by Vision Strike | Oct 29, 2013 | Commentary, Everything Else
Talk To The Head Honcho: He Speaks Japanese
(Original Article Source – NPR)
Picture the “head honcho” of an organization and what comes to mind are boardrooms, power and wealth; an individual at the top of his or her game.
But where did the word “honcho” originate? While the word is often mistakenly believed to have Spanish origins, it actually traces its roots to American soldiers who fought in the Pacific during World War II.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines a “honcho” as “[o]riginally, the leader of a small group or squad; hence, anyone in charge in any situation; the ‘boss’.” Merriam-Webster goes a bit further into the etymology of the word, noting that it comes from the Japanese word “han” (which means squad) and chō (which is defined as head or chief). According to the book Fighting Talk: The Military Origins of Everyday Words and Phrases, the Japanese army would call squad leaders or sergeants in the army “hon-cho.”
The first published references to the word came in 1947, when New Zealand-born journalist James M. Bertram used it in his book The Shadow Of A War: A New Zealander in the Far East, 1939-1946. (“But here comes the hancho,” wrote Bertram. “This boat must be finished to-night.”) While Bertram’s memoir was written in 1947, there are several indications that the word “honcho” had been used by soldiers and other military personnel for years before that.
Ernest O. Norquist was an army medic during the Battle of Bataan in the spring of 1942. Norquist was one of the thousands of American and Filipino prisoners of war that were forced to take part in the Bataan Death March.
He kept a diary throughout his time as a prisoner of war, recording his days on “scraps of paper, candy and cigarette wrappers, whatever he could find,” as his son John (a former mayor of Milwaukee), noted in the foreword of the published version of his father’s diary, which was released in 1989.* The elder Norquist made frequent references to the “honchos” that ran the prison camp in his diary. In his entry on July 2, 1945, Norquist wrote:
“When the galley ‘honcho’ comes around to us and asks ‘soupu joto?’ (‘The soup is good?’), you have to answer ‘Hai’ (‘yes’) or get whacked. The soups lately are usually a semi-nauseating mixture of green-stems and fish scraps — boiled!”
On Aug. 13, 1945, Norquist noted: “A job honcho says he is tired of the war and thinks it will be over in six months. (I should hope so.)” And, in fact, the war did end mere weeks after Norquist wrote that entry.
It was just five years later that the United States became involved in what’s widely referred to as “America’s forgotten war” — the Korean War.
During the Korean conflict, American troops frequently used the word honcho in two different ways, both of which signified being a “boss” or “leader.” Eric H. Vieler was a rifle platoon leader who served in Korea during the later portion of the war. In his memoir of his time stationed in Korea, Destination Evil: Remembering the Korean War, Vieler recalled that each unit had members of the Korean Service Corps fighting alongside them. The KSC was a auxiliary civilian formation put together by the South Korean Army that was meant to provide laborers to both the Korean Army and American forces.
Vieler recalled that:
“A KSC detail usually had a ‘honcho,’ a Korean corporal who supposedly had some knowledge of English, oversaw the KSCs and served as a link between them and us. They were good, valuable workers doing all kinds of heavy-duty manual labor, to include evacuation of our wounded…. They could carry heavy loads on their backs that would have given any one of us trouble.”
In addition to referring to the Korean corporals they served with as honchos, the military would also use the term when discussing the established Soviet pilots who unofficially flew North Korean fighter jets during the war. “Air Force pilots called the Russians ‘honchos,’ their Chinese and North Korean acolytes ‘tyros,'” noted David Sears in his book, Such Men As These: The Story of the Navy Pilots Who Flew the Deadly Skies.
The word honcho didn’t pick up steam among American civilians until the mid-1960s.
On Jan. 3, 1964, Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona declared that he would be running against President Lyndon B. Johnson later that year. In his delightfully titled article “Honcho, Hooch, and Hooch Honcho,” Gordon B. Chamberlain notes that Goldwater was asked about his campaign director, Denison Kitchel, during the press conference. From a New York Times article published the next day:
“Q: Kitchell [sic] is the top man then?
A: Kitchell — is — we call him the honcho out here — he’s the head honcho.”
Both the words “honcho” and the “head honcho” began to enter the mainstream slowly thereafter. And today, the word “honcho” has morphed into a favorite of headline writers everywhere.
*After the war, Norquist became a Presbyterian minister and was extensively involved in the civil rights movement. The story of the preservation of Norquist’s wartime diary is fascinating in its own right. Norquist was held in two prison camps, one in what was then-known as the Philippine Islands and one in Japan. Before leaving the Philippines, Norquist buried his diary in a waterproof container that was later found by a Filipino family and returned to the U.S. Army, which eventually sent it to Norquist’s home. In fact, this portion of Norquist’s diary returned to the United States before Norquist himself did.
by Vision Strike | Oct 19, 2013 | Commentary, Everything Else, In the News, Military News & Press
Traditionally, military robots are only used for supplying missions, helping with IEDs and for in-mission surveillance. However, robotic soldiers are no longer the things of science fiction. The US Army’s plan is to develop robots for use on the battlefield by 2018. (or sooner)
iRobot, Northrop Grumman, QinetiQ, and HDT Robotics brought their military robots, armed with M240 machine guns, to show off their capabilities to Army representatives at a test range at Fort Benning in Georgia recently.
In this live demo at Fort Benning, GA, the CaMEL MADSS robot, built by Northrop Grumman is tested. In this video, it is firing live ammunition at firing range targets. Several companies participated in this demo for U.S. Army officials.
The robots were able to shoot targets from 500 feet away. The robots were all remote controlled in this test for safety reasons and to show proof of concept. However, a 2008 report noted some of the robots moved without being commanded. Even this worries some, the Army brass was impressed.
“The technology is getting to be where it needs to be.” -Lieutenant Colonel Willie Smith
The Army’s plan is not to entirely replace humans with robots, but to have robots accompany their units. Recent reports have shown though that when humans work with robots, they can become emotionally attached to them. Especially robots that have saved lives. The Army worries that this can affect their decision-making when it comes to putting the robots into more dangerous situations, which is what they are designed for.
Northrop Grumman demoed a robot called CaMEL (Carry-all Mechanized Equipment Landrover). CaMEL is a pretty apt name for it, given how much it can carry and how long it’s run time is. CaMEL is capable of hauling and using automatic weapons, anti-tank missiles, and grenade launchers. DARPA’s Legged Squad Support System pack mule robot has also been tested in combat situations and can haul nearly as much but through more difficult territory.
The Legged Squad Support System (LS3) is a rough-terrain robot developed by Boston Dynamics with funding from DARPA and the US Marine Corps. It is designed to carry 400 lbs of payload and travel 20 miles without refueling. LS3 has sensors that let it follow a human leader while avoiding obstacles in the terrain
“CaMEL is almost as efficient with fuel as real camels are with water—thanks to its hybrid engine, 3.5 gallons can power the robot for more than 20 hours while hauling around 1,000 pounds of equipment. CaMEL can also charge batteries or be used to run other systems, and it maneuvers quietly on the battlefield. So we’ve got a robot that’s armed to the teeth, and it’s stealthy. Yay? Northrop Grumman says their droid is designed to both support and protect troops, operating as an “armed wingman.” It’s designed to blow the living shit out of things as well.” (source: Giant Robot)
The Army is still planning on using the robots by remote control but groups are still worried that someday the robots will be autonomous. How will they determine how to acquire targets and what weapons or amount of force to use? These questions will have to explored but the fact remains that the robot battlefield is no longer science fiction.
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by Vision Strike | Oct 12, 2013 | Commentary, Everything Else, In the News, Military News & Press
T.A.L.O.S. or Tactical Light Assault Operator Suit Coming
The high-tech battle field of the future is not just for the Navy and Air Force. The T.A.L.O.S. or Tactical Light Assault is coming to the Army, DARPA and Department of Defense are working on the TALOS project. The Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit whose acronym is the name of the Greek God “TALOS” is a powered exoskeleton giving the wearer many advantages. Extra strength and stamina, bulletproof plating and mesh, health monitoring, power monitoring and even wound sealing foam are the promises on this early deisgn stage technology.
This video is from the July 2013 TALOS Demonstration (Unclassified) SOCOM. It shows people demoing various components on the system. Forty six companies provided 63 demonstrations for a baseline of relevant technologies that could go into TALOS. These early prototypes may seem large and clunky now but once in production most electronic and consumer devices are shrunk down by a factor of 10 or more in some cases. (When was the last time you saw a Motorola “Brick” phone?)
They might not be flying around and shooting lasers like Ironman, but these kinds of advances could save lives on the battle field and help ensure victory in ground based conflicts.
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by Vision Strike | Oct 6, 2013 | Active Duty, In the News, Military News & Press, Veterans
A Downed Black Hawk In Somalia Taught America
This week marked the 20th anniversary of the Battle of Mogadishu, the deadliest firefight U.S. forces had faced since Vietnam. Think what a A Downed Black Hawk In Somalia Taught America and the repurcussions.
The incident ultimately pushed the U.S. out of Somalia, leaving a safe haven for extremist groups.
It continues to impact U.S. foreign policy today, from the rise of Islamists to the nation’s reaction when asked to send American troops into harm’s way.
‘Things Did Not Go Well’
There was never even supposed to be a Battle of Mogadishu. In one of his final acts after losing the 1992 election to Bill Clinton, President George H.W. Bush sent American forces into Somalia on a humanitarian mission to bring food to the victims of a raging civil war and man-made famine.
But by the fall of 1993, the mission had expanded to one of restoring a government in Somalia. On Oct. 3, a special ops team was sent into Mogadishu to arrest two top lieutenants of the warlord Mohammed Aidid, who controlled the city.
“They estimated it would take 30 minutes to 45 minutes to conduct the raid, but things did not go well,” says journalist Mark Bowden, who reported on the events of that day.
His account, first in The Philadelphia Inquirer, then in a book and finally in a blockbuster film, gave the Battle of Mogadishu the name by which it’s better known today: Black Hawk Down.
Bowden interviewed the men who survived the mission, including Shawn Nelson, an M60 gunner who roped down to the scene from a helicopter.
In December 1993, Somali children play around the wreckage of a U.S. helicopter in Mogadishu.
Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images
“We immediately started taking fire from the ground. I could see people below us with weapons maneuvering about,” he told Bowden.
Nelson said that rangers did arrest their two targets, along with about 20 other Somalis who were in a house with them. But taking on so much fire in the busy streets, there was no way to get out fast.
“The longer they stayed, the intensity of the fire that the troops encountered increased, including the fire directed at the helicopters overhead,” Bowden says.
About 40 minutes into the mission, one of the Black Hawk helicopters circling overheard was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, spun out of control and crashed. Not long after, a second Black Hawk was shot down. More men were sent in to secure the crash sites and get the soldiers out. But the rescue team itself got pinned down.
“I said a little prayer,” says Spc. Phil Lepre, who was on that rescue convoy, “took off my helmet, looked at my daughter’s picture, I said, ‘Babe, I hope you have a wonderful life.’ ”
The 15-hour battle that ensued left 18 Americans dead and 73 injured. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Somalis were killed. U.S. Army pilot Mike Durant was captured and held by Somali militants for 11 days.
Lasting Consequences
Meanwhile, back in America, the same news networks that broadcast the start of the peaceful humanitarian mission less than a year earlier now ran horrific footage of Aidid supporters desecrating the corpses of U.S. soldiers.
All of this intensified the pressure on then-President Clinton to get U.S. troops out of the country.
“We had gotten to a point … where we kind of thought that we could intervene militarily without getting hurt, without our soldiers getting killed. The incident that I call Black Hawk Down certainly disabused us of that,” Bowden tells Arun Rath, host of All Things Considered.
After the Battle of Mogadishu, Clinton said that it was a mistake for the United States to play the role of police officer in Somalia. He announced a six-month plan to remove U.S. troops from the country.
The battle likely caused “an excessive concern [to] avoid risking American forces on the ground” during the Clinton administration, Bowden says. And to an extent, that calculation continues to play a role in foreign policy decisions, he says, even through the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The incident also had an impact on extremists, who could take advantage of the U.S. withdrawal. The lawlessness that followed the American exit created a recruiting ground for terrorist organizations.
“They are by definition extremists, so they lack a large degree of popular support. They can only succeed in areas where they can impose they’re rule,” Bowden says. Plus, four years after the battle, the only schools open in Mogadishu were those run by Islamists.
“So we, by withdrawing from Somalia, left a lawless region ripe for al-Qaida and gave at least a whole generation of Somalis over to these Islamist fundamentalists to be educated and groomed,” Bowden says.
When the U.S. announced its withdrawal, it also gave Osama bin Laden a narrative to latch onto.
“His message was, ‘Well, we can defeat this great power because they’re not used to hardship and tragedy, so if we can inflict that they’ll retreat,’ ” Bowden says. That message was aimed at those who might have previously been deterred by the United States’ power.
If It Happened Again
Since 1993, there have been significant advances to America’s special operations.
“Our ability to gather intelligence to find people, to observe them from a distance with the addition of a fleet of drones that we now have flying is vastly improved,” Bowden says. “And we also have special operators who — after Iraq and Afghanistan — who have had more experience conducting the kind of raid that took place back in 1993 than any force like it in the history of the world.”
If conducted today, the Mogadishu raid would have been done more efficiently, Bowden suspects. He says there also would be better intelligence about the risks ahead of time. But that’s not to say there wouldn’t be hiccups.
“The men who conducted that raid [in ’93] were extremely professional, and they didn’t do anything wrong,” he says. “The fact is that when you go into combat, it’s very not only possible but very likely that … unanticipated things will happen and you’ll end up in a much bigger fight than you would prefer.”
Source (NPR): http://www.npr.org/2013/10/05/229561805/what-a-downed-black-hawk-in-somalia-taught-america
by Vision Strike | Oct 6, 2013 | Commentary, Everything Else
Mrs. Webmaster is running the Portland Marathon as I write this. About to head out and cheer along some racers at the finish line and wait for Kari to get done! People running the half marathon are already done, except for the people not running like walkers, etc. They run all around downtown Portland, Oregon. The weather was pretty nice and it’s just gotten nicer as the day goes on. Not very often you get a sunny day like this in October in Portland!
Veterans and Military Running Today
There is always tons of soldiers and vets representing at the Marathon. Though most of them had their rain gear on still (just in case!), there was a group who all had camo bandannas. I know that the Portland Marathon usually runs a simultaneous run in Iraq every year but not sure if they are doing it or Afghanistan this year, but I’ll try to confirm it. It’s nice and sunny out now too so I should be able to spot from more military people representing at the finish line. I’ll try to snap some pictures of them also if I can.
Here’s Kari getting ready to run this morning.
Most Pictures to follow.
UPDATE: More photos!
The Portland Police Department used bomb sniffing dogs and searches of nearby building along the course route to ensure it was safe for everyone. As of the time of writing, there were no reported incidents.
UPDATE: Runners were not allowed to bring backpacks. Everything going into lockers had to be put in bags supplied by the event. Once runners were in their “corals” they were not allowed to leave or they could not re-enter. Police were also everywhere. When we walked around the event, I saw at least 40 officers, just around the finish line area. GOOD JOB PORTLAND PD!!
Runner crossing the St. Johns Bridge on their way back into downtown Portland.
UPDATED AGAIN!
UPDATE: National Anthem sung by the runners this year.
