ClearedHot

I wish I could say it is stunning but the left desperately wants to protect illegal immigrants. In California alone there is an estimated $6B per year in fraud related to illegals.

Growing up in Miami I am still close with many Cubans who came over during the Mariel boatlift. Several of them absolutely hate Trump but are over the top supportive of his actions as they related to Cuba. One has an older brother that served many years in the Cuban Army. My friend paid a LOT of money to help his brother emigrate to the U.S. about 20 years ago. His brother was much older when he came over and he was never able to integrate here in the U.S. and ultimately decided to go back. My friend sends his brother food each month and has shared words about the conditions which are terrible to say the least. My friend worked for the CIA for many years then moved to academia and is ready to fully retire. He was here visiting a few weeks ago and told me he is planning to postpone his retirement for several years and plans to return to Cuba to help them rebuild if the current government falls. he has shared there are several Cuabn American groups that have been planning for months to return and help rebuild the island.

That mechanism already exists in doctrine. Excess airpower is supposed to kick over to the JFACC and has in every conflict since Kosovo (there was HUGE fight over gunships in Kosovo that drove discussion and doctrine updates at the 4 star level. During OEF I routinely flew as a SOF asset one night and was chopped as excess to the CJFAC the next night. That construct does require the stars to act like adults which can be a challenge. AFSOC wants to be part of the big fight and they know they can't given the threat so now more than ever they are open to new approaches. Things like small cruise missile let them play and make a valuable contribution. Interestingly the effort to being SCM to AFSOC was done on a CRADA with AFSOC (SOCOM) dollars...a level of commitment from the current commander who sees the value. I've said it here many times, having the ability to put large numbers (100+), on an MC-130 enables AFSOC to send a large swarm with just a few planes, such a swarm would be a real threat to anything trying to cross the straight...especially if they have ATR and are on the link. Putting SCM on A1K and operating from unimproved strips/fields/beaches allows new attack vectors that dramatically changes the calculus for the Chinese. Think about a couple of A1Ks operating out of dirt strips where they were able to infiltrate unobserved. They pop up, launch a volley of SCM and immediately move on to a new dirt strip to rearm and refuel.

Sad there is not a single comment on this...probably why we are stuck in a do loop of our own dogma. If done properly this will change everything. Also under the radar is the fact that the Marines are integrating the same missile on their Cobras. Now small platforms can operate from austere forward dirt strips, grass fields, beaches...and have a strategic impact be striking targets at distance with very short notice and from non-traditional attack vectors. 200NM is just the start, follow-on cheap weapons have been tested out at 600NM. Add the ability to swarm and you can hold adversaries at risk at a MUCH lower exchange ratio.

Interesting how selective the outrage can be.In 2008, Hillary Clinton said, “I want the Iranians.mp4

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2 Aft, three high....quiblling.

The court has rightly punched Hegseth in the nose again. Court voids latest Pentagon press restrictions “The curtailment of First Amendment rights is dangerous at any time, and even more so in time of war,” U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman wrote Thursday. “The Constitution demands better. The American public demands better, too.”

I will never discuss this with you in "good faith" because you can't admit a single good thing Trump has done. The vast majority of us have pointed out the good and the and said we don't like him a as person. Its that simple...you hate him....we get, it is pointless to even attempt to discuss issues with you.

Nah - I will compare it to the plan that destroyed their Air Force, their Navy and 90% of their ballistic missile production capability.

The pundits on both site cheery pick to make it look great or horrible, I lean to the horrible side for reasons outlined below. I've read a lot of what Gen Jack Keene has written and said on the matter. For those that support do you really think Iran honored the deal? They are masters of lying and delay. JCPOA had a HUGE loophole that allowed Iran up to 24 days before a site could be inspected. Bottom line for me: Why were the enriching in the first place? They lied about the TBMs as proven by four that were launched at Guam (4,000 Miles). There were the single largest exporter of terror in the world. How many dead injured Americans have they impacted? Posted on other sites here are the key faults of JCPOA. Sunset Clauses: Restrictions on uranium enrichment and other activities begin to expire, allowing Iran to expand to an industrial scale after 2030, merely delaying rather than preventing a nuclear program. No Missile Restrictions: The deal did not address Iran's ballistic missile program, which is capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Regional Aggression: Critics claimed sanctions relief provided Iran with funds that enabled it to expand its network of proxy military forces in the Middle East. Weak Inspection Regime: IAEA inspectors did not have unconditional "anytime, anywhere" access, specifically to military sites, with a potential 24-day waiting period for accessing suspicious sites. Limited Scope: The agreement failed to address Iran's past work on nuclear weapons and didn't cover conventional weapons proliferation. Sanctions Relief: The deal freed up billions in assets, which opponents argued empowered a hostile regime rather than encouraging it to change its regional policy.

Yes - we would have been burdened by what was.

I love how triggered these guys are...thanks for the comedy.

The left will NEVER see a positive thing associated with Trump. Sometime in the early 2030's our Baseops loonies will begin their annual trip to Miami to have a TDS circle jerk in the parking lot of Trump's Presidential library. More Americans died in the liberal mecca of Chicago last weekend than the entire U.S. military since the fight with Iran started...

Core mission all of AFSOC sued to train to in nearly every exercise (Bilat/Multi-lat), prior to OEF/OIF. As we drew down in both the command re-energized this type of training and I am here to tell you this is normal bizness for AFSOC and the SOAR. I will defer to the experts but here is my guess...a combination of factors: The CV-22 is in a state of contraction after years of maintenance issues that culminated in the fatal crash last in 2024. As a result AFSOC made the decision to temporarily mothball 20+ birds and focus efforts on the remaining. The maintenance issues are focused on: 1. The blades (wearing out MUCH fast in Middle East sand) - I believe the time between major maintenance was down to 100 hours instead of the planned 500 hours. 2. Turbine performance decline (again related to Middle East sand) - the find sand was "coaking" on the turbine inlet blades and causing reduced power. Ultimately they changed the FDAC to allow higher operating temps in an attempt to burn the coaking off. (very simplified answer). 3. IR center Body problems (cracks) - perhaps the most vexing problem as the airframe manufacturer pointed at the engine OEM Rolls Royce and the Engine OEM pointed back at Bell. 4. Hard clutch engagements like the one that caused the crash in Japan. In short the clutch engages hard which causes a rapid rise of torque to the opposite engine and can cause REAL issues, ultimately, gearbox failure. As a result of these issues there is a distrust of the platform by some of the Tier 1 teams. Also, while the speed and range profile seem to make sense I wonder if the survivor being up high had an impact. The CV-22 is big and maybe they couldn't land on the high uneven terrain. Hovering a CV-22 that high over the survivor was probably not optimal. The downwash is 10 X a helicopter. We had issues the first few times we did fast rope and ended up having to put large weights at the end of the rope to keep them on the ground. The survivor was wounded and hiding in a crevice in very high terrain, so I am guessing that had an impact. Two things that are not being talked about much: When the MC-130's became stuck they called in "other assets" to help. There is a video from Iran showing one of the other assets. ssstwitter.com_1775434822410.mp4 And, as per American SOF standard, we trolled the Iranians in the LZ...left them a Fuck you present!

What I am told is they landed two MC-130Js with 2 X Little Birds each. Both MC-130Js got their nose wheels stuck in the sand. The little birds launched and one picked up the WSO. At the FARP they tried unsuccessfully to get the MC-130J's "unstuck" so they called in other assets from a supporting agency to pick up everyone. 3 X other smaller platforms came in and picked everyone up. USAF aircraft then bombed the 2 X MC-130J's and 4 x Little birds. We lost a couple of Reapers as well. True team effort.

Not the first time the Iranian desert ate an American C-130. SOF played a front row seat, i wonder if this is going to stoke the fire in the battle to move CSAR to AFSOC.

Godspeed to all in harms way tonight. Lots of reports about the Iranians sending forces to disrupt and they got pummeled.

Well Pete doesn't necessarily follow other laws...