Bang!
Study this letter. If you have a test on this information later, it could save your life.
Even if you're never going to go to Iraq, this letter contains MANY pearls of wisdom to salt away for a rainy SHTF day, when Normaltown USA might turn into Fallujah.
Study this letter. If you have a test on this information later, it could save your life.
Lots to learn here.
That is gold. Pure Freaking gold. A million thanks.
I don't save many threads. This is one that I'll save and pass on.
And yes, there will be one if you need one.
Very interesting post...
Wouldn't you just love to spend a few days talking to a few of these ICs after they return from a turn In Country?
I can't imagine the pucker factor -- moving about in the open, clearly identified as the "enemy", with 100's of thousands of lunatics eyeballing you and eager to waste you...
At least in the highlands or jungle, there was some "privacy" by virtue of cover or stealth!
This "urban $hit" is whole new game...one in which I would prefer to be the "native" not the "occupier"...
Semper Fi
Be Prepared.
I relly like all of the advise, but the advise regarding weapons is especially direct.
Carry as big a gun as you can. Keep it clean. Keep it hot.Good info for any environment.
CARRY LOTS OF AMMO. On April 4th I went through 14 mags and NEVER would have thought that a possibility before then. Carry more ammo, stage spare mags EVERYWHERE. Like the freakin Easter bunny.
Practice shooting out to 800M. I know, nearly every fight is within 150 but we were trying to bang a mortar crew that was pounding us at 800M's. And it happened more than once.
In terms of shooting. Practice as you did on active duty. Always scrounge ammo.
Buy short M4's. They will save you’re ass. I carry a 18" upper on me with glass so when we reach our destination I flick it on the lower receiver and I now have a decent long gun. It’s like having two guns to choose from.
Wes Grant builds all my guns and he does for some Tier One guys as well. www.mstn.biz and wgrant@midsouth.rr.com. He is fair priced and gets the shit out the door quick and can handle good size orders. Optics, Uppers, all that.
Once you make contact ... Finish it. If you shot a guy and he is limping to cover he can still get there and return fire. Just finish everything you start.
A car door is not cover. In fact a car is not cover. Cement is.
Even if you're never going to go to Iraq, this letter contains MANY pearls of wisdom to salt away for a rainy SHTF day, when Normaltown USA might turn into Fallujah. ~ Travis McGee
Thank you, Travis.
First off, I'm not in this guy's league. Not even playing the same game.
But after my first trip I realized that packing light was for the birds. Screw packing light, pack what you need. And what you might need. There ain't no Walmart nearby to get your last minute items that you forget.
Don't bother with cheap stuff. If you won't trust your life to it, don't get it. You just might have to do exactly that.
What you have has to be functionable. If it's also stylish that's just a bonus, but screw looking Hollywood with infrerior, non functioning gear just because it looks cool. For example, there is a very popular brand of 'tactical' clothing that is out performed easily by several no name brands that also cost less. Get what works, not what brand is cool. This is really true of knives.
Redundancy. Have extras. Have a dedicated travel kit. If that means 5 Leathermen so that you always have one exactly where you need one (glove box, bug out bag, belt, first aid kit, etc.) then do it.
There's a lot of lessons out there paid for in blood. Hopefully we'll be smart enough to honor those lessons by not spilling ours.
Thanks. When the put the Six Flags in Tikrit I will put all this to use.LOL
Good info, thanks...Interesting comments on the medical equipment compared to GI...
Oh, and about that 17 large a month...you gotta live to spend it.
ping
Man, that is great - I was LMAO.
BTW, throwing a grenade simulator into the squadron sergeant major's hootch at 0300 while drunk is ALSO not a good practical joke.
(Guess how I know about that one :o)
What kind of movement was he referring to during magazine changes Master Obi Wan?
Great post Matt!!!
Makes me shudder to think how much most of us don't know about staying alive in such a situation, me definitely included.
Lots of great information here, Travis, thanks! Bookmarked, printed out and saved to hard disk. Loved all the references to his equipment and his suppliers. How's this for good work (click lower right for the enlarged pic)? :-)
BTW, while Googling up some of the acronyms, I found this (defensereview.com) site where they review military equipment, etc. FYI.
Like after Dubya is re-elected, and the extreme left of the Democrat party (the ones who think Howard Dean is a right-wing deviationist) discover "leaderless resistance."
Coincidentally enough, my team just returned from Iraq last week, and today we briefed our AAR to our unit. (We were attached to another unit for the rotation). It contained many of the same lessons learned as in this email, albeit our version was in officer friendly PowerPoint. Overall it was very well received. Still, it's amazing how many people want to cling to the old ways of doing things, despite the fact that the lessons from combat are all written in blood. I know they'll get their turn soon enough, but I hope they take our advice seriously.
