Posted on 03/02/2007 6:17:20 AM PST by Brujo
What began as a routine training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident after a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein.
According to Swiss daily Blick, the 170 infantry soldiers wandered just over a mile across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back.
...
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Interior ministry spokesman Markus Amman said nobody in Liechtenstein had even noticed the soldiers, who were carrying assault rifles but no ammunition. "It's not like they stormed over here with attack helicopters or something," he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070302/ap_on_fe_st/mistaken_invasion
In a related development, France announces her surrender !!!
Pity it wasn't France, they would have already surrendered.
What kind of army carries weapons but no ammunition? The Barney Fife Army!
It's obviously a quagmire and it will generate a Lichtensteinian civil war. Pull out now.
oops!
doncha just HATE it when that happens??
perhaps they might want to consider putting compasses in their army knives.
just a thought
Or the US military while training.
If Hilliary gets in, OURS.
Well, it was only 170 soldiers and they were walking. Liechtenstein is about the size of Washington, DC, so it's believable that they weren't noticed.
... who were carrying assault rifles but no ammunition ...
Of course, entering Washington, DC, without ammunition is probably suicidal. :-)
Hmm, I thought they ran right through the checkpoint? Oh, wait, I remember now, that wasn't a Pershing Missile Battery, it was an UAV (Urban Assault Vehicle), as documented in that fine Army recruiting movie, Stripes.
I was goaded (by a Swiss woman) a few things about Switzerland. At 1 point, she told me, "We are a small country with a military only for defense." So, naturally, I had to ask how Switzerland would ever defend itself if attacked, given that all the other Europeans would wring their hands and say, "We are pacifists." Her answer was, "There are tunnels in the Alps." She made a little hand gesture. In essence, she told me that if Switzerland were ever attacked, the Swiss army was hide itself in the tunnels in the Alps. That's what it means to have a military only for defense. Europeans, gotta luv 'em!
"This aggression will not stand."
While training in a non-secure area? Most armies do. In fact, most won't even issue blanks off of a military reservation.
Doing a night march in a civilian area? Absolutely no ammo. (Protection against wildlife in remote areas may be arranged for as a unnit, but not as individual soldiers, IMO.
Oh - And I was a CPT in the Army, so I'm not exactly guessing.
LOL! See my post 16.
That's the fact, Jack!
The Swiss are a pretty scary bunch from a military standpoint. Real big belivers in Pro Pace Para Bellum. All major tunnels/bridges in/out of the country are pre-bracketed to accept charges to cut them, along with tanktraps in place to pin whoever might get past. There are artillery units that are dispersed throughout the countryside, hidden in the hillsides, and ready to deploy. Underground airbases, airbases cut into the sides of mountains. Yeah - they're small - but I wouldn't want to be the country that tried to take them on. They would bleed you to death.
Let's see, Swiss troops advance into Liechtenstein only to have to pull back to the border in some state of confussion .... dare I say it, this may be the greatest moment in Liechtenstein's glorious military history!!!!
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