Posted on 03/04/2004 7:51:36 AM PST by Ragtime Cowgirl
Nearly 100 Georgian soldiers, under the instruction of seven Georgia Train and Equip Marine Corps tankers and amtrackers, lanyard fired the compliment of the Georgian Armys tanks and BMPs to safely test the recoil system and firing mechanisms.
The Marine Corps lanyard fires all tanks that have no previous recorded firing history, said Staff Sgt. Timothy Grier, an MIAI tank mechanic. The Georgians had no verifiable firing history for their mechanized assets explained Grier.
We had to safely ensure that the recoil systems were functioning properly, he said.
The lanyard fire was conducted by attaching a rope to the manual firing mechanism inside the turret; the crew then stood behind the tank and yanked the rope to engage the trigger. After each 125mm tank main gun and 73mm BMP main gun was tested, the crews also tested the other weapon systems aboard each vehicle.
This training was important because it verified that the tanks will be safe to train on during this cycle, stated Grier.
This training was also the first time during the training phase that we had a chance to really work with the Georgian tankers and see what they could do, he said.
The last time tanks were fired here was in 1999 during a training exercise at the Krtsanisi Training Base, said Lt. Col. Nodar Kvilitaia, the tank/ mechanized company executive officer. This training was important because it gave the personnel a chance to see how these tanks work and fire, he said.
Both the Marine trainers and Georgians believed that their first training experience with the Russian weapons systems was a success.
Of course it was, said Kvilitaia. Grier consented, stating, Last weeks shoot was successful and safely conducted.
The mechanized training Georgian soldiers received before Task Force GTEP arrived had been based on Russian doctrine. The Marines are teaching the Georgians the importance of combined arms warfare and the important role mechanized assets play.
Their success will hinge on a well-balanced, well-trained and flexible combined arms team, said Grier.
Though the Georgians are still learning about the Marine Corps use of combined arms they understand the importance of mechanized assets within their military.
The infantry cannot fight without mech support, said Kvilitaia. It gives the infantry hope that someone is behind them supporting them.
Nearly 100 Georgian soldiers, under the instruction of seven Georgia Train and Equip Marine Corps tankers and amtrackers, lanyard fired the compliment of the Georgian Armys tanks and BMPs to safely test the recoil system and firing mechanisms.
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"VASIANI, Georgia" I think this is near Columbus.
I thought it was down closer to Warner Robins! [g]
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Go and tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.
"In 480 B.C. the forces of the Persian Empire under King Xerxes, numbering according to Herodotus two million men, bridged the Hellespont and marched in their myriads to invade and enslave Greece.
"In a desperate delaying action, a picked force of three hundred Spartans was dispatched to the pass of Thermopylae, where the confines between mountains and sea were so narrow that the Persian multitudes and their cavalry would be at least partially neutralized. Here, it was hoped, an elite force willing to sacrifice their lives could keep back, at least for a few days, the invading millions.
"Three hundred Spartans and their allies held off the invaders for seven days, until, their weapons smashed and broken from the slaughter, they fought 'with bare hands and teeth' (as recorded by Herodotus) before being at last overwhelmed.
"The Spartans and their Thespian allies died to the last man, but the standard of valor they set by their sacrifice inspired the Greeks to rally and, in that fall and spring, defeat the Persians at Salamis and Plataea and preserve the beginnings of Western democracy and freedom from perishing in the cradle.
"Two memorials remain today at Thermopylae. Upon the modern one, called the Leonidas Monument in honor of the Spartan king who fell there, is engraved his response to Xerxes' demand that the Spartans lay down their arms. Leonidas' reply was two words, Molon labe:
" 'Come and get them.' "
From Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield
Semper Fi
Yep, the well known vasiani onions are shipped to grocey stores all over the country.
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