(Jon-without is surprised by new technology. Vic indicates “thumbs up.” Photo by Jamie.)

All righty, then. The month that comes in like a lion refuses to turn into a lamb and continues to growl at us. At the moment there is a blizzard in progress outside the window of the unit at Big Pink, and turning the grass pure white. The asphalt remains adamantly dark, though, and no less an entity that the Federal Government has determined that it can remain open today, which increases the overall threat level.

Normally the institution reels in horror at the mention of the white stuff, but I guess we are just going to bull our way through this latest Polar Outbreak’s blizzard. Bitter winds with gusts to 45 knots later, so I am not traveling anywhere today, and that was the consensus of the regulars at Willow last night before the prayer meeting at the Amen Corner broke up.

Smart (and under employed, hahaha) folks are going to stay in today. Maybe do the taxes and get that out of the way. Something constructive, anyway. I put down the vaporizer with which I have been experimenting in part of my on-and-off attempt to reduce my dependence on cigarettes. This latest version features a, oily liquid extract that has a hint of vanilla.

It is not smoking, though it is all the rage for the Nanny Staters to start applying the same controls to the vaporizers that it does to actual smoking. As far as I can tell, the effects of the vape’s are minimal. They are odorless, have no second-hand effects beyond carbon dioxide, and contain fifty or sixty fewer chemical substances. The technology must really frustrate the folks who keep trying to modify our behavior. I am sure the FDA will have some input after a series of trials that will be complete in 2025 or so.

So, better might turn out not be “good,” but it is nice to be on the leading edge of something for a minute and ahead of the regulators. Jon-without wanted to try it, and Jamie caught the surprise on his face as he exhaled the moisture. He looks exactly the same way I did when John-with leaned over and told me the latest budget was slashing funds for acquisition of the RGM/UGM-109H Tactical Tomahawk Cruise Missile and the AGM-114 Hellfire air to ground missiles.

“What?” I said cleverly. “The TLAM is the most effective stand-off weapon the Navy ever built. And the Hellfire is what flies on the Reaper drones to whack terrorists.”

John-with smiled grimly. “Yeah, doesn’t make much sense. The Prez Budg submitted by Rear Admiral Bill Lescher has a couple hundred TLAMs in the FY14 budget, then less than a hundred next year and then shuts the production line in FY-16. This is the last year the Navy is going to buy and Hellfires. They are zeroed on the new program.”

“Um,” I said, trying to make sense of it. “They must have a replacement in mind. That is the way things work.”

“Nope. This is going to be like the Shuttle. They are shutting the line to devote resources to R&D. Lescher explained that a new long-range anti-ship missile will be along in ten years or so.”

“No way.” I took a sip of white wine and tried to figure out what sort of pretzel logic the guys in the N8 budget shop had used to get to their decision. “Let’s see: Russian tanks about to crash across the Ukrainian border and we are going to stop acquiring land-attack missile acquisition?”

“Go figure.”

“Your Department seems to think that a peer Navy threat is going to emerge, so they want to be ready.”

“Like when?” I said dubiously. “I am hip to the Pivot to Asia, but at the moment it looks like old fashioned Russian T-82s are the issue. And last I heard that system was still in DARPA in the research phase. It isn’t ready for anything.”

“Your tax dollars at work,” smirked John-with, and drained the last of his happy Hour Red. “I need to get going so I can find some painkillers. My back is killing me.”

“Why don’t you curl up with a nice budget document,” I said. “That will put you out faster than morphine.”

He laughed, and we went on to discuss other matters of national import- Old Jim was able to get a Cod Slider with hot sauce, Maryland is banning vaporizers, Jamie has started eating fish again for energy and is moving to Richmond ,TLB is wrestling with seasonal deadlines and Jon-without has abandoned abstinence for Lent.

Fun evening, but the snow was coming on, and we made it an early evening. I was troubled by the news about the missiles. John-with is one of the Foggy Bottom missile wonks, so I took him at his word, for the moment. I looked up the glossy press brochure when I got home though, and there it was in black and white.

http://www.finance.hq.navy.mil/FMB/15pres/DON_PB15_Press_Brief.pdf

There is a bunch of other interesting stuff in the high-level slick publication- id you care for that sort of thing. There are no new Hornets for the Fleet, but that strange F-35 joint strike fighter is there in two variants to the tune of 105 airframes- mostly for the Marines, the jump-jet version to replace the long-gone Harrier, and some of those strange Littoral Combat Ships to support wars we are not engaged in at the moment- but the cuts to the missile programs are real enough.

Killing a program requires real resolve. They hated the S-3 ASW aircraft so much that the budget directed that the jigs and dies used to build them were directed to be smashed to pieces so that they could never be used again. The Air Force has decided to trash the A-10 Wart Hog, the coolest tank buster that ever flew, and to do it with the first massing of tanks in the East since the Wall came down.

I am not smart enough to know how these priorities were established. You are supposed to acquire things to support your strategy, you know? And I am fully aware that the military is always preparing to fight the last war, not the next one. But this seems sort of nuts- ceasing to have the capability to fight the war we are still in, while preparing for one on the next horizon.

I sighed. I have no idea what the practical consequences of what this means. I have a suspicion, but hey, it is a blizzard out there. And even in Washington you have to deal with the wolf that is nearest the sled first, right?

Copyright 2014 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303