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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jjkirk who wrote (8956)	11/5/2001 6:32:31 AM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

jj, i won't be tearing up any more confidence courses soon. my battles these days are with strokes and kidneys. i am happy to wake up on the green side of the grass and take a nice long walk in a park. i have picked up a few tidbits about current ops...i am providing commentary on the details as you suggested. when a team is inserted on a clandestine operation, they normally initiate radio contact only to request something...currently i believe the teams' top 3 requests are... TAC Air...these are tactical air strikes by fighter bombers, affectionately called "fast movers" or helicopter gunships and C-130 spectres. they are called on targets close to and within visual range of the team. blankets and food...often a team will carry all the food they need to do the assigned mission. this request tells me they are comfortable where they are, can handle the job, and want to stay on the ground. ammo...SF teams carry a lot of ammo per man. many times the basic load of a regular infantryman. the mere fact that they are asking for ammo and not exfiltration when short of bullets tells me again that they are fighting and winning and want to remain in their area even though they have been discovered. tough bastards...ya gotta luv em. i have not heard about any team requesting exfiltration for any reason. hey jj...get those bullets and beans out there! also heard that a pathfinder team jumped and cleared the drop zone prior to the ranger jump. that made my heart skip a beat. it was likely a 2-3 man team and they probably jumped in one or two nights before the rangers. that reminds me of a story i used to tell airborne students before their first jump...i told them that my first jump was a night rain jump....,i had my eyes closed and pi$$ed my pants. i got pathfinder qualified in 1968 then spent 8 of the next 11 years deployed overseas (i had already spent 3 years deployed 63-66). i used the skills from pathfinder school regularly and often. whenever i am asked the most valuable training i got for combat operations...i always answer pathfinder school. imo it is the least understood but most valuable combat ops training any paratrooper or SF operator can get. pathfinders "lead the way" and they are most proficient at calling in airstrikes and artillery. and the winged torch pathfinder badge nestled up to a pair of master jump wings...looks pretty cool on any ones uniform. :o) uw