WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE PARRIS (ISLAND): According to Military.com, the Marine Corps is studying the possibility of closing its Recruit Depots at Parris Island, SC and San Diego and opening a new coed boot camp somewhere else. Why close the storied Parris Island and the (somewhat less storied) facility affectionately known to some as “M-CRuD” San Diego? Parris Island is said to be somewhat susceptible to hurricanes (despite managing not to blow away in the 130 years or so it’s been around.) And the San Diego boot camp is not big enough for all the training needed, so recruits need to travel to nearby Camp Pendleton for some of their training. Still, building a whole new base seems like a drastic step. Part of the motivation for considering it, is congressional direction to ensure gender-integrated training in the Corps. One person who shudders at the thought of shuttering Parris Island is Senator Lindsey Graham (R, SC) who tweeted: “It ain’t gonna happen! If you’re looking to save money – let’s start with cutting those people who think closing Parris Island is a good idea.”
TOP RUN: There is a long tradition of former military personnel who are running for political office, dropping subtle hints about their past service in campaign ads. No one would call an online advertisement posted by a group of Texas Republicans running for congressional seats “subtle,” however. The participants themselves describe it as the “Greatest Joint Campaign Ad in History.” It stars incumbent Congressman Dan Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who is up for reelection. The nearly four-minute-long minute video (officially titled: “Texas: Reloaded”) starts with Crenshaw parachuting out of an airplane. He meets with Wesley Hunt, a former Army helicopter pilot who is running for another Texas congressional seat. Then they hook up with August Pfluger, a former Air Force F-22 pilot and NSC adviser, and then enlist former Navy Master Chief Tony Gonzales, described as a cyber warfare expert. They are joined by two female candidates who are not veterans but, the video hints they could kick your butt in hand-to-hand fighting. There are lots of special effects, explosions, zooming aircraft and the like. The participants strut and pose. A couple times (very briefly) the words: Making less of an appearance is the disclaimer at the end saying: “Use of military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform does not imply endorsement by the Navy, Army, Air Force, or Department of Defense” which appears in very small type on the bottom of the screen.
CALLING FEMALE SPIES: A new film, titled: A Call to Spy will be released in theaters and is available now on Video On Demand. A WWII espionage thriller, the flick is described thusly: “In the beginning of WWII, with Britain becoming desperate, Churchill orders his new spy agency — SOE — to recruit and train women as spies. Their daunting mission: conduct sabotage and build a resistance. SOE’s ‘spymistress’ Vera Atkins (Stana Katic of ‘Castle’), recruits two unusual candidates: Virginia Hall (Sarah Megan Thomas of ‘Equity’), an ambitious American with a wooden leg, and Noor Inayat Khan (Radhika Apte of ‘Sacred Games’), a Muslim pacifist. Together, these women help to undermine the Nazi regime in France, leaving an unmistakable legacy in their wake. Inspired by true stories, this original screenplay draws on SOE, OSS, and CIA files.” You can see the trailer here. Speaking of real-world women spies, The Boston Herald reports that Patricia Warner, one of the last surviving OSS female spies died last week at the age of 99. Warner reportedly once worked undercover as a flamenco dancer. Sounds like fodder for another movie.
LOTSA LADY SPIES IN THE NEWS: We spotted another interesting item on an unlikely website. The Black Rifle Coffee Company’s site “Coffee or Die” has a long article called Inside the OSS’s League of Lonely War Women. It is about what is called “one of the most successful psychological warfare campaigns” led by Barbara Lauwers. What it has to do with coffee, we don’t know – but it is an interesting tale.
SKIN IN THE GAME: Military installations sometimes try to provide servicemen and women with all (well, almost all) the comforts of home. Now, we read that the Navy is considering offering new amenities at some of their worldwide bases that will give sailors even less of a need to go outside the gate. According to Task & Purpose, the Navy is thinking about opening tattoo parlors on bases in Guam, Hawaii and elsewhere. Turns out, despite being lineal descendants of the tattooed Popeye the Sailor Man, the Air Force beat the Navy to the punch. Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas has just opened the first tattoo parlor on a U.S. military base. The Navy facilities will likely be operated by vendors contracted to give sailors the needle at shops connected to the Navy Exchange. No word on when such a deal will be inked.
DRONE LAUNCHED DRONES: Drone maker General Atomics is reportedly working on the capability of having some of their large drones be able to launch and recover smaller drones mid-air. What’ll they think of next? Maybe drones that can launch other drones that can launch other drones? Lest we drone on too much, we should point out that there are reports that a huge new hangar facility has been built at “Area 51.” Of course, the government is not saying – but aerial photos seem to show a facility that some speculate might support a swarm of drones.
POCKET LITTER: Bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
WAIT, WAIT DO TELL ME: Former CIA chief of disguise, Jonna Mendez, appeared on NPR’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” on September 26 telling stories and playing a game answering questions about the Mafia. Why you would ask a former CIA officer questions about mobsters? We don’t know – but she got two out of three questions right.
MORE ODD STUFF FROM THE SKY: Last week’s Dead Drop had an item about the CIA having once considered weaponizing lightning bolts. That might sound a little odd, but the Air Force said: “Hold my beer.” A story this week, says that in April, the USAF practiced dropping a cooler full of blood over Eglin Air Force Base. No airmen were hurt in the exercise dubbed Operation Blood Rain. In this case, it was not an effort to cause any harm but to test the feasibility of having drones airdrop blood supplies to the battlefield.
TIPS FROM AN UNLIKELY SOURCE: The folks at Sputnik News report that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps opened a National Aerospace Park in Tehran with an exhibit showing off the country’s achievements in high tech “including full-scale mockups of various classes of missiles and rockets, radar systems, rocket engines, defence electronics components, prospective and fielded drones, and satellites.” Sputnik titles their article: “CIA Spy’s Dream: IRGC Opens Massive Aerospace Park in Tehran.” To save CIA spies time – they helpfully include a link to a YouTube video of the exhibition.
WE HAVE DREAMS TOO: …that our readers would send us tips on interesting gossip on national security matters by dropping us notes at TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com.
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