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Posted on 04/22/2004 12:00:08 AM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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In July of 1864, Union commander General William Tecumseh Sherman sent cavalry under Major General Lovell H. Rousseau into Alabama with the mission to cut the one remaining rail link to Confederate forces defending Atlanta. The West Point and Montgomery Railroad was the vital supply line for munitions from Selma and war material stored at Montgomery for the Confederate Army in Georgia under General Joe Johnston.  Maj. Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau Rousseau gathered 2,500 troops in Union occupied Decatur with cavalry from the Eighth Indiana, Second Union Kentucky, Fourth Union Tennessee, Ninth Ohio, and the Fifth Iowa. The artillery support came from the First Michigan, armed with ten pound parrot cannons. On 10 July 1864 Rousseau left Decatur and went south through Somersville, Blountsville, and Asheville. On 13 July 1864 the Union force reached the Coosa River ferry at Greensport. During the night of 13 July 1864, Rousseau sent an initial force of 200 across the Coosa River by ferry at Greensport to secure the opposite side in advance of the crossing of the main Union cavalry. Four miles south of Greensport was Ten Islands Ford in St. Clair County, which offered another good position to cross the river. In the early morning of 14 July, the Rousseau advance force skirmished with Confederates on the east bank of the river. At the same time, the main portion of Rousseau’s force began to cross the Coosa River at Ten Islands Ford. They were opposed by 200 Confederate cavalry under General James H. Clanton. The Confederate troops from the Sixth Alabama Cavalry and Eighth Alabama Cavalry attempted to stop the initial Union advance. The initial Union troops were reinforced by the Eighth Indiana, and met heavy but short resistance from Confederates on the east side of the river. Soldiers from the Fifth Iowa and Fourth Tennessee Union Cavalry took up positions on two islands in the river, and succeeded in driving the Confederates from the opposite side of the river, and thereby safely securing the river crossing. The Eighth Indiana was also successful in routing the Confederates from the road to Greensport.  The Janney Furnace was destroyed during Rousseau's Raid After the engagement at Ten Islands Ford, Rousseau also destroyed the Janney Furnace in St. Clair County. The iron works had produced cannon balls and iron sheet metal for the arsenal at Selma, and was completely burned by the Union cavalry. A large amount of manufacturing equipment was also burned, which had previously been moved from the Janney Foundry in Montgomery. On 15 July 1864 Rousseau occupied Talladega. Here his force burned a railroad depot, rail cars, and a gun factory. It also captured a large amount of food supplies, which was destined for Confederate forces in Atlanta. After leaving Talladega, Rousseau employed tactical deception and moved in the direction of Montgomery. This was in order to disguise his real aim of cutting the rail line to Atlanta. Last minute defensive preparations had been attempted in Montgomery, but would have been completely inadequate to repel a force of Rousseau’s size. Rousseau then turned east and bypassed destroying the Tallessee Arsenal, which had recently begun manufacturing the carbine for use by the Confederate Army.  On 17 July 1864, Rousseau first reached his primary objective of the West Point and Montgomery Railroad at Loachapoka in Lee County. Here the Union cavalry began demolishing the railroad for several miles. The tactic used to destroy the railroad was common to forces under Sherman, and involved burning pine railroad cross ties and melting iron tracks until they were bent and completely unusable. The Union cavalry also burned a small supply depot at Loachapoka. On 18 July 1864, troops from the Ninth Ohio Cavalry destroyed an additional six miles of the West Point and Montgomery Railroad between Auburn and West Point, Georgia. In addition, a large amount of supplies was destroyed and a train was captured that had been traveling from Opelika, and was destroyed. The Ninth Ohio was initially fired on by a small force of 18 that was hastily gathered from among the 400 Texas troops at the Confederate hospital in Auburn. This Confederate force was quickly repulsed.  At the same time as the action at Auburn, the Fifth Iowa, Eighth Indiana, and Fourth Tennessee Union Cavalry were sent to Chehaw Station in Macon County. A force of 500 Confederate troops had been rushed into the area by train from Montgomery. The vast majority of Confederate forces at Chehaw Station consisted of 16 and 17 year old boys from eight companies of H.C. Lockhart’s Battalion. There were also 50 University of Alabama cadets who had been on furlough, and conscripts from Camp Watts in Notasulga. Rousseau sent in the Union forces to destroy part of the West Point and Montgomery Railroad that ran between Loachapoka and Notasulga. The Fifth Iowa Cavalry initially engaged the Confederate force. Armed with only old muskets, the Confederates put up stiff resistance before having to fall back to the safety of a ravine. The Fifth Iowa was then reinforced by the Eighth Indiana and flanked the new Confederate position to force a withdrawal. Rousseau reported Confederate causalities as forty dead and wounded in the engagement.  Rousseau’s Raid achieved its principal aim with the destruction of over thirty miles of railroad and the disruption of critical war supplies to Atlanta by rail from central Alabama. This came as a critical blow for Confederate forces fighting in Atlanta. A massive repair effort was started for the West Point and Montgomery Railroad, but was hampered since the original railroad ties had been melted and bent beyond use by the Union. With the effort of slave laborers, it was over a month before the complete rail line to Montgomery was reopened.
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LOL! I hadn't heard that one.
Hi to all in the Foxhole :)
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Air Power |
The Tornado GR4 is a multi-role, variable-geometry interdictor aircraft optimised for low-level penetration of enemy airspace for precision attacks against high-value targets. The GR4 has fly-by-wire flight controls with mechanical back up, and is powered by two Rolls-Royce RB199 afterburning turbofan engines, giving the aircraft a low-level high subsonic cruise capability. The GR4 can operate in all weather conditions, using Terrain Following Radar (TFR) and Ground Mapping Radar (GMR) to guide the aircraft and identify the target.
Designed and built as a collaborative project in the UK, Germany and Italy, the Tornado programme was initiated in 1968 and known as Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA). A new tri-national company, Panavia, was set up in Germany to build the aircraft.
The first prototype flew on 14 August 1974 and initial orders from the three partner countries totalled 640 aircraft, with the work share divided in relation to the number of aircraft ordered; UK and Germany 42.5% each and Italy 15%. The initial RAF requirement was for 220 Tornado GR1 aircraft, and the first of these was delivered to the Tri-national Tornado Training Establishment (TTTE) at RAF Cottesmore in July 1980. The first front-line squadron to re-equip with Tornado was IX Squadron at Honington (previously a Vulcan unit) from June 1982. Tornado GR1s eventually equipped a total of 10 front-line squadrons as well as the Tornado Weapons Conversion Unit (TWCU) (later No 45 (Reserve) Squadron) and TTTE.
The GR4 is the result of a British Aerospace upgrade programme to GR1 aircraft, adding Forward-Looking Infra-Red (FLIR), a wide angle Head-Up Display (HUD), improved cockpit displays, Night-Vision Goggle (NVG) compatibility, new avionics and weapons systems, updated computer software and Global Positioning System (GPS). The upgrade also allows for carriage of the Storm Shadow stand-off missile, Brimstone advanced anti-armour weapon, RAPTOR and Vicon reconnaissance pods and the Thermal Imaging Airborne Laser Designator (TIALD) targeting pod. A separate programme covered an integrated Defensive Aids Suite consisting of the radar warning receiver, Sky Shadow radar jamming pod and BOZ-107 chaff and flare dispenser.
The heart of the Tornado GR4's navigation and attack system is the main computer, which takes its primary reference from an inertial navigation system (INS) supplemented by Global Positioning System (GPS). Targeting inputs can come from the GMR, FLIR, TIALD, Laser Ranger and Marked Target Seeker (LRMTS) or visually, and available weaponry includes Paveway 2 or 3 laser- or gps-guided bombs, ballistic or retarded "dumb" 1000lb bombs, Cluster Bomb Units (CBU), Storm Shadow, Brimstone, Air Launched Anti-Radiation Missile (ALARM) and Sidewinder missiles and a single 27mm cannon.
RAF Tornados participated extensively in Operation GRANBY (The Gulf War), and have been deployed on operational detachments almost continually since. Regular training detachments are carried out in Canada, USA and Europe.
A dedicated reconnaissance version, the GR4A, is also in RAF service, and this is described separately.
Specifications:
Entered Service: 1980 (Tornado GR1)
Powerplant: Two afterburning Turbo Union RB199-103 turbofans of 15,800lb st. each
Accommodation: 2 Crew - Pilot and Navigator/Weapons Systems Officer in tandem seating
Operators: Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia UK.
Roles: Air Interdiction (AI). Low- or medium-level attacks using precision-guided, freefall or retarded bombs.
Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD). Attacks on enemy air defence systems such as surface-to-air missile positions with ALARM.
Dimensions:
Span: 45ft 7in (13.90m) - wings fully spread; 28ft 2in (8.60m) - 68° sweep
Length: 54ft 10in (16.70m)
Height: 19ft 6in (5.95m)
Performance :
Combat radius: hi-lo-lo-hi: 750nm (1390km)
Ferry range: 2100nm (3890km)
Cruising Speed: Over Mach 0.8
Maximum Speed: mach 2.2 (1,452mph)
Maximum Speed: Mach 0.92 (with external stores)
Armaments:
Cannon: Mauser 27mm cannon
Disposable Ordnance:
19,840lb on three underfuslage and four underwing hardpoints, including AIM9's, iron bombs, laser guided bombs,
ALARM and HARM anti-radation missiles, WE177B and B61 nuclear weapons, JP 233 and MW-1 area denial weapon dispensers,
Sea Sagle and Kormoran AShM'
Available Ordnance: Paveway 2 or 3 laser-guided bombs, ballistic or retarded "dumb" 1000lb bombs,
Cluster Bomb Units (CBU), Storm Shadow, Brimstone, Air Launched Anti-Radiation Missile (ALARM).
For self-defence, Sidewinder missiles are carried.
To all our military men and women, past and present, and to our allies who stand with us,
THANK YOU!
I'd hoped to get a little farther along at FR but it's moving slowly again, I see. We'll be heading out the door in a couple of minutes so I won't be able to stay. :-(
Hope everyone's had a good day!
LOL! Take out the Halsey and you may be right. He's bull. ;-)
True. Good one CG.
(Not to disparage an NCO slot - my guess is a Chief would be better in that position than a green officer.)
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