howard941 Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Interesting piece on a real life Stryker brigade in the Afghanistan Arghandab, a "14 x 4 mile patchwork of small fields, orchards, and vineyards. The dense foliage and high mud walls offered insurgents ample hiding places for booby traps...", linked to from the ARES blog at Aviation Week on 21 Oct 09 here Click through as recommended to the Army Times article. See if it reminds you of the bocage battle in the base campaign or any other scenarios. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clavicula_Nox Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Interesting. Sean Naylor, the article's author, is also the author of Not a Good Day to Die. Judging from that book, and this article, he has a pretty good grasp of things, 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
souldierz Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Good read. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 howard941, Welcome aboard! Much appreciated! I'm appalled, but I can't say I'm surprised. There's a reason acronyms like SNAFU and FUBAR fill military lexicons. As bad as this has gotten, I wouldn't be shocked to see the original top level command guidance reissued--with emphasis. Pretty gutsy/crazy for brigade-battalion to buck the big boss's instructions and run their own war. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battlefront.com Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 MGS are due to arrive in a few months with the next Stryker rotation. I expect they will be quite useful in the more open terrain environments where indirect fire has proved to be less than ideal. Steve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 MGS is reported to have been a bit of a fizzle in Iraq. The electronics got fried and so did the crew during the summer, the gun was too big for urban anti-insurgent work. MGS moiostly sat idle, the Army website apparently even yanked in-theater photos of the beast from the Army website ! But Afghanistan appears to be everything Iraq isn't. Canada seems to have had great success using Leo2A6 as sheer intimidation value. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howard941 Posted December 23, 2009 Author Share Posted December 23, 2009 Thank you John, it's great to be here. I've been leeching off of your advice for a long time in lurk mode. "...the troops learned quickly that they needed to dismount from their Strykers and patrol on foot." from the article struck home. In the game I'm still not getting the timing right often enough. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan8325 Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 I've seen plenty of videos of stationary artillery being used in the direct fire role in Afghanistan. Granted, this is almost always in response to Taliban attacks on the artillery positions rather than pre-planned operations with direct-fire artillery use being part of them. Still, being able to put that kind of firepower quickly from one hillside to another should be something positive that the MGS adds to the battlefield. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 MikeyD, Interesting re MGS meltdown in Iraq. Didn't anyone bother to do a full set of heat soak tests on the electronics before sending the MGS into battle? As for the Leo 2A6, I know I'd be intimidated! That MPAT round could ruin the Taliban's entire day. howard941, You're welcome! I never cease to be amazed by how many times the same basic military lessons need to be painfully and expensively relearned. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
souldierz Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Howard941 In game i had the same problem and learned the same lesson,now my men spend very little time in vehicles, even in the open.Get them out and keep them out unless arty comes down on them.You will have more eyes and guns to hit any threat that comes up.Rushing vehicles around with men in them is trouble in this game. I hope they can clear and secure Arghandab.If the Strykers were pulled out, that means that Taliban are still there and probably taking time to preparing the fields for the next assault that will be done by the Airborne.It might be to soon to tell, but I wonder how current operations are doing? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrykerPSG Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 I know the 5-2 BDE leadership well and can say with great certainty that COL Tunnell and CSM Prosser are both highly decorated and the right people for the job. It is most unfortunate that 5-2 has suffered the casualties they have. The one piece overlooked was the fact that the BDE and most SBCT's train thoroughly for the MOUT fight, as Iraq demanded, however a bit under trained for the more open mountainous terrain that Afghanistan has continued to build upon. The insurgents have also had ample time to prep their defenses, very much like the Bocage comparison mentioned earlier. I am certain the BDE/BN leadership will react to the change and agree with the earlier post, it's pretty brazen to go against higher's directives of how to fight, but as the Commander on the ground, COL Tunnell probably has a decent grasp of the fight around his BDE. My hopes are they are able to recover and carry the fight successfully to the enemy. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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