1. The Maghook

I know its some kind of magnetic grappling hook, but that is it, any more info on range, widespreadity of use etc.

2. The Colt Commando rifle

I know little of this weapon except the name, and that it kiks ######, same info as above if possible

3. Semper Fi

I know it is part of the USMC war cry or creed or something, but what does it mean??

If anyone can help, thanks

Well this happened to me moments ago:

Some canadians testing a new rocket launcher.

Why not have a little thread where you can post those miscallanous military pics you find. You dont need to know what's in it, or who's in it or why, just aslong as it looks cool!!

Please don't post advice unless you've got firsthand experience. There is quite a bit of bad info out there that keeps getting repeated by people and spread around. The point of this thread is to help people that are interested, not show off the knowledge you think you have about the military because you heard somebody talking about it once or you read a lot of books. This is for practical advice/information for those that are genuinely curious about military life. Please try to keep it civil.

Right now, I'm going to get the ball rolling by posting my standard starter speech for people. I recently PMd this to somebody that asked me some questions and told them they need to sit and think about this for a couple days before they even start thinking of what questions to ask.

Keep in mind that this is taken from two PMs I sent to somebody in response to some initial questions. I haven't 'cleaned it up' so it reads like you're coming into the conversation late. I apologize for that, however I don't think it negatively impacts the usefulness of the information.

=============================================

The first thing you need to prepare yourself for is this:

You need to be ready, regardless of what rank you are, officer or enlisted, what service, what MOS/AFSQ/rating, active duty, reserve or national guard, for this -- deployment. Imagine getting told that the very next day you are going to have to deploy to the worst place you can imagine (think Middle East -- desert. Or certain places in Africa or South America.). You're going to be there for 6 months to a year, with only minimal contact with friends and family, at best. You'll be living in field conditions (a tent, no air conditioning or heating, MREs for two of your three meals a day, little sleep) and having to wear a helmet, body armor, load carrying equipment (LCE) and carry a rifle at all times (even to the latrine). When you do go out of camp, everybody is at a high state of readiness because you don't know if the locals are friendly or not at any given time. People you know will die. Plain and simple, it will be really ugly. You might see somebody you know get killed right in front of you. All this, even if you are a supply clerk. There is no such thing as a 'safe' service or MOS anymore. The reality is that anybody in the military can find themselves in the position I just described. Just ask Jessica Lynch.

Think about it for at least 24 hours. Really think about all of that I described. That is a worst case scenario. But these days, it can happen to anybody. Do some digging on recent news stories -- there are a couple of recent ones (the last few days -- edit: at this time, about 70% of our forces are overseas) that cite percentages of how many troops from our military are overseas right now. That number should give you an idea. I promise you that I know people in every service that have been called to active duty and sent away from home for 1-2 years since 9/11. If you are still interested in serving after thinking about it, we'll talk some more and I can start getting more specific.

Addendum:

Just before the war officially ended in Iraq, in a thread on this topic, I said something about being deployed for that long and somebody said to me that they thought you could only be deployed for 6 months. I said it then and I'll say it now, that was a little nicety that came about quite a while ago when we had lots of troops going on peacekeeping missions. It was to help morale for servicemembers and their families. I said that if the war in Iraq kept going, do you think that we'll stop the 3rd ID short of Baghdad and send them home just because they've been there six months? Well, I hate to say it, but as of this writing, there are elements of the 3rd Infantry Division that have been deployed for 9-10 months and they might get to come home this summer. I know a couple of married officers from Bragg that have been in Kuwait/Iraq since October. They're supposed to come out in September with their unit. They both PCS (move from one post to another) to another unit on 1 October -- right before that unit gets rotated to Iraq. Lucky them.

One key phrase to get used to: Needs of the Army. All the services have their own version because it's the same wherever you go. If the service needs you to do something, everything else goes out the window.

At some point, I'll tackle things like

• the enlistment process and things you need to be aware of -- your rights and obligations.
  
• commissioning options (becoming an officer)
  
• special training
  
• assignments
  
• jobs in the military
  
• base pay and special pays
  
• taxes
  
• promotions
  
• miscellaneous other things
  

Feel free to add to this thread if you are a veteran or current servicemember. Be sure to state what service (or country, if applicable). If your info is only service-specific, make that clear. Most of what I covered in this post is non-service specific. I have more info on the Army than the other services, but I know quite a bit about Air Force, Navy and the Marine Corps -- I have spent a large amount of time working in the joint world and have worked with and for folks from all of the above services.

Henry "Gunfighter"  Emerson was the division commander of the Second Infantry Division the unit I served in South Korea 1971-72

These videos are not meant to be a glorification of war or violence, they should only serve information and documentary purposes. Due to the nature of combat, the videos may depict scenes or contain material inappropriate for some people. Viewer discretion is highly advised!

They were sent on suicide missions deep in German controlled territory. They were also the first Allies to enter Rome. Their first action...well seeing battle...they had to take over someother island before controlled buy the Japanese but they fled in the night...was to take this nasty well-defended hill. 3 or 4 other division had already failed. The front was long and sloping and Germans had their fixed guns pointing down that way and would chew up the Allies at any attempt to take it. The rear of the moutain was like a 300 ft rockface.

Anyways the Black Devils( which the Germans nicknamed them..get to that later) took 2 days to sneak up the backside of the mountain, only moving at nite, and attacked from the rear. The Germans wer caught off guard and all there fixed guns were pointing the other way. These guys took that mountain, althought they took heavy casualities...400 survived out of 1800 IIRC.

The reason they were called Black Devils is because at night they would conduct raids behind enemy lines and leave their calling cards on dead bodies...or if they were too much at risk would leave their cards on the HQ door or somethinglike that. The cards said in German "The worst is yet to come ". Man talk about a mind**** ! One of the Devils got a hold of a German's diary and it talked of devils in the night and all this stuff...hence the nickname. Also they acheived every objective they were tasked with

Actually the Black Devils, or First Special Service Force, is the direct lineal ancestor of the American Special Forces and Canada's Special Air Service.

What I was wondering is anyone know of any good books about these guys or programs I can purchase ? I'm sure others know of them.

Watching the program choked me up actually...they had all these older gentlemen who were in the Force and to see them talk about killing and seeing their buddies die in front of them...I have a lot of respect for them and all who served in the Great Wars. We wouldn't be here if not for them or the world would be a very different place at the least.

Read the short article here:

http://www.khou.com/news/texas-news/Famed-Navy-SEAL-Chris-Kyle-shot-killed-in-N-Texas-189539281.html

A British army sniper helped save his commander and set a new sharpshooting record after killing two Taliban machine gunners in Afghanistan from a mile-and-a-half away.

Had to aim 6 feet high and 20 inches to the left...that is freakin unbelievable...

http://digs.by/dfbQz3

See the 9:54 - 10:12 and 14:50 - 15:54 mark of the video.

Original Article

It's been a long time since I last wrote anything, but you know how it is - sometimes there just isn't enough time to do everything.

Anyway, I recently bought a book at a bookstall for about $5/£3 (so it was worth it) - it's "One Soldier's War in Chechnya" by Arkady Babchenko (very interesting read if you ask me). This book reminded me that I wanted to create a topic like that for some time - once upon a time I was doing some research about Russian uniforms in GR inspired by Chechen wars.

Two sources to prove that - one real, one fictional. The real one are photos from Chechen wars - we are lucky, some Polish people interested in Russian military made a collection of different photos, so there's no need to browse Google for hours:

https://picasaweb.google.com/108860538429450958271/WOJNYWCZECZENII199496199903

The title says "WARS IN CHECHNYA 1994-96; 1999-03". Some of the Russian soldiers seen in GR are almost the same as the ones presented there - very neat.

Second source is a movie based on the Chechen wars called "Purgatory" (1998) - I've seen it with Polish subtitles, but I think it is possible to find a version with English ones as well. Guys from Red Storm Entertainment must have seen it as well - take a look at the Spetsnaz guy from the movie, later recreated in the game.

Documentary revealing the inside story of how the SAS and US special forces targeted and captured or killed insurgents during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

ITV Report

the Kill List - YouTube

DS

(Sorry, I cannot seem to embed links at the moment, will have to try again, later).

There were a lot of things we couldn't do in an SR-71 Blackbird, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane - intense, maybe, even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment.

It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status. Somewhere over Colorado we had passed the century mark. We had made the turn in Arizona and the jet was performing flawlessly. My gauges were wired in the front seat and we were starting to feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because we would soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a great deal of confidence in the plane in the past ten months. Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see the coast of California from the Arizona border. I was, finally, after many humbling months of simulators and study, ahead of the jet. I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back seat.

There he was, with no really good view of the incredible sights before us, tasked with monitoring four different radios. This was good practice for him for when we began flying real missions, when a priority transmission from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult, too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during my entire flying career I had controlled my own transmissions. But it was part of the division of duties in this plane and I had adjusted to it. I still insisted on talking on the radio while we were on the ground, however. Walt was so good at many things, but he couldn't match my expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had been honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the slightest radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He understood that and allowed me that luxury. Just to get a sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the radio toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with him.

The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their sector. While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace. We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot who asked Center for a read-out of his ground speed. Center replied: “November Charlie 175, I'm showing you at ninety knots on the ground.”

Now the thing to understand about Center controllers was that whether they were talking to a rookie pilot in a Cessna or to Air Force One, they always spoke in the exact same, calm, deep, professional tone that made one feel important. I referred to it as the "Houston Center voice." I have always felt that after years of seeing documentaries on this country's space program and listening to the calm and distinct voice of the Houston controllers, that all other controllers since then wanted to sound like that and that they basically did. And it didn't matter what sector of the country we would be flying in, it always seemed like the same guy was talking. Over the years that tone of voice had become somewhat of a comforting sound to pilots everywhere. Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios. Just moments after the Cessna's inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed in Beech. “I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed.”

Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren. Then out of the blue, a navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios. “Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check.” Before Center could reply, I'm thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million-dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a read-out? Then I got it, ol' Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He's the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion: “Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground.”

And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done - in mere seconds we'll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now. I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn. Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet.

Then, I heard it - the click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke: “Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?” There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if was an everyday request. “Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground.”

I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: “Ah, Center, much thanks, we're showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money.” For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center voice, when L.A. came back with, “Roger that Aspen. Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one.”

It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day's work. We never heard another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast. For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there.

the Islamic state.

Disturbing stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUjHb4C7b94