Combat vets and non-combat vets

Bullets, bombs and your follow on actions is what defines you. Not a cord, badge, ribbon or what an ERB currently says at the time. Don't let those guys get to you and heres why...

I used to be part of the group that labeled all others pogs, heck I will still call you a pog to this day if you are not infantry. However, it's not in the sense you are thinking of.

During my second tour to Mosul I was part of BDE PSD and worked with many different other MOS's. Such as FA, engineer and scout and I would take those guys on the ground any day of the week to this day. All MOS's have their little thing which they label others as or defines them and that builds healthy comptetion. However, some do take it to a whole new level and those guys are just compensating for something.

There are sh-tbags in every MOS and branch. I have met many in the Infantry as well. For those guys who treated you like that, let it roll off your back. Especially from a PL whose probably is just about to complete his first tour of duty.

Cockiness is a result of hardship, experience and zero tolerance attitude towards nonsense and anything that may place a leader's men in harm's way. Alot of the PL's out here in Basra act cocky, even this being their first tour. They haven't delt with what went down here years ago. Now you see more self-proclaimed cockiness, not the kind of cockiness that is earned like I discussed before.

Keep your head up bro and this is coming from an Infantryman.
 
Thanks, I appreciate it. No worries about the whole thing. I kicked him out of my vehicle and told his commander that the RIP with them was done. I've seen a lot of their habits on the missions, some good, some bad. Fact is though, this unit has checked out already, their heads aren't in the game now, they're back in the states. Which is fine for them, but me and my men still have a long way to go and I figured there was enough experience within the platoon to just pull the band aid off real fast. I think the LT was pissed because we've been doing KLE's together and it was pretty evident that the IA officers had him in a subordinate light to me even after he had been there for a year. Maybe that was his problem...I don't know and I don't care. All my VCs have been deployed to this exact location before which is going to pay off in spades down the line. Now we just have to decide on MRAPs or 1151s...Not a fan of the MRAPS...but where we are IEDs and RKG 3s are a real problem....of course, rolling one of these things on a canal road is also a real problem too. I guess we'll see.

You keep yours down too, we're all in this together.
 
MRAP's are definately the way to go. Sure they have their faults, too high up for gunners, top heavy and hard to maneaver, however, you can take more dismounts out with you in those things and they are really great against IED's.

I want you to go to www.liveleak.com and type in the words "EFP vs US caiman in basra" you will see a caiman hit by an EFP. From the looks of it, you would think everyone in there died. It spun the caimain around 180 degrees and lit the fuel tank on the TC's side instantly on fire. The vehicle burned for three days before we could recover it.(that vehicle and crew is in our battalion).

Needless to say, EVERYONE made it out just fine. Only one soldier in the back got minor cuts to his hand. If they were in a 1151 all of them would have died. Pretty much the restrictions we have now here in theater doesn't allow us to be as aggresive as we once used to be. Armour yourself up brother and focus on survivability.

As far as the RKG's go I delt with them up in Mosul last tour. Mainly in old town. We always got hit when we would spread our vehicles out through crowded market places. We changed up our TTP's by staying TIGHT staggered formation and rolling slowery than usual. This allowed the gunners more time to scan and allowed us to pull complete 360 degree security around the convey. Once we pulled out of the market place or crowded areas we'd go back to normal spacing in our trucks.

Shortly after, the grenade attacks stopped. We all know they love hitting the last truck with the turret turned. This formation stopped all that. An insurgent will not throw a grenade if he knows your gunner is watching him. He especially wont throw a grenade at the last truck even if his turret is turned away from him if he sees the third truck has a beat on him.

Also pay attention to hands, feet and alleyways. You dont see their hands, they got sneakers on and hes leaning up against the wall next to an alleyway, get tight because he might be a thrower.

Just some advice take it for what it's worth. Later man.
 
We actualy have a TTP that's very similar to what you describe to mitigate the RKG threat. We know they are using our Rhino's as a trigger on the last vic to throw them. We throw dismounts out to go right up on the sidewalks because we know that it makes them uncomfortable. Basically, we keep trying to change things up since if anything for them goes wrong, they don't throw, which is good for us.Plus we try to go through trouble areas during the heat of the day when there's less people out. Less people out, less people to scan, higher chance to catch the bad guy. You know the deal. Anyways, can't stay on too long. We'll talk more. out
 
"Of every one hundred men, Ten shouldn't even be there, Eighty are nothing but targets, Nine are real fighters...We are lucky to have them...They make the battle.
Ah, but the One, One of them is a Warrior...and He will bring the others back."
-Hericletus (circa 500 B.C.)
 
Sometimes I wish I had seen combat. Other times I'm glad I didn't.
I know how aggravating it is to hear someone claim they were a vet and how they served in combat. Yeah, sure, maybe you did. But then how they respond to non-combat vets, as if we're lower than cockroaches, that tells me they weren't in combat. Because the guys that fought and killed in combat couldn't do it if they didn't have the support services behind them.

To be insulted by an alleged combat vet, that puts himself on this pedestal that makes him so much better than the rest of the world, sorry. I just don't buy it. And then to deal with people that never served, and when they pry into the details, only to tell me that they don't think I served because I wasn't in combat...well if you never served, who the hell are you to decide if I served or if I earned my DD214?

One cop that I respected said just that right to my face once. Yo, copper, you didn't serve and you feel you can negate what little bit I did? He almost ate pavement for that, and I even called him out for it. And the little coward that didn't serve wasn't man enough to stand up for what he said.
Heroes die once. Cowards die a thousand times. I may not be a hero, but that nazi pig is nothing but a gutless coward.
 
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-- Dusty said:
Sometimes I wish I had seen combat. Other times I'm glad I didn't.
I know how aggravating it is to hear someone claim they were a vet and how they served in combat. Yeah, sure, maybe you did. But then how they respond to non-combat vets, as if we're lower than cockroaches, that tells me they weren't in combat. Because the guys that fought and killed in combat couldn't do it if they didn't have the support services behind them.

To be insulted by an alleged combat vet, that puts himself on this pedestal that makes him so much better than the rest of the world, sorry. I just don't buy it. And then to deal with people that never served, and when they pry into the details, only to tell me that they don't think I served because I wasn't in combat...well if you never served, who the hell are you to decide if I served or if I earned my DD214?

One cop that I respected said just that right to my face once. Yo, copper, didn't serve and you feel you can negate what little bit I did? He almost ate pavement for that, and I even called him out for it. And the little coward that didn't serve wasn't man enough to stand up for what he said.
Heroes die once. Cowards die a thousand times. I may not be a hero, but that nazi pig is nothing but a gutless coward.
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What you say is exactly why I didn't personnaly like the late Col. David Hackworth, he publicly stated that such servicemen as "truck dirvers, clerks and cooks" wern't worthy of consideration as soldiers.
 
We're all equal, whether we served in combat or not. End of.

Any vet who thinks or says otherwise, is a disgrace and should be publicly flogged.
 
I entered into battle every weekend separating pissed up squaddies hell bent on kicking chunks out of each other!!! :shock:
 
muscogeemike said:
What you say is exactly why I didn't personnaly like the late Col. David Hackworth, he publicly stated that such servicemen as "truck dirvers, clerks and cooks" wern't worthy of consideration as soldiers.
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Quite frankly Col Hackworth is a pratt, if it weren't for truck drivers bringing up supplies, combat troops would soon run of of ammunition and such like, and if it wasn't for cooks combat troops wouldn't have the energy or the will to fight, and if it wasn't for clerks organising their pay, combat troops would soon get pissed off.

I didn't see combat, (well maybe except in the NAAFI or in the mess when some bugger tried to nick my sausages) but my job was keeping aircraft in the air along with thousands of other blokes.
 
Exactly. Let's see who can go on a 20 mile patrol in full gear, win a firefight, get back to camp, cook, do dishes, then transport supplies to and fro, perform surgery on the wounded, manage the clerical duties, maintain the wheeled and aerial equipment, and still get a few hours sleep until the next patrol. Those camps aren't miniature towns just because. You guys need the same services there that we have stateside at home. You name it, you need it.

Me, I'm sorry. My knees couldn't handle it and I folded up without going to combat. Thank God. Better stateside than while running for cover during an ambush.
 
In Nam thousands of Rear echelon died or were wounded from rockets, mortars doing guard duty on the wrong nights, stepping on toe poppers, ODs from drugs, suicides and in one case a guy did his suicide with a grenade in the barracks and forgot about the guys in the room next to him. One guy got there in the morning and was shipped home that afternoon in a box from a rocket attack. Plus the flight line mechanics and personnel that were always the focus of rocket and mortar attacks. When it's your time, it's your time no matter where you were. My personal favorite was a general hidden deep in a bunker with his bimbo and got a direct hit, karma at its finest.
 
I agree with all that you folks have said... without the rear echelon types us in the trench would not get what we need. That said, it only takes the actions of a few to bring animosity on the many.... Why? well the *REMFS* often times stole what was important to us in the field and sold it on the black market... I will used SP Packs as an example... really fried our azz's. So, it only takes a few hygrading goods meant for the field to cast a pale light on many.

But we still knew we needed those in the rear to keep us functioning, regardless the fact that they made rank faster and had all the latest goodies before we did. And I might mention the greater war stories........
 
I did over 13 years in the Australian Army Reserve and never saw a shot fired in anger. The point is though, I like all soldiers OAS or not, signed the dotted line to but our arses on the line for our country and would have been willing to give our all even although we were lucky enough not to have to. Just luck though!
 
Combat vet and non-combat vet

I have done a lot of reading on the issue and am not one to drive wedges between brothers in arms. I understand there are "veterans" and "combat veterans." One of the things I have struggled with is the label "combat veteran." I served in Afghanistan, went on numerous missions into enemy territory. Luckily every mission I went on was safe and successful, meaning everyone returned unscathed. We did not get into any enemy action. People refer to me as a "combat veteran" however since I never fired a shot or was shot at by the enemy I do not feel I am a "combat veteran," and I feel guilty when people refer to me as such. Should I feel that way? Should I consider myself a combat veteran or am I making a big deal over nothing? I understand, having been in the Navy, veterans are those who served, but not in a combat zone, even during a time of war. Not everyone gets the distinction of combat veteran, just because they served during war. I get it. I feel guilty when I see combat veterans who sustained life changing injuries and I made it home unscathed. I dont feel I deserve to be in the same catagory as them. Again, am I making a big deal over nothing?
 
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