2014-07-28 By Robbin Laird During my visit to 2nd Marine Air Wing in June 2014, I had a chance to meet with several of the members of the VMGR-252 squadron. [caption id="attachment_67857" align="alignnone" width="232"] Major Montgomery. Credit Photo: Second Line of Defense[/caption] In this interview, Major Mark Montgomery, a KC-130J…
2014-07-28 In a piece published in Stars and Stripes on July 27, 2014, Brigadier General "Stick" Rudder provides his perspective on the MV-22 in the Pacific. The MV-22B Osprey, a tilt-rotor aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter, has operated in the Asia-Pacific theater for nearly two years,…
2014-07-24 By Robbin Laird During my visit to 2nd Marine Air Wing in June 2014, I had a chance to meet with several of the members of the VMGR-252 squadron. In this interview, Major Mark Hamilton, the Operations Officer of the Squadron, talked about the significant demand on the crew…
2014-07-24 Earlier we published a piece addressed Norwegian participation in RIMPAC 2014. http://sldinfo.wpstage.net/norway-comes-to-rimpac-2014-for-the-first-time-a-symbol-of-21st-century-dynamics/ Norway was joined by China and India as first time RIMPAC participants. What follows below is the official Norwegian government explanation for its participation in the Pacific exercise by the Norwegian Defense Minister. Speech at RIMPAC 2014…
2014-07-23 It is clear from much of the policy discussion surrounding the F-35 that it is difficult for folks to wrap their minds around what a global support structure might look like. What also makes the discussion difficult is to understand what a F-35 fleet deployed on national territories, on…
07/22/2014: VMGR-252 Squadron utilizes the KC-130J aircraft as the Harvest Hawk to support ground units in Afghanistan aboard Kandahar Air Field, Jan. 21, 2012. Credit: Regional Command Southwest:1/25/12 In a story written by Cpl. Issac Lamberth and published on March 26, 2012, a broad overview on the Harvest Hawk deployed…
2014-07-20 By Robbin Laird It started with a crisis in Ukraine; it then became a Russian invasion of Ukraine and “taking back its legitimate territory” from the Putin-led Russian perspective. It has continued with an intermittently savage conflict on Ukrainian territory with Russia ratcheting up pressure and fostered in part…
2014-07-22 Standing 400 feet tall, the new Acuity Insurance Flagpole is the tallest flagpole in North America. (#tallestusflag) Located on the Acuity Insurance headquarters campus in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, along Interstate 43 between Milwaukee and Green Bay, the pole supports a 60-foot-wide by 120-foot-long American flag. Located at the base of the…