The Military Thread

Don't think so; the barrel's too short and the wrong profile to be an SFW and too long to be a CQB.

edited 13th May '12 2:45:51 PM by Deadbeatloser22

It's not one of our regular Infantrymen, the helmet's the wrong shape. The rifle's definitely an M4 with a 16-inch barrel and what looks like a PEQ-15 mounted on the top rail. So it could be our SOF or yours, I guess. All those guys tend to wear and shoot all kinds of non-standard stuff.

If it's a 16-inch then it could be an SFW. But at the same time I stick by the profile observation.

SFW? I'm not familiar with the nomenclature.

Diemaco/Colt Canada C8SFW. Canadian built M4 clone that's the standard weapon of UKSF and the Pathfinder Platoon.

edited 13th May '12 3:00:08 PM by Deadbeatloser22

The helmet looks a lot like the ones I saw the actors (and some real-life operators, that were meant to have starred in the movie) wore in the film version of Black Hawk Down. I have no idea what radio kit the guy is using - the antenna seems to be sticking up in an odd position and seems to be too long for stuff like the PRC-349 Clansman UHF radio sets, of which I am sort of familiar. Maybe one of those BOWMAN personal role radios if that system is working.

If it is one of our THEM, I bet he got a lot of stick from his mates wherever they are based now since they left Hereford. The Beeb is not too popular with them since Prince's Gate.

It is more likely though one of your THEM guys though.

The helmet looks pretty PASGT-ish to me, but then I wouldn't know. I'm still reasonably certain that it's not one of the Hereford Gun Club.

Plus it's a file image, not a BBC one. Hence the AP in the corner.

Then it is another case of the BBC Not Doing The Research then? As I said, nothing new for them.

hmm, found this on wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modular_Integrated_Communications_Helmet - looks awfully like the one the guy in the picture is wearing.

edited 13th May '12 3:16:56 PM by TamH70

Looks like a normal M4 to me, seconding Martello's comment on the PEQ, I've got the same one on mine.

Looks like an M-4 with longer barrel on my end too. The front Iron site looks one of the AR Rifle/Carbine Clones.

Maybe and M6 with a front post iron site?

edited 13th May '12 9:24:29 PM by TuefelHundenIV

On looking at the google images results for the LWRC M6, I think you may be right on that, teufel. Maybe even one of the newer M6-SL models, as seen here, http://www.lwrci.com/p-252-m6-sl-stretch-lightweight.aspx

First I ever heard of that brand of weaponry. I thought I was reasonably well acquainted with the various marques of the Black Rifle. Seems I was wrong.

Still bad form for the BBC to caption a story about British war dead using a picture of what seems to this pair of eyes to be some kind of American serviceman, though.

There are quite a few interesting variations on the black rifle i have noticed. Especially the licensed copies.

Hmm. Looks like the top man in NATO is in the humiliating position of getting a kicking from a BBC journalist in the Hard Talk strand. Keeps insisting that the Afghan national forces are going to be worth a fuck once NATO pulls down the shutters. Also seems to be saying that the sixteen or so NATO troops murdered by those forces died in isolated incidents.

Wut?

I want to vomit every time I see another ANP killing spree. I trained a bunch of those guys.

Hope it wasn't one of mine every time I see a headline about them.

And now the guy is saying that he believes that Afghanistan's future is going to be democratic and peaceful, and refuses to admit openly that NATO countries are talking to the Taleban.

Anders Fogh Rassmussen isn't going to be Sec Gen of NATO long after 2014, from this outing's evidence.

Afghanistan is still a walking cluster fuck. You can't trust the military or police to not shoot you after you train them. I say bail and watch it burn from a distance.

I think the talks with the Taliban are the best bet. I hated the idea at first, but it seems like the best bet. Even if just a decent part of it(say, 1/3 minimum) agreed to a deal it would spell death for the rest.

So why is it that a sailor can sleep with dozens of women and father children he may never see, or care to, but if I was on one of those ships and slept with another man while at port I'd be ridiculed for it at best?

Just have to point out the double standard that still exists here.

I say glass it and lets find out what a nuclear explosion looks like from space?

In all seriousness, this.

edited 15th May '12 5:38:32 PM by Vehudur

The old standards may have changed the but the culture they generated is still present and will take time to fade away. If your thing is other men go for it. I don't give a shit as long as you do your job. Expect standard co-worker ribbign sessions.

Because locals are considered prey, and a woman sleeping with a local guy on shore leave in the eyes of troops is kind of like a wolf letting a rabbit slowly eat it.

Is pointing it out supposed to be groundbreaking or something? Like we weren't already aware there was a double standard there? It's the same double standard out in the civilian world. Men sleeping with random women = pimp, women sleeping with random men = slut.

No need to act like the military is special or unique in this regard.

edited 15th May '12 6:40:28 PM by Barkey

Barkey: I think he was referring to male on male sexual encounters...I think.

Oh, well in that case you're on your own. Guess you'd end up knowing what female servicemembers go through.

Then you wouldn't be ridiculed because you slept with a local, you'd be ridiculed because you banged a dude.

edited 15th May '12 7:16:48 PM by Barkey

So, has anyone made book yet on how long it will take the Taleban to take over in Afghanistan after the pull-out is over in 2014?

Meh, we left the Taliban a present: We armed up and paid up a lot of the warlords. The warlords get rich off the poppy crop, the Taliban don't like the poppy crop. They'll kill eachother a lot.

Greed overcomes religious fervor in Afghanistan, in vast amounts. It'll be an uphill battle for the Taliban since we pushed them out of their entrenched positions.

My current theory is similar to Barkey's. We've just trained up a number of relatively competent future warlords - all the senior military officers in the ANA. If and when the nation implodes, those guys are going to fill the power vacuum. I can only hope they'll remember our generosity when they do, but the Afghans have a history of biting the hand that feeds them.