tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post2230461444953338544..comments2023-10-30T06:31:05.501-07:00Comments on MilPub: CRS SyndromeFDChiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-47377342281301154812017-11-14T20:10:13.759-08:002017-11-14T20:10:13.759-08:00Of course it probably differed in other areas. My...Of course it probably differed in other areas. My recollections are predominately of southern I Corps. mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09123137206598163451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-53085150314536305652017-11-14T20:05:52.761-08:002017-11-14T20:05:52.761-08:00It was both of course - both static mines/IEDs and...It was both of course - both static mines/IEDs and those that were covered by ambush. Road sweeps in Nam were frequently bogged down. The VC locals, JSRs, would bury tin cans, expended brass, and other assorted metallic detritus just to slow down the road sweeps. Or sometimes just disturb the surface so that it looked like something was buried there. A real IED was usually nearby and typically a 155 shell or a 250 pound bomb rigged with pressure plates, or sometimes a locally manufactured jury-rigged bamboo mine. <br /><br />The majority of casualties related to mines and IEDs were not on the roads. Those casualties were off-road boobytraps on pathways and paddy dikes around hamlets and villages, or on jungle trails. Some were locally made, but many others were captured ARVN or American stocks of M-16 or M-18 mines or hand grenades. <br /><br />As for command detonated IEDs I'm sure there were thousands, but the only one that I was personally aware of was a US M-18 Claymore that the VC had rigged with their own electrical firing device. It did not work. mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09123137206598163451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-72929450792301280582017-11-14T12:27:41.628-08:002017-11-14T12:27:41.628-08:00"Altogether"? I do not think that word m..."Altogether"? I do not think that word means what you think it means...<br /><br />Snark from "The Princess Bride" aside, the mining, including "IED" type mines, was common into RVN. Yes, it was usually accompanied by a direct-fire attack (which the Iraqi and Afghan muj have tried, as well). But the US engineers swept the VN MSRs daily, which suggests that the threat of static mines and IEDs was considerable in its own right.<br /><br />And beyond the pure technicalities the notion that securing supply routes in a guerilla war would be a difficult, manpower-intensive, dangerous chore isn't exactly rocket science. If the lessons of Vietnam weren't sufficient there's a pretty impressive body of experience from other places like Napoleonic Spain. Point being, some military problems are not just foreseeable but inevitable in given circumstances. Local corruption corrupting US forces - especially those in low-profile, poorly supervised operations -is as shocking as gambling at Rick's Cafe.FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-55901721732093511822017-11-14T06:52:03.803-08:002017-11-14T06:52:03.803-08:00It's a question of emphasis.- Command-detonate...It's a question of emphasis.- Command-detonated mines have become the almost sole kind of attack on convoys in Iraq. That's an altogether different thing from using them to sow some confusion and block the road with some wrecks in order to shoot the trapped convoy up.S Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03359796414832859686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-52269443744408428072017-11-14T06:29:29.057-08:002017-11-14T06:29:29.057-08:00One of the persistent hazards to convoys in the RV...One of the persistent hazards to convoys in the RVN were what were then called "command-detonated mines". Turned out the VC were adept at repurposingUS UXO to use as ambush initiators. So the only real innovation the 21st Century muj added was substituting the cell phone for wire. The effect was very similar, and the difficulty of securing convoy routes against that threat was predictable had any US logistician bothered to learn it. The gun trucks for ambush suppression? Agreed; not so much. But the "IED was a very old trick and a nasty one that the US occupiers should have anticipated. Just as the "Club Scandal" and the drug smuggling that were a feature of the Vietnam War - and the endemic corruption of the US's other Long War, the "war on drugs" - should make this sort of story utterly predictable.FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-5312240193405712702017-11-13T20:20:31.001-08:002017-11-13T20:20:31.001-08:00FDChief -
Way off topic: At 9pm tonight PBS is...FDChief - <br /><br />Way off topic: At 9pm tonight PBS is broadcasting a piece on the MODOC War. Or maybe not so far off topic as there was some CRS involved in that also.<br /><br />mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09123137206598163451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-61389297225461787942017-11-13T20:11:17.773-08:002017-11-13T20:11:17.773-08:00Sven - I'd like a copy. Will email you.Sven - I'd like a copy. Will email you.mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09123137206598163451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-35019072223647263202017-11-13T15:07:01.032-08:002017-11-13T15:07:01.032-08:00Coincidentally, I actually wrote an article draft ...Coincidentally, I actually wrote an article draft (which I never submitted anywhere) about the convoy security topic back in 2003 or 2004 or so.<br />Lots of U.S.Army and Rhodesian/South African lessons learned were among the inspirations.<br /><br />It turned out to not apply to Iraq much, if at all. The remote-controlled mine thing was not unheard-of before, but rather uncommon. The whites were the only ones owning motor vehicles in South African wars, so pressure-trigged AT mines were the dominant mine type there. Vietnam was both in the 50's and the 60's much more about classic ambushes and harassing fires than about remote-controlled mines.<br /><br />The low intensity harassing with RC mines was not foreseen by me, even taking into account several U.S.Army lessons learned, articles and so on.<br /><br />BTW, I still have that article draft. Drop me an e-mail if anyone is interested:<br />defence_and_freedom@gmx.deS Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03359796414832859686noreply@blogger.com