I've been converted

[Picaroon]

WTF are you talking about? Have you actually been over there? :icon_rage Take this from a guy that was sent over doing a boots-on-ground IA, all of the equipment we had was new and good-to-go. Also, EVERY VEHICLE that goes outside the wire has the latest ARMOR technology. QUIT TALKING OUT OF YOUR ASS!

In m0t's defense, the news does tend to have a lot of articles about stuff like this. I'm sure you've seen them and I'm sure it was frustrating.

Clearly you have direct, firsthand experience that shows that, even if there was a time when gear was subpar (and I'm not saying that it was), it definitely is not now. I very much respect your experience and the fact that you served in this conflict.

I just wanted to point out that he's not so much "talking out [his] ass" as he is relaying what he has seen in the news. And I'm sure he will take your firsthand experience into account when formulating his opinions in the future.

 

[lmnop]

Come on now, old news that still provokes emotional responses among the uninformed and that are politically expedient never get old! :sleep_125

Well, in that case...

This breaking news just in, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead!

 

[m0tbaillie]

In m0t's defense, the news does tend to have a lot of articles about stuff like this. I'm sure you've seen them and I'm sure it was frustrating.

Clearly you have direct, firsthand experience that shows that, even if there was a time when gear was subpar (and I'm not saying that it was), it definitely is not now. I very much respect your experience and the fact that you served in this conflict.

I just wanted to point out that he's not so much "talking out [his] ass" as he is relaying what he has seen in the news. And I'm sure he will take your firsthand experience into account when formulating his opinions in the future.

Yea, I'm a complete and utter tool for quoting what I've read in the news, though! These are things that are pretty much common knowledge and occurred in recent years. I wouldn't call it "old" news. Times may have changed and the situation may have gotten better, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't a time when inadequate hardware and ill-equipped troops weren't being sent over, because it *was* all over the news.

 

[phrogdriver]

Because if CNN said it, it must have been true!

 

[S.O.B.]

Yea, I'm a complete and utter tool for quoting what I've read in the news, though! These are things that are pretty much common knowledge and occurred in recent years. I wouldn't call it "old" news. Times may have changed and the situation may have gotten better, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't a time when inadequate hardware and ill-equipped troops weren't being sent over, because it *was* all over the news.

I'm just curious; your profile is not connected with Naval Aviation in any way, including interest: Why are you here?

 

[m0tbaillie]

I'm just curious; your profile is not connected with Naval Aviation in any way, including interest: Why are you here?

I didn't know that it was a pre-requisite to be on these boards that one has to be SNA/NFO or a Naval Aviator. I figured the fact that there are forums for BDCP, OCS, and community-specific forums meant that it was open to all those interested in becoming Navy Officers. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[MasterBates]

How about putting some more "meaningful" info in there. You know of what I speak.

 

[m0tbaillie]

How about putting some more "meaningful" info in there. You know of what I speak.

You mean being in BDCP?

 

[ea6bflyr]

Yea, I'm a complete and utter tool for quoting what I've read in the news, though! These are things that are pretty much common knowledge and occurred in recent years. I wouldn't call it "old" news. Times may have changed and the situation may have gotten better, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't a time when inadequate hardware and ill-equipped troops weren't being sent over, because it *was* all over the news.

While I'll agree that during the onset of OIF, 2003-2004, there were areas that were less than optimal, this does not hold true today.


If you are going to base your entire opinion on sensationalized news reporting without doing your own research, you will be sadly misled. Hopefully you are not the type of guy that reads an article quoting statistics and takes it as presented. Statistics are always slanted. STOP being a lemming and believe only half of what your read.

-ea6bflyr

 

[S.O.B.]

You mean being in BDCP?

Did you just add the BDCP? Sorry my mistake.

 

[m0tbaillie]

While I'll agree that during the onset of OIF, 2003-2004, there were areas that were less than optimal, this does not hold true today.

If you are going to base your entire opinion on sensationalized news reporting without doing your own research, you will be sadly misled. Hopefully you are not the type of guy that reads an article quoting statistics and takes it as presented. Statistics are always slanted. STOP being a lemming and believe only half of what your read.

-ea6bflyr

Well then we're not really in disagreement, are we? With all due respect, half of what I quoted was my paraphrasing what the President himself said. I read my news in two different languages from several sources (maybe only one of which is "from the States") but there will obviously always be a skew between what you read in the news and what someone, say yourself, reports from the ground.

Did you just add the BDCP? Sorry my mistake.

Yea, I think that's what MasterBates wanted me to add... What are you apologizing for, I'm not really sure what's going on...

 

[nittany03]

Well then we're not really in disagreement, are we? With all due respect, half of what I quoted was my paraphrasing what the President himself said. I read my news in two different languages from several sources (maybe only one of which is "from the States") but there will obviously always be a skew between what you read in the news and what someone, say yourself, reports from the ground.

The point is that when someone who has been there done that speaks, your mouth goes shut and you learn. This will hold true for your entire military career.

 

[ea6bflyr]

With a budget of over half a trillion dollars for the military, don't you suppose our gear in Iraq ought to have armor? Also, IEDs didn't exist during WW2. Different war, different circumstances, different environment.

Alright, here's a little history lesson for you in order to point out some of the flaws in your argument quoted above:

Improvised Explosive Devices did exist during World War II, they just weren't called IEDs.

From 1943 until 1944, the Belarusian "Rail War" stopped the German Nazi's from taking over the Belarus region of Russia. The Belarusian guerillas used command-detonated and delayed-fuse explosives to destroy thousands of Nazi trains.

-ea6bflyr

 

[porw0004]

My logic here may be flawed... but I would suspect that the concept of improvising an explosive device has existed hand in hand with explosive devices. Now it just has a fancy name, other than "booby-trap".

 

[lmnop]

My logic here may be flawed... but I would suspect that the concept of improvising an explosive device has existed hand in hand with explosive devices.

No, not flawed at all. IED isn't really that new of a term, it's just gotten alot more visibility in the past few years. In many cases the powers that be have gone overboard in the taxonomy of IEDs, and have come up with an absurd number of variations to the name.

Now it just has a fancy name, other than "booby-trap".

Booby traps are always victim actuated, not necessarily the case with IEDs.

Further threadjack: If you want to check out a good read on a pre WW-II use of IEDs, check out The Detonators by Chad Millman. It deals with German saboteurs in the US during WW I, and their use of improvised devices to sabotage US military assistance efforts prior to our entry into the war.