Here's a night shot:
And a closer view of their weapon:
Posted on 11/11/2004 6:10:18 PM PST by neverdem
NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq, Nov. 10 -- U.S. Army observers watched as the white pickup truck sped from house to house in Fallujah on Wednesday morning, stopping more than 20 times to drop off armfuls of rocket-propelled grenades. Every few stops, the driver threw dirt on the roof of the cab, apparently in an attempt to disguise his vehicle.
A few miles away, soldiers in the 1st Infantry Division's 1st Platoon, Alpha Battery trained their M109A6 Paladin, a self-propelled 155mm howitzer, on the truck. Minutes later, a shell shot out of the cannon, whizzed across the sky and landed next to the truck with a massive boom, shooting off shrapnel.
In the resulting cloud of dust and fire, the observers could not tell whether the truck had been hit directly. But even if the driver got away, said Staff Sgt. Shawn Zawistowski, a member of the 1st Infantry's Task Force 2-2, "I guarantee we made him think twice."
Powerful artillery pieces such as the Paladin deserve much of the credit for the ease and speed with which the U.S. military has been able to take control of most of Fallujah, according to American soldiers who have been sweeping through the city over the past two days.
Before ground troops entered Fallujah on Monday night, warplanes pounded insurgent targets with bombs; mobile artillery batteries followed with cannon and mortar fire. The effect was significant, according to military commanders and soldiers inside the city.
"It's made everybody get out of town," said Zawistowski, 30, of Cleveland.
Alpha Battery's two artillery pieces have fired more than 300 rounds in the first three days of the battle. The Marines' Mike Battery 414, which has six big guns at the same military outpost, has launched more than 500 rounds.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Thanks for the links!
Here's a night shot:
And a closer view of their weapon:
O_o
Son-in-law?
Back when the Crusader was cancelled there were a number of interesting articles about artillery accuracy. Not sure if you know the DC area, but they were billing Crusader using GPS to fire a shell from Laurel and hit the pitcher's mound in Camden Yards on the first shot.
Bio-dad. You know how it goes...
Oh, I see. Sorry for any misunderstanding.
Things are amicable, and we get regular emails (grandson sends him ones too). So far, so good! We're all praying for his safe return. In the meantime, we're glad to hear he's kicking butt! ;-)
Ah, what sweet memories. Retired in '88 after 39 years Field Artillery I am long past what is happening in the current world, but I like what I see. After adjusting fire and going into fire-for-effect after several rounds, glad to see that we have first round hit capability
Thanks for the pics.
from the 1/92FA Vietnam Assn website
I should have added that, if you're interested in the artillery of that era, you should check out Bo Prehar's book, "Brave Cannons", available through the web site. Colonel (Then Captain) Prehar was my BC in late '68 early '69.
That looks like the 175mm gun.
The 1/92nd Artillery was equipped with the 155mm Howitzer (M114A1)in Vietnam. This photo is from the 1/92 Assn Web site. (trust me, I'd know one anywhere, even in the dark)
Spoken like a true CDAT, that does not understand how to integrate fires and the combined arms team concept :)
That would be the "pig" or M114 howitzer, of Korea and Vietnam era, the predecssor to the M198.
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