HIMARS Platoon Conducts Fires EAB Mission at San Clemente Island

Pic of the day....African Lion 2021 - Paladin Live Fire

 

The terrible fate of PCF-19 (USN Swift Boat) via Naval History and Heritage Command.

Story here..I found it very interesting...read it all if you have the time...

Samuel J. Cox, Director 

NHHC June 2018 

PCF-19 was one of four Swift boats lost in combat during the Vietnam War (seven more were lost to heavy seas or severe weather, some after being transferred to the South Vietnamese navy). PCF-4 was destroyed by a command-detonated mine in February 1966 (four killed, two wounded). PCF-41 was damaged by heavy shore fire and a mine in May 1966 and abandoned (one killed, others wounded) and later deemed unsalvageable. In April 1969, PCF-43 came under recoilless-rifle and rocket fire, and was beached and burned when a cargo of explosives detonated (four killed). However, what sank PCF-19 remained lost in the fog of war for many years, although the initial court of inquiry assessed that it was the result of friendly fire from U.S. Air Force aircraft. 

After President Johnson unilaterally called a halt to U.S. bombing north of the 19th parallel on 31 March 1968, U.S. Navy aircraft from carriers on Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin and U.S. Air Force aircraft from bases in Thailand and South Vietnam continued to strike targets in North Vietnam, north of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the 17th and 19th parallels. The result was a lot of aircraft crowded into a relatively confined area, with what some senior commanders at the time assessed as inadequate command and control. 

The North Vietnamese responded to the partial bombing halt (and “good will” gesture) by pulling surface-to-air missile batteries from the heavily defended Hanoi and Haiphong areas and moving them into the confined space where U.S. aircraft were still conducting strikes, making the southern part of North Vietnam even more dangerous. Throughout the spring of 1968, U.S. Marine Corps and other observers reported hovering lights at night flying just north of the DMZ and even out over water between North Vietnam and Tiger Island (which was held by the North Vietnamese). In typical American black-humor fashion, these contacts were frequently referred to as “UFOs.” Although the lights were presumed to be helicopters, daylight reconnaissance missions could find no trace of helicopters in the vicinity of the DMZ or on or near Tiger Island, nor was there any other intelligence indicative of North Vietnamese helicopter operations in that area, not to mention the obvious question: Why would they have their lights on? 

Various theories, such as thermal ducting, were postulated to try to explain why hovering lights could plainly be seen, but no helicopters could be found. At the time, North Vietnam had Soviet-supplied MI-4 Hound helicopters that could be equipped with rockets and machine guns, but they were used almost exclusively for urgent resupply missions along the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos. Some sources erroneously call them Hind helicopters, but that Soviet attack helicopter was still in development at the time. (I could find no reports of North Vietnamese helicopter attacks, other than the PCF-19 incident, although I can’t say I exhausted every possible source.) PCF-19 was definitely hit by something shortly after midnight on the night of 15/16 June 1968, and it was sudden, catastrophic, and a surprise. 

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Point Dume reported seeing PCF-19 hit by two rockets from an unidentified source, and several hours later came under fire herself from an unidentified aircraft (the Wikipedia entry for Point Dume conflates this incident with the attack of the following night on HMAS Hobart (D-39) and USS Boston (CAG-1), as do other sources, and as did the court of inquiry.) Point Dume pulled two badly wounded survivors from PCF-19 from the water. The explosion and rapid sinking of of the Swift boat was also reported by the naval gunfire liaison officer at Alpha One, an observation post at the DMZ.

Aussie Air Force @ Exercise Arnhem Thunder

Capturing the beachhead - Exercise Sea Explorer

Thanks to russell_2878 for the link!

   

Amazing isn't it?

A bit depressing too.

A few short years ago the Australians had a VERY minor, almost non-existent amphibious force.

Its not a stretch to say that putting a company in rubber boats across the beach would have been a struggle.

Now look at them.

In a few MORE short years they'll have more combat power than the Marine Corps.

Additionally they'll be able to fight in all climes and places and against all foes.

Impressive.

Maybe if the US Army is busy taking care of ground combat in all the other places around the globe, maybe we can call up the Aussies to help the Marine Corps with some good mech infantry and tanks to go along with it.

Open Comment Post. 17 June 2021

 

What is the descent rate of the Army's parachute?

Maybe its just a trick of the eye but the descent rate on this parachute seems kinda high. Thought the new ones were suppose to correct that issue. Either this guy forgot the part about "if you want to be airborne ya got to be lean", they're jumping with heavier loads than before or I'm just plain missing something.

Ending the day the #Airborne way!@TRADOC @usarec @PatDonahoeArmy @USArmy @TRADOC #AATW pic.twitter.com/jAC9gSlOjo

— US Army Fort Benning (@FortBenning) June 16, 2021

Lockheed Martin Delivering the Edge - Episode 1 - Army Modernization

Shooting targets made of aluminum sheets? Brilliant!

Brilliant! 

But is the juice worth the squeeze? 

How much money could my dept and dept's around the country (much less the US military) save by adopting this instead of buying boxes upon boxes of paper targets? 

I don't know.

"Why buying targets when you can make them?"

Conscripts of Vietnam People Army making targets for sighting training out of aluminum sheets. Such targets last longer than the ones that use paper and wood so they prove popular among the ranks. pic.twitter.com/hf5uD7aF9L

— Lee Ann Quann (@AnnQuann) June 16, 2021

Biden just said new weapons are coming online that reduce response time and raise the risk of accidental war...WHAT WEAPONS!!!

 Did we have some type of breakthru with hypersonics?

Biden just said new weapons are coming online that reduce response time and raise the risk of accidental war.  He also said that they talked about those weapons in detail (with Putin at their summit meeting).

WHAT WEAPONS!!!!

Is it beyond hypersonics?  I've been looking at the old Sprint anti-ballistic missile missile.

Long short?

We've had hypersonics for a while now.  If you look at some of the old nuclear missiles that the Brits and the US carried on their bombers then its obvious that hypersonics are old skool.

I say again.

What are those new weapons!!!