Vet 0369
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Posts posted by Vet 0369
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1 hour ago, kevinkin said:
Been meaning to ask this question and your post reminded me. All of the videos of UAV attacks and small unit combat overall, show missions completed during daylight. Does the war stop after dark? I don't think so. Therefore, I would like to understand what is going on at night. What percentage of UAVs can deliver munitions at night? How much traditional ground combat takes place at night? I bet there are a few examples of night time operations. But is there a large amount of action taking place we don't see in the public domain? Perhaps videos posted from daytime are just easier for the public to understand and turn into rock operas. I don't know. Puzzled. Maybe it's playing up the positive with daytime videos and keeping the night actions under secrecy.
Basically, except for raids, patrols, and speciality planned night assaults, the ground war actually does stop at night. Troops are human and have to sleep sometime! Otherwise, they won’t be fit far combat and will start shooting at hallucinations. A typical night for USMC infantry, depending on threat status, would 33%, 50%, or 100% of the grunts awake and on watch for two hour before turning it over to the next watch, except for the 100% watch which anticipates an imminent attack by the enemy.
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9 hours ago, Carolus said:
Greetings everyone. Long-time lurker who has been reading this thread since 23rd Feb of 2022 and now wants to step out of the shadows to thank everyone who has contributed. It has been a fascinating and informative experience to read through it all day by day, despite the tragedy which has brought everyone in this thread together.
I will likely spend the vast majority of my time continuing to lurk, since I do not have the military knowledge to give valuable commentary on most relevant things, but in this first post, I wanted to provide a short summary of an article from the Berlin branch office of a Swiss newspaper which is about planned changes to NATO structure. While it is not directly about the situation of Ukraine, the planned changes described therein seem to be a direct result of the (renewed) invasion of '22 and thus I think it still fits to the topic.
Google translate has not worked for me on this website, maybe it does for someone else who wants to read it in its entirely:
Here is the summary:
- General Christopher Cavoli and a small team has been working on a plans to reorganize the structure of NATO for about a year and these plans will be presented at the next meeting of NATO head of states in Vilnius on 11th and 12th of July
- Newspaper claims as sources 1) a team member who is involved in the planning and 2) a high-ranking ex officer who claimed to be familiar with the work
- Germany will have to prepapre to become a more important administrative and logistical hub for NATO
- NATO is aware of how the Russian attack on Ukraine has turned the world upside down, and in Brussels and Mons, Cold War terminolgy and plans are being pulled out of dusty folders
- Below the Mons HQ and the 3 regional operative HQs of Brunssum, Napoli and Norfolk, two new army staff commands will be created, called "Army North" and "Army South". Army North will be located at the American base in Wiesbaden, Army South in Izmir.
- Both Army North and Army South will be responsible to coordinate NATO troops organised as corps, divisions, brigades and battalions
- the reorgnisation and expansion of staff is the result of both the Russian invasion and of newly acquired members in Eastern Europe which have to be more integrated (and also pay heed to the fact that e.g. Poland has now 4 full army divisions and thus is a larger contributor than e.g. Germany)
- new defensive plans for the three regional HQs Brunssum, Napoli and Norfolk
- Americans want the new Army North and Army south command staff to become operable as soon as possible, which is one reason why they will be staffed to a large part by American officers from their Europe and Africa commands, since no other member state has the same number of available trained staff officers. This is also why an alternative suggestion to build up and place the two command HQs in Poland and Romania was rejected
- Cavoli's plans indicate that there will be 9 to 12 new army corps in Europe which will be fully staffed - a lot of the existing army corps from the Cold War still exist but only on paper, without any bodies
- so far it is planned a corps will contain 2 to 3 divisions with a strength of ca. 20.000 each
- the total numerical strength is not yet decided, but the number of quickly available troops will be increased from currently 40.000 to 300.000 ("New Force Model")
- NATO "Joint Support and Enabling Command" in Ulm, Germany will receive a significant increase in staff and will be responsible for overseeing the supply via ports, railway and air transport which will be routed mostly through Germany
- the plans expect that half of the "New Force Model" troops will come from North America, the other half from European member states
- Europe is woefully behind in terms of ground-based air defense, especially against ballistic missiles and drones, and a new program is supposed to increase the number of European AD
- German government continues to promise that it will provide 17.000 troops forthe "Allied Reaction Force" which is supposed to form a strategic reserve with enough ammo for 30 days of operation, but German MoD will have to be honest in Vilnius if they can actually keep this promise.
- Germany also promised to provide at least 30.000 troops which can be quickly relocated, but it is not yet decided which readiness level the troops will have - either 10 days, 30 days or 100 days
- German troops require improved communication equipment to integrate with NATO, and new digital radio are supposed to arrive until end of 2024 - another topic German MoD is expected to provide an honest outlook about at Vilnius
If anyone sees any error, please inform. I find these kinds of planned changed to NATO very interesting due to the wider implications for the Ukraine conflict but also the global security order. If this article toook me for a fool and none of this is realistic, I apologise. As I said, I lack modern military knowledge.
Welcome aboard! Please don’t feel shy about posting just because you don’t have much in-depth military knowledge, you’ll develop a good base just by reading here. And, some of our most prolific posters have little to no military knowledge, and that doesn’t dissuade them from posting
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On 6/1/2023 at 9:43 AM, Kinophile said:
Mostly correct, but the columns were not rebuilt, just the decks were replaced.
The fun part of these photos is that those are vertical cracks, extending from base to top. You can bet a billion rubles those fractures extend further down. These seem like compressive failure cracks in the concrete, which could be caused by the concrete itself being of shoddy manufacture and/or casting, the rebar inside twisting or shifting (crap steel, bad arrangement of rebar, insufficient rebar) or (and we know this to be the structural history of previous bridges in the area) the foundations are on the ****ty side of a stress curve. The ground below the bridge is notoriously unreliable in different and separate ways.
The extent and consistency of the fractures implies internal failure within the columns extending down to the base, which itself doesn't show cracking, that we can see.
The columns are not clad so this isn't external damage to a system separate from the primary structure - this is the primary structure.
Also, the visual proof its happening in both columns and showing similar patterning implies similar causation and propagation. Because the columns were built in identical fashion this makes sense.
That also proves that it is not a single point failure, but a systemic or area failure affecting both columns.
I'm curious if these columns are near or below the blast zone. That would help explain how the cracking started, which combined with any of the factors above would start a slow but sure, internal failure cascade. It could also just be a **** build.
WHAT? Soddy construction techniques, inferior materials, and poor design! Shut your mouth, this is top shelf Russian design with the best Russian materials! How dare you criticize this monumental Russian achievement. This could never happen. (Sarcasm)
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On 5/31/2023 at 10:46 AM, Splinty said:
So in other words, he's no different than any other politician.
Hear, Hear!
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On 5/31/2023 at 7:44 AM, panzermartin said:
I don't know how the discussion derailed towards the Allied WW2 bombings but I'm sure it was the beyond suspicion poster Haiduk that firts mentioned the analogy. I don't think he has succumbed to russian influence.
OK, I know. I’m very late the game, due to not reading the thread for a couple of days, BUT, when we have readers from backgrounds of ALL THE ANTAGONISTS of WW II, it’s bound to devolve into “I know I am, but so are you! WW II ended five years before I was born. I will wager that the Grand Parents of a majority of the posters weren’t even born when that war ended. It’s just like here in the U.S. where many people are “still fighting the Civil War” that ended 158 years ago. How about everyone sticking to the thread subject of the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine?
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And on this note, an extraordinarily important event is about to take place in Boston! Game seven of the Basketball playoffs between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics! The Celtics lost the first game on their own home court, lost the next two to the heat on the Heat’s home court, but took the next three games with one in Boston and two in Miami. No team has ever come back after a 0-3 deficit to win the series. The other three teams that came back from a 0-3 deficit, lost game seven on the road.
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On 5/26/2023 at 10:33 PM, sburke said:
better not, it is my freakin birthday!
Cool, a Yankee Doodle Dandy!
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On 5/26/2023 at 9:02 PM, BlackMoria said:
At this point in time, I give it a 90% chance the US defaults and the train called the economy goes over the cliff. It should not have come to this but here we are...standing at the cliff's edge and that train is coming awfully fast and it doesn't look like going to even attempt to put on the brakes. And if it goes over the cliff....what does this all mean for Western support for Ukraine? That is the question haunting me right now.
I have no doubt that the “Crisis” will be resolved in time. What you have been seeing and hearing are political “drandstanding” to position for the next General elections via reports from the Left- and Right-leaning media outlets that have their own agendas. The reason I believe it will be resolved in time to avoid default. Neither Party wants to give the other to say “We tried to avoid it, but THEY wouldn’t negotiate in good faith.”
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On 5/26/2023 at 9:10 PM, Kraft said:
Debt has very little to do with "75 years operating beyond its means playing 'global superpower'".
Vast majority of it has come with the last 3 presidents, so from 2009 onwards, which mostly saw a downscaling of outside commitment.
I really don’t want to get involved in something over which I personally have absolutely no control, but the major debt results from 18 years of funding the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and against ISIS. That was four U.S. Presidents, and the U.S. Congress that was controlled by both Democrats and Republicans. EVERYONE bears part of the blame, not one Party or the the other. In fact, the previous President, Clinton, even though he was at the very least culpable in the cost of the wars, was the last U.S. President AND Congress that actually passed a balanced budget that resulted in a budget surplus.
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On 5/26/2023 at 5:49 PM, DesertFox said:
Some De Havilland Mosquito Mk VI crews might want to disagree with your statement.
Welllll, there is a major difference between a B-17 or Lancaster dropping their bombs from an altitude of thousands of feet, and a Mosquito, crewed by elite and very practiced members of a Squadron that constantly practices low-level “skip type” bombing raids. First, one set (group?) of bombers took out the wall and others took out the guard barracks (they might have taken out the guard barracks first, I don’t remember). However, even with the relatively extraordinary accuracy, some of the prisoners were killed in the bombing. It was a “wake-up call” for the Nazis.
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5 hours ago, Centurian52 said:
Having played the occasional flight sim (with extra hud assistance turned off) I wonder how anyone ever hit anything with unguided bombs
Training! Lots and lots and lots of actual training.
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23 hours ago, Centurian52 said:
The downside of being the first modern democracy is that you don't get to learn from the example of other modern democracies. We've made a lot of improvements in the last 250 years. But the underlying structure is still based off of 18th century political science. Credit to the founders, it was the best political science available in the 18th century. But it is astounding how far political science has come since then.
Think of it like the difference between an old tank that has been heavily upgraded, and a tank that's a new design from the ground up. The US government is basically an M60A3 TTS (lots of impressive improvements bolted onto a fundamentally old hull). While something like the modern German government (designed from scratch in the aftermath of WW2 based on the best mid-20th century political science) is basically an M1 Abrams.
The U.S. Founding Fathers were intellectually advanced enough to include a provision that any part of the U.S. Constitution could be “amended” by agreement, I believe 3/4ths of the states (I.e. the People) voting in the affirmative to accept the Amendment.
IMHO, that was extraordinarily visionary of the Framers.
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On 5/25/2023 at 3:52 PM, DesertFox said:
Flurschadengeschwader...
Nah, they missed on purpose because the Russian Government, being headed by Humanitarians, ordered them to miss so they wouldn’t endanger innocent non-combatants.
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41 minutes ago, dan/california said:
I am missing something...?
Yes, the new insignia is very similar, but not identical to the Polish insignia.
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6 hours ago, NamEndedAllen said:
Except unhappily now, in the USA. Growing proud displays and embrace of all things Nazi, Hitler by the white supremacy crowd across the country. Swastika flags flown even in some smaller cities (recently here in mine, during a “vandalism” knockout of our electrical utility service.)
Examples recent - https://www.reuters.com/world/us/box-truck-crashes-into-security-barriers-near-white-house-2023-05-23/ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/07/texas-mall-shooting-few-details-knownAs a strict Constitutionalist, and not one of the offensive far-right or just one of the morons who were force-fed hatred by their even more moronic parents, I feel I must say that the First Amendment of the first 10 Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, known as The Bill of Rights, guarantees every citizen of the U.S the Right to Peacefully Assemble, the Freedom of Speech, and The Freedom of Association, among other things, even with those whom the “majority” feel are reprehensible. The only time an American Citizen can lose a right, since a right cannot be taken away, is if that right is used by the individual to harm another in some way, such as yelling “Fire” in a theater in order to cause a panic. As long as exercising one’s rights isn’t done directly to cause harm or violate an existing law, that person’s “right” cannot be taken away.
Even though we might find their speech and symbology disgusting, they have the right to express it.
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9 hours ago, Eddy said:
And that's the difference between a professional and a bloke sat on his sofa - I thought it was for obscuring the bridge somehow
This is the correct question to ask if you’re looking to develop an “intentions” profile. Like “why would the Russians be testing smoke devices to obscure movement over a bridge or water borne movement?” Or, “which way, to Crimea or from Crimea,” And “for what purpose?”
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2 hours ago, kevinkin said:
I am with you. For some reason the A10 has become a polarizing aircraft. Some still love it and others want to fade it out. Maybe it comes from turf wars. Army aviation vs USAF and the role each has in CAS. But having A10s on the sidelines without even giving them a try out in a war desperate for any available firepower is puzzling.
This is absolutely the reason. The Army LOVES the Hog (there’s nothing like a good”Brrrrrrt” for close air support, except USMC F/A-18 Super hornets), and the Air Force “Fighter Mafia” has been trying to get it cancelled and later obsoleted so they can use that funding for more “glamorous” and dazzling fighters. It has been a very public, bitter, and long running fight. The Hog does have some every strong Air Force, Army, and Congressional supporters though.
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4 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:
Yup, technically. In reality I think the Marines view the Navy as an aquatic Uber service.
Steve
Yes, you’re absolutely correct. Whenever Sailors would tell us that Marines were part of the Navy and needed the Navy to take them where they needed to go, we’d simply reply, “Yup, everyone needs their taxi service.” That said though, the Navy and Marines have always supported and complemented each other’s missions. Unlike two of the other branches who are constantly trying to “one-up”each other and steal the others funding while still constantly arguing over whether the Army is violating the 1949 Key West Accords that created the Air Force by arming helicopters.
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3 hours ago, Splinty said:
Actually the US Marines are technically part of the US Navy, but generally are treated as their own branch.
The Commandant of the Marine Corps historically reported to the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), which is the Navy. The Commandant now directly to the Secretary of the Navy to whom the CNO also reports. So, by extension, it appears that the CNO has the Navy, and the Commandant has the Marine Corps. The Commandant also now has a seat on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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13 minutes ago, sburke said:
They have been pushing the boundaries on this for a bit now, but with a very questionable amount of internal support. The real issue is China, but the supplying of arms to Ukraine may be part of a strategy to loosen the public perception.
Pacifist Japan unveils biggest military build-up since World War Two | Reuters
Danke
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9 hours ago, Beleg85 said:
One of more unusual and interesting players in background of this conflict is Japan.
I read that Japanese PM just promised more direct military support in Hiroshima, too, in the form of combat vehicles and perosnnal eqiupment. There are rumours among some millexperts that Japanese are also very active in prividing signal and humint intelligence, but this will probably be widely only known years from now. Several interviewed volunteers in Int. Legion mentioned that they were surprised to see not-small amount of Japan volunteers, too.
To be honest, this would basically stun me. If I’m not mistaken, Japan has very specific provisions in their Constitution to prevent any sort of “extra-territorial” involvement in conflicts. I would be very interested to see how the Government could circumvent those Constitutional provisions.
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12 hours ago, Kinophile said:
For the vets here, Ref battlefield medicine.
This netting on the guys head is for what? I assume a good purpose, of course, but what exactly?
NYT front page.
Not something I have seen before, but I’m sure it’s a newer innovation to maintain pressure on a head wound. One of the reasons for the U.S. Military hair regulations is because you can bleed to death very quickly from a head wound if there is a lot of hair between the wound and the direct pressure dressing.
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19 hours ago, Aragorn2002 said:
Old habbits die hard.
Oh boy! First Orcs and Mordor, and now Habbits?
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On 5/4/2023 at 7:45 PM, Fenris said:
My reading pertains mainly to the German experience in the east.
That mi amigo, is about 80 years out of date. Sort of like the weapons differences between the U.S. Civil War in 1865 and WWII in 1945!
How Hot is Ukraine Gonna Get?
in Combat Mission Black Sea
Posted
LOL, it seems to be pretty standard in Western militaries. I remember the Squad Leaders and Platoon Sergeants, myself included continually “admonishing” the men to “Spread out! One grenade will get you all!”