all geologies and all situations,” said Sloan. “So, we have multiple, different systems that each have their strengths in different things dependent on the setting that we’re working in, or what the target set is, then we can kind of mix and match to optimize detection.”
R2TD has seismic, acoustic and electromagnetic systems to detect different aspects of underground structures. Seismic to detect movement of dirt, for example. Acoustic to detect open space underneath the ground and electromagnetic to detect infrastructure like cables, wires, nails and even rails.
“The other two systems are actual in-ground permanently or semi-permanently installed, like an underground fence of sensors,” said Sloan. These other two systems are the border tunneling activity detection system-linear and the active seismic imaging system, which can counter adversaries using purpose-built tunnels or existing subsurface infrastructure, and assist in the survey of large areas for perimeter defense and the detection of existing tunnels and other subsurface anomalies, respectively.
“The thing with tunnels is they’re a low-tech counter to a high-tech adversary,” said Sloan. “So all it takes is his time and manpower to build one and there’s not a whole lot out there to stop them. It’s been around centuries and centuries for a lot of different conflicts.”
Sloan and his team know this, and thus they are often upgrading and tweaking the system.
“We’re upgrading the active seismic units that are in theater,” said Sloan. “We bring them back one at a time and we put in new hardware and new software that’s been developed over the last four or five years in there and then put them back over into their respective theaters of operations.”
“If someone was trying the tunnel under a facility to place explosives or something like that, you don’t want to be on the back end of that trying to figure out how it happened after it’s happened,” said Sloan. “It’s more of a preventative measure, or proactive rather than reactive. You won’t use this over every square inch of every facility that you would build. However, if you got some particularly vulnerable facilities in an area or something, some kind of secured facility that you really want to monitor, it’s another tool that you can use.”
By John Higgins, PEO IEW&S
You never know, it will show up in the oddest places.
No, it’s not us and we don’t own that site. But keep calm, we’ve got real ones coming.
Many years ago before I found my place as a Marine, I had lofty dreams of being a professional fighter, a boxer. Big money, fame and a non stop parade of hot girl friends was all part of the fantasy. This was long before MMA was even thought of. So to make any real money as a little guy in professional sports, there was only boxing. How I got started in boxing was kind of a weird story, as I came from a weightlifting background. However, once I got started, I was hooked and dove in head first (more like face first), into the sport. From the very first I loved the workouts, though as you could guess, they were completely different from lifting weights. Right away I stopped lifting completely and quickly shed 10 lbs off my already small frame. I had been doing pretty well in both Olympic and Power lifting, competing in the 148 lb class (usually weighing in around 143-144), so I wasn’t very big to start with, but pound for pound I was very strong. I could easily squat over 300 lbs for reps and Clean and Jerk almost 250. However, boxing has a completely different skill requirement and the workouts to get there didn’t include weights.
My trainer was an old school guy who ended up with a couple of world champions. He had a wealth of boxing knowledge, which also included training and diet. He told me right off the bat that being just under 5’7”, I was always going to be fighting taller people (he was right and in all my bouts, I never fought a shorter guy), so I had to develop a style that would minimize that disadvantage. Think Roberto Duran, not Sugar Ray Leonard. Not that I could actually imitate any champion, far from it, but that was the idea. With that style you need extreme levels of conditioning and punching power (and a good chin), to beat taller, faster boxers. The problem was that when I dropped lifting and lost weight, I felt weak. I was naturally a pretty good puncher, but as some time passed I felt like I was losing strength. I spoke to my trainer about it and thought maybe I should add some weight lifting back into my routine?
He said what I needed was some time to adjust to my new sport and more importantly, an understanding of how this all works. (He was also big on the mental aspect of boxing). He asked me if I thought any weight lifter, bodybuilder, or football player of any size, could punch harder than Rocky Marciano could at 185 lbs? No, I didn’t think so. What about a smaller fighter like Marvin Hagler, at 160 lbs? Probably not, I said. Neither of those two guys ever lifted any weights. So, what is the deal, is it just a natural thing? Well, that’s part of it, as some people can puncher harder, just as some people can run faster, but not all of it. What Marciano and Hagler developed through training is how to transfer their weight into their punch. Think about it this way. If the biggest weight lifter in the world was walking down the street and a 135 lb bag of sand fell out a 3 story window and landed on his head, what would happen? He would be knocked unconscious at least, probably worse. The training that your doing is focused on getting you to do that with your 135 and not just once, but over and over and over. You feel weak now, because your used to a different kind of strength, but as you progress, you’ll get your weight matched correctly to your height and learn how to transfer that weight into your punches. From there you’ll discover a new kind of power, the kind of power you need for boxing. It made sense, so I dropped the idea about going back to weights.
He was right and over the next few months, Though I lost even more weight, I felt much stronger and developed KO power with either hand. I was also very surprised to find out that I could actually hit harder with a left hook, though I was right handed? It was all about using speed and leverage to transfer weight. In any case, looking back, I could hit harder then at 135, than I every could before, or frankly since. The end result was that in all my fights but one, I stopped the other guy. Unfortunately, in that fight (my last) I was stopped by a very tall, very skinny guy whose punches felt like I was being hit by a baseball bat? That fight made me realize that getting punched in the face (a lot), just wasn’t my thing and if you can’t come to terms with that, you will never take boxing to a high level. The bottom line was, while the money and fame of boxing was very attractive, the health risks weren’t worth it to me, so that was that.
So what is the point of this nostalgic sea story? I share this as I got a lot of feedback on last months article when I commented on the current issue of overweight people in our military ranks. Many people pushed back on my take that most of these people are just overweight and the new weight standards are making it worse. What I got specifically was that the body fat measuring methods used aren’t accurate (which I agree with to a certain extent) and that being bigger was actually better anyway. That being heavier isn’t a hindrance, but an advantage. That I don’t agree with at all, not for our military, or 99% of other occupations that require a physical ability and certainly not for the average person.
This is a common misconception that you need to be bigger, to be able to perform better. I’ve heard this a lot over the years trying to help people get into shape and lose weight. Which brings me (finally, I know right) to the point, the conflict between body weight, strength and conditioning. IMO these three things are completely interwoven and cannot be separated, nor do they need to be. However, many people have this baked in idea that they have to be bigger to be stronger, and then train and eat (with lots of supplements, of course), themselves to just being overweight. Gyms and the military are full of these “Joe Bulky” guys. Now if they were bigger in the sense that they were carrying mostly lean useful muscle, that would be one thing, but in the vast majority of people that isn’t the case, they’re just carrying too much weight for their frame and that will end up decreasing their overall physical ability, energy levels and in the longer term, their health.
Yes, it’s simple physics that if you’re heavier, you have a bigger base to push things around, but that by no means proves your in great (or your best) overall condition. For an extreme example, look at NFL offensive lineman. They are huge guys, that are certainly quick and athletic, but most are carrying a lot of extra body fat, some carry huge amounts of extra fat. But in their role on a professional football team, that pure weight is an advantage, as a defensive player has to try and move that weight (or get around it). But the average person is not an NFL offensive lineman, (though many look like it) and doesn’t need that weight. BTW, former NFL offensive lineman sadly have the shortest average lifespan of all positions. No doubt the extra weight they carry for years has an influence on that. I doubt anyone would say that an NFL offensive lineman is an ideal build for our military people, or for any other occupation, except with maybe a bodyguard or bouncer? The goal for the vast majority of us should be to develop a high level of useful fitness, health and energy for our occupation, recreation and our lives in general. To do that we need an all around, balanced type of conditioning and an important part of that is a body weight that fits your frame properly.
To use a motor sport analogy; what you want is a powerful and efficient engine, mounted in a resilient, tough and lightweight frame. Genetically your frame (height) will determine the right size engine required for optimum performance. The point is to fine tune the right sizing of frame and engine. Not to put a powerful (but small) motorcycle engine in a dump truck frame. You may think that dump truck looks big and strong, but in the end it’s slow, burns a lot of fuel and as it’s engine isn’t the right for it’s frame size, it will probably break down a lot and wear out quicker. Your body is the same way. Some people will say to the answer to this problem is just build a bigger engine, more muscle. That works to a certain extent, but the physics of it will take over pretty quickly and you become inefficient on the other side of it. Look at bodybuilders for the perfect example of that. They are an example of an engine that is too big for it’s frame, as they have as much pure muscle packed on their frame as possible, with extremely low levels of body fat. But other than lifting weights can do little else, certainly nothing else at a high level. Not to mention that the diet, workout routine and lifestyle required to get that much muscle is harsh and all encompassing. Plus, it’s an even harder thing to maintain. In any case, it’s infinity better to fine tune the muscle and frame balance and also much easier to maintain.
From long experience and observation I have developed my own system on how to figure out (approximately, as there is a range) what your optimum performance body weight should be for your height, of which I’ll share in a new book I plan to publish next spring. But for now I can say this, it’s a lot lighter than most people would guess, but not extremely so. As the skin and bone build of a elite marathon runners is no where near the ideal either, no more than the NFL offensive man is. The bottom line is that it’s easy to chow down, hit the weight room, bulk up and fool yourself that you’re at your best and for many people that’s good enough. I get that and if that’s your thing have at it. However, if you need, like our military needs (or just desire), great overall physical performance, great long term health and high energy, you need to take a different road to get to a different and IMO, much better place.
Just for one quick real life example. With this article I have included a picture of Lu Xiaojun. Lu is a Chinese Olympic and World Champion Olympic weightlifter and is also a world record holder. IMO Olympic lifting is the best example of dynamic strength, as the Olympic movements require high levels of athletic ability, balance and flexibility as well as extreme strength. Lu is 5’8” inches tall and weighed here at 169 lbs, which puts him 11 lbs under the maximum weight for his height by Marine Corps Standards, (max for 5’8″ is 180 lbs). His weight and height are an almost perfect match for his sport, actually he is statistically a tad on the tall side (by an 1”) for his weight class of 77Kg. In this picture he is clean and jerking over 450 lbs! Notice he isn’t wearing a lifting belt, no knee wraps, no “lifting suit” like you see in power lifting. I would estimate that 99.9% of the world’s population can’t lift 450 lbs off the ground, let along take it from the ground, to overhead. Yes, he is a world champion, with the rarest of genetics and years of hard training, but the point is that he represents how much dynamic power that can generated from a relatively small, lean person. I’m not saying that his weight/height match is perfect for overall fitness, using my formula he is about 9 lbs over the optimum target wgt for a man that is 5’8″: 160lbs. However, I have no doubt if he balanced lifting with a serious program of aerobic conditioning (which I’m sure he does very little of presently), he would probably be pretty close to that weight. In any case, he is obviously within the right range. BTW, how many 300 lb plus NFL offensive lineman do you think can take 450 lbs from the ground to overhead? My guess, is very, very few, if any. Who do you think would look better in a military uniform and perform military duties better? Think about it. I have for years and I’m devoting a entire chapter in my new book on this subject and there I will explain my take on all of it in much more detail.
In any case take care till next month and as always:
“Be safe always, be good when you can”.
Semper Fi
MGunz