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Curious about SF status and a myriad other things


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Steve,

Appreciate the explanation of the TO&E and Bradley loadout issues. Can see it now.. pregame battle prep phase--ten hours to figure out gizmo config on 100+ men, boot the Strykers, conduct BITE, swap LRUs, etc. Be sure to model retest okay, cannot duplicate electronic problems!

I like Yankee Dog's idea. OT, left you a present on the GDF.

fytinghellfish,

America's Army--featuring really pretty TO&E diagrams! No more annoying tactical symbols and organograms. Had to do a memory search on what a RATELO was, before coming up with the correct answer.

Regards,

John Kettler

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Ack! Don't even get me started on the differences between Army and Marines. They can't even be bothered to shorten ranks the same way the Army doesn. Who do those jarheads think they are, coming up with their own lingo? Do they know how much that irritates us game designers? I'm going to write my Senator about this :D

BTW, I just corrected a critical typo in my previous post. I meant to say FACs are now called JTACs, instead I originally said FACs are not called JTACs. What a big difference a single letter can make sometimes :D

Yes, RTO, RATELO, RO guys (did I cover all the bases? smile.gif ) are set up with manpack SINGARS radios. Lose that guy and, well, you're a bit hosed. Guess that's why Company HQs have two of these guys hanging around with the CO!

Steve

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No, we are not researching a USMC module yet. But when looking at stuff out of Iraq you can't help but trip over all the material put out by the Marines. I think they have as many battlefield historians in the field as they do actual fighting Marines :D This is not a bad thing at all, especially from our perspective. The problem is trying to figure out what is Marine specific and what is equally applicable to Army formations. Sometimes it is obvious, sometimes it isn't.

Not sure about radio recovery (or any weapon recovery for that matter) by a soldier from another unit, but key equipment (including radios) will be picked up by a fellow soldier if possible. Weight restrictions being the main limiting factor.

Stryker Platoons have a RATELO and FO assigned to the PL HQ. I have no indication that in the field it is done differently than the TO&E. Can't say what the deal is with Mech Infantry yet. I've not gotten into the nitty gritty of that yet.

Stryker TO&E was completed this week, all the way from Brigade attachments down to who has what equipment. Boy that was an interesting experience. First time working with the new TO&E format. Very powerful, but oh so many blanks to fill in!

Steve

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When I was a Marine platoon commander I always had an RO who humped the radio most of the time. A few times I carried my own radio for a patrol or raid mission. In one exercise my RO got "killed" so I humped the radio. As casualties stacked up I also picked up a SAW as well.

Then I got whacked. Good thing it was just an exercise.

The Warfighting Lab sends teams over to Iraq and Afghanistan and to Horn of Africa to document and evaluate weapons, equipment, and TTPs (tactics, techniques, and procedures) continually. The new HE LAW, the six-shot 40mm grenade launcher, etc...are all off the shelf products that came out from some officer tapping a lance corporal on the shoulder and asking him directly what works and what needs improvement.

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You can't but admire BFC's forum presence. Not over-gushy... but reponsive when appropriate... and personal enough that you know they are talking to *you*. That's pretty cool.

Seeing as I was moved to post today, I could also say: you know... CMx1 was Very Good. No, really, Very Very Good. Six years from now, people will be talking about it, if not still playing it.

I hope that BFC remembers what (in part) made it Good, was it's large scope, in time, terrain, nationalities and scenario editable variety.

You know what I'm sayin'.

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Originally posted by Michael Emrys:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Imperial Grunt:

The Warfighting Lab sends teams over to Iraq and Afghanistan and to Horn of Africa...

"...Horn of Africa..."? Still? We have Marines in Somlia? Fighting? Am I out of touch or something?

:confused:

Michael </font>

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Originally posted by Battlefront.com:

Not sure about radio recovery (or any weapon recovery for that matter) by a soldier from another unit, but key equipment (including radios) will be picked up by a fellow soldier if possible. Weight restrictions being the main limiting factor.

How much of an affect will it be to lose the RATELO? A Stryker platoon will still have radios in the Stryker, not to mention BFT.

Stryker Platoons have a RATELO and FO assigned to the PL HQ. I have no indication that in the field it is done differently than the TO&E. Can't say what the deal is with Mech Infantry yet. I've not gotten into the nitty gritty of that yet.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/7-7j/index.html

figA-2.gif

Scary that I still know all these FMs by name and nomenclature 5 years after I last wore a uniform...

Also note that this might be outdated. Last I heard the Bradley dismounts were being organized into three nine man squads - more or less identical to a Stryker platoon but without a weapons squad.

Stryker TO&E was completed this week, all the way from Brigade attachments down to who has what equipment. Boy that was an interesting experience. First time working with the new TO&E format. Very powerful, but oh so many blanks to fill in!

Steve

Hehe.. if you ever need help with your OOB/TO&E editor you could always send me a copy! :D
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Ah, I stand corrected:

figa-2.gif

The BFV platoon has three rifle squads. Each rifle squad consists of two four-man fire teams and a squad leader (Figure A-2) and has a command launch unit for the Javelin and an M240B machine gun. Two riflemen in the squad are trained and qualified on the M240B—one as the gunner and the other as assistant gunner. Three nine-man squads make up the platoon's dismounted element.
https://atiam.train.army.mil/soldierPortal/atia/adlsc/view/public/9677-1/fm/3-21.71/appa.htm
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Just met a fairly new Bradley driver this weekend. He's going off to Kuwait in Sept and Iraq sometime around the first of the year. He absolutely hates being a Bradley driver, but he is a tiny guy so was obviously well suited to the position. I asked why he hated it so much, however he wouldn't elaborate on why. I don't think he'll feel the same once he gets in theater. The guys he is driving around have to get out frequently, he doesn't!

Steve

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I can understand that Bradley driver guy perfectly.

He will be in urban combat where the main weapon of the enemy is an anti-tank rocket, missile, or a remotely-detonated explosive booby trap. His visibility sucks so for practical purposes he can't look for the enemy or booby traps. Even if he sees a bad guy, he can't shoot back.

Meanwhile, he's riding in a vehicle so damn loud it announces it's coming about 15-20 minutes before it gets anywhere.

And finally, the poor guy is not allowed to leave the vehicle, basically until hit gets a disabling hit from one or more of the above munitions.

That's not a job description I would want.

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