Archive for March, 2006
Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive:
Protesting the military because you disagree with W is like protesting your car because you got drunk and crashed it.
I’m often a bit miffed that the late 2004 clearing of Fallujah is often overlooked. The operation must stand as one of the greatest urban warfare victories ever, but all we ever hear about it is how a Marine shot a wounded insurgent and how white phosphorus is a chemical weapon.
Strategy Page has a good post up on how our success there is still being studied:
The Fallujah fighting was quite intense, even by historical standards, something that the media missed. What was noticed was how quickly the army and marine troops blitzed through the city, clearing out the 4,000 very determined defenders. The speed and efficiency of the American attack was the result of some unique, in the history of warfare, factors. But the principal reason for the success in Fallujah was the high degree of training the troops had. Many also had months of combat experience in Iraq. These factors (training and combat experience) have long been key factors in combat success.
Go read the whole thing.
UPDATE: Strategy Page also notes that the Marines interviewed Chechen fighters (who really took it to the Rooskies in urban settings in the 1990s) to help them plan to avoid the same problems that plagued the Russian army.
DARPA has de-funded the Walrus airship program. Links and more at Defense Tech.
Tank-infantry team denies insurgency near Fallujah
Great story and photo collection on USMC.mil on recent operations in the rural area north of Fallujah:
“We came out here to interdict anti-Iraqi forces and provide a secure environment for the Iraqi people,” said 2nd Lt. Jim A. Neville, a 32-year-old tank platoon commander from West Newfield, Maine. “It’s not a permanently occupied area for us, so there’s always something new for us.”Marines conducted a series of cache sweeps, cordon-and-knocks and snap vehicle checkpoints, searching for hidden weapons and insurgents on wanted lists. Marines searched abandoned chemical factories, squatters’ huts, farms and roadside stores. At least two were detained for matching descriptions of wanted individuals and several weapons were confiscated.
The operation marked just one smaller operation in a string of efforts north of Fallujah. While most Marines work in the more densely populated areas of Falllujah, Saqlawiyah and Ameriyah, the task-organized infantry-armor teams made the most of their small-unit flexibility and imposing force of the M-1A1 Main Battle Tank.
“The people up here sometimes feel neglected,” Neville said. “They feel they don’t get the security they need against anti-Iraqi forces who intimidate and steal gas.”
Not much chance to write today. So in the meantime check out
- Monday’s Winds of War and Iraq Report at Winds of Change
- Refuting the “Alternate QDR” and Refuting the Alternate QDR Part 2 at The Officer’s Club
- U.S. vs. the Mahdi Army and Iraq (with a U.S. Assist) vs. the Mahdi Army, Take Two at the Fourth Rail
- Anyone on my LINKS list at left. Good stuff there every day.
I haven’t actually been able to dig into any of these, though they look good at first glance.
A reader pointed me to this Fox News video (“Ready to Fight”) about training the new Iraqi army. He wonders what the 6×6 APC in the background is. I checked out the video and saw the 6×6. Here are a couple of screen shots showing both sides:
I don’t know what this is, though I wonder if it might not be some sort of French-built Panhard VCR. Iraq had some of these, and the way the center wheel appears to be raised (see the pic of the left side) made me look into some French vehicles.
Read the rest of this entry »
The pics from the huge sandstorm during the invasion of Iraq are as surreal today as they were in 2003.
A US Marine Corps (USMC) M1A1 ABRAMS Main Battle Tank (MBT), assigned to 2nd Tank Battalion, D/Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 5th Marines, arrives in Northern Iraq, during a sandstorm. USMC personnel are in Iraq in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Camera Operator: LCPL ANDREW P. ROUFS, USMC Date Shot: 26 Mar 2003
From the Defense Visual Information Center, which I haven’t figured out how to link to pic preview pages on. This is image ID: DMSD0401588.
Hummer Deathtraps Suck
“The bad news is that despite the armor improvements, the HMMWV remains trapped in 1980s thinking.”
Six-Wheel Hummers
Wow. (Via J-Walk)
“Darth Vader Was A Decepticon”
Now I am the master…and more than meets the eye. (via Jay at Wizbang)
Billionaire Lectures “Provincial” Peasants
Speaking of Star Wars, George Lucas says that media lets poor people know what they’re missing…and that that is a bad thing. And am I the only one who thinks his portrayal of “slavery” in Episode I glosses over a few things?
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter site
The first pics are rolling in.
2 Canadians and 1 Briton who didn’t want 25 million Iraqis freed are freed
Frank Warner: “Racists. Our brave liberators just rescued three racists.”
A Complex and Changing Air War
“The top airman in Southwest Asia discusses air operations over Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Way more Linkzookery on page 2…click below
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Murdoc needs to know how make blogging pay the bills. Since I haven’t quite figured it out yet, why don’t you go check out the Winds of War at Winds of Change and today’s Rapid Fire at Defense Tech.
That ought to keep you busy until Linkzookery posts at about 3:30 PM ET.
A Stryker vehicle with 4th Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, provides security while other soldiers conduct an area reconnaissance mission through the town of Rawah, in the Al Anbar Province, Iraq, March 16, 2006, during Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Andrew D. Young
This appears to be an M1127 Stryker Reconnaissance Vehicle. They’ve got a spare tire on top in front, but what’s that old tire tired to the armor on the rear ramp? A bumper against civilian traffic?
