Anyone Here In The Military?

[Felix Marcellus]

I liked that post Virgil. I was with 3ID in the invasion. I can't comment on their planning because I wasn't with them. I did see some of the damage they did. I heard stories about their TTPs that are very similar to your account.

 

As far as their support units being soup sandwiches I don't know. I can't see how they could be much worse than ours though. I'm speaking tactically of course. The Private Lynch incident comes to mind. That was an eye opener to say the least. Landnav probably needs a little more play down at the transportation company.

 

As far as pushing parts and other supplies up to the line they did well with what they had. The problem we faced with supplies was at a much higher level. Like CFLCC level. They waited to late to start shipping stuff over. So we had to play catch up for quite awhile. We were doing some shady stuff just to grab a tire.

 

That was another problem over there. Due to a lack of parts, we were wheeling and dealing for them. Many XO's (guilty as charged) would forego reporting maintenance shortfalls because we weren't getting the parts quickly enough. So we'd beg, borrow and steal from other units to get what we needed. Since the shortfalls weren't being reported, they didn't exist. Therefore, we would whine and complain about how parts weren't available and the whole time it was because very few in the AO were executing a proper maintenance program. We essentially shot ourselves in the foot with that crap.

 

Our brigade S4 shop was pretty good at squashing that stuff once we got to Baghdad though. Which was a good thing because my only 4 gun trucks were riding on balloons by the time we got up there.

[Northern Neil]

Wow... am I the only Brit here? No military experience, but used to be a cop...

[Felix Marcellus]

Wow... am I the only Brit here? No military experience, but used to be a cop...

I don't know about Britain, but in some parts of the US being a cop is the same as being in the military.

Good on ya mate.

[Virgil61]

I remember when we were in Eastern Baghdad and made the nasty trip over to the Airport to see our counterparts in 3 ID. The rumour in the MARDIV was that Lynch's unit was sent down the path to Nasiriyah by some Marine route guides by mistake.

 

As a 1SG supply in Iraq was a sore issue. When movement started we went with what we had and everything else could just catch up. Since I was at division HQ and my detachments were sliced out to the Regiments I tried like hell to bargain and deal for anything- we actually had some goodies to give out- and then transport it out to the my elements. With the Marines you just signed and carried. Tires always remained a headache.

 

You reminded me of what a headache maintenance and supplies are with the Army. One of the shocking things we found was that Marine mechanics work their tails off, don't ask for paperwork [and don't care]; if they've got it they'll fix it. Coming from the Army and remembering Mondays in the Motor Pool during active duty I can't say enough great things about Marine mechanics.

 

Because we were attached to the MARDIV we had to depend on them for everything supply-wise. Luckily we had an alternate Army channel through Doha. After the invasion when we settled in Al Hillah and my guys were spread over the south I leveraged Doha and the MARDIV for supplies. Getting mail to my guys was one of the biggest headaches after the war. Marines get their mail sorted on ship then forwarded. Getting mail for an Army unit from their system took literally months [not to mention getting packages that had "Army Sucks" scribbled on them]. We finally found an Army postal unit at Tallil that worked well.

[Demson]

Interesting insights into the military They don't speak of those kind of things in the orientation year.

 

 

Any experience with Dutch units? Royal Netherlands Army?

 

... We're often mistaken for Germans, heh.

 

European units in general would do fine, we'll all heading towards a single line anyway, thanks to the WEU.

 

would be much appriciated.

[Onasander]

The only thing I know about the Dutch (though it might be Belgium, sorry) is that their Airborne School is extreamly nerve wrecking, cause instead of jumping out of planes, you jump out of a hot air balloon! The sucker floats with the wind, so it doesn't make much noice, cept for the errie creaking of the platform. You can hear everything way down on the ground.

 

The static lines are tied off to the platform, and when it comes time to jump, they take turns, one right after another. They say all you can hear during that is the sound of the bands holding everything together break, one after another for what seems like an eternity till it's your turn, then when you do jump, since you're not being shot out of a C-130 at a 130 knots, they had to make the static line much longer, cuasing problems with Americans cause we do a four second count after we jump to mark the danger period before we pull our reserve.

 

Needless to say, the people who done it hated it.

[Virgil61]

Any experience with Dutch units? Royal Netherlands Army?

 

... We're often mistaken for Germans, heh.

 

I had experience with the Dutch in Iraq. One of the cities in our area of operation was Samawa. The Marines and one of my detachments located there did a great job of keeping the peace, cooperating with the people of that city including helping them start a newspaper, getting water flowing, electricity etc. The Dutch battalion came in to take the city to take control. Six months later, back in the U.S. I started reading a number of stories about how the Dutch had been so successful in Samawa and how it was a comparitively quiet city because of their efforts. The newspapers gave them credit for everything the Marines and my soldiers did! But they seemed a decent bunch, they received a peaceful city and kept it that way.

 

I can't say that about the Spanish who took over Najaf. They screwed it up royally by staying in their garrison and not venturing out, allowing elements of a radical Shia group from Baghdad to infiltrate a peaceful and successfully run city [thanks to the Marines and my soldiers], hence the combat in Najaf months later. The Italian Caribinieri who took over Nasiriyah were surprisingly impressive, they ran a tight ship, that was just before the bombing of their site in the middle of the city. The Ukrainians in Al Kut were a joke and had to be supported by NG MPs when we were leaving. The Poles, and there were a lot of them, seemed happy to be there. They should've been, they got to Al Hillah after a whole section of barracks, showers and chow hall were put in for them by Halliburton, complete with A/C. We later heard they were getting paid $1000 a month extra as well.

 

A funny story about the Germans, they had a chemical company in Doha, Kuwait before the war, flown in by the US Air Force on C5s. Germany then opted out of the invasion but hadn't made provisions or didn't have the airlift to get them and their equipment home. The USAF wouldn't give them space to get out, so they sat in their tiny compound flying the German flag for weeks.

[Demson]

The Dutch forces were located in the province Al Muthanna and had some officers in Bagdhad. Here's a map: http://www.nldetirak.nl/kaart_inzetgebied/.../irak_final.jpg

 

I know the Airmobile Brigade set up a cement factory (for 3000 workers). Besides that I haven't heard of anything else from them. They purely furfilled a policing responsibility.

 

Our 'military police' (they're a bit more then that, actually) is also training police officers (they're still present). They also helped re-establishing the local politicla infrastructure.

 

Our forces were redeployed after the Dutch-trained Iraqi police units were operational and could take over the Dutch responsibilities (in theory, anyway).

 

The Royal Dutch Marines were in Iraq prior to the Airmobile Brigade (because of rotation, they have the same function).

[Princeps]

Wow... am I the only Brit here? No military experience, but used to be a cop...

 

No. I am English. So is Longbow. A few more too probably.

 

p.s where in the north you from?

[longbow]

I live in Hart village,county Durham.Where do you live Trajen?

[Virgil61]

The Dutch forces were located in the province Al Muthanna and had some officers in Bagdhad. Here's a map: http://www.nldetirak.nl/kaart_inzetgebied/.../irak_final.jpg

That's part of our old area of operations. I spent a lot of time in those towns.

[Princeps]

I live in Hart village,county Durham.Where do you live Trajen?

I live in Whitley Bay (or, as some have been known to call it, $*****y gay), a seaside town about 20km from Newcastle.

[Maximus]

Well I live approximately 25 miles away from the Royal Marines Training base at Lympstone Commando and from what I have seen and heard, I think they are better than the regular army. This is my personal opinion.

[Onasander]

I start back to work today, no more leave.