Capitol Hill: #LowIntensityConflict and #ForceSpectrum in the news

Summary: 1. Some protesters broke into the Capitol and chased away both chambers of the #USCongress. https://twitter.com/jonathanchait/status/1346916158583267334?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1346916158583267334%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Falthouse.blogspot.com%2F (20) Jonathan Chait on Twitter: "I didn't support animal skin guy, but he is our new leader and we should give him a chance to grow in office" / Twitter

2. #ProudBoys being sued, and the putative leader arrested, for allegedly burning #BLM banners and other symbols in Washington DC.

[Analysis Edited to Add:] In a Less Lethal Confrontation, such as a protest, Banners, MAGA hats, etc, serve as #Guidon's of yore, in their symbolic values. Destroying enemy symbols serve to lift own morale and depress enemy's.

Analysis: As I said a few months ago and many times, #Protest is not #Democracy. Protest is always a #lessLethal #useOfForce in a #conflict. As #Clausewitz says, "War is [...] but also a real political instrument, a continuation of political commerce, ..."

Democracy, at its core, is government by the "Will of #thePeople," generally using #election's nowadays. A Protest is a political instrument to influence the People, just like all political instruments. Almost always, a Protest contests the political status quo, and thus engenders #CounterProtest's. As a political instrument, Protests, and their sibling #Riot's, mobilizes its members to exercise. In that respect, Protests are a proxy of the political element's military #mobilization capacity, which is an element of its #persuasion power, conscious or not.

Assuming that it was indeed the "#farRight" that #Occupy'd Congress today, and looking at the past few days in DC, it appears that the "Far Right" military capacity might be less than that of the #BLM / #antifascist's from last summer. But arguably the "Far Right" might be more capable of taking over an objective. [Some people allege #lawEnforcement complicity, which gets counted in military capacity.]

There has been much talk of #civilWar over the past year. According to #4GW, the #moralDimension is critical in a civil war. Yet political movements are notoriously bad at maintaining moral #discipline. Therefore, to win on the Moral Dimension (and incidentally to fight #JustWarTheory), #secession #selfDefense is always better than joining #revolutionary's to campaign far from home. [Now, certainly in a Just War, an expeditionary raid may be necessary, but that's not usually how you should start out.]

Administration, AliPay, and American Banking conflicts

Summary: The administration is trying to ban Alipay, QQ wallet, WeChat Pay, etc, from operating in the US.

Analysis: This order is possibly more important than the #TikTok / #WeChat ban, politically and economically.

#AliPay, and maybe others, were in the process of debuting in the USA as a credit-card processor, a la Visa / Mastercard. AliPay is already functioning in Canada and a couple American cities. Were they to start working, they would have seriously pressured #Visa and #Mastercard's processing fees. Meaning that #smallBusiness's wouldn't have to keep paying through the nose for credit card payments.

So did #WallStreet have a say in this new Executive Order? Assessed Likely. And if that were the case, a new administration is likely to continue this ban.

Now the Federal Government had pressured banks against undesirable merchants in #OperationChokePoint, so there is a precedent in politicizing the Financial industry against certain industries. By eliminating foreign competition, it will be easier for the Federal Government to do it again.

DoD Body Composition Standards, Military Appearance, etc.

Summary: The DoD #bodyFat equations overpredict 72% of females and 28% of males. The weight and body #fat standards lead to #eatingDisorders among Marines and females. Authors call for healthier standards.

Analysis: Fat matters.

The military body fat standards are only tangentially about "fitness". At its core, the standards reflect the People's ideals of a military appearance. The American People want a military that looks good, and fit to fight, et al. So the authors' focus on health is misplaced. (Obviously, all Marines care about military appearance, [otherwise they'd Army,] so maybe they just neglected to discuss that.)

Obviously, relaxed body fat standards would dramatically improve retention in the Reserve Components. But most of those soldiers probably prefer a sureshot and maintainable weightloss method instead.

A discussion of a military #bodyComposition standard inevitably has to deal with ideal body images, what "military appearance" means. As students of female uniform history know, female "military appearance" is a complicated subject all its own. So we're not getting anywhere on this before America faces a full reckoning on what the People wants.

"Tattoo": Must Buy!

Summary: COL(ret) Lang, the former DIO for Middle East and DATT for Saudi Arabia, Yemen, et al, has written a fictional biography of an infantry officer who became SF / MI during the Vietnam War, then later a Middle East Foreign Area Officer. The novel is an authentic account of an expert in Defense HUMINT, war amongst the People, Islam, and the Arabs.

Analysis: This year's #MustBuy for all students of intelligence and foreign areas.

Christmas Miracles Through Unbelievers

Summary: An old Christmas story from '80s South Africa witnessing faith.

Analysis: Sometimes God works through the unbelievers.

A reminder that successful #revolutionary movements, such as #ANC's #MassDemocraticMovement / #UnitedDemocraticFront, are often as evil and immoral as their enemies. And that staying neutral during a #civilWar is difficult, let alone holding onto your morals.

Always be careful of any revolutionaries promising systemic corrections. Sadly, with the evils that crony #Capitalism and the responding #Marxism unleashed, almost all revolutionaries (including all #postModernism in and out of power) are acting evil, regardless of intention. The Rittenhouse lessons still apply.

Tiny House Christmas Miracle

#TinyHouse wins again!

Happy New Year, y'all!

US Army Officially Contemplates Small APCs

Summary: In the newest iteration of the #OMFV (#IFV) competition, the Army relaxed the passenger capacity requirement. This means that the contractors can offer a traditional 9-to-12-seat vehicle, a pair of smaller 5-to-6-seat vehicles, or an escort + an #APC. The up-to-15-vehicle fleet needs to deliver a 30-pax dismounted platoon.

Analysis: #Contracting-wise, this is good news. A requirement that focuses on the desired effect gives the contractors more flexibility to innovate, potentially saving money or lives. This is essentially #MissionCommand in #Acquisition.

Many people have studied alternative #AIFV and #mechanizedInfantry platoon designs for many years. The small APC idea has been around for awhile, but never caught on anywhere, except in #cavalry / #recce applications. The main obstacles to small APCs are: cost and C2. The 9-to-12 seat AIFV/APC (and 3-4-vehicle platoon) is more cost-effective. And theoretically, the #squadLeader can better maintain control and brief the squad before dismount.

Of course, soon after buying the M2 #Bradley, the U.S. Army started messing with the #platoon seat assignment. These days, the 2 dismount squads and the platoon HQ all get split up amongst the 4 Bradleys, squad integrity be damned. The British and Russian armies also split up their mech squads, though not as much as the Yanks. So the C2 argument is less relevant nowadays.

With modern manufacturing, and the greater survivability requirements, small APCs can be more cost-effective, too. As the PM said in the article, small APCs are lighter and cheaper. #PentagonWars.

#OIF has given the U.S.Army experience with small APCs, too. As I wrote in the Small APC Days of the #Dragoon's article, the #Humvee gun trucks are basically small APCs. The heavy battalions operated theater-provided humvees / #MRAP's alongside their #Abrams and Bradleys. This experience operating a mixed fleet likely made the Army more open to alternative vehicle concepts.

Tactically, small APCs make the mechanized infantry squad more capable, too. The WW1 #Stosstrupp innovation gave the infantry squad the ability to combine fire and maneuver, previously a Battalion / Regiment capability. The small APC gives the same capability to the mech infantry squad during the #ApproachMarch, too. The squad can split up and start maneuvering before dismounting.

Doctrinally, mechanized infantry is supposed to dismount far away from the objective, to protect the APCs / AIFVs from threat #antiTank weapons. As the PM said, small APCs can be more survivable, so small APCs can get closer to the objective without detection by the enemy anti-tank teams. This also means that mechanized infantry with small APCs might be capable of #tankDesant operations, dismounting right on the objective under fire.

The true destiny of the Mechanized Infantry is the #PoweredArmor, of course. The small APC is one step closer to the end state. Maybe this RFP will get us there.