Don't skip my book, either. It's a realistic novel of one possible forthcoming "dirty war" scenario.
Posted on 06/06/2004 11:55:58 PM PDT by Travis McGee
Pretty frickin' insidious.
What does that mean?
IADs are not to be confused with IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device).
IADs is an Immediate Action Drill. The purpose it to build team 'muscle memory' for what to do in the event of a certain kind of attack. In practice, it means setting up your team in a way that simulates combat, and running through rehearsals of who does what. Depending on your resources, you'd start off doing it with no ammo, then with blanks, then with live rounds. This teaches a number of useful things, such as how not to shoot your buddy or get shot by him. It also makes you take time to realize that changing mags, destroying equipment, and carrying your 'wounded' teammates takes more time than you'd think.
The scenario variations are numerous, and they get really hairy once you start throwing in complications like 'vehicle disabled', 'man down', or 'leaders down' (that's always a fiasco the first couple of iterations).
The upshot of all this is that in the event of contact, you'll know what to do and what your buddies are doing. Once you as a team start getting good you learn how to keep a steady volume of fire without burning all your ammo or slowing your escape.
Never mind, I found the thread, and did a CWII ping.
Here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1148613/posts?page=5
I'm saving this. If Kerry ever becomes President this advice will come in handy here.
Yeah, the going rate for 91BS, 18D, SEAL Independent Corpsman, and PJs is about 20-25% over the contractor going rate. Pay heed to what he says about some groups being better than others. Friend of mine was just with an org which I believe is the same one as this writer. (If not, it's got equivalent quality and stress on training and selection).
Dyncorp, for a contrary example, is not a good or safe outfit to be with, and since word has gotten around, they are doing things through intermediate contractors. So you are hired by Blowfish LLC that was established last Tuesday, which is getting paid by Dyncorp, and rakes off 20%, and you get the proverbial rusty AK. (Some of their first arrivals were told to scrounge guns from the US military. "Hey, sarge, you don't know me and I'm not in the Army or anything, but can I sign for an M4?") I've had this confirmed both ways, because I've seen emails from USSF bitching about contractors trying to hit them up for confiscated weapons, M16 magazines, etc. There is huge money in this, but in some cases it all cha-chingg!s into the account of the Beltway middleman, and the man "in the arena" is facing hadji with the armament equivalent of a jockstrap and a light coat of LSA.
Like he said, some outfits DON'T VET THEIR PEOPLE and take them at their word. "Trust, but verify" should apply here. Blackwater took a guy that we bounced permanently after several half-hearted attempts at selection and qualification. I was flabbergasted because BW has (or had, anyway) a good rep. He just told them that he had made it into the unit, and had seen combat with us. He altered his DD214. THEY NEVER CALLED ANYONE TO CHECK.
With SEALs at least it is easy to get an upcheck or downcheck on a guy's qualification -- anyone can find out in hours if Joe really did BUD/S or not. With us it's a bit harder, but there are ways, and you'd think that contract managers would be keen on using them. But whether the guy passes school is only one part of the whole thing. As it's customary to tell newbies on the first day of selection, "Your reputation with us starts here, and it will follow you forever." I don't know how many times I shook the trees on a guy who stumbled through all the attrition and had paper qualifications, but got a discreet thumbs down on him based on fatal defects in attitude or character.
The character is more important than the qualification, but as the letter points out, you need a certain baseline of skills to play in this league.
The old boy system works when you recruit in your own pool -- I have a rolodex full of my guys, I'm sure Travis and Squantos could find some of theirs, etc. But I don't know the guys in Travis's rolodex, and more importantly, I don't have the shared experience of BUD/S and whatever-all else you guys do. If some guy came to me and told me he was a SEAL on an SDV team I would not be able to tell if he was blowing smoke or telling the truth, where another SEAL would know in minutes. So using your instincts an contacts to check on people fails when you go outside your own service (or even little corner of your service, sometimes).
The demand has caused a lot of contractors to lower the bar on whom they'll accept. Since the biggest thing that determines whether you are coming home is the competence of the folks you're with, what do you make of that, eh?
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
Also in the not good practical jokes while drunk department: deciding the FOB Commander was just joking when he told you guys to pipe down, and piling on and giving him a friendly noogie.
What is it about 0300 and Mr Daniel's judgment juice that brings out the mischief in people?
(No I wasn't one of the drunks, or the FOB commander. I was ops NCO or duty SGM, I forget. Either way, I got to go wake up COs and CSMs and tell them to meet their miscreants at the boss's hooch, forthwith).
My budddy Archangelsk has a saying: Good judgment comess from experience.... Experience comes from bad judgment.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
Don't skip my book, either. It's a realistic novel of one possible forthcoming "dirty war" scenario.
Thanks Laz! Things are so-so to okay out here.
Well stated.
Another not-nice practical joke:
When the USAF security inspector, portraying himself as a Marine for a security exercise, approaches you and asks for directions to the crypto shop...you're supposed to make the "Helping Hand" signal to the Security Police, NOT direct him to the line shack and make a throat-cutting gesture to the Flight Line apes.
(They found the inspector two hours later, ordnance-taped to a grease rack and liberally coated with axle grease and Speedy-Dry :o)
Plus, we used to say that somehow, ten percent of ANY group that makes it through selection (BUD/S, whatever) will be screwballs.
So what you might find at the hiring end is a screwball who somehow made it through BUD/S or SF school 20 years ago, got out, and hasn't had a tactical thought since then.
In that case, give me a 25 year old one hitch Ranger any day. At least he'll be tough and will listen with both ears.
In any event, I would certainly want to put prospective volunteers through a minimum of a 7-10 day mini selection course stateside before sending him anywhere. If this isn't being done, then how the hell do you know if the guy is up to speed at all? I sure as hell know enough to know I'm not!
Stay safe !
One more thing,
most of these jobs require a current, active security clearance. It takes time to be granted if you have been out of the system for a while (I have a friend in exactly that position, too; he can't go to refresher training until his clearance comes in).
You will get better jobs and more money with an active TS/SI than with a Secret clearance, also. A secret clearance usually is nothing more complicated than a criminal records and credit record check. (It's called NACLC). If nothing curious is found they don't often even talk to the individual. A TS/SI requires quite a number of personal interviews (subject, references, employers, neighbours) and costs significant money. Best result on S was about 90 days, TS about a year. Worst result: I've seen investigations that wobbled along for four years and are still inconclusive. It doesn't seem to matter whether the individual has some problems or not.
One sign of an undercapitalized, borderline operator is that they won't do clearance paperwork on a guy (whoever requests the investigation has to pay for it) but will ONLY take people already cleared.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
I wouldn't hire me as a shooter, LOL.
I forgot about the clearance side of it. More hassles.
Your book also has "pearls of wisdom".
I really enjoyed it. I used to live in both the DC & the Tidewater area (ODU graduate) so I appreciated the landmarks referenced. I loved rowing the Great Dismal Swamp.
Thanks, I try. I want the book to be useful on many levels: as a warning to "domestic enemies," and of course in helping readers to prepare for possible outcomes.
Nor me.
ping
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