Throw some more money at it???

Incompetence and flagrant waste awarded with even more R+D money?

https://www.defensenews.com/news/your-military/2026/04/20/us-navy-wants-helicopter-sonar-that-can-detect-subs-and-mines/

I won't waste time elaborating on the fact that a high resolution, high frequency mine hunting sonar would not function at long range to detect subs ... and vice versa, a mid to low(er) frequency long range sub hunting sonar won't work in discriminating small objects on the sea floor.  

And I won't belabor you with I told you so .... repeatedly ... on the irresponsible abandonment of progress - or even the sustainment of our Naval Mine Warfare capabilities ... 

like:

https://nexttobagend.blogspot.com/2022/01/a-remineder.html

https://nexttobagend.blogspot.com/2020/12/paper-tiger.htm

https://nexttobagend.blogspot.com/2023/07/dont-ignore-obvious.html

Our 'acquisitions professional' are losers.  Our Admiral and SES ranks are grossly, debilitatingly  swollen (who needs SESs anyway? (1)).  

God bless Trump and Hegseth for beginning to undo the DEI, neutering of our military (2).  But, between the Deep State - getting Comey and Brennan in orange jumpsuits especially, and the War Department,  there is much, much work to do.

1.https://nexttobagend.blogspot.com/2020/08/death-by-bloat.html

2.https://nexttobagend.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-heart-of-warrior-beats-again.html

The heart of a warrior beats again

 

While in San Diego I stopped at an old watering hole (accompanied by the Mrs.) .   I'm glad I did.  The "I Bar" is the old officers pub on base at NAS North Island.   It's the site of many stories within Naval Aviation.   It was also directly in line between the S-3 Viking training building and my BOQ room.   So, seeing it again after 41 years brought back some memories - and a welcome enlightenment.    

You see, Naval Aviation is a tough business and functions as a meritocracy when it functions best.  The best pilot, the best guy at bombing, or in the arcane arts of airborne  EW and ASW, are identified by delivering results.  Those folks may not reflect a desired race quota, or even be media suitable PC spokespersons.   Decades of senior Naval 'leadership', more attuned to pleasing leftist Congress members with budget authority than cultivating warriors, killed Naval Aviation - starting with the Patsy Schroeder "Tail Hook" persecution trials.  These Marxist show trials were followed with decades of DEI selection board decisions and awards for career conscious PC promoters within.   "O Clubs", particularly those on Naval Air Stations, were shuttered, 'consolidated' with enlisted, anything to eliminate the showcase of toxic masculinity and belligerent alpha male comraderie that they provided.

In the intervening decades I've had numerous visits to Naval Air Station 'O Clubs', or what functioned as such.  I found them dead zones with young men acting like they were aware of the Soviet era Zampolit PC police among them, ready to spring on any non PC comment, or behavior inconsistent with a neutered, well behaved, and environmentally friendly Navy.

And, on the larger scale, how'd that work out?  Major ships burning down pier side, an Academy grad surrendering boats, crews, the works, to Iranians sans court martial, collisions at sea, especially the USS Connecticut (SSN-22) debacle,  the disgraceful retreat from Afghanistan - which should have cost careers as well as the lives of our Marines and a good Navy Corpsman.

Given the above, imagine my surprise to find Naval Aviators in the I Bar!   Here were young folks clearly lovin' the job and as ready to kill, as help, some miscreants, depending on ROE and the plan of the day.

Don't know who to credit, Trump?  Hegseth?  But clearly these folks are ready to take on what may come.  

Perhaps, just in time.

May God bless our Naval Aviators, pilots and crews.

A moment to take stock ...

I've repeatedly advised that everyone should be able to be self sufficient for 30 days in most kinds of disaster.  Having some measure of security in basic essentials regularly contributes to a sense that almost nothing is an immediate crisis, and allows for a more measured, thoughtful, response to the routine fear porn and attempt at manipulation of us little people by those controlling our public and social media.

So ... some thoughts along that line:

Water - as crisis approaches make your tub a 60 gallon resource for drinking water:

Have a rain barrel attached to one of your downspouts.

Have a good filter that can process groundwater into potable water.

Food - beyond dried fruit, noodles, canned tuna ... survival food like this at COSTCO 

Power - you'll have gas in your car, have a small quiet generator to charge equipment, periodically run a microwave oven, etc.

Also: batteries, flash lights, AM radio,  30+ days of meds.

If you are competent, have at least one firearm and be practiced with it.  Even a simple .22LR semi-automatic rifle with a zero'd in red dot sight can be both useful and comforting day and night.  Ugly truth is, in a time of complete social breakdown you may have to defend your home and family.

Scale your preps for your family size.   

So prepared you will, at the least, not be an immediate burden on the city/county/state emergency support system.  

With a little additional you can collaborate with sharable resources to provide for your neighbors and church,  again easing the burden on government assets.

If you live in the built up area of a city you'll have to leave, before peak crisis.  Have a plan for where to go - family, vacation home, camper.  Know when to go.  Once the power fails, the stop lights go out, the water, refrigerators, and sewage lift stations stop, the police assets focus on fewer areas, the monster ('mob') will wake.

Just my $.02.  I've seen this scenario play out time and again, from being in New Orleans Sept '05, the WuF1u ("it came from China"), and now as folks realize the vulnerability of our infrastructure and the evil done by Obama and Biden in leaving the borders open to terrorists.

God reigns and His will will be done - but we are responsible to Him for the defense of our precious families, and the lives He's given us.  

Winter is (or, may be) coming

 

While dissatisfied with the apparent timing of today's crisis about Iran, I do agree with the critical national security objective being pursued.  It was only a matter of time - perhaps measured in flight hours from North Korea - before the Mullahs got nuclear weapons.  (If there isn't one or more already embarked on an Iranian arranged vessel from Nampo).  

 Make no mistake about the real nature of the Islamist fundamentalist.  He is the same today as he was at the gates of Vienna in 1683.  Just today he wants weapons that will kill millions in pursuit of converting, or enslaving the world.

 Nut balls.  Violent and, in some instances, very, very clever.

 So.  We have the right President, perhaps just in time, to stop what is inevitable.

 Don't have to be happy with the timing, the personalities, or the bloviating, that is the truth.

 For the limp wristed among us, know that there is no virtue in submitting to these folks.  As a Lutheran, defending against them is tradition (1).  Defending our lives, our children's lives and freedoms, is doing God's work.  

  Hopefully you've listened to my frequent call to have a 30 day store of essentials.  It can easily come to that thanks to Obama, Biden, Brennan and the rest of the coterie that let the terrorists walk across our border.

God help our country, our President, and the innocents in Iran who, alone, can remove the theocratic head cases currently running their country.  Any Iranian Generals - or even Majors - up to free a country?  Your ball.

1.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_War_Against_the_Turk

UPDATE: Same day - in case you've not been keeping score ...

Snip

(from a comment by "Thomas Jeffersn69")

... this centuries Iranian attacks on American citizens and allies.

• August 2001: An Iran-backed Hamas terrorist blew up  a Jerusalem pizzeria, killing three Americans.
• January 2002: An Iran-backed al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade terrorist killed  an American-Israeli dual citizen in the West Bank.
• July 2002: An Iran-backed Hamas terrorist killed  five Americans in a bombing at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
• June 2003: An Iran-backed Hamas suicide bomber killed  17 people — including an American citizen — on a bus in Jerusalem.
• October 2003: Iran-backed Popular Resistance Committees terrorists killed  three U.S. diplomatic personnel in a bombing in Gaza.
• Between 2003 and 2011: Iran-backed militias killed  at least 603 U.S. troops in Iraq — “roughly one in every six American combat fatalities in Iraq.”
• August 2003: An Iran-backed Hamas terrorist blew up  a bus in Jerusalem, killing five Americans and wounding one other American.
• August 2006: Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists killed  American citizen and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier Michael Levin during the Second Lebanon War — the only American to die in the conflict.
• January 2007: A dozen men affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force killed  five U.S. soldiers and wounded three others in Karbala, Iraq, after disguising  themselves as U.S. soldiers and entering the Provincial Joint Coordination Center.
• March 2007: Former FBI Agent Robert Levinson disappeared  in Iran, likely dying in an Iranian prison.
• July 2014: Iran-backed Hamas terrorists killed  two American citizens serving in the IDF.
• October 2015: Iran-backed Hamas terrorists killed  an American citizen and his wife in a drive-by shooting in the West Bank.
• December 2019: Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah terrorists killed  an American civilian contractor and wounded several U.S. service members in a rocket attack at K1 Air Base in Kirkuk, Iraq.
• January 2020: 109 U.S. troops suffered  traumatic brain injuries in an Iranian ballistic missile attack on the Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq.
• September 2020: U.S. intelligence indicated  the Iranian regime was considering a plot to assassinate the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa.
• February 2021: An Iran-backed militia fired  a rocket at coalition forces in Erbil, Iraq, wounding a U.S. service member and four U.S. civilian contractors.
• July 2021: Iranian-backed militias wounded  two U.S. service members in a series of rocket and drone attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria.
• September 2022: An Iranian rocket attack killed  an American citizen in Iraqi Kurdistan.
• November 2022: An IRGC captain orchestrated  the killing of an American citizen in Baghdad.
• March 2023: An Iranian drone attack killed  an American contractor and wounded five U.S. service members and another contractor in a strike on a coalition base in Syria.
• October 2023: Iran-backed Hamas terrorists killed  46 Americans and kidnapped at least 12 Americans in the October 7th massacre.
• December 2023: Iran-backed militias wounded  three U.S. service members in an attack on Erbil Air Base in Iraq.
• January 2024: Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah  terrorists killed  three U.S. service members and wounded more than 40 other service members in a drone attack against the Tower 22 military base in Jordan.
• Between October 2023 and November 2024: Iran and its proxies conducted  more than 180 attacks against U.S. forces in the Middle East, wounding  more than 180 U.S. service members and killing three service members.
• November 2024: An Iranian national and IRGC asset was charged  for plotting to assassinate President Trump.
• June 2025: Iran-backed militias attacked  at least three U.S. bases in Syria and two U.S. bases  in Iraq.

Snip

Update: same day - my comments to an overheated polmil chat board ...

OK, OK ...

So picture an old stereotypical mobster movie. All the Dons are having a 'sit down' and talkin' to the trouble maker. They're explainin' it's 'bad for business'. That's the Pakis, Saudis, etc. talking to Iran.

With nukes one flight from North Korea away from the Mullahs it's past time to deal with them. Folks like that are incompatible with a world in which the DNA manipulated super virus and fission/fusion are a thing.

Consider ... with the world as it is who do you want dealing with the murderous mullahs? Xi? Vlad? Kamala or Trump?

Consider also ... the Mullahs lining up kids and women around the power plants ... while Sulamani's niece is getting the GTFO treatment Beverly Hills ... is likely to light a fire.

Also, to the good, Alex Jones, Joe Rogan, and Tucker outed themselves.

Pray for the Iranians to recover their country to what it was before MI6 and the CIA derailed it.

Pray for our aircrews, ships companies, and operators.

And pray for ur Commander in Chief.

Courage.

(another) Letter to the President

Dear Mr President.

I pray daily for your safety and that of Melania and Barron. I pray that Susie Wiles is quickly healed and able to best serve you. I also pray that in these perilous times you have the true inspiration of God with which to make your decisions. Know that God does not speak thru Paula White and Hagee. 

I write to express my concern that you are adequately informed on the immense vulnerability of our critical infrastructure as you contemplate the destruction of Iran's. While I am sure our military can eliminate generators and power distribution centers in Iran (we have been since I was off the coast of Iran during Reagan's inauguration) – what capability do we have to see that ours is defended from unconventional attacks here? Iran's chief proxy is Hezbollah and they are very, very well established here (1). They have long ago developed their own 'target sets' and the FBI, while able to rummage thru Melania's underwear drawer, has done little but watch them grow over the last 20 years. Consider that our high voltage transformers take a year to replace and most are readily destroyed by gunfire. No power, then no refrigeration, no sewage lift stations - major cities in anarchy in days. 

We would have the red-green alliance, the Marxists in DC, and the complete dependent class, calling for revolution.

And all of that is apart from the simple question - are the Iranian citizens who will die as result of your infrastructure attacks really responsible for the actions of the Mullahs? Mullahs. I might add. who were put in power as result of the CIA and MI6 coup.

Weight this well before deciding Mr President. The elimination of the terrorist theocracy in Iran before they built– or North Korea supplied – nuclear weapons was necessary. Commencing open war before hardening our own infrastructure is, however, not likely a Divinely inspired strategy.

Very Respectfully, 

xxxx CDR, USN (Ret.) and Wounded Warrior dad

1, https://www.unomaha.edu/ncite/research/gw-reports/hezbollahs-operations-and-networks-in-the-us.pdf

UPDATE: 4/21/26 - at least the autopen reads me ...

The smell of fail

Folks,

I'll admit to being a pessimist when it comes to security. 

Let's just say it's the result of real world 'lived experience' as an intelligence analyst and an operations guy.  I learned "the smell of fail".

And that's what I smell right now.

We are engaged in, to put it bluntly, the unprecedented killing of Iranians in their homeland.   We are destroying bridges and critical infrastructure.  Why we did this without first eliminating known Iranian intel and strike assets within the US first is a damm good question - but not today's topic.

Iran is justly identified as the leading sponsor of Islamic terrorism worldwide.  Iran is the key sponsor of Hezbollah.   Quds Force, a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for overseeing operations outside Iran, will be working directly with Hezbollah in attacks in the US.  

We have long known of Hizbollah terror elements in the US.   They are very sophisticated and have long ago  developed in-depth target sets for terror attacks within the US.

"Despite the prominence of Hezbollah’s financing activities in the United States, overemphasizing the financial aspects risks misinterpreting the broader strategic picture: elements within Hezbollah remain interested in developing the capacity and capability to plot attacks on U.S. soil."

https://www.unomaha.edu/ncite/research/gw-reports/hezbollahs-operations-and-networks-in-the-us.pdf

We know thousands more potential Islamic terrorists have entered the US while our border was unguarded.

And, recently, in a fashion recognizable to me ... the 'smell', our 'intel professionals' have seen to it upcoming attacks within America will not be called a 'surprise' by them - even though they demonstrably lacked the ability to warn with adequate specificity to defend or deter the attack beforehand.

If you are involved in security for a church I recommend two documents for your review:

https://www.s1lentdrum.online/targetingineurope.pdf

https://www.s1lentdrum.online/terroragainstchristian.pdf

(both from JSTOR)

What we may see now is terrorism by organized 'cells' of competent commandos, not the familiar lone wolf or mental case.  The example of Europe, which has had activity by organized groups for decades, may be instructive.  

I pray our efforts to prevent a nuclear attack by Iran - if even with weapons bought from North Korea - are effective, and that Iranians regain freedoms lost long ago ... back to when MI6 and CIA did the deed to them.  But, meanwhile, IMHO, I'd recommend no trucks near church buildings.  backpacks not clearly packed with diapers searched, and real security on site during services.  

Long read - but worth your time

So often the ONLY resource to explain what's happening in our benighted capital is Conservative Treehouse.  

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/04/02/bondis-replacement-is-important-but-not-as-important-as-perceived/

I use to respect some of the folks who built our Deep State.  No more!  What they built was too easily turned against us.  And it has.

Pray for our country, our deployed aircrews and sailors, and our President.