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[the-nomadicone]

Ex. Iron Fist // Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces

[aimeedaisies]

King pays tribute to ‘heroism and sacrifice’ to mark 80 years since Arnhem

Monarch’s words spoken by the Princess Royal to remember troops who fought in Operation Market Garden

21 September 2024 5:57pm

The Princess Royal is representing the King at the Arnhem anniversary events PA/Ben Birchall

The King has said the “heroism and sacrifice made by so many in the pursuit of peace” will never be forgotten as the 80th anniversary of a famous Second World War operation was commemorated.

The King’s words were spoken by the Princess Royal, representing the King at events this weekend marking the efforts of troops who in 1944 fought in Operation Market Garden, with the bold aim of ending the war that year.

The Princess, joined by her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, delivered her brother’s speech at a reception staged at the Airborne Museum Hartenstein in Oosterbeek, the Netherlands.

It is a former hotel that served as the headquarters of the British 1st Airborne Division during the Battle of Arnhem, part of the operation that aimed to push through the Netherlands and into Germany just a few months after the D-Day landings.

The Princess met Geoff Roberts, 99, believed to be the only British soldier to travel to Arnhem for the commemorations this year PA/Ben Birchall

The Princess said on behalf of the King: “Eighty years ago, on this very weekend, Operation Market Garden was under way in this region of the Netherlands.

“An ambitious joint airborne and ground forces operation designed to seize crucial bridges to enable the advance into Germany, its ultimate aim was to end the war within a matter of months.

“The friendships made during those difficult days of September 1944 between the Dutch and their liberators continued after the war.”

“I saw this for myself five years ago when, as Colonel in Chief of the Parachute Regiment, I attended the 75th anniversary commemorations.”

The Princess met Geoff Roberts, 99, believed to be the only British soldier to travel to Arnhem for the commemorations this year.

Mr Roberts flew by glider into Arnhem during Operation Market Garden but was captured as the Allies retreated after their efforts. Immortalised in the film A Bridge Too Far, the Allies were thwarted by strong resistance from Nazi troops, and he spent the rest of the war in a German prisoner of war camp.

The Princess Royal watches a fly-by at the Airborne Museum Hartenstein in Oosterbeek, Netherlands PA/Ben Birchall

The Princess continued the King’s speech, saying: “Tragically, despite the endless courage of all those who served in an operation whose renown echoes through the generations, the Netherlands had one more terrible winter to suffer before liberation finally arrived.

“Today, on this 80th anniversary, it is with a deep sense of gratitude and humility that we remember all those in the British, Allied and Commonwealth forces who served and died fighting for our freedom.

“Let us also remember those magnificently courageous members of the Dutch resistance and gallant civilians who endured so much during the Second World War.

“We will never forget the heroism and sacrifice made by so many in the pursuit of peace and liberation. My wife joins me in sending the warmest possible good wishes to all those taking part in this weekend of commemoration.”

On Sunday, the Princess, in her role as president of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, will attend the annual service marking the operation’s 80th anniversary at Oosterbeek Airborne Cemetery.

She will join around a thousand guests and will read a lesson and lay a wreath at the foot of the Cross of Sacrifice.

Earlier, paratroopers from eight Nato member countries, including the UK, the USA, Portugal and Spain, parachuted from 12 aircraft into Ginkel Heath, a nature reserve near the Dutch town of Ede.

Some 700 paratroopers took part in the jump, including the Red Devils, the British Army’s freefall parachute display team, as part of the commemoration of the Battle of Arnhem.

Turned into defensive battle

Among those to parachute into the occupied Netherlands were 1,900 allied airborne soldiers from Britain’s 4th Parachute Brigade.

The plan involved seizing key bridges with a combination of airborne and land forces.

But the airborne forces’ landing zones were around nine miles from the bridge at Arnhem, losing them the element of surprise and giving the German troops time to build blockades.

While the operation succeeded in capturing the Dutch cities of Eindhoven and Nijmegen, it failed in its key objective: securing the bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem.

A defensive battle was fought, which saw nine days of prolonged street fighting, until the order to withdraw was given on Sept 25.

More than 8,000 British soldiers were killed, missing or captured in the offensive.

[walkingthroughthisworld]

Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment from Fort Hood, Texas and multinational partner forces engage in a Combined Arms Live Fire Exercise (CALFEX) that was attended by the U.S. Emassador to Lithuania, Robert Gilchrist, on Feb. 12, 202… (Photo Credit: U.S. Army)

PABRADE, Lithuania - Soldiers with 1st Battalion, 9th U.S. Cavalry Regiment from Fort Hood, Texas, working side by side with multinational and allied forces, concluded their Combined Arms Live Fire Exercise training Feb 13, 2020.

Dutch artillery, Croatian mortar, Lithuanian and Norwegian fire support and the Baltic Air Police were some of the major assets involved in the execution of this enormous military exercise.

"A successful CALFEX is when my company commander walks out of here with a standard operating procedure and every single one of my leaders, whether it's a tank commander, a Bradley commander, a squad leader, a team leader…They walk out of here understanding their SOP's, having codified the lessons that they've learned throughout the entire train-up," said Lt. Col. Stephen Johnson, commander of the 1-9 CAV.

This large scale combined exercise involved assets from across the entire battlefield spectrum operating in a seamless, synchronous fashion.

Mortar teams working cooperatively were no exception.

"The goal for mortars here is to enable the maneuver elements in the company CALFEX to be able to get onto their objectives with ease," said 1st Lt. Alexander Shuler, a 1-9 CAV mortar platoon leader. "The thing that's really cool about working with the European nations, including Croatia, is that they're so used to working with other nations. A large part of us coming here to Europe is building upon that interoperability."

Indeed, Croatian Soldiers were an essential component of the mortar exercises as they worked closely with 1-9 CAV Soldiers throughout the CALFEX.

"The non-commissioned officers that we work closely with were really helpful," said 2nd Lt. Ante Validzic, with the 3rd mechanized infantry of the Croatian Land Forces. "They assisted us with everything we needed. If we combine our strengths, and work on our weaknesses, we can be strong together."

Training in Lithuania offered the Soldiers many tactical benefits that are not as readily available back in the United States.

"One of the great things about the 1-9 being up here in Lithuania is that they have the training facilities right here at their doorstep," said Brigade Command Sgt. Maj. Alexander Yazzie. "During this exercise, they had the fuelers come, they brought in ammo, they executed a Logistics Resupply Point (LRP) after contact. They were able to not only incorporate the fire maneuver, the shoot - move - communicate portion, but they incorporated the sustainment portion as well which was great because that's the first time I've seen that done in a CALFEX."

Command Sgt. Maj. Christopher Carey, the battalion command sergeant major was equally impressed with his Soldiers' ability to engage and take down potential enemy opposition.

"The one thing that really stood out to me was the violent execution of Battle Drill Six (room clearing exercise) by our infantry. There's a lot of training that leads up going into that live fire drill," said Carey. "They've trained for several weeks in preparation for this, and again the violence of action was very impressive. We're here to train and we're here to deter our adversaries. We don't have any distractors, that's our focus here."

The CALFEX is an enormous undertaking in scale and scope. This exercise allows leadership to assess and increase the military readiness and lethality of all the joint participants. Combining forces on such an enormous scale showcases our interoperability, and promotes regional stability, thereby enhancing relationships with our allies.

"We actually got to shoot gunnery with the Germans and the Norwegians, just being able to interact with them - I actually got to grade them, I got to VCE (Vehicle Crew Evaluator) them through their gunnery," said Staff Sgt. John Waite, an M1A2 B Co., 3rd platoon tank commander. "They were phenomenal. Their platforms and tank crews were amazing. They're always just thirsting for knowledge, the same as us. It's been one of the most amazing experiences during my time in the army."

The CALFEX is a very fast paced, multi faceted, strategic exercise. The ability of Soldiers to adapt and adjust to a fluid, ever changing battlefield environment is key to their success.

Of course, everything doesn't always go as planned.

"A Platoon leader's track (U.S. Bradley Fighting Vehicle) went down, just cut off on him. He worked through it, and what was great is the battalion commander let him work through it, he didn't give him the answer," said Yazzie. "So when a platoon sergeant's vehicle goes down, you have to jump track. Ultimately, he worked through it, he did really well and continued on with the mission."

Countless hours of training, endless logistics and the Soldiers' collective fighting spirit make for a very formidable fighting force that continues to protect the freedoms and independence of all within the European theater.

"This was just a world class amazing exercise, and I'm really proud of the Soldiers. Moving forward, we're going to document all the lessons learned. We're going to make sure that we don't make the same mistakes that we learned from this time, and that we can pass them off to the future leaders," said Johnson. "We all transition. We're going to switch out leaders, we're going to switch out Soldiers and they've got to be able to pick up where we left off. We're going to continue to be lethal, we're going to continue to train and continue to get better."

[roosterarts]

Rebel Scout Rangers capture the Philippine Army Battle Staff

The Philippine December Coup of 1989

History with Ponies

First | Previous | Next (Soon)

On November 30, 1989, Philippine Army Intelligence knew that a coup would occur the next day at around 2:00 a.m. Due to the Scout Ranger attack on Tagaytay, the HHSG (Headquarters and Headquarters and Service Group) made sure to monitor the Scout Ranger companies based at Fort Bonifacio.

Fort Bonifacio was one of the main military installations in the NCR (National Capital Region) and contained facilities for both the army and marines. Within its grounds were the HPA (Headquarters - Philippine Army) and AOC (Army Operations Center), both of which were vital for the command and control of the army.

Due to the possibility of a coup starting in the next few hours, the Commanding General of the Philippine Army called for conference that involved the General Staff, Battle Staff, and various unit commanders within Fort Bonifacio. The conference was to occur at the AOC at midnight

However, at around 9:00 p.m., the Scout Ranger companies based inside Fort Bonifacio, who were reinforced by other Scout Ranger companies who had abandoned their original posts and snuck into the fort, began moving. Following the operation planned out by RAM officers, they were to seize the fort as part of the first stage of the coup. The Scout Rangers, one of the elite fighting forces in the armed forces, was about to paralyze the army's head.

The Scout Rangers first took control of the various gates of the fort, making sure that no one got in or out without their permission. With that done they then began seizing the various facilities in the fort. By 10:00 the Scout Rangers had taken over the HPA. Outnumbered and outgunned, the headquarters staff gave no resistance.

One by one, various facilities within the fort were captured by the Scout Rangers, who also began setting up check points within the fort. At around the same time, the 4th Marine Battalion Landing Team, also based at the fort, were mobilizing. They had just been ordered by Philippine Marines' Commandant to move to Camp Aguinaldo and reinforce the defenders their in case the coup materalizes. However, instead of following their orders, the officers and marines of the 4th Marine Battalion were doing something no one had expected. The marines were seen putting on rebel countersigns and painting "RAM-SFP" on their armored vehicles. They were siding with the coup plotters and soon they would be moving out of the fort to seize Villamor Air Base and the PTV-4 new station.

Meanwhile, at around midnight, the army's commanding general, along with the Battle Staff, General Staff, and various senior officers, were at the AOC for the scheaduled conference. However, warned by an officer about what was occuring in the fort, the commanding general managed to escape the AOC moments before the first rebel troops arrived there at 12:40 a.m. of December 1st.

This left the rest of the officers in the AOC, with the SIP (Special Intervention Platoon) the only unit to protect them. However, instead of defending the building, the SIP simply allowed the Scout Rangers to walk in. Moments later the troops of the SIP were seen wearing rebel countersigns.

By 2:00 a.m. the fort was in full control of the Rebel Scout Rangers.

----------------------------------------

Okay, so this is part two of my History with Ponies thing.

So, as we can see here, we have, on the right, rebel Scout Rangers portrayed by @cadenceconfessions and Sparks (@thedumbguywithaheart43 ). On the other left we have officers of the army;s Battle Staff, portrayed by @ask-primrose-petals and @asktowserthepony . Like before, the rebel Scout Rangers are wearing olive drab fatigues, with black beanie caps. You can also see Cadence levitating an M-60 machine gun, which rebel forces would have taken from the Scout Ranger's Regimental Troop School within Fort Bonifacio. Cadence also has a white scrunchie, which is the day 1 countersign for rebel forces.

Meanwhile, the Battle Staff have black caps on them and are unarmed, since they were mainly tasked with operational planning and not frontline combat. Although some of the officers would have been armed with their sidearms. However, generally speaking, they were clearly outgunned and had no choice but to eventually surrender.

[casbooks]

Book 05 of 2024 (★★★★)

Title: Acceptable Loss Authors: Kregg P. J. Jorgenson ISBN: 9780307432582 Tags: Infantry, LRRP, Rangers, SpecOps, US USA 1st Cavalry Division, US USA 75th Rangers - H Co, US USA 9th Cavalry Regiment, US USA 9th Cavalry Regiment - 1/9, US USA 9th Cavalry Regiment - 1/9 - A Troop, US USA 9th Cavalry Regiment - 1/9 - A Troop - Aerial Rifle Platoon - Blues, USA 1st Air Cav Division, VNM Vietnam Rating: ★★★★ Subject: Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.Specops.LRRPs, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.SpecOps.US.LRRPs

Description: The true-to-life story of a Ranger who volunteered to serve on a Blue Team in the Air Cavalry, racing to the aid of soldiers who faced the same dangers he had barely survived in the jungles of Vietnam. Whether enduring NVA sniper attacks, surviving "friendly" fire, or landing in hot LZs, Jorgenson discovered that in Vietnam you never knew whether you were paranoid or just painfully aware of the possibilities.From the Paperback edition.

[georgemcginn]

DOD Featured Photos

At Anchor The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford sits at anchor off the coast of Split, Croatia, June 28, 202… Photo Details > Safe Landing A soldier assigned to the 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airbor… Photo Details > View All Photos ABOUT NEWS HELP CENTER PRESS PRODUCTS Unsubscribe | Contact Us

[goldiers1]

British, Oman Soldiers Team Up for Desert Challenge

  Over the past two weeks, British troops have been polishing their desert warfighting abilities on a training field six times the size of Salisbury Plain (3-14 February). During their four-month deployment to Oman, they were participating in Operation Khanjar Oman, the first major training exercise. In the joint training facility in Ras Madrakah, soldiers worked alongside the Royal Army of Oman as they prepared for a simulated assault on an adversary metropolitan area.  

British soldier on training range. Photo by Dave Jenkins. UK MOD Crown copyright.   The exercise examined how well soldiers could prepare for and conduct operations in challenging terrain, including as mountains, intricate wadi systems, and desert plains. At the same time, it offered a chance to hone crucial soldiering abilities, such as soldiering in harsh settings, collaborating with ally forces, and discovering battle-winning strategies to defend the British public from future threats.  

Group photo of British troop on training excercise in Oman. Photo by Dave Jenkins. MOD.   Battlegroup Commander Lt Col Ben Hawes 2nd Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, is preparing his troops to assume command of NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in January 2024. He said: Since March last year, the focus of our training has been to ensure that we are ready to fight against a peer enemy force. This exercise is the UK ensuring that its spearhead battlegroup is in exactly the right place to go out the door. My troops have been absolutely put through their paces. Everything that our peer enemies could do to us, has been done to us. I’ve operated with every single one of my radio frequencies jammed, I’ve operated with no GPS, I’ve operated at night for long periods of time; we’ve done training serial after training serial. This is about our ability to operate and sustain an operation against an enemy that has the same, or maybe even greater capabilities than we do.   The 2nd Battalion of The Royal Anglian Regiment provided more than half of the soldiers who took part in the exercise. The Royal Logistics Corps, Royal Engineers, Royal Artillery, Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, and Coastal Security Force all contributed in smaller numbers.  

Soldier training in Oman. Photo by Dave Jenkins. UK MOD Crown copyright.   Exercise Desert Khanjar, which depicts the two yearly, four-month deployments of UK troops to the British Army's Land Regional Hub at Duqm, Oman, is being led by the 4th Light Brigade Combat Team. It is the British Army’s foremost annual training and defence engagement event to take place across the Gulf region, involving up to 1,000 British and 100 Omani soldiers. During deployment, British personnel undertake unit training, exercise with partners and provide a forward-based force capable of building regional security capabilities and responding to threats where they arise.   Sources: THX News & UK Ministry of Defence. Read the full article

[usafphantom2]

British Army introduces most modern version of the AH-64E Apache attack helicopter in service

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 01/21/2012 - 09:18 am in Helicopters

The British Army began deploying its newest version 6 variant of the AH-64E Apache attack helicopter in frontline service.

Fifty Apache AH-64E Version 6 aircraft were purchased from the United States to provide an aviation capability that will be a key element of how the Army will fight in the coming decades, as established in the Future Soldier program.

The AH-64E replaces Apache Mk.1, which entered service in 2001 and proved to be a battle-winning resource in Afghanistan and Libya.

The AH-64E, built by Boeing, features a new engine and rotor blades to increase flight performance; improved sights and sensors; communication systems to share data with other helicopters, unmanned aircraft systems and ground forces; and integrated maintenance diagnostic systems to increase aircraft availability.

The 3rd Army Air Corps Regiment, member of the 1st Aviation Combat Brigade, will be the first unit to field the AH-64E, with engineers and crew in training in the U.S. to prepare to operate the helicopter. The unit's hangars at Wattisham Flying Station are occupied with soldiers from Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers performing engineering checks on aircraft delivered from the USA, with flight tests in progress.

“The Apache AH-64E is a 21st century attack helicopter that is more lethal, agile, survival and integrated and will improve the way the Army fights,” said Lieutenant Colonel Simon Wilsey, commanding officer of the 3rd Regt AAC. “What is fundamental to the enhanced capabilities of the AH-64E is its ability to integrate with other land and air assets, allowing us to share information so that we can find and attack the enemy before our forces are targeted.”

“To prepare for model E, we went to the United States to make a four-week training package to learn about the aircraft and its systems,” said avionics supervisor Corporal Luke Salvatore, who leads a team of REME soldiers who maintain Apache's radar, navigation, communication and aiming systems.

“The new mission planning software in the AH-64E is much superior,” communications expert Lance Corporal Dylan Jones added. “This gives us much more precision in mission planning and provides much more information to the aircraft, which makes it easier for the crew to fly and fight the aircraft.

Tags: Apache AH-64EArmy Air CorpsMilitary Aviation Helecopters

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work throughout the world of aviation

Cavok Brazil - Digital Tchê Web Creation

[greatworldwar2]

• Doris Miller

Doris "Dorie" Miller was a United States Navy cook third class. He was the first black American to be awarded the Navy Cross, the second highest decoration for valor in combat after the Medal of Honor.

Miller was born in Waco, Texas, on October 12th, 1919, to Connery and Henrietta Miller. He was named Doris, as the midwife who assisted his mother was convinced before his birth that the baby would be a girl. He was the third of four sons and helped around the house, cooked meals and did laundry, as well as working on the family farm. He was a fullback on the football team at Waco's Alexander James Moore High School. He began attending the eighth grade again on January 25th, 1937, at the age of 17 but was forced to repeat the grade the following year, so he decided to drop out of school. He filled his time squirrel hunting with a .22 rifle and completed a correspondence course in taxidermy. He applied to join the Civilian Conservation Corps, but was not accepted. At that time, he was 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and weighed more than 200 pounds (91 kg). Miller worked on his father's farm until shortly before his 20th birthday. Miller's nickname "Dorie" may have originated from a typographical error. He was nominated for recognition for his actions on December 7th, 1941, and the Pittsburgh Courier released a story on March 14th, 1942, which gave his name as "Dorie Miller". Since then, some writers have suggested that it was a "nickname to shipmates and friends."

Miller enlisted in the United States Navy for six years on September 16th, 1939. He did his recruit training at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia, then was promoted to mess attendant third class, one of the few ratings open at the time to black sailors. After training school, he was assigned to the ammunition ship Pyro (AE-1) and then transferred on January 2nd, 1940, to the Colorado-class battleship West Virginia (BB-48). It was on the West Virginia where he started competition boxing, becoming the ship's heavyweight champion. In July, he was on temporary duty aboard the Nevada (BB-36) at Secondary Battery Gunnery School. He returned to the West Virginia on August 3rd. He was promoted to mess attendant second class on February 16th, 1941.

Miller was a crewman aboard the West Virginia and awoke at 6 a.m. on December 7th, 1941. He served breakfast mess and was collecting laundry at 7:57 a.m. when Lieutenant Commander Shigeharu Murata from the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi launched the first of seven torpedoes that hit West Virginia. The "Battle Stations" alarm went off; Miller headed for his battle station, an anti-aircraft battery magazine amidships, only to discover that a torpedo had destroyed it. He went then to "Times Square" on deck, a central spot aboard the ship where the fore-to-aft and port-to-starboard passageways crossed, reporting himself available for other duty and was assigned to help carry wounded sailors to places of greater safety. Lieutenant Commander Doir C. Johnson, the ship's communications officer, spotted Miller and saw his physical prowess, so he ordered him to accompany him to the conning tower on the flag bridge to assist in moving the ship's captain, Mervyn Bennion, who had a gaping wound in his abdomen where he had apparently been hit by shrapnel after the first Japanese attack. Miller and another sailor lifted the skipper but were unable to remove him from the bridge, so they carried him on a cot from his exposed position on the damaged bridge to a sheltered spot on the deck behind the conning tower where he remained during the second Japanese attack. Captain Bennion refused to leave his post, questioned his officers and men about the condition of the ship, and gave orders and instructions to crew members to defend the ship and fight. Unable to go to the deck below because of smoke and flames, he was carried up a ladder to the navigation bridge, where he died from the loss of too much blood despite aid. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

Lieutenant Frederic H. White had ordered Miller to help him and Ensign Victor Delano load the unmanned number 1 and number 2 Browning .50 caliber anti-aircraft machine guns aft of the conning tower. Miller was not familiar with the weapon, but White and Delano instructed him on how to operate it. Delano expected Miller to feed ammunition to one gun, but his attention was diverted and, when he looked again, Miller was firing one of the guns. White then loaded ammunition into both guns and assigned Miller the starboard gun. Miller fired the gun until he ran out of ammunition, when he was ordered by Lieutenant Claude V. Ricketts to help carry the captain up to the navigation bridge out of the thick oily smoke generated by the many fires on and around the ship; Miller who was officially credited with downing at least two enemy planes. "I think I got one of those Jap planes. They were diving pretty close to us," he said later. Japanese aircraft eventually dropped two armor-piercing bombs through the deck of the battleship and launched five 18-inch (460 mm) aircraft torpedoes into her port side. When the attack finally lessened, Miller helped move injured sailors through oil and water to the quarterdeck, thereby "unquestionably saving the lives of a number of people who might otherwise have been lost." The ship was heavily damaged by bombs, torpedoes, and resulting explosions and fires, but the crew prevented her from capsizing by counter-flooding a number of compartments. Instead, West Virginia sank to the harbor bottom in shallow water as her surviving crew abandoned ship, including Miller; the ship was raised and restored for continued service in the war. On the West Virginia, 132 men were killed and 52 were wounded from the Japanese attack. On December 13, Miller reported to the heavy cruiser Indianapolis (CA-35).

On January 1st, 1942, the Navy released a list of commendations for actions on December 7th. Among them was a single commendation for an unnamed black man. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) had asked President Franklin D. Roosevelt to award the Distinguished Service Cross to the unknown black sailor. The Navy Board of Awards received a recommendation that the sailor be considered for recognition. On March 12th, an Associated Press story named Miller as the sailor, citing the African-American newspaper Pittsburgh Courier; additional news reports credited Lawrence D. Reddick with learning the name through correspondence with the Navy Department. In the following days, Senator James M. Mead (D-NY) introduced a Senate bill to award Miller the Medal of Honor, and Representative John D. Dingell, Sr. (D-MI) introduced a matching House bill. Miller was recognized as one of the "first US heroes of World War II". He was commended in a letter signed by Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on April 1st, and the next day, CBS Radio broadcast an episode of the series They Live Forever, which dramatized Miller's actions. Black organizations began a campaign to honor Miller with additional recognition. On April 4, the Pittsburgh Courier urged readers to write to members of the congressional Naval Affairs Committee in support of awarding the Medal of Honor to Miller. On May 11th, President Roosevelt approved the Navy Cross for Miller. On May 27th, Miller was personally recognized by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, aboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise (CV-6) at anchor in Pearl Harbor. Nimitz said of Miller's commendation, "This marks the first time in this conflict that such high tribute has been made in the Pacific Fleet to a member of his race and I'm sure that the future will see others similarly honored for brave acts."

Miller was advanced in rank to mess attendant first class on June 1st, 1942. On June 27th, the Pittsburgh Courier called for him to be allowed to return home for a war bond tour along with white war heroes. On November 23rd, Miller returned to Pearl Harbor and was ordered on a war bond tour while still attached to Indianapolis. In December, and January 1943, he gave presentations in Oakland, California, in his hometown of Waco, in Dallas, and to the first graduating class of black sailors from Great Lakes Naval Training Station. He was featured on the 1943 Navy recruiting poster "Above and beyond the call of duty", designed by David Stone Martin. He then reported to Puget Sound Navy Yard at Bremerton, Washington on May 15th, 1943 when he was assigned to the newly constructed escort carrier Liscome Bay (CVE-56). He was advanced in rank to cook third class on June 1st. The ship had a crew of 960 men, and its primary functions were to serve as a convoy escort, to provide aircraft for close air support during amphibious landing operations, and to ferry aircraft to naval bases and fleet carriers at sea. After training in Hawaii waters, Liscome Bay left Pearl Harbor on November 10th, 1943 to join the Northern Task Force, Task Group 52. Miller's carrier took part in the Battle of Makin (invasion of Makin by units of the Army's 165th Regimental Combat Team, 27th Infantry Division) which had begun on November 20th. On November 24th, the day after Makin was captured by American soldiers and the eve of Thanksgiving that year (the cooks had broken out the frozen turkeys from Pearl Harbor), the Liscome Bay was cruising near Butaritari (Makin's Atol's main island) when it was struck just before dawn in the stern by a torpedo from the Japanese submarine I-175 (fired four torpedoes at Task Group 5312). The carrier's own torpedoes and aircraft bombs including 2,0000 pounders were detonated a few moments later, causing the ship to sink in 23 minutes. There were 272 survivors from the crew of over 900, but Miller was among the two-thirds of the crew listed as "presumed dead". His parents were informed that he was missing in action on December 7th, 1943. Liscome Bay was the only ship lost in the Gilbert Islands operation.

A memorial service was held for Miller on April 30th, 1944, at the Second Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, sponsored by the Victory Club. On May 28th, a granite marker was dedicated at Moore High School in Waco to honor him. Miller was officially declared dead by the Navy on November 25th, 1944, a year and a day after the loss of Liscome Bay. One of his brothers also had served during World War II. Miller was 24 years old at the time of his death. Miller's legacy continues in many memorials to his service. Doris Miller Memorial, a public art installation honoring Miller on the banks of the Brazos River in Waco, Texas. A bronze commemorative plaque at the Doris Miller Park housing community located near Naval Station Pearl Harbor; organized by the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and dedicated on October 12th, 1991, which would have been Miller's 72nd birthday. Even the U.S Navy honored Miller with the USS Miller (FF-1091), a destroyer escort (reclassified as a Knox-class frigate on June 30th, 1975) was commissioned on June 30th, 1973, in honor of Miller. Miller's likeness and story has also been portrayed in films, such as Miller being awarded the Navy Cross was portrayed in the 2019 film Midway. In Michael Bay's 2001 film Pearl Harbor, Miller is portrayed by actor Cuba Gooding Jr. Although he is not identified by name, Miller is portrayed by Elven Havard in the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!

[oldsalt1169]

Marines with Kilo Company, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment plan a mission during squad tactics and maneuver training aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif.      AHHH, another one of my old 'haunts'...   I used to "cross-deck" frequently to visit with Our "Track Company" while We were on ‘Float’ with 11th MEU!

[adgres-blog]

The shortened biography of Enzo Ferrari

For all the fascination about his name, Ferrari lived quite a normal life. He went into the same barber shop-the first one on the left-at 8:30 every morning for a shave. He ate lunch-Salsicce cotto or tortellini alla panna-with the same advisor at a private room at Il Cavallino, a restaurant he sat up in a farm building directly across from the factory gate in Maranello. He and his old friends talked about the things that are wrong with Il Canarini-the soccer team, had an evening card game, and the women who joined them for a drink but the life before this moment was a story worth to tell.

It was the turn of the 20th century and the invention of the automobile had inspired road racing fever all over Europe and America. Cars rushed along dirt and gravel roads covering as much as 145 miles sometimes at speeds as high as 50mph. It was this world into which Enzo Ferrari was born on February 18th 1898. His family home was on the Norther outskirts of Italy, a land crisscrossed by 100 years old family farms and graceful vineyards still famous for its Lambrusco wines and balsamic vinegars. Enzo´s father Alfredo was a structural metal contractor with his own business. His mother Adalgisa was a typical Italian homemaker who doted on both Enzo and his brother Dino who was 2 years older.

Family Background

His early family background was happy, very happy. He respected his father and adored and admired his older brother. The Ferrari home and business was on the outskirts of an ancient Roman city called Modena. The Ferraris lived upstairs in a small apartment and Alfredo´s workshop was downstairs where he sometimes employed as many as 20 workers. Alfredo intended for his sons to take over the family business one day but young Enzo wanted none of it. Instead he toyed around with the idea of being a journalist or even an opera singer. Then in 1908 when Enzo was 10 years old his father Alfredo took both his sons to their first automobile race. Enzo discovered the world of automobiles and speed. He saw Felice Nazzaro, the great 1907 Grand Prix winner for Fiat driving a Fiat at speed and he saw Vincenzo Lancia driving a Fiat at speed and he was absolutely entranced by it that to him was absolutely the epitome of bravura. In his eyes that was the life for a proper man. But Alfredo Ferrari had other plans for his boys. He sent them to a mechanical engineering trade school to prepare them to take over the family business. His brother Dino accepted his faith but Enzo perhaps something of a dreamer was utterly disinterested in schoolwork of any sort and flunked out. He had a lot of personality and was always dreaming about becoming a racing driver, he was just fascinated about risky jobs and risky sports. By the summer of 1914 when Enzo was 16 years old Italy was quickly being drawn into the 1st World War. The following year his brother Dino enlisted in the Italian army. He was sent to the front as an ambulance driver. Then in 1916 Enzo´s father died suddenly of pneumonia. Without Alfredo the once prosperous business soon collapsed. Then word came from the front that his brother Dino was dead of typhoid fever.

Beginnings

Within months Enzo Ferrari´s once predictable life seemed to be spinning out of control. He drifted from one menial job to another for more than a year. Finally in 1917 he was drafted into the army. When he appeared for duty he announced to his superiors that he was a skilled auto mechanic. Unimpressed, they assigned him to shoe the mules. Because he came from ordinary circumstances he was not taken seriously in the army, he had no privilege, he had no title and he had no family background that would permit him to be more than a simple soldier. Enzo soon contracted a pleurisy, a disease that was often fatal at the time. He eventually was transferred to a rundown hospice in Bologna where he was left to die with the other hopeless cases, waking up each morning to the hammering of coffin makers. Somehow by sheer grit or perhaps dumb luck he survived. Discharged from the army in 1918 at the age of 20 Ferrari was a broke young man, physically, mentally and emotionally. The following year a Great War came to an end, but Italy was in an economic freefall. In the chaos and disillusionment that followed Benito Mussolini and his black shirt fascists took over. Enzo Ferrari seemed disinterested in the politics of his country. His only concern was to regain the strength he lost during his illness and then somehow get on with his life. He soon managed to get a letter of recommendation from the colonel of his regiment. With that in hand he headed for Turin, the center of the Italian car industry. When Enzo arrived he immediately applied for work at one of Turin´s most prominent companies, Fiat. The automobile manufacturing giant owned by the wealthy Agnelli family. Ferrari proudly presented his letter but to the Fiat engineer who spoke with him the letter meant nothing. Ferrari was told that the city was awash in unemployed war veterans. There was no work. He wrote in his own autobiography how he sat on a park bench in Turin unemployed, lost, with his family gone, his father and older brother both dead, no job, no hope, absolutely in despair. That was a time when he just sat on a park bench and cried. Enzo Ferrari was not a man who suffered rejection easily. His grief and shame over Fiat´s refusal to hire him slowly turned to rage.

Racing Driver 

Far-fetched as it seems, Ferrari swore a vendetta against Fiat and the Agnelli´s. Somehow he would find a way to make them pay. At the end of the Great War, Enzo Ferrari surfaced in Turin, Italy ready to transform himself from a simple country boy into a racecar driver and maybe even a star. He had survived a life-threatening illness and had suffered rejection from the leading car manufacturer in the region. He simply refused to give up. Ferrari was a war lover, he loved the competition, he loved to battle and he loved the day-to-day struggle. He always answered the bell, he always was ready for the fight. The battleground Ferrari had chosen was the world of fast cars. Up to now the automobiles used for racing were simply modified passenger cars. The new technology used to power tanks, airplanes and trucks during the war was being tested on specially engineered racecars and it was all happening in Turin, where was a well-known restaurant in the center that was frequented by the local motor-trade and motor-industry where he got to know more and more people and became very friendly indeed with a slightly older test-driver and engineer Ugo Sivocci. Sivocci managed to get Enzo a job at one of the small Italian automakers, CMN. It was located in Milan, some 100 miles east of Turin. It was here that Ferrari bought his first car, a used Alfa Romeo that could race. At that period it was a crazy decision but he was so in love with cars that it really became a starting point for him. After seeing both Sivocci and Ferrari drive in several local races. Alfa´s team manager gave them a chance to drive racecars for Alfa Romeo´s team. He did race fairly actively from 1920 to 1924, but they were mostly minor races in Italy. Hill climbs, rallies and some small events but he was never able to attain the kind of stature that he wanted and sure dreamed of except his first win in a 225-mile race trough pine forests fringing Ravenna. It was one of a few stirring performances of his middling career as a driver. The crowd carried him on their shoulders after he crossed the finish line. Before returning to Modena he was introduced to Count Enrico Baracca, father of Francesco Baracca, a World War 1 pilot who shot down 34 planes before crashing to his death at the front. His emblem was a prancing horse, a cavallino rampante, painted on the side of his biplane. At a later meeting with Count Baracca´s wife she urged him Ferrari to adopt the emblem for good luck. Ferrari needed to find other ways to increase his income and his prestige. He convinced Alfa Romeo to use him as a sales agent, trading and selling their cars to private customers and delivering them personally. It was during this time that he met Laura Dominica Garello, a mysterious 21 year old woman that haunted the cafe´s frequented by the Turin racing crowd. She became a kind of grey eminence within the Ferrari story. Some say that she was from a quite wealthy family from Turin and some say quite the opposite, that she was a professional lady working the streets in Turin. Laura´s life before Enzo Ferrari is a mystery, it is known that she and Ferrari traveled the racing circuit as a couple and may have even lived together for several years. In 1923 they married in a small Catholic ceremony. Within months of his marriage, Enzo returned to living the high-life. Running around with the racecar groupies of the day. According to his old friends Ferrari was an incorrigible ladies’ man. He liked women and the more beautiful they were, the more he liked them. Enzo and his wife Laura did fight from the start. Their lives were further complicated when Enzo´s mother Adalgisa came to live with them. Adalgisa and Laura despised each other, the 2 women fought openly with Enzo often in the middle playing the referee. His mother was a little lady, but when she shouted “Enzo”, she was the only woman he would get up and run for.

Scuderia Ferrari

Enzo escaped his troubled home life by throwing himself into work. Alfa Romeo planned to debut a racecar called the p1 at the European Grand Prix in Monza. Enzo managed to convince Luigi Bazzi, one of the best engine technician on the racing circuit, to leave Fiat and come to work with him on the car. Ferrari, Ugo Sivocci, Luigi Bazzi and the Alfa racing team arrived just one day early for the European Grand Prix at Monza. It was a fast practice run, Sivocci was behind the wheel, he maneuvered the p1 around a sharp curve and it spun out. Sivocci was killed. Ferrari was shaken by the death of his friend, the man who helped him to gain entrance into the world of Motorsports. He knew that the p1 had somehow failed and needed to be re-engineered. At Bazzi´s suggestion Ferrari recruited another Fiat worker to join him at Alfa Romeo. Vittorio Jano, an engineer reputed to be a mechanical genius. Together Jano, Bazzi and Ferrari went to work to redesign the p1. Ferrari was not an engineer, nor a car designer but within months under relentless pressure from him Jano and Bazzi re-engineered the Alfa Romeo p1 into what they called the p2. At a competition at Cremona with a star driver Antonio Ascari behind the wheel the p2 clocked 121 Mph, set a lap record and won the race. Ferrari´s victory was a start of a winning streak that pushed Fiat and the Agnelli out of auto-racing for good. Enzo Ferrari, a country boy from Po Valley had made good on his Vendetta against one of the most prosperous companies in Italy, at least for the time being. But winning was only the first step, now Ferrari had to find a way to finance it. With the help of some rich investors he offered to strike a deal with the Alfa Romeo to take over their car racing business. He provided the drivers and Alfa provided the cars with any background technical assistance that they could. So they continued racing and it was great. On December 1st 1929 he opened the doors on what he called the Scuderia Ferrari, in English the Ferrari stable. The best stable of racing drivers and Alfa Romeo cars that would be re-engineered to Enzo Ferrari´s specifications. But at home his family life continued to disintegrate. In 1932, 10 years into their marriage, Laura gave birth to a son, they named him Dino. According to Ferrari´s memoirs Dino was a tall, dark-haired boy whom Ferrari hoped would replace him as a head of the Ferrari brand one day. But it was an unrealistic ambition since he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, an illness that would slowly destroy his central nervous system. The fact that Dino was ill almost from childhood was difficult for Enzo Ferrari. Brock Yates suggested in his book that the illness may have been transmitted by syphilis from Laura potentially being a prostitute when she met Ferrari. By 1939 there was a world war in Europe, Mussolini had Italy in a stranglehold.

World War 2

A new Alfa Romeo executive severed the relationship with Enzo Ferrari´s Scuderia. In order to survive Ferrari would collaborate with the Italian fascist party. It was 1940 and World War 2 was spreading it´s destruction all over Europe. The Italian economy was floundering, auto racing was suspended indefinitely. The Scuderia Ferrari factory sat idle. To survive financially Enzo transformed the old Scuderia Ferrari into a factory that produced equipment for the fascist Italian´s government war efforts. There are conflicting stories about what he manufactured, some say it was power grinding machines for ball bearings that may have been used in the production of war material, and others insist he made components for the line of machine guns used by the Italian army. He went with the tide as many did but he wasn´t ever signed up for the party since he was only wed to one political cause and that was what was good for Ferrari. In order to protect his factory from allied bombers the government ordered him to move it from Modena to safer grounds, he chose Maranello, a town 10 miles away. On a return trip to Modena Enzo met Lina Lardi, a 10 years younger secretary. At first she didn´t like him since he was a man who liked to show off. This was a relationship that very much affected his life, she was a lovely lady, very serene that brought a lot of peace and solitude to his life away from a very contentious situation in his own household. At 46 Enzo fell in love with Lina Lardy. Early the next year Enzo received the news that Lina was pregnant, she delivered a healthy baby boy 9 months later and named him Piero. Mother and son were sequestered in Lina´s small hometown of Castelvetro near Ferrari´s Maranello factory. Meanwhile in Modena Laura and Enzo celebrated his son Dino´s 13th birthday. The boy’s health continued to deteriorate. Ferrari fought very hard in later stages of Dino´s illness. He kept changing his diet and brought other medical treatments. He even sent Sergio Scaglietti out of the country to buy medicine for Dino. He brought various medicines to Ferrari.

Tipo 125

After the war ended the martial plan began to infuse millions of Yankee dollars into the suffering Italian economy. The weary Italian public was ready for automobile racing to resume, so was Enzo Ferrari. He began developing new racecars and in 1947 Ferrari produced a V12 1.5 liter racer called the Tipo 125. By Italian standards the engine was enormous. Ferrari loved engines and as he was concerned the engine was the be-all and end-all racing car. The chassis was just the necessary bracket to hold the wheels on and to put a pole in where the man went. On May 11th 1947 the Tipo 125, the first automobile to carry the name Ferrari competed at Piacenza, a smaller, less important competition. Enzo chose this race because he wanted to see what his car could do. Spectators lined the streets to get a look at Ferrari´s new machine, the Italian sporting press was on hand, even a few curious members of the Alfa Romeo design staff were there. Incredibly Enzo Ferrari failed to appear, in fact from that day forward he would never attend an auto race in which a Ferrari competed. He disliked all the fuss from the journalists and liked to stay quiet. He said that he didn´t attend the events because he didn´t think his nerves would stand it. It was a remarkable move, because it effectively added to the public image. During the first race at Piacenza with only 3 laps to go and the Tipo 125 in the front, the fuel pump broke and the car coasted to a stop far short of the finish line. Enzo took the loss in stride, he called his car a promising failure. And although he didn´t know it then the Tipo 125 marked the birth of the mythic Ferari car culture and empire. Enzo began assembling some of Europe´s most brilliant technicians and most celebrated drivers. He would develop some of the fastest racing cars the world had ever seen. A stable of racecar drivers would drive these automobiles in competition after competition and win again and again. He won practically everything, the only thing he didn´t win was Le Mans in the 50s, rest out was just Ferrari. Competing on the international racing circuit cost as much as a million dollars a year. Ferrari had to find a way to increase his cash flow. In the late 1940s a former Ferrari race driver named Luigi Chinetti convinced Ferrari to give him the exclusive rights to sell a line of expensive Ferrari road cars in America. They would be equipped with engines and chassis adapted for public road use. Ironically Ferrari had no interest in the road cars at all. They were simply a means to finance his car racing business. Ferrari would have been perfectly satisfied to just build his Grand Prix cars and try to make a living doing that. Outside of the business Ferrari maintained 2 households around 20 miles apart. Some nights he had supper with Laura and Dino at the family home in Modena, other nights he spent with Lina and Piero in Castelvetro. He spent a great deal of time with Lina and apparently doted on Piero and the double life seemed to work for a long period of time. It didn´t seem to complicate his business life at all.

Dino´s death

10 years passed as Ferrari lived this double life when on June 30th 1956 Dino Ferrari was 24 years old, he died at home in Modena bedridden with kidney failure. Ferrari tried to control his emotions, but for the rest of his life he visited Dino´s grave every morning before work and spoke aloud about everything to him. Enzo honored the memory of his son with the Dino Ferrari, a car that Dino helped to design. From that day on all of the V6 and some of the 8 cylinder Ferrari´s would bear the name Dino. The Dino had so many tragic aspects to it that made it special, it represents the baby that never got a chance to grow up. It is also believed that it was during this time that Ferrari´s wife Laura, whose only child was now dead, discovered Enzo´s secret life with his mistress and their 11 year old son. It was fairly difficult for the Ferrari and awful for Laura because essentially she lost control. If Laura´s discovery had an impact on her husband Enzo, no one knew. Nothing about his behavior showed Ferrari´s true feelings. Within a year of Dino´s death the racing business that Ferrari loved so passionately would slowly begin to unravel. There would be deadly accidents on the track, he would be charged with manslaughter. Charges that threatened to bury a legend. The death of Enzo Ferrari´s son sent him into an emotional tailspin. He immersed himself in his work at his office and in his factory with 1 singular purpose, to build even faster cars. The year was 1957, the race was the Mille Miglia, a wildly popular and horribly dangerous 1000 mile open road event. 5 Ferrari automobiles were among the 293 entries. He pulled together a superstar team including de Portago who was called in as the last minute replacement. Alfonso de Portago was a passionate Spaniard nobleman, a classic Ferrari driver who drove for the pure love of the sport. 10 million spectators lined the route that went through hairpin turns and narrow village streets. 1000s of police and army regulars would not be enough to keep them out of harm´s way. The fevered environment for this event was completely insane and the Italians loved it. Portago told his friend he didn´t want to drive in the Mille Miglia, that he felt it was too dangerous, that no driver could hope to know every turn, every possible road condition. But at 5:31 in the morning, when it was his turn to take off, Portago joined the 1000 mile battle driving the most powerful car in Ferrari´s stable, the 4.1 liter Tipo 335. Observers report that Portago´s Ferrari was rocketing at full throttle when he suddenly lost control of the car. It spun end-over-end into a ditch, then over the 1st row of spectators and into a pole. The impact sent shreds of steel into bystanders. 5 children, Portago, his navigator and 10 other adults were dead, dozens were injured. The headlines shouted at the public from the front pages of the Italian press demanding an end to the Mille Miglia. Ferrari was charged with manslaughter for allegedly using tires that were not capable of sustaining those speeds. The other 4 Ferrari cars that were in the race had won on the same tires, but the manslaughter trial went on for a number of years and affected Ferrari financially and it also certainly affected his reputation. It took 4 years of court appearances for the manslaughter charge to be dropped only to be followed by another calamity on the track in 1961 during the Italian Grand Prix.

The death of Von Trips

They´ve had Phil Hill and von Trips head-to-head for the Formula 1 world championship in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and at the end of the second lap von Trips, very popular, lovely German driver collided with another car and his car was thrown into the crowd and killed 14 spectators, flopped back onto the road. While von Trips was thrown out into the track his neck broke and he died as well. So there´s a driver dead, 14 spectators dead and immediately the press said it happened again, Ferrari’s are killing people. When Enzo Ferrari was 63 years old, there was a growing press court to contend with, there was the expense of defending himself in another drawn-out court case and there was the relentless spiraling cost of developing race cars. With all of this Ferrari´s were still winning on the track but even that was about to change.

Ford

It was the Ford motor company which after being turned down in a generous bit to buy Ferrari´s Company decided to beat him on the racetrack. By 1964 at European Grand Prix at Monza the Ford team was closing in. They had 6 Daytona coupes all lined up for Monza but the race got cancelled but it is 1965 when the Ford officially beat the Ferrari. At that point Ferraris began to lose races and it was costing well over a million a year to finance the racing business. And even though Luigi Chinetti made Ferrari passenger cars a legend in America and the cars were selling for as much as 15000$ a piece, by 1967 Ferrari’s company was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. He´d had to cut his beloved racing program, which was basically the reason he existed for.

Fiat´s wictory

It was at that point when he went to Fiat. With no other resources at his disposal Ferrari had only 1 choice, to approach his old rivals, the Agnelli family for a financial assistance. The Agnelli had reportedly paid 11 million dollars for Ferrari´s Company. They allowed Ferrari to stay in charge of the racing arm of the company while Fiat took over the manufacturer of road cars, they would be built on a production line. It marked the end of the custom Ferrari handmade road cars that have graced highways all over the world. The deal was officially announced to the Italian public on June 21st 1969, it was the end of an era for Enzo Ferrari. At long last he was free to focus his attention solely on winning races, but Enzo Ferrari had unfinished business with his mistress and her growing family. In 1969 Enzo Ferrari was 71 years old and still actively in charge of the Ferrari racing program. His mother Adalgisa had died, his only son Piero was now in his mid-20s and married. Piero came to work at the Scuderia Ferrari to learn his father´s business. But that was more than Ferrari´s aging wife could tolerate, she would arrive at the door bursting into the office saying "Where is the little bastard?" and Piero would have to go and hide or would have to beat a hasty retreat, which must have been dreadful for Piero. By then, Enzo Ferrari was beginning to enjoy his new young family. Piero and his wife Floriana had an infant daughter Antonella. Enzo Ferrari´s only grandchild. Ferrari became a doting grandfather. She later said he was a very tough and stong man with a great heart.

Laura´s Death

Then 9 years later in 1978 when Enzo was 80, Laura Ferrari died. They had been married for 55 years. Enzo soon brought his devoted mistress, Lina, to live with him in his house in Modena. Piero and his family followed. In his final years he became to really enjoy what most would consider a normal family life. Even at the age of 80 Enzo Ferrari refused to retire. His son Piero was made a general manager of the Ferrari racing team in the mid-80s. During losing streaks the 2 Ferrari´s often fought over new engineering strategies. Ferrari spent time recounting the glory days with his old cronies. Saturday launches with the boys became a ritual for 80 year old Enzo Ferrari, especially with Sergio Scaglietti, who was an old Ferrari coach maker in Modena. They talked about everything but never about work. They told jokes, discussed who did what and who said what. In the last years of his life Ferrari was plagued with painful kidney problems. When the pope made a trip to the Maranello to pay his respects which was an extraordinary event, Ferrari was too ill to meet him in person. By July of 1988 Enzo Ferrari was slowly slipping away, he remained bedridden in his home in Modena. Attended by Piero and Floriana. 

Death of the legend

On August 14th 1988 Enzo Ferrari died quietly in his bed with his family surrounding him. He was 90 years old. A public statement regarding his death was issued at 1:00 in the afternoon, 7 hours after the funeral, as it was desired by Piero who was honoring his father´s wishes. At the funeral there were only 6 people in 2 cars and that´s it. Ferrari´s body was laid to rest in a crypt inside his family tomb next to his father Alfredo. Enzo Ferrari´s life story is the story of automobile racing, at least for the 20th century. From his humble beginnings in the Po Valley to the empire he built. Enzo Ferrari will be remembered as the last great titan of an industry he helped to create. Under his 40-year leadership from 1947 to 1988 Ferrari automobiles won more than 5000 races all over the world. Today, the passenger cars that Ferrari detained sell for as much as half a million dollars each. His influence on the whole motor industry may be the strongest of any individual. He was the dominant force in the Grand Prix racing and helped lay the ground-work for the multi-billion dollar situation that it is today.

[airmanisr]

No light, no problem: HMH-466 'Wolfpack' drops grunts into evening action by Robert Sullivan Via Flickr: Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California - A Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 466 prepares to receive Marines from Golf Company, Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, July 2. The helicopter’s air crew and the infantry Marines conducted night fast-rope training, a useful skill for both units. MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- Out of the darkness, the distinct growl of a CH-53E Super Stallion reaches across a dimly lit horizon. It stops, hovering at the right height before a rope drops from its “hell hole,” a hatch in the helicopter’s floor. In seconds, a squad of Marines pours out, collects the tools of their trade and vanishes into the night. The Marines’ ability to operate with precision in darkness is a substantial asset. Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 466, the “Wolfpack,” conducted evening fast-rope training with 76 infantry Marines from Golf Company, Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, July 2. Nighttime fast-rope training enables Marines to practice inserting into an area under the cover of darkness without landing the aircraft. “The purpose is for Marines, both infantry and air crew, to gain proficiency and experience,” said Capt. Joseph Tremaine, a CH-53E Super Stallion pilot and quality assurance officer with HMH-466. “[They need] to get on and off the helicopter in a safe manner.” The Wolfpack flew a single CH-53E Super Stallion and worked quickly, providing ample opportunity to rehearse the maneuver. 1st Lt. Ryan Hilgendorf, the executive officer of G Co., BLT 2/1, explained that fast-rope training is imperative for the Marines in the command. “We must be able to insert into an area [using fast rope] via [helicopter],” said Hilgendorf. “It’s more tactical with a higher probability of success.” The infantry Marines aren’t the only ones who benefited from the training. The pilots and aircrew honed critical skills, safely operating their helicopters in a low hover above the ground in near-total darkness. “Flying at night definitely tactically aids us. It’s another tactic that keeps the enemy from targeting us [and] firing [at] us,” said Tremaine. “Obviously, doing things at night is tougher. [There’s] less visibility ... so you really need to have that muscle memory down in order to execute the proper procedures.” Fast-rope training can be a rare opportunity, but is very useful for the aircrew, said Tremaine. “It’s important that we hold a steady hover to ensure the safety of the guys getting out of the aircraft,” said Tremaine. “It’s good training for us to make sure we practice our techniques and go through our specific [communications].”

[walkingthroughthisworld]

Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division charge an enemy position after breaching a wired and mined obstacle during a training exercise in Hohensfels, Germany, Oct. 24. Combined Resolve III is designed to provide a complex training scenario that focuses on multinational unified land operations and reinforces the U.S. commitment to NATO and Europe. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Alexander Skripnichuk, 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment).

(via 141024-A-DU810-001 | Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 12th Caval… | Flickr)

[scorpion6knives]

At approximately 0610 hours, Razor 01, under the command of Captain Nate Self, reached the landing zone. The aircraft immediately began taking fire, and the right door minigunner, Sergeant Phillip Svitak, was killed by small arms fire. An RPG then hit the helicopter, destroying the right engine and forcing it to crash land. As the Rangers and special tactics team exited the aircraft, Private First Class Matt Commons, posthumously promoted to Corporal, Sergeant Brad Crose, and Specialist Marc Anderson were killed. The surviving crew and quick-reaction force took cover in a hillock and a fierce firefight began. SGT Bradley S. Crose, assigned to the 1st Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment was killed in action in the defense of his country during Operation Anaconda outside Gardez, Afghanistan on March 4, 2002. Bradley was a patriot who died in the defense of his country and in the company of his fellow Army Rangers. Bradley was born on August 4, 1979 at the Naval Hospital, Orlando, FL into a Navy family and tradition. Let us Never Forget #ultimatesacrifice #rltw #GWOT #combatveteran (at Gardez, Afghanistan) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bul0TUuBc-4/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1tz6il0qnxwn0

[sfc-paulchambers]

"People of the Philippines, I have returned! By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil." --General Douglas MacArthur on 20 October 1944. At 1000 on A-Day, 20 October, after an intense air and naval bombardment, the Sixth Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, began the amphibious assault along an 18-mile front between the villages of Dulag and San Jose. The X Corps landed with the 1st Cavalry and the 24th Infantry Divisions on the right flank in the north; XXIV Corps, consisting of the 7th and 96th Infantry Divisions, secured the left flank, as a detached regimental combat team (RCT) of the 24th Division secured both shores of Panaon Strait at the southern tip of the island; and, the 32d and 77th Infantry Divisions remained afloat in reserve. Within an hour of landing, the assault units had secured beachheads deep enough to receive heavy vehicles and large amounts of supplies. By 1330 Japanese resistance was sufficiently reduced to allow the supreme Allied commander, General Douglas MacArthur, to come ashore and announce to the populace of the Philippines the beginning of their liberation. The Sixth Army and Filipino guerillas made steady progress against enemy resistance that was tenacious at several points. By late-December, the Sixth Army had secured the northern sectors sufficiently to turn the battle over to the Eighth Army, which continued mopping up operations in the south until May 1945. The Leyte invasion was the largest American and Allied amphibious operation to that date in the Pacific war. #Armyhistory #USArmy #TRADOC #Leyte #Philippines #MacArthur Posted @withrepost • @armyhistory #thisdayinarmyhistory (at Collinwood High School) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj8KSwzOwua/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[nebris]

Battalion battlegroups and front-lines

2022/08/13

Tanks had mixed success in the First World War, but they showed much promise and European armies and military theoreticians pondered during the 1920's how best to organise and employ tank forces. The epitome of this process was the Panzerdivision / armour division with hundreds of tanks and between 10,000 and 20,000 personnel. These divisions were successful when employed as a whole, but operational success required more than just one division; a whole corps of at least two fully motorised divisions.

Operations in WW2 also showed that these divisions were behemoths that were difficult to lead. German Panzerdivision commanders often reduced themselves to a leader of a much smaller vanguard, while their chief of staff somehow organised that the bulk of the division follows the vanguard.

The later much-reduced (nominally and by lack of replacements) Panzerdivisionen were much easier to use and the well-replenished American divisions employed regimental combat teams similar to modern-time brigades to overcome the excessive size of the division during operations.

Brigades became a NATO standard during the Cold War, in part based on German experiments in the late 50's. We still have many divisions, but it's widely understood that divisions are too clumsy for operational manoeuvre. In fact, sometime in the late Cold War or 90's even the brigade became regarded as too clumsy and the (mixed) battalion battlegroup became the key manoeuvre element, comprising usually only one tank company. Organisation for training was usually kept pure (whole battalion being tanks OR infantry OR artillery), and expected wartime structure  in non-desert terrain would be a mixed ad hoc battlegroup with one or two tank companies, one or two infantry companies, maybe an artillery battery or two and some more support (a total of about 1,000 men and about 100 vehicles). Some peacetime exercises and experiments even went farther and worked with mixed company-sized battlegroups.

There's just one problem with this trend towards smaller manoeuvre elements; It's well-understood from military history that you sometimes need about 50 tanks for a successful true tank-like offensive action. To disperse tanks in smaller packages largely reduces their repertoire against 1st or 2nd rate opposition to fire support guns for infantry; assault guns.

It is thus absolutely necessary for operational success to temporarily mass multiple battlegroups for a combined attack on one opposing forces element (such as a battalion or brigade) or simply for breakthrough against a defensive line.

The Russians appear to not try this any more. A possible explanation is that their (and our!) force structure is the problem: They cover a long front-line, and have mostly mechanised forces to do so. Operational art is in large part about forming and using reserves, but the Russians are stretched so thin that their forces for operational manoeuvre are actually pinned down as line troops along a long front-line: A task for infantry with artillery support, instead done by heavily mechanised forces that need to have their BMP IFVs and other armoured vehicles far forward with their few infantrymen. The AFV fleet suffers a slow yet steady attrition while being exposed like this, without achieving any operational breakthroughs or even exploitations.

It appears that this force structure is fundamentally flawed. The Russo-Ukrainian War shows that front-lines are in fact possible against Russian armed forces that perform at the lower boundary of what was previously thought possible. I myself did not expect this and wrote for years about how front-lines could not happen for lack of troops. Well, the Ukrainians simply mobilised enough troops, dug in and somehow this suffices against the thinly-spread Russian forces.

So let's summarise:

The operational impotence of the Russian land forces may be temporary and end when they free mechanised forces for operational reserves by either shortening the front-line or by introducing large quantities of artillery-backed infantry.

The land forces structures in NATO are unsuitable for the kind of stationary conflict we see in Ukraine, and their only hope of doing much better art of war-wise is to succeed in mobile warfare without front-lines.

Operational manoeuvre against combat-ready opposition is still only possible with local superiority, the historical rule of thumb regarding massing of tanks seems to still apply.

https://defense-and-freedom.blogspot.com/2022/08/battalion-battlegroups-and-front-lines.html