Posted on 08/26/2016 12:06:42 PM PDT by C19fan
It was a chilly and damp autumn day on Nov. 9, 2015, as members of the 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery’s Bravo Battery — the “Dragon Slayers” — stood in formation before their families at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State. “The Dragon Slayers are going to one of the most complex and volatile regions on Earth,” Col. Joseph McCallion told the soldiers and their families. “Iraq.”
(Excerpt) Read more at warisboring.com ...
It’s insane that America has boots on the ground in that hell-hole. There are no front lines, multiple nations, terrorist groups, “freedom fighters”, etc.. On what level does the senior command structure in the Pentagon think this is a prudent use of US forces?
“5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery’s Bravo Battery”
I’m no expert, but after 15 years as a Field Artillery Officer (MLRS, Lance, 155mm), I’m pretty sure that that howitzer doesn’t belong in an ADA battery.
Ask Ukraine who actually had a treaty with US. And you’ll find out how worthless we are under obummer!
I suppose they were referring to the radar sections and not the howitzer unit.
May I humbly suggest that you should read the article ...
I hope they are practicing “time on target” and fire for effect.
It’s interesting that we aren’t at war against Syria, but we are, and have been funding conscripts (terrorists) to kill Syrians for 6 years now.
FA here, too (LANCE & 105mm), and that had me bumfuzzled as well. I’m marking it up to the usual reason: so few Americans serve today that the typical “journalist” doesn’t know the difference between ADA and FA, only that they both say “artillery.”
On the bright side, I’m glad to see that the HI-MARS is being used to achieve better stand-off and striking power in these efforts.
We arm and support all combatants on all sides. If they cut human necks, we support them. Been a long time now since we were clearly on the right side of a fight.
That’s the Chuck Norris M777 so it belongs where ever it wants to be ...
That confused me, too. 1st Bn, 10th Arty, RVN '70, '71.
The article states that this battalion has been equipped with the new C-RAM weapons system, Counter- Rocket, Artillery and Mortar, which a little googling confirms. So, they are providing force protection.
As the weapons of Air Defense Artillery (ADA) units consist of anti-aircraft artillery, we’re sending an ADA unit to a war zone where the only aircraft flying other than U.S. are Russian, Syrian, and Turkish none of whom we’re at war with, so what could possibly go wrong?
American troops fire an M777 howitzer during an operation to support Iraqi forces at Kara Soar Base in Iraq on Aug. 7, 2016. U.S. Army photo
“On the way, over”
I shot right past the C-RAM detail in the article so thanks for pointing that out for us old Redlegs that hang around here. Interesting that the counter-battery mission has moved from FA to ADA but things change and time marches on, I guess. The only thing that gets in the way of this mission is that the enemy usually chooses to launch or fire from a known restricted fire area that’s noted in the US ROE. Thus, the only thing that can be done is early warning for the impact area. That’s only the appearance of force protection, IMNSHO. Real Force Protection occurs when you have rounds in the air responding to the attack before the enemy can leave the area.
Ukraine had no treaty with us. Name it and show me this treaty and when it passed the Senate.
It was WIDELY ridiculed by the Senate and Clinton decided not to submit it under overwhelming resistance.
Ukraine based their security on a signature from Bill Clinton...dumb dumb dumb.
C-RAM can engage and destroy incoming rockets, artillery and mortars in the air which is an ADA mission. Actual counter battery remains with FA, however, C-RAM has enhanced targeting data available.
Here is the C-RAM Gun system, aka LPWS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4PXou0aGiE
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