White dial, leather strap, German made, not too expensive. I can get a brown strap for it and, with the white face, it'll be more versatile. This'll be just for the weekends.
You Need Me On That Wall! A blog about military service, gear, leadership, politics, motorcycles, watches and whatever else strikes me.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Short attention span
Check this article out. This is exactly what led to 9/11. The bad guys test us with small pinpricks that we ignore, and wait for the time to be right for the big attack.
After 9/11 we responded with force, we acted proactively, and we haven't been attacked again. Now we are going back to running scared again and the terrorists are paying attention. How much you want to bet there won't be any major terrorist activity from now until the election? A major attack would benefit the Republican candidate, all of whom come across as tougher on terrorism. No major attacks and we will forget about terrorism and focus on the freebies that the candidates are promising us. American's have short attention spans: remember the Iraq war? (Actually, it's still going on...)
New York Post
January 8, 2008
Iran 1, USA 0
Naval Error In The Gulf
By Ralph Peters
EARLY Sunday morning, the US Navy lost its nerve and guaranteed that American sailors will die at Iranian hands in the future.
As three of our warships passed through the Straits of Hormuz, five small Iranian patrol craft rushed them. As the Revolutionary Guard boats neared our vessels, an Iranian officer broadcast a threat to our ships, claiming they'd soon explode.
The Iranians tossed boxes into the water. Mines? Just in case, our ships took evasive action.
The Iranians kept on coming, closing to a distance of 200 meters - about two football fields. Supposedly, our Navy was ready to open fire but didn't shoot because the Iranians turned away at the moment the order was given.
We should've sunk every one of them.
Not because we're warmongers. But because the Iranians had made threats, verbal and physical, that amounted to acts of war. When will we learn that resolute action taken early saves vast amounts of blood and treasure later?
Oh, from Washington's perspective we did the right thing by "exercising restraint." But Washington's perspective doesn't amount to a gum wrapper in a gutter. What matters is what the Iranians think.
They now believe that the Bush administration, our military and the entire United States are afraid of them.
It goes back to the politicized and irresponsible recent National Intelligence Estimate that insisted the Iranians had abandoned their nuclear-weapons program years ago.
They didn't. They're pursuing enriched uranium as fast as they can. That's what you need for bombs. At most, Tehran ordered its weaponeering efforts to parade rest - until it has the ingredients it needs, after which building bombs won't take long at all.
Forget Washington's trust-fund-twit view of all this: Here's how the train of thought rolled down the tracks in Tehran:
"The Americans have told the world we don't want nuclear weapons, even though they know we do want them. That can only mean that America is afraid to confront us, that their weak, defeated president needs an excuse to back down.
"We can push these cowardly Americans now. They've had enough in Iraq. Their spirits are broken. Their next president will run away like a gazelle pursued by a lion.
"Even their military is frightened of us. On Sunday, America's might bowed down to us. They are frightened and godless, and the time has come to push them."
Sunday's incident wasn't a one-off event improvised by the local yokels after a long Saturday night at the hookah bar. It was blessed and carefully planned in Tehran and had practical as well as political goals.
At the tactical level, the Revolutionary Guards' naval arm was testing our responses: How soon do the American weapons radars activate? At what range do the lasers begin to track targets? How close can a small vessel get to a major American warship? How do the Americans respond to possible mines? Can we use phony mines to steer them into real ones? How long does it take an American commander to make a decision?
Above all: Does an American commander have the courage to make a decision on his own? When he doesn't have time to deflect responsibility onto his superiors?
And it wasn't just some madrassa dropout with salt spray on his glasses scribbling notes on the lead Iranian boat. On shore, the Iranians would've had all their intelligence facilities tuned in to map our electronic profile as our ships prepared to defend themselves. Rent-a-Russian military experts would've been onhand to assist with the newest gear purchased from Moscow.
The Iranians may even have had an escalation plan, in case we opened fire. President Ahmedinejad and his posse may seem contemptible to Washington, but the Iranians think several moves ahead of us: We play checkers, they play chess.
On Sunday, the Iranians tested us. We failed. They'll probe us again. And every time we fail to react decisively, we raise the number of future US casualties.
Remember the USS Cole? You bet the Iranians do. They plan to better that attack by an order of magnitude.
For almost 70 years, we've deployed the finest navy in the history of the world. But it looks increasingly as if we've gone from "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" to "Will this interfere with my next promotion?"
Ralph Peters' latest book is "Wars of Blood and Faith."
After 9/11 we responded with force, we acted proactively, and we haven't been attacked again. Now we are going back to running scared again and the terrorists are paying attention. How much you want to bet there won't be any major terrorist activity from now until the election? A major attack would benefit the Republican candidate, all of whom come across as tougher on terrorism. No major attacks and we will forget about terrorism and focus on the freebies that the candidates are promising us. American's have short attention spans: remember the Iraq war? (Actually, it's still going on...)
New York Post
January 8, 2008
Iran 1, USA 0
Naval Error In The Gulf
By Ralph Peters
EARLY Sunday morning, the US Navy lost its nerve and guaranteed that American sailors will die at Iranian hands in the future.
As three of our warships passed through the Straits of Hormuz, five small Iranian patrol craft rushed them. As the Revolutionary Guard boats neared our vessels, an Iranian officer broadcast a threat to our ships, claiming they'd soon explode.
The Iranians tossed boxes into the water. Mines? Just in case, our ships took evasive action.
The Iranians kept on coming, closing to a distance of 200 meters - about two football fields. Supposedly, our Navy was ready to open fire but didn't shoot because the Iranians turned away at the moment the order was given.
We should've sunk every one of them.
Not because we're warmongers. But because the Iranians had made threats, verbal and physical, that amounted to acts of war. When will we learn that resolute action taken early saves vast amounts of blood and treasure later?
Oh, from Washington's perspective we did the right thing by "exercising restraint." But Washington's perspective doesn't amount to a gum wrapper in a gutter. What matters is what the Iranians think.
They now believe that the Bush administration, our military and the entire United States are afraid of them.
It goes back to the politicized and irresponsible recent National Intelligence Estimate that insisted the Iranians had abandoned their nuclear-weapons program years ago.
They didn't. They're pursuing enriched uranium as fast as they can. That's what you need for bombs. At most, Tehran ordered its weaponeering efforts to parade rest - until it has the ingredients it needs, after which building bombs won't take long at all.
Forget Washington's trust-fund-twit view of all this: Here's how the train of thought rolled down the tracks in Tehran:
"The Americans have told the world we don't want nuclear weapons, even though they know we do want them. That can only mean that America is afraid to confront us, that their weak, defeated president needs an excuse to back down.
"We can push these cowardly Americans now. They've had enough in Iraq. Their spirits are broken. Their next president will run away like a gazelle pursued by a lion.
"Even their military is frightened of us. On Sunday, America's might bowed down to us. They are frightened and godless, and the time has come to push them."
Sunday's incident wasn't a one-off event improvised by the local yokels after a long Saturday night at the hookah bar. It was blessed and carefully planned in Tehran and had practical as well as political goals.
At the tactical level, the Revolutionary Guards' naval arm was testing our responses: How soon do the American weapons radars activate? At what range do the lasers begin to track targets? How close can a small vessel get to a major American warship? How do the Americans respond to possible mines? Can we use phony mines to steer them into real ones? How long does it take an American commander to make a decision?
Above all: Does an American commander have the courage to make a decision on his own? When he doesn't have time to deflect responsibility onto his superiors?
And it wasn't just some madrassa dropout with salt spray on his glasses scribbling notes on the lead Iranian boat. On shore, the Iranians would've had all their intelligence facilities tuned in to map our electronic profile as our ships prepared to defend themselves. Rent-a-Russian military experts would've been onhand to assist with the newest gear purchased from Moscow.
The Iranians may even have had an escalation plan, in case we opened fire. President Ahmedinejad and his posse may seem contemptible to Washington, but the Iranians think several moves ahead of us: We play checkers, they play chess.
On Sunday, the Iranians tested us. We failed. They'll probe us again. And every time we fail to react decisively, we raise the number of future US casualties.
Remember the USS Cole? You bet the Iranians do. They plan to better that attack by an order of magnitude.
For almost 70 years, we've deployed the finest navy in the history of the world. But it looks increasingly as if we've gone from "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" to "Will this interfere with my next promotion?"
Ralph Peters' latest book is "Wars of Blood and Faith."
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Crescent Moon Sprint Triathlon
This was my third triathlon, I wrote this report in September.
Short version.
750m swim: 17:17
T1: 2:53
13 mile bike: 44:27
T2: maybe 1 minute, I forgot to hit the button until I hit the exit
5k run: 26:15
Total: 1:30:42
These are my watch times.
Overall 30/250
AG 8/21
So, long version. Sorry no pics, we forgot the camera. Not really a big deal though. I only have one pair of tri shorts and one tri top, so all the pics pretty much look the same.
This sprint was held in the Aurora Reservoir, east of Denver, about 45 minutes from my house so we were up early. There was a HIM that started before my race so my wave went off at 9:05. Plenty of time to hang out, wait for the bathroom and get set up. I ate a bagel before leaving home, but forgot to eat again before the race. This kind of bit me later on the run because I felt a bit of an energy loss. I meant to eat a Cliff bar about a half hour before the start, oh well.
After my first sprint and my XTERRA in July, I felt very relaxed for this race. I mean I wasn't worried about finishing, so that stress wasn't there. The whole build-up to the race this time was fun and the day was just relaxing and fun.
I borrowed my friend's expensive carbon-framed road bike. So I got to train on it for a couple of weeks. Made a huge difference.
So I went out for the swim feeling good. I thought the water was cold at 65 degrees, but there were folks without wetsuits. I started out taking it pretty easy, as usual. I worry about running out of air. But since this was my last race, and I've done longer distance now, I decided to push it on the way back from the turn around bouy. I started swimming a little faster, and it felt okay. So I pushed a little faster, and then the swim was over. I think I have more speed in me. Really it feels like I can turn my arms over a little faster and "pull" a little harder. Looking forward to trying it.
I tried something new for me, wearing my tri-top under my wetsuit. I have worried about being cold on the bike, but it was no problem with temps in the 70s by race time. That saved me time in transition. I probaby gave the time back by putting on bike gloves. I should have gone without for a 13 mile bike ride. I didn't think they would take that long to put on, but it took about 30 seconds. I came in about 30 seconds behind a guy in my age group at the end, so those gloves are haunting me.
The bike course had some long hills on it. The RD had to change the bike course at the last minute because of construction. So we had to do three u-turns on the course, which stole a lot of momentum. I think I have more speed in me here too. I don't like road biking, it's boring to me. So I didn't do as much training as I should have. But I kept telling myself not to leave anything out there since it was the last race of the year. I need more hill work. I drank a bottle of gatoraide. And since it was a two loop course, I got to see my wonderful wife cheering me on twice.
T2 was quick.
The run was uphill, both ways. It seemed. It was a very long, gradual uphill to the turn-around point, with dips and hills on the way. Here I was chasing a guy in my age group, and we used different strategies. He walked the uphills, I ran them. But I slowed down, so I would almost catch him nearing the top of the hill, then he would pull away on the downhill. The whole last mile of the race went on like this. I never caught him. **** those bike gloves! I also felt a little wooden-legged and drained. I wish I had eaten something before the swim.
All in all, I had a great race! Best part was that it was fun. I feel like I can go a lot faster, too. I made some decisions while training for this race. I'm going to reign in my ambitions a bit. I was thinking of a HIM next summer, that's out. I don't enjoy the long miles on the road bike enough to throw myself into training for it. I plan to do an Oly and, at least, the two XTERRA races here in Colorado, schedule permitting. There is another off road tri (Indian Peaks Dirtfest) near here that I will do if I can. And I'll do this Crescent Moon Sprint again, it was well done and a blast.
Short version.
750m swim: 17:17
T1: 2:53
13 mile bike: 44:27
T2: maybe 1 minute, I forgot to hit the button until I hit the exit
5k run: 26:15
Total: 1:30:42
These are my watch times.
Overall 30/250
AG 8/21
So, long version. Sorry no pics, we forgot the camera. Not really a big deal though. I only have one pair of tri shorts and one tri top, so all the pics pretty much look the same.
This sprint was held in the Aurora Reservoir, east of Denver, about 45 minutes from my house so we were up early. There was a HIM that started before my race so my wave went off at 9:05. Plenty of time to hang out, wait for the bathroom and get set up. I ate a bagel before leaving home, but forgot to eat again before the race. This kind of bit me later on the run because I felt a bit of an energy loss. I meant to eat a Cliff bar about a half hour before the start, oh well.
After my first sprint and my XTERRA in July, I felt very relaxed for this race. I mean I wasn't worried about finishing, so that stress wasn't there. The whole build-up to the race this time was fun and the day was just relaxing and fun.
I borrowed my friend's expensive carbon-framed road bike. So I got to train on it for a couple of weeks. Made a huge difference.
So I went out for the swim feeling good. I thought the water was cold at 65 degrees, but there were folks without wetsuits. I started out taking it pretty easy, as usual. I worry about running out of air. But since this was my last race, and I've done longer distance now, I decided to push it on the way back from the turn around bouy. I started swimming a little faster, and it felt okay. So I pushed a little faster, and then the swim was over. I think I have more speed in me. Really it feels like I can turn my arms over a little faster and "pull" a little harder. Looking forward to trying it.
I tried something new for me, wearing my tri-top under my wetsuit. I have worried about being cold on the bike, but it was no problem with temps in the 70s by race time. That saved me time in transition. I probaby gave the time back by putting on bike gloves. I should have gone without for a 13 mile bike ride. I didn't think they would take that long to put on, but it took about 30 seconds. I came in about 30 seconds behind a guy in my age group at the end, so those gloves are haunting me.
The bike course had some long hills on it. The RD had to change the bike course at the last minute because of construction. So we had to do three u-turns on the course, which stole a lot of momentum. I think I have more speed in me here too. I don't like road biking, it's boring to me. So I didn't do as much training as I should have. But I kept telling myself not to leave anything out there since it was the last race of the year. I need more hill work. I drank a bottle of gatoraide. And since it was a two loop course, I got to see my wonderful wife cheering me on twice.
T2 was quick.
The run was uphill, both ways. It seemed. It was a very long, gradual uphill to the turn-around point, with dips and hills on the way. Here I was chasing a guy in my age group, and we used different strategies. He walked the uphills, I ran them. But I slowed down, so I would almost catch him nearing the top of the hill, then he would pull away on the downhill. The whole last mile of the race went on like this. I never caught him. **** those bike gloves! I also felt a little wooden-legged and drained. I wish I had eaten something before the swim.
All in all, I had a great race! Best part was that it was fun. I feel like I can go a lot faster, too. I made some decisions while training for this race. I'm going to reign in my ambitions a bit. I was thinking of a HIM next summer, that's out. I don't enjoy the long miles on the road bike enough to throw myself into training for it. I plan to do an Oly and, at least, the two XTERRA races here in Colorado, schedule permitting. There is another off road tri (Indian Peaks Dirtfest) near here that I will do if I can. And I'll do this Crescent Moon Sprint again, it was well done and a blast.
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