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2005-04-04 Iraq-Jordan

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Posted by tu3031 2005-04-04 4:07:30 PM|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 heh. I spent some time up there last year. Was working for KBR, based at the Mosul airfield, or FOB Diamondback if you prefer.

This is funny. When I left I thought the Strykers were more uptight then the previous troopers, who were the 101st.

Seems that over time the veterans throw out what doesnt work very quickly. These 11th guys are probably new. Justice will be putting them under a fresh unit when they have been on point for a while. they will then know how the Strykers feel.

I was impressed by those vehicles though. They seem to have been made for something other then urban warfare, but they seem to be performing very well.

Posted by Jimbo19 2005-04-04 4:59:23 PM|| 2005-04-04 4:59:23 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 "I've been in the Army 27 years. A happy soldier is a bitching soldier."

on the other hand it could be an unhappy soldier.

Posted by anon 2005-04-04 7:24:40 PM|| 2005-04-04 7:24:40 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 tu3031 has it right. This is classic REMF vs Grunt inteneccine warfare. The only thing lacking is what the SPC said to the SGT and how much trouble he got into for saying it. Or doing it, since it probably involved his boot and the SGT's ass . . .

If it gets out of hand, though, it can lead to serious morale problems as the MAJ should now be a CPT for his ND and it probably got swept under the rug (WPPA).

Note to Jimbo19 . . . the Stryker is not a bad combat vehicle. Overall it will perform the basic duties it was designed for. Now if they would just scrap it and make the vehicle that they said they were going to. The one that can make a 180 dgr turn within its own length on a city street, or be air transportable without 3 days of workup time at the far end. We could make the exceptional vehicle that was envision for the Stryker program. But instead we made a bad version of a 30 y/o design with lots of electronic goodies inside. It would have been better to field a modified M113 (which can be air dropped) for the interim AFV and then make a really good design . . . but too many CongressCritters had their fingers in the $ pie and so we got . . . the Stryker.

Posted by Jame Retief 2005-04-04 8:49:52 PM|| 2005-04-04 8:49:52 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 "It is a great sign of how well our Army is doing that we're able to take the time out to flagellate ourselves over trivial stuff like this."

Flagellate, eh? Are we getting into "Don't ask, don't tell" territory here?

RE the Stryker design: many moons ago there was a made-for-HBO movie about the Bradley and how it went from a big jeep to a mini-tank. Quite funny and not completely untrue.

Posted by SteveS 2005-04-04 10:17:32 PM|| 2005-04-04 10:17:32 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 A unit prepared for parade inspection is not ready for combat. A unit ready for combat is not ready for parade inspection.

GARET TROOPER sung by SGT. Barry Sadler

This is dedicated to the parade field trooper
Who never leaves the garrison and looks real pretty.

Now in the war torn Jungles of Vietnam,
You'll find a special kind of man, you'll see him everywhere.
He's a trooper, a garet trooper

Yeah, he's five-foot four, 228 pounds of blubber.
Got himself a nickel plated .45 tied down real low.
Two bandoleers of brasso'ed ammmo,
Yeah, he's a trooper, a garet trooper

He's fought from Saigon to Nha Trang, in every bar that is,then only with the girls, he ain't won one yet.
But he's a trooper, a garet trooper

He's got a hip knife, a side knife, a shoulder knife and a little 'bitty one. It's a combination dinner knife, flare gun and genuine police whistle.
But he's a trooper, a garet trooper

Now I ran into one the other day, he told me a story.
Said he'd just come back from a 15 day running fight with the Cong. Said he'd captured a lot of loot...
Know what I saw when I looked down? ...a spit-shined boot.
Yeah, he's a trooper, a garet trooper.

Now a poor old pilot came back today, half his crew was killed, aircraft shot to hell, but he don't say much.
He's not a trooper, a garet trooper

And out in the hills in the jungles and the swamps,
living like a bunch of dogs, are a bunch of men wearing funny little green hats.
They stay out and fight for months on end.
They don't say much 'cause 'cause they're not troopers,
garet troopers

And I'll bet when I leave this war torn land,
They last thing I'll see will be,
Though I may be in a drunken stooper,
I'll bet it'll be a garet trooper

Yeah, they're all over the place.
Ain't hardly worth goin' to war no more.

Posted by Slomorong Slomoger5393 2005-04-04 10:27:58 PM|| 2005-04-04 10:27:58 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 I can't find the Willie and Joe cartoon about Garritroopers (garrison troopers, apparently). The gist of it is, Willie and Joe comment on a tough looking character brandishing a whiskey bottle. I won't get the caption quite right, but here goes:
"We calls 'em garritroopers cuz they're too close to the front to stay clean and too far back t' git shot at."

Another features our heroes staring at the medals on an MP's chest. The MP says, "Th' yellow one's fer national defense, the red one wit' white stripes is for good conduct, and the real purty one wit' all th' colors is fer bein' in thistheater of operations."

Posted by mom 2005-04-04 11:02:20 PM|| 2005-04-04 11:02:20 PM|| Front Page Top

01:13 .com
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23:59 Phil Fraering
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