Having worked Joint service for 5 years there is a trend to more inter-service cooperation. I retired from the Air Force and have worked and deployed with Soldiers, Sailors and Marines. We have learned since the first Gulf War.
Posted on 07/01/2005 6:21:50 AM PDT by yetidog
I am a vet, but admittedly clueless with respect to today's military tactics and strategies. So does anyone have any comment regarding our evident inability to consitently protect our helicopters from rocket propelled grenades and ground personnel from roadside suicide bombers amd IED's? In the former case, should not additional armour, electronic jamming devices etc. be developed? And in the case of the IED's, what about the Predator survellience and sniper teams? And how in the world can suicide bombers consistently get close enough to massed numbers of Iraqi army and police groups to cause the casulties that they do? These are some questions that I would like to see the media adddress. The Dems and the MSM exploit these attacks to criticize the administration in the hope of turning public opinion away from the war. As a member of that public, I desprately want America to prevail, but I do want some insight into what can and is being done to defend against what seems to be the rather consistent mainstays of terrorist actions in Traq and Afganistan. Any insights?
I think that the problem is that the Predators are controlled by either the USAF or the CIA. Most of the helicopters are Army (and some are Navy/Marine). It might sound like a simple problem to solve, but the Predators are in BIG demand and they won't be given up easily to 'run interference for every chopper mission.
The problem reminds me of Gulf War I when the Air Force resisted pulling their better tactical aircraft (F-15E's) from the main battle effort to hunt for SCUD's. They knew that it would require a major effort to kill even a few of them while they could make a tremendous impact on the Iraqi Army and air defenses.
Having worked Joint service for 5 years there is a trend to more inter-service cooperation. I retired from the Air Force and have worked and deployed with Soldiers, Sailors and Marines. We have learned since the first Gulf War.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1433878/posts
see the above for some additional posts on the helicopter vulnerabilities
Oh, no doubt. 'Jointness' is easier to accomplish when the resources aren't so scarce. Predator sorties are a scarce commodity. I expect that the USAF & CIA would 'protect' them like a mother bear defending her cub. It would probably take a directive from Rumsfeld or Gen. Meyers.
Ok, I read it but what has it to do with me? I am a former member of Special Forces and understand the situation. What is bothering you?
And nothing like the conventional wars fought in our past.
Imagine, if you will, a police station or Army recruiting station on a city street with regular traffic going by. How will you know which one of the passing vehicles might have bombs attached?
There are checkpoints set up around the areas and they do manage to stop some of the creeps. (The media, for some reason, never considers that sort of thing important enough to report.)
When I'm being transported somewhere in an armored convoy on the streets of Baghdad, I always look at all the cars and drivers to see if I can get any hunches about them.
It is extremely difficult. Impossible, really.
All I can tell you is that the level of attacks has decreased over the last several months. The reporting of said attacks seems to have increased.
Nothing in particular. I was just posting this at the top of the thread because some people over there had given useful information about helicopter vulnerabilities.
To more fully respond, I just have such an awful feeling for our warriors being so vulnerable in the choppers over there. In your experience, what tactics or technology can help in the case of the rpg attacks?
I don't think this has anything to do with helicopter vulnerabilities.
It was an emergency extract/support mission. The recon team were pinned down on a mountain ridge, took fire and went to ground.
The Taliban over ran the ridge and the extract team came in at low altitude expecting contact with the team and got hit by RPG.
It's not a vulnerability issue it's a terrain/communications issue.
A couple of AH 64's going in first to suss the terrain MAY have made a difference.
The downside is that the Taliban have probably figured out that if the can surround a recon team, the team will call in support.
The support is the target not the recon team.
Thanks bf. One of the things I love about FR is there are many FReepers like you who can speak intelligently to what really happens out there. Lord knows we ain't gettin' it from the MSM
The only prevention is to fly low at night. I wish that I could be more cheerful but that's it.
More chaff always helps but we'd light up the countryside like we were using flares.
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