offtaskagain

Coordination is definitely a problem. I know every Marine battalion headquarters and higher has an Air Officer in their COC to manage all air traffic. From talking to a Marine who assisted the AirO I understand that we usually have very good coordination with Marine CAS, but we have had problems properly utilizing AF flights because of our two different ways of doing things. Sounds to me like there needs to be more cross training and standardization between all 4 branches.

Cluster munitions are frowned upon in urban areas, not only for their minimal effect on the masonry structures common to Iraq, but also the tremendous dud rate. There's also legal issues. Take a look at the heat Israel has been catching about them in Lebanon for a recent example. I've almost never heard of attacks in wide open areas. They almost always fire from built up areas. That article you refer to sounds like it was quite the SNAFUd situation. From what I've heard and seen, JDAMs tend to be very accurate and very very lethal. When I was with 3/3 at Haditha Dam they put 4 MK-82s and 4 MK-84s into a hotel and all were direct hits. Obviously the building was completely flattened. One of the rifle squads was only about 150 yards from the builing. Obviously with the MK-84s thats well within danger close, but they were under cover for the strike.

I remembered there being a discussion about TOWs a while ago so I figured this would be of interest. TOW Contract It seems the new wireless TOW round integrates the control system into the expendable round case so no modification to the launchers or crew training are necessary. I wonder if they will have to change the acronym now?

I'm currently in Iraq, in fact I can stand on my roof and look into Syria.

One thing to note is you DO NOT pick your MOS as a Marine. You can sign up for different occupational fields that designate the first 2 numbers of an MOS but not the actual MOS. For example LAAD gunner will probably fall under the Combat Support contract. This includes 0800 Artillery, 1800 Tank/AAV crew and some other stuff I don't remember. In fact you won't even find out your actual MOS until you graduate MCT unless you go reserve. LAAD battalions are being phased out to provide more manpower to flesh out the new infantry and LAV units that are being stood up in the next year or two. As far as the actual gunners, I have no idea what is being done with them.

I'll add to that. I've spent maybe 3 months doing my actual MOS in my whole time in. I was retrained into a completely different MOS for the deployment I'm on now. In fact i've done just about every comm MOS except for my own.

I'll provide the most current info I have on contracts. All military contracts add up to a total of 8 years of obligated service. This is split between active/drilling reserve duty and IRR. The typical reserve contract is 6 years drilling reserve and 2 years of IRR. Anything less than this can cut into your GI Bill benefits. You can also opt for 7 or 8 years of drilling reserve. You will be limited to what few MOS' your local reserve station needs filled. Don't expect any kind of exciting high tech job with skills that can transfer to 100k a year civilian jobs. For active duty you can choose from 2-6 years depending on the MOS. The 2 year contract includes full GI bill benefits but is limited to certain fields. Off the top of my head they are infantry, military police, motor vehicle ops, artillery and supply/admin type stuff. 4 year is by far the most common option. I'm currently 3 years into a 5 year enlistment, which was required to get into my MOS. As others have previously stated, you can expect your initial boot camp to mct/itb to mos school training to last up to a year. You're paid and work with active duty Marines this whole time. Once you return to your reserve station you start doing the monthly drill stuff. The time period from when you sign the contract and get processed through your local MEPS to the day you leave for boot camp is deducted from your IRR committment. It's called the delayed entry program. Your required to attend a monthly meeting/activity until you actually leave. This site helped me out when I decided to enlist. http://usmilitary.about.com/

That's nothing new. I knew tankers who never fired their gun in an entire deployment. Pretty much anything that goes boom is restricted.

I'm not really a radio guy but I think that is the PRC-148 I mentioned earlier.

Nifty. Looks like it's Army only which explains why I haven't seen one.

I'm Marine Comm and I don't even know what that particular one is. It sure hasn't been fielded to us. The antenna vaguly looks like a PRC-148 MBITR but that case is much too big for that. The MBITR can be thought of as a SINCGARS interoperable walkie-talkie. Page 3 has a picture of a Capt. with the handset clipped on and the antenna wrapped over his shoulder. SINCGARS are still everywhere but they've gotten alot of supplementation over the past few years due too its not so portableness. The main ones are the MBITR and Personal Role Radio.

Yeah that's the one. He's got an aftermarket buttstock on it, at least I've never seen that one before.

The latest and greatest mod to the SAW that isn't pictured above is the foregrip is replaced with a rail mount one with mounts on both sides and the bottom for accessories. Usually that means a laser pointer and a peg grip on the bottom. I'll second the Multicam vote. ACU always looked too blue to me.

How about more than one crewmember out of a hatch at a time? From experience here in Iraq, Stryker and LAV scouts tend to be in their hatches at all times while mobile both for extra eyes and to cool off. M1A1 loaders are usually on their M240G as well, since firing the main gun is definitely a rarity these days. Also, I noticed in previous threads some other things I can address quick. These apply specifically to USMC vehicles and weapons but I wouldnt be suprised if the Army is doing the same. M1A1s have already under gone alot of modifications discussed on this forum. The loader has gotten a gunshield, the sights have been upgraded and a phone is supposed to be mounted on the rear for easier infantry coordination. I have yet to see the phone but I have seen the rest. The gunshields I've seen on Abrams are of the glass variety, which is what the HMMWV is also moving to. There is also a new glass turret for HMMWVs and trucks to replace the older slab sided or rounded ones. That one comes with the glass gun shield. It was originally intended to mount on the 7 ton truck but it fits perfectly well on a HMMWV gun truck so some units are mounting them on those as well. It gives the gunner better visibility all around while staying behind armor. I also saw something about AT-4s not being very common. I can say that they are very common in the units I've been with. Most gun trucks will carry one for the gunner, just in case. Theyre also very common in guard towers. Shotguns are also still carried. We mostly have moved to the XM1014 model but there are still some Remington 870s floating around. It's true their main use is as a door knocker, but I've known Marines who've fired them in anger as well. I've got photos of all the mods and stuff I've mentioned so if clarification or evidence is need I can provide it. [ September 04, 2006, 12:48 PM: Message edited by: panzerwerfer42 ]

I'll second that idea.

The basic combat load for a Marine rifleman is 6 mags of 28-30 rounds and 2 grenades. But I've heard more than a few cases of guys carrying 14 or more magazines. Firing on semi auto that can last quite a long time. I don't have any idea about belt fed weapons since I've never carried one.

I'm not sure this will get a ton of actual use due to the 53s primary mission being the transportation of cargo. A ramp gun would greatly inhibit loading and unloading.

M1s are alot less likely to be available to a rifle company than a TOW system. Paying 40K to kill a bunker is alot cheaper than losing one man to knock it out. Direct government payouts easily break 600k per person, plus all the costs of training someone to take their place.

The TOW has a bunker buster variant that the Stryker TOW vehicles use. http://www.army-technology.com/projects/tow/

I've seen a similar glass shield system mounted on the platoon of M1A1s here in Haditha. I'm not sure if its a standardized kit or scavenged parts, but some of the top mounted MGs have plexiglass gun shields on the frontal arc.

I saw some M1117s down at Al Asad a few months ago, so theres no question they are used around here. The Strykers I've seen stop through Haditha dam look the size of a house with their add on armor. The 1117 on paper should be a great convoy escort vehicle, but I have no experience with them to comment on.

IIRC All Quiet on the Western Front had the germans saying their prefrred weapons of assault were a sharpened e-tool and grenades.

Are those goggle clips on those new army helmets standard? I usually end up zip tieing mine on.

You've got that backwards. WP is not considered the most effective screening agent because the burning of the phosphorous makes the smoke rather hot causing it to billow up and dissapate. HC shells are preffered for the most effective screening because the smoke is much cooler and hangs lower to the ground. However WP is basically an instant screen due to the explosive nature of the shell. HC screens take a little bit of time to reach an effective thickness. This is a basic overview of the types.

MARPAT cammies come with pockets sewn in at the knees and elbows precisely for this purpouse. There are alledgedly pad inserts available through the supply chain but i've yet to get mine. A friend said they make shooting from the kneeling quite a bit more tolerable.