From the Patriot Post -- 
The 1897 column was written by Francis Church and originally published in The Sun,
"Dear Editor: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
The 1897 column was written by Francis Church and originally published in The Sun, New York's most prominent newspaper at the time.
Church wrote an answer to the eight-year-old daughter of a surgeon, Philip O'Hanlon,
Church wrote an answer to the eight-year-old daughter of a surgeon, Philip O'Hanlon,
who asked her father, "Is there a Santa Claus?" Young Virginia O'Hanlon asked that question
after her classmates insisted there was no Santa.
Dissatisfied with her father's answer, Virginia, with her father's encouragement, submitted
Dissatisfied with her father's answer, Virginia, with her father's encouragement, submitted
the question to The Sun. The paper's publisher gave it to Church, a popular but struggling
columnist. It was an assignment completely outside the scope of his typical topics, which
were mostly weighty secular responses regarding religious issues.
According to The Sun editors: "We take pleasure in answering at once and thus
prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification
that its faithful author is numbered among the readers of the Sun."
"Dear Editor: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, 'If you see it in the Sun it's so.' Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O'Hanlon, 115 West Ninety-Fifth Street."
And Church's response:
Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a
And Church's response:
Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a
skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which
is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or
children's are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect,
as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable
of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and
devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give your life its highest beauty and glory.
Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as
if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to
make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight.
The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your
papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even
if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus,
but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that
neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not,
but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there
are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil
You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil
covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, not even the united strength of all the
strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can
push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real?
Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now,
No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now,
Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart
of childhood.
*************************************************************************
Greetings Sheepdogs,
If you think I've misspelled a word or have incorrect word usage, please let me know.
I'm very careful about proofreading. It might be a different word.
Blogger.com, my web hosting platform, has "rules", so I must neglect to print certain
things. That's why sometimes only the URL is given, or words are missing. I trust you
to fill in the blanks.
Always cite open source. Never allow anyone to accuse you of revealing classified
information.
If I littered my blog postings with high resolution color photographs of pretty girls
for no reason, that would be gratuitous. I would not waste your time nor insult your
intelligence.
"No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
-- Thomas Jefferson
Table of Contents:
Prevention
Mindset
Situational Awareness
Safety
Training
Practice
Intervention
Strategy
Tactics
Techniques
Postvention
Aftermath
Medical
Survival
Education
Legal
Instruction
Gear
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Prevention ***** ***** *****
Things you can do to avoid the lethal force incident.
Table of sections:
Mindset
Safety
Training
Practice
*************************************************************************
I worked at McDonalds. I eat at McDonalds. No one is ever going to convince me
not to eat at McDonalds.
*************************************************************************
----- Mindset and Attitude -----
Figuring out the correct way to think.
"Your life is as good as your mindset." -- Nicola Cavanis
[Photos of Cavanis below.]
"I do not carry a pistol so that I may impose my will on others.
I carry a pistol so that others may not impose their will on me."
-- Tom Givens
"Understanding Potential Threats
Predators come in all shapes, sizes and species."
by Sheriff Jim Wilson
"Survival is a mindset, not a skill set."
-- Greg Shaffer
"Who deserves to be saved?" by Orion Taraban, Psy.D.
Wednesday, December 18th, 2024
One of my all-time favorite games is Sucker Punch's "Ghost of Tsushima".
In the game, you are Jin Sakai, lone survivor of the Mongol invasion of your island,
who must sacrifice his samurai code to repel the occupation and liberate his
homeland. It is a breathtaking homage to feudal Japan and well worth its price tag.
The story is compelling, the visuals are gorgeous, and the gameplay is flawless.
Check it out, if you haven't done so already.
Like many modern games, "Ghost" offers players a number of important lessons
about life. One such lesson that I feel the game imparts particularly well is the
uncomfortable reality that the oppressed are not necessarily more virtuous than
their oppressors. Believing that the weak are always good and virtuous – and the
strong are always evil and exploitative – is a product of cultural propaganda.
In point of fact, power and virtue are entirely independent of each other. And in reality,
people are a confusing mix of both: light and darkness, strength and weakness.
As Jin, many of the people you help throughout the game have intentions that
are less than noble. They are envious, hateful, prejudiced, petty, ignorant, and
self-interested. In short, they are often not very good people. However, it falls on
you to assist them – not so much because they deserve it – but because you
understand that it is the right thing to do. It is easy enough to help the beautiful
and the virtuous – but (so often) these are not the ones that need our help.
It is the willingness to abide by a higher calling that leads to action. For who among
us truly deserves to be saved?"
Warmly,
Orion
In Dungeons & Dragons, your character can be Good, Neutral, or Evil, with
commensurate advantages and restrictions. As my father explained to me, if
you don't play by the rules, ya you're cheating, but really, you're just playing a
different game. In the real world, you don't have to positively identify your
target (or obey any of the safety rules). But then, you're not the good guy.
You are, de facto, the bad guy.
"Have your affairs in order."
-- John Hearne
"46 Things (and Counting) a Young Man Should Know" by Daniel Shaw
‷If you look at someone bigger, faster, and stronger and immediately think,
‶I'm at a disadvantage″,
I have news for you: you are.
But that's only because you just put yourself there for no reason.
The truth is that anyone can do debilitating violence to anyone else.
Your size, your speed, your strength, your gender --
all the factors that untrained people think make the difference when it comes to violence --
all matter far less than your mindset and your intent.‴
-- Tim Larkin
“Willingness is a state of mind. Readiness is a statement of fact!”
-- Lt. Gen. David M Shoup, USMC Commandant 1960-1963
From an email from Orion Taraban, Psy.D. --
"Awe and gratitude."
Wednesday, December 25th, 2024
How terrifying must the winter solstice have seemed to our ancient ancestors.
For months, the days had been steadily growing shorter and darker. The earth had
became cold and hard. Plants had fell barren, and animals had disappeared. If this
continued to its logical conclusion, it wouldn't have been long until the entire world
was submerged in perpetual darkness and the last vestiges of warmth and life
extinguished forever.
However, the process did not continue. The Sun – which had been setting ever
more southerly on the horizon – halted its progression across the sky. The day – while
short – did not grow even shorter. For three days, the entire natural world lingered in
this tenuous stasis: conditions did not worsen, but neither did they demonstrably
improve. It must have felt as though all of creation was holding its breath. In which
direction would the balance tip?
And then – on the fourth day – the Miracle occurs. By some incomprehensible
grace, the light begins to return. The Sun starts its march back north, and the days
grow longer. The world is still cold and dark, but there is a sense that the worst has
passed: life will return and the cycle will begin anew. It is a day that humanity has
long consecrated with awe and gratitude.
Merry Christmas.
Behavioral Experiment --
I challenge you to change one thing about yourself or your life for one week.
Keep what works. Throw out what doesn't.
This week's experiment:
Go someplace dark to look at the stars. Be present in the experience.
Warmly,
Orion
"Your gunfights will always be anomalies.
So are those of all the instructors you venerate.
It’s useful to keep those facts in mind."
-- Greg Ellifritz
"The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Concealed Carry"
by Kevin Creighton
Excerpt:
Melody Lauer says,
“Don’t let your desire to protect your life stop you from having a life worth living.”
‟Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice.”
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, U.S. Navy
"I wish more people understood that criminals are generally
not scared of or impressed by your firearm."
-- Greg Ellifritz
“You need to have the capacity for danger. You need to be ‘dangerous’.
Yet, you need to learn how to not use it except when necessary.
And, that is not the same thing as being harmless.
There's nothing virtuous about harmlessness.
Harmless just means you’re ineffectual and useless.”
-- Jordan Peterson
‟We don’t decide what is necessary to survive a
lethal force encounter initiated by someone else.
That person decides what’s necessary for us to survive.”
– William Aprill
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***** Situational Awareness *****
How to avoid being taken by surprise.
"Many people don't realize that your awareness skills are more important than
your marksmanship skills. Well, you can't shoot something you don't know is there,
or don't know it needs to be shot!" -- Tom Givens
"Situational Awareness and Positioning (part VI)" by tacticalprofessor (Claude Werner)
Previous parts are listed in the article.
"Jeff Cooper's Color Code exists to help you get your head
around the need to kill someone in the immediate future."
-- John Hearne
---
Jeff Cooper's Color Code of Mental Awareness
UNAWARE - of what's going on around you. (White)
AWARE - of who is around you and what they are doing. (Yellow)
ALERT - to a POTENTIAL threat and taking action to avoid the threat. (Orange)
ALARM - by a REAL threat and taking action to escape the threat,
which might include shooting to PREVENT the attack. (Red)
COMBAT - front sight, press. Shooting to STOP the attack. (Black)
*************************************************************************
Ashlyn Darter
Operation Halo
*************************************************************************
----- Safety -----
How to prevent the bad thing from happening in the first place.
How to avoid shooting yourself, friendlies, and innocent bystanders.
How to prevent unauthorized persons from using your guns.
Jeff Cooper′s Rules of Gun Safety
RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED.
RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING
THAT YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY.
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER
UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
---
RULE V: Maintain control of your gun. -- Stephen P. Wenger
"It's easier to stay out of trouble than to get out of trouble."
-- Claude Werner
John Farnam's rules to keep you out of trouble:
Don’t go to stupid places.
Don’t associate with stupid people.
Don’t do stupid things.
Have a “normal” appearance.
Be in bed by 10:00 PM (your own bed).
Don’t fail the attitude test.
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
----- Training -----
Figuring out the correct tasks to practice.
"A mistake that makes you humble is better than a achievement that makes you arrogant."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"There are three different areas, or disciplines, in which the armed person must train.
These are mindset, gun handling, and marksmanship. Each is equally important, and
you must be at least competent in all three areas." -- Tom Givens
"Training in awkward positions" by Mickey Schuch
You need training because:
You don't know what you don't know.
Much of what you know is false.
It's good to the have the answers before the criminal tests you.
-- Claude Werner (paraphrased)
I have read reviews of Gabe White's classes.
How he is efficient, well organized, and hits all the time marks (starts each block
of instruction on time and finished each block of instruction on time). I have taken
two classes from Gabe (ya, he actually does more than "Pistol Shooting Solutions"),
so I can attest to the truth of these statements. If you are an experienced prepared
student of pistolcraft, this is excellent for you.
If you are a beginner, this is not the sort of class for you. You would be better
served by a class that is flexible enough to handle your gaps of experience.
In my class, Defensive Pistol, I say up front in the emailed handouts,
"We will go as fast as the slowest person in the class. Be patient, because
that person may be you." And we often are required to do more sessions than
scheduled, because we simply did not cover the required material.
Instructors, never try to rush or squeeze in the material because you are afraid
that you will never see the student again. Do what is appropriate within the
constraints of time and ability of the students. If they decline to return for the
next class, that's their decision, not yours. (I know it's logistically impossible
for some of you. That's why my classes are small, 1 to 3 persons, and local.)
When you're old, retired, and independently wealthy, you can let the student
schedule the class to fit their life, and adjust your schedule accordingly.
(The wealthy part is a joke.)
“Training deals not with an object,
but with the human spirit and human emotions.”
--Bruce Lee
Tim Larkin says, pain does not work. The bad guy won't feel any pain.
(Neither will you.) And it's not just because of drugs.
So you must destroy eyes, break joints (Hock Hockheim), break bones, tear
ligaments, tendons, and muscles; in order to incapacitate the bad guy. Because
pain doesn't work.
Often, bullet wounds don't work. You must hit (destroy) vital organs (brain,
spine, heart, major arteries [aorta, carotid, brachial, femoral, etc.], et al).
I used to think that full metal jackets were good, because at the time, I was
shooting through a lot of barriers. But, now days in my present job, it is far more
likely that I will not be shooting through barriers. And the need to avoid pass
throughs dictates the use of modern hollow point ammo.
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always
possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Richard Henry Lee
Signer of the Declaration of Independence
"It’s Personal!" by John Farnam
Excerpt:
It all begins with “audaciously claiming your own magnificence”.
Genuine use-of-force training is neither glamorous, nor “fun,”
nor entertaining, but it is critical for bona fide Operators.
“Sisu” is a Finnish term worth pondering:
Sisu embodies icy determination, tenacity, bravery, resilience, daring, audacity, prudence.
Where danger is present and a good outcome appears unlikely, Sisu expresses itself in
boldly taking unilateral action- against the odds, displaying courage and righteous
determination.
“It may seem difficult at first but everything is difficult at first.”
-- Miyamota Mushashi
"You DON’T NEED Self-Defense Training to Win!" by Andrew Branca
"We should not forget that the spark which ignited the American Revolution
was caused by the British attempt to confiscate the firearms of the colonists."
-- Patrick Henry
"5 Tips to Improve Your Tactical Shooting Skills" by Jake
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpts:
"How to Improve Your Tactical Shooting Skills: Overview
• Competition shooting is key for mechanical skill development
• Force on force training builds durable shooting performance under pressure
• Gaze control is key for use of force decision making
• Stress inoculation can put you years ahead of the competition
• Physical fitness is a strong correlate to high tactical performance"
"They found that grip strength was a significant predictor of shooting performance
with a pistol. That trait alone predicted 7% of the variation in marksmanship accuracy."
"I would also recommend drawing while moving. This is very common in
self defense shootings, and other tactical scenarios."
"You need to be able to look to a small spot on a target and transition there quickly.
For beginner shooters, you don’t need to muscle the gun over there. You need to
move quickly and precisely. Think of moving a mouse to click on a tab. You don’t
force your finger to go fast."
". . . my biggest tip for dry fire is to grip the gun hard. You must replicate how
you would actually shoot, otherwise you’re wasting your time."
"The most important tip is to have a concrete goal to work on.
Otherwise you just won’t make progress on your range days."
"High stress tactical scenarios improve real world performance the most."
Cited documents:
“Train, Practice, Compete
are the key elements in the development of humans.”
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
"Identifying Good Training" by Aaron
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpts:
"Most of the people out training for a weekend look like kids learning to swim.
They’re just jumping in the pool and struggling for a good outcome, and most of
them aren’t doing much other than treading water.
If you want the most out of your training, you need to know where you’re at,
where you want to go, and what you hope to be able to do when you get there."
"Just because someone is successful [as an instructor] doesn’t make them
[a] good [instructor]."
“The secret of success is this.
Train like it means everything when it means nothing –
so you can fight like it means nothing when it means everything.”
-- Lofty Wiseman
"This training is so specialized. It's not applicable to anything else in my life.
And the probability of me having to use it is so low."
Remember how we learned to smooth out our walking by lowering our hips and
taking small steps? This gave us a smoothly moving platform from which to shoot.
This works equally well when carrying your grand child, sitting on your shoulders.
Instead of bouncing her up and down, making her sea sick;
like a Tennessee Walking Horse, you will be giving her a smooth ride and
she will be happy.
We do not train because the likelihood of using our training is high,
we train because the stakes are high. [Several instructors have made this statement,
so I won't cite anyone. But as Farnam says, the thought is stolen.]
"Safe gun handling and knowing how to operate the gun competently is one thing.
How to fight with the gun is a whole other plane of knowledge."
-- Tiger McKee
Don't be a princess. The princess needs to be rescued. Be the heroine. Rescue
the guy who didn't have the training to avoid or evade the fight, which escalated into
the lethal force incident. Well, because he's your husband. Otherwise, I would have
recommended walking away.
"Train and practice so that you can stay in your rational mind,
and force your enemy into his emotional mind. The emotional
mind makes bad judgments which will allow you to win."
-- John Hearne
Just because you're right handed does not mean you are a right handed combat
shooter (and vice versa). [Similarly for eye dominance.] I recently had an in depth
conversation with a psychologist (Ph.D, M.D., clinical practice, director at a teaching
hospital) concerning my experiences and my student's experiences in training.
[He asked me not to use his name because there are political implications that he
would rather not have to deal with.]
Generally speaking, the left and right hemispheres of your brain are physically
connected and communicate. This connection varies from person to person,
as do all things with humans. (In the past, surgeons would cut the connection between
the hemispheres to prevent the signals from bouncing back and forth between the
hemispheres as a cure for epilepsy.) However, in high stress situations things are
different. (I will spare you the technical details, because to properly understand
would require background knowledge which would require academic training.)
The left and right hemispheres will not necessarily process the event the same way.
So how the right hemisphere processes the killing of the bad guy may be different
from how the left hemisphere processes the killing of the bad guy. So the physical
behavior may be different. If there is psychological conflict / tension (technical
terms in the field, not terms of art) the physical behavior may be to miss the shot
so as not to hurt the bad guy. Whereas if the hemisphere is comfortable killing
the bad guy, there won't be any inhibitory behavior. All kinds of thoughts,
subconscious and conscious, can interfere / inhibit / excite the behavior.
[I'm not going to mention all of the subtleties because they went over my head.]
One hemisphere of your brain may not be able to make the killing shot. So,
you should give the task to the other hemisphere of your brain. Generally speaking,
the left hemisphere of your brain controls the right side of your body and the right
hemisphere of your brain controls the left side of your body.
Vision is a little different. The left field of vision from both eyes is processed
by the right hemisphere. The right field of vision from both eyes is processed by
the left hemisphere.
I'm going to stop writing now before I go off on tangents and because as John
Farnam says, "Make your point and then shut up."
“If you are reading this and can’t put your hand on your defensive firearm,
all of your training is wasted.” -- Col. Jeff Cooper
"Those motivated by a desire to improve their
gunfighting skills as opposed to a quest for trophies,
must be willing to bleed ego on the match results
to avoid shedding blood in combat."
-- Andy Stanford
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Classes and Conferences --------------------------------
Rangemaster Certified Instructors
Map of Rangemaster Certified Instructors
Active Self Protection
Training Events: $500.00
---
ASP Skills Summit
March 1-2
Fort Smith, AR
---
ASP Skills Summit
March 15-16
Cohutta Pines, GA
---
ASP Skills Summit
plus One Day Church Security Add On Option
May 17-19
Manhattan, KS
Registration not open yet. Check,
Bullets & Bibles Conference
Friday, September 6, 2024 – Sunday, September 8, 2024Living Water Ranch, north of Manhattan, KS
For more information about lodging on site or
if you have any questions regarding the event,
contact our Bullets & Bibles Conference Coordinator,
Vonda Copeland
director@fhftc.org
or call 785-293-2449.
Guardian Conference
September 19th - 21st, 2025 in Oklahoma City
Tactical Conference
Rangemaster Tactical Conference
Friday-Sunday, March 28-30, 2025
Dallas Pistol Club; Carrollton, TX
Dustin Salomon
KR Training
Kari Grayson
Citizens Safety Academy
Carry Trainer, Mickey Schuch
Paladin Training, Inc.
Training schedule --
Course descriptions --
FPF Training, John Murphy
Defensive Training International, John Farnam
2025 A. D. courses are on the schedule now,
Rangemaster, Tom Givens
Trident Concepts, Jeff Gonzales
Apache Solutions, Tim Kelly
Harris Combative Strategies, Randy Harris
So far the 2025 schedule looks like this....
We will also be doing the Rifle Training Day on Jan 25 at The Ridge in Dayton TN. I will have the link for the listing for that in next few days.
Randy Harris
Harris Combative Strategies
Randy@harriscombative.com
PATRIOT TRAINING
Mead Hall Range & Tactics
Bill Armstrong at
bill.armstrong@meadhallrange.com
Law of Self Defense, live online class
upcoming dates April 26, 2025, and September 27, 2025
‟Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice.”
-- Claude Werner
*************************************************************************
----- Practice -----
How to get proficient at that task.
"Growth is uncomfortable because you've never been there before."
-- Nicola Cavanis
Why practice?
“To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively
tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them
and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or
unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.”
-- Winston Churchill
In golf, the dedicated will hit tens of thousands of balls on the driving range
to develop the skill to hit that one ball in the match. Similarly, you will shoot
thousands of rounds, and dry practice tens of thousands of (perfectly executed
shot process) shots, to develop the skill to make that one hostage rescue shot,
or that one shot to the back of the mass murderer's spinal column in the crowded
shopping mall, or that one shot in the crowded church as the bad guy charges
toward your pastor.
"People rust faster than equipment."
-- John Hearne
‶Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.″
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
‟Be careful what you practice.
Because you will do in combat whatever you have practiced,
no matter how ridiculous.”
-- ‶Shooting in Self-Defense″ by Sara Ahrens
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Intervention ***** ***** *****
Suggestions on how to deal with the incident that you failed to avoid.
Awareness, Avoidance, De-Escalation, Escape
Table of sections:
Strategy
Tactics
Techniques
*************************************************************************
----- Strategy -----
Deciding on the end state and how to achieve it,
which tactics to use, which always includes walking away.
"Never let fear decide your fate." -- Nicola Cavanis
“You are no more armed because you are wearing a pistol
than you are a musician because you own a guitar.”
from "Principles of Personal Defense" by Col. Jeff Cooper, USMC,
(1920 – 2006 A.D.)
"Students in Poland are taking firearms training in case of a Russian invasion"
by Charlotte Hazard
I was planning to take my grand kids to Front Sight for the 4-day Handgun class,
having taken both of my kids when they turned 14 (and again for the M-16 class,
after high school graduation, before Cameron entered the Marine Corps).
Unfortunately, (or perhaps fortunately) Front Sight died. (So my thousands of
dollars of training certificates became so much Monopoly money.) So I was planning
to take the kids to Gunsite. (They send a cadre to Nashville every year to teach their
pistol class out of Royal Range.) I think I will talk to my daughter and son-in-law
about taking the grand kids at 13 instead of 14. If the Poles think 13 is the appropriate
age, who am I to argue.
There was a 12 year old girl in John Farnam's Instructor Development class a
couple of weeks ago. She was really in the class, not just auditing. Well, she did
take a break from the class to hunt a deer. She got a nice 5 point buck. But then
she was right back in the class. Some people are just amazing.
Ten years old in Switzerland.
"Have your affairs in order."
-- John Hearne
"What Should You Do after a Self-Defense Shooting?" by Barret Kendrick
If you talk to the police, they will get all of your information: where you live, etc.
During discovery before the trial, the prosecutor will give all of that information to
the defendant or the defendant's family, attorney (paid for by the criminal organization
that your assailant worked for), etc. No, as a matter of fact, the police will not protect
your information, and they certainly won't protect you. If the defense team and family
are civilized people, they will turn the information over to their private investigators.
If they are uncivilized people, they will rape, mutilate, and murder your children and
spouse and you to prevent you from testifying against the assailant if he is alive, or for
revenge if he is dead.
If you keep our mouth shut and don't post on social media and go about your life
normally, the probability of any law enforcement agency identifying you is less than
50%, much less prosecuting you, much less convicting you. (Because the police are
incompetent. That's what defunding the police causes.)
You did not flee the scene because you were guilty of anything. You left for your
safety and the safety of your family. So the police wouldn't shoot you. (Lots of
documented cases of the police shooting and killing the good guy, as in the article.
Because the police are incompetent.)
You didn't report the incident because you reasonably feared retribution / retaliation
from the corrupt police working for the criminal organization and the criminal gang
that the assailant was a member of.
Your mission as a civilian defender is to escape from the threat. So why would be you
holding anyone at gun point? You should be leaving immediately.
". . . providing some explanation is crucial . . ." No, the author is WRONG!
Keep your mouth shut. Everything you say will be used against you to convict you.
Your attorneys will be spending all of their time and resources trying to explain your
statements. NEVER talk to the police.
"It's generally safe to share indisputable facts . . ." No, the author is WRONG!
Keep your mouth shut! The author previously said that you could not possibly know
what the facts are, because of the high stress. High stress causes false memories and
amnesia (temporary or permanent) [Read Sarah Arhen's article. She still cannot
remember throwing her pepper spray across the room.].
If anyone reads you the Miranda warning, they will ask you if you understand your
rights. You answer is "NO". What don't you understand? "I don't understand anything."
After the incident is not the time to look for an attorney. You must have an attorney
on retainer. If you can't afford an attorney on retainer, get an insurance policy that has
attorneys on retainer.
The author recommends an insurance company. But, you need a company that
actually pays all the way through the appeals. Ask your instructors. Do your research.
Ask your friends. Ask me. This is really important.
“How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.”
-- John Farnam
"Having a gun is important. But knowing WHEN to use it is even more important."
-- Greg Ellifritz
"You win gunfights by not getting shot."
-- John Holschen
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
----- Tactics -----
Maneuver and fire in support of your strategy.
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
Clint Smith says, “People shoot you because they see you.
They see you because you let them. Don’t let them see you.”
From an email from Jeff L. Gonzales --
If you are out and about during an active shooter attack there are a couple of things
to consider. First, escape. If not, strong point. If not, hide. [I disagree. The 2008
Mumbai attacks demonstrated how the bad guys will casually walk around killing
people who have "hidden". -- Jon Low] If faced with no other alternative, the last,
best option is to counter attack. [I disagree. As Jeff Cooper taught us, the best defense
is an immediate explosive counter-attack without telegraphing your intentions. So
this should be your first action. -- Jon Low]
Since most of us will be armed with a concealed handgun let's take a closer look
at why to practice head shots. Here are 5 tactical thoughts for head shots in active
shooter attacks:
1. They are Fight Stoppers
Landing a good head shot into the ocular cranial cavity has the best chance of
achieving an immediate incapacitation. Lights out. The challenge is the target zone
is generally about 4 inches, from the eye brows to the bottom lip [I disagree. The
bottom of the lip includes the teeth and bone supporting the teeth. Your pistol bullet
will not penetrate such. Your lower limit is the bottom of the nose. -- Jon Low] or
what I reference as a face shot.
It's convenient since most of this anatomy already has holes in them and the
handgun caliber has a greater chance of hitting the base of the brain stem in this
case. To help understand the anatomy better, consider a 4 inch wide bandana
covering their eyes and mouth. Since it wraps around the head, anywhere within
the 4 inch bandana is a good shot. [I disagree. From the side, only the external
auditory meatus (ear hole) is reasonable. From the back, only the spinal column
at the base of the skull is reasonable. Thinking that your pistol bullet will penetrate
skull bone is not reasonable. -- Jon Low]
2. They Can Clean Up The Field of Fire
Since these attacks happen in large public spaces being aware of the backstop
is critical. Some might argue not as critical as stopping the attack and while I don't
disagree, we cannot overlook the impact of stray bullets. One way to clear up the
initial flight path is to drop to a kneeling or even squatting position. [I disagree.
The squatting position should be your first option as it is the fastest to get into and
out of, and like the supported kneeling position, it is a supported position. -- Jon Low]
This will elevate the bullet's trajectory hopefully missing any innocent bystanders
in the general vicinity. Of course, it will eventually start a downward trajectory at
some point.
Not only does this make for a smaller target, but those who have developed a
fast assumption of a supported kneeling position can make these shots at longer
distances thereby increasing the survivability rate. The closer to the active shooter,
the more dangerous the situation. Distance is our friend, maximize it whenever
possible.
3. Defeating Body Armor
While most active shooters within the last decade have not worn body armor,
they have worn various types of chest harnesses or load bearing equipment. Body
armor is easy to understand and most body armor is rated to stop multiple hits from
handgun calibers. If the counter attack starts with shots to the center mass there
is a good chance the armor will stop the rounds from reaching the vitals. This doesn't
mean they don't have an effect. Blunt force trauma can be debilitating and shift the
mental attitude of the active shooter, but it also is not a guarantee the attack will stop.
Even chest harnesses can pose a problem since they are typically storing extra
ammunition in loaded magazines. A fully loaded aluminum AR15 magazine can
actually stop many handgun calibers. This of course is more about luck, but it helps
to understand why they may not be stopping the attack.
4. Reduced Target Opportunity
Once the shooting starts, the bad guy may have enough sense to hide. That means
they drop below or around some form of cover or concealment. Again, not unrealistic
to expect this type of behavior. It may be the only shot available is the head poking
above or around something. This limited target zone due to an obstruction can make
stopping the attack more challenging.
One point to consider is unless it is hard cover like an engine block or concrete wall
you might consider shooting through where the center of mass might be located. It's an
option if there is a lack of the skill or confidence to hit the smaller head shot. While I
don't recommend shooting at something that cannot be seen, if there is no other shot it
might be the only option. [This violates our safety rule,
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
NEVER fire at anything you can't see. There may be innocent bystanders behind the
concealment. If you want to shoot the bad guy, move so that you can see him. -- Jon Low]
5. Headshots are Hard to Make
Shooting a reduced target is more challenging in many ways. If the distance and
time are the same; which in these events they will be the smaller target zone creates
a far more difficult shot. Time, talent and treasure must be allocated towards improving
these skills.
If there is no effort put into developing this skill in training, do not expect the skill
to materialize when needed. Instead put the work in now to improve this skill. From
the holster, from the ready, from various positions and even with only one hand. Remove
as many potential miss opportunities as possible by being prepared.
Final Thoughts
I pray we see a peaceful transfer of power. I pray more people will choose
dialogue versus violence. I pray we reduce the division wide spread over the last
several years. Preparation is my backup plan.
JLG
P.S. Feel free to share this with other like-minded folks.
"You brought a gun to the fight. That doesn’t mean it’s YOUR gun.
The gun belongs to whomever can keep it. Think about that before intervening
in other folks’ problems. When is the last time you practiced your in-hand weapon
retention skills?"
-- Greg Ellifritz
---
". . . if the assailant has a gun, it may actually be the easiest gun for you to access,
if you know how to take it from him."
-- Stephen P. Wenger
---
When was last time you practiced your in-holster weapon retention skills?
Have you taken a class to know such techniques?
“Fortuitous outcomes reinforce poor tactics.”
-- Chuck Haggard
“What’s the number one reason for reloading? Missing the target!”
-- Claude Werner
"You often don't know where the bad guy is who is shooting at you."
-- Phillip Groff
“When you’re in the dark, stay in the dark;
when you’re in the light, light up the dark.”
-- Stephen P. Wenger
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
*************************************************************************
Elizabeth Montgomery
*************************************************************************
----- Techniques -----
Ways to execute a given task in support of your tactics,
especially when disabled or under stress.
"Denn jedes Mal, wenn was geht, ist Platz für Neues.
Und wenn es gestern nicht sein soll, dann klappt es heut 🦋"
-- Nicola Cavanis
Because every time something works, there is room for something new.
And if it wasn't meant to be yesterday, it will work today.
"Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it."
-- Bruce Lee
I took a class from Chuck Haggard, in which he explained Task Overload Confusion.
When you train two different operations with the same finger, in a high stress
situation, the finger will do the other more common (more practiced) operation
rather than the consciously intended operation (because in high stress, the sub-
conscious takes over; procedural vs. declarative memory as Dustin Salomon teaches).
Always use your support side thumb to operate the weapon mounted light. If you
use your trigger finger, you will fire the pistol, because that is what you have trained
your trigger finger to do (after tens of thousands of repetitions). Lots of documented
cases. Some resulting in dead people.
Never use any holster that requires you to defeat the retention device by pressing
with your trigger finger. If you use your trigger finger, you will fire the pistol,
because that is what you have trained your trigger finger to do (after tens of
thousands of repetitions). Lots of documented cases. Some resulting in serious injury.
"The foundations of your grip are established
before you even draw the pistol from the holster."
-- Tanner Denton
"Video How-To: Pistol Trigger Control (ft. Brian Zins)"
"Grip first, then press."
-- Mike Seeklander
"It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away at the inessentials!"
-- Bruce Lee
*************************************************************************
A wet suit is nice, but a hood is important to avoid hypothermia. Persons signaling
okay, may be going into hypothermia. Persons feeling fine may be going into hypothermia.
Megan Williams
giving you a come hither expression.
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Postvention ***** ***** *****
Suggestions on how to treat your wounds or the wounds of your loved ones.
Suggestions on how to avoid prosecution, conviction, and prison time.
Suggestions on how to avoid the civil law suit and judgment.
Table of contents:
Aftermath
Medical
Survival
*************************************************************************
White plumeria from dad's backyard.
*************************************************************************
----- Aftermath -----
You must be alive to have these problems: criminal and civil liability.
“Your understanding and consent are not required
for someone to take your life, kill your loved ones,
and destroy all you hold dear.”
-- William Aprill
Extremely educational.
"The Next Chapter in Kayla Giles' Appeal: The Oral Argument" by Attorneys On Retainer
USCCA decided that their member, Kayla Giles, was guilty before a conviction,
before a trial, before having all of the evidence from discovery. Other insurance
programs will pay for appeals after conviction until the appeal process is exhausted.
Think about that.
In the right hand column of this web page, click on "Never Talk To The Police"
or use the address,
“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him,
but because he loves what is behind him.”
― G.K. Chesterton
In the right hand column, click on the link labeled "Self Defense Insurance".
Or, the link is,
Read this before you buy insurance. You need to make an informed decision.
The various policies are drastically different.
"You need to read the fine print." -- Massad Ayoob
*************************************************************************
----- Medical -----
"Committee for Tactical Emergency Casualty Care Updates Guidelines for 2024"
by Soldier Systems Daily
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz
Cited document,
"Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) Guidelines for BLS/ALS Clinicians"
"Archive for the ‘Medical’ Category" by Soldier Systems Daily
Tactical Emergency Casualty Care Course - NAEMT Certified, $495.00
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Sherman House
*************************************************************************
----- Survival -----
"If you stay fit, you do not have to get fit.
If you stay trained, you do not have to get trained.
If you stay prepared, you do not have to get prepared."
-- Robert Margulies
"Understanding Criminal Behavior To Stay Safe" by Bob Rodgers
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpt:
"It’s critical to wait until you’re sure of success or have nothing to lose before
attempting to take control of the situation."
[By then it may be too late. This contradicts Jeff Cooper's recommendation to
immediately counter-attack. An explosive counter-attack without telegraphing
your intentions will give you the element of surprise, a great tactical advantage.
You must do the unexpected. The criminal does not expect you to immediately
attack him. No warning. No submission. ATTACK! Gouge eyes. Strike the
Vagas nerve (side of neck). Break joints (especially in the hands by concentrating
both of your arms against one of his fingers). Etc.
-- Jon Low]
"We unconsciously broadcast signals about our vulnerability. For instance,
clothing that limits mobility, like skirts or high heels, can increase the likelihood
of being targeted. Similarly, appearing distracted (like everyone using their
phone in public) not only draws attention to an expensive item but also signals
inattention, making you seem like easier prey."
". . . criminals also prefer victims who won’t notice or identify them.
Simply being alert and aware of your surroundings sends a subtle message
that you’re not an easy target. Additionally, flaunting wealth, like wearing
flashy jewelry or carrying expensive accessories, can make you a high-value
target . . . "
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Education ***** ***** *****
Table of contents:
Legal
Instruction
Gear
*************************************************************************
"You will never get smarter or broaden your horizons
if you're unwilling to learn from others and read."
-- Becca Martin
"The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly – November 2024"
By tacticalprofessor (Claude Werner)
Quips
Active Response Training
Weekend Knowledge Dump
The Tactical Professor
Rangemaster Newsletter
ConcealedCarry.com articles
Concealed Carry Corner
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
*************************************************************************
----- Legal -----
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
It is wholly inadequate for the governance of any other.
-- John Adams, October 11, 1798
"Derek Chauvin's Wrongful Conviction:
New Evidence Challenges the George Floyd Narrative!"
by Andrew Branca
The jury was irrational. (Lots of reasonable alternate reasons for Floyd's death,
so lots of reasonable doubt.) The judge was incompetent. (Should have been a
directed verdict of not guilty. Because of reasonable doubt.)
Black Lives Matter is evil. They are communists disguised as racial activists.
Accepting a plea deal means confessing to the crime. Always a bad idea. That
confession will be used against Chauvin in perpetuity. That's why defendants plead
nolo contendere. Even I know that, and I'm not an attorney.
---
"What They Didn’t Want You to Know About Derek Chauvin's Case" by Matt Walsh
This is why you must have a competent team of attorneys. Otherwise, you end up
in prison for over 20 years.
"Law of Self Defense" by Andrew Branca
(free book, just pay for shipping so you don't have to go to Colorado to pick it up)
Law of Self Defense, live online class
upcoming dates April 26, 2025, and September 27, 2025
"Gun Law Database" by U.S. Law Shield
"You DON’T NEED Self-Defense Training to Win!" by Andrew Branca
"Build A Reciprocity Map:" by Concealed Carry Inc.
"Cops & Criminal Charges: Tips from an Attorney" by Attorney Dan Herbert
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpt:
"4. NEVER give a voluntary statement to an investigator in a case where there
is any chance of criminal charges being brought. The only statement an involved
officer is required to make at the scene of a shooting is a Public Safety Statement
to a supervisor. Think of every shooting as having the potential to become criminal."
[If this is the advice to police, why in the world would you talk to police, much less
give a statement? Talking to police is an act of criminal stupidity. It will cost you
huge amounts of money if you are not convicted. If convicted, it will cost you time
out of your life. -- Jon Low]
"6. Make sure that any statement attributed to you is accurate."
[That is physically impossible. If the cop lies about what you said, it's your word
against the cop's notes. You're screwed. Keep your mouth shut! -- Jon Low]
"11. Be aware that any public discussion about the incident, including comments
on social media or to fellow officers or civilian friends in private conversations,
is subject to legal discovery and those who heard it may be called to testify."
[Never post anything about any incident on social media. Never talk to anyone
about the incident, except your attorney. -- Jon Low]
"Concealed Carry Laws in America" by CCW Safe
Tricking you into confessing.
"Federal Appeals Court Again Tosses Gun Ban for
Man Who Lied to Get Food Stamps in the 90s"
by Jake Fogleman
Stephen P. Wenger's comment --
"Again we see the distinction between ruling a law facially unconstitutional and
ruling it unconstitutional as applied in a specific case. The latter means that many
potential defendants may need to appeal convictions individually."
-- Stephen P. Wenger
Jon Low's comment --
"Unconstitutional as applied in a specific case" seems to violate
"equal protection of the laws".
14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, Section 1,
"No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or
immunities of citizens of the United States;
nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due
process of law;
nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
-- Jon Low
"Black gun activist says ATF raided his home to scare legal firearm owners"
by Matt Delaney
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/dec/25/black-gun-activist-says-atf-raided-home-scare-lega/
The ATF will invade your home in hopes of provoking you to
shoot at them in defense of home and family, so that they can murder you.
Lots of documented cases. Bryan Malinowski in Little Rock, Arkansas;
Samuel Weaver, Vicki Weaver, and Kevin Harris in Ruby Ridge, Idaho;
the Branch Dividians in Waco, Texas; . . .
The list is actually very very long.
"I don't answer questions. I have no moral obligation to answer rude inappropriate
questions."
Everyone has God given rights. The Constitution constrains the government,
not the people.
Extremely educational.
"The Next Chapter in Kayla Giles' Appeal: The Oral Argument" by Attorneys On Retainer
USCCA decided that their member, Kayla Giles, was guilty before a conviction,
before a trial, before having all of the evidence from discovery. Other insurance
programs have paid for appeals after conviction until the appeal process was exhausted.
Think about that.
“Is there no virtue among us? If there is not, we are without hope!
No form of government, existing nor theoretical, will keep us from harm.
To think that any government, in any form, will insure liberty and happiness
for a dishonorable population represents the height of self-deception.”
-- James Madison, 1788
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
----- Instruction -----
Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:
"We are not God's gift to our students.
Our students are God's gift to us."
"The limited time you spend with students may be the only training they ever receive!"
-- John Farnam
----- Instructors -----
"Every time I teach a class,
I discover I don't know something."
-- Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch
A student told me that he was interested in becoming a firearms instructor.
I responded --
May I recommend you take these classes?
Law of Self Defense, live online class
upcoming dates April 26, 2025, and September 27, 2025
and
Tactical Emergency Casualty Care Course - NAEMT Certified, $495.00
and
"DTI INSTRUCTOR PROGRAM" by John Farnam
I don't see this class scheduled, so you will have to contact John Farnam
and ask him when next he will be giving this class. Don't wait. John
is old and will not be teaching forever. None of us live forever.
John is one of the masters, you need to take his class. Or, any class from
him when you can.
and
"Basic Instructor Development Course" by Tom Givens
His EventBrite page doesn't seem to have this class listed, so you will
have to contact him at
rangemaster.tom@gmail.com
to ask him when and where he will be teaching this class.
Tom is one of the masters. You need to take this class. Or, any class from
him as soon as you can. No one lives forever.
A lot of people won't recognize the more difficult, more prestigious
instructor certifications listed above.
Get the NRA certifications to teach:
NRA Pistol Instructor certification
which requires taking the Pistol course as a student
and then the instructor class.
NRA CCW Instructor certification
which requires taking the CCW class as a student
and then the instructor class.
NRA Defensive Pistol
which requires the Advanced Pistol Instructor certification
which requires the Personal Protection Instructor certification
which requires taking the Personal Protection in the home and
Personal Protection outside the home classes; and then requires
classes from military, police, or private schools indicating you
have expertise. You will need to get letters of recommendation
from your instructors.
The NRA certification are generally recognized by everyone
including state agencies. They are not difficult to acquire.
---
May I recommend you read these books?
"The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, written about 2400 years ago.
"The Book of Five Rings" by Miyamoto Musashi, 1644.
"On War" by General Carl von Clausewitz, unfinished at his death in 1831.
“Principles of Personal Defense” by Jeff Cooper, 1972.
We read this in class.
"More Tactical Reality" by Louis Awerbuck, 2004. Paladin Press, 2004.
Panteao Productions, 2017.
"The Farnam Method of Defensive Handgunning", 2nd Edition by John S. Farnam, 2005.
"Women Learning to Shoot: A Guide for Law Enforcement Officers"
by Diane Nicholl and Vicki Farnam, 2006.
"Combat Shooting" by Massad Ayoob, 2011.
"Handgun Training For Personal Protection" by Richard A. Mann, 2013.
“Deadly Force: Understanding Your Right To Self Defense” by Massad Ayoob, 2014.
"In the Name of Self-Defense" by Marc MacYoung, 2014.
"The Art of Instruction" by Michael R. Seeklander
Published by Shooting-Performance, 2014
ISBN-13: 978-1448628636
ISBN- 10: 1448628636
This is important, read this!
"Teaching Women To Shoot A Law Enforcement Instructor's Guide" Second Edition
by Vicki Farnam & Diane Nicholl, 2015.
"Fighting Smarter" by Tom Givens, 2015.
"Gunfight" by Richard Nance, 2016.
“The Law of Self Defense” 3rd Edition by Andrew Branca, 2016.
You already read this, right?
"Real World Gunfight Training" by Mike Ochsner
"Building Shooters:
Applying Neuroscience Research to Tactical Training System Design
and Training Delivery"
by Dustin Salomon
ASIN: B08B4JJ3G5
"When Violence Is the Answer" by Tim Larkin
Back Bay Books; Reprint edition (October 9, 2018)
ISBN-10: 0316354651
ISBN-13: 978-0316354653
"DEFENSIVE USE OF FIREARMS" by Stephen P. Wenger
"The Way is in Training" by Matthew S. Little
ASIN: B0BR9CZL4Y
Publication date: December 28, 2022
"Straight Talk On Armed Defense" Edited by Massad Ayoob, 2022
ISBN-13: 978-1-4402-4754-5
ISBN-10: 1-4402-4754-4
Cheers,
Jon
“The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other.
Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives.”
-- Robert John Meehan
“He who dares to teach must never cease to learn.”
-- Richard Henry Dana
Be careful what you teach.
Because your students will do in combat
whatever you have trained them to do,
no matter how ridiculous.
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
"Remember,
the students who require the extra effort
are the ones who need us the most!"
-- John Farnam
"You must teach skill sustainment as part of training."
-- John Hearne
----- Students -----
I know training can be difficult. Let me share some words of encouragement that
my teacher told me, that I believe apply to all training regimens.
"Keep in mind that this is some seriously next level material. It is totally normal
that the first time you see this stuff, you find it confusing. You find it difficult to
understand. So, confusion should not discourage you. It does not represent any
intellectual failing on your part. Rather, keep in mind that it represents an opportunity
to get even smarter."
– Tim Roughgarden, Professor of Computer Science
and other stuff at Stanford University
I took 3 students to the USPSA match at Strategic Edge Gun Range in Chapel Hill, TN.
We use the matches as our tactical scenarios for our Defensive Pistol course. We had no
disqualifications, no safety violations, only one miss, and only one hit on a no-shoot target.
We had no malfunctions (Wow! Totally amazing!). We had no injuries of any kind.
All in all, pretty good.
We did however witness many malfunctions in our squad.
A CZ had to be racked after each shot. The gentleman told me that he had
used a light grease to lubricate his pistol. The grease had frozen up in the
cold weather, about 30℉.
We saw a magazine fall out of a pistol when a young man started shooting.
We saw a failure to fire (by a very competent and fast shooter). He later told
me that the thumb safety on his very expensive 1911 (or maybe a 2011) was loose
and had moved up. So he was not resting his thumb on his thumb safety while
shooting. (You don't have to do things correctly, but there are always consequences.)
We saw a lot of failures to fire. Mostly on reloaded ammunition. It's not
enough to be competent to reload, you also have to be conscientious.
Speaking of conscientious. One of my students, in preparation for the match,
read the USPSA rules, all 165 pages. I was shocked. Sometimes you get such
students.
One of the competitors was shooting hollow point ammo. I asked him about
it, as hollow points are much more expensive than full metal jacket round nose
bullets. He told me that FMJ bullets have exposed lead at the base of the bullet,
so the hot gas vaporizes the lead and fouls his compensator (as well as putting
vaporized lead into the air). Whereas the hollow point bullets are made with the
copper cup facing forward, so there is no exposed lead at the rear of the bullet
to get vaporized. He also felt the hollow point bullets he was using were more
accurate than the FMJ bullets that he had.
The test of whether or not you understand a thing is whether or you can explain it
to someone familiar with the field. The test of whether or not you have a deep
understanding of a thing is your ability to explain it to a layman.
-- Norman Christ
When my students complete my Defensive Pistol course, I assure them that they
are part of the 1% of civilian concealed carriers who have trained outdoors at night
in the cold (30℉) and rain, with and without a flashlight; and have cleared a building at
night (the building has no lights, dirt floor, basically a horse barn with offices).
Indoor air conditioned carpeted ranges are nice for their purpose. What is your
purpose?
"It's better to be wrong than to be vague." -- Freeman Dyson
From a lecture at the University of California, Berkeley.
If you are wrong, the instructor can correct you.
If you are vague, no one can help you.
----- Andragogy -----
‟An instructor should not expect any learning to take
place the first time new information is presented.”
-- ‶Building Shooters″ by Dustin Salomon
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
----- Gear -----
And the safe storage thereof.
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
"Which gun should I use for home defense?"
The one that you practice with the most. If all of your practice is with your pistol,
it makes no sense to use your shotgun for home defense.
For the newbie.
"Video: What Makes a Firearm?" by NRA
"4 Qualities Your Concealed Carry Gun Must Have" by Tom Givens
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpt:
Reliable — It must work every time.
Effective — It must be capable of rapidly and reliably putting down a grown man.
Many handgun/cartridge combinations are simply not capable of this and should be avoided.
Wearable — It must be portable enough to carry at all times.
Ergonomic — It must be easily operated.
My response to an article about various methods of carry --
Carrying anywhere other than on your belt on your waistline is a bad idea.
Any off-body carry makes losing control of your pistol easy.
Any on-body carry off your waistline makes accessing your pistol difficult,
or makes presenting your pistol problematic in that you must assume
awkward positions to avoid muzzling yourself and muzzling the people
around you (as with shoulder holsters).
If you prioritize your fashion apparel over your ability to carry concealed,
you are prioritizing your appearance over your safety and the safety of your
loved ones.
My response to an article about various sizes of pistols (compact, subcompact, etc.) --
If you carry a pistol that is so small that you cannot get all of your fingers from both
hands on the grip, you will not be able to control the pistol during recoil. Your little
fingers provide the force (due to maximum lever arm) that mitigates muzzle flip.
Which allows you to get subsequent shots on target.
If the pistol does not allow you to get a correct grip, you will not be able to get
your first shot on target under the debilitating stress of combat.
What is a correct grip? When the pistol bore is aligned with the bones of your
forearm (in line, not parallel to) with the thumb resting flat against the slide of the
pistol, middle finger pressed tight up against the bottom of the trigger guard, and
web between the thumb and index finger, high and tight in the tang leaving no gap;
the tip of your middle finger (if you are male) or the tip of your ring finger (if you
are female) should point back towards you.
If the grip is not correct, change grips. If the grip is still not correct, change pistols.
If the grip is correct, have a gunsmith move the trigger so that when you have the
center of your fingerprint on the center of the trigger and the slack is out of the trigger,
you are pressing the trigger straight to the rear.
Yes, as a matter of fact, a competent gunsmith can adjust any trigger for pull length.
If he says it can't be done, find a competent gunsmith. [Just because your gunsmith
is a family friend and has been doing work on your guns for decades does not mean
that he is competent.]
When conducting a night shoot, have everyone wear a reflective vest.
Thanks to Van Evans.
It's really important to know where everyone is. You must be able to see everyone.
Program your flashlight.
Press - on.
Release - off.
Anything else will not serve you well.
If your flashlight won't do this, get a flashlight that will.
Muzzle flash from the ejection port is a problem. The barrel
and slide are unlocking before the powder has finished burning.
This could be an ammo problem (a very slow burning powder),
but probably not.
Jamie's comments -- Hey Mike, you might want to check spent brass
from that lot # of ammo that Tina is using. Compare it to another lot of
same manufacture. If the ammunition is weak, the case won’t expand
to seal the chamber and gas will escape through the ejection port.
You’d be able to see more residue on the spent casings than usual
if this were happening.
Concealed means nobody can see any evidence of your weapons.
Don't sacrifice concealment for convenience. The element of
surprise gained from concealment is the determining factor in
winning or losing the fight.
Finding the correct pistol that fits your hands is expensive.
Experiments are expensive. But they are the only way to learn.
Similarly for holsters. If you don't have a box full of holsters
that didn't work for you, you're probably using a suboptimal
holster. (You can always use those holster for students. Just
because they didn't work for you, doesn't mean they won't
work for someone else.)
I use spray on glue to hold targets to backers. I've had too many students get stabbed
by staples.
"How Red Dot Sights are made - Aimpoint Factory Tour" by TGS Outdoors
I do not cite this article for content.
"These are a few of my favorite things……." by William G.
I only mention it because it has a photo of a 1911 with the grip safety taped down.
This is an extremely bad idea. Because you are using the pistol in a manner that it
was not designed to be used. This creates questionable intent at your criminal trial
and huge liability problems at your civil trial.
I have seen many pistols in this condition at USPSA matches. It is an act of
criminal stupidity and should be avoided.
"Top 5 Self-Defense Handgun Cartridges" by Jay Langston
Stephen P. Wenger's comment --
I saw no reason to share this article when it was posted back in early November.
What prompted me to share it – in highly excerpted form – today is that I saw it linked
in a newsletter with the introduction, “Best Self-Defense Calibers for Carry Guns:
Choosing the right caliber for your carry gun is critical for effective self-defense.”
In fact, author of the linked article claims to have compiled his list on the basis of
popularity, which I find dubious in the case of the .357 Mag. Personally, I consider
myself a minor casualty of the so-called “caliber wars” of the 1980's and 90's, with
arthritis in my right wrist from prolonged range use of the latter caliber when the
lighter-recoiling .38 Spl. would likely have served me just as well in my carry guns.
While I still favor the choice of caliber and bullet that is likely to produce significant
wound channels, I find myself among other veterans of the caliber wars who've
begun disputing that caliber selection is “critical for effective self-defense.”
In the Dec. 7 Digest, I covered “Revisiting the 'Stopping Power' Debate.”
A key point in the article from Greg Ellifritz that I excerpted and linked is:
“Another fact that many people haven’t considered is the difference between
police and armed citizen gunfights. My friend Claude Werner often points out
that when a criminal is involved in a gunfight with the police, the stakes are
higher. The criminal knows that the cops won’t stop until he’s dead or in jail.
That’s not true with a gunfight against an armed citizen. The armed citizen
just wants a break in the fight. If he can cause the criminal to flee, he wins
and stops shooting. When criminals fight the police, they are likely to fight
harder and take more rounds before giving up, because they know giving up
equals a long prison sentence. Giving up and running away when fighting an
armed citizen has no such negative consequences. Many of the gunfights
involving 9mm, .40, and .45 calibers in my study were police gunfights.
Very few of the .380 data was from police shootings.”
Yes, armed citizens occasionally do encounter very determined assailants
who may remain in the fight after being shot and my intent is not to encourage
those who don't need to do so to settle for “mouse guns.” Rather, I wish to
emphasize that bullet placement is more crucial than bullet diameter, design,
and velocity, at least for handguns. By the way, while the 9x17mm / .380 ACP
is a lower-energy round than the 9x19mm Luger/Parabellum round, not all
pistols in the lighter chambering are that much gentler in recoil and many of
the older ones have stiff recoil springs that may challenge some users.
If you or someone who relies on you for advice needs to go with a .380 pistol,
choose one with suitable ergonomics.
-- Stephen P. Wenger
Falko Tactical posted an exploded diagram of a Glock with recommended lubrication
surfaces on Reddit.com.
Concerning red dots on Joe Rogan.
"FGC-9 and 3D-Printed Firearms are In Use in Myanmar Conflict | VIDEO"
by Dean Weingarten
https://www.ammoland.com/2024/12/fgc-9-and-3d-printed-firearms-are-in-use-in-myanmar-conflict-video/
Advertisement for Silencer Central.
“Barrel Threading with Silencer Central
Getting your gun ready to accept a "can" just got easier, faster, cheaper and better.”
by Frank Melloni
"How To Perform Proper Handgun Maintenance and Why It Matters"
by Rodger Holscher
Ya, I know I cited this before, but it's important. And I'm very forgetful.
“Your car is not a holster.”
-- Pat Rogers
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Cryptology ***** ***** *****
Cryptosystems are considered "arms" by federal law, ITAR,
International Traffic in Arms Regulations. That means cryptosystems are
protected by the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Never let the
government infringe on your right to keep and bear cryptosystems, to
include home made cryptosystems, to include sharing cryptosystems with
others.
So you are reading "The Meaning of Relativity" by Albert Einstein, 5th Edition.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 96-77139.
In Appendix II, there is a section "Variational principles and field equations". Yes,
I see it. You are correct. It is difficult to understand. You need some background.
May I suggest you read "Calculus of Variations" by I. M. Gelfand and S. V. Fomin?
Yes, there is an English version translated by Richard A. Silverman.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number QA315.G41713.
Another helpful paper to clarify / explain to the layman is
"The Einstein Field Equations" by Chris Ormel
Ormel expands out some of the things that Einstein neglects to. Because Einstein
is writing for peers, not students.
I think part of the problem is that you are reading, even scanning, but not taking
the time to understand. Consider the following carefully, until you understand.
Excerpts from "The Meaning of Relativity":
Page 165 -
One can give good reason why reality cannot at all be represented by a continuous
field. From the quantum phenomena it appears to follow with certainty that a finite
system of finite energy can be completely described by a finite set of numbers (quantum
numbers). This does not seem to be in accordance with a continuum theory, and must
lead to an attempt to find a purely algebraic theory for the description of reality. But
nobody knows how to obtain the basis of such a theory.
[There are fundamentally two branches of mathematics: analysis and algebra.
Analysis deals with continuous sets. Algebra deals with discrete sets.
Does that help with understanding what Einstein is saying?
Relativity Theory is continuous. Quantum Theory is discrete (the quanta). So the
Relativity Theorists use the tools of analysis (calculus, ordinary differential equations,
partial differential equations, tensors, etc.). Quantum Theorists use the tools of
algebra (number theory, the various structures of abstract algebra, etc.). Ya, ya, I know
don't quibble.
So, Einstein is saying that his description of reality (the Theory of General
Relativity) cannot be correct. Do you understand this?
-- Jon Low]
Page 31 -
The non-divisibility of the four-dimensional continuum of events does not at all,
however, involve the equivalence of the space co-ordinates with the time co-ordinate.
On the contrary, we must remember that the time co-ordinate is defined physically
wholly differently from the space co-ordinates.
Page 55 -
Just as it was consistent from the Newtonian standpoint to make both the statements,
tempus est absolutum, spatium est absolutum, so from the standpoint of the special
relativity we must say, continuum spatii et temoris est absolutum. In this latter statement
absolutum means not only “physically real,” but also “independent in its physical
properties, having a physical effect, but not itself influenced by physical conditions.”
[In quantum mechanics, you can't create or destroy particles. So radioactive decay
is a relativistic event, not a quantum mechanical event.
Isotropic space. Smooth and continuous time and space. Are relativistic,
not quantum.
I could list for pages, but you get the idea.
-- Jon Low]
A zeroth rank tensor is a scalar, just a number (might be a complex number, or
quaternion, or octonion, etc.).
A first rank tensor is a vector, just a one-dimensional array of numbers.
A second rank tensor is a matrix, just a two-dimensional array of numbers.
A third rank tensor is a three-dimensional array of numbers, with appropriate
operations defined (ya, there are a lot of ways to define, they just have to make
sense).
A fourth rank tensor is a four-dimensional array of numbers. Never seen one
of these? Consider the Riemann curvature tensor,
R[superscript mu, subscript sigma, alpha, beta]
on page 77. Sorry, you're not going to find this on the Wikipedia page,
"Einstein field equations". Stop laughing. A lot of people use Wikipedia without
realizing that it's not a peer reviewed scholarly work. Very few things are these
days.
In the context of "Dimensionless Parameters in Viscous Flow",
“To the novice, these parameters express unexpected effects -- timely reminders
that fluid mechanics is a difficult subject, containing many hidden surprises to
confound or delight the would-be analyst.”
-- from "Viscous Fluid Flow" by Frank M. White, 3rd Edition, page 84.
ISBN-10 : 0072402318
ISBN-13 : 978-0072402315
Here is a fourth-order partial differential equation. Let ψ be the 2-dimensional
stream function describing the fluid flow in the x-y plane.
[∂ / ∂t (ᐁ²ψ)] + (∂ψ / ∂y) [∂ / ∂x (ᐁ²ψ)] - (∂ψ / ∂x) [∂ / ∂y (ᐁ²ψ)] = ν (ᐁ⁴ψ)
to be found on page 87.
Never let any student say, "There is no need to learn this stuff, as I will never use it."
If the student learns it, he will use it, because he will recognize when to use it, and
he will know that it exists to be used.
As Claude Werner says, you need training because you don't know what you don't
know. If you don't learn this stuff, it won't be in your repertoire. So unlike Felix the
Cat, you won't be able to pull it out of your Bag of Tricks. Maybe the only result is
that you don't get paid the big bucks. Maybe the result is that your country is
overthrown and you get killed with all the other people on the losing side.
But if you know the way to solve the problem, you win.
Abstraction by Thomas Sowell
"Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe,
and preserve order in the world as well as property.
Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of their use."
-- Thomas Paine
It's not just arms, it's the intelligent use of arms. If you can't do the math, you
won't be able to correctly model the situation in the real world, so you won't be
able to use the arms intelligently.
"5 Things All C Programmers MUST Know (#5 is the Killer)" by Code With Huw
Excerpt:
"It's wrong."
[A lot of things in print are wrong. -- Jon Low]
YouTube.com channel,
"Never memorize anything. Rather, study it until it becomes obvious."
-- Norman Christ
"The most important theorem in differential geometry: Gauss-Bonnet theorem"
by Trevor Cheung
Oooo, another form of the gravity equation.
"Computer science has nothing to do with computers or science."
-- Donald Knuth
It's all pure math, as opposed to applied math. Never let anyone tell you
differently.
"I was wrong about the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle" by Mithuna Yoganathan
"What *is* a qubit?" by Mithuna Yoganathan
---
Bra < ψ | = row vector = n by 1 matrix = (b₁, b₂, . . . , bₙ)
Ket | φ > = column vector = 1 by n matrix =
⁀
k₁
k₂
.
.
.
kₙ
‿
Braket < ψ | φ > = inner product, matrix multiplication resulting in a scalar
Ketbra | φ > < ψ | = outer product, aka tensor product,
matrix multiplication resulting in a n by n matrix
---
"Understanding Quantum Mechanics #4: It's not so difficult!" by Sabine Hossenfelder
"Don't blindly apply, UNDERSTAND Bra Ket Notation with this! | Quantum Theory"
by Abide By Reason
"Bra-Ket Notation and How to Use It" by Alexander Fufaev
"Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood. Life is not easy for any of us.
But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves.
We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing must be attained."
-- Marie Curie
Now this is a lot of nonsense.
"The Dome Paradox: A Loophole in Newton's Laws" by Jade
The meat is at 18:53 / 22:58.
As Prof. Norman Christ said, physics is a religion with many denominations.
Be careful of the cults and zealots. In this case, the heretics.
"Premature optimization is the root of all evil."
-- Donald Knuth
"A Number to the Power of a Matrix - Numberphile" by Tom Crawford
"You don't need to memorize theorems,
because you can always derive them from first principles."
-- Sven Hartman
[Well, I suppose some of us can. -- Jon Low]
*************************************************************************
***** Signals Intelligence and Ground Electronic Warfare, Cyber Security,
(sometimes Air Electronic Warfare too) *****
“Your character is what you do when no one is looking.”
-- Thomas Jefferson
"A free people ought not only be armed and disciplined,
but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain
a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them,
which would include their own government."
--George Washington
"VPN used for VR game cheat sells access to your home network
Big Mama VPN tied to network which offers access to residential IP addresses."
by Matt Burgess
"i tried to warn you." by Low Level
Breaking Defense has a weekly newsletter, "Networks & Digital Warfare" at
Crypto-Gram by Bruce Schneier
2600
‟If violent crime is to be curbed, it is only the intended victim who can do it.
The felon does not fear the police, and he fears neither judge nor jury.
Therefore what he must fear is his victim.”
-- Col. Jeff Cooper, "Principles of Personal Defense"
*************************************************************************
The following is an email from Mike Seeklander.
Sun, Dec 22 at 8:09 AM
|
Sent to: Jon_Low@yahoo.com |
****************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Intelligence ***** ***** *****
Gathering, Analyzing, Disseminating
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
-- Second Amendment, U.S. Constitution
"For artificial intelligence to be mission-critical, it must hallucinate less."
-- The Merge
"Ukraine's Trap Springs Shut - Top General Eliminated in Moscow" by Business Basics
How is this different from the assassination of the United Healthcare CEO?
If you kill a lot of people, you have to expect retaliation.
"How the FBI Smoked 2 Chinese Spies on American Soil" by Roman Balmakov
Did you catch the part about the New York Times running hit pieces against Shen Yun.
The same New York Times that covered up the Jewish Holocaust when it was occurring.
Hard core communists.
Stay vigilant against CCP (Chinese Communist Party) spies:
Tim Walz (governor of Minnesota), Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), et al.
In case you don't understand Continuing Resolutions.
"Submarines: Submarines Cause Trade Crisis" by James Dunnigan
December 22, 2024:
If there were a war with China, one of the main goals would be to disrupt
Chinese shipping. Submarines, especially the quiet and heavily armed Virginia
nuclear powered submarines that operate in the Pacific. As China became a
potential threat, more Virginias were assigned to the Pacific Fleet. The Virginias
were there to shut down Chinese trade on short notice by deploying hundreds
or thousands of naval mines near Chinese ports. Their primary weapon will be
naval mines. China’s mine clearance ability is believed to be small. [Believed by whom?]
Ever since the end of the Cold War a growing number of American naval officers
and civilian experts have been urging that more attention be paid to dealing with
naval mines. The United States was not alone and in 2012 that led to the U.S. and
over 30 other nations conducting a joint mine clearing exercise, called the
International Mine Countermeasures Exercise 2012. The numerous training events
were directed at dealing with Iranian attempts to block the Straits of Hormuz entrance
to the Persian Gulf. The impact of that exercise led to another being held annually
ever since. While Iran is the most immediate user of naval mines, it is not alone.
North Korea, China, and Russia have large naval mine stockpiles, but these three are
not boasting of how and when they would use them.
Iran insists that because of its mines and other weapons it will have no trouble
blocking the export of oil via the Straits of Hormuz. Some 35 percent of the world's
oil shipments pass through these straits, which comes to about 15-20 tankers a day.
The Persian Gulf is a busy waterway. It is 989 kilometers long and the average depth
is 50 meters. Naval mines are Iran's best bet if they want to shut down the straits.
The Iranian problem is that they have a small navy, an obsolete air force, and a poor
track record when it comes to shutting down tanker traffic in the Persian Gulf or the
Straits of Hormuz. They tried once before, in the 1980s, when they were at war with
Iraq. The two nations began attacking each other's tanker traffic early on, in an attempt
to cut off each other's oil sales. Iran didn't want to completely shut the Straits of Hormuz
because that would have stopped its own oil revenue, only to impede it to force the
United States to make Iraq stop its attack on Iran’s own export exports. Over 500 ships
were attacked, 61 percent of them tankers. Only 23 percent of the tankers attacked
were sunk or immobilized. The attacks, using fighter-bombers and warships, only hit
about two percent of the ship traffic in the Gulf. Iran lowered its oil prices to cover
the higher cost of ship insurance. In 1986 Russia and the United States intervened to
protect Kuwaiti and Iraqi tankers which were taking most of the damage.
The Iranian military is in worse shape today than it was in the 1980s and would not
last long trying to attack ships. That leaves the Straits of Hormuz. This is a 30 kilometer
wide deep channel. Normally, shipping sticks to narrow channels, going in and out,
to avoid collisions. The main Iranian threat has always been seen as naval mines.
The Arab states have a lot of mine clearing equipment and more numerous air and
naval forces than Iran. In addition, there are the United States and NATO forces in
the area. The problem was that all these mine clearing forces had never practiced
under wartime conditions. In short it has long been unclear exactly what it would
take to deal with Iranian mines in the straits. Many of those questions were finally
answered in 2012 and during subsequent mine clearing exercises.
For an Iranian mining attempt to work they would have to get the mines onto the
bottom of the straits and then prevent the rest of the world from clearing those mines.
That would be difficult, as will Iranian attempts to plant additional mines. Such
attempts would not be impossible as Iran has small submarines and speed boats along
with sailors willing to carry out suicidal missions to deliver the mines. Even that may
not be sufficient, as this sort of fanaticism failed against the Americans in the 1980s.
While Iran has worked to overcome their shortcomings, most of the solutions appear
to be publicity stunts mainly meant to make the Iranian population feel better.
Iran has a few thousand naval mines, which is a small arsenal compared to Russia,
China, and North Korea. It is generally agreed that all these mines are a serious
danger. While often ignored, naval mines are a formidable weapon. But these passive
weapons just don't get any respect. The historical record indicates otherwise.
Modern naval mines were widely used for the first time over a century ago, during
the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese war. These were contact mines, floating in shallow
water and kept in place with an anchor and chain. When the tide was right, they would
be just below the surface, ready to explode whenever struck by a ship. Some 2,000 of
these mines were used to destroy sixteen ships during the Russo-Japanese war. That's
one ship lost for every 125 mines used.
During World War I (1914-18), modern mine tactics and clearing methods evolved.
Thousands of mines were laid as defensive barriers against enemy movement in the
North Sea. Mines were also used offensively by secretly placing them across known
enemy sea routes. More than 1,000 merchant and warships were lost because of the
230,000 mines used. That's over 200 mines used for every ship lost.
During World War II there was a major effort to develop better mine clearing
methods to deal with an even larger number of mines. During World War II a total of
2,665 ships were lost or damaged to 100,000 offensive mines. That's one ship for
every 37 mines. Some 208,000 mines were used defensively to inhibit enemy
movement and tie up his resources.
Naval mines achieved several striking successes during World War II. In the
Pacific naval mines proved more destructive to the Japanese war effort than the
atom bombs. Between April and August 1945, 12,000 mines were delivered to the
Japanese coast by American bombers. These destroyed 1,250,000 tons of Japanese
shipping. Some 670 ships were hit with 431 destroyed. That's 18 mines for each ship
hit. The Americans had air superiority, so losses during these 1,500 missions amounted
to only 15 planes, most of them accidents. Had these missions been flown against
opposition, losses would have been between 30 and 60 aircraft, plus similar losses
to their fighter escorts. Either way it was a stunning success for naval mines.
A conventional submarine campaign was also waged against Japanese shipping
using mines. Comparisons between subs using mines and torpedoes are interesting.
A hundred submarines were involved in a campaign that ran for 45 months from
December 1941 to August 1945. Some 4.8 million tons of enemy shipping was sunk
with torpedoes. For every US submarine sailor lost using submarine launched
torpedoes, 560 tons of enemy ships were sunk. During the mine campaign 3,500 tons
were sunk for each U.S. fatality. On a cost basis the difference was equally stark.
Counting the cost of lost mine laying aircraft or torpedo armed submarines, we find
that each ton of sunk shipping cost six dollars when using mines and fifty-five dollars
when using submarines. This data was classified as secret until the 1970s. It indicates
that mines might have been more effective than torpedoes, even if the mines were
delivered by submarine.
The Germans waged a minelaying campaign off the east coast of the United States
between 1942 and 1944. Only 317 mines were used, which sank or damaged 11 ships.
This was a ratio of 29 mines used for each ship hit. More importantly eight major
ports were closed for a total of 40 days. One port, Charleston, South Carolina, was
closed for 16 days, tying up not only merchant shipping but the thousands of men,
warships, and aircraft dealing with the situation.
American submarines also waged a limited mine campaign in the Pacific.
For 658 mines used, 54 ships were sunk or damaged at a cost of 12 mines per ship.
No subs were lost. Considerable Japanese resources were tied up dealing with the
mines. On the Palau atoll the port was closed by the mines and not reopened until
the war ended. Even surface ships were used to lay mines. Three thousand mines
were laid by destroyers. Only 12 ships were hit but these were barrier fields, not the
ambush type mine fields that a submarine can create by sneaking into an enemy
held area.
In Korea during the early 1950s, the Soviets provided North Korea with 3,000
mines, many of 1904 vintage. These were used to defend Wonson harbor. It took
several weeks for UN forces to clear these, at a loss of a dozen ships hit. Half of
these ships were destroyed.
During the Vietnam War over 300,000 American naval mines were used, primarily
in rivers. The vast majority were not built as mines but were aerial bombs equipped
with magnetic sensors instead of fuzes. These bombs/mines used a small parachute
to insure that no damage occurred on landing. In shallow water these makeshift
weapons sat on the bottom and performed as well as mines. Haiphong Harbor was
actually mined with 11,000 of these destructors, as the US air force called them.
Haiphong Harbor was shut down completely for months, and it took years to clear
out all the American mines. The destructor mine design was so successful that it is
still in use, using more modern electronics, such as the Mk 62 mine.
During the 1991 Gulf War the Iraqis laid over a thousand mines off the Iraqi and
Kuwaiti coast. The predominantly US naval forces did not have sufficient mine
sweeping resources to deal with this situation and a helicopter carrier and cruiser
were damaged while trying to clear the area. This effectively prevented any
US amphibious operations, although the Marines were not going to be used for a
landing anyway. It took over a month of mine clearing after the fighting ceased to
eliminate all the mines. In the meantime, two U.S. warships were damaged by
these mines. In 2003, the Iraqis again tried to use mines, but were hampered by
prompt American, British, and Kuwaiti action.
In any future war naval mines will again surprise everyone with how effective
they are. It is feared that terrorists might get their hands on some bottom mines,
but so far, there do not appear to have been any attempts.
Meanwhile the 2012 international mine clearing exercise prompted the United States
to improve mine clearing capability. The U.S. Navy ordered several dozen more of the
expendable SeaFox UUVs/unmanned underwater vehicles. These are used to destroy
bottom mines which sit on the seabed. These UUVs were sent to the Persian Gulf to
deal with potential Iranian use of naval miles. The Seafox UUVs are used on Avenger
mine hunting ships already in the Persian Gulf.
SeaFox is a small 1.4 X 0.4 X 0.2 meter battery powered sub that weighs 43 kg and
has a fiber-optic cable connecting it to a surface ship or hovering helicopter. There the
controller can move the SeaFox close to a suspected mine using a small sonar unit,
then turn on a spotlight for a video camera to examine the object and determine if it
is a mine. If it is, SeaFox gets closer and detonates a shaped charge explosive destroying
itself and the mine. SeaFox has an endurance of about 100 minutes, a top speed of
10 kilometers an hour, and can dive as deep as 300 meters.
The only American minesweeper ships are the four of 13 Avengers still in service.
These are 72.3 meter long ships that draw only 4.8 meters of water, enabling them
to operate close to shore. The crews are supposed to be trained in navigating such
shallow areas. The Avengers are armed with two 12.7mm machine guns, two 7.62mm
machine guns, two 40mm automatic grenade launchers, and have a crew of 84. In 2012
Avengers were in the Persian Gulf, operating out of Bahrain. Others were based in
Sasebo, Japan. Some were based at San Diego, California.
The U.S. Navy needs these minesweepers because replacements in the form of
more minesweeping helicopters and minesweeping versions of the new LCS ship
have been delayed by technical problems. Meanwhile the U.S. has upgraded the
sonars on its Avenger class ships. The new AN/SQQ-32(V)4 mine hunting sonar
improves the ability of the sonar to spot mines on sea bottoms cluttered with other
natural or manmade items. In many parts of the world shallow coastal waters are
used as a dumping ground for junk that won’t float ashore. This has been found to
help hide bottom mines.
As of 2024 the navy has no active minesweeper ships, Some of the LCSS ships
are supposed to be capable of mine sweeping but it is unclear if they are actually
ready for service.
The navy also had a dozen smaller Osprey class coastal mine hunters (900 tons
displacement, crew of 51), but these were all given away to foreign navies and are
to be replaced by the LCS and new minesweeping helicopters.
The navy has also equipped helicopters for mine clearing, but is having a very
difficult time maintaining its force of 30 MH-53E helicopters. These aircraft are
the only ones that can tow a sled containing naval mine detecting gear. This sort
of thing is called AMCM/Airborne Mine Countermeasures and is considered essential
in areas, like the Persian Gulf, where Iran might use a lot of naval mines that would
have to be cleared quickly in wartime.
The MH-53E is an update of the original 1960s era CH-53 and entered service
in the early 1980s. Fifty MH-53Es were built and they have been worked hard ever
since. That’s why only 30 are left and few of them are fit to fly at any one time.
Originally the navy planned to retire the MH-53Es in 2008. Replacements using
lighter sleds that could be pulled by smaller and more modern helicopters did not
work out as expected. So retirement was pushed to 2012, then 2017 and currently
the navy hopes to keep some MH-53Es operational until 2030.
Meanwhile efforts continue to develop lighter equipment for the mine hunting task.
Some of these projects have had limited success. The AQS-24A mine-hunting system
looks like a torpedo with extra fins and attachment. It is lowered into the water and
dragged by the helicopter at speeds of up to 34 kilometers an hour. The AQS-24A
contains a high resolution sonar that seeks out mines that lay on the sea bottom,
waiting for ships to pass over. The bottom mine then detonates if a ship type it was
programmed to attack is detected. The U.S. Navy has been using this mine hunting
approach since the 1980s. The original sled system went through several major
upgrades and is considered very reliable and effective. The MH-53E sled is still able
to carry more equipment and sweep a larger area faster.
The U.S. Navy has also developed a complementary system, ALMDS/Airborne
Laser Mine Detection System. Designed to operate from the MH-60S helicopter,
ALMDS uses a Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging blue-green laser to detect and
identify naval mines near the surface. Unlike the AQS-24A, ALMDS operates from
the low flying, and smaller, helicopters. Surface mines are either moored or floating,
and many float just below the surface. The laser works very quickly and enables the
ALMDS equipped helicopter to quickly check out large areas for surface mines.
Terrorists have used naval mines before, of the floating variety. Navies tend to use
the more sophisticated, expensive and hard-to-get bottom mines that lie on the bottom,
in shallow water.
American allies have also developed new mine detection and clearing tools and
some of the new U.S. equipment uses foreign tech. While new mine designs have
become more effective, the basic problem is that the many older mine designs are
still very dangerous, especially for the unprepared.
-- James Dunnigan
"Air Weapons: Decisive Drone Innovations" by James Dunnigan
December 22, 2024:
Military leaders, when faced with peacetime decisions on how to fight the next war.
It’s common to seek answers in the last war they or others fought. For many nations,
that is the Ukraine War and the Russian failure to win against its smaller opponent.
Russia is one of the few militarily aggressive nations. That’s because many Russians
yearn for a revival of the Russian Empire. This was ultimately the Russian reason for
invading Ukraine in 2022. President Vladimir Putin believed the dissolution of the
Soviet Union in 1991 was a tragedy that must be remedied. Putin also claimed portions
of Poland as one of its future targets for absorption into Greater Russia, otherwise
known as the Russian empire. Belarus, the Baltic States, and some former Soviet
territories in Central Asia are also on the acquisition list. None of these targets were
willing to cooperate. Poland, as the largest and wealthiest East European NATO
member, led the way by rearming to confront any future threat. After Russia invaded
Ukraine, Poland increased the size of its military and obtained large quantities of
modern weapons. Poland was one of the latest nations to join NATO, in 2009.
Because of the Ukraine War, long-time neutrals Sweden and Finland joined NATO.
NATO nations near or bordering Russia believe that if Russia is allowed to keep
any Ukrainian territory, the Russians will attack them eventually as part of an effort
to reconstitute the Greater Russia that the tsars and later communists created and
maintained until 1991. Russian leader Vladimir Putin believes the dissolution of the
Soviet Union in 1991 was a tragic event that must be rectified. Many Russians agree
with that but are less willing to pay the economic and military price that Ukraine
demonstrated would result if Russia tried.
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan are nervous because they are,
after Ukraine, according to Vladimir Putin, on the list of former Soviet territories
that must be absorbed into Greater Russia. That would be difficult because these
three states have growing economic ties with China and diplomatic ties with India
and the West.
Greater Russia was not just about rebuilding the tsarist or communist empires
because Russia does not want the expense of ruling Central Asian states, but rather
more lucrative territories Russian once ruled. This includes portions of Poland,
all of the Baltic States, and Finland, and parts of Alaska. There are some serious
legal and practical problems with these claims. The United States has a larger military
and nuclear weapons which might come into play if Russia made a serious effort to
take Alaska, which Russia sold to the United States for $7.2 million in 1867. That’s
$130 million in 2023 dollars. Alaska proved to be worth trillions as Russia never
discovered the huge quantities of natural resources in Alaska.
Russia has since learned the value of natural resources. Russia is one of the largest
oil producers in the world, along with Saudi Arabia and the United States. The problem
is that the 14 new nations that were formerly part of the Soviet Union want nothing to
do with joining a revived Soviet state. There are some serious legal problems with
rebuilding the Soviet Union. Russia and nearly all nations in the world are members
of the United Nations. Article 51 of the UN charter demands that members refrain
from the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any
state. Russia says this does not apply because Ukraine is a breakaway part of Russia
and Russian troops are seeking to liberate Ukraine from NATO oppression. Ukraine
is a UN member and protests Russian claims as well as the UN tolerating the Russian
use of its Security Council veto to block any serious UN opposition to the Russian
aggression.
The World Court has indicted Putin as a war criminal for misdeeds in Ukraine,
some involving kidnapping children. Invading Ukraine has wrecked the Russian
economy because of Western economic sanctions and the high cost of the war.
It's reached the point where their railroad system is collapsing and Russia faces
economic collapse and even famine in 2025.
Putin puts on a brave front and insists he has solutions to all these problems.
The only positive thing to come out of the Ukraine war was the emergence of drone
warfare. Implementing lessons learned from the Ukraine war, especially the widespread
use of drones, if forcing military leaders worldwide to rethink how their forces are
organized, armed and trained. For example a few thousand dollars’ worth of drones
can and have destroyed $4.5 million M1 tanks. The U.S. has over 5,000 M1s available
for use.
The Americans are not trying to develop and build cheap air-defense drones,
which are already being used in Ukraine. The United States could buy them from
Ukraine or build them under license in the United States. There are some other issues.
In wartime drone designs evolve rapidly. Stockpiling thousands of drones produced in
2024 and 2025 would create a problem when using them a year or more after 2025.
The enemy may have built more advanced drones in anticipation of offing them in a
surprise attack. The American stockpiled drones would then be less useful because
they are older designs. This is especially true with anti-drone drones, a recent
development that is still evolving rapidly.
Meanwhile American defense manufacturers resist converting to drone production.
There is less profit in cheap drones compared to multi-million dollar aircraft, tanks
and air defense systems. It would take a wartime situation to force the defense firms
to adapt to producing a lot of cheap drones.
Meanwhile American attempts to adopt the new drone tactics and technology
developed, and still developing, in Ukraine have encountered problems. First, the U.S.
is not at war and the military bureaucracy has a peacetime attitude towards any new
technology. This includes the use of drones in Ukraine and the flood of practical
experience and solutions passed by Ukraine. Current U.S. Army drones, when used
in Ukraine, often encounter problems the Ukrainian drones don’t. In a wartime
situation, Ukrainians have been quick to make changes until they get the results they
need.
The American military may want to implement the lessons of drone use in Ukraine,
but American defense contractors and manufacturers feel compelled to modify and
improve what the Ukrainians have done while they adapt Ukrainian drone tech to
something new which United States forces can use and Congress will pay for. This
process tends to lower the effectiveness of what the Ukrainians have created, while
delaying the product and enriching the contractors and manufacturers. The lesser
effectiveness is usually revealed the first time American troops use the U.S. version
of Ukrainian drone tech. Something is lost in the tech translation. This is nothing new.
It’s been happening for over a century.
Adapting and adopting Ukrainian drone technology means there will be new
drone modifications and upgrades for as long as the fighting in Ukraine lasts. These
changes come quickly in wartime, and always have. In Ukraine, drone designs can
be changed in less than a week. This is usually because the Russians have gained an
edge with one of their recent tweaks.
While Ukraine has been in the forefront of developing and upgrading drone
technology, the Russians have kept up. In war time you either keep up or become
an inept underdog that falls farther and farther behind. The Russians have kept up
most of the time and, when they fail to keep up, suffer heavy losses.
The peacetime American military has no such wartime feedback loop. If someone
in the defense procurement establishment says the current American drone tech is
good, it is considered officially adequate. Sending U.S. drone adaptations to Ukraine
for testing takes place, but often over the objections of some U.S. manufacturers.
When tested in combat, some of the U.S. drones fail to deliver. When the Ukraine
war ends, there will be no way to adequately test American drones. There may be
other wars where American troops are involved and able to test the new drones.
But it won’t be in the intensely competitive atmosphere the Ukrainians and Russians
created.
Ukraine has been writing the book on drone technology since 2022, with Russia
contributing edits in real time. When that atmosphere is not present, the speed of
developing new tech or maintaining current drones slows down a lot. This process
is at work now as the U.S. Army orders drones based on Ukrainian designs.
The American military procurement bureaucracy is infamously slow in adopting and
manufacturing new weapons. This is especially true if a weapon was not invented
by an American weapons manufacturer. It is feared that the Ukrainian drone
revolution will be equally slow in actually reaching Americans soldiers and Marines.
Many military and Defense Department civilians are aware of this problem and see
the drone development and procurement program as an opportunity to show that
the United States can do it right and quickly. It is said [by whom? -- Jon Low] that
the Ukrainians suggested that the Americans have a toy company manufacture their
drones because they are more efficient than the usual defense firms. Also, the toy
companies have spare capacity for months before they have to start making toys for
the holidays. Early in the war Ukraine relied on civilians in home workshops to
design and build drones. Now that Ukraine is building millions of drones a year,
most are built in underground factories. Drone manufacturing is a prime target for
Russian drones and ballistic missiles.
In early 2024 Ukraine created a new branch of their military, the
USF/Unmanned Systems Force. This is in addition to the Ukrainian Air Force that
consists of manned aircraft. The USF does not control the drones which Ukrainian
forces use regularly but instead contributes to developing new drone models and
organizes mass production for those new models that are successful. The U.S. military
took note of this but acting on it takes a lot longer for a peacetime military.
Drones were an unexpected development that had a huge impact on how battles
in Ukraine's current war are fought. Drones were successful because they were cheap,
easily modified, and expendable. Modifications and upgrades could be implemented
quickly and inexpensively. Both Russian and Ukrainian forces were soon using cheap
quadcopter drones controlled by soldiers a few kilometers distant using
FPV/First Person Viewing goggles to see what the day/night video camera on the
drone can see. Adding night vision is available when needed, at a higher cost per
drone. These drones cost a few hundred dollars each with the most complex models
going for about a thousand dollars. Most of these drones carry half a kilogram of
explosives, so it can instantly turn the drone into a flying bomb that can fly into a
target and detonate. Some drones carry more explosives depending on what is needed
to deal with a target.
These drones are awesome and debilitating weapons when used in large numbers.
If a target isn’t moving or requires more explosive power that the drones can supply,
one of the drone operators can call in artillery, rocket, or missile fire, or even an
airstrike. Larger, fixed wing drones are used for long range, often over a thousand
kilometers, operations against targets deep inside Russia.
A major limitation to the expansion of drone operations is the need for trained
drone operators. These operators need over a hundred hours of training before they
are able to operate these drones at peak effectiveness. As operators spend more hours
operating drones in combat, the number of new lessons learned and applied increases.
Fortunately, adults or kids who play video games a lot are already trained. Ukrainian
drone operators tend to use commercial game controllers. This is why when Ukraine
recruits new drone operators, they favor those with video game experience.
The small drones are difficult to shoot down until they get close to the ground and
the shooter is close enough, as in less than a few hundred meters, away to successfully
target a drone with a bullet or two and bring it down. [Because the way to fight drones
is electronic warfare, not kinetic weapons. -- Jon Low] Troops are rarely in position to
do this, so most of these drones are able to complete their mission, whether it is a
one-way attack or reconnaissance and surveillance. The recon missions are usually
survivable and enable the drone to be reused. All these drones are constantly
performing surveillance, which means that both sides commit enough drones to
maintain constant surveillance over a portion of the front line, to a depth, into enemy
territory, of at least a few kilometers. Longer range drones can track Russian
operations hundreds of kilometers behind the front lines.
This massive use of FPV-armed drones has revolutionized warfare in Ukraine and
both sides are producing as many as they can. Russia initially produced its own drones
now after briefly using imported Iranian Shahed-136 drones that cost over $100,000
each. Ukraine demonstrated that you could design and build drones with similar
capabilities at less than a tenth of that. The Iranian drone was more complex than it
needed to be, and even the Russians soon realized this and turned from the Shahed-136
for more capable drones they copied from Ukrainian designs or their own.
Military leaders in other nations have noted this and are scrambling to equip their
own forces with the most effective drones. Not having enough of these to match the
number the enemy has in a portion of the front means you are at a serious disadvantage
in that area. These drones are still evolving in terms of design and use and are becoming
more effective and essential.
One countermeasure that can work for a while is electronic jamming of the drones’
control signal. Drone guidance systems are constantly modified or upgraded to cope
with this. Most drones have flight control software that sends drones with jammed
control signals back to where they took off to land for reuse. The jammers on the
ground can be attacked by drones programmed to home in on the jamming signal.
Countermeasures can be overcome and the side that can do this more quickly and
completely has an advantage. That advantage is usually temporary because both sides
are putting a lot of effort into keeping their combat drones effective on the battlefield.
-- James Dunnigan
"Special Operations: Ukrainian Victory in Syria" by James Dunnigan
December 23, 2024:
Ukrainian special operations detachments have operated in places like Africa and
the Middle East to injure the Russians and find out what they are up to. These
Ukrainian forces popped up in Syria 6-7 months ago, and the Turks recently revealed
that they began cooperating at that time with the then Syrian HTS terrorist group
located in Idlib province in northeastern Syria to overthrow the former Assad
government. It came out last month that Ukrainian special operators had trained the
HST rebels in the use of UAVs and provided them with a bunch of UAVs to
overthrow the Assad government. Idlib province has land borders only with Turkey,
Syria and Hezbollah-controlled portions of Lebanon, so the Ukrainians’ only access
to HTS, and provide it with UAVs, was via Turkey. So Turkey and Ukraine cooperated
with each other as well as HTS in overthrowing the Assad regime.
The Ukrainians continue to contend with the Russians in Syria. The Russians are
negotiating with HTS for permission to continue operating the military bases in Syria
which the old Assad government had leased to them. Ukraine has offered a considerable
amount of yearly wheat deliveries if the HTS government denies the Russian base
requests. The HTS government needs a lot more food than the Assad government did
because it now feed a much larger Syrian population. At least six million Syrian
refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and crowded into the former terrorist-controlled Idlib
province are now coming home.
-- James Dunnigan
"Murphy's Law: Russian Ball Bearing Blues" by James Dunnigan
December 25, 2024:
Russia’s ability to continue the Ukraine war is being compromised due to
catastrophic mismanagement of its railway system. This emerging situation is
so dire that cutoffs of service to vast areas, starting with Siberia east of Irkutsk
to the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk, to save the rest of Russia next year may
happen next year. Russian railways account for about 43 percent of all
transportation in Russia, and most of its east-west transport. The present rate
of loss of rail cars and engines to worn-out axle bearings is so bad that that the
Russian economy may come to a standstill and collapse in 1-2 years. One of
the key issues here is rail transport of coal, which is declining fast but essential
for electric power production.
Running trains with worn-out axle bearings causes them to derail and damage
tracks such that movement of trains with effective bearings is not possible until
the wrecks are cleared and the rail beds are repaired. Such accidents have recently
become significant problems.
The degree of this problem is clouded because the Russian army has taken
scores of thousands, perhaps more than a hundred thousand, rail cars out of service
for use as storage of their cargos. It takes time and manpower to both unload them
for local storage and then reload them for local transport. It’s faster and takes less
manpower to unload the rail cars once, directly from the rail cars onto trucks for
local delivery. Plus the Ukrainians keep blowing up the unloaded cargo sites. The
Russian army has no use for rail coal cars so the decline in rail transport of coal is
a good proxy for the proportion of rail cars out of service due to worn-out axle
bearings. It is difficult to distinguish rail cars deadlined for worn-out bearings
from those with adequate bearings which the Russian army has deadlined as storage
for their cargos. Plus there is probably some to considerable overlap between the two.
The rail bearing problem arose for two reasons. The first was termination about
35 years ago of the old Soviet apprenticeship system of training manual labor
specialists like rail axle bearing repackers, without creation of a new training system.
This resulted in the age cohort of workers able to repack the old-style rail axle
bearings aging out to the point that 90% are gone. This was not seen as a problem
because the Russians planned on converting all their rail engines and rail cars to
the new system of rail axle coil bearings around 2030 when the last bearing
repackers retire. This didn’t happen because of Western sanctions for the 2022
Russian invasion of Ukraine. All modern rail axle coil bearings are produced in
NATO countries. China produces its own rail axle coil bearings, but those aren’t
anywhere near as good as Western ones, and China hasn’t sold any to Russia
because of the sanctions. The Western coil bearings the Russians bought prior
to 2022 are starting to wear out and the old bearings which require repacking
have increasingly few personnel capable of doing that.
It is not possible for Russia to simply import rail cars from elsewhere because
of the unique Russian rail gauge, which is wider than that of all other countries
save other former “Republics” of the old Soviet Union, all of whom Russia has
promised to conquer next if it wins the Ukraine war.
Fixing this problem will take many years even if the war ends immediately
and will actually grow increasingly worse for several years before the collapse
levels off. Onset of horrific mass starvation with mass refugee flows is likely after
three years and would involve the 75 million population “Stans” (Central Asia) in
addition to Russia. Nothing is being done because Putin doesn’t want to hear
about it.
The long-range implications of a Russian railway collapse are worse. Few of
the many millions who successfully flee to countries with food will ever return.
Russia’s oil and gas exports will cease due to lack of maintenance on the pipelines
conveying those to the West.
-- James Dunnigan
It's important to remember history.
You may think this is funny, but a range in Waikiki in Honolulu, HI has a set up like
this for the Japanese tourists.
"How Israel's Mossad tricked Hezbollah into buying explosive pagers" by 60 Minutes
Consider carefully.
I was watching a math show (explaining addition and multiplication) with my
grand kids. It was occasionally interrupted by commercials for high end cars.
So the marketers knew that yuppies with large amounts of expendable income
were watching their show or retired grand parents were watching.
I was walking around the Green Hills Mall in Nashville with a female friend.
She wanted to go into Victoria's Secret to look at some stuff. We walked out
without buying anything. Immediately, she started to receive advertisements
from Victoria's Secret on her smart phone, emails and text messages (color
high resolution photos, professionally done format and fonts).
What do the advertisements before, during, and after this video say about this video?
"How Is Titanium Made?" by History of Simple Things
Shen Yun is pro-Falun Gong and anti-communist. Get it? They perform all over the
world at high end venues. Who are they appealing to?
From James Dunnigan --
"Attrition: Israeli Devastation of Lebanon"
December 29, 2024: In September Israel launched a record number of airstrikes
against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. This was to disrupt and possibly destroy
the ability of Hezbollah to fire rockets into northern Israel. For over a decade
one Lebanese group or another has been firing rockets into Israel, where casualties
were low because the Israelis moved air defense systems into the area. Bomb
shelters were provided for the civilians and an attack alert system was established.
This system eventually used cellphones to speed up notifying civilians that an
attack was imminent and where to find the nearest shelter.
In 2024 Iran-backed Hezbollah was the main source of rocket fire into Israel.
In response to that, Israel developed a complex plan to cripple or destroy Hezbollah
as well as destroying as many rocket stockpiles as they could find.
In one day Israel carried out airstrikes that hit over 1,600 targets in southern
Lebanon. In the past year Hezbollah had fired about 8,000 rockets and missiles
into Israel. After the September air strikes, the number of Hezbollah rockets fired
into Israel fell to a few random rockets launched every few days. Israeli air
defenses destroy nearly all these rockets and missiles.
The Lebanese government reported that that day of Israeli airstrikes had killed
558 people, most of them civilians. The Israeli targets were known Hezbollah
locations, which were deliberately placed in areas used by civilians. Hezbollah
hoped that the use of human shields would dissuade Israeli attacks. That never
works and Hezbollah declares the dead civilians as involuntary martyrs to the
Hezbollah cause of destroying Israel.
The Israeli air strikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon were the
most intensive in modern warfare. The attacks did a lot of property damage to
Lebanon but killed far fewer civilians than a bombardment campaign of that
magnitude was expected. The Lebanese and their government were pleased
with the destruction of Hezbollah personnel and facilities in their midst. Israelis
were accused of atrocities but Hezbollah, the major terrorist organization in
southern Lebanon was close to gone.
"Winning: What Next Hezbollah"
December 29, 2024: During several months of operations, Israeli managed
to virtually destroy Iran-backed Hezbollah. This is a Lebanese Shia faction
which operates as de facto government with a well-armed militia. The term
Hezbollah means Party of God and this party works for Iran. Without Iranian
support Hezbollah would soon fade away. That’s what happened this year,
when a series of attacks, beginning with exploding pagers in September killed
or wounded over 3,000 Hezbollah members. That along with precise Israeli
air strikes against Hezbollah leaders left Hezbollah leaderless and Israel’s
subsequent ground invasion of part of Hezbollah’s territory shattered its ground
forces.
There are still some remnants left. Hezbollah-run drug operations in eastern
Lebanon are still operational. Hezbollah has long been active in the hashish and
cocaine trade. The billions of dollars earned by drug operations is managed by a
small number of Hezbollah members in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. That
money can be used to rebuild Hezbollah. America, European and most Persian
Gulf nations want the Hezbollah treasury eliminated. That will be difficult to do.
The Hezbollah money managers in Qatar have been dispensing and concealing
their billions through late 2024 as the main Hezbollah organization in Lebanon
was being taken apart.
Hezbollah can be reassembled by financing the revenge fantasies of the many
Lebanese Shia that desire revenge. This became more difficult after the lightning
early December campaign by a reorganized Islamic terrorist organization HTS
(Hayat Tahrir al-Sham), which quickly took control of Syria and sent the ruling
Assad family into a Russian exile. That means Hezbollah in Lebanon no longer
has a land connection to Iran via Iraq and Syria. Iran was the primary supplier of
weapons and IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also known as the
Iranian Revolutionary Guards) technical advisors to Hezbollah. Growing popular
unrest in Iran makes it difficult for the IRGC to spare manpower to help rebuild
Hezbollah.
It is possible for the new Hezbollah leadership and their Iranian overlords to
find ways to get the men, weapons and training together to rebuild Hezbollah.
If left alone, that could take years. Israel and the many other nations hostile to
Hezbollah will interfere with the rebuilding. Hezbollah will reappear, but it will
not be as powerful or as expansive as its predecessor. For Hezbollah fans, it’s
better than nothing.
-- James Dunnigan
"Jeju Air plane crashes, all onboard dead except 2 rescued" by The Straits Times
"What caused Jeju Air plane crash in South Korea?" by DW News
Landing gear retracted. Hit concrete structure at end of runway. Did not make
initial direct landing, but rather flew around and landed from opposite direction.
What's wrong with this picture.
"Resistance Operating Concept (ROC)"
by Otto Fiala, Kirk Smith, Anders Löfberg
Joint Special Operations University
5200 Tampa Point Blvd
MacDill Air Force Base, FL 33621
[In the pop culture and self promoting media, Special Operations is all about
hunting and killing bad guys. But in reality, it's all about teaching people how
to defend themselves from the bad guys.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish and
you feed him and his family forever, because the man will teach his children
how to fish. Oh, did I say "fish"? I meant . . .
-- Jon Low]
---
"Taiwan Resilience and Resistance Operating Concept (T-RROC)"
by Jeremiah "Lumpy" Lumbaca
Norwegian Armed Forces
Click on menu -> English (at top of menu) to view web site in English.
Explore for lots of good stuff.
January 2025
SHOT Show*
January 21-24
Las Vegas, Nevada
February 2025
Enforce Tac
February 24-26
Nuremberg Messe, Germany
GSOF Special Air Warfare Symposium
February 25-27
Ft Walton Beach, Florida
IWA Outdoor Classics
February 27-March 2
Nuremberg Messe, Germany
April 2025
NRA Annual Meeting & Exhibits
April 24-27
Atlanta, Georgia
Modern Day Marine
April 29 - May 1
Washington, DC
May 2025
SOF Week
May 5-8
Tampa Convention Center, Florida
FEDTEX
May 20-21
Raleigh, North Carolina
June 2025
Tough Stump Rodeo
June 2-6
Montana
Blade Show
June 6-8
Atlanta, Georgia
August 2025
GSOF Indo-Pacific Irregular Warfare Forum
August 19-21
Bangkok, Thailand
September 2025
DSEI*
September 9-12
ExCel Centre, London
October 2025
GSOF Global SOF Symposium Europe
October 7-9
Athens, Greece
AUSA Annual Meeting*
October 13-15
Washington, DC
November 2025
Milipol*
November 18-21
Paris, France
GSOF Modern Warfare Week
November 18-21
Fort Liberty, North Carolina
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
"The Merge"
Breaking Defense
Intrigue
1440
29155
Global Recap
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** After Thoughts, Politics, and such ***** ***** *****
"I hate it when I'm trying to eat a salad and
it falls in the trash and I have to eat a taco instead."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always
possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Richard Henry Lee
Signer of the Declaration of Independence
"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."
-- Rudyard Kipling
"The day will come when we will recognize without doubt, and not only on one side
of the House but throughout the civilized world, that the strangling of Bolshevism at its
birth would have been an untold blessing to the human race."
-- Churchill, 1925
"The new Bolsheviks!" by John Farnam
In case you don't understand the reaction to the assassination of the
United Healthcare CEO.
Suffer the pain early in your career to have a pleasant later career.
Question the anti-gunner's logic and then their motivation.
There are actually people in our population stupid enough to believe Oprah.
Did it ever cross Oprah's mind that those in her audience might think that she is
insulting their intelligence? Nope, never crossed her mind. She knows her audience.
"Megyn Kelly Details REAL Reason ABC News and
George Stephanopoulos Paid Trump $15 Million to Settle"
My Columbia classmate, George Stephanopoulos, will be forced to pay one million
dollars. He said Trump was convicted of rape. A false statement. Then he repeated
the statement many times. Then he refused to apologize for saying it. Then he refused
to be deposed before the defamation trial. What questions was he afraid of being forced
to answer. Civil deposition is different from criminal direct examination or cross
examination. A person cannot refuse to answer by pleading the 5th Amendment.
The opposing counsel may object. And then it is up to the presiding judge to allow
the jury to hear the answer to the question or not. But the answer is already in the
deposition. Do you understand?
AOC's incredible stupidity. If she doesn't know that she's lying, it shows a disconnect
with reality. If she knows she's lying, it shows she doesn't care that she is insulting the
intelligence of her audience. If she's not insulting the intelligence of her audience
(constituency), well that's real problem. Can't fix that problem with education, medication,
nor mass deportation.
You can educate the ignorant. You can medicate the crazy.
But, you can't fix stupid.
"The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it."
-- (Mary) Flannery O'Connor
"Liability First?" by John Farnam
Excerpt:
I know a brilliant, highly-qualified SWAT officer who recently put-in an application
to his agency for the position of Firearms Instructor.
He need not have applied!
The job went instead to an incompetent clown who couldn’t fight his way out of a
Chinese whorehouse!
The rationale subsequently articulated by the Chief is that he
“didn't want ‘some gun-nut’ training his officers”.
"Female Murder Rate Plummets in Milei's Argentina and You'll Never Guess Why"
by Stephen Green
"The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword;
because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force
superior to any bands of regular troops that can be, on any pretense,
raised in the United States."
-- Noah Webster
Brandon's revenge progresses.
Elon Musk on pronouns.
Second guessing Elon Musk is a fools game.
“You can’t truly call yourself ‘peaceful’ unless you are capable of great violence.
If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful, you’re harmless.
Important distinction.”
-- Stef Starkgaryen
Wow!
And now for some local news.
"Exclusive:
Investigators Uncover Orgy, VA Official Who Had Sex with
32 Different Coworkers at Tennessee Veteran Hospital"
But wait, they got the number wrong.
It's 15, not 12, orgy participants.
Ski lift evacuation.
The false belief test.
Why liberals shouldn't be prosecutors.
It could have gone better.
"What Happened to Those 15,000,000 Biden Voters?!" by Townhall
Do you understand?
Because I have a Masters in Geophysics.
"When Did Plate Tectonics Begin on Earth? (New Paper Alert!)" by GEO GIRL
Cited paper,
"A reinterpretation of the past 2.5 billion years of Earth’s tectonic history:
Two episodes each of plate and single-lid tectonics"
by Robert J. Stern
Semper Fidelis,
Jonathan D. Low
Email: Jon_Low@yahoo.com
Radio: KI4SDN
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