drrowley Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 in 73 to mid-75 was with 9th inf, 1/11 battalion, bn FDC (105mm). Then, until 77, Ansbach grmy, 2/28 battalion, bn FDC (175mm). was wondering what era you were FDC? Ever do any FOing? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal_Mother Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Actually I started in field artillery survey--mos 82C--in 1989. A few years later they introduced a new system for deriving the orienting line for the howitzer battery...involved a big gyro driven unit that you could mount in the back of a jeep (we didn't have Hummers yet) Anyway, when that happened 82C became obsolete, so they put me in FDC instead. I was in the National Guard in a couple different units, 155mm mobile howitzers and 105s. I can't remember exactly what year I started FDC, but I got out in 1995. And no, I never got to do any FOing, but I do remember getting to accompany them just to see it at least once. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drrowley Posted October 24, 2011 Author Share Posted October 24, 2011 So, do you remember, was it call an INS (inertial navigation system) or IMU (inertial measurement (or mapping) unit)? little early for GPS, i think. army has done away with surveying or just in NG units? if so thats scary..... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal_Mother Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 It was inertial but I don't remember it being referred to by either INS or IMU. They called it PADS: Positional Azimuth Determining System. It weighed probably at least 50-60 lbs and occupied a cube about 2 1/2 feet a side. You would enter your map coordinates at whatever registered point was available with a plumb bob out the back of the jeep and then drive to where the battery was set up, and it would do all the calcs. to give you the orienting line. Nifty piece of equipment for its day. I don't know about other applications, but artillery survey has been gone since approx. 1992. Don't know for sure but I seriously doubt the army uses survey for anything anymore. We better hope our tech doesn't fail us since we really don't know how to do squat anymore, huh? So where were you stationed? I of course did basic/AIT at Fort Sill and then served in units in West Virginia & Minnesota. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 We better hope our tech doesn't fail us since we really don't know how to do squat anymore, huh? No fooling. I wonder what makes the guys on top assume that if we got into a war with a major power—or even a minor one with access to some advanced technology—that the first thing they would do wouldn't be to try to disable our satellites, including GPS. The first rule of warfare is Something Always Goes Wrong, and if someone figures out a way to disable some of the complex technologies we are becoming increasingly dependent on, I sure hope we have a Plan B. And maybe a Plan C as well. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger33 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I can't really add anything to this except that I live about 25 miles from Ft. Sill and can hear it every time those guys play with the artillery. The funniest thing is when you take someone to Lawton, OK who doesn't know about the artillery training base and they freak out when no one else reacts to what sounds like a war going on at the edge of town. Er, that sentence sucks but you get the idea 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal_Mother Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I can't really add anything to this except that I live about 25 miles from Ft. Sill and can hear it every time those guys play with the artillery. The funniest thing is when you take someone to Lawton, OK who doesn't know about the artillery training base and they freak out when no one else reacts to what sounds like a war going on at the edge of town. Er, that sentence sucks but you get the idea So when you play Combat Mission you have ambient battle sound coming from outside...cool! And now I think about it I think PADS stood for Position and Azimuth Determining System. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drrowley Posted October 26, 2011 Author Share Posted October 26, 2011 "..tech doesn't fail...", gps is very easy to jam, surprised it hasn't happened yet. ait at fort sill, ft lewis wa, then ansbach germany. whenever there was a cold inversion over ft lewis, the range was shut down. seems 8 inch artillary would break windows in nearby tacoma. so, did you get to play with FADAC (field artillary digital (?) computer). 500 pounds of computer, what pain; at least it did work. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Other Means Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 I'm surprised they no longer train for surveying. I'd have thought it wouldn’t need much kit and would keep the troops occupied – which I think is half of what an Army does. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal_Mother Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 "..tech doesn't fail...", gps is very easy to jam, surprised it hasn't happened yet. ait at fort sill, ft lewis wa, then ansbach germany. whenever there was a cold inversion over ft lewis, the range was shut down. seems 8 inch artillary would break windows in nearby tacoma. so, did you get to play with FADAC (field artillary digital (?) computer). 500 pounds of computer, what pain; at least it did work. They had something similar but I think it was a generation or two down the line, I can't remember exactly what the designation for it was. It definitely didn't weigh 500 pounds though. I remember it had parameters for things like weather, wind speed & direction, ect. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magpie_Oz Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 Civil Surveyor here, did serve in the army but not as a surveyor. Yes the PADS is an inertial system, based on laser accelerometers IIRC, my company did look at using them at one stage but they were way too expensive in the commercial world. I agree with your concerns on GPS, many surveyors now a days know little else and as you point out they are in a world of hurt when it fails. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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