Spain approves new US rapid response force base
Andy11M sends us a link to the an Associated Press article which reports that the Spanish government has approved stationing of a US rapid response force at their base in Moron (it’s pronounced More-OWN, you moron).
The deal approved by Spain’s Cabinet allows for the U.S. to station up to 3,000 troops at the Moron air base, up from a current 850. The number of aircraft deployed can be increased from 14 to 40.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is to visit Madrid on Sunday and Monday to sign the agreement. Kerry will meet with King Felipe, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo during his stay.
What with emergencies like the Benghazi consulate attack on September 11th, 2012, we really need this agreement.
I’m pretty sure that Kerry still has time to screw it up.
Category: Foreign Policy
Is it my imagination, or does sKerry look like he’s got chin implants?
Oh! Sorry, I just realized that this was about a US base in Spain.
I know we had one back in the 1960s, didn’t we? Or is this an addition to what we already have there?
Nope, same old chin, but he has had the following work done:
Eye lids.
Neck.
Face pull.
Tummy tuck.
Ass plants.
Spinal removal.
Lip work.
Tattoo on ass that says, “Yes Sir, may I have another”.
That is all I got on this goon!
And yes, we need that base. Becuase, since retreating from the foreign stage, we will be using such bases in the future to safeguard our interests and citizens.
Someone obviously hit him in the face with a shovel years ago.
But the bastard stopped after one or two hits.
Botox treatments, he’s had that as well. I wonder if he doesn’t have cosmetic surgery as often as Nanny Lugosi?
So, another 2000+ troops there. Maybe a reinforced Airborne battalion, or a Marine task force of some sort?
NAVSTA Rota hasn’t gone anywhere. Had a great time flying on commie submarines from there, and the liberty was excellent. Anyone remember Bennie’s Bar?
Having a rapid response force means zilch if you have no will to deploy it in emergencies.
Most Americans are unaware that there was a rapid response team in place in Spain at the time of the Benghazi attack. It was a FAST Team, a Marine Fast Action Response Team, which according to Wikipedia is:
“Capable of rapidly deploying to immediately improve security at United States Government installations worldwide.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Corps_Security_Force_Regiment
Anyone care to speculate what the presence of a couple of platoons of heavily armed Marines might have made that fateful night?
I wrote of the FAST team’s presence at Rota back at the time of the Benghazi attack but no one took notice.
Fast Action Response Team
I’m sorry but wouldn’t that be a FART vise a FAST team?
Somebody had to ask.
Marines?
PT,
Quoting Hillary, “at this point what does it matter?”
They no doubt could have done something! You and I know that and we also know they and all assets capable of responding were told to stand down!
Some day, someone who has nothing to lose will tell us who was behind the ‘stand down’ order.
We all have theories, but someone knows the truth.
After all these years, Moron finally becomes a full base. I remember when they doled out assignments to command post people for and then forced them to divert saying that Moron would not become a full fledge base or stand up staging base. This was in 2007 or so.
8 years later ,finally decide to up the aircraft. Amazing how slow things work.
“(it’s pronounced More-OWN, you moron)”
And Bugs Bunny pronounced it maroon. Still meant the same thing.
Why did the name the base after a color?
I do not get it!
It appears the rapid reaction force has been at Moron for more than two years, belatedly placed there following the Benghazi screwup.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Purpose_Marine_Air-Ground_Task_Force_for_Crisis_Response
The existing Marine force is already battalion size so I don’t know how much bigger you can make a rapid reaction force before it becomes a slightly faster than normal reaction force. As they say, size matters, and when it comes to military reaction times, smaller is usually much, much better unless things have changed since Ol’ Poe’s days serving in Airborne alert units.
So, we shut down a bunch of bases all over Europe and now we’re going to open a new one up? Because, why keep something you already have when you can buy a new one…
I take it the agreement included Spain’s use of the base as well?
We’ll use it for rapid reaction forces and they’ll use it for rapid retreating forces.
(Can’t believe I got that in there first, must be the weekend.)
Not opening up a new one, Moron AB has been an Air Force installation for awhile now. They are just adding more personnel to it. It was pretty skeleton crew when I went there on a trip in 2007.
Eric, Moron is one of those places that we’ve always had in our back pocket to use when another crisis made it valuable. The biggest attraction is an almost 12,000 foot runway that can handle anything we want to land there.
Moron has been a valuable asset for over a half century, sometimes being more valuable than others. While Spain is sovereign, I would wager that it was the USA that laid down those long landing/takeoff strips with an eye to future operations.
Similiar to Lajes, actually too. Only different is Portugal has one fucked up SOFA agreement.
I just read that Kerry fell while riding a bike in Geneva and fractured a femur. This was in Stars and Stripes.
question: do he get another Purple Heart?
And if he does, will iy replace the ones he threw over the White House fence? (*OOP!*, wait, they weren’t his, he threw his friend’s medals, yeah,…)
And Drudge says Kerry broke his leg. Probably while trying to pull his head out of his ass. Will he get a Purple Heart since he was in Switzerland giving everything away to Iran?
Sorry Doc…missed your post. You already had it covered.
“I’m pretty sure that Kerry still has time to screw it up.”
Too funny. He did, as others pointed out above. He fell riding a bike on flat ground at low speed. “An official at the scene described Kerry as both calm and brave.” I think we may be talking Navy Cross here.
Great, a rapid reaction force that will be told to “stand down” during the next crisis.