Uzi Gal, the man who single handedly armed Israel, died yesterday at 79. The Uzi submachine gun is probably the second most recognized weapon in the world (behind the AK-47)
...always as a Medic assigned to an Artillery Battery.
Typically, I had to ride around with a Platoon Leader/XO in his HMMWV.
My third or fourth NTC, during force on force, we were out in front of the Battery while the Platoon Leader re-safed the battery (complex to explain, uses a survey type instrument called an Aiming Circle.).
Anyway, we were emplaced at the base of , IIRC, the "Whale"* and were looking back toward the Battery. On our left was Alpha Battery and further back was Bravo Battery. Off to the right, between the Whale and the ridge further that way, I saw a single dust plume...
My eyesight ain't the best, and my mini-binos weren't handy...
"Hey, LT, is that one of ours."
The Lieutenant looks.
"Yes, Armstrong, it is."
I shrugged, climbed back into the HMMWV and resumed reading whatever the hell it was I was reading. A few minutes later, the LT finishes and we loop out and around the edge of the Battery and back up into the Battery (Commo wire between the GDU's and such) and pull up right beside a single Opfor T-80...
The score:
T-80 kills 4 of our guns and rolls back up the hill towards Bravo...
...Bravo loses one before they direct fired and killed it.
The Battery Commander, XO's, 1SG, and supply Sergeant got chewed over that one in the AAR.
Seems no one took the time or effort to issue the batteries etc. for the Viper-MILES and I was the only bastard that even noticed the tank rolling up...
(I kept a pair of Bushnell mini-binos in my LBV and not in the ruck or fanny pack from then on...)
* - "The Whale" is a large, curved tear-drop shape kill in the middle of a wide valley between two mountain ridges. For those who don't know, most of the major terrain features at NTC have nicknames assigned to them.
The Whale is smack in the middle of Battle Valley, sort of pointing toward John Wayne Mountain. I got killed there when the OPFOR mobility-killed our track and we had to bail out. We put up a spirited defense, but it was hopeless. As we were being hauled away, I told my LT that I at least deserved a Silver Star for my actions. He told me that it required a *living* witness to confirm the action.
Our Battalion commander got reamed, from all reports, for leaving us behind.
I got more mass-casualty training out of officer screw ups...
Actually, have you ever read "Dragons at War" by Bolger?
It's a book about an NTC rotation in the early '80's...
*Except the parts where I was gone 5-6weeks versus everyone else's 4 because I was on the rail-load team. And the fact, because of train-up and such, I was in the fireld more time than home with my, then, new wife...
When the 3/7th Infantry (Cottonbalers!) did a NTC rotation there when I was in the 197th Inf Bde (M) (S), I got be a train guard. This meant I rode from Georgia to Barstow, California on top of M-113 on a flat car. I had my 16A1, and rounds in the pouch.
The first thousand miles were interesting.
The second thousand miles were boring.
The last thousand miles were a hellish blend of more fucking desert than you could ever want, frantic shuffling of memeories to determine what the hell I could have done to deserve this, and the solemn vow to track down the inventor of the MRE and force feed him his own food until the MRE Blocks killed him.
The 1SG actually asked me if I wanted to do the ride back
Just out of curiosity, have you read The Defense of Hill 781? The protagonist, LTC A. Tack Always (who has spent his entire career in light infantry units), is sent to Purgatory (which quite closely resembles NTC, but with live rounds instead of MILES) after dying from eating three MREs in one day. IIRC, the passage went along the lines of:
The last thing he remembered was eating the dehydrated potato patty, his adjutant's offering him a swig from his canteen, his offhanded acceptance of that offer, and a white flash.
LTC Always must earn his (and his task force's [*]) way out of Purgatory by defeating the OPFOR. That involves learning the ins-and-outs of running a mech infantry task force....
WRT the train guard, I don't recall the 256th Infantry Brigade (Mech) needing guards on the M1A1s when they moved by rail from Ft. Hood back to Louisiana a couple of years ago. We simply banded the hatches after they were locked, to make any tampering immediately evident.
Then again, I was only involved with marshaling the vehicles, not moving back to Louisiana with them.
[*] The only member of the battalion task force not going through Purgatory is CSM Hope; he's been sent from Heaven to give LTC Always a bit of help.
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no subject
I've been to NTC a couple of times...
...always as a Medic assigned to an Artillery Battery.
Typically, I had to ride around with a Platoon Leader/XO in his HMMWV.
My third or fourth NTC, during force on force, we were out in front of the Battery while the Platoon Leader re-safed the battery (complex to explain, uses a survey type instrument called an Aiming Circle.).
Anyway, we were emplaced at the base of , IIRC, the "Whale"* and were looking back toward the Battery. On our left was Alpha Battery and further back was Bravo Battery. Off to the right, between the Whale and the ridge further that way, I saw a single dust plume...
My eyesight ain't the best, and my mini-binos weren't handy...
"Hey, LT, is that one of ours."
The Lieutenant looks.
"Yes, Armstrong, it is."
I shrugged, climbed back into the HMMWV and resumed reading whatever the hell it was I was reading. A few minutes later, the LT finishes and we loop out and around the edge of the Battery and back up into the Battery (Commo wire between the GDU's and such) and pull up right beside a single Opfor T-80...
The score:
T-80 kills 4 of our guns and rolls back up the hill towards Bravo...
...Bravo loses one before they direct fired and killed it.
The Battery Commander, XO's, 1SG, and supply Sergeant got chewed over that one in the AAR.
Seems no one took the time or effort to issue the batteries etc. for the Viper-MILES and I was the only bastard that even noticed the tank rolling up...
(I kept a pair of Bushnell mini-binos in my LBV and not in the ruck or fanny pack from then on...)
* - "The Whale" is a large, curved tear-drop shape kill in the middle of a wide valley between two mountain ridges. For those who don't know, most of the major terrain features at NTC have nicknames assigned to them.
no subject
Our Battalion commander got reamed, from all reports, for leaving us behind.
Re:
NTC!
Those were the days!*
I got more mass-casualty training out of officer screw ups...
Actually, have you ever read "Dragons at War" by Bolger?
It's a book about an NTC rotation in the early '80's...
*Except the parts where I was gone 5-6weeks versus everyone else's 4 because I was on the rail-load team. And the fact, because of train-up and such, I was in the fireld more time than home with my, then, new wife...
no subject
The first thousand miles were interesting.
The second thousand miles were boring.
The last thousand miles were a hellish blend of more fucking desert than you could ever want, frantic shuffling of memeories to determine what the hell I could have done to deserve this, and the solemn vow to track down the inventor of the MRE and force feed him his own food until the MRE Blocks killed him.
The 1SG actually asked me if I wanted to do the ride back
Re:
One year they lost entire trains for weeks because of the Mississippi flooding!
I can't imagine the poor bastard...
I think, for us, all sensitive items were removed and shipped seperately in connexes.
Which meant only they (or was it they and the M1A1's?) had to be directly guarded.
no subject
The last thing he remembered was eating the dehydrated potato patty, his adjutant's offering him a swig from his canteen, his offhanded acceptance of that offer, and a white flash.
LTC Always must earn his (and his task force's [*]) way out of Purgatory by defeating the OPFOR. That involves learning the ins-and-outs of running a mech infantry task force....
WRT the train guard, I don't recall the 256th Infantry Brigade (Mech) needing guards on the M1A1s when they moved by rail from Ft. Hood back to Louisiana a couple of years ago. We simply banded the hatches after they were locked, to make any tampering immediately evident.
Then again, I was only involved with marshaling the vehicles, not moving back to Louisiana with them.
[*] The only member of the battalion task force not going through Purgatory is CSM Hope; he's been sent from Heaven to give LTC Always a bit of help.