US Seals killed in Afghanistan

#53
#53
We have the bravest military bar none!God bless them and their families!
 
#55
#55
JTrainDavis said:
Not me, there was surely KW's and AH-64's, as well as fixed wings in the area.
Click to expand...
Don't know. 64s draw a crowd and KWs have limited firepower. I suspect they laid down some SEAD, ground and air, but not much and couldn't get danger close, so the guys wandered into folks not buttoned up and tried to get too close for time purposes, hoping the dark would be plenty cover against guys shooting freaking RPGs as air defense. Lucky shot type deal, but they happen when you're talking about the huge number of missions we're flying.

THE problem with rotary wing is that it has no ability to evade. Has to hide or surprise, otherwise it's a pretty easy target, even in the dark.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#57
#57
BigPapaVol said:
Absolutely.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
Click to expand...

Great story I read about a company of Rangers with some Greenies on a mountaintop. USAF called off fixed wing runs until daylight for fear of fratricide, Aussie SAS on a LRRP moved into the AO and called in <100m fixed wing strikes all night.
 
#58
#58
JTrainDavis said:
Great story I read about a company of Rangers with some Greenies on a mountaintop. USAF called off fixed wing runs until daylight for fear of fratricide, Aussie SAS on a LRRP moved into the AO and called in <100m fixed wing strikes all night.
Click to expand...

Recipe for disaster.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#60
#60
JTrainDavis said:
Danger Close, Danger Close. From my end, I'd rather duck and cover and hope, If the AGM's kill me I don't know the difference, if they kill 246 Redfor's i will
Click to expand...

I understand, but fratricide is ugly any way you slice it.

Dusted guy can't E&E.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#61
#61
BigPapaVol said:
I understand, but fratricide is ugly any way you slice it.

Dusted guy can't E&E.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
Click to expand...

One of those things, I guess. But as the scenario sounded like it was an Alamo, and the RAAF was willing to risk the public hate if they blasted some of ours, to carry the day.
 
#62
#62
BigPapaVol said:
Who said alone?
Posted via VolNation Mobile
Click to expand...

Hopefully they did have air support, but putting your elite guys on one Chinook is a disaster waiting to happen. Maybe heading in on some tricked out Black Hawks with better offensive capabilities should of been the way to go.
 
#64
#64
vol4eva said:
Hopefully they did have air support, but putting your elite guys on one Chinook is a disaster waiting to happen. Maybe heading in on some tricked out Black Hawks with better offensive capabilities should of been the way to go.
Click to expand...

I think it's easy to second guess a guy with limited time and more limited resources. I understand the point about massing that much talent on one A/C, but I guarantee there is a reason. The guys at the 160th aren't amateurs.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#65
#65
This afternoon i attended a very emotional memorial service for a very dedicated 21 year old US sailor. he was lost at sea late last month in the gulf of aden. not known how he went overboard and his body was never recovered. he had a photographic memory and as you can imagine his IQ was off the charts. he had his choice of careers, he enlisted in the USN so he could serve the country he loved. he learned arabic and wanted to assist the special forces (such as those brave seals that lost thier lives today) on their missions as a linguist. so the next time you hear one of our political leaders state that the only reason people enlist is because they cant do anything else think of this young brave man and the many just like him. THANK GOD EVERY DAY THAT HE HAS BLESSED THIS GREAT NATION WITH SO MANY THINGS ESPECIALLY, ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT ARE READY AND WILLING TO GIVE THEIR PRECIOUS LIVES TO PROTECT US. so be proud AMERICA we are the best.
 
#66
#66
JTrainDavis said:
Appreciate your love, but lots of Canucks, French, Britons, and ANZacs have given up the ghost hunting bad guys too.
Click to expand...

Most people know little to nothing about the sacrifice and gallantry of the ANZacs at Gallipoli. Brits used them as cannon fodder. You know you displayed immense courage when the enemy commander (Ataturk) builds a memorial to pay homage to your bravery. I may have went back too far, but that's what I think of when the ANZacs are mentioned.

I, too, wondered why so many SFs in one bird. It actually crossed my mind after the OBL raid in regards to the reserve forces on the Chinooks. Perhaps we will see changes, but the commanders know what they are doing. God bless all our troops and their families!
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
Last edited:
#68
#68
shadedvolorange said:
This afternoon i attended a very emotional memorial service for a very dedicated 21 year old US sailor. he was lost at sea late last month in the gulf of aden. not known how he went overboard and his body was never recovered. he had a photographic memory and as you can imagine his IQ was off the charts. he had his choice of careers, he enlisted in the USN so he could serve the country he loved. he learned arabic and wanted to assist the special forces (such as those brave seals that lost thier lives today) on their missions as a linguist. so the next time you hear one of our political leaders state that the only reason people enlist is because they cant do anything else think of this young brave man and the many just like him. THANK GOD EVERY DAY THAT HE HAS BLESSED THIS GREAT NATION WITH SO MANY THINGS ESPECIALLY, ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT ARE READY AND WILLING TO GIVE THEIR PRECIOUS LIVES TO PROTECT US. so be proud AMERICA we are the best.
Click to expand...

Churchill's words are eternal: 'Never was so much owed by so many to so few.'
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#69
#69
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYKG8otNlt4&feature=channel_video_title[/youtube]
 
#70
#70
shadedvolorange said:
This afternoon i attended a very emotional memorial service for a very dedicated 21 year old US sailor. he was lost at sea late last month in the gulf of aden. not known how he went overboard and his body was never recovered. he had a photographic memory and as you can imagine his IQ was off the charts. he had his choice of careers, he enlisted in the USN so he could serve the country he loved. he learned arabic and wanted to assist the special forces (such as those brave seals that lost thier lives today) on their missions as a linguist. so the next time you hear one of our political leaders state that the only reason people enlist is because they cant do anything else think of this young brave man and the many just like him. THANK GOD EVERY DAY THAT HE HAS BLESSED THIS GREAT NATION WITH SO MANY THINGS ESPECIALLY, ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT ARE READY AND WILLING TO GIVE THEIR PRECIOUS LIVES TO PROTECT US. so be proud AMERICA we are the best.
Click to expand...

Amen.

Sorry about the loss, I read about it when it happened.

I always suspect foul play when something like that happens.

A guy I went to high school with disappeared off a carrier in the Gulf of Tonkin when we were involved in Vienam, his family always thought he was robbed and tossed overboard.

I was a linguist also (Russian).

Not many people remember the Pueblo incident, even fewer remember the 13 airman who lost their lives then when they were shot down by the North Koreans over international waters. The Russians shot down a few over international waters also.

We flew missions actually over Russian airspace at times, some of those were shot or or forced down and the crews captured. None of that was ever made public.

My final year in the USAF was served at Security Service Headquarters and I think the smartest man I've ever known manned the desk next to me.

He had started as a Chinese linguist, they pick the cream of the crop to learn Chinese, then he crosstrained to Russian and was about to go to Arabic school.

He convinced me that the comining conflicts would involve primarily Arabic speaking enemies rather the either the Russians or the Chinese. As usual he was dead on right.
 
#71
#71
pl3 said:
Damn that's a big target. Sounds like either bad planning or a surprise insurgent attack. Surely the military doesn't commonly put the best of the best in a large group, and send them on a mission in that airbus?
Click to expand...

BigPapaVol said:
Don't know. 64s draw a crowd and KWs have limited firepower. I suspect they laid down some SEAD, ground and air, but not much and couldn't get danger close, so the guys wandered into folks not buttoned up and tried to get too close for time purposes, hoping the dark would be plenty cover against guys shooting freaking RPGs as air defense. Lucky shot type deal, but they happen when you're talking about the huge number of missions we're flying.

THE problem with rotary wing is that it has no ability to evade. Has to hide or surprise, otherwise it's a pretty easy target, even in the dark.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
Click to expand...

There just isn't a good way into the mountains of Eastern Afghanistan period. A lot of times the weather prohibits movement into those areas altogether and with all the insurgent fire over there, it's almost impossible to land fixed wing aircraft. The rotaries can fly in and basically you jump out and it's back in the air. I'm not talking like a paratrooper or air assault, but literally the helicopter barely touches the ground and you're out if it touches ground at all. A fixed wing aircraft is just a sitting target when it lands.

The landing area is also so small you wouldn't really want a bunch of Blackhawks just hovering around waiting to land. I feel confident the Commanders have done their HW and with the speed of the Chinook, they believe it can get in, unload the personnel and get them back out. Most supplies are typically air dropped into those areas just to avoid creating targets for the insurgents to aim at.

It's a shame that so many were lost yesterday, but I can't find any fault in the planning of the operation.
 
#72
#72
7thgroupvolfan said:
More brothers dead...G'dammit!
Click to expand...

One of the SEALs was a Tennessean from Union City, his picture and a taped interview with his grandmother appeared on the local TV newscast tonight, he was due to rotate home in November.
 
#73
#73
JTrainDavis said:
I don't understand using Chinhooks in areas like that with heavy hostile presence.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
Click to expand...

at speed they are the fastest helicopter we have, and they also have the ability to handle the altittude and payloads needed in the mountains of Afghanistan
 
#74
#74
vol_in_il said:
at speed they are the fastest helicopter we have, and they also have the ability to handle the altittude and payloads needed in the mountains of Afghanistan
Click to expand...

Good point about the altitude. Afghanistan can put some serious stress on helicopters when it comes to getting lift....even through the passes.
 
#75
#75
TennTradition said:
Good point about the altitude. Afghanistan can put some serious stress on helicopters when it comes to getting lift....even through the passes.
Click to expand...

but our modern, twin engine aircraft have very little problem with limited power, even at unfavorable density altitudes.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top