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Desert Storm- The Ground War Begins
February 24, 1991. Major ground combat operations as a part of Desert Storm begin. The ground phase is sometimes described as Desert Saber.
My unit, A Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Infantry, a part of the 1st Armored Division, was originally slated to cross into Iraq on February 25. But the initial successes by coalition forces to the east lead to our assault* being moved up to midday on the 24th.
My most vivid memory of that day is… getting a shot of gammaglobulin in my butt just as word came to mount up. The shot was painful enough by itself. Having to sit on the hard, uncomfortable seat of a Bradley for the next four days and nights did little to improve my mood.
*Assault is a rather grand term for the whole unit going for a long drive. I can’t really recall if we made any contact that day, or whether it wasn’t until the 25th.
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XBoX and the Obstacle Breach
One of the most difficult tasks an armored force can face is breaching an obstacle.
Obstacles on the mechanized battlefield typically consist of an anti-tank ditch, concertina wire, and one or more minefields. Obstacles themselves aren’t expected to stop a force. Instead, they are intended to delay a force.* That imposed delay tends to leave the attacker bunched up, and vulnerable to the defenders fires, both direct and indirect.
Not surprisingly, the US Army has published quite a bit of doctrine on just how to breach such an obstacle. Also not surprisingly, for many years every brigade that went through the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin performed at least one obstacle breach mission, and usually more than one.
The problem is, it is hard to learn the complexities of a mounted breach just by reading a book, and it’s expensive as heck to get the entire brigade (or BCT today) out in the field to practice.
The Army way of learning is often described as crawl/walk/run. Crawl might be standing in a field with the manual in your hands and simply walking through the steps of a task on a very reduced scale. Walk then becomes doing it on a full scale, mounted, but at a leisurely pace, and against no opposition. Run, of course, would be the full up, full scale, full speed exercise.
The Army’s Training and Doctrine Command has established a small cell to produce training video. The graphics are produced on a variant of XBoX games, and are used to recreate various battles or training tasks. And one of them is the Obstacle Breach.
Obviously, a 2o minute video won’t replace actually reading the manuals and then going out and practicing. But it does give a decent visualization of what the discussion is about. As a supplement to to the various training aids available, it can help ensure that time and resources are not wasted in later stages of training.
H/T to :
https://twitter.com/scottjstephens/status/570030898042826752
*Actually, they are also often intended to turn a force (as in seek another avenue of movement), or channelize them on terrain of the defenders choice.
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Nimitz
We were pleased to see Rich comment earlier today on an older post. Rich is connected to the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredricksburg, Texas.
Why the heck does a small town in central Texas host the museum? Well, probably no other man is as associated with World War II in the Pacific as Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz. And Fredricksburg is his home town.
And today, by the way, is Nimitz’ birthday.
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Ex-porn star Sasha Grey gets dragged into a propaganda war between Ukraine and Russia – Tactical Sh*t
(GlobalPost.com)-Former American porn star Sasha Grey ditched her acting career and worked as a nurse for pro-Russian rebels fighting in eastern Ukraine until she was brutally murdered by Ukrainian government forces.
That, at least, is according to an anti-Kyiv propaganda campaign featuring a photo of Grey that has appeared on Russian social media networks, including Odnoklassniki, a social media site popular among people over the age of 30.
Relax. She’s fine.
But it is an interesting look into the social media propaganda campaigns both sides are using.
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General Ripper Was Right All Along!
The Telegraph tells us the disturbing news. Who knew?
Children’s ice cream, Mandrake? How does that fit with your basic post-war Commie conspiracy?
At least now I have something to blame my laziness on…
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Army Testing Stackable Grenades for Infantry | Kit Up!
U.S. Army testers recently evaluated a new type of hand grenade that allows soldiers to connect up to three sections of explosive for a more powerful blast.
The Scalable Offensive Hand Grenade offers conventional soldiers a new capability. Unlike the standard fragmentation grenade, this design offers mainly a blast effect that can be doubled or tripled to suit the job. It has also been fielded to U.S. Special Operations Command since 2010.
Army officials tested it during a recent live-fire portion of the service’s annual Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment at the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Ga.
via Army Testing Stackable Grenades for Infantry | Kit Up!.
Interesting.
The Army hasn’t much used “offensive” hand grenades. The “offensive” hand grenade is something of a term of art, or cant. In general, they produce less fragmentation than the standard M67 grenade or other “defensive” grenades. Not “no fragmentation,” just less.
The famous German Potato Masher was something of an offensive grenade. The benefit of an offensive grenade is it reduces the need for friendly troops to take cover during an assault, while stunning the enemy via blast.
It would appear that this particular grenade is intended for use in buildings such as the compounds frequently seen in Afghanistan, or in places like Iraq.
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Cold War Redux
As the situation in Ukraine continues to deteriorate, with the Russian military and its “rebel” minions never having honored the Minsk-brokered “ceasefire” for even an hour, something like low-grade panic is setting in among NATO capitals. Western elites have a tough time sizing up Putin and his agenda realistically, for reasons I’ve elaborated, and the situation seems not to be improving.
German has a delightfully cynical line, die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt (hope dies last), that sums up much of the wishful thinking that currently holds sway in Berlin, Paris, and Washington, DC. As the reality that Putin knows he is at war against Ukraine, and may seek a wider war against NATO too, is a prospect so terrifying that thousands of Western diplomats and “foreign policy experts” would rather not ponder it, so they don’t.
A classic example comes in a recent press report about how Western foreign ministries are striving to prevent Putin from doing more to destabilize Eastern Europe. Amidst much dithering about how to deter Putin — more sanctions? maybe some, but not too many, weapons for Ukraine? how about some really biting hashtags? — NATO leaders aren’t coming up with anything that can be termed a coherent policy, much less a strategy.
Western nations have consistently underestimated Putin’s willingness to use force.
How can we forget Putin overseeing the Second Chechen War? The 2008 invasion of Georgia? We’ve already effectively conceded Crimea. For that matter, who seriously thinks diplomacy will ever return eastern Ukrainian lands from Moscow’s grip?
Will we see a straight up invasion of Germany right out of Red Storm Rising? Probably not.
But almost certainly some “incident” will eventually take place in Latvia or one of the other Baltic nations that will, by amazing coincidence, be used by Putin to justify some Russian intervention.
Increasingly frequent snap military drills being carried out by Russia near its eastern European neighbours could be part of a strategy that will open the door for a Russian offensive on the Baltic states according to defence expert Martin Hurt, deputy director at Estonia’s International Centre for Defence and Security.
The Lithuanian and Estonian defence ministries have expressed alarm at the increased military activity, and drawn comparisons with moves prior to the Russian invasion of Crimea.
Commenting on Russia’s announcement last week that its armed forces will not cease holding snap military exercises, Hurt, who has previously worked for Estonia’s Ministry of Defence as well as for the armed forces of both Estonia and Sweden, warned against taking this news lightly.
*If you don’t know where they got their blog name from, you most certainly should read this.
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Thank You For Your Service
Last night’s post on servers and service was actually inspired by this post from Doctrine Man over at The Pendulum.
“Thank you for your service.”
I paused momentarily at the words, and looked up from my lunch to see who was speaking. An elderly woman was reaching out to put her hand on the arm of an Army captain, with a look of sincere gratitude in her eyes. It’s a scene that plays out in every airport across the country as a thankful public expresses their appreciation to members of our Armed Forces.
It happens to us all at one time or another. For me, it tends to be a humbling experience, maybe even a little uncomfortable. This is my chosen profession, and I’ve never felt a need to be thanked for my decision. But I also recognize that for many, they need to express their gratitude for the sacrifices we make, for what we give of ourselves for our Nation. So, when I’m approached, I stop what I’m doing and take a moment to acknowledge their thanks and remind them that I also appreciate what they do to support our forces and how much it means to all of us. Courtesy is a two-way street.
Do go read the whole thing, as it is a tale of appalling behavior by not just a serviceman, but a commissioned officer, a chaplain no less!
As JoshO commented on last night’s post:
wasn’t there one of these a couple years back where the waitress made a big stink online about getting stiffed on the tip and it all turned out to be bullshit? Here’s hoping that this is something similar…
Unfortunately, DM’s post shows it is all too plausible.
Generally, when someone thanks me for my service, I reply that it was my privilege. And it was. Military service may sometimes be an obligation in America, but it is not a right. That I was fortunate enough to enlist and serve is a blessing that many will never enjoy.
What thanks does my nation owe me? Well, they paid me on the 1st and 15th of every month, provided me with housing and food, health care and dental care. The nation has granted me certain benefits through the VA and the GI Bill.
What thanks does the citizenry owe me?
None.
Now, that’s not to say I don’t appreciate when citizens take the time to either thank me personally, or veterans in general.
And I’ll certainly admit that on Veteran’s Day, when Applebee’s offers me a free meal, I gladly take them up on their offer (and I most assuredly tip the waitstaff, generally about what the meal would have cost me normally).
And there’s nothing wrong with asking if an establishment offers a discount to veterans or servicemembers.
What is wrong is thinking an establishment should offer a discount or any other preference to veterans and servicemembers.
Our troops are asked to endure a wide range of hardships, from the obvious, like going into battle and risking injury or death, to the more mundane things in garrison life that are annoying and that no civilian employer could ever dream of enforcing.
That unfortunately leads some servicemembers to think that they are special. That they are “the true 1%’ers” gives them some special place in society.
But most of us recognize the key word is “service.” Merriam-Webster provides quite a few meanings for the word, but the one most applicable to veterans is this:
contribution to the welfare of others
We would all do well to occasionally remind ourselves that we served to support the nation, not that the nation served to support us.
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Carter summons U.S. military commanders, diplomats to Kuwait – The Washington Post
KUWAIT CITY — New Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, seeking to put his imprimatur on the U.S. fight against the Islamic State, has summoned about 30 high-ranking military commanders and diplomats to Kuwait for an unusual session to review war plans and strategy.
The summit, which is scheduled to take place Monday, will include the U.S. military’s combatant commanders for the Middle East, Africa and Europe, the three-star Army general in charge of the war in Iraq and Syria, the head of the secretive Joint Special Operations Command, several ambassadors in the region and other key players from Washington.
Defense officials said Carter called the gathering immediately upon taking office last week so he could more fully familiarize himself with the strategic underpinnings of the U.S.-led international campaign against the Islamic State. They said Carter was not necessarily seeking to change the fundamentals of the strategy, but they made clear that he would ask hard questions and press commanders and diplomats to justify their current approach.
via Carter summons U.S. military commanders, diplomats to Kuwait – The Washington Post.
We’re not exactly the Ashton Carter Fan Club, but he’s a far more serious, better prepared man for SedDef than Chuck Hagel was.
He is likely the very best SecDef we could hope for from the Obama administration. Having said that, he’s also going to be largely hamstrung by that same administration, because his name is Valerie Jarrett.
Having the key players of US efforts in the region come together, and explain their position in plain English is a good approach. Having them reexamine their assumptions is simply good leadership, taking a moment to make sure the planning assumptions reflect reality.
Of course, the lack of coherent policy from above hampers its effectiveness. But it’s better than nothing.
And outlawing PowerPoint?
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Suribachi
Four days after the bloody struggle to come ashore on Iwo Jima’s fire-swept black volcanic sand beaches, a patrol from 28th Marines was ordered to the top of the sullen volcanic lump that dominated the six square miles of sulphur and rock. The seven-man patrol under the Executive Officer of Easy Company, 28th Marines raised a small flag. The flag, difficult to see from the beach, was replaced by a larger one retrieved from one of the LSTs offshore supporting the landing. Five Marines and one Navy Corpsman labored under fire to plant the larger colors into the rocky ground. The raising of the second, larger flag was captured by Joe Rosenthal, and became the most iconic and reproduced image in the history of photography.
Many commonly believe that the raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi signaled the end of the fight for Iwo Jima. In reality, twenty-two more days of relentless and ferocious savagery lay ahead. It was not until 26 March 1945 that Iwo Jima was declared secured. Of the six men who raised the flag on Suribachi, three, Sgt Mike Strank, Cpl Harlan Block, and PFC Franklin Sousley, would die on the island, along with more than 6,800 others, mostly Marines. A fourth flag raiser, Second Class Hospital Corpsman John Bradley, was among the more than 19,000 wounded. The man who took the motion picture footage from the same vantage as Rosenthal, Marine Combat Cameraman Bill Genaust, was later killed in one of Suribachi’s hundreds of caves.
Bradley received a Navy Cross for his actions in combat on 21 February, and Strank a Bronze Star. Bill Genaust also received a Bronze Star.
The above movie is the approximately 20 minute production called “To the Shores of Iwo Jima”. Well worth the time, as it is a grim and unvarnished look at the titanic struggle for Iwo. Seldom have the words of a senior officer been so accurate, or heartfelt, as when Admiral Chester Nimitz described the fight for the island.
Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue
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