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#31
10-15-2010, 06:16 PM
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Ha, true! I don't have any personal stories, but I can pass along one second-hand about a new LT. A friend of mine was in the local militia unit (the Royal Westminster Regiment, part of the Reserve Force Command) which practices on a regular basis in Washington State at Yakima against regular US Army and National Guard counterparts, including the Rangers based at Ft. Lewis. According to him, the Rangers were the only Enemy Force that ever kicked their butts. While training against Rangers acting as the Enemy Force, they were ambushed while moving along a road. After breaking contact the new platoon leader's bright idea was to attack again down the same road (instead of trying to flank them) because "...they'll never expect that!" Apparently, they did. I think he tried the same approach again using the same shaky theory, and it went about as well as the first two times. Tony 
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#32
10-15-2010, 10:29 PM
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Our Bradley transition at Ft. Stewart got quite...eventful one day. Over about an area of four acres, there were almost 40 vehicles stuck in the mud at one point. A Bradley blundered into a mud pit...the platoon leader came to investigate, and got stuck...and so on. Everything from Bradleys to the mortar tracks to the M-88s and M-578s that were set in to recover them got stuck in a huge mud bog. Just about every heavy vehicle in the battalion was stuck at one point, for several hours. We lost a good two days of training from that little incident.
__________________
I'm guided by the beauty of our weapons...First We Take Manhattan, Jennifer Warnes Entirely too much T2K stuff here: www.pmulcahy.com
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#33
10-16-2010, 06:33 AM
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The only way the vehicles got pulled out of the bog, was we connected each vehicle together, and looped about 200 meters of cable around a WWII bunker to anchor and pulled the them out, one by one. Have to admit, I'd love to seen a battalion stuck in the mud!
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#34
10-16-2010, 01:35 PM
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__________________
I'm guided by the beauty of our weapons...First We Take Manhattan, Jennifer Warnes Entirely too much T2K stuff here: www.pmulcahy.com
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#35
10-16-2010, 10:23 PM
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Its the only way to keep your sanity! Besides, watching the colonel screaming at the major; the major screaming at the captain; the captain screaming at the lieutenants...and then watching the pretty colors the Lieutenants face turns when the ole Platoon Sergeant turns to him and says "You do realize, sir, that there is no fucking way a 5-ton wrecker is going to pull a 70-ton tank out of the mud?"
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#36
10-16-2010, 11:36 PM
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That's the hardest job of platoon sergeants, First Sergeants, and Sergeants Major -- to make "suggestions" to their less-experienced and less-wise officers. Doesn't always work, though...
__________________
I'm guided by the beauty of our weapons...First We Take Manhattan, Jennifer Warnes Entirely too much T2K stuff here: www.pmulcahy.com
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#37
10-17-2010, 07:23 AM
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I was serving as a driver on the 36-tank when we got a new butter bar fresh from Armor Officers Basic, after observing this one on the first day, the crew's opinion was that perhaps he had taken a left turn at the Naval Academy and found himself in the wrong service.
This opinion was shared by the CO, because a converstation was overheard after day 3 of this officer's armor career... "Lieutenant, your Platoon Sergeant is a twelve year veteran of tanks, you haven't even worn the shine off of your first pair of bars! You are to check with your Platoon Sergeant before making anymore decisions." By the time I rotated stateside, our Lieutenant had turned into one of the best Platoon Leaders in our battalion.
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#38
10-17-2010, 07:40 AM
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I've always been proud to have spent a large portion of my career in the Armored Cavalry Regiments, in my humble opinion the ACRS have produced some of the finest NCOs and officers that I have ever seen. Going through my journals, I found a story of one exception...
I was stationed with 3-2 ACR in Amberg, FRG one January when we had the monthly alert sound one frozen morning. While the drivers rushed to the motor pool to get the vehicles started, I went down to the arms room to draw the crew-served and personnel weapons for my tank. Our protocol for an alert was to dress in MOPP Level III (chemical protective suit and those thrice-damned excuses for rubber boots), flak vest, kevlar and LBE. With all of that, I loaded up with four M1911A1 pistols, one M-16A1, two M-240Cs and the body of a M-2HB and our ammo can holding the firing pin for the 105mm cannon. I then grabbed my ruck and started up the hill to the motor pool. The side walk was covered in the typical German mix of ice and sleet and crowded with troopers, trying to make their way up a 40 degree slope while wearing rubber boots with slick soles. Our squadron's S-3 was a certain major who had earned the nickname of Major Pitch-a-Bitch. He was truely loved! There was even a betting pool in the squadron on how long he would last in a war, the longest was a bet that someone would frag him within the first five minutes! Picture our beloved major, standing in the doorway, screaming at the heavily loaded troopers trying to make their way up an ice-covered slope... And inside that mass of 200+ troopers, a lone trooper earned the undying gratitude of his fellows "It's easy for you to tell us to run up the fucking hill you stupid son of a bitch!"
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#39
10-17-2010, 09:19 PM
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Here's another stupid GI trick...
While tankers on running their Table VI, VII and VIII gunnery programs, there is a lot of time spent on administrative hold, waiting your troops turn at the range. Needless to say, many units take this time to run the troopers into the training barracks and give them time to eat in the mess hall, take showers, PX runs, etc. And since the tanks have their automatic weapons mounted, they leave several armed guards to take care of things... Anybody cringing in terror yet? Guard duty has to be one of the most thankless tasks that a young soldier has to endure, especially when its a 18-19 year old. And bored soldiers tend to come up with, shall we say, rather odd means to pass the time... The M-60A1 tank had its .50-caliber machine gun mounted in a coupla and ejected the empty casings and links down the front of the tank where they tended to get caught in every possible nook and cranny. The M-85C machine gun also had a problem with misfires and you could almost always find a few dud rounds, just waiting to be put to use. This trick involves tracer rounds, a book of matches and a P-38 can opener. The bored trooper pulls the bullet portion out of the case, making sure to spread the lips of the opening as much as possible and pours about 1/3 of the powder out to the fender. You take your trusty can opener and use the point to pierce the copper cover over the tracer element, you then reinsert the bullet, point first, into the cartridge and pour gun powder over the top of the tracer...strike a match to the powder and watch the flash, hear the pop and watch the bullet, with its tracer lit...go up about 70 meters or so into the air....and hope that it doesn't land on a dry brush, Range Control is never amused by range fires.
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#40
10-17-2010, 10:04 PM
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Here in Australia mucking about with ammo like that (or even just having a few bits of expended brass in your pocket) would get the offending soldier up on a charge quicker than they could blink.
I'd hate to imagine what sentence screwing with the tracers would get you, but it wouldn't be pleasant. Throw in starting a fire and it's likely to involved gaol time and dishonourable discharge.
__________________
If it moves, shoot it, if not push it, if it still doesn't move, use explosives. Nothing happens in isolation - it's called "the butterfly effect" Mors ante pudorem
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#41
10-18-2010, 03:46 AM
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Its a similar situation here in the UK Leg. Every time we were on the range we'd be lined up afterwards, reminded that it was a criminal offence to remove rounds or brass from a range, be given a chance to return any we had and then do a declaration to the OC or range officer (whoever was the senior rank) stating 'I have no live rounds or empty cases in my posession sir/sgt etc"
As far as I know this was the case across the UK, but that may have only happened in NI (or with NI units) due to our 'unique' security situation.
__________________
Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird.
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#42
10-18-2010, 04:01 AM
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It was the same in every unit I was in. The only (minor) difference we had to the UK seems to be the wording of the declaration: "I have no live rounds or range produce in my possession, sir!"
You could have half a dozen AT rounds in your back pocket up until that declaration, but if anything (even one expended 7.62mm casing or a piece of link from a machinegun belt) was found afterwards, you were in SERIOUS shit.
__________________
If it moves, shoot it, if not push it, if it still doesn't move, use explosives. Nothing happens in isolation - it's called "the butterfly effect" Mors ante pudorem
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#43
10-18-2010, 04:46 AM
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It's the same on any UK range, whether it be blank or live firing. As TiggerCCW said, at the end of every range or exercise you line up, are reminded that it is a civil and military offence to have ammunition in your possession, given a few minutes to check your pockets, pouches and helmet lining, then the RCO's assistants come down the line checking each of you in turn as you give the declaration (precise wording depending on what you have been using). After everything has given the declaration, including the range staff, the RCO then says something along the lines of 'if, upon returning to your home, barracks or place of work you do find any of the said items, hand them in to a responsible NCO and nothing more may be said'.
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#44
10-18-2010, 05:04 AM
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This one (to my shame) is one of my own stupid things.
While augmenting the permanent training platoons manpower at the Infantry School, Singleton, we picked up the trick of cracking open a few blanks and pouring the powder down the barrel. The result is a much louder bang on the first shot which sounded much more like a real gunshot - great for the openning salvo against the exhausted trainees. The critical detail of this is we weren't issued with BFA's (black firing attachment) for our L1A1 SLRs and had to hand cock between shots. A few months later I was enemy party for an JNCOs course on small unit tactics. Casting my mind back I remembered the trick with the additional powder, ripped off the BFA, threw in a few blanks worth of powder and replaced the BFA while waiting in ambush. The first shot was satisfyingly loud and violent. Stunned and deafened, it took me a moment to register what had happened - the additional powder in the barrel, and tiny hole in the BFA for the gas the escape had forced the breach back and body of the weapon to partly open. Snapping the rifle closed again with some difficulty, I continued on firing in a daze. A few hours later and it comes time to pack up an head for home. To save time we usually stripped and cleaned our weapons while in the back of the truck. Unfortunately the rifle would not open - corporals, sergeants, warrant officers all tried and failed. The force of the blast had completely jammed it and it had to be sent off to the armourers for repair. Fortunately for me nobody worked out what the real cause was.... 
__________________
If it moves, shoot it, if not push it, if it still doesn't move, use explosives. Nothing happens in isolation - it's called "the butterfly effect" Mors ante pudorem
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#45
10-18-2010, 01:07 PM
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It's normal to do the "no brass, no ammo sergeant!" as well. Which makes the National Guard experience that much more difficult. To save wear & tear on the NG tanks, they often use Regular Army tanks for their range practice over the weekend.
Monday morning, when you went to the motor pool to check the tanks, you could always count on finding 2-3 main gun rounds, at least 1,000 rounds of machine gun ammo, not to mention smoke grenades for the launchers, smoke grenades, artillery simulators and a wide assortment of blank ammo, all ready for use.
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#46
10-18-2010, 05:58 PM
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Ooooooo, that's just scary! Imagine having all that ammo just laying about where any nutjob could get at it. Even worse is having live and blank ammo mixed together in the same place (see post #21 for why).
__________________
If it moves, shoot it, if not push it, if it still doesn't move, use explosives. Nothing happens in isolation - it's called "the butterfly effect" Mors ante pudorem
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#47
10-18-2010, 06:29 PM
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When my reserve unit (1/23 Marines, an Infantry Bn) got called up during Desert Storm, the Ammo Techs- the guys that went to the bunkers and drew ammo and explosives for the line companies- worked for me. After it was determined we were just going to sit it out in Pendleton, the CO gave us permission to fly home and drive our own vehicles back.
By the time we were released, I think I had everything an infantry co. uses as far as ammo, except det cord and mortar rounds in the back of my truck. Got pulled over once by California Highway Patrol, he let us slide without a ticket or a search, thank God.
__________________
Just because I'm on the side of angels doesn't mean I am one.
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#48
10-18-2010, 06:33 PM
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Soooo, you're an NA agent, right? 
__________________
If it moves, shoot it, if not push it, if it still doesn't move, use explosives. Nothing happens in isolation - it's called "the butterfly effect" Mors ante pudorem
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#49
10-18-2010, 06:38 PM
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Quote:
__________________
Just because I'm on the side of angels doesn't mean I am one.
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#50
10-18-2010, 08:52 PM
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Yup! It is amazing the amount of "material" that follows you home. Flares, smoke grenades, artillery simulators, NBC suits, magazines (WHAT!?!? pay 30.00 bucks for civilian mags???).
And yes a copy of the old border maps went home with me when I left Germany.
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#51
10-19-2010, 03:43 AM
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For those of us who have been stationed at Fort Hood, I'm sure that you all remember how Manning Mountain sticks right out of the maneuver area. Highest elevation on post and, needless to say, a fairly unmistakeable landmark.
While test flying the latest AH-1S, a 6th Air Cavalry Combat Bridgade pilot flew right into the side of Manning Mountain. The crew were dinged up, but the bird was, errrr, toast. The next day, while the accident inspection team was surving the wreck, another AH-1S, flown by the company commander, flew into Manning Mountain, less than 100 meters from the crash site! The lesson learned form this, you should always maintain enough attitude when sight-seeing!
__________________
watch free movies online
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#52
10-19-2010, 04:01 AM
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Quote:
__________________
 "It is better to be feared than loved" - Nicolo Machiavelli
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#53
10-19-2010, 04:05 AM
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Quote:
I'm inclined to think it's a spam post for the online movie site in his sig and therefore a subject for deletion (and if he shows an inclination for the same trick again then subject for banning).
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#54
10-19-2010, 03:09 PM
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From Dragoon500ly
Quote:
__________________
My Twilight claim to fame: I ran "Allegheny Uprising" at Allegheny College, spring of 1988.
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#55
10-19-2010, 03:56 PM
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#56
10-19-2010, 04:04 PM
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Seen on a firing range at Grafenhower, Germany...
2nd Lieutenant, half way through his first tour is on the machine gun range getting ready for the .50-caliber table. It's the first firing of the day, and everyone is just waiting for the morning fog to lift. He's in his coupla, the range is hot, he's got 210 rounds of .50 ball-n-tracer, and several deer are spotted downrange... Needless to say, our avid hunter burns the belt out, shredding four deer before the screaming of Range Control registered. Yup! He didn't make his 1st Lieutenant on time, AND the Germans wanted their pound of flesh. It worked out to $900.00 per deer in fines!
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#57
10-20-2010, 12:33 AM
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This one is not so stupid, but I soooo wish I had thought this on up!
As a cavalry scout, one of the fun things that we do is play with mines. Now, by no means, are we as trained with them as a combat engineer, but we do take pride in being just a bit more devious. The M-18A1 Claymore anti-personel mine is a wonderful device to play with, not only can you rig it with a variety of fuses, you can also command detonate it. The problem with a command detonation is, of course, that an alert scout can spot the commo wire leading from the claymore, and this leads us to the "Four Way Wack Trap." Step one, you set up a claymore, poorly hidden (like a nice, hasty ambush) and you leave a bit of commo wire showing, leading off in one direction. For some odd reason, people playing with claymores like to led the wires straight back to their fighting position. Step two, two additional claymores are wired onto branches, several feet overhead and directed to cover the kill zone and wired for command detonation. Step three, looking over the selected kill zone, several toe-popper mines are scattered around likely places that your victims would use for cover, after the overhead mines go off. Step four, pick 3-4 good sized trees, overlooking your selected kill zone...and wrap 5-6 times with det cord, be sure to cover the cord with mud and moss to blend in! Step five, almost done! Be sure to take a mix of frag and WP grenades and wire the safety pins directly to the branch and be sure to straighten the pins just enough so that when the trees fall, the grenades will bounce free and add that little extra bit of mayhem to your ambush. The Sergeant who taught this one was a three tour Vietnam War vet who always swore that this was one of the most deadly remote ambushes that he ever saw.
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#58
10-20-2010, 12:47 AM
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After a National Guard drill at Ft. Hood, before we headed in, one M-60 tank (we were operating as a combined arms team for that drill) decided to destroy some of the native trees. They'd get the tank up to speed and the trees would splinter. Our platoon sergeant said to us, "You know, they're going to get a fine for that, and the TC's going to get an Article 15." And he was true on both counts.
__________________
I'm guided by the beauty of our weapons...First We Take Manhattan, Jennifer Warnes Entirely too much T2K stuff here: www.pmulcahy.com
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#59
10-20-2010, 10:26 AM
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#60
10-20-2010, 01:47 PM
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I talked to an American-Vietnamese war veteran once who complained he got fined more for accidentally shooting a water buffalo than civilians. Hard to judge the veracity of that one... Speaking of Stupid GI tricks, here's a strip from the web comic "Terminal Lance":  "Though it may seem like going from song to pubic arson is slightly far-fetched, I may remind you that Marines are a very special kind of animal. As well, when a Marine is bored, the final step of boredom is always something involving the genitals. Lighting one’s pubes on fire isn’t just something I made up either, this actually happened at least three times that I can recall while on my first Iraq deployment. These are the sorts of things you can’t really make up. But, point being: when it comes to Marines, all paths eventually lead to the genitals. Bored Marines are some of the most entertaining people on the face of the planet. Where else can you watch a common conversation turn into a wrestling match? Or watch common conversation turn into someone getting the tan-belt choke hold until they go unconscious? Or watch common conversation turn into genital injury? If I miss anything about the Marine Corps, it’s seeing what absurd and ridiculous things come of Marines with too much time on their hands." Tony
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