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)
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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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.