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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (3359)	7/14/2003 5:49:12 AM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793698

Our Army needs to embrace the warrior ethos in all units -- not just the combat arms -- and it needs to ensure that every unit can fight its way out of an ambush like this one. LB, Looks Like you found another writer with a penchant for after action reporting. Every soldier gets a minimum of 16 weeks of basic combat and individual training when they first enlist. Unit combat training continues as long as you are on duty. The average unit's level of combat readiness (a very detailed report) is much higher today than it ever was under Clinton when entire divisions were declared not fit for combat because of training deficiencies due to lack of funds and spare parts. Training, maintenance, pre-combat checks, pre-combat inspections, and fieldcraft are what enable good units to execute when the time comes on the battlefield. The 507th Maintenance Convoy failed in these areas That statement is insulting to the soldiers of the 507th. The unit was in a free fire combat zone. One small element of the unit was ambushed...fought back...took some casualties...killed and wounded many enemy...The rest of the unit successfully accomplished the assigned mission. Who knows the actual conditions in the desert that night? If it was during one of the sandstorms, of course the unprotected 50 Cal mounted on top of the vehicle had sand in it. One small unit leader made a land navigation error and this writer wants to fire all our senior leaders. Ridiculous. The issue of clean weapons is as old as the Army. If you keep it clean everyday it works when you need it. I have yet to hear of a single Special Forces soldier having a weapon malfunction problem. SF uses the same weapon cleaning equipment as very other unit...the difference may be that they actually use it...And leaders do not have to tell them to clean their weapons. You cannot find a dirty weapon on an A team. Most combat arms units are similar. But there will always be the guy who forgot...or was sick...or has some other excuse for not cleaning his weapon. I wrote extensively about preparedness in my book. I elaborate further on the subject in my speaking engagements. Either you are ready for an attack or you are not. There is no middle ground. howiprepared.com Our combat units are terrific. Not perfect...just terrific. They are ready to deal with any enemy anywhere. Our soldiers know Murphy's Laws of combat..one of which states, "Remember your weapon was made by the lowest bidder." Our soldiers know the daily care, cleaning and function testing of an individual weapon is an individual responsibility. Combat After Action reports are best left to unit staffs...They want and will find solutions to difficult moments. A former MP private with a typewriter is no expert on combat OPS or unit combat readiness. unclewest