Jack Murphy’s Presentation on Directed Energy Weapons

 @JackMurphyRGR  @Abn_rngr  @ArcticWarrior Predicting human behavior is like trying to predict the weather.  24 hours out you can call it pretty well 90% of the time but after that there are so many variables that it's an exercise in futility.

Hell, if any of us could do it we'd be billionaires from predicting the market.

 @Abn_rngr  @JackMurphyRGR  @ArcticWarrior The ghost of Richard Feynman approves of your post.

 @Abn_rngr  @ArcticWarrior SGM Kelso has a few combat jumps if I'm not mistaken, interesting guy for sure.  Regarding political science turning into pseudo-social science...I concur.  There is also the assumption that you can explain politics with graphs and figures.  I find that few people want to acknowledge how important personalities are.  People make absurd irrational decisions and you can't turn that into a pie chart.

 @ArcticWarrior  @JackMurphyRGR Little off topic but during my time there was a SGT Kelso, later to become SGM Kelso, who served a tour with the Rhodesian Light Infantry.  Interesting stories there.

 @JackMurphyRGR  @ArcticWarrior Hell, there's a generation gap!!

 @JackMurphyRGR  @ArcticWarrior I will paint with a broad stroke here but, and I mean no offense to anyone, the problem with all the social sciences is that they are very social and hardly, if at all, scientific.  Lots of pseudoscience, invoking ill-understood mathematics or scientific methods but without the empirical hypothesis testing of such central importance in true science.  Much of it just ends up being mental masturbation.

Upon re-reading, I'm certain I've offended someone.

 @Tango9 While in most schools the work I did would be under the physics or applied physics dept's at MIT it was in the engineering school. Almost all course work was physics-solid state, electricity and magnetism, quantum and statistical mechanics forming the core.  

 @JackMurphyRGR  @Abn_rngr

 Until you mentioned Rhodesia I didnt really knew a lot about it, I mean I thought it was all RSAS doing the fighting. However after taking your lead I started digging deeper and saw some odd parallels. Thousands of years of tribal CULTURE will not disappear overnight, no matter how much money is dropped on it.

I would imagine you saw the same in OIF with Shia/Sunni and Iraq was at least fairly modern by ME standards. A'stan- that I just dont get. The Guls run the place by tribal/clan realities regardless of how often we mention his name and parade him around. Look at the Dardic types the Phasto types, the Chitrals all in one area, sometimes in one district all doing their own thing, regardless of the AFPAK border.

 Racist no but I understand that my culture is not one that they may want and certainly dont want by force.

 @ArcticWarrior  @Abn_rngr I think the CIA would LOVE to absorb SF into it's ranks.  Special Forces would both make them look good and do their job better than they could do themselves.

BTW, your above viewpoint would be seen as racist by a lot of those same people.  If you say it takes a generation or two for democracy to catch on than you must be a racist.  Those of us who have worked in places like Afghanistan understand the cult of personality.  "There is only Karzai" as they say.  Another example is Rhodesia.  If you take tribal people and thrust them into democracy they just vote by tribal lines, it takes an educated society as well...

 @JackMurphyRGR  @Abn_rngr

 The kids are tame because I will bet the good majority of them did not serve so they dont see the world like you do, they have zero experience, where as you have lived policy decisions. Most places dont want Jeffersonian Democracies, they have no history or societal connection to what we have in the West. People and policy wonks dont seem to get that, people in a tribal society in the third world have no desire to over night become a Jeffersonian Democracy based on a western ideal that is totally alien to them.

When I heard our current CIA Director is a for bringing JSOC into their fold and out of DOD I freaked. That is the last thing this country needs. Too many DC types with too many back door, self promoting idealogies, or worse yet get rich quick schemes, to have thier own full size elite army (SAD doesnt really count)

I dont know if it would even be proper or not but while SOFREP isnt the place how about you do something on ForeignPolicy.Com

 @ArcticWarrior  @Abn_rngr Oh yeah, you mentioned CSM Greenway.  I went through Basic, Airborne, and RIP with his son in 2002/03.  Good times!

 @ArcticWarrior  @Abn_rngr I'm really not happy with how tame these kids are.  The whole policy-graduate program type people are a strange breed.  They actually make themselves a lot dumber than they actually are by getting so focused on the process of carving out a niche for themselves that they lose sight of everything else.  I get the impression that they think that if they can just "crack the code" than democracy will break out across the world.  Maybe I'm projecting too much but that's the sense I get.

Suffice to say that there is a whole lot of shady stuff going on.  I don't even get into alot of that stuff here since it isn't really what SOFREP is about.  SOF has some involvement, some cross-over personalities, but the military is generally more on the up and up than our other institutions.  When you have military cover-ups they seem to be about protecting careers, saving face, saving your own ass, that kind of thing, and not some kind of sinister conspiracy.

I'll do some fact checking on the Panama story, I'd like to publish it here.  It's pretty hilarious!

 @Abn_rngr Thank god I'm not the only nerd here.  A PhD in physics from MIT?  I'm going to be picking your brain dude and you're not getting out of it.

 @Abn_rngr One of my professors did laser work at Sandia.  I learned so much from him it's stupid.  I'm an optics guy and I dabble quite a bit with lasers (have my Wicked Lasers Arctic that I play with). 

You're right:  beam collimation is the beast. 

 @JackMurphyRGR  @Abn_rngr

 Wow Jack, Elite Netowrks, Iran Contra your dancing on murky, not dangerous I think,but shady stuff. Im sure you saw some shady stuff in SOCSOUTH but DC has to be the shadiest triple canopy, quicksand and alligator alley there is.

 @JackMurphyRGR  @ArcticWarrior If you really want to do it, there's a good school for you somewhere.  Honestly, it's even less about the school than it is about picking the right professor. They have more control over your life than the spec4 mafia ever did.

I concur-school, especially a PhD program, will consume your very being.

 @JackMurphyRGR  @ArcticWarrior LMAO. No, no I haven't.

 @ArcticWarrior  @Abn_rngr By the way, ever hear that story of the 3/75 dude on the Panama jump that hit the ground as they were about the go out the door screaming, "I quit, I quit!"?

 @ArcticWarrior Lots of f'ups in Grenada and at Desert One.  I think it incentivized the whole community to kick it up a notch or seven.  Still, lots was done right and some great people did sow the seeds for what we have today.

Didn't know you were being rude and no Ranger has any sort of grace.  Not sure what I contributed but you're welcome.

 @ArcticWarrior  @Abn_rngr I'm interested in the research, but the areas of political science I want to delve into are not exactly politically correct.  I'd probably want to look at Elite Networks or the Iran-Contra Affair.  That's probably a good way to get kicked out of school and/or end up on somebody's shit list.  That, and school is just a mind numbing, soul destroying process.  Can't stand it.

I picked up "Secret Warriors" on Amazon after someone here recommended it to me.  I'm only a few chapters in but it's very good, has a lot of the background that was going in during the timeframe you were in.

 @Abn_rngr

 Its a good story true or not isnt it. Grenada was the begining of things moving into the "modern" era. You guys did good stuff. Someone had to be first.

Welcome to this place, forgive my rudeness and lack of social grace, you have already made some serious contributions. Thanks.

 @ArcticWarrior During that time JSOC and SOCOM were stood up, as was the Regiment with the standing up of 3rd Bn.  We EDRE'd to show rapid deployment ability often enough that one guy was reportedly standing in the door over Grenada with green tracers coming up that he still thought it was a training exercise (no way to verify that and I'm not sure I believe it).

KE weapons aren't my thing but I'll see what I can learn from others.

 @JackMurphyRGR  @ArcticWarrior Yeah, ignore them.  You have to really want to go to grad school and you have to really, really want to finish a PhD. It's mostly about the research and there's nobody making you do it, no good grades to keep you motivated;next goal post is years ahead.

 @JackMurphyRGR  @Abn_rngr

 Come on Jack Columbia is just your stepping stone, like Bn to Group. It can only add to the hollywood of taking over some S African nation and promoting yourself to full bird.

 @JackMurphyRGR  Be more than happy to answer questions and provide what information I can recall.

Really, didn't know there was another guy like me out there.  Good to know.

Phalanx. The is one bad ass gun.

 @Abn_rngr

 Thanks for the history lesson I never knew a lot of that, thats awesome. You guys were apart of that whole Rapid Deployment model that evolved into what we have today, as well as USASOC, thats good history From the Sunoco guys to today and tomorrow its all good.

And please add what you can on KE/Energy weapons,OPSEC withstanding. I have to think your our guy on this.

 @Abn_rngr  @ArcticWarrior And hey, if one more person starts talking to me about going to graduate school, I'm going to stab them.  Enough is enough.

 @Abn_rngr  @ArcticWarrior Defintely, I'd love to get some of your impressions from back in the day as an article for SOFREP.  It's wild because just today I was talking to a LRRP on facebook.  He ended up getting into physics and did a lot of work with high powered lasers.  He also played a part in getting the Phalanx system into Iraq for counter-mortar fire.

 @ArcticWarrior The guys on the ground today are among the real Rangers-they rank up there with the WWII guys and the Vietnam era LRRP/LRP/Ranger companies.  We just sort of trained and waited mostly.

Wish I could take credit but that's what they called 'em then-pickle suits.  With the neato-keen baseball cap.

Ah, the 90s. Loved those things.  Wasn't a gunner but they could take down most anything we needed to.  Big stove pipe.

Not sure how many personal pics I can scare up. I do have a couple of yearbooks from that era if I can find 'em.

Also had M21s for sniper rifles-M14s with fiberglass stocks, two-stage triggers, and special barrels firing match grade ammunition.  No Army sniper school at the time so sent guys to Quantico to train with the Marines.  They used bolt guns there b/c the 21s weren't accurate enough.  Back to 21s when they returned. Never used snipers to my knowledge in the stalking mode, just over watch/support position.  Guy named Dave M did a number on some Cubans in that banana war.

 @Abn_rngr

 Yeah you guys had Eagle Claw, Grenada and you just missed dropping in on Rio Hato. Pickle Suits, man I never heard that, thats funny. Wow prick 77s, MP5 SDs and suppressed 22s the hit mans favorite. I have a friend who was in the same time as you in 2/75 was a tank sniper, recoiless rifle, it would be great if you could provide Jack some pics to go along with that Loadout, Im not trying to drift your lane but thats great history.

 @LCpl X  Thanks, but not all that inspiring.  If you met me you'd think I was Joe Six Pack.  If I had to live life again and could choose just one, I'd be a Ranger again.  MIT was an outstanding technical education but most of what I learned as a young man of intrinsic value I learned as a Ranger.

 @ArcticWarrior Little out of my area of expertise but the sun bathes us all with an awful lot of energy and in space, no atmosphere.  Issue I would think is storing up that energy and then having enough for mission repeats. Not sure how much one could load up on the way out.  Again, there are those more in the know about such things.

 @Abn_rngr

 Thats thought provoking to say the least. We have been chasing lasers since what Ronbo green lighted SDI. May be one of the longest running programs in history.

I would have to take from your energy/power concerns that a space based system isnt really feasible with current tech?

 @ArcticWarrior No problem. I'll contribute what I can, where I can, if I can.

When I went active duty pickle suits were the Army issue.  Issued jungle fatigues in Bn (no Regiment then) and stayed with those even as BDUs were introduced. Starched 'em for garrison, too. Ranger School (13-80) was back to pickle suits.  

TO&E in Bn wasn't much different than a plain Jane infantry platoon.  M16A1, M203, M60. Some MP5-SDs and suppressed .22 pistols. Radios were PRC77s. PVS4s and 5s, but not for everybody-mostly PLs, PSGs and sqd leaders.

Saying at the time was Bn was like Ranger School but with some weekends off.  Not too far off. Then came the Iran hostage issue, airfield seizure and the rest is history.

 @Abn_rngr

 Thats some good info, appreciate the time and space you gave it. Throw in some more as you seem to be our guy on this, and Im sure you could hit the Loadout story, that would be great to hear what you guys ran with. You guys transitioned from those class photos in OD to BDUs in Woodland right?

http://loadoutroom.com/695/what-is-your-loadout/

 @Abn_rngr  @JackMurphyRGR 

I hope there's an interview coming up w/ this guy. Most of the stuff he said just went over my head, but I'm now curious how a Ranger ends up at MIT. Inspiring to say the least.

@Abn_rngr @JackMurphyRGR @ArcticWarrior Welcome to the fold! This is one smart group of folks that Brandon and Jack have gathered together. Real game changers here. My personal moniker to them all is "Band of Merry Pirates" (with direction toward Joe Haldeman's Forever War). I looks forward to more thoughts on directed energy ala' Jack presentation here. I am a big fan of kinetic weapons due to their raw simplicity and the pretty mature technology - though limited by their velocity even further by the atmosphere. Rods from God - great example, but early ASAT (not ABM) relied heavily on just smacking the heck out of the target. >17,500 mph worth of kinetic energy is a game changer that can not be withstood via physical means.

 @jasons77  @ArcticWarrior I like foreign women.  I'm not interested in East coast, West coast.  I'm interested in Central America or South East Asia...

 @ArcticWarrior @JackMurphyRGR  hell yeah! right now i am grilling with the wifey. got my marine neighbors otw in a few. it's awesome living near mira mar and hearing f18's buzz the tower so to speak each night.  when u 2 blaze out here let me know.  fun times in diego.  btw.. jack you do know that cali girls have no equal so send those east coasters back to the jersey shore!

 @Abn_rngr  @ArcticWarrior Fucking A.  That's why I'm here.

 @jasons77  @JackMurphyRGR

 Wolverines brother, Wolverines. I will spot you SD is gorgeous with perfect weather, its also a different kind of Cali from the rest.

 @ArcticWarrior  @jasons77  @JackMurphyRGR As a current Hoya undergrad, I approve of this post.  Dr. Murphy will always be welcome at the Hilltop.

 @Abn_rngr

 The Navy does a GREAT job on PR for NSW guys. Occasionally you would see Group recruiting posters on post, they had a John Wayne movie, Dboys had the cooler guys in BHD. The Army doesnt push the 75th. Maybe still bitter after losing it to SOCOM from Mother Army.

 @ArcticWarrior  @JackMurphyRGR yeah but really 70's and sunny and oh yeah the baddest naval fleet and bases around out here. not to mention the gaslamp district and the best beach in us- coronado.

btw- just saw that red dawn is on amc. hmm.... go surfing or watch swayze and sheen kick ass??

 @jasons77  @JackMurphyRGR

 He is Georgetown bound, East Coast thats where all the real power players come from. It will be Dr. Jack Murphy RGR PhD he will represent us well. And I get to be Minister of Vice and Virtue

 @ArcticWarrior   Nothing against those guys but the SEAL nut licking that's been going on of late is a bit hard to understand.  Nothing they can do on the ground that a Ranger can't (nor, to my mind, as well) and a whole bunch that we can that they can't.  Supposedly a book (Sua Sponte) coming out in a couple of months or three by Dick Couch about Rangers.  Hope it sets the record straight.  

The book Black Hawk Down did a lot to give people the impression that Rangers are the lesser of Delta in the close combat world, and we are (or were?), but then again so is everybody else.

 @jasons77  

He'll be ready for grad school soon, and I've already suggested Monterey Inst. of Int'l Studies. California's where it's at.

 @JackMurphyRGR yo jack i think it's time u say goodbye to the east coast and blaze out here to sd. it's 5;15 and sunny and i'm gonna hit the beach. i know sdsu is no columbia but if u need that higher ed then usc and ucla are up the coast.

 @Abn_rngr  @JackMurphyRGR

 Thats a whole other post

 @JackMurphyRGR  @Abn_rngr

 I know right

 @JackMurphyRGR  @ArcticWarrior More smart people in spec ops than in most professions I know. Hard part is getting rid of the stigma that Rangers are the SOF JV.  

BTW, I can't read or write-I do math.