Unmanned 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

But despite their efficacy in many types of missions, we still need human pilots. Why?  Maverick's words in the movie show that humans go beyond textbook ability:

"He holds up a thick book that describes the operation of the fighter aircraft and says he assumes his students know the contents of the book. Then he tosses the book into the trash and says, “so does your enemy.”

"Maverick is right. Humans have the ability to respond effectively to unexpected contingencies not written in a book. AI can only respond to what it has been programmed to respond to. This is why autonomous AI will never replace commanders on the field of battle."

Creative human intelligence goes beyond what narrow AI can do. 

from Mind Matters

Unmanned

You probably saw the 2022 movie "Top Gun: Maverick." Here's the trailer, in case the years have dulled your memory of its entertainment value. Great as that was, this technology expert says that the movie's action is already outdated.

Its theme is a dangerous aviation mission requiring singular, dazzling flying skill. The question is, do we today need manned aircraft to accomplish that kind of mission? The answer is, No. Unmanned military drones can do the job.

Consider their abilities. They are unaffected by high G forces, which can cause a human pilot to black out if high enough. AI does not black out. Drones can also carry a map stored in its computer, thus not needing any GPS signals. 

Better than any of these advantages is the fact that no pilot has to risk his or her life on this mission.

from Mind Matters

(cont'd tomorrow)

AI & military 2

Follow up to this post

Anthropic made their choice in negotiations last week. They will not yield their AI product, "Claude," to every decision of the U.S. Dept. of War even if it's lawful (the terms of their contract). They want the authority to limit the military's use of Claude to situations they approve of.

No nation would likely submit to that. The U.S. will not, so they immediately stopped using Anthropic's technology and it can't be used by any government agency or Pentagon contractor.

OpenAI was waiting in the wings. They now will supply the U.S. military with artificial intelligence (photo). But the Pentagon added one interesting exception (which Anthropic wanted too) in this new contract: “the AI system shall not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of U.S. persons and nationals.”

I asked Grok whether America has a law against domestic surveillance, and the answer was "No." That could be why the U.S. was willing to specify this condition in the new AI contract with OpenAI.

 from CNBC

AI & military

Modern military, whether in the US or other nations, uses artificial intelligence. Of course they do. Anthropic has a $200 million contract to supply their AI system, called Claude, to be used by the Pentagon "for all lawful purposes."

Anthropic has conditions on how the US military will use it. They will not allow it, they say, to be used for mass surveillance of American citizens, nor for weapon targeting without direct human supervision. These restrictions sound reasonable. 

But the Dept. of Defense threatens to reject Claude from military use. 

They say that "the current dispute is not specifically about autonomous weapons or mass surveillance . . ." 

It seems that Anthropic (photo) wants the final call in whether their AI system can be used in certain situations. But the US military refuses to delegate their decisions to another authority, such as a private company. That also sounds reasonable. The responsibility to operate lawfully, they say, is theirs--not Anthropic's. 

Interesting.

from International Business Times

Help coming 3

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

It seems the U.S. president's message of last November (yesterday's post) had an impact. Nigeria formally requested the help of the U.S. military to curtail the deadly attacks of militant Islamist groups like Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa Province.

An airstrike was carried out in December by US forces against two camps of Islamic militant groups in northern Nigeria--with the approval of President Tinubu.

About 100 US troops as well as military equipment arrived last Monday (photo) to help train Nigerian forces to "enhance the protection of vulnerable communities."

"Nigeria's government has expressed its thanks for US aid in tackling security issues . . ."

It's a start. 

from BBC

American story 2 - US Army 1775

Relations were already tense in 1775 when British "redcoats" marched on an ammunition depot which their American colonists had stocked in Concord, Massachusetts. Civilian colonists took their firearms and stood to defend it (here and in nearby Lexington) against the foremost military of world. 

Who shot first is debated, but it's been called "the shot heard round the world" because the ensuing revolutionary war freed the colony to become the United States of America.

Just two months later, on June 14, the Continental Congress created its army to fill its need for a "united fighting force with a clear chain of command." George Washington was then selected to be its general, and a new chapter in world history began.

 Our Secretary of Defense tells the story of the formation of the U.S. Army:

Army's 250th

Under the previous administration in 2024, the United States Army was granted a permit to have a parade on the occasion of its 250th anniversary. That celebration took place last Saturday, June 14, in Washington D.C. 

Notice that the Vice President and his wife brought their three children.

Memorial Day 2025

Re-post from 2015,  just "in case you thought it was National BBQ Day"

Memorial Day is set aside to honor and remember those who gave their lives in the service of their country. "[T]ime and time again brave men and women have been willing to fight for the freedoms we all too often take for granted.

To be more specific, let's honor those 1335 Americans who were killed in Ramadi, Anbar Province, Iraq, in 2004-2007. Some people are acutely aware of the sacrifice - like family of the fallen - since Ramadi was overtaken by ISIS this month.

While the U.S. State Department thinks it was a major blow to the fight against ISIS, Gen. Dempsey remarked that Ramadi was not that important. The mom of the first Navy Seal to die there put a personal face on it in her letter:

“You, sir, owe an apology to the families whose loved ones’ blood was shed in Ramadi. Ramadi matters to us and is very symbolic to us. You need to apologize to our troops whose bodies were blown to pieces from IEDs and bullet holes leaving parts and pieces behind. Ramadi matters to them. "

Veterans Day

Once a year America honors its military veterans (all who have served) with a national holiday on Veterans Day, November 11. 

This year's contest winner for 2024 Veterans Day Poster is Myisha Godette, herself a retired and disabled veteran from Queens, New York.

She says,  “Ultimately, I chose to symbolize the shared experience of service members—past, present, and future—with elements like the American Flag, military “dog tags,” and the enduring strength of Veterans, embodied by a solid, dark concrete background in my design.”

To every vet reading this: Thank you for your service.

from VA News

D-Day 2024 #3

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Nazi-dominated Europe ended after another year of intense war. Allies went on to re-claim Europe for its citizens, to empty out the concentration camps and defeat the Nazis. 

In addition to the tens of thousands of dead Allied troops, French civilians also paid a price for the fighting in their own towns. A hungry 6-year-old watched the Americans pass him on the way inland. They gave him his first oranges. “The Americans, for us, were gods,” Marchais, now 86, recalled. “Whatever they do in the world, they will always be gods to me.”

Said to be historically accurate, the movie "The Longest Day" tells the story of D-Day. Troops, commanders and civil leaders are played by some of 1962 Hollywood's biggest stars.

D-Day 2024 #2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

France is today the site of the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion. If this hard-fought victory had never happened, potentially we could have seen the horrifying vision of a whole Nazi Europe.

British paratroopers reenacted a drop over Normandy yesterday. Today the president of France awarded their highest distinction, the Legion of Honor, to some American veterans, as well as to a 104-year-old British woman who created the landing maps.

About 200 veterans, all near the age of 100 years old now, are there. Some of them, in few words, tell us what it was like to be part of the Battle of Normandy and how they feel about it. A current soldier whose Jewish grandparents fled Germany in time to escape the fate of millions is moved by meeting the veterans:

D-Day 2024 #1

Nazi troops invaded and conquered France in 1940, stealing it from its own citizens. Imagine watching foreign soldiers run your country.

photo

About half the population of Europe came under Nazi occupation, including all or most of Hungary, Norway, Italy, Netherlands, Greece, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Albania, Finland, Poland, and more.

A mammoth invasion, the biggest in world history, was the chosen strategy of the Allies. On June 6, 1944, about 160,000 soldiers landed on the beaches of northern France to begin a fierce battle to reverse Nazi domination and liberate Europe.

Over half of the Allied troops were killed, as well as 20,000 French citizens, in the Battle of Normandy. Eventually Germany and its Axis allies were defeated, though at great human cost.

from National WW2 Museum

(cont'd tomorrow)

Unlikely

Iran attacked Israel directly for the very first time nine days ago. This unprecedented full-scale military assault included hundreds of bomb-carrying drones as well as more destructive ballistic missiles. Global leaders were quick to condemn it as a possible trigger of regional war.

Israel's air defense system, the Iron Dome, is designed to defend against this type of attack and has historically been very effective. It's a complex combination of strategies. But this time, its effectiveness is being called miraculous.

A physics professor and expert on the defense industry says, "When I look at what happened on Motzai Shabbat, on a scientific level - it simply cannot happen!! Statistically." Almost all (99%) of the bombs were intercepted.

"What happened is that everyone, but everyone - the pilots, the systems operators and the technology operators - acted as one man, at one moment in total unity. If this is not an act of G-d, then I no longer know what a miracle is."

from this X (Twitter) post

Veterans Day 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Officially, the Treaty of Versailles ended World War I (WWI) in 1919. But hostilities actually stopped at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. Technically it was just an "armistice," a temporary truce, but the fighting didn't resume and the truce became permanent.

That's the original reason for the U.S. holiday of "Armistice Day" on November 11: to remember and honor the end of the disaster that was World War I. Under President Eisenhower the holiday's name was changed in 1954 to "Veterans Day" in order to honor all our veterans.

To all our veterans, "Thank you for your service."

Veterans Day 1

Veterans Day is coming up on November 11, a national holiday. It began as a celebration of the end of the first world war a century ago (1914-1918): 

Austria-Hungary's heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was murdered in the summer of 1914. That event started the ball rolling for the disaster that became World War I (WWI).

Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, then drew in its ally Germany. Eventually most other European countries and their colonies around the world also joined the war. That's how it became more or less global.

This global disaster resulted in at least 9 million military deaths and 5 million civilian deaths (mostly due to famine and disease). 

(cont'd tomorrow)

Memorial 2023

 Memorial Day is the day set apart in the United States to honor those who "gave the last full measure of devotion." Here is Hillsdale College's tribute to the fallen.

Before she was killed in Iraq, Marine Corps Maj. Megan McClung was prepared for the risk. She said, "I am more scared of being nothing than I am of being hurt."

Left behind 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

"The Covenant" is a fiction film based on the sort of true story in yesterday's post. Afghans who served with Americans in the war were hunted by the Taliban if they couldn't get out.

In this movie, as in yesterday's story, the American whose life was saved by his interpreter can't rest until he finds a way to go back to Afghanistan to rescue that man and his family. I recommend it.

Left behind 1

America sent its military forces to Afghanistan in 2001 after the 9-11 attack. Not until August of 2021 did we pull our forces out of the country. Our enemy was not the people of Afghanistan, but Islamic extremists, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

Many civilian Afghans were willing to partner with the Americans. It was an invaluable partnership for us.

Marine Lt. Tom Schueman learned just how valuable one day in 2010. Interpreter "Zaki" learned that an ambush was being organized. When he told Tom but Tom didn't respond, Zaki ran through an I.E.D.-infested field and disrupted the trap, risking his own life for the platoon.

image

Said Schueman, “It was clear to me that Zaki was more than an interpreter. He was there to fight and serve right next to us. He just ran ahead into the village and spoiled the ambush. Zaki went across unswept ground where there were a lot of mines. That to me was just incredible bravery.” 

A bond of respect and friendship grew between them, but circumstances separated them for years. The Taliban threatened torture and death for those who helped the Americans, and Zaki was worried. America offered a special program to help these Afghan partners, so he decided to take the offer and emigrate with his family to the U.S. 

But it was a "red tape" nightmare and he was left behind to fend for himself when America pulled out.

from Historynet

(cont'd tomorrow)

Not the sword

Is it okay to find wisdom in a fictional character? Sure, because the source is the wise person who wrote it. J.R.R. Tolkien is such an author, and the fiction is Lord of the Rings, part 2, The TwoTowers.

image

Faramir, son of the steward of Gondor, led the military defense of his country against armies of orcs. In the book above, he speaks of the motive that drives him - and that drives the vast majority of American military who defend our own country:

“I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”

On this Memorial Day, we honor those who lost their lives in active military service for America.

Navy SEAL Rob

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

No U.S. troops are on the ground in Afghanistan for the first time in 21 years. That's the longest lasting war we've ever been in. Over 800,000 total were deployed there, 2400 died there, and another 20,000 were wounded there - physically. There's no count of how many came home with invisible wounds. 

Navy SEAL Rob Sarver served nine years, twice deployed to combat in Afghanistan. One of his best friends in BUD/S training as well as in two deployments to Iraq, Brendan, was killed there at the age of 29.

Rob is no longer in the service. As a veteran, here are his Veterans' Day thoughts:

"For me personally, I am thankful for those who served before me, my family included, whose sacrifices were greater than mine. I am honored to have carried forward their sacrifice . . in the service of each other to honor those before us and support each other to accomplish the mission: to defend the Constitution."

When he retired in 2013, he left behind an intense brotherhood. The invisible wounds he carried home with him are feelings of grief and the loss of bonds he can't re-create in civilian life.

from Stream