Yes, we know how to fly hyper-sophisticated aircraft and have spent billions on state-of-the-art weapons of war. ...and when it comes to charging the enemy from horseback, we can do that too!
Delta 21
Posted on 11/18/2001 4:03:33 PM PST by MeekOneGOP
Sunday Nov. 18, 2001; 7:41 p.m. EST U.S. Special Forces Fighting with Swords on Horseback U.S. Special Forces fighting in Afghanistan have joined with Northern Alliance cavalry units, riding on horseback and brandishing swords, revealed Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz on Sunday. Wolfowitz confirmed the unusual arrangement on CBS's "Face the Nation." "One of the reasons why it took a few weeks before we could make our air power fully effective was we had to get people in on the ground to direct air strikes," he noted, before reading what he said was a dispatch from the front lines as a stunned Bob Schieffer looked on. WOLFOWITZ: I have with me a dispatch that came from one of our Special Forces guys who was literally riding horseback with a sword with one of the Northern Alliance.... SCHIEFFER: With a sword? WOLFOWITZ: With a sword. With a Northern Alliance group of several hundred people who had nothing but horses and rifles. And he said: "I am advising a man on how best to deploy light infantry and horse cavalry in the attack against Taliban tanks, mortars, artillery and machine guns -- a tactic I think became outdated with the invention of the Gatling gun. The Mujahadeen are doing very well with what they have but they couldn't do it without the close air support." And he then goes on to describe how two of his enlisted people, one Air Force and one Army, had called in air strikes possibly - certainly from aircraft carriers, maybe from bombers in Missouri - while Taliban artillery was hitting 15 meters away. (End of Excerpt) Wolfowitz called the effort "a return of the horse cavalry," but added, "no horse cavalry in history before this could call in air strikes from long range bombers." "Do the people in Special Forces know how to ride horses?" an incredulous Schieffer asked. "I mean, there's a difference between jumping on a horse and hanging on and being able to ride it. Are they trained to ride horses?" Wolfowitz said he wasn't sure but explained, "Apparently these guys were. They're trained in an extraordinary range of survival skills and local customs and languages. They're quite an amazing group." Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Actually, there is a fairly large pool of people in the United States skilled in horsemanship-- rodeo, Amish, Navajo, cowboys, etc. I wouldn't be surprised when this is over, we have some amazing stories. During World War II, one "code" the Japanese could never crack was two-way radio transmissions in the Navajo language.
Actually, there is a fairly large pool of people in the United States skilled in horsemanship-- rodeo, Amish, Navajo, cowboys, etc. I wouldn't be surprised when this is over, we have some amazing stories. During World War II, one "code" the Japanese could never crack was two-way radio transmissions in the Navajo language.
I heard there are a lot of people who know how to farm, too, but I've never actually seen one firsthand, because I'm an East-Coast Media Elite </sarcasm>
Yes, we know how to fly hyper-sophisticated aircraft and have spent billions on state-of-the-art weapons of war. ...and when it comes to charging the enemy from horseback, we can do that too!
Delta 21
Actually, they're pretty interesting horses. They are members of very old breeds. They have a strong Arab influence (unsurprisingly) which means that, like Thoroughbreds, they are considered hot-blooded, though they have less refinement and a less-elegant way of going than pure Arabs. Kazakh and Karabair horses are tough, intelligent, and fast, with amazing endurance and the ability to subsist on small amounts of forage. You can see from looking at the photos that they're not big horses, but they can accomplish a lot. One horse of this general type, an Akhal-Teke, was an Olympic dressage competitor several years ago, if I'm not entirely mistaken (and someone on the list please correct me if I am).
Yeah, those Amish special forces people really kick some serious butt...Probably second only to the Hooterites! ;^)
I took a dozen West Point Cadets on a tour of Shiloh National Military Park on horseback ten years ago. The horses were fitted with 1959 McClellans, Grimsleys, a Jennifer, and a Texas Jennifer. They learned rapidly and I was impressed at how they listened and performed. It is good that some of the West Point cadets learn the proud history of the ones that came before them.
You left out Civil War reenactors!
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