Here's who will build the US Army's new missile defense radar

x-posed from the COBies thread:

A two sentence horror story for any veteran:

And for any survivor of boot camp:

Japan may deploy upgraded PAC-3 missile interceptors in Tokyo area ahead of Olympics

What's the standard personal gear for a modern US tank crewmember?

Edited by MarqFJA on Oct 31st 2019 at 9:23:42 PM

Armored vehicle crews wear nomex coveralls and a bump helmet with integrated earpro/comms. On paper they’re issued a pistol and a rifle each as well as vests, though the full number of rifles and vests are not always carried.

Was it diffrent in the gulf? Because cheiftan has complained before that when he commanded an Abrams, they gave his crew a full load of full body armor, 3 rifles, 2 m203, a shotgun, an M249, and ammo for everything plus the tanks machine gun ammo... so they ended up having to bungie cord half the guns to the roof and the gunner got the shotgun shortened....

Aaaand then they tried to throw in bayonets for good mesure "Dont know what they were thinking, If we ever reached a point where we were ran out of ammo for every thing and we couldnt just run the enemy over with the tank... that's kind of it we are just going to give up and go home" and "I did consider getting one of the officer swords though and taping it to the gun and saying "Theres your damned bayonet" but I realized it would be destroyed after the first shot and a waste of good money"

Edited by Imca on Oct 31st 2019 at 2:39:14 AM

Hey, at least they could strap it to the outside of the tank instead of having to carry it.

The Gulf War was a time when lots of equipment, doctrines, and new logistics systems were being used in anger for the first time.

It was a bit messy.

There was some decidedly weird stuff that happened too as they had to deal with unexpected gaps in capabilities, like figuring out how to deal with Iraqi radar stations in the middle of a flat featureless desert. They'd easily pick up the Coalition aircraft launching their attack, Wild Weasel sorties flying at low altitude would easily be detected, and the cruise missiles of the time would get hopelessly lost trying to use terrain-following radar to navigate through the region.

So they launched Army Apache gunship helos, flying very low to the ground at night, guided by unarmed Air Force rescue choppers which happened to be equipped with the latest in GPS navigation technology. Airmen in the lead choppers would use infrared glow sticks to signal the Army crews because they couldn't use radios.

The first warning the Iraqi soldiers got of an impending air raid was the first Hellfires hitting their generators to knock out the power to their radar and radios.

Imca: there’s been a massive degree of variance in what tank crews are issued in the Middle East over the years. Hence the “on paper”, they often end up getting stacked with extra stuff.

The first half of the 2019 National Day parades in Taiwan are dedicated to the ROC Armed Forces.

Beginning at the 59 minute mark, the Marines demonstrate room-clearing tactics in a hostage situation. Some interesting pieces of equipment used is an explosive mounted at the end of a stick to destroy windows, ballistic shields mounted on the bottom of M P5s, and a special metal detector used to check if a door is booby trapped. It's interesting to see how the soldiers are trained to check downed enemies, furniture, and the hostages for booby traps by feeling around them as they clear a room.

Edited by FluffyMcChicken on Nov 1st 2019 at 1:12:57 AM

Trump's opposition to endless wars appeals to those who fought them.

Of course, this certainly isn't representative of the entire American veteran community.

One thing I liked about the hostage rescue demonstration was that not only did they verify the identities of the hostages vs their intel (to help make sure they're not baddies masquerading as hostages) but also the way they exfiltrated them involved hauling them out in an awkward position that was probably not comfortable for the hostage but likely gave them the most protection if anything bad happened on the way out, since most of their bulk was tucked under the rescuer's body/armor.

The shields are interesting and seem to be applicable in basically this purpose. Close quarters, limited movement, and even then they mostly just serve to screen the team stacking up behind the open doorway during the initial breach without actually blocking the doorway when the team moved. Probably wouldn't want to haul one of those around for most other purposes.

Also, the baddies in the third building had the worst situational awareness ever, just sitting their reading and stuff while firefights and explosions happen next door. Must be a bad neighborhood.

Some latest developments on the "wheeled and tracked light armor" acquisition project. The newest offer is a joint Korean-Turkish venture. The former will provide the tracked one (light tank), while the latter is responsible for the wheeled one (8-wheeler). The two will partner with a Belgian firm for the weaponry.

Question for a story!

I got a character who entered US Marine Corps as an officer during WW 2, specifically 1942, VERY eager to become a part of the war. And he remains in the Marines for 35 years, fighting through WW 2, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

The question I have is that he retires as a Major General, and is 30 years a plausible time it takes to achieve that rank in the Corps? I heard that promotion is much slower there compared to the Army.

Edited by dRoy on Nov 4th 2019 at 2:59:24 AM

After World War Two, Congress passed the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act. Brevet ranks did exist for the Marines prior to WWII and until Vietnam there were battlefield promotions to officer for enlisted Marines. Those stopped after Vietnam.

Frocking still happens - an officer selected for promotion can wear the rank and act on that authority but they don't get the pay.

Your character would get frocked to a higher rank until a billet opened up for him to be promoted. He'd make captain, but above that he'd be waiting on the US Senate to approve promotion - hence he could be frocked to Major and then get it months later.

He could make General in 30 years, that's not unheard of.

Edited by TairaMai on Nov 4th 2019 at 2:27:28 AM

Thanks for the answer!

Huh. I didn't know you need US Senate approval to be promoted to a general officer. That's interesting.

And yeah, I also forgot about the whole battlefield promotion thing that made promotions a whole lot confusing back then.

X-post from the US politics thread: US special forces in Northern Syria have no plans to withdraw. [1]

Pretty sweet underfolding AK with the guy on the left.

Edited by archonspeaks on Nov 4th 2019 at 12:41:56 PM

There were plenty of relatively quiet times between conflicts in the Cold War that your Marine character could have gotten a college degree or gone to the Naval Academy or something similar as well. I assume such opportunities existed for enlisted troops back then, though I could be mistaken.

Also, on the topic of enlisted folks becoming Generals, there's always the story I like to tell about Major General Alfred K. Flowers, born into a share-cropping family (he shared a home with living relatives who were freedmen) who enlisted in the Air Force in 1965 and retired in 2012. I met him once at an Air Force Birthday Ball in Monterey, CA.

...Why are we talking about Enlisted Commissioning when the post says the character started as an officer?

Chill, we are just getting off topic and off the rails on our crazy train.

On topic:

30 years would be about right if this character:

• Was below the zone for at least one rank (usually lieutenant colonel)
• Had made a friend in the DOD or in Congress,
• Was highspeed enough that Congress approved most of their promotions after they got recommended.

So it had to be pretty competitive. Then again, that's to be expected seeing how even becoming a colonel will take more than just years.

Stumbled onto video only archival records of the ARVN Rangers.

The ARVN always fascinated me. They did the bulk of the fighting, suffered the most casualties and (at least early on) were a pretty tough nut to crack. Yet, there's so little written about them - barely any mentions outside of the most detailed military histories.

Finland and the US signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding Space Situational Awareness

The military diplomacy keeps on going in the established direction.