Category Archives: Military

Tuesday Afternoon

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A couple of interesting tidbits; this first one was sent in over the transom by Rat, who shares my appreciation of fine marksmanship.  These two soldiers are engaged in the business of making bad Taliban into good (as in, dead) Taliban, and are damn good at it.  Read Dead Men Risen: The Sniper’s Story.  Image here is of the L96 sniper rifle, similar to the one used in the story.  Excerpt:

On September 12th, a known Taliban commander appeared on the back of a motorcycle with a passenger riding pillion. There was a British patrol in the village of Gorup-e Shesh Kalay and under the rules of engagement, the walkie-talkie the Taliban pair were carrying was designated a hostile act. As they drove off, Osmond fired warning shots with his pistol and then picked up his L96, the same weapon – serial number 0166 – he had used in Iraq and on the butt of which he had written, ‘I love u 0166’.

Taking deliberate aim, he fired a single shot. The bike tumbled and both men fell onto the road and lay there motionless. When the British patrol returned, they checked the men and confirmed they were both dead, with large holes through their heads.

The 7.62 mm bullet Osmond had fired had passed through the heads of both men. He had achieved the rare feat of ‘one shot, two kills’ known in the sniping business as ‘a Quigley’. The term comes from the 1990 film Quigley Down Under in which the hero, played by Tom Selleck, uses an old Sharps rifle to devastating effect.

I also recommend you read today’s column from the always-worth-reading Victor Davis Hanson on Japan and America:  The Fragility of Complex Societies.  Excerpt:

There is no more ordered, successful and humane urban society than found in Japan. Like most Americans, these last few days I have been moved as never before by the courage and calm of the Japanese people amid such horrific conditions, as one of the most sophisticated and complex urbanized cultures on the planet in a split second is nearly paralyzed. I confess I do not quite fathom the constant American news blitzes about all sorts of China Syndrome scenarios. Radiation pollution is a serious worry, but right now no one has died from exposure and perhaps 10,000 have perished from the tsunami and earthquake. It seems to me the greater worry right now is not yet a meltdown, but the vast dangers resulting from disruptions in food, water, power, and sewage.

Odder still, it was almost crass to watch American TV heads lead in with shrill, hyped-up mini-dramas about possible radiation clouds descending here on the West Coast, even as their backdrop screens showed biblical disasters of earthquake, flood and human wreckage. Whether we are exposed to a chest-X-ray dose of radiation seems insignificant in comparison to the horrific conditions that millions of Japanese are now enduring.

Animal’s Daily News

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Off to the airport and thence to Chicago in just a few minutes, so this will be brief.  It supposed to be damn cold in the Windy City while I’m there, which is nothing unusual this time of year.  While I appreciate the value of a good warm jacket in such weather, I think the young lady pictured here is unclear on the concept of cold-weather gear.

Worried about global warming?  All we need is a small nuclear war to cool things off. I’m not sure if that’s the right metaphor, but still.  Excerpt:

During the Cold War a nuclear exchange between superpowers—such as the one feared for years between the United States and the former Soviet Union—was predicted to cause a “nuclear winter.”

In that scenario hundreds of nuclear explosions spark huge fires, whose smoke, dust, and ash blot out the sun for weeks amid a backdrop of dangerous radiation levels. Much of humanity eventually dies of starvation and disease.

Today, with the United States the only standing superpower, nuclear winter is little more than a nightmare. But nuclear war remains a very real threat—for instance, between developing-world nuclear powers, such as India and Pakistan.

To see what climate effects such a regional nuclear conflict might have, scientists from NASA and other institutions modeled a war involving a hundred Hiroshima-level bombs, each packing the equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT—just 0.03 percent of the world’s current nuclear arsenal.

It’s been said before – there is no problem that can not be solved with a suitable application of high explosives.

Next:  This is probably the best summation of Ayn Rand‘s Atlas Shrugged that I’ve read yet.  Excerpt:

Again–I said this is the most IMPORTANT book I’ve ever read.  It’s not the best WRITTEN book.  That said, if you haven’t read it, I should think it is assigned reading for the next six weeks as we get ready for the movie.

I do agree with this assessment.  Rand was a better thinker and ethicist than she was a writer.  Still, it’s a highly recommended read.  The overall theme of the book is stunningly appropriate for the times we find ourselves in.

Finally:  America’s last doughboy is gone. WWI veteran Frank Buckles, the last surviving American veteran of the First World War, has passed away at the age of 110, dying peacefully of natural causes on his West Virginia farm.  We salute you, Frank.  We should all hope for such a long and eventful life.

On that, we return you to your Monday, already in progress.

Animal’s Daily News

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I wish they’d had this stuff when I wore Uncle Sam’s green:  Invisible Tanks, Planes and Armor Could Hit Battlefields in Five Years. Excerpt:

Invisible tanks — and maybe invisible soldiers — may soon be charging onto battlefields.

A British weapons manufacturer is making good on the promise of Wonder Woman’s invisible jet, describing an “eCamouflage” system that uses electronic ink to disguise combat vehicles by projecting videos of the countryside onto them — electronic squid ink of a sort.

Using highly sophisticated electronic sensors attached to a vehicle’s hull, BAE Systems plans to project images of the surrounding environment back onto the outside of the vehicle — enabling it to merge into the landscape and evade attack, explained London paper The Telegraph.

Unlike conventional forms of camouflage, the images on the hull would change in concert with the changing environment, always insuring that the vehicle remains disguised.

In sort-of-related news:  NASA Reveals Planes of the Future. With many cool pictures.

And, finally:  A Beer A Day Keeps The Doctor Away. Who needs apples, anyway?  Excerpt:

Moderate drinking of ale and lager can cut the risk of diabetes and high blood pressure and even help people lose weight, doctors say.

The Spanish researchers suggest combining beer with exercise and a healthy Mediterranean diet high in fish, fruit and vegetables and olive oil.

Beer contains folic acid, vitamins, iron and calcium and has the same health benefits already attributed to moderate wine drinking, researchers found.

And they blamed fatty foods like chips, a lack of exercise and binge drinking for beer bellies in Britain.

Dr Ramon Estruch, the lead researcher, said: “Moderate beer consumption is associated with nutritional and health benefits.

So, drink up, True Believers!  It’s good for you.

We Were Soldiers

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It’s amazing, but this is the barracks where I stayed when I was in Army basic training, lo those many years ago.  In the area where the smaller portion of the barracks adjoins the larger, you can see a large tree that has been seriously pruned back, probably due to age.  When I was in formation, in my usual place in Echo Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Basic Training Brigade, I stood facing that tree.

It was a little sapling then, the ground still turned over where it had been planted.

Surprising sometimes how memories come back so clearly after quite a long time.  Standing there in front of the old barracks, I had no trouble remembering which direction to walk to the chow hall, where the PT field was, which piece of grass we sat on to clean weapons, which doors we scrambled out of when called to formation. It was easy enough to remember where the supply room was, where we drew weapons and field gear; it was right next to the barracks, and it still is.

While down there, I stood in my old formation spot and soaked in the memories for a few minutes.

Today it was cold and snowing, as you can see in the photos.  When I was there before, it was summer – hot and humid.  But I had no trouble recognizing the building.

Of course, back then, I was a twenty-two year old, dumbass kid from Iowa who had never been anywhere, never really done anything.  Now, I’m a middle-aged guy who spent a good part of the day reflecting on what ended up being one of the best decisions he ever made.

And it all started right there in that building shown above.

Whatever else I am, whatever else I’ve been, I was once a soldier.  I’m still really proud of that.  It affected everything I’ve done since I first reported to Echo Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Basic Training Brigade; it has made me a different person than I otherwise would have been.

It was nice to see the old place again.

Animal’s Daily News

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No work for tired Animals today – instead, in a little while, I will journey down to Fort Dix, New Jersey, where I went to U.S. Army Basic Combat Training, lo those many years ago.  They no longer do basic at Dix, but I think I’ll wander around and see what (if anything) I recognize.

Seems like it’s been forever since I got my first taste of the U.S. military; it was a taste that ended up being something like a ten-course meal, lasting quite a while and having a profound impact on the course of my life – most of all, it led me to meeting Mrs. Animal.  But it all started just 40 miles or so south of where I sit at this moment, so I may as well go have a look.  Any interesting photos will follow.

Our first news of the day is not so good; from the Financial Times, U.S. Jobs Report An “Utter Mess.” Not a terribly big surprise, but it nevertheless makes me glad I’ve had adequate work lately myself; then again, I’ve always been good at scraping together enough cash to keep myself, Mrs. Animal and the little Animals housed, fed, and to indulge my own various vices and habits.  Anyway, excerpt:

Markets hoped that December’s payroll report would mark a breakthrough for the US economy’s recovery, with a surge in private job creation towards 200,000 – a level that would finally put a dent in the unemployment rate.

Instead they got a murky mixture of a report, prompting one economist, Rob Carnell of ING Bank, to call it an “utter mess” and question why markets focus so much on payrolls at all.

By all means, read the whole story.  The news on jobs was disappointing at best.  But, as my Grandpa used to say, ‘when you’re flat on your ass, the only way you can look is up.’

Speaking of looking up, it seems gigapixel digital cameras are just around the corner.  Neat stuff.  Excerpt:

Advances in technology tend to spoil us. PCs just a few years old have nothing on today’s smart phones, and, whereas megapixel images were once the state of the art in digital photography, gigapixel images (composed of at least one billion pixels, or picture elements) are beginning to show up on the Web in vivid detail.

And here I just bought Mrs. A a new 14-megapixel Canon.  Oh well.

Have a great Saturday, True Believers!