Feeling my Age & Some Envy

[Webstral]

I was looking at the US Navy's LCS (Littoral Combat Ship) mission concept and design. I'm so envious of the guys who get to participate in this exciting future! Working aboard such a multi-task ship in the modern world would be an exceptional experience. I'm sure the crews will spend ungodly amounts of time at sea, which will be hard on the families. Nevertheless, if a ship like this can fulfill at least some of her promise, some seamen will have some interesting stories to tell.

Webstral

[pmulcahy11b]

I get that same envy when I see the Javelin, hand-launched UAVs, Palm-Pilot-sized computers in the hands of line doggies that can direct air strikes, fancy Trijicon sights on the M-16s and M-4s....

[Dog 6]

I get that when looking at the new M-1A2s

[Legbreaker]

For me it's seeing the 40mm grenade launchers mounted on the F88 Steyr and realising there's a whole new generation of infantrymen who've not had the displeasure of having to haul around an M79 in addition to their rifle.

[Raellus]

I can't recall where but I'm pretty sure that I heard or read recently that the littoral combat ship program was being cancelled one of those too expensive, would be nice to have but isn't really necessary at the moment, weapons systems. I remember feeling a bit disappointed because I quite liked the idea. I could be wrong, though.

[Webstral]

From what I have been reading, the LCS is an on-again, off-again affair. Congress is making a big stink about the cost. The Navy is making a big stink about how badly it is needed in the immediate future. The impression I have had is that the grotesque cost overrun is being viewed in a hold-your-noses-boys fashion and that acquisition will proceed slowly. That much said, my information could be out of date in what appears to be a revolving door of planning and opinion.

I'm quite attracted to the idea that seven of these ships could replace twenty conventional warships off the Horn of Africa for anti-piracy duties. Anything to keep the Navy boys at home a few more weeks a year making the next generation of fighting Americans...

Webstral

[natehale1971]

That is how it usually goes... the politicians put a price tag on human lives. Then throw people under the bus when the price tag for gear that was felt to be to high, and thus not purchased ended up getting people killed. Just like they attacked Rumsfeild for saying 'You go to war with the Army you have, not the one you want to have.' All the while not wanting to face the fact that the 90s saw military budgets cut to the bone, programs canceled because they costed to much, and a prior administration that gutted intelligence gathering capabilities and blocked the sharing of gathered intelligence between agencies.

I guess what i'm saying is that it's Politicians and Politics get's people like us killed a hell alot more often than anything else.

As for the M79, I actually liked it. One of my dad's friends in Vietnam carried an M79 and a shotgun. Of course he called the shotgun 'little bang', and the M79 'big bang'. He said that he carried alot of the beehive rounds and they had been his favorite way to stop the 'human wave' attacks during ambushes.

[Targan]

As for the M79, I actually liked it. One of my dad's friends in Vietnam carried an M79 and a shotgun. Of course he called the shotgun 'little bang', and the M79 'big bang'. He said that he carried alot of the beehive rounds and they had been his favorite way to stop the 'human wave' attacks during ambushes.

Gnarly.

[ChalkLine]

There's the infamous BCW or 'Break Contact Weapon'; an M79 cut down into a stupid sized pistol firing flechette rounds. You only got one shot, but that's all you needed.

Of course, if you really wanted to irritate people in the scrub, you got your local M551 to fire its 152mm beehive round . . . .

[Targan]

Of course, if you really wanted to irritate people in the scrub, you got your local M551 to fire its 152mm beehive round . . . .

You old Sheridan fanboy you...

[Dog 6]

"f course, if you really wanted to irritate people in the scrub, you got your local M551 to fire its 152mm beehive round . . . . "



mmmmmmmm

[ChalkLine]

You old Sheridan fanboy you...

Guilty as charged!

[Legbreaker]

I loved the M79.......on the range.

But, speaking as a machinegunner, the best tactic isn't a single shot 40mm, but a long, sustained burst of 7.62mmN from a lovingly cared for M60.

[Webstral]

Just like they attacked Rumsfeild for saying 'You go to war with the Army you have, not the one you want to have.'

Rumsfeld was attacked because he tried to pass off his own shortcomings with a truism. He is a classic example of the civilian who thinks he knows the military better than the military. The professionals wanted 350,000 troops in Iraq. Rumsfeld argued it could be done with far fewer based on his own assumptions, which turned out to be little more than wishful thinking. He also put the brakes on spending for things we needed: up-armored Hum-Vees and the like. Only after it became obvious that he's have to part with some coin for the troops (as opposed to the contractors) did the tap get turned on properly. While Rumsfeld may be right about the Army one goes to war with, I would point out that you deal with the world as it is, not as you hope it will be.

Webstral

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Rumsfeld was attacked because he tried to pass off his own shortcomings with a truism. He is a classic example of the civilian who thinks he knows the military better than the military. The professionals wanted 350,000 troops in Iraq. Rumsfeld argued it could be done with far fewer based on his own assumptions, which turned out to be little more than wishful thinking. He also put the brakes on spending for things we needed: up-armored Hum-Vees and the like. Only after it became obvious that he's have to part with some coin for the troops (as opposed to the contractors) did the tap get turned on properly. While Rumsfeld may be right about the Army one goes to war with, I would point out that you deal with the world as it is, not as you hope it will be.

Webstral

I recall some of the trade magazines referring to "Rumsfeld's screwdriver", a euphemism for his unwarranted interference with tactical units (i.e. telling them how to do their jobs), when he should have been concerning himself with telling the generals what he wanted them to achieve and then letting those generals run the war.
People like him should keep their noses out of the jobs that senior NCOs and junior officers are trained to do but I can imagine it's only going to get worse with the latest generation of technology allowing everyone to see what an individual Section/Squad is doing and even individuals within that unit