Special Forces Units

[boogiedowndonovan]

more on what Rae said about SOF training together, NATO operated a Long Range Reconnaissance School in Germany which trained various SOF.

It celebrated it's 30th anniversary last July.

http://www.army.mil/-news/2009/07/02...pecial-forces/

[sic1701]

pmulcahy11b, in addition to operating turf wars, there were and are and always will be political and budgetary turf wars...the branch and SpecOps area that impresses the decision-makers (whether political or military decision-makers...) will get the mission, even if they may not necessarily be the best pick for the job at hand, for the political capital or reputation or budget enhancements that come with the mission.

A senator or congressman or secretary or undersecretary will stump for whoever strokes them the most. Delta or Seal Six or FBI's HRT might be the best group for the hostage rescue mission being passed around, but you can bet a senator on the Armed Forces Committee who might lose his military installation(s) in the next BRAC round will tell the rest of them that, you bet, the MEU(SOC) at his state's Marine base will better do the mission than any of those other guys. And though both the Army general and Navy admiral who oversee Delta and Seal Six (and maybe even the Marine officer administering the MEU(SOC)...) are looking at each other and thinking, "WTF is Senator Blowhard thinking?", if Senator Blowhard can convince the SecDef or whoever else he needs to, sure 'nuf the MEU(SOC) will receive new tasking orders.

And I've never quite understood why it is that Army Aviation doesn't get the A-10. I believe the AH-64 is the next-best-thing, but still since Army Av got the Mohawk fixed-wing aircraft (I think, anyway...saw some on the tarmac at Fort Rucker while I was stationed there), I can't think of any good, well-intentioned reason why the Warthogs didn't transfer over to Army Av long ago. Can you elaborate further?

[sic1701]

Raellus, I see your point. Attrition of U.S. Special Operations units during the Twilight War might force elements to work together who have not before (and traditionally do not, in peacetime)...additionally, there is no experience like an active war to put the finishing touches on training and modification of ways and means to prosecute a conflict. At least ad-hoc units conglomerated from various SOCOM branches can point to specific Twilight War operations or missions and say, "We did it this way, and it worked." and maybe prevent or ameliorate a turf war or pissing contest.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by sic1701

And I've never quite understood why it is that Army Aviation doesn't get the A-10. I believe the AH-64 is the next-best-thing, but still since Army Av got the Mohawk fixed-wing aircraft (I think, anyway...saw some on the tarmac at Fort Rucker while I was stationed there), I can't think of any good, well-intentioned reason why the Warthogs didn't transfer over to Army Av long ago. Can you elaborate further?

The OV-1s are armed with nothing heavier than machineguns and smoke rockets. That's all the Air Farce will allow us. And while you're add it, transfer the AC-130s to Army control, and give us some Harriers too.

[sic1701]

Army Aviation should have anything with vertical lift capability that also qualifies as reconnaissance and/or air support.

I've always been kinda partial to the MV-22 Osprey attack version (with 20mm Vulcan and rocket pods) as described in many of the Dale Brown novels.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by sic1701

Army Aviation should have anything with vertical lift capability that also qualifies as reconnaissance and/or air support.

I've always been kinda partial to the MV-22 Osprey attack version (with 20mm Vulcan and rocket pods) as described in many of the Dale Brown novels.

Oh, the Pave Hammer is hot! I think I have one on my "Best Aircraft that Never Were" page. I have to do the EB-52 series one of these days...

[sic1701]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

Oh, the Pave Hammer is hot! I think I have one on my "Best Aircraft that Never Were" page. I have to do the EB-52 series one of these days...

May we please have a link to this page? (drools)

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by sic1701

May we please have a link to this page? (drools)

Well, having a site that's big enough that I can't remember the names of individual pages...the home page is

www.pmulcahy.com

Look for the Best Stuff that Never Was link, and go from there. There's also a Google Search box on the home page.