Some more Military news for those interested.
ARMORED WARFARE: Iraq Survival Tips
January 13, 2004: American troops in Iraq have quickly developed procedures and tactics to counter road side bombs and ambushes by hostile Iraqis. This has made attacking American convoys a lot more dangerous to the attackers, and reduced U.S. casualties considerably.
First, the convoy should have at least five vehicles and they should have extra armor plate or Kevlar blankets attached to protect the crew. The troops in the convoy should carry lots of ammo for their weapons (this means a dozen or more 30 round magazines for each M-16, and as many 200 round belts of ammo for each light machine-gun and several dozen rounds for each M203 40mm grenade launcher.) Get some AT-4 bunker buster rocket launchers if you can. Rig up ring or pedestal mounts for light or medium (7.62mm) machine-guns. If you can get .50 caliber machine-guns, install them on ring mounts in the lead truck.
Your largest truck should be in the lead, ready to push through a roadblock if that seems likely to work. The lead vehicle should have an NCO or officer trained to make quick decisions on whether to drive around a barrier or push on through. Troops should all be assigned a direction to watch while the convoy is moving. A training area has been set up in Kuwait where troops in moving trucks can practice firing at targets. If ambushed, convoy troops must know to get out as much firepower at the enemy is (or is likely to be) as quickly as possible. The Iraqi attackers are usually not very disciplined, and their attack often falls apart if it is met with heavy fire from the trucks.
It's also important that convoys check with the commanders of areas they are passing through, to let them know when the convoy will be in the area and to get radio frequencies and other information so the convoy can call for help from local troops if there is an ambush. The local commanders can also often arrange to have any of their troops or aircraft (including UAVs) escort the convoy for part of the way. The local commanders also know better who the bad guys are in their area and often have information on where ambushes or roadside bombs might be. It's common practice for combat units to have a QRF (quick reaction force) ready to go at all times to help one of their patrols, or a passing convoy.
Military Police often escort convoys, usually forming the advance and rear guard. The idea advanced guard is two heavily armed hummers moving 300-500 meters in advance of the convoy. The advance guard checks out suspicious items (possible roadside bombs or men waiting in ambush.) If possible, another two hummers should follow the convoy by the same distance, for Iraqis have attacked the rear vehicle in convoys with machine-guns and RPGs. For this reason, the last vehicle in the convoy should always be one with armed troops facing the rear. If someone suspicious appears from the rear, blast them. The rules of engagement in Iraq have been aggressive, allowing troops to shoot when in doubt, even if an innocent Iraqi gets killed from time to time. This also encourages Iraqi drivers to stay a respectful distance from American convoys.
American trucks move thousands of tons of material along Iraqi roads each day. Most of it is moved by troops who do this regularly. These troops receive training before they are assigned to convoy duty, and are briefed before the convoy moves out. On any day, only a few percent of the convoys out there will encounter any hostile behavior (usually rocks thrown at them.) Actual ambushes are rare, and the combat troops and MPs are always looking for roadside bombs and armed Iraqis trying to set up an ambush. Most of the roadside bombs and ambushes are discovered this way, and neutralized. But it's only because of these careful preparations that the American casualty count has been kept so low. The Iraqi attackers suffer far more casualties. American intelligence knows this because they monitor the fees the attackers are often paid to make these attacks. Week by week, Iraqis demand, and get, higher fees for attacking American convoys. It's a risky business, and American troops want to keep it that way.
COMBAT SUPPORT: How MPs Evolved into Combat Troops
January 14, 2004: So many American Military Police are needed in Iraq that the MP companies that have long provided security for military bases are being replaced by civilians. For seven major bases, some 1,500 civilian security guards have been hired, at about $14 an hour to replace MPs who normally guard entrances and perform other security services. Many of those hired are former or retired MPs, and all have gone through a one month training course. The civilian companies receiving these contracts have long provided security guards for federal buildings, so the program is not that full of unknowns.
The Army has also called some 10,000 National Guard troops to active duty to provide additional security for Air Force bases. This sort of thing is how military police were obtained until World War II, by just taking soldiers and appointing them as military police. Everyone learned on the job. During World War II this changed, as military police were established as a separate branch and formal training programs were established. One of the major needs for more military police was traffic control, as larger armies, now using thousands of trucks, required professionals to control the traffic and keep it going. Some 200,000 troops served as military police during World War II.
After World War II, the military police took on new jobs. In Korea, and later Vietnam, military police were often called in to assist with keeping the peace among local civilians in war zones. Military police have never given up that peacekeeping job. Also during Vietnam, the military police took over the job of organizing security for supply convoys that traveled through hostile territory. After Vietnam, the army incorporated military police in its combat planning, making them, in effect, combat troops. In peacetime, MPs act mainly as police (at military bases) and provide security for the bases. In addition. they train at their wartime tasks of dealing with civilians and guarding convoys. This is why MPs already had some armored (M1114) hummers before the Iraq war and were prepared to deal with civilians and guarding convoys. But there is not an enormous need for MPs in peacetime, and most MPs (59 percent of the 37,500 available) are in reserve units. These reserve MPs are well prepared, because they spend nearly all their training time on wartime tasks. But they don't have the armored hummers, bullet proof flack jackets and additional weapons found to be necessary in a "hot" combat zone like Iraq. For the last six months, there has been a hasty scramble to get the needed equipment to the combat MPs. The army is now converting thousands of National Guard and reserve troops to MP units. Initially, mostly artillery units are being converted, because more accurate artillery and smart bombs has enabled fewer guns to do more work. Thus fewer artillery units are needed.
The principal unit for military police is the company, containing 160 troops and fifty vehicles (mostly hummers, including the M1114 armored hummers.) MP companies tend to acquire as additional weapons (machine-guns, sniper rifles, shotguns) and equipment (especially nigh vision gear) anyway they can (officially and unofficially.) This is an old tradition, as some World War II MP companies ended up with a few extra armored vehicles and mortars. Although women are not allowed to serve in combat units in the army, MP companies have contained female troops for decades. As the combat role of MPs increased, no one thought to remove the women. This was because the women were doing the job as well as the men.
January 13, 2004: The United States Army revolutionized the training of ground combat troops in the 1980s with the development of MILES (laser tag) equipment for infantry and armored vehicles, and the use of MILES in a large, "wired" (to record all activities) National Training Center (NTC) in the California desert. Other countries soon realized the importance of these innovations and a few built their own NTC clones. One of the best of these is in Israel, the Tactical Training Center (TTC) at Ze'elim. In addition to wide open areas for the training of armor, infantry and artillery units, there are several villages and urban areas wired for training troops to fight in close quarters.
U.S. troops have trained at the TTC for over two decades, but this is usually done in secret to avoid diplomatic problems with Arab nations. American Special Forces and commandoes are regular visitors to the TTC, to look into new Israeli techniques and compare notes.
Israel is now offering to allow foreign armies to train at the TTC, for a fee. Despite all the international ill will Arab nations have generated against Israel, this has not slowed down Israeli weapons exports. Many nations will probably be eager to pay for some time at the TTC. The training there will probably include advice from the Israeli staff that run the place. Running troops through the TTC is the next best thing to actually getting combat experience. This was the major benefit of the original American NTC. The exceptional performance of U.S. Army troops during the 1991 Gulf War was largely attributed to the realistic training exercises they had gone through at the NTC. The media didn't pick up on that in a big way, but professional military types world wide did.
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