Discover more from The View from the Front. By Stan R. Mitchell.

A newsletter and podcast about defense news and looming hotspots, produced by a prior Marine who's trying to help unite the country. Plus, there will always be some motivation and wisdom in each episode to help push you, because who doesn't need that?!

The view from the front: military matters and motivation for 6/14/22.

Stan R. Mitchell

Jun 14, 2022

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Hi friend,

Happy Tuesday! Hope you had a great weekend and are off to a great start this week.

Not much has changed in Ukraine. If you missed the last newsletter, I explained why I didn’t think there’d be much breaking news there anytime soon.

But some of the new artillery is beginning to make an impact. (Literally.)

🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker @UAWeapons

#Ukraine: A Ukrainian drone filming a Russian Kamaz truck being destroyed. Given the lack of artillery craters and extremely accurate strike, it may have been hit by something that isn't the usual artillery 😏.

Former SEAL Chuck Pfarrer speculated that Ukraine likely used the deadly new M982 Excalibur GPS guided shells-- fired from M777 155mm artillery systems.

Moving along, the Marines announced who passed in the tragic helo crash last week. And one of them was the son of a pretty famous person. (See below.)

The Associated Press @AP

"He was my hero and the best man I know." Former LA Dodgers player Steve Sax has issued a statement saying that his son, Capt. John J. Sax, was among five U.S. Marines killed in an Osprey training flight crash earlier this week in the California desert.

apne.wsSon of former LA Dodger Steve Sax among 5 Marines killedLOS ANGELES (AP) — Former Los Angeles Dodgers player Steve Sax has issued a statement saying that his 33-year-old son who had always dreamed of being a pilot was among five U.S. Marines killed during a training flight crash earlier this week in the California desert.

Speaking of tragedies, you may remember me discussing a horrible amphibious assault drowning last year. Following a long investigation, several officers have been punished for the accident that killed nine. (See below.)

Dan Lamothe @DanLamothe

The Navy Department has issued letters of censure to five military officers, including a retired three-star general, in response to a disaster at sea that killed eight Marines and a U.S. sailor, officials said Monday.

washingtonpost.comMarine general, four other officers censured in deadly disaster at seaNavy Secretary Carlos Del Toro took punitive action against Lt. Gen. Joseph Osterman in response to the sinking of an armored vehicle that killed nine service members.

In much lighter news, we talked about Top Gun a couple of weeks ago. But the really scary fighter we use these days is the F-22, not the F-18. (See below.)

Task & Purpose @TaskandPurpose

The Air Force F-22 Raptor remains one of the most respected, and feared air-to-air fighters 17 years after it first became operational.

bit.lyAir Force pilots explain why the F-22 Raptor is a ‘beast’ in aerial combatThe Air Force F-22 Raptor remains one of the most respected, and feared air-to-air fighters 17 years after it first became operational.

Moving along, I wrote a couple of months ago about Congresswoman Elaine Luria stating that the most-recent Navy budget sucks.

I’m going to reshare that before providing an update below.

Congresswoman Elaine Luria, a Navy Veteran and former small business owner, wrote the following Twitter thread below.

I have delayed putting out a statement about the Defense Budget because frankly it would have been mostly full of words you might expect from a Sailor, but here goes: It sucks. 1/7
Once again, this Administration has chosen the divest-to-invest strategy as if whatever future conflict will not occur for at least two decades. Admirals Davidson and Aquilino disagree. 2/7
The Navy owes a public apology to American taxpayers for wasting tens of billions of dollars on ships they now say serve no purpose. 3/7
They propose decommissioning 24 ships; 11 of which are less than 10 years old. 1 has been in service less than 2 years and 2 are currently in modernization. 4/7
All to save…0.5% of their budget. This, along with an anemic building program, will shrink the Navy to 280 ships, at the same time they are calling to build a 500-ship Navy. HINT: If you want to grow the Navy, stop decommissioning more ships than you build. 5/7
China is not a “pacing challenge” when they will soon have double the size of our Navy. We are losing 1000+ VLS cells, with NO PLAN to replace them. (Editor’s note: A vertical launching system (VLS) is an advanced system for holding and firing missiles on mobile naval platforms, such as surface ships and submarines.)
Instead, we are investing in the next “Gucci” missile and technology that will not be mature for 20+ years. 6/7
Lastly, the Navy has no strategy. Stop saying you do, because if you did you would be able to explain how this Fleet size will allow us to defend Taiwan. 7/7

Following her comments and plenty of discussion, Congress plans to save five of the 24 ships that the Navy wanted to decommission. (They could even save more of the remaining 19 in a hearing later this month.) (See below.)