Olaf

Zealotburner, You will spend your time: -Installing/clearing/breaching minefields -Installing/breaching concertina wire -Setting up other obstacles such as roadblocks, tank traps, etc. -Installing portable bridges, to include those supported on boats/rafts so that the combat units can cross. -Using demolitions to accomplish the breaching/clearing missions in many cases. -Did I mention picking up cigarette butts? -Lots of freezing, sweating, getting rained on, laying in the mud, bug bites, shooting guns, etc. Think of the Infantry but with more varied skills. Combat Engineers are the first in the breach and, historically, take many KIA/WIA so that the rest of the killers can get close to the enemy. You will go to Combat Engineer School(12B) at Fort Leonardwood, MO for around 4 months. After that you will be assigned to a Combat Engineer unit somewhere. This could be a mech unit or a light infantry unit. If it is mech your unit will support a combat unit with lots of tanks and APCs. Getting squished by a track is something you learn to avoid. For example the 3rd Infantry Division that is know heading for Kuwait. If it is a light infantry unit, you could end up part of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC. Lots of walking and jumping out of airplanes. Fellow 12Bs, what have I forgotten? Good luck. Get in shape before you go, as it makes things so much easier. If you have any more questions, ask. A site with some info: Combat Engineer info

Maybe already mentioned, but what the heck: Small Unit Actions During The German Campaign In Russia . Printed by the US Army Center of Military History in 1953,1944, and 1988. The chapters cover the following subjects: Infantry, Armor, Engineers, Fighting in Talga and Tundra, Russian Operations at River Lines, Forest Combat, and Antipartisan Warfare. The chapters have dozens of informative articles with such titles as: Company C Counterattacks during a Snowstorm, The Struggle for Shelter, Russian Mine-clearing methods, A unique underwater bridge, German and Russian combat tricks, and Attack on a Partisan headquarters. Lots of tactical maps and pictures are included. Very impressive small unit tactics, techniques, and combat descriptions. US Army Center of Military History This great book and many others can be purchased from Uncle Sam.

Here is the site in case you wanted to subscribe. I have been reading it for years. World War II magazine site

The article, Panzer Commander's Hussar Ride, can be found in this months (FEB 02) issue of World War II. The magazine costs $5 US and $6 Canadian. Sergeant Fischer of the 5th SS Panzer Division Viking is ordered to hunt down some T-34s that have broken through and are chewing up some rear echelon units. It is the winter of 1944 in Russia and descibes maintenance problems, slipping on the winter ice, using buildings for cover and concealment while shooting, using HE rounds to get T-34s to move so as to shoot with AP, and a bunch of other things that show how tank crews operated and engaged the enemy. Their 50mm cannon is outdated but they manage to do the job. He is credited with 17 confirmed tank kills during his 5 years of service. For you Eastern Front history buffs, it mentions the Belgian volunteers who served as infantry during the engagements.

I read a article many years ago about a WWII Pacific island battle that described Japanese infantry prying open the hatches of an American light tank that was disabled. They then poured gasoline down the hatch and set the crew/tank on fire. Horrible but very effective.

Does anyone now if BTS is kind enough to include divorce paperwork in the CMBB package? I will need them when it shows up as my wife has threatened to take a baseball bat to the computer. Now that I think about it, we do not have a baseball bat, as I quit playing many years ago after my batting average dropped below .100

Elijah Meeks, You might want to to a search for a book on the subject as quite a few exist. If I have time I will dig up one of the ones I have and post the info. One of the interesting points was that most of the infantry officers during the initial development of the machinegun did not want it. A bolt action rifle and a bayonet was all that these brave killers needed. Because of this, artillery units received and deployed the initial machineguns. Not until the early stages of WWII did the infantry realize the killing power of the machinegun.

Almost 39 and I just cashed my first disability check from the Veterans Affairs. Oh well, the first 38 have been fun and I hope to get another 38 under my belt before I call it quits. For you fellas over 60, take those vitamins

My comment, "The average Russian lived a much harder life than the average German and death might have been a little more easier to accept" was meant to point out the vast disparities in the standards of living between Russian and German civilians prior to WWII- before they went into the military. As far as when the fighting started, I would say their lives were comparable as far as hardships suffered, blood spilled, family members lost etc.

The Soviets also suffered more KIA/WIA/MIA than the Germans for the following: 1. Stalins rule was murderous from the start(around 1925) and his military/party leadership was in absolute fear of failing when the Germans invaded in 1941. In contrast, most of the German military leadership, and almost all of the rank and file were not aware of how ruthless Hitler and the Nazis would be until the Axis started losing the war. 2. The USSR had a much larger population than Germany and could afford to lose many more military/civilian personnel than Germany could. 3. The average Russian lived a much harder life than the average German and death might have been a little more easier to accept.

The arming distance for the current M203 HEDP round is 14+ meters with an effective burst radius of 5 meters(15 feet).The explosion is very impressive and is a sharp, "crack". The round itself weighs only 1/2 Lbs. Imagine something smaller than the size of a tennis ball being able to rip a human in half.

Great picture of a machinegun crew. Covering their goggles so as not to give off a glare that would bring enemy fire on their position is good to see. I am impressed that they seem to have a 3 man crew. The US army does not have enough infantry to usually man their machine guns with 3 men.I am not sure the ammo wrapped around the gunner's torso is a good idea. (Maybe staged for their friends back home). The belt would quickly fall off and trip the gunner and get too dirty to fire. As I recall from my history classes, indirect fire from machineguns started around 1890. The infantry did not seem to think machineguns(a new weapon system) were worth anything so they were originally assigned to artillery units who were now firing indirectly as the prefered method. WWI changed this belief. The indirect method will work if there is someone acting as a Forward Observer and giving the machinegun crew corrections on were to aim.

The Bazooka round could be used if dropped from a distance that would activate the fuze upon impact with the top of the armored vehicle. (I am guessing that US rocket launchers, mortar rounds, etc did not have an arming distance back then.) This would not take much, only a few feet as the fuze would be activated by only a few pounds of pressure. I tried to find the technical information on the Bazookas- but no luck. I was looking to see if these weapons had an arming distance. If so, then the distance dropped would have to exceed the arming distance. The US has been making weapons with arming distances to make sure the soldier does not kill himself by hitting something too close. The arming distance is farther than the effective burst radius of the round. For example, the rifle grenades shot from underneath an M16/M4 have and arming distance of around 3-5 meters. This does not always work as I know a guy who was wounded in the stomach by a 40mm M203 HE fragment and had to go to the hospital. This saftey feature costs money and US/NATO countries are willing and able to spend the money. Countries such as Russia, China etc. did not/do not have arming distances on their weapons. Maybe an ordnance expert could enlighten/correct me so as to educate other readers. Thanks.

I would try it if my unit had to go through the minefield vs. going around it and, I could not get some combat engineers to do it instead. I would have the mortar crews set the fuze of the rounds so that some explode above the ground while some would blow up just below the surface. The air burst rounds would hopefully get rid of some of trip wires/ booby traps possibly attached to the mines and also detonate some of the mines by activating their pressure fuze. The sub-surface bursts would detonate some of the mines if they landed nearby and also expose unexploded mines so they could be seen. The bigger the mortar rounds the better and artillery would be even more effective. I would then try to get through the minefield by running/ crawling in a path that had the most mortar/artillery round impacts. Keep in mind that mortar and/ or artillery can not make a "path" for infantry to go through as their accuracy is not that surgical. The more rounds the better. I would not tell the mortar platoon/ section your target as they might not shoot the mission since no enemy would be engaged. One a lighter note, I once watched a guy step on a practice antipersonnel mine that would blow the mine out of the ground but not explode the mine itself. The delay on these mines were such that you knew when you stepped on it and had enough time to back off before the mine shot into the air. He stepped on one, looked down and froze. The mine impacted his forehead as the 3 prong fuze ripped some of his skull off. The last time I saw him, he was able to function except that he had suffered some brain damage. I also walked through a practice minefield that I did not know was set up without activating any mines. It made me feel pretty good but the engineers who had installed it were not happy :cool:

ICM1947, You are welcome. The least I could do. Also, since my military experience does not transfer to specific civilian jobs, I can play CMBO, and post lengthy replies ,while my wife thinks I am looking for a job.