"Gimme" - Mass Immigration In A Nutshell

 

VIDEO: "This Is The Perfect Clip To Expose The Illegal Immigration Crisis"
Matt Walsh (7 min.)

WaPo Goes After Conservative Commentators

The Washington Post has published an article accusing  Rob Maness, Kurt Schlichter, and Thomas Anderson (aka Cynical Publius) of having been hired to propagandize for the Department of War and, in particular, War Secretary Pete Hegseth. And the story has been picked up by many other outlets, including a Canadian influencer and former radio "shock-jock" named Dean Blundell who published a piece entitled "The Pentagon Is Collapsing, So Hegseth Hired Influencers To Tell You It Isn’t." 

    I would never have come across Blundell's piece, except it found its way to Western Rifle Shooters Association. Blundell's piece is actually less about Maness, Schlichter, and Anderson, and more about some of the Pentagon old guard leaving or being shown the door, and, more generally, reducing the number of flag officers and generals.  Since it has been long argued (correctly in my opinion) that the military has too many senior officers overseeing a bloated bureaucracy, I don't see this as ipso facto proof that the Pentagon leadership is collapsing. 

    But going back to the original accusation from the Washington Post, Kurt Schlichter has published a rebuttal: "The Washington Post Embarrasses Itself Trying to Embarrass Me." He explains:

    Last spring, a senior Pentagon official — not from public affairs, which had zero to do with this project — reached out to me, Tom Anderson (aka @CynicalPublius), and Rob Maness (@RobManess) about undertaking a review and making recommendations about the military’s war colleges, which senior military leaders attend as colonels and Navy commanders and captains. These programs (there are about 10 of them, of various sizes and forms) have had their problems, including but not limited to the same creeping wokeness that had affected the entire military until President Trump essentially banned it. But DEI was not the focus of the project, as the WaPo implies; the focus was how to ensure these institutions are preparing future generals and admirals for the challenges of war in the 21st century. The poison of DEI was a component of the inquiry, but just one part of a complex issue.

    We would come on board as temporary special government employees, since we needed that status to use government information systems, access information, and perform our duties. None of our duties involved tweeting or messaging; again, the claim we were paid to publicly message is a lie. We would visit the campuses, interview people, review course materials, and prepare a report with recommendations. We began by reviewing reams of written materials. We eventually made several visits to the Pentagon and to various schools, plus had some video interactions. We each talked to hundreds of people. We conducted detailed interviews with large and small groups, including commandants, students, civilian and military faculty, administrators, and civilian and military leaders in the field. ...

[snip]

    We eventually produced a report of about 17,500 words. It is up to the Secretary of War to release it or throw it in the trash as he sees fit. I will say we are proud of it and that we made recommendations we think will help train the best possible senior officers to face the challenges of the future. Every moment we worked, we were focused on one thing — making sure our young troops got the quality leaders they deserve. I know that motive is not as juicy for the regime media and their lefty friends as some fantasy influencing scheme, but it’s the truth.

    So why pick us? Why would three right-wing internet guys get picked for this job? Well, because we have a very special set of skills. All three of us are retired O-6 colonels, graduates of one or more of the war colleges, and we all have extensive tactical and command experience. Tom Anderson was an Army logistics officer with multiple deployments. Rob Maness was a B-1 weapons officer who was in the Pentagon on 9/11. I was a chemical and an infantry officer, serving both on active duty and — importantly — in the reserves, which make up about half of America’s military forces and are often overlooked in projects like this one. ...    

All three, he points out, also have had extremely successful careers in the public sector that would assist in their assessments.

    This reminds me of an incident from my college days. I had a friend who was a journalism major and wrote for our university's newspaper. One day he excitedly told me that he had learned that the Army was conducting a "secret" research project at the university and he was going to blow the lid off the program. He seemed to think that it was going to be another Pentagon Papers or similar. It turned out that it was a small research project assessing better methods to teach people how to type. Oh, and it was not secret. I got a good laugh out of that one. 

VIDEO: Massad Ayoob Discusses The DA/SA Pistol

Massad Ayoob discusses the DA/SA pistol: it's history, its advantages, and why law enforcement and the public moved away from the design.  

 VIDEO: "Why did they stop using the Double Action Pistol?"
Massad Ayoob - Facts and Firearms (13 min.)

Israel Counters Turkey

From Israel Hayom (via Instapundit): "Israel, Greece finalize €3 billion defense system agreement." The article reports:

    A 3 billion euro ($3.48 billion) defense agreement between Israel and Greece was signed on Monday, with Israel set to construct a "multi-layered" defense system for the Greek military, Israel's defense ministry confirmed in a statement.

    Greece has dubbed the new program "Achilles Shield," a deal the ministry ranks among the largest in the country's defence history. Never before has the Israeli Ministry of Defense delivered a single, fully integrated array built to counter threats as varied as ballistic missiles, aircraft, and hostile drones. The two countries also finalized a smaller, supplementary contract, valued at 26 million euros, for Israel to provide Greece with drone dome systems.

This will, at a minimum, give Israel radar coverage of Turkey's north-eastern western coast. 

Rifleman's Guide To The Standing Position

Last week I had a post about controlling muzzle climb when using an FRT, and a comment to that post noted the importance of keeping the arm for the support hand bent and using a sling. So with that prompt, I decided to try and find a good article discussing the standing position when shooting a rifle. And the one that I found that I liked was this from Matt Robertson at Everyday Marksman: "A Marksman’s Guide to the Standing Position." Robertson begins by observing:

    The standing position is simultaneously the least useful, from a marksmanship perspective, but the most used of the rifle positions. It’s the one you see most at any tactical class, shooting range, or a day out plinking. Just because it’s the least useful, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t practice it. In fact, you should practice it a lot.

    If you’re using the standing, then you didn’t have time to get to a more stable position like kneeling, sitting, or prone. 

Or, as he quotes from TC 3-22.9, Rifle and Carbine Marksmanship: "This position should be used for closer targets or when time is not available to assume a steadier position such as short-range employment. The upper body should be leaned slightly forward to aid in recoil management." Discussing what he terms the "tactical" or "trapshooter" standing position, he has this to say about the support hand/arm:

    For the supporting hand position, you have to options: traditional and clamping.

    The “c-clamp” became a fashionable way to grip the rifle some years ago. With that variation, you drive the supporting hand out on the handguard as far possible and grabs the rifle from the side. The index finger of the support hand is sometimes laid parallel to the bore so that the support hand more or less “points” at the target.

    This variation usually includes a very “squared” stance to the target.

    The touted benefit of the “c-clamp” is that the shooter “drives” the rifle more quickly from target to target. But it’s not particularly new. There are pictures of the Rhodesians using the stance with FAL for close range combat during the Bush War.

    For most people, in most circumstances, placing the support hand under the rifle works just fine.

    Either way, the tactical standing position is the quickest way to get several shot off in a hurry. 

 He also goes on to describe an "erect" standing position which is often used for hunting or target shooting, and target standing position (like you might see an Olympic rifle shooter use when standing with the elbow of the support hand resting on the hip or midriff). Finally, he covers shooting from a support (e.g., a tree, edge of a window, fence post, etc.) and use of a sling. 

• More: "Resource Review: US Army TC 3-22.9 Rifle and Carbine Marksmanship" by Matt Robertson, Everyday Marksman.  
• More:  US Army TC 3-22.9 "Rifle and Carbine Marksmanship" (PDF). 
• More: "Rifle Shooting Positions"--Texas Parks & Wildlife.