Ask a Soldier

[MobBoss]

Does being in training for 26 days make one a soldier?

In the US military one isnt a soldier until 90 days after their Advanced Individual Training. Sometimes this can be a year or more from their enlistment date, and until that time they are merely a 'trainee'.

Just a little fact I would mention when I saw the 23 day comment from r16.

 

[r16]

never claimed ı was a soldier , now that ı personally don't believe one learns to "walk" before 6 months neverminding the rest . And the people are not asking me anything , as far as my English knowledge tells me . More to the point my posts do not survive the scrunity of professionals when they bother , meaning there is not much need to worry .

just before ı get it for spamming :

for the sake of completeness/weirdness , apparently it is Ike to blame . Despite talking against the military-industrial complex , he wasn't totally against the arms industry . He was on board an USN carrier to welcome the pair of the F8Us on a cross-country publicity stunt . Between the F4U that became deadly to the enemies of the United States after an initial period in which it was murderous to Americans alone and the Crusaders that shone in Vietnam -by default- , the F5U meant getting into uncharted territory , the F6U kinda deserved serving as targets in bombing ranges and the Gutless Cutlass aka F7U was the proverbial dog , a dismal product - especially when people other than its makers were involved . Eisenhower was in a wide re-arranging of how business was conducted in the US .

including pressure on the likes of Mafia . The "Italian" contribution to the demise of JFK has been "justified" by the failure of his Administration to live up to its "promises" to big business , to reverse what came before him . He has been the only Catholic US President so far , right ?

returning to Ike and defence he had exclusively concentrated on sustainable nuclear overmatching , since he knew Russians were behind , practically across the board and that even before he took the oath for Presidency . He was kinda irritated with the bomber gaps , missile gaps , Sputnik scares and CIA's U-2 overflights . When the dust settled and his precepts were firmly in place the conventional re-armament would begin , with certainly less cost to US treasury . In a diversication of supply to introduce real competition , this then becomes the place where the M-16 enters the picture . As a glorified sub-machine gun , to be bought in limited numbers . But certainly not as "the" service arm . In any case experts of the time were of the opinion that long range was essential and apparently the nuclear battlefield was a factor . Now there are times when ı can't tell whether people are pulling my leg and my only correct course of action would be saying "Yeah, right !" but here it goes . Apparently an infantryman properly padded against fallout and stuff would have been real tough to deal with a rifle , tough ı don't know how he would be able to move around with all the weight that would entail .

as such , the M-16 or rather the AR-15 was meant to fail . An Osprey title has quite a passage on how the tests were officially rigged to safeguard the penetration as provided by the M-14 . It is widespread that the company had a 7.62 version that burst , quite a lot since it was done in a way that guarenteed it would do so , ı personally don't know how . It was simply not the time for adoption . Immediate management knew from the start that development funding was the only target , though they kept it from the ears of Ike . As such even the sub-machine gun role was hobbled by the placement of the recoil mechanism at the stock or something , so that it would score badly in compactness . The AR-18 , the gleam in Stoner's eye , - on a basis of ı believe -lacks the handlebar / sight combo and can use folding stocks . It even has the gas piston the majority of the assault rifles use to work the mechanism . ı hear there has been a limited issue of piston M-16s in Iraq post 2003 , while this M-4 thing apparently becomes more AR-18ish year by year , "rails" and handgrips and all .

then there was the commander of SAC . It is not that widely known that those were the days when American bomber pilots took of with orders to listen for the word from Curtis LeMay and not Dwight Eisenhower to drop their payload over somewhere in Russia ; the world owes it a bit to the US inter-service rivalry that Washington managed to avoid starting a nuclear war . Lemay , too wanted a re-arrangement of the US defence industry though it would be prudent to define his wish as 150 degrees off the Eisenhower course . A production contract for US airfield guards was thrown in as a "bait" , the parent company Fairchild was a plane-maker and could expect better things if it handled things related to the "futuristic" weapon in the LeMay way , something to be realised when the ailing Republic was taken over . This is probably not the place to discuss the relationship between the losses of F-105s over Hanoi and stuff .

this is not an anti-Fairchild diatribe , the path they took Republic with the A-10 has been fun to watch .

the USAF contract was fiercely contested by Washington until MacNamara came in as the new Defence Secretary . ı wonder whether there is any single US service personnel that will ever say anything positive for his overall performance in the Pentagon . Anyhow , he took the bait from LeMay and imroved on it , a doubled contract but with a twist . Armalite had to sell the weapon to Colt , a more proper company if you will , with minimal return . The single Osprey title ı could lay my mouse on wonders aloud what they were thinking at the Armalite offices . Nothing in print , but ı am sure , quite sure , that the chrome barrel and replaced bullets would have been more in tune for making money , for Armalite and its own subcontractors . MacNamara had more suitable candidates for even the sub-machine gun role , the production funding was diverted and economised upon , old fools were slapped with progress , you know this clean less attitude , it surely wasn't their fathers' weapon and so on . Blame him do not , for not foreseeing the war in Vietnam would become serious . Unlike Ike , they were ready to roll the enemies of US back . Unfortunately the Vietnamese were ignorant of the American way . Hence the bags , because the rifles had to be used after all and when they were rightfully mocked , a return to basics . It was a bad start though , Hackworth , an American military icon , chooses the early M-16 as the epitome of Pentagon evilness where he proposes a different , leaner and meaner US Military in , let me see ... Playboy , the US edition , the Echo Johnson issue .

 

[kochman]

Fascinating theory... can you start your own thread and post that stuff in there please?

This is the ask a soldier thread.

 

[cav scout]

ı was a soldier for 26 days , carried a G-3 for 10 days or so ı cleaned it once or twice and wasn't exactly happy with the result , certainly would take some other rifle to any combat . The brand being unimportant , as long as it was maintaned by somebody else . Not that ı would ever be in combat .

What are your complaints with the G3? I found it to be a pretty cool rifle and I actually enjoyed the optics (see earlier discussion above).

 

[r16]

my only complaint could have been that it looked funny on me . As for the cleaning thing ı was totally lost , the rag to wipe excess oil never arrived my way and ı thought it would be good to use paper tissue . Had ı been doing the inspection , the rifle would have earned an immediate 5km punishment run .

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Do military radio frequencies work in sandstorms?

 

[Gucumatz]

Fascinating thread! I am going to profile this quickly

 

[Hygro]

Can you talk to me about the current vaccination regime? That's something that's holding me back from seeking commission - I remember there were some mad shady vaccines.

 

[Flying Pig]

my only complaint could have been that it looked funny on me . As for the cleaning thing ı was totally lost , the rag to wipe excess oil never arrived my way and ı thought it would be good to use paper tissue . Had ı been doing the inspection , the rifle would have earned an immediate 5km punishment run .

'It looked funny on me' has to be one of the most civilian reasons to dislike a rifle I've ever come across.

Do military radio frequencies work in sandstorms?

Short answer is that it depends on how good the radio is and how bad the storm is - the ones we used at the start of my time were notorious for getting bad reception in any sort of adverse weather, but modern ones can normally get a signal through, although it will be distorted to some extent. A bad sandstorm can still render you without communications, mind.

Can you talk to me about the current vaccination regime? That's something that's holding me back from seeking commission - I remember there were some mad shady vaccines.

I'm probably not so well qualified to talk about current programs, but I remember when we went to Kuwait they vaccinated us against various biological weapons that they thought Saddam might be throwing at us - the things made your arms swell up like balloons, and I noticed that the number in the waiting room for the second round was markedly smaller than the number for the first! As it was, it turns out he may well not have had those things, so we suffered in vain.

 

[Quackers]

Do you ever get upset by the presumptions and questions of civilians?

 

[Flying Pig]

Do you ever get upset by the presumptions and questions of civilians?

If I did, I'd be in the wrong place! I don't get irritated by honest questions of the sort that we get here, however ill-informed they are; if you go to a pub with a short haircut in the wrong sort of place - Oxford being, I have to say, the worst place I've ever been for that - there's always a chance that you'll get the more aggressive sort of 'questions', but one of the advantages of being my size and shape is that they rarely lead to more than self-righteous remarks. Luckily there's very little of that on CFC, despite our diverse range of opinions, which is good.

 

[AdamCrock]

Hi I've got a few questions if You don't mind.

1. First about comparing the movies/games to the real deal. In the age of near-realistic computer games and billions of $ cinematic productions I've always wondered how much truth is in those movies and games ? Have You ever played any modern FPS (First Person Shooter) game and if so how do You feel about it ? Feels real enough or it's just poppycock ? As for the movies I've always thought it is impossible for a single man to go in a well guarded base, kill everyone and blow up a few tanks like John Rambo did (maybe I'm exaggerating but shooting down a helicopter with a bow seems like fantasy...) There were also a few good quite realistic movies like "Apocalypse Now" imho for example. Care to comment ?

2. What was the scariest moment of Your service ?

3. Did Your rifle ever jammed ? If so than what do You do when that happens in a combat situation ? (I think one should carry secondary weapon like pistol for example but I'm not a soldier) Also can You drop Your weapon when jammed or You need to carry it around ? (After all some partisans or others for example might use it later to arm themselves - if they have ammo that is)

 

[Quackers]

If I did, I'd be in the wrong place! I don't get irritated by honest questions of the sort that we get here, however ill-informed they are; if you go to a pub with a short haircut in the wrong sort of place - Oxford being, I have to say, the worst place I've ever been for that - there's always a chance that you'll get the more aggressive sort of 'questions', but one of the advantages of being my size and shape is that they rarely lead to more than self-righteous remarks. Luckily there's very little of that on CFC, despite our diverse range of opinions, which is good.

Nobody has ever said "So, how many Black Babies have you killed?" I've heard that once(paraphrased). Not the cleverest thing to say to a load of drunk Royal Marines.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Short answer is that it depends on how good the radio is and how bad the storm is - the ones we used at the start of my time were notorious for getting bad reception in any sort of adverse weather, but modern ones can normally get a signal through, although it will be distorted to some extent. A bad sandstorm can still render you without communications, mind.

I expected it might be variable...good to know it is possible though. And nice to see you again. Haven't read a post from you in a while now.

Do you ever get upset by the presumptions and questions of civilians?

I would hope not. The military disregarding civilian concerns generally is not a path to be followed for a considerable amount of time.

 

[Hygro]

I'm probably not so well qualified to talk about current programs, but I remember when we went to Kuwait they vaccinated us against various biological weapons that they thought Saddam might be throwing at us - the things made your arms swell up like balloons, and I noticed that the number in the waiting room for the second round was markedly smaller than the number for the first! As it was, it turns out he may well not have had those things, so we suffered in vain.

Oi sounds lovely. I guess I'm concerned because my health is already in some ways on the margins, and there's some autoimmune concerns with some of those more experimental vaccines from back in the day. If the military hadn't already backed away from using depleted uranium in everything and there mother I'd be even more hesitant.


Also, what kind of timing can I expect advancing ranks? My motivations for considering a military stint include a combination of service, training, and being able to show up in case my country ever entered another life-or-death war ala WW2 or the Civil War, but I think I'd wiggle the edges of my contract depending on likelihood of promotion to certain ranks. Assume I'm entering as a 2nd Lt. in the Army.

 

[Flying Pig]

1. First about comparing the movies/games to the real deal. In the age of near-realistic computer games and billions of $ cinematic productions I've always wondered how much truth is in those movies and games ? Have you ever played any modern FPS (First Person Shooter) game and if so how do you feel about it ? Feels real enough or it's just poppycock?

Have to say I don't really go in for those things, but I'd be surprised if they could make 'realistic' warfare at all enjoyable as a game - leaving aside slightly clichéd emotional aspects, the brutal fact of it is that most soldiers in combat have to be pretty unremarkable bricks in the wall, doing exactly what they're told as part of a well-defined plan in which they don't individually have any sort of starring role. If you read any citation for a gallantry medal - which are awarded for the sort of actions which I imagine video-game players would be wanting to emulate as a matter of course - you'll find that they are almost uniformly awarded when things go wrong in some way - most begin with words to the effect of 'Such were the casualties of the battle that Atkins found himself having to take charge of a unit larger than the expectations of his own rank'. Clearly, this doesn't happen very often in reality.

As for the movies I've always thought it is impossible for a single man to go in a well guarded base, kill everyone and blow up a few tanks like John Rambo did (maybe I'm exaggerating but shooting down a helicopter with a bow seems like fantasy...)

Yes, but it's fun. I can't say I really have a problem with war films being unrealistic - we recognise implictly that Silent Witness doesn't give a life-like picture of what it's like to be a pathologist, Taggart doesn't portray a realistic view of the life of Glaswegian detectives, and the world of House is totally unlike any real-life hospital. We accept this sacrifice because we don't want a documentary; we want to enjoy ourselves: I see no reason why we should expect war films to be any more realistic. At the end of the day, most wars are quite boring for most people.

There were also a few good quite realistic movies like "Apocalypse Now" imho for example. Care to comment ?

'Gritty' often slides off the other end of the realism scale, because of course while warfare isn't glamourous or particularly enjoyable as some screenwriters would suggest, that doesn't mean it's always as horrific as others would. Apocalypse Now is fantastic, and I greatly enjoyed it, but it's not realistic. Have you read Conrad's Heart of Darkness? Coppola based the film on that book, and I think the book's actually better, although somewhat less quotable.

2. What was the scariest moment of Your service ?

Stepping off a train at Aldershot to be confronted with the men who would be father, mother, judge, jury and executioner to me for the duration of my training... after you've fought through P Company, facing the enemy is nothing.

3. Did your rifle ever jammed ?

Yes - it's uncommon, though, and normally means that you've let something get excessively dirty, or your magazine is defective.

If so than what do You do when that happens in a combat situation?

Apply the safety catch, cock the weapon to the rear, and look inside. Upon looking inside the chamber you observe that there are rounds in the magazine and multiple rounds inside the chamber. Remove the magazine, tilt the weapon over to the right, and shake until the obstruction clears. Look inside the chamber, and upon observing that the chamber is clear, replace the magazine and operate the bolt release catch. Remove the safety catch and carry on firing.

OK, I cheated, because I still teach that to cadets on a fairly regular basis, but there are more than a few soldiers of my generation who can recite that from memory, or at least do it instinctively if given a rifle. It's a standard procedure - essentially the same as the standard solution to a computer problem - "have you tried turning it off and on again?"

(I think one should carry secondary weapon like pistol for example but I'm not a soldier)

Pistols are awkward to carry around and useless beyond 50m even on a range; the rule of thumb is to halve the nominal effective range in combat, which gives you all of 25m to work with. Obviously, if you're 25m away from the enemy when you get a stoppage, you have a problem.

Also can You drop Your weapon when jammed or You need to carry it around ? (After all some partisans or others for example might use it later to arm themselves - if they have ammo that is)

You can, but you'll find killing the enemy with your bare hands to be somewhat more difficult. You'll also be charged with throwing away your weapon in the face of the enemy!

Nobody has ever said "So, how many Black Babies have you killed?" I've heard that once(paraphrased). Not the cleverest thing to say to a load of drunk Royal Marines.

Ah, the Royals... one of the problems with garisson towns is that the local wannabe hard-cases always seem to make it a matter of honour to pick fights with the servicemen based there, meaning that we normally end up taking over our own bars with the inevitable results - Pegasus in Aldershot being a notorious example - and so becoming quite isolated from the civilian populations. I don't think this is a good thing, but it's perhaps a sad inevitability.

I expected it might be variable...good to know it is possible though. And nice to see you again. Haven't read a post from you in a while now.

I'm still here - admittedly not joining new threads as much as I'd like, but I think the quality of new OT threads really has declined recently.

I would hope not. The military disregarding civilian concerns generally is not a path to be followed for a considerable amount of time.

Well, asinine as they often are, the military does work for civilians, and if we forget that then we're in a very bad place.

Oi sounds lovely. I guess I'm concerned because my health is already in some ways on the margins, and there's some autoimmune concerns with some of those more experimental vaccines from back in the day. If the military hadn't already backed away from using depleted uranium in everything and there mother I'd be even more hesitant.

You'll catch just about every disease in the book from the military - or, more accurately, from about half of the civilian population wherever you're stationed. Looking to leave with a clean bill of health is very wishful thinking.

Also, what kind of timing can I expect advancing ranks? My motivations for considering a military stint include a combination of service, training, and being able to show up in case my country ever entered another life-or-death war ala WW2 or the Civil War, but I think I'd wiggle the edges of my contract depending on likelihood of promotion to certain ranks. Assume I'm entering as a 2nd Lt. in the Army.

Just found this on Yahoo Answers:

Officer promotions are the exact same for all branches and are governed under the same Federal laws. So an Officer in the Navy will be promoted on the same time frame as one in the Army or Air Force.

Promote to: Time in Service:
OF2 18 months
OF3 4 years
OF4 10 years
OF5 16 years
OF6 22 years

I expect no change. has pretty much been the same the last 10 years.

You must meet formal military and education requirements to be promoted. You are promoted based on your year group (the year you got commissioned) with your peers in that group.

 

[Domen]

As a commanding officer or NCO - did your unit ever lost a combat / was forced to retreat, etc.?

 

[Flying Pig]

I've never been a CO or had to take unit command - my largest command on paper was a Squadron (sub-unit) as a Major, and I have never gone into contact with anything larger than a platoon as a Captain, although I did once have cause to take command of my company (again, sub-unit) after the death of my OC. I've never been in a battle which could be considered a tactical defeat, although admittedly I have been in very few engagements which are typically known as 'battles'.

 

[Domen]

Ah, sorry I forgot that in modern armies, especially on "peacetime strength", there are more than enough of officers. A Major in command of a squadron or platoon would be something totally unbelievable for example during WW2. At that time Majors were usually in charge of battalions or regiments.

=============================================

Could you list the military operations in which you took part?

Apart from Falklands, Northern Ireland, Indonesian–Malaysian Confrontation, early days of Kuwait?

 

[Flying Pig]

A Major in command of a platoon is unthinkable in any time; even in wartime most billets are filled by the correct rank. I wasn't the only person to have to work above my pay grade at Goose Green; our own CO was shot dead and his 2IC took command. Since he was a Major, the Army arranged to have a new CO, who was a Lt-Colonel, dropped in as soon as possible afterwards, although Major Keeble was an excellent officer and more than capable of doing the job himself - indeed, he made Lt-Col within a year, I think, and was a full Colonel when he retired only a few years afterwards.