My uncle Fred, a hockey coach and ardent communist from Winnipeg, used to say, “America loves to fight … they love to fight …”.I was just a kid, what the hell did I know about that. And Uncle Fred came from the old country, from Galicia, at the turn of the century. But man, he was right. They sure do like to fight..This week, I walked into Arlington Cemetery in Washington DC, with its incredible field of military graves. I had come to see the gravesite of John F. Kennedy, my childhood hero. And though my legs are not as sturdy, I did the walk up the hill, to the eternal flame, I didn’t take no damn trolley with a bunch of other seniors. I was gonna walk this, no matter what.. Arlington National MemorialArlington National Memorial .And then after about 15 minutes, I was there. Standing there. Next to the eternal flame. Wow. He is buried alongside First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy and two of their four children. On a hill, overlooking the vast cemetery.... I crossed myself and prayed, but the words failed me … I didn’t know what to say. I was too awed by the moment..I just said thank you. In the midst of the greatest US President in my lifetime. A man I greatly admire to this day..A guide told me they had 25 funerals alone that day. Imagine, 25 more buried in Arlington National Cemetery. I could hear cannon and gunshots, in the distance. Heroes one and all..I also made the trip to the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall..Saw Abe's statue, in all its grandeur, but noticed the memorial is crumbling. It seems to be fading, much like America’s power in the world..And then I ventured over to the Vietnam memorial..Something I always wanted to see. Another bucket list, along with JFK..An amazing memorial, I have to tell you. It takes 10 minutes at most — with stopping — to walk past the grave of 50,000 Americans who died in that war..One almost feels ashamed. Ten minutes..People have left flowers, notes, beer and even cigars. Tributes to these great heroes. Men who died for us..This week, Hamas attacked Israel, killing hundreds of innocent civilians and soldiers. Taking hostages as well, including Canadians..A daring attack completely missed by the Mossad, Israel’s famed intelligence agency..But the US is responding, expediting orders of military equipment already ordered and sending a carrier group into the region..The fear is Hezbollah and other groups could become emboldened and join the fight. Heaven knows Israel has enemies. Lots of them..Whether they had it coming or not, I will let you decide. I am staying out of that..Meantime, this is the world circa 2023..I am currently attending AUSA 2023 (Association of the United States Army) in Washington, DC, the biggest US Army expo and annual meeting in the world..Imagine, two BMO Centres, on top of each other, with every weapon known to man. Every arms dealer in the world is here … except for our pals in Russia and China. And who the hell wants them anyway..And the Turks as well, because they say breaking into the US market is too tough. Good for them, anyway they are doing well in the Middle East..And so, our illustrious PM, Justin “The Great” Trudeau, is poised to cut billions from military spending. This total dolt, who has no understanding of the world in 2023. A damn dangerous world..As I stopped into the Canada booth, at AUSA 2023, I asked a nice fellow how things were going..Fine, he said..I asked him if he knew anything about the big SIG order. Or any other big military contract that we were pushing at the show..Awarded in October 2022, the $3.2 million SIG contract ordered approximately 7,000 P320 pistols, including holsters, spare parts and training..The agreement includes an option for 9,500 additional handguns for the Canadian joint forces and military police..“No,” he said. “I only know about climate issues.”.Dear God in heaven. We are at the biggest arms show in the world and we send people versed only in climate issues?.Gold help us all, folks..On a more helpful note, I sat down with Stan Nowak, VP of marketing at Red Cat Holdings Inc. at the show.. The Teal 2 droneThe Teal 2 drone, with night observation capabilities. .Red Cat is typical of companies who attend AUSA. One of the firms it operates is Salt Lake City-based Teal Drones..Their stated mission is “Dominate the night” — they specialize in drones for night surveillance, including US customs border protection, US forestry and the Department of Defense (DOD), which takes in services such as the US Army, Air Force and the Marines..Teal, by the way, is named after the Teal duck, which, apparently is the fastest duck going..I asked Nowak what the difference was between a drone bought at Costco, and their product..“Optimization includes Teledyne FLIR, one of the top companies in thermal cameras, and we were the first to integrate a radio-metric camera,” he said. “It includes encryption, has a five kilometre range and flies for 30 minutes.”.It’s also tracked by GPS, so it won’t get lost — you will always be able to find it..Nowak said Teal is competing with two other companies (Skydio & Vantage Robotics) for the US Army’s half billion-dollar SRR program (Short Range Recon Systems) but they also have an advantage..The Teal 2 drone is certified by Blue UAS — strict requirements set by the US government, to re-establish the US industrial base in the drone market..“It’s a legislative initiative to try to show differentiation between US and Chinese products,” said Nowak..Currently, Chinese firm DJI has dominated the global market — the US wants that to stop..“Basically, it is opening doors for us,” he said. “It allows us to sell to the US government and internationally.”.“Warfare is dynamically changing, we are now fighting battles from a distance — moving the front-line warfighter back.”.The situation in Ukraine, for example..Russian jamming along the front lines occurs in 'bubbles' not a broad base. The Teal drone can search for penetration points around these bubbles. If it detects it, it can pull back and look for another way in..“We’ve also developed an eco-system, we call it a flying cellphone,” said Nowak..The company is bringing in third party warfighting apps, such a targeting, 3D mapping, etc..Red Cat is just one of 700-plus companies from 80 countries attending AUSA, and happy to be doing so. Nowak said they are 100% pleased with reactions to their product and hopeful they will do well in fly-offs against its competitors..The Army hopes the SRR program will provide game-changing technology to Army platoons, enhancing both soldier lethality and survivability” and will make its decision on SRR in September of 2024.
