| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Why the Stinger Unit Was Sent to Iraq |
| 2007-02-19 |
| As part of the effort to give all marines an opportunity to serve in Iraq, the U.S. Marine Corps is sending the 1st Stinger Battery, Marine Air Control Group 18, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. The 130 marines and sailors in this unit normally provide dozens of Stinger teams, each using shoulder fired Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to take down low-flying enemy aircraft. But since the bad guys in Iraq have no air force at all, the 1st Stinger Battery will use their rifles to help provide security around air bases in Iraq. Both the army and the marines have been sending all sorts of support units to Iraq, even if their specialty is not needed. The troops can help out with "force protection" duties. The effort to protect U.S. bases has been a massive, and largely unreported, one. It is one of the big success stories in Iraq, because there have been only a handful of successful attacks inside these bases, while thousands of terrorists have died trying to get in. Then again, it would be awful useful to have a Stinger unit available if there was a possibility of low flying small aircraft coming from the direction of Iran. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #2 Why the Stinger Unit Was Sent to Iraq I didn't include this bit of info I received last week and left some of it in the comment section yesterday, #4 . My friend in the Balad environs [Apache tec mechanic] also said that 'recently' (?) some American Stingers were stolen in Iraq, by the Jehadi shit-heads somehow? (i suspect rogue elements of the Iraqi Army might have been in on it) Of course the first thing I asked him was, what the hell were our Man-Pads doing in the Iraq combat theater in the first instance? He said that he only heard that they had been stolen but that didn't know any of the particulars why they were in Iraq to begin with. If I get anything further that seems safe to comment on I'll share it. keep in mind my 'report' could be just another rumour. |
| Posted by: RD 2007-02-19 23:46 |
| #1 Stingers sound just what the doctor would order for low slow UAV type flying bombs the Iranian's experimented with in Lebanon. |
| Posted by: C-Low 2007-02-19 23:15 |