We're sending in the Marines?

[Baclava]

The USS Arlington and a Patriot battery will join the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and an Air Force bomber task force, which were deployed earlier in the week to the region. Patriot missiles can shoot down tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and warplanes.

"The USS Arlington is a San Antonio-class ship that transports U.S. Marines, amphibious vehicles, conventional landing craft and rotary aircraft with the capability to support amphibious assault, special operations, or expeditionary warfare missions.”



https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/10/the-us-is-sending-another-warship-and-more-missiles-to-the-middle-east-amid-iran-tensions.html

[Wounded Bear]

1. Back in my day, we called them BLTs...

Battalion Landing Teams. Now they are MEUs. Marine Exeditionary Units.

Its a reinforced battalion sized (about 2k marines) unit for quick deployment in hot spots. It's not enough to take on Iran by itself.

But, it can land and establish a bridgehead or an LZ and can certainly send out smaller detachments on raids and scouting missions.

[Baclava]

4. Thx, hopefully they won't be needed

Looks like a floating hanger for our own Zodiacs

[Recursion]

11. More often LCACs than Zodiacs

The well deck is just wide enough for them.

[kimbutgar]

2. They really want to provoke a war with Iran and I hope Iran doesn't take the bait

If we end up starting a war this could start world war 3. I think Vlad told fat donnie to start this confrontation to take off the mueller and the congressional investigations. It is such a wag the dog situation.

[Chin music]

3. Lot of planning in a 90 min. private call.

Outrageous.

[maxrandb]

5. The San Antonio class are pieces of shit

Our Marines have a better chance of being harmed by their own ship than any foreign forces.

These and the new LCS classes of ships are going to be causing us issues for decades.

[Xolodno]

6. Let me guess...the military objected to it...

....but a few in Congress made a shit-storm to get these, because it benefited their district/state. Bet many were Republican.

[Recursion]

12. Ingalls Shipbuilding, the pride of Pascagoula, Mississippi... (nt)

[Baclava]

7. This is its first overseas deployment I think. 'Jack of all trades' platforms always have problems

But at $1.5 billion apiece, they are making the shipyards money

[Ligyron]

8. I suppose all that flat surface area serves some purpose.

Radar, shell, projectile deflection etc, but My Gawd - that is one ugly ship.

Can you imagine being told you are going to be the skipper of that monstrosity? How could you face your family again?

[Recursion]

10. Stealth, same as the God-awful LCS (nt)

[Recursion]

9. Arlington doesn't have an MEU assigned to it yet; this is its first actual cruise

I think they may have a helicopter squadron on board though.

[Baclava]

13. Thx, I read where there's an amphibious assault ship already there, with it's Marines

Marine expeditionary unit on Kearsarge transits Strait of Hormuz

An U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship and a Marine expeditionary unit transited the Strait of Hormuz this week after the Pentagon already dispatched a carrier strike group and an Air Force B-52 bomber task force to the region amid tensions with Iran.

The amphibious assault ship Kearsarge transited the Strait of Hormuz, bringing with it the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.

The official said that the Kearsarge is now in the Arabian Sea and that it was a scheduled transit. The voyage was unconnected to the threats from Iran, the official added, but the ship is still an asset available to U.S. Central Command as long as it is operating in the region.

https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-military/2019/05/09/marine-expeditionary-unit-on-kearsarge-transits-strait-of-hormuz-amid-iranian-tensions/

[TrollBuster9090]

14. For what it's worth, this is my guess about what they're planning to do.

In January 2016 a US Navy riverine patrol boat's navigation system failed, and entered Iranian waters. The Iranian revolutionary guard captured them, waved them around as propaganda for half a day, and then John Kerry NEGOTIATED their release in the same day.

Despite the fact that the boat was in the wrong (miles inside Iranian waters), and despite the fact that Kerry got the sailors back without a single person being killed, I got the distinct impression the Republicans almost WISHED there had been more violence.

Admitting when you're wrong (the boat was in Iranian waters) and using diplomacy before bullets are the DEMOCRATIC Party way, and it worked, driving most Republicans nuts. The usual chickenhawks (Cruz, Rubio etc.) accused Obama and Kerry of being 'weak' for ASKING for our sailors back, instead of dropping a few bombs. They wanted to show off what they BELIEVE is the Republican way (which they learned about by watching too many re-runs of Rambo movies).


Sadly, I think they'd like a DO OVER. Order the riverine patrol boats to patrol even CLOSER to Iranian waters, hope like hell that one gets captured again, and this time send in Seals and Marines to rescue them, killing or capturing a few Iranian revolutionary guardsmen if they can. That'll raise tensions with Iran, and make Trump look tough (so they think)

Sadly, that's what they THINK will happen, based on too much knowledge of Chuck Norris movies, and too little knowledge of history.

Remember what happened last time a Republican dope thought they'd use big military force against a country that specializes in asymmetrical warfare? It's happened more than once.

1. Republican dope number one: George W. Bush. Thought he'd topple Saddam's government, and replace it with a democratic one. A few years, and a few thousand Iran-supplied road bombs later, and Iraq was basically an Iranian asset.

2. Republican dope number two: Ronald Reagan. Thought an easy way of stopping Iranians from attacking Kuwaiti oil tankers during the Iran/Iraq war was to re-flag them as American tankers. (Operation Ernest Will) The Iranians blew a few of them up, along with damaging some U.S. warships with MINES. And then said "mines? WHAT mines?" Not only did this humiliate the USA over the stupid re-flagging idea, but it had the added bonus of embarrassing the U.S. Navy into admitting they didn't have a single minesweeper! Spent billions on guided missile cruisers and aircraft carriers, and all of them were vulnerable to being taken out by a rusty, WWII surplus mine.

[onethatcares]

15. can we just

send chuck norris, sylvester stallone, ahrnold, and a couple of other actors over there. They can use their own actors as bad guys.

It'll save a lot of blood and money.

I'm tired of being at war with some country or other. I really am.