typical congresscritters, something about "Necessity is..." comes to mind
Posted on 12/17/2004 10:43:16 AM PST by presidio9
Dec. 20 issue - Predators know to hunt the weakest animal in the herd. So do the Iraqi insurgents. It is an essential truth about the Iraq war that's ingrained in soldiers like Pvt. Daniel Rocco, a Humvee gunner with the Second Battalion of the 82nd Field Artillery Regiment. Rocco's unit is an artillery regiment trained for conventional warfare, not escorting convoys. But the "Steel Dragons" of the Second now spend most of their days protecting the weak: VIP visitors and 18-wheel trucks loaded with food or other supplies on the road to Baghdad. In the process Rocco's unit gets hit regularly with small-arms fire, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and even suicide car bombs. He displays reddish pockmarks and scar tissue up his right arm, the effects of an IED from last May. "I really can't close my right hand," he says. And Rocco's Humvee is, today, equipped with "Gypsy racks"—steel-plated cages around the gunner—and other add-on, improvised hardware, known as "hillbilly armor." "It's Mel Gibson 'Road Warrior' stuff," says Capt. John Pinter, the battalion's maintenance officer. "We're not shooting for pretty over here."
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This is the ugly reality that National Guard Spc. Thomas Wilson was apparently trying to convey to Donald Rumsfeld in Kuwait last week. There is no front line in Iraq. Or, to be more precise, the front line is wherever the insurgents decide it is. And very often they decide it should be trucks and unarmored Humvees at the back of supply lines—what used to be known, in other wars, as the rear area. Because the insurgents present a 360-degree threat, the most vulnerable units are often the ones the Army pays the least attention to: poorly equipped National Guardsmen or reservists in supply and transport companies.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Great shots of the "gun trucks". The guys at our base in Phu Bai used to make monthly runs to escort (thin skinned) convoys to and from Danang through the Hai Van pass (and came under fire every time). There were a number of Democrats and RINO Republicans who could have expressed concern, and wept crocodile tears, for us, but they just didn't seem to give a d*mn.
ping for later
Lots of ASA guys myself included remember the gun trucks that ran outta Phu Bai. If I'm not mistaken that included "Eve of Destruction" which is now on static display at theFt Eustis museum.
I've seen scattered reports that transportation corps drivers are currently building gun trucks in Iraq in much the same way they were in Nam.
My favorite was the quad fifty.
Good pics here.
typical congresscritters, something about "Necessity is..." comes to mind
The Humvee was not designed as an Armored Personal Carrier.
It was designed to replace the Jeep. To carry more equipment than the Jeep. To be Enclosed, unlike the Jeep which was open.
Yes there were some items made to protect the soldiers inside the Humvee. But it was not designed to take a hit from an RPG nor a mine.
Those are the jobs of the Strikers or APC.
I am sure a Freeper can explain in more detail than I can. As I am only a layperson.
The phrase you're looking for is "Battlefield taxi." You are correct, the humvee was not designed to be a battlefield taxi. It was designed for maximum maneuverability and the ability to follow the armor.
The Bradley is a decent battlefield taxi, although it is frequently used as a light tank. The M113 is a lousy battlefield taxi, IMHO. The Stryker is worse.
The biggest problem is that our long-term logistics planners are still clinging to the idea of a linear battlefield in which there are "safe" rear areas for light-skinned vehicles to operate. There is no such thing. We need to up-armor the Humvees as a stopgap measure, but the real answer is that we need an *armored* cargo hauling vehicle.
bttt
If the people demand that our soldiers be protected from the terrorist. Then the Military is going to have to start building APC's like M1's to carry them.
Of course then they'll all scream about the cost of the thing. The bastards.
Loved those shots,I always liked having a coupla of those gunships in a convoy I was in.
Partial to the quad 50 truck tho.That thing could bring pee,as we used to say in Quang Tri.
no doubt... 4 x .50 will put the damn damn on most anything!!! 8^)
"I think that guy on the back of that boat is taking a leak!"
Hey, isn't the John Kerry????
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