Posted on 07/01/2010 11:42:14 AM PDT by SandRat
BAGHDAD – U.S. Soldiers here at Al Asad Air Base recently showed their Iraqi Army counterparts an inexpensive way to deliver critical necessities like ammunition, food and water to their Soldiers in the field.
U.S. Soldiers with the 307th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Advise and Assist Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, recently introduced the Iraqi Special Operations Forces to the Low Cost, Low Altitude Aerial Resupply System at Al Asad Air Base. Supply bundles such as these are airdropped from helicopters, an inexpensive way to deliver supplies to Soldiers in the field. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. P. Valentine.
The U.S. Soldiers, with the 307th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Advise and Assist Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, trained members of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces on the Low Cost, Low Altitude Aerial Delivery System.
This system is a means to airdrop small supply bundles at locations that may be cut off from traditional resupply methods. The system is made up of very few items, as honeycombed cardboard, squares of plywood and plastic wrap hold the precious cargo together. Any helicopter capable of carrying personnel can airdrop the bundles, which fall slowly to the ground as a small parachute controls the descent.
“We are adding a logistics capability to the Iraqi Army, exposing them to something new,” said Capt. Kyle Brown, assistant operations officer and Manhattan Beach, Calif., native assigned to 307th BSB. “It adds modernization; a new, modern era for the Iraqi forces.”
As this concept is new to the IA, the 307th BSB Soldiers started at the beginning with instruction on how to properly construct and pack the bundles and the correct way to deploy them in the field.
Following some hands-on instruction in an Al Asad Air Base warehouse, the IA Soldiers helped prepare some bundles which were promptly loaded into a helicopter and airdropped at a predetermined location outside the camp.
“It’s a great capability they can use in an emergency,” said Buffalo, N.Y., native Lt. Col. Andrew Danwin, commander, 307th BSB. “It’s another tool in their kit bag. If they need it, it’s there.”
Danwin said it has also been beneficial for the two forces to work together.
“It is good to cross-level ideas and skill sets,” he said. “The Iraqi Army is a growing army, a professional army.”
The 307th BSB showed its confidence in the IA’s ability by recently delivering two fully-built systems and extra materials used to make them, including eight extra parachutes, to the Anti-Terrorism Forces Command Center in Anbar province. The U.S. Soldiers are also creating operator and maintenance manuals in Arabic for the Iraqi Soldiers to use in the future.
“They don’t have access to computers to download stuff. By giving them the books, they have access to the information,” said Brown. “These are things they need to succeed. When we leave here, we want to say [we’ve] done our best. I want to leave here with no regrets.”
With the items and know-how successfully transferred, Soldiers from the two forces shared hand-shakes and smiles; knowing this was another step closer to a self-sustainable Iraqi Army.
They couldn’t figure that out on their own?!!? dumb as rocks, aren’t they?
Wait... wait... lemme get this straight...
You load up the bundles of ammo, water, food, etc...
THEN you drop them out...
THEN you fly over your troops...
AND THEN you rape the young boys?
Obviously, you have never been to Camp Majid.
1/82nd is supposed to train IA in airborne ops before leaving in a month. This is part of that. How to pack items to drop from the air intact is not as simple as it might seem...
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