Ken's trip to the desert

[EchoFiveMike]

What kind of a setup do you have in mind?

 

Well, I'm thinking very hard about taking my GA Precision improved M40A1 with the Leupold 3.5-10M3 with the Gen II mildot. It's a touch lighter than a M40A1 and has a much better scope. I'm also going to take my LMT MRP with a 14.5 tube and the whole legion of optics. An ACOG, a Comp M2 and another 3.5-10M3, all on Larue QD mounts. That should cover 99% of things I need to kill using hardware I can actually get and it should ensure we actually have enough guns to field the number of sniper teams we need. The TO/E is bullshit and no one has the balls to say the emperor has no clothes and make his voice heard. Grabbing gear from dozens of different places and just throwing at a unit when they get in country and calling that a solution is the pinnacle of criminal insanity.

 

Steel Rain, we all know it can be done, it's just as Simon said, the senior "leadership" is safely protected by concrete or distance and are perfectly willing to shift the risk onto the shoulders of the grunts as long as their career is protected. The reality is that I could call fire onto a God damned school yard and it would be insignificant in the average Iraqi's eyes because the insurgents kill still more and they do it with malice whereas we do it because we're trying better this country and sometimes we just fall short. The Iraqis understand that there is a war and that people are going to die, they are fully understanding as long as your motives are good. They want to move on as quickly as possible and that's going to be painful. They're willing, but we're not.

 

Andres, there is a place for overwhelming firepower, but the Russians are using only the hammer because that's all they have.

 

Burncycle360, the SMAW is fine for the line companies, what we need is a vehicle mounted DF system to reinforce the Mk19/M2/M240 on the motorized patrols. The 106 RCL is about perfect since the TOW is too pricy to be blasting at mud huts, which do take a few hits to knock down, believe me. A mud hut surviving a double 122mm HE charge was freaking embarrassing, believe me.

 

GEwing, there are a variety of OTS systems that use the Hydra 70 rocket pods, often on trailers and often using mortar sights for aiming. Depending on warhead and rocket motor used they range from 7800m to about 14-15km. I'm looking for a system that can supplement the 60mm mortar at the company level. The 17lb warhead would be fine, but it's more a matter of getting something as opposed to making due with nothing.

 

I'm from the bigger hammer club, so I'd really love something in the 24cm BM-24 size bracket, like the Iranians use(Falaq-2 or something like that) but you don't need more than 10-15km range, at most. A 4 rd towed launcher would be fine. It doesn't need to be a high logistics draw system. Supportable by two M998's with trailers. One can have the LCMR and 3 salvos, the other can tow the launcher and another 2 salvos or thereabouts. Total crew: 4 strong men A 70mm launcher would have more rockets but you'd probably have a very similar weight per salvo and cost per salvo would be higher since a 24cm rocket would not be appreciably more expensive than a 70mm rocket based on materials. S/F...Ken M

[rmgill]

Ken, your system is starting to sound an awful lot like the Calliope fitted to shermans during WWII for more firepower.

 

What about taking a 1.5 ton generator trailer that's been divested of its trailer and setting up your system on that? You'll need a pivot point, but it'd be tricky. I'm trying to think of something that would work.

 

Here's a daft question. Are there any Stinger HUMMWV's sitting around doing nothing (steal em?)? That'd be a perfect platform for your two pods of rockets and it could fire from the back of the vehicle. Fit a solenoid controlled M240 to the mount as well and fiddle it so its close. You won't have indirect fire to much degree, but you'll be able to pick a target and put a load of hurt on it in short order.

 

Still, a 1.5 ton Generator trailer is the best short term solution (can be towed behind a HMMWV too), that or a 2.5 ton that's lost it's bed. Make it into a gun truck and you could have a good direct fire setup. Find yourself one of those 23-2 mountings and use it for your T&E gear on the trailer and get some Kurds to source you some sheetmetal and polycarb for the operator's cab (protect against the rocket blast). There's got to be a 23mm emplaced mount laying around somewhere. Mount the back of the rockets parallel to a bracket that hinges at the same point as the gun mount and a projecting tube that lifts the front of the rocket pack(s) along the aiming point. You might need to get the vehicle/ordinance repair dudes to add some adjustment screws, but it could work rather well.

 

For direct fire you probably need to get clear on the over the heads of friendlies problems of certain batches of rockets falling short. Still, overall, it could work really well.

[Cinaruco]

Andres, there is a place for overwhelming firepower, but the Russians are using only the hammer because that's all they have. 

I understand, the problem Ken is that the assault on Fallujah caused allot of dead to the Marines. If the city was evacuated why not blow it to hell, Civilians will live, and every asshead in the city will get his/hers wings and you will send a message out there. This comes to mind by the rebellion in Mosul, taking place just after Fallujah.

[gewing]

Has anyone seen the elbit Thermal weapon sight? It looked pretty sweet at the Shot show last year.

 

One reason I liked the Hydra 70 option is the rockets are already in the pipeline, and the variety of warheads available might help convince the upstairs "geniuses" that the flexibility would be useful. Direct or indirect fire, warheads from smoke, through flechette, to HE, APHE(anti-ship, iirc) to Submunition.

 

I'm also still not sure 106 recoilless wouldn't be one of the best things to pull out of the warehouses for the convoys. It also, iirc, had a fairly reasonable indirect fire range. modern ammo would make it very flexible.

 

 

 

 

Well, I'm thinking very hard about taking my GA Precision improved M40A1 with the Leupold 3.5-10M3 with the Gen II mildot.  It's a touch lighter than a M40A1 and has a much better scope.  I'm also going to take my LMT MRP with a 14.5 tube and the whole legion of optics.  An ACOG, a Comp M2 and another 3.5-10M3, all on Larue QD mounts.  That should cover 99% of things I need to kill using hardware I can actually get and it should ensure we actually have enough guns to field the number of sniper teams we need.  The TO/E is bullshit and no one has the balls to say the emperor has no clothes and make his voice heard.  Grabbing gear from dozens of different places and just throwing at a unit when they get in country and calling that a solution is the pinnacle of criminal insanity.

 

Steel Rain, we all know it can be done, it's just as Simon said, the senior "leadership" is safely protected by concrete or distance and are perfectly willing to shift the risk onto the shoulders of the grunts as long as their career is protected.  The reality is that I could call fire onto a God damned school yard and it would be insignificant in the average Iraqi's eyes because the insurgents kill still more and they do it with malice whereas we do it because we're trying better this country and sometimes we just fall short.  The Iraqis understand that there is a war and that people are going to die, they are fully understanding as long as your motives are good.  They want to move on as quickly as possible and that's going to be painful.  They're willing, but we're not.

 

Andres, there is a place for overwhelming firepower, but the Russians are using only the hammer because that's all they have. 

 

Burncycle360, the SMAW is fine for the line companies, what we need is a vehicle mounted DF system to reinforce the Mk19/M2/M240 on the motorized patrols.  The 106 RCL is about perfect since the TOW is too pricy to be blasting at mud huts, which do take a few hits to knock down, believe me.  A mud hut surviving a double 122mm HE charge was freaking embarrassing, believe me.

 

GEwing, there are a variety of OTS systems that use the Hydra 70 rocket pods, often on trailers and often using mortar sights for aiming.  Depending on warhead and rocket motor used they range from 7800m to about 14-15km.  I'm looking for a system that can supplement the 60mm mortar at the company level.  The 17lb warhead would be fine, but it's more a matter of getting something as opposed to making due with nothing.

 

I'm from the bigger hammer club, so I'd really love something in the 24cm BM-24 size bracket, like the Iranians use(Falaq-2 or something like that) but you don't need more than 10-15km range, at most.  A 4 rd towed launcher would be fine.  It doesn't need to be a high logistics draw system.  Supportable by two M998's with trailers.  One can have the LCMR and 3 salvos, the other can tow the launcher and another 2 salvos or thereabouts.  Total crew: 4 strong men  A 70mm launcher would have more rockets but you'd probably have a very similar weight per salvo and cost per salvo would be higher since a 24cm rocket would not be appreciably more expensive than a 70mm rocket based on materials.  S/F...Ken M

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[logster]

Here's a daft question. Are there any Stinger HUMMWV's sitting around doing nothing (steal em?)? That'd be a perfect platform for your two pods of rockets and it could fire from the back of the vehicle. Fit a solenoid controlled M240 to the mount as well and fiddle it so its close. You won't have indirect fire to much degree, but you'll be able to pick a target and put a load of hurt on it in short order.

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The Avenger already comes with a 12.7mm M3P machine gun hooked into the fire control system. It could probably be switched out with an M240 without much trouble (if you think thats too big a round ).

[ThirteenFox]

Mosul is an entirely different animal. They dynamics of the "rebellion" going on here are different, mainly due to the ethnic composition of Ninevah province (Kurds, Assyrian Christians, etc.)

 

It wouldn't do well to piss off the one significant group in Iraq - the Kurds - that actually *want* the US here, so mass destruction isn't an option.

 

The main problem in Mosul is/was a police chief (former Iraqi army general) who was corrupt as hell and suspected of actively aiding the insurgency. The powers-to-be left him in charge for lack of a better man to do the job. Thankfully, he flew the coop during the November attacks (went into hiding and was subsequently captured by a peshmerga raid near Dohuk).

 

I have spent the last 11 months working with the Iraqi police in Mosul; you wouldn't believe some of the stupidity they were subjected to by their own organization, not to mention our end due to lack of trust in their senior leadership. In the end, it is no wonder they folded like a deck of cards when faced with serious oppostion for the first time.

 

A few examples:

 

1. Police stations with multiple thousands of rounds of ammo in their arms rooms but officers on duty with one magazine for their AK and one or two rounds for their Glock (not an exaggeration). The reason? Chief Mohammed wouldn't allow station commanders to issue ammunition without written permission. Officers had to pay for any ammuntion they fired - and that didn't even guarantee they would receive replacement ammo. It was so bad at one point that we were giving officers on the street 7.62x39 we had recovered from insurgents.

 

2. Officers would often go 3 or 4 months without pay due to "distribution problems." Station commanders had to use their own money to purchase fuel for vehicles and to make any repairs on them or their stations. The money was getting to police HQ (we took it their ourselves every month) - where it went after that is anyone's guess. It definitely wasn't going to the guys that needed it.

 

3. They lacked protective vests, helmets, etc. What we did issue them at first more often than not would turn up missing a week later. According to them, "lost" or "stolen." More likely, never issued by police HQ or sold by the officers themselves because they needed to feed their children. So, because of this, there are 12,000 brand new level IIIA vests and the same number of PASGT helmets sitting next to our area on LSA Diamondback. They have been sitting there since April, and probably will be sitting there permanently because Task Force Olympia won't issue them due to the problems I just described.

 

I could go on, but I've hijacked your thread for too long already...

 

This comes to mind by the rebellion in Mosul, taking place just after Fallujah.

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[EchoFiveMike]

RMGill, there are already systems that can easily be procured IOT to field a 70mm(or other caliber) rocket system, I have no access to 70mm rockets here and certainly no time to fabricate something and formulate range tables for it. I don't need to reinvent the wheel, the work has been done, the powers that be are simply too God damned cheap to procure something while they continue to throw good money after bad for the stinking V22 Albatross widowmaker.

 

For a nice segue into Andres' point, the V22 has killed more Marines than were killed in Fallujah. Just so some brainwashed general can fantasize about maneuver warfare and jerk off to the idea. Someone needs to tell these asshats that a V22 isn't going to be remotely capable of operating in ANY threat environment other than completely pacified and at that point, you don't need 400mile ship to shore movement, you need a damned truck, preferably one with armour vs small arms fire. The GO's of today's USMC are leading us down the primrose path, that's for damned sure. Somehow, expeditionary warfare has somehow centered around a few POS geewhiz systems instead of an ethos.

 

All the Avengers are sitting down at the MEU, they don't belong to the Bn's, so they may as well not be in the inventory as far as the grunts are concerned. Generally, IME, if it's not organic to the Bn, it's never there or someone is constantly trying to take it from you if it was chopped to you in the first place.

 

I was sitting down with a few of the Bn old salts and discussing some things similar to this rant. One of them had this idea and it was blindingly obvious yet completely brilliant. Almost without exception, the USMC could fix it's problems by becoming almost completely expeditionary. IOW, everyone deploys. If you don't deploy, you disband. The only exceptions would be recruiting and training, everything else deploys. All the MEF, Div and Rgt HQ elements and their wing counterparts, especially 3rd and 4th MEF need to be disbanded and their assets redistriuted to the folks who go forth and kill the enemy. They don't serve a freaking purpose, especially 3rd and 4th MEF. 3rd MEF is cadre, how useless. 4th MEF is worse, the only things that deploy are the Bn level units, and they fall in on active duty HQ structures, so they are totally useless. All the money these guys suck up can be spent on stuff that kills the nations enemies. As it stands, it's nothing more than a glorified social club. They certainly have not acted as advocates for deployed reserve units, the only time I've dealt with them they've been obstructionists getting in the way of myself and others getting shit done.

 

13Fox, we saw a little bit of that. Then we threw an assload of IP's and ING leadership types into Abu Ghraib and that solved the problem. S/F...Ken M

[schering]

Ken,

 

What do you think about the tactics Ivan (Russians) used in Chechnya? Would they work in Iraq? Example: Launching tons of FAEB over a rebellious city.

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IMO That's for the Iraqis themselves to do, if they feel like it, when they are ready. For The US to do that, even with the consent of the new Iraqi government, would be catastrophic. That is why, as stated recently by the Administration, the purpose of the Coalition is merely to contain the insurgency while we buy the Iraqis themselves the time that is needed to develop efficient security forces.

[medicjim86]

Topic Hijack...

 

Ken, did you get the Mezzetta stuff? Need anything else?

[Guest SILL]

Almost without exception, the USMC could fix it's problems by becoming almost completely expeditionary.  IOW, everyone deploys.  If you don't deploy, you disband.  The only exceptions would be recruiting and training, everything else deploys.  All the MEF, Div and Rgt HQ elements and their wing counterparts, especially 3rd and 4th MEF need to be disbanded and their assets redistriuted to the folks who go forth and kill the enemy. .. .  S/F...Ken M

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Everybody drops, Everybody fights????

[Simon Tan]

Ahh....Genghis would concur!

[Bloody]

Everybody drops, Everybody fights????

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Go Mobile Infantry !!!

[EchoFiveMike]

Still here. We're pushing into the election mission and enemy activity is ramping up. Looking forward to ramped up operations and lots of activity.

 

Jim, stuff got here today, just in time. Everything survived intact, much thanks. It's going into the ruck right now as fuel for the war effort.

 

I hooked a spot as a team leader for the election, perhaps longer, so I'm going out and doing real sniper ops for a change. S/F...Ken M

[Jeff]

Good hunting, stay safe.

[medicjim86]

Outstanding!

 

Thanks Ken... your efforts are genuinely appreciated.

[Brasidas]

Semper Fi Marine. Keep it up.

[Wolfman]

May your aim be true Ken.

[John Nelson]

May your aim be true Ken.

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Ditto that.

God Bless.

[Corinthian]

Good luck to you and your brothers-at-arms. Keep safe.

[EchoFiveMike]

OK, elections went very well in our zone. There were some IDF attacks in our zone, but there were only IZ casualties, and those were relatively few. There are now probably 2 and possibly three more "good" insurgents as a result of my team. The body snatchers were able to recover the bodies but we found some blood, and the shots broke cleanly, and were relatively easy shots. 720yds, 2.5MOA 1/2 value wind, LRF and clear upper torso view.

 

Worked for the US Army, and it went very well. Honestly, it was a much greater pleasure to work for the Army then it is to work for most of our officers.

 

Lots and lots of voters showed up, even after the multiple mortar attacks. There may be hope for this country after all. S/F...Ken M

[Tim the Tank Nut]

The news reports here in Kentucky indicate that you guys (US Military as a whole) did a fantastic job!! ALL the reports I have seen have been positive. The consensus seems to be: GREAT WORK guys!!

 

So many said it couldn't be done. Those that said it could be done predicted a bloodbath on election day. It didn't come out like that.

 

Once again, awesome work!

Thank you

[Simon Tan]

CNN is reporting quite a few insurgents being nabbed while trying to attack the polling stations. I guess down thatways...y'all just 'fast track' these things.

Why aren't the body snatchers also added to the score sheet? One thing I would defintiely do is NOT permit the recovery of the bodies under any circumstances.

[EchoFiveMike]

Why aren't the body snatchers also added to the score sheet? One thing I would defintiely do is NOT permit the recovery of the bodies under any circumstances.

 

We do try. We tagged one guy who tried to recover the first two, but these clowns make a point to attack at dusk and our NOD's are not nearly as good as day optics. We tried to talk a dismount patrol onto the target house, but comms went Tango Uniform with them and we had to make the recovery effort the following morning. Also, a lot of time we simply can't blast the folks who recover the bodies, based on the rules. We're too busy being nice and not busy enough killing shitheads. That's always biting us in the ass.

 

The Brad guys tagged some scumbag stealing generator parts the other day with the 25mm. Made for some pretty good photos. S/F...Ken M

[Jeff]

Lots and lots of voters showed up, even after the multiple mortar attacks.  There may be hope for this country after all.  S/F...Ken M

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That's good to hear, as I recall you're pretty deep in bandit country.

[Mk 1]

Reports on the radio in my area today not only described the success of the polling operations, but also described the interest being taken by the "man on the street" in the Arab world.

 

I heard an interview with one "Palestinian American", who works in the broadcast industry, saying something to the effect that: "Most Arab governments do not practice democracy 'on the ground', but the average citizen in Damascus, in Cairo, and in Riyahd is watching very closely due to the revolution of satellite TV."

 

-Mark 1