Field Equipment Lessons Learned in Afghanistan

[xrayjuan]

Very interesting article:

http://www.geocities.com/usarmyafghangearproblems/

[nevada]

While I've never been in the service, the idea that any service person has to buy things with their own money makes me sick. I have a son-in-law in the Air Force who has to buy his own stuff, and it's just not right.

That is a great article.

[Planning]

lessons learned, we are always fighting the last war with old tec. and supplies when the new war is different. the things that worked are soon forgotten and the what may look good on paper is reverted back to.

the grunt on the ground has the most knowledge of what is going on and is chastized for improvising in the field. there will always be a few old dogs that will buck the system, but they usually pay a price in promotions than the old dog back at the field HQ. the military is a very political system.

the farther they get from the HQ you will find more improvision going on.

protection from the weather, water, food, ammo should be the most concerns for the troops at the top., but it become a fashion show for them at the top. all the troops must wear the right type cover ( hat), uniform must be the right color, this list goes on.

i was lucky in vietnam, my CO ( a full bird col) ( suggested by our 1st sgt), gave us order for wearing what uniform we could find, use of any type weapon needed ( u.s and hostile forces)and the use of a/c as need to fly where ever we needed to go. this cause a lot of problems at some post/bases, but a quick pull out of the orders stopped the harassment. the authorized orders trumped everything. ( they didn't know who we really were :icon_biggrin:).
side note: best we can tell there were only 173 of us during the whole vietnam war, we were call "combat mobility team" usually 3 to 9 members on a team depending on the mission. we did a lot of improvising to get supplies to the army, marine, & airforce teams in the forward places in the field.
we were always a support team for the front line troops and we tried to do what we could to keep them supplied. this way the troop in the field was able to move quickly and lite. i feel bad for the troops now having to carry 80 to 100+ pounds every day. we know how to resupply troops in the field and have know this for years, now with gps and other tec. it is even better. we learned to get supplies with in a few feet of where it was needed. it just takes manpower and air craft. we have both, but it is used to carry the brass and visiting congress people around. ( i know we had the same thing in vietnam). all priority should be for the man/woman on the front line. everything/everyone else is secondary.
sorry i get on a tangent with this subject.

bottom line is if your not on the front line, you are support so act like it.

the process for getting the correct equipment in the military is very slow. when someone finds something that works the word gets around and then back home. it is quicker to ask for it to be bought at walmart or some where and have it sent to you than to wait for the military process to get it to the grunt in the field. this maynot be perfect, but it works.

we have had several family members serve in the last few wars and when something is needed they have gotten it and usually get several for the other guys in the unit. they should never need for anything.

war is never popular, but the troops should never suffer for lack of anything they need.

ron

[DAA1]

My 2 cents,
Having been through what the Army calls a Rapid Field Initiative, they do try as best that thay can to issue out good stuff. Now the system is not perfect and is probably guided by REMFs, but it is better than nothing.

We got gear under this plan that I will never see again, because rear units like mine won't get it. So in my little collection of nice to have stuff that I got to keep is a DCU camel back, some nice gloves, couple of decent pairs of boots, ballistic eyewear, lightweight long underwear, and some other odds and ends. The really good stuff I either did not get or had to turn in, IBV, Helmet etc.

Yes if we wanted pouches for the body armor we had to buy them, and I did, I bought the hydration carrier so I could just drop my camel back in it, and a couple of three assorted pouches for ammo etc.

Different units I guess have different fielding plans for equipment, and while no soldier should ever have to buy the stuff they need, the system is not 100% broke.

The total amount of gear some soldiers have to carry is just plain crazy, and the only answer is get in better shape, but body mass and physical conditioning only go so far. I now see why we have so many back, shoulder, knee and ankle injuries.

Keep in mind I never ever claimed to be a grunt, those guys truly have the most difficult job of any of us. But we do try and take care of the grunts. (grunts=warfighters)

If anything I wish the Army would adopt one value, COMMON SENSE, we have some of the best trained soldiers in the world, we should treat them and equip them like that.

[SteelCore]

Buddy of mine was in the First Marine expeditionary, artillery, and when he got stateside, they made him pay for his MREs eaten while killin for Uncle Sugar. Weird.