Veterans...Get the hell in here now!
- Thread starter 6ohMax
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raratt
Well-Known Member
I have one of those also. but ours were ribbons.
Singlemalt
Well-Known Member
Yep, you'd expect that with the old oaken man o' wars 200 yrs ago
DarkWeb
Well-Known Member
My dad has one of those
My initial though is either they had additional mechanical ventilation or there might have been access ports cut into the hull for equipment transfer.
IDK, sounds weird to me as well.
I managed to pull both Expert pistol and rifle outta basic & continued on through my career including Practical pistol & rifle quals each time. TBH I never found it that difficult. Too many guys tried to "Rambo" it instead of listening to the DI & RM - Heck, they could tell you what you're doing wrong just by watching where the rounds were grouping. All you had to do was listen.
BarnBuster
Virtually Unknown Member
On August 1, 1943, 177 B-24 bombers take off from an Allied base in Libya, bound for the oil-producing city Ploiești, Romania, nicknamed “Hitler’s gas station.”
Operation Tidal Wave began ominously, with an overloaded bomber crashing shortly after takeoff and another plunging into the Adriatic Sea. 167 of the original 177 bombers made it to Ploiești, whose oil fields and refineries provided the Germans with over 8.5 million tons of oil per year. Whereas most Allied bombing in World War II was carried out from a high altitude, the bombers that raided Ploiești flew exceptionally low in order to evade the Germans’ radar. The bombers lost the element of surprise, however, when one group veered off on the wrong direction, forcing the others to break radio silence in order to direct them back on course. This unplanned adjustment also led to the bombers approaching from the south, where the Nazis had concentrated their anti-aircraft batteries.
The ensuing attack was dramatic, chaotic and costly. The Allies suffered heavy casualties, and smoke from the explosions caused by the first wave of bombers made visibility difficult for subsequent waves. Survivors reported debris like branches and barbed wire hitting and even ending up on the inside of their planes. Lt. Col. Addison Baker and Maj. John Jerstad were awarded the Medal of Honor for their (unsuccessful) attempt to fly higher and allow the crew to bail of our their badly damaged plane. Another pilot, Lt. Lloyd Herbert Hughes, also received a posthumous Medal of Honor for flying his critically-damaged B-24 into its target. Col. John Kane and Col. Leon Johnson, who each led bombing groups that reached their targets, were the only men who won the Medal of Honor and survived the raid.
Although the Allies estimated that the raid had reduced Ploiești’s capacity by 40 percent, the damage was quickly repaired and within months the refineries had outstripped their previous capacity. The region continued to serve as “Hitler’s gas station” until the Soviet Union captured it in August of 1944. 310 airmen died, 108 were captured and another 78 were interned in neighboring Turkey.
Of the 178 planes that took off from Benghazi, only 89 returned. While the enemy destroyed 54 planes, others crash landed at bases throughout the area. Over 300 men died, over 100 captured, and 78 were interred in Turkey. Of the 89 returning planes, over a third were unfit to fly afterward. .
Operation Tidal Wave remains the most highly decorated military mission in U.S. History. Five Medals of Honor, 3 posthumously, were awarded, the most for any single air mission in history. 998 enlisted aircrew flew in Tidal Wave. 900 were decorated. 10 Silver Stars, 16 Distinguished Service Crosses and 879 Distinguished Flying Crosses were awarded to bombadiers, gunners, engineers and radioman for their heroics.
BarnBuster
Virtually Unknown Member
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
Festina lente
BarnBuster
Virtually Unknown Member
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
It took me 1000 rounds to learn that.
TheCropMan
Member
...
Attachments
BarnBuster
Virtually Unknown Member
On August 6, 2011, insurgents shot down a Chinook transport helicopter in Afghanistan, killing all 38 people on board, including 15 Navy SEALS from Team Six’s Gold Squadron.
The Tangi Valley, located along the border between Afghanistan’s Wardak and Logar provinces some 80 miles southwest of Kabul, is a remote, inaccessible area known for its resistance to foreign invasion. Alexander the Great suffered heavy troop losses there during his campaign in Afghanistan in the fourth century B.C. In the 1980s, mujahideen fighters in Wardak and Logar provinces devastated an entire division of Soviet fighters.
In 2009, U.S. forces from the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army established a base in the Tangi Valley area after it became clear the Taliban had taken advantage of low coalition presence there to establish a stronghold within striking distance of the Afghan capital. As the United States and NATO allies began a drawdown of their troops in the spring of 2011, U.S. forces turned over the Tangi Valley outpost to their Afghan counterparts. They continued to run operations in the area, however, using helicopters and special operations forces to combat groups of insurgents in the region.
Under cover of darkness on the night of August 6, 2011, a special ops team that included a group of U.S. Army Rangers began an assault on a Taliban compound in the village of Jaw-e-Mekh Zareen in the Tangi Valley. The firefight at the house went on for at least two hours, and the ground team called in reinforcements. As the Chinook CH-47 transport helicopter (call sign: Extortion 17) carrying 30 U.S. troops, seven Afghan commandos, an Afghan civilian interpreter and a U.S. military dog approached, the insurgents fired on the helicopter and it crashed to the ground, killing all aboard.
Of the 30 Americans killed, 22 were Navy personnel, and 17 were SEALs. These included two bomb specialists and 15 operators in the Gold Squadron of DEVGRU, or Team Six, the highly classified unit that conducted the raid that killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan the previous May. None of the operators killed in the Afghan helicopter crash had been involved in that mission, officials said. In addition to the SEALs, the others killed in the Chinook crash included five other Naval Special Warfare (NSW) personnel, three Air Force forward air controllers and five Army helicopter crewmembers.
The attack on August 6 was the most devastating day in SEAL Team Six history, as well as the single largest loss of life for U.S. forces since the war in Afghanistan began in October 2001. More than twice as many NSW personnel died in the Wardak crash than were killed on June 28, 2005, during Operation Redwings. That day, eight SEALs and eight members of the members of the Army’s 160th Special Forces Operations Regiment (SOAR) were killed when insurgents shot down their Chinook helicopter in Kunar province, near Asadabad. Three SEALs involved in a firefight on the ground were also killed, in what would stand as the deadliest day in NSW history since the Normandy landings on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
“No words describe the sorrow we feel in the wake of this tragic loss,” General John R. Allen, senior commander of the international military coalition in Afghanistan, said after the crash. “All of those killed in this operation were true heroes who had already given so much in the defense of freedom. Their sacrifice will not be forgotten.”
As funerals for the fallen sailors and other servicemen took place throughout the United States, a team of specialists conducted an official investigation to determine the cause of the crash. The resulting report, delivered in October 2011, concluded that a Taliban fighter shot down the Chinook with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) as the helicopter neared its landing zone, and that “all operational decisions, linked to the incident, were deemed tactically sound.”
Some later questioned the official narrative of the Extortion 17 crash, even suggesting the attack could have been an inside job, with Afghan forces tipping the Taliban off about the mission beforehand. Others criticized the planning and execution of the mission, including the decision to fly the helicopter into an area where it could be easily shot down and the use of a conventional helicopter rather than one designed for special operations missions. Family members of some of the SEAL Team Six operators killed in the crash, along with some military personnel, claimed that the U.S. government had turned the members of the elite unit into a target by revealing their role in the bin Laden raid. A congressional oversight committee even held a controversial hearing into the events surrounding the crash in early 2014.
Though the U.S.-led coalition formally ended its combat mission in Afghanistan in December 2014, the war has continued for more than two years beyond that point, marking its 15th anniversary last October. As of 2016, some 9,800 U.S. troops remained in Afghanistan. The Department of Defense estimates the total number of U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan at 2,254. Meanwhile, the civilian toll of the war grows ever higher; one estimate, by the organization International Physicians for the Prevention of War, put the total number of Afghans killed in the first 12 years of the conflict at some 220,000.
The Final Flight of Extortion 17
It was the deadliest helicopter crash in the history of U.S. special operations. Why did it happen?
Setting the record straight: Myths and misinformation about Extortion 17
The 6 August, 2011 downing of Extortion 17 has continued to make international headlines years after the terrible tragedy. This continued attention is due
sofrep.com
Bravo Zulu Admiral Fagan
news.yahoo.com
Biden selects first woman four-star admiral for the Coast Guard
President Joe Biden plans to nominate Coast Guard Vice Adm. Linda Fagan to the role of vice commandant, making her the first woman to achieve a fourth-star in the service, Defense News has learned.
BarnBuster
Virtually Unknown Member
Today in Military History:
"On this day in 1942, the U.S. 1st Marine Division begins Operation Watchtower, the code name for the U.S. plan to invade Guadalcanal and the surrounding islands and was the first U.S. offensive of the war.
Although not as well-known as the Battles of Midway or Iwo Jima, the Battle of Guadalcanal played a key role in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The six-month-long Guadalcanal Campaign took place on and around the island of Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands located in the South Pacific, to the northeast of Australia
On July 6, 1942, the Japanese landed on Guadalcanal Island and began constructing an airfield there. In response on August 7, 1942, , the U.S. launched Operation Watchtower, in which American troops landed on five islands within the Solomon chain, including Guadalcanal. Although the invasion came as a complete surprise to the Japanese (bad weather had grounded their scouting aircraft), the landings on Florida, Tulagi, Gavutu and Tananbogo met much initial opposition from the Japanese defenders.
But the Americans who landed on Guadalcanal met little resistance—at least at first. More than 11,000 Marines had landed, and 24 hours had passed, before the Japanese manning the garrison there knew of the attack. The U.S. forces quickly took their main objective, the airfield, and the outnumbered Japanese troops retreated, but not for long. Reinforcements were brought in, and fierce hand-to-hand jungle fighting ensued. “I have never heard or read of this kind of fighting,” wrote one American major general on the scene. “These people refuse to surrender.” The struggle on Guadalcanal was protracted, and the period from August 1942 to February 1943 saw some of the most bitter fighting of the war
The Americans were at a particular disadvantage, being assaulted from both the sea and air. But the U.S. Navy was able to reinforce its troops to a greater extent, and by February 1943, the Japanese had retreated on secret orders of their emperor (so secret, the Americans did not even know it had taken place until they began happening upon abandoned positions, empty boats, and discarded supplies). In total, the Japanese had lost more than 25,000 men, compared with a loss of 1,600 by the Americans. Each side lost 24 warships. The battle for Guadalcanal proved to be extremely costly for the Japanese Empire in terms of both material losses and strategy. With Guadalcanal secure, the Solomon Islands quickly fell to American forces as Henderson Field offered a direct base of support for American air units in the area. The sheer number of Japanese troops, supplies, and naval units were also irreplaceable at this point of the war. For many historians, the American victory at Guadalcanal, therefore, was a turning point for the war-effort as Guadalcanal served as a major boost to American morale, and a tremendous success for American military efforts in the Pacific.
Douglas Albert Munro was a United States Coast Guardsman who was posthumously decorated with the Medal of Honor for an act of "extraordinary heroism" during the Battle of Guadalcanal.. As of 2019, he is the only person to have received the medal for actions performed during service in the United States Coast Guard. Munro was assigned to Naval Operating Base Cactus at Lunga Point, from which small boat operations were being coordinated. At the Second Battle of the Matanikau in September 1942, he was tasked with leading the extrication of a force of United States Marines that had been overrun by Japanese forces. He died of a gunshot wound at the age of 22 while using the Higgins boat he was piloting to shield a landing craft filled with marines from Japanese fire.
One of the first Medals of Honor given to a Marine in WW2 was awarded to Sgt. John Basilone for his fighting during Operation Watchtower. According to the recommendation for his medal, he “contributed materially to the defeat and virtually the annihilation of a Japanese regiment.” Later, Gunnery Sgt. Basilone would be posthumously awarded the the Purple Heart and the Navy Cross for his actions on Iwo Jima"
(20 MOH's were awarded for the Guadalcanal campaign.bb)
Books:
Midnight in the Pacific : Guadalcanal : the World War II battle that turned the tide of war / Joseph Wheelan. (One of the best I’ve read on Guadalcanal)
The conquering tide : war in the Pacific Islands, 1942/1944 / Ian W. Toll.
Pacific crucible : war at sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 / Ian W. Toll.
The barrier and the javelin : Japanese and Allied Pacific strategies, February to June 1942 / H.P. Willmott
The first South Pacific campaign : Pacific Fleet strategy, December 1941-June 1942 / by John B. Lundstrom
allthatsinteresting.com
www.newworldencyclopedia.org
These last two are detailed Army and Navy reports and analysis of the campaign(s) at Guadalcanal:
"On this day in 1942, the U.S. 1st Marine Division begins Operation Watchtower, the code name for the U.S. plan to invade Guadalcanal and the surrounding islands and was the first U.S. offensive of the war.
Although not as well-known as the Battles of Midway or Iwo Jima, the Battle of Guadalcanal played a key role in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The six-month-long Guadalcanal Campaign took place on and around the island of Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands located in the South Pacific, to the northeast of Australia
On July 6, 1942, the Japanese landed on Guadalcanal Island and began constructing an airfield there. In response on August 7, 1942, , the U.S. launched Operation Watchtower, in which American troops landed on five islands within the Solomon chain, including Guadalcanal. Although the invasion came as a complete surprise to the Japanese (bad weather had grounded their scouting aircraft), the landings on Florida, Tulagi, Gavutu and Tananbogo met much initial opposition from the Japanese defenders.
But the Americans who landed on Guadalcanal met little resistance—at least at first. More than 11,000 Marines had landed, and 24 hours had passed, before the Japanese manning the garrison there knew of the attack. The U.S. forces quickly took their main objective, the airfield, and the outnumbered Japanese troops retreated, but not for long. Reinforcements were brought in, and fierce hand-to-hand jungle fighting ensued. “I have never heard or read of this kind of fighting,” wrote one American major general on the scene. “These people refuse to surrender.” The struggle on Guadalcanal was protracted, and the period from August 1942 to February 1943 saw some of the most bitter fighting of the war
The Americans were at a particular disadvantage, being assaulted from both the sea and air. But the U.S. Navy was able to reinforce its troops to a greater extent, and by February 1943, the Japanese had retreated on secret orders of their emperor (so secret, the Americans did not even know it had taken place until they began happening upon abandoned positions, empty boats, and discarded supplies). In total, the Japanese had lost more than 25,000 men, compared with a loss of 1,600 by the Americans. Each side lost 24 warships. The battle for Guadalcanal proved to be extremely costly for the Japanese Empire in terms of both material losses and strategy. With Guadalcanal secure, the Solomon Islands quickly fell to American forces as Henderson Field offered a direct base of support for American air units in the area. The sheer number of Japanese troops, supplies, and naval units were also irreplaceable at this point of the war. For many historians, the American victory at Guadalcanal, therefore, was a turning point for the war-effort as Guadalcanal served as a major boost to American morale, and a tremendous success for American military efforts in the Pacific.
Douglas Albert Munro was a United States Coast Guardsman who was posthumously decorated with the Medal of Honor for an act of "extraordinary heroism" during the Battle of Guadalcanal.. As of 2019, he is the only person to have received the medal for actions performed during service in the United States Coast Guard. Munro was assigned to Naval Operating Base Cactus at Lunga Point, from which small boat operations were being coordinated. At the Second Battle of the Matanikau in September 1942, he was tasked with leading the extrication of a force of United States Marines that had been overrun by Japanese forces. He died of a gunshot wound at the age of 22 while using the Higgins boat he was piloting to shield a landing craft filled with marines from Japanese fire.
One of the first Medals of Honor given to a Marine in WW2 was awarded to Sgt. John Basilone for his fighting during Operation Watchtower. According to the recommendation for his medal, he “contributed materially to the defeat and virtually the annihilation of a Japanese regiment.” Later, Gunnery Sgt. Basilone would be posthumously awarded the the Purple Heart and the Navy Cross for his actions on Iwo Jima"
(20 MOH's were awarded for the Guadalcanal campaign.bb)
Books:
Midnight in the Pacific : Guadalcanal : the World War II battle that turned the tide of war / Joseph Wheelan. (One of the best I’ve read on Guadalcanal)
The conquering tide : war in the Pacific Islands, 1942/1944 / Ian W. Toll.
Pacific crucible : war at sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 / Ian W. Toll.
The barrier and the javelin : Japanese and Allied Pacific strategies, February to June 1942 / H.P. Willmott
The first South Pacific campaign : Pacific Fleet strategy, December 1941-June 1942 / by John B. Lundstrom
The Hot, Bloody, Brutal Campaign Of Guadalcanal: America’s First WWII Offensive In The Pacific
What started as a simple mission to capture an airstrip in the Pacific from the Japanese dragged on for six months as Japan kept trying to take it back.
allthatsinteresting.com
Battle of Guadalcanal - New World Encyclopedia
These last two are detailed Army and Navy reports and analysis of the campaign(s) at Guadalcanal:
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The Japanese dispatched four planes from Rabaul on New Britain to scour the seas for their foes, and one of the aircraft flew toward Mono Island and on its return patrol leg at 0935 sighted Jarvis, bearing 231° and about 100 miles from Tulagi. Another one of the planes discovered the destroyer as well at 1100, but the pilot misidentified her as an Achilles-class ship. The snooper determinedly tracked Jarvis while Lt. Nakamura Tomoo led a strike group of 17 Type 1s of the Misawa Kōkūtai, escorted by 15 Mitsubishi A6M2 Type 0 carrier fighters, against the U.S. carriers that diverted to assail the ship. Nakamura and his strike group reached the scene by about 1300, relieved the shadower, and attacked. The badly damaged destroyer proved no match for the bombers and they torpedoed her more than 130 miles southeast of Tulagi, not far from where the Dauntless had sighted her. Jarvis put up a stout fight and splashed two of the attacking planes, a third ditched due to battle damage, and the warship lightly damaged three more planes, but the enemy recorded that Jarvis “split and sank” at about 1300 on 9 August 1942, and she went down with all hands.
"They that go down to the sea in ships, and occupy their business in great waters; These men see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep."
"They that go down to the sea in ships, and occupy their business in great waters; These men see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep."