Posted on 07/18/2019 4:22:09 AM PDT by tlozo
AMEN! My young hero stepped up to the plate along with many thousands of others, I have another entering the breech next year. I have much more faith in our military leadership at all levels doing the right things than I do with the democrat/socialist leadership in Congress!
I personally don’t think any contingencies are worth one drop of their precious urine, much less their blood! But sometimes our elected congressionally “inept” fools manage to get our best and brightest killed and maimed, and usually for nothing!
I’ve done my time and then some, and I don’t care too much for the folks who have to “Poo Poo and nitpick” every little thing while at the same time proudly maintaining their ignorance of military capabilities based on their extensive knowledge of playing DOOM. If they feel so strongly, then maybe they should put down their donuts and joysticks and enlist! Put their extensive knowledge and skills to the task of defending the country, put some real skin in the game, as it were.
Example: F-35 isn’t even at it’s full potential yet... so it can’t out-dogfight an F-16, whoopty freakin’ doo! It wasn’t designed to dogfight, and some country who shall remain nameless has successfully taken down the most advanced, impenetrable Russian S400 sites in Syria a few times already (in real world combat where real people die; not some video game) ... I’m willing to bet whoever it was didn’t do it with F-16’s either. As I recall, no one has ever taken credit for taking down the S400’s, though I could be mistaken... it’s been know to happen on occasion.
The F4 was originally built without missiles because some genius decided there wouldn’t be anymore dogfights.
Over 35 years ago, I recall a conversation with my battalion commander (I was S-3) about the lack of manual gunnery skills as the Army was putting the TACFIRE system in the field. Even then, manual FDC was on its way out. TACFIRE was a forerunner to AFATDS and was a huge computer in a 5 ton air conditioned van. Anyway, my colonel opined that someday in the future the Army would ask around for us old guys to teach them how to do manual gunnery when all the computers wouldn’t work.
Thanks, I was generally referring to the military. I’ve copied since BSA and was stationed at 2 USCG Radsta’s, one early morning at NRV we copied USCGC GLACIER NAAO down in the ice around Mcmurdo at barely a whisper. They had lost comms for a few days due to atmospherics. We took a few msgs before the sun came up.
USCG RMs were good ops back in the days of the steely eyed brass pounders.
You mean without guns, not missiles. Yes, that’s what I was thinking of.
Incidentally, one can see who is hearing one’s JS8 station by using this map; cooperating stations report back to a central server and display reported position:
https://www.pskreporter.info/pskmap.html
Just select the band, the callsign (optional), the mode (like “JS8”) etc and click “Go!”
A cursor “mouse-over” then displays additional info.
Back to “charts and darts.” Very good. I lamented when they let computers take over the calculation of firing data WITHOUT maintaining a manual back up. I took basic FDC (13E) training in 1973 and went through the early years of TacFire and the introduction of the Battery Computer System of the mid-80s, when the “word” was that manual fire direction was a relic of the past.
During my recent move, I found my set of “sticks,” aka Graphic Firing Tables, that I had ordered in the mid-70’s from Ft. Sill, for M-109A1 155mm guns. I didn’t find the manual firing tables though.
Finally they have been forced to begin to see the light.
Systems always fail. Better be prepared.
Me too. I've tested my GPS in places that I know the best route, and some times the GPS, while it will get you to your destination, will go round about, and many times only that it can get you to a toll road.
I semi-trust my GPS, but if you have it set to use toll roads, it can really take you out of the best route.
“...the King of Battle, Artillery.”
Been quite a while since Infantry was known as the Queen of Battle, as in, “the King puts it where the Queen wants it”.
;^)
Just FYI, its not GPS that routes you to the wrong place, its Garmin or whoever implements the map software. GPS by itself is very reliable.
Back in the 70’s each FA battalion had a survey section that would provide the precise location for the battery. It was called ‘bringing in survey.’ Often the survey grid was brought in after we had occupied a position and begun firing using the 6 digit grid the BC or XO provided to us in the FDC. That is also how we did hip shoots, using our estimated position without waiting for survey to be brought in.
My first MOS was 05B1A4. HF, CW, and wire antennas are still in my blood. (468/f[MHz] anyone?)
Met +VE, high angle missions, illum missions, all out of memory lane for me. Thank you. And then there was the ever crucial manual computation of the firing date for the 155mm nuclear rounds, done manually using met +VE method.
Ah yes, I was wondering about that when I was a SSG in 1st Cav Division Artillery during our 2 year acceptance test for TacFire in 1979-80. I had just re-enlisted as a 96B (MI-order of battle) and reported to the HHB, 1st Cav DivArty S2 section when the S3 came into our office and ask me what I was doing, I told him that I was taking 13E MOS courses, he was very pleased with me, an MI guy wanting to learn FA. I didn’t tell him that I had just finished a 5 year enlistment as a 13E and was in the very first group of 13F’s They later sent me to the TacFire fire support officer’s course when we began to lose the original 13Cs who started with the acceptance testing.
I forgot to include that my doubts were based upon all of the problems we had with the Vietnam War era FADAC, it was constantly in the shop being fixed.
I was headed out as TACFIRE was being fielded and could see exactly what you and your battalion commander observed. I had no idea the TACFIRE required that much ancillary support with its own A/C truck-mounted van. It’s obvious the Army created a monster that would consume the ability to get the job done without massive computing support.
Was it the M-2 compass?
My walmart cashiers are pretty good. Nice dreaming... remember this is the generation who couldn’t tie shoes in kindergarten. My daughter came home upset in K because she had to help her teacher tie shoes during playtime
The only kid in a class of 20.
Other parents sent their kids to school with shoes they couldn’t tie.
These parents, of millennials, are not much younger than I am.
When I went thru the SF Qualification course a lifetime ago as a Weapons guy, we were taught FDC, Fire Direction Control, using pencil, paper, and an M16 plotting board. MBC’s, Mortar Ballistic Computers, were in use then, but never saw one. I still have nightmares about that plotting board. :-)
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