Uhhhh, Eric, this just may be the small world thing happening, but were you tasked to be the recon filler for the 29th SIB out of Hawaii during it's JRTC rotation in 1998?

If so, I was the Air LNO for the Team Recon.

[ 08-13-2003, 08:03: Message edited by: 120mm ]

120mm,

LOL, not this time man, I was Lead Scout for 2nd Plt, Troop E, 1/82nd CAV, 41st SIB from here in Oregon. What, June or July? Hard to keep track of dates anymore, too many.

You may have been one of the rotations just before us as the 1st CAV was gearing up for theirs as we came out of the field. I believe they were sending a battalion to the Balkans.

Air? Air? We didn't get any stinking air! We just happened, yea, thats it,just happened, to have the freqs for Spectre. He was most accommodating.



Just remember, no matter where you go, where you are, if I'm in the neighborhood, I got your back.

Regards,

Eric

We were with F/82nd. I was supposed to "ride herd" on a new air troop commander from 1-113th CAV IARNG. I ended up with C2 of 6 companies worth of ragtag recon assets that the 29th SIB "couldn't use" because it "complicated ops too much." These included an AH1 CAV troop, an AH1 "enhanced" attack company, an M1 tank company, F/82nd CAV, a Mech Inf. Company, and a straight-leg Australian LRS unit.

I tried to work these units into "the plan," but the Hawaiian knot-heads wouldn't give us the time of day. We couldn't even get a dedicated comm channel. So, we formed our own little task force and free-lanced, as they attempted to maneuver battalions on 3-man ambushes. (We all know how THAT worked.)

At the end of the rotation, the SIB had failed miserably, and we (TF Unwanted) had single-handedly defeated the last day's attack. The SIB was unable even to put a single soldier between the OPFOR and their objective. In fact, in the end of rotation roll-up, we were responsible for 96% of all kills on the OPFOR.

What you said about having your back, ditto for me, too.

Hello,
I read a few month ago about a new infantry boot coming out. It's being issued in boot camp at this time. A lot better then the old black combat boots and the green jungle boots. They will not be shined, but have a suede type of leather. Not the same as the desert boots issued since the gulf war. Much more expensive and better quality. Just great, now they improve the boot after I get out of the military. A search of the Marine Corps or Army Times will find pictures.

This post started talking about crappy machine guns and if there was a bigger POS than the M-219, I would love to know what it was..............

Well, what the heck is the "M-219," never heard of it.

Coax for M48A3??? Or actually, the TC's .50 cal???

[ 08-30-2003, 06:26: Message edited by: 120mm ]

Ah yes, I found it (the M-219) in my "Military Small Arms of the 20th Century!"

It was that sawed off coax gun that the US used before the adoption of the FN/MAG varient we use now.

No Tombo21, there wasn't a bigger POS than that gun. I think even the French Chauchat worked better. I've never used one, but talked to plenty that did. Don't think anyone had a nice thing to say about it except "it sure is short."

In each M-60 tank platoon we had maybe one that would function. I tried to qualify one year using as a single shot w/ my loader pulling the charging handle as fast as he could. It was made in Saco, Maine and apparently the politician from the area was on some Army procurement oversight commitee. hiho......effing politicians

The only place where the French have beaten us "hands down" is in the coax department. Their 20mm coax is the cat's ass. It has a similar trajectory to the main gun, making sights easier to synch, it can be used as a spotter round, for that very reason, AND it eliminates the need for most HEAT rounds, by being able to take out lightly armored vehicles that we'd have to waste a HEAT round on. Makes for a lot easier and better ammo storage; more vehicle-killing rounds with much less space used.