This morning about 0645 I heard a little vignette on airsoft on NPR.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... d=93456690

The narrative focused on 14 year old boys playing in their back yards in a residential neighborhood, and in particular a young man in Newman, CA that almost got shot by a police officer. I sent an email to Morning Edition as follows...

Your piece on airsoft guns was correct in the sense that airsoft is a fast growing sport in the US. But, by telling the story around a 14 year old boy you missed the mark. Highly organized groups of current and former law enforcement and military as well as other enthusiasts from every state gather for local games as well as a national schedule of events, all managed under the same kind of strict rules found in venues where real weapons are used. These events restrict players to over eighteen years of age, allowing under eighteen only with adult sponsorship and supervision. We discourage the kind of undisciplined and dangerous conduct your program described as we realize it will ultimately cause the kind of reaction you reported from the Newman Police Chief. Another report from NPR on the airsoft community that is tightly self-regulated would be helpful.

We need to get one of these. Watch later on when the gay bitch with the cowboy boots kicks the thing in the side trying to knock it off balance.
BigDog_Feb-26-2006(2).wmv

This came in from on old bud former Marine aviator. Great stuff.....
Subject: Iraq intel from a Marine
 
 
> This was forwarded to me...  I have no idea if it is valid...  but whether
> it is or isn't ...  made for an interesting read.  L>
>
> *Subject:* Intel from a Marine
>
> Hello to all my fellow gunners, military buffs, veterans and interested
> guys. A couple of weekends ago I got to spend time with my son Jordan,
> who was on his first leave since returning from Iraq. He is well (a
> little thin), and already bored. He will be returning to Iraq for a
> second tour in early '06 and has already re-enlisted early for 4 more
> years. He loves the Marine Corps and is actually looking forward to
> returning to Iraq.
>
> Jordan spent 7 months at "Camp Blue Diamond" in Ramadi. Aka: Fort
> Apache. He saw and did a lot and the following is what he told me about
> weapons, equipment, tactics and other miscellaneous info which may be of
> interest to you. Nothing is by any means classified. No politics here,
> just a Marine with a bird's eye view's opinions:
>
> 1) The M-16 rifle : Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the
> talcum powder like sand over there. The sand is everywhere. Jordan says
> you feel filthy 2 minutes after coming out of the shower. The M-4
> carbine version is more popular because it's lighter and shorter, but it
> has jamming problems also. They like the ability to mount the various
> optical gunsights and weapons lights on the picattiny rails, but the
> weapon itself is not great in a desert environment. They all hate the
> 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on the cinderblock structure
> common over there and even torso hits cant be reliably counted on to put
> the enemy down. Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents shows a
> high level of opiate use.
>
> 2) The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon): .223 cal. Drum fed light machine
> gun. Big thumbs down. Universally considered a piece of shit. Chronic
> jamming problems, most of which require partial disassembly. (that's fun
> in the middle of a firefight).
>
> 3) The M9 Beretta 9mm: Mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in desert
> environment; but they all hate the 9mm cartridge. The use of handguns
> for self-defense is actually fairly common. Same old story on the 9mm:
> Bad guys hit multiple times and still in the fight.
>
> 4) Mossberg 12ga. Military shotgun: Works well, used frequently for
> clearing houses to good effect.
>
> 5) The M240 Machine Gun: 7.62 Nato (.308) cal. belt fed machine gun,
> developed to replace the old M-60 (what a beautiful weapon that was!!).
> Thumbs up. Accurate, reliable, and the 7.62 round puts 'em down.
> Originally developed as a vehicle mounted weapon, more and more are
> being dismounted and taken into the field by infantry. The 7.62 round
> chews up the structure over there.
>
> 6) The M2 .50 cal heavy machine gun: Thumbs way, way up. "Ma deuce" is
> still worth her considerable weight in gold. The ultimate fight stopper,
> puts their dicks in the dirt every time. The most coveted weapon
> in-theater.
>
> 7) The .45 pistol: Thumbs up. Still the best pistol round out there.
> Everybody authorized to carry a sidearm is trying to get their hands on
> one. With few exceptions, can reliably be expected to put 'em down with
> a torso hit. The special ops guys (who are doing most of the pistol
> work) use the HK military model and supposedly love it. The old
> government model .45's are being re-issued en masse.
>
> The M-14: Thumbs up. They are being re-issued in bulk, mostly in a
> modified version to special ops guys. Modifications include lightweight
> Kevlar stocks and low power red dot or ACOG sights. Very reliable in the
> sandy environment, and they love the 7.62 round.
>
> 9) The Barrett .50 cal sniper rifle: Thumbs way up. Spectacular range
> and accuracy and hits like a freight train. Used frequently to take out
> vehicle suicide bombers ( we actually stop a lot of them) and barricaded
> enemy. Definitely here to stay.
>
> 10) The M24 sniper rifle: Thumbs up. Mostly in .308 but some in 300 win
> mag. Heavily modified Remington 700's. Great performance. Snipers have
> been used heavily to great effect. Rumor has it that a marine sniper on
> his third tour in Anbar province has actually exceeded Carlos Hathcock's
> record for confirmed kills with OVER 100.
>
> 11) The new body armor: Thumbs up. Relatively light at approx. 6 lbs.
> and can reliably be expected to soak up small shrapnel and even will
> stop an AK-47 round. The bad news: Hot as shit to wear, almost
> unbearable in the summer heat (which averages over 120 degrees). Also,
> the enemy now goes for head shots whenever possible. All the bullshit
> about the "old" body armor making our guys vulnerable to the IED's was a
> non-starter. The IED explosions are enormous and body armor doesn't make
> any difference at all in most cases.
>
> 12) Night Vision and Infrared Equipment: Thumbs way up. Spectacular
> performance. Our guys see in the dark and own the night, period. Very
> little enemy action after evening prayers. More and more enemy being
> whacked at night during movement by our hunter-killer teams. We've all
> seen the videos.
>
> 13) Lights: Thumbs up. Most of the weapon mounted and personal lights
> are Surefire's, and the troops love 'em. Invaluable for night urban
> operations. Jordan carried a $34 Surefire G2 on a neck lanyard and loved
> it.
>
> I cant help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and
> ordnance are 50 or more years old!!!!!!!!! With all our technology, it's
> the WWII and Vietnam era weapons that everybody wants!!!! The infantry
> fighting is frequent, up close and brutal. No quarter is given or shown.
>
> Bad guy weapons:
>
> 1) Mostly AK47's . The entire country is an arsenal. Works better in the
> desert than the M16 and the .308 Russian round kills reliably. PKM belt
> fed light machine guns are also common and effective. Luckily, the enemy
> mostly shoots like shit. Undisciplined "spray and pray" type fire.
> However, they are seeing more and more precision weapons, especially
> sniper rifles. (Iran, again) Fun fact: Captured enemy have apparently
> marveled at the marksmanship of our guys and how hard they fight. They
> are apparently told in Jihad school that the Americans rely solely on
> technology, and can be easily beaten in close quarters combat for their
> lack of toughness. Let's just say they know better now.
>
> 2) The RPG: Probably the infantry weapon most feared by our guys.
> Simple, reliable and as common as dogshit. The enemy responded to our
> up-armored humvees by aiming at the windshields, often at point blank
> range. Still killing a lot of our guys.
>
> 3) The IED: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old Soviet
> anti-armor mines to jury rigged artillery shells. A lot found in
> Jordan's area were in abandoned cars. The enemy would take 2 or 3 155mm
> artillery shells and wire them together. Most were detonated by cell
> phone, and the explosions are enormous. You're not safe in any vehicle,
> even an M1 tank. Driving is by far the most dangerous thing our guys do
> over there. Lately, they are much more sophisticated "shape charges"
> (Iranian) specifically designed to penetrate armor. Fact: Most of the
> ready made IED's are supplied by Iran, who is also providing terrorists
> (Hezbollah types) to train the insurgents in their use and tactics.
> That's why the attacks have been so deadly lately. Their concealment
> methods are ingenious, the latest being shape charges in Styrofoam
> containers spray painted to look like the cinderblocks that litter all
> Iraqi roads. We find about 40% before they detonate, and the bomb
> disposal guys are unsung heroes of this war.
>
> 4) Mortars and rockets: Very prevalent. The soviet era 122mm rockets
> (with an 18km range) are becoming more prevalent. One of Jordan's NCO's
> lost a leg to one. These weapons cause a lot of damage "inside the
> wire". Jordan's base was hit almost daily his entire time there by
> mortar and rocket fire, often at night to disrupt sleep patterns and
> cause fatigue (It did). More of a psychological weapon than anything
> else. The enemy mortar teams would jump out of vehicles, fire a few
> rounds, and then haul ass in a matter of seconds.
>
> 5) Bad guy technology: Simple yet effective. Most communication is by
> cell and satellite phones, and also by email on laptops. They use
> handheld GPS units for navigation and "Google earth" for overhead views
> of our positions. Their weapons are good, if not fancy, and prevalent.
> Their explosives and bomb technology is TOP OF THE LINE. Night vision is
> rare. They are very careless with their equipment and the captured GPS
> units and laptops are treasure troves of Intel when captured.
>
> Who are the bad guys?:
>
> Most of the carnage is caused by the Zarqawi Al Qaeda group. They
> operate mostly in Anbar province (Fallujah and Ramadi). These are mostly
> "foreigners", non-Iraqi Sunni Arab Jihadists from all over the Muslim
> world (and Europe). Most enter Iraq through Syria (with, of course, the
> knowledge and complicity of the Syrian govt.) , and then travel down the
> "rat line" which is the trail of towns along the Euphrates River that
> we've been hitting hard for the last few months. Some are virtually
> untrained young Jihadists that often end up as suicide bombers or in
> "sacrifice squads". Most, however, are hard core terrorists from all the
> usual suspects (Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas etc.) These are the guys
> running around murdering civilians en masse and cutting heads off. The
> Chechens (many of whom are Caucasian), are supposedly the most ruthless
> and the best fighters. (they have been fighting the Russians for years).
> In the Baghdad area and south, most of the insurgents are Iranian
> inspired (and led) Iraqi Shiites. The Iranian Shiia have been very adept
> at infiltrating the Iraqi local govt.'s, the police forces and the Army.
> The have had a massive spy and agitator network there since the
> Iran-Iraq war in the early 80's. Most of the Saddam loyalists were
> killed, captured or gave up long ago.
>
> Bad Guy Tactics:
>
> When they are engaged on an infantry level they get their asses kicked
> every time. Brave, but stupid. Suicidal Banzai-type charges were very
> common earlier in the war and still occur. They will literally sacrifice
> 8-10 man teams in suicide squads by sending them screaming and firing
> Ak's and RPG's directly at our bases just to probe the defenses. They
> get mowed down like grass every time. ( see the M2 and M240 above).
> Jordan's base was hit like this often. When engaged, they have a
> tendency to flee to the same building, probably for what they think will
> be a glorious last stand. Instead, we call in air and that's the end of
> that more often than not. These hole-ups are referred to as Alpha
> Whiskey Romeo's (Allah's Waiting Room). We have the laser guided
> ground-air thing down to a science. The fast mover's, mostly Marine
> F-18's, are taking an ever increasing toll on the enemy. When caught out
> in the open, the helicopter gunships and AC-130 Spectre gunships cut
> them to ribbons with cannon and rocket fire, especially at night.
> Interestingly, artillery is hardly used at all. Fun fact: The enemy
> death toll is supposedly between 45-50 thousand. That is why we're
> seeing less and less infantry attacks and more IED, suicide bomber shit.
> The new strategy is simple: attrition.
>
> The insurgent tactic most frustrating is their use of civilian
> non-combatants as cover. They know we do all we can to avoid civilian
> casualties and therefore schools, hospitals and (especially) Mosques are
> locations where they meet, stage for attacks, cache weapons and ammo and
> flee to when engaged. They have absolutely no regard whatsoever for
> civilian casualties. They will terrorize locals and murder without
> hesitation anyone believed to be sympathetic to the Americans or the new
> Iraqi govt. Kidnapping of family members (especially children) is common
> to influence people they are trying to influence but cant reach, such as
> local govt. officials, clerics, tribal leaders, etc.).
>
> The first thing our guys are told is "don't get captured". They know
> that if captured they will be tortured and beheaded on the internet.
> Zarqawi openly offers bounties for anyone who brings him a live American
> serviceman. This motivates the criminal element who otherwise don't give
> a shit about the war. A lot of the beheading victims were actually
> kidnapped by common criminals and sold to Zarqawi. As such, for our
> guys, every fight is to the death. Surrender is not an option.
>
> The Iraqi's are a mixed bag. Some fight well, others aren't worth a
> shit. Most do okay with American support. Finding leaders is hard, but
> they are getting better. It is widely viewed that Zarqawi's use of
> suicide bombers, en masse, against the civilian population was a serious
> tactical mistake. Many Iraqi's were galvanized and the caliber of
> recruits in the Army and the police forces went up, along with their
> motivation. It also led to an exponential increase in good intel because
> the Iraqi's are sick of the insurgent attacks against civilians. The
> Kurds are solidly pro-American and fearless fighters.
>
> According to Jordan, morale among our guys is very high. They not only
> believe they are winning, but that they are winning decisively. They are
> stunned and dismayed by what they see in the American press, whom they
> almost universally view as against them. The embedded reporters are
> despised and distrusted. They are inflicting casualties at a rate of
> 20-1 and then see shit like "Are we losing in Iraq" on TV and the print
> media. For the most part, they are satisfied with their equipment, food
> and leadership. Bottom line though, and they all say this, there are not
> enough guys there to drive the final stake through the heart of the
> insurgency, primarily because there aren't enough troops in-theater to
> shut down the borders with Iran and Syria. The Iranians and the Syrians
> just cant stand the thought of Iraq being an American ally (with, of
> course, permanent US bases there).
>
> Anyway guys, that's it, hope you found it interesting, I sure did.
>
>

This was forwarded to me by a an old bud; we flew together and were cops together. He's a retired W5, flew in Vietnam and other places.

TAPS
If any of you have ever been to a military funeral in which taps were
played; this brings out a new meaning of it.
Here is something Every American should know. Until I read this, I
didn't know, but I checked it out and it's true:
We in the United States have all heard the haunting song, "Taps". It's
the song that gives us that lump in our throats and usually tears in our
eyes.
But, do you know the story behind the song?  If not, I think you will
be interested to find out about its humble beginnings.
Reportedly, it all began in 1862 during the Civil War, when Union Army
Captain Robert Ellicombe was with his men near Harrison's Landing in
Virginia  The Confederate Army was on the other side of the narrow
strip of land.
During the night, Captain Ellicombe heard the moans of a soldier who
lay severely wounded on the field.  Not knowing if it was a Union or
Confederate soldier, the Captain decided to risk his life and bring
the stricken man back for medical attention.  Crawling on his stomach
through the gunfire, the Captain reached the stricken soldier and began
pulling him toward his encampment.
When the Captain finally reached his own lines, he discovered it was
actually a Confederate soldier, but the soldier was dead. The Captain
lit a lantern and suddenly caught his breath and went numb with shock.  In
the dim light, he saw the face of the soldier. It was his own son. The boy
had been studying music in the South when the war broke out. Without
telling his father, the boy enlisted in the Confederate Army
The following morning, heartbroken, the father asked permission of his
superiors to give his son a full military burial, despite his enemy
status.
His request was only partially granted.
The Captain had asked if he could have a group of Army band members
play a funeral dirge for his son at the funeral.
The request was turned down since the soldier was a Confederate.
But, out of respect for the father, they did say they could give him only
one musician.
The Captain chose a bugler.  He asked the bugler to play a series of
musical notes he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of the
dead youth's uniform.
This wish was granted.
The haunting melody, we now know as "Taps" .. used at military
funerals was born.
The words are ...
Day is done ... Gone the sun ... From the lakes ... From the hills
From the sky ... All is well . Safely rest..
 God is nigh... Fading light ... Dims the sight .. And a star ....Gems
the sky
Gleaming bright ... >From afar . Drawing nigh         Falls the night...
Thanks and praise ... For our days ... Neath the sun .. Neath the
stars. Neath the sky .. As we go . This we know .. God is nigh
I, too, have felt the chills while listening to "Taps" but I have
never seen all the words to the song until now.  I didn't even know there
was more than one verse. I also never knew the story behind the song and I
didn't know if you had either so I thought I'd pass it along.
I now have an even deeper respect for the song than I did before.
Remember Those Lost and Harmed While Serving Their Country.
And also those presently serving in the Armed Forces..
Please send this on after a short prayer.
Prayer wheel for our soldiers...please don't break it

Good friend of mine, ex 160th Blackhawk pilot was close friends with the eight crew members on the Chinook that got shot down in Afghanistan. Apparently they were a victim of either a planned barrage of RPG's or possibly an SA-18. This Independence Day let's all say a prayer for them and the eight SEAL's who died. And even though it may not be Christian let's hope the SOFT community succeeds in their renewed efforts in that region to wipe out the assholes who did this.
God bless them and God bless America

Thanks to all of you for the kind words and help during my debacle at SWAT CITY. Luckily I didn't have to see anyone this week, because I was sporting a black eye and multiple little lip gashes. Ah the trophies of war....
Thanks again, guys. javascript:insertsmilie('[}:)]')