#Airmobile Assault

[stealth-skills]

Airmobile Infantry of the Russian Aerospace Forces. Russo-Ukrainian War, January 2023

[davidshawnsown]

AFU Motorbike Battalions/Kurins

(based on real life Soviet formations during WW2)

(Inspired by Battle Order's video on Soviet Army motorcycle reconnaisance battalions under division during the Second World War as well as the real life US armored recon units of the same period)

IMU of stories the success of ad-hoc bicycle and motorbike formations in the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the Russian invasion would result in the formation of motorcycle formations of battalion size (called in Ukrainian as Mototsykletnyy batalʹyon) in elements of the armed forces to regularize these. However they follow a Westernized form of the organization of the old Soviet motorbike battalions of mechanized and armored divisions. In cavalry divisions - those armored divisions with cavalry traditions and titles honoring the Ukrainian Cossacks - these units are titled as Kurins (Mototsykletnyy kurin) with its companies named as sotnias. These battalions are armed with primarily Western and locally produced motorcycles and tricycles for their mission as support to recon and combat operations. There's plans to integrate an infantry company to those battalions in the infantry divisions.

In mechanized infantry, assault infantry and mountain infantry divisions they are organized in 4 motorbike companies each with HQ platoon, 4 motorbike platoons (one squad each manned with electric motorcycles), and a mortar and weapons section each. The armored recon company operates M59s and M113s together with the M106 SP mortar and its light tank battalion uses M10 Bookers in its tank platoons and MT-LBs in its infantry and AT platoon. The AT battery uses Jeeps and similar vehicles for the transport of their crew and they are all supported by a forward support company from their parent division and other elements. In a mountain infantry division, an additional squad is tasked within platoons for ski capability.

In a motorized infantry division the motorbike company has no weapons section. The armored recon company is armed with BTR-4s and hand-me-down LAV-3s from the United States and the light tank company uses the M113 and Scorpion.

There's a different TO&E for the battalions in armored divisions. Motorbike battalions in these, alongside the weapons section, are reinforced with two bicycle platoons and a RPG/AT motorcycle section in the motorcycle companies, the armored recon company uses Bradleys, the light tank company, aside from its M10s, uses M113s as mechanized infantry element and there's a assault gun company using Centauros from Italy and the Ukrainian produced MT-LB-12 - inspired by the assault gun troops of cavalry recon squadrons of the United States during the Second World War.

The Motorcycle Kurin of the UGF cavalry division is modeled after the armored division motorcycle battalion but is named and organized in keeping with Ukrainian Cossack cavalry heritage. However it does not have a bicycle nor RPG/AT motorbike section and its AT battery is organized into 4 platoons instead of 3.

In the AAFU's two airmobile divisions, the motorcycle battalion's recon company is armed with M113s and BTR-3s, there's no infantry platoon in the tank company and an airborne transport and rigger platoon for parachute and air assault operations is added to the forward support company.

The two marine divisions of XXX Amphibious Corps UkrMC and the planned motorbike battalions of that Corps in Mykolaiv and Kherson are organized for both ground and amphibious operations as relfected in the addition of an amphious scout platoon. However it does have an added water transport platoon in the forward logistics company for the amphibious element there and the tank company uses M59 Scorpion TDs, AMX-10 RCs and AAVP-7s. Squads using electric bikes are to be transported to the shore via other vehicles in amphibious operations before they can be unloaded for use unlike those using normal motorbikes (and those squads using bicycles) which can land to the coast via landing craft. The same vehicles in an air assault motorbike battalion's armored recon company are used in a marine motorbike battalion.

@lukeexplorer

[pinturasdeguerra-1945-1985]

1970 Huey Hobby 174 ACH - Hobby Boss

i UH-1C Huey Gunship - 'Easy Rider' US Army 174th ACH Vietnam 1970 "Dolphins and Sharks" - The 174th Aviation Company was activated at Fort Benning, Georgia on October 1st, 1965. On March 15th, 1966, the 174th Aviation Company departed Fort Benning, Georgia for Oakland, California, arriving in Qui Nhon, South Vietnam on April 6th, 1966. On April 7th, 1966, the unit established a base camp at Phu Tai Valley west of Qui Nhon and became the 174th Assault Helicopter Company and part of Task Force Oregon and later part of Airmobile Light. The 174th AHC was initially assigned to the 52nd Aviation Battalion. On May 24th, 1966, the 174th AHC was placed under the operational control 14th Combat Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Bridge and conducted combat assault mission with their sister helicopter companies of the 71st AHC "Rattlers and Fire Birds", 161st AHC "Pelicans and Scorpions", 176th AHC "Minutemen and Musket", 178th ASHC "Boxcars and "C" Troop", 7th Squadron, 17th Air Cavalry's "Ruthless Riders". The majority of the 174th assaults were in the Phu Cat Mountains and associated valleys. The 174th Shark's Gun Platoon received permission from General Claire Chennault's Flying Tigers to use the famed Shark Mouth for their gunship platoon. The 174th Shark Mouth's painted helicopters became known through out Vietnam as the Sharks.

[workersolidarity]

[Russian operations to engage enemy forces surrounding wounded Russian soldiers to divert the enemy and allow for a medical evacuation. UAF retreated to better positions]

🇷🇺🇺🇦 🚨 💥UPDATE ON THE RUSSO-UKRAINIAN WAR, EVENTS OF DAY 628💥

In the Kiev direction:

Ukrainska Pravda:

Details: According to Ukrainska Pravda’s sources, Defence Minister Rustem Umierov is preparing to dismiss Tetiana Ostashchenko, Commander of Medical Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, Commander of the Tavriia Operational Strategic Group of Forces, and Serhii Naiev, Commander of Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Ukrainska Pravda asked the President’s Office to comment on the possible dismissals of these commanders. Serhii Nikiforov, President Zelenskyy’s press secretary, responded that if such a decision is made, it will be duly announced on the president’s official website.

One of the sources noted that the question of these dismissals has been under consideration for several months now.

#source1

[Zelensky beginning to make moves against the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhny, the only real threat to his Presidency at the moment]

In the Polish direction:

Over 2,500 trucks queueing along Ukraine-Poland border:

The border between Ukraine and Poland has become heavily congested, with some 2,500 trucks waiting to cross. All three checkpoints are blocked owing to a strike by Polish truckers, reports New Voice of Ukraine. Ukraine and Poland, along with truckers, are due to meet today to find a solution. But the strike is due to continue until 3 January.

#source2

In the Kupiansk direction:

According to Russian sources, the units of the Western Group of Forces, supported by aviation, artillery fire and heavy flamethrower systems, repelled four attacks by assault groups of the 30th, 54th and 57th Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the areas of the settlements of Zagoruykovka, Timkovka and Karkovskaya.

The losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces amounted to 160 military personnel killed and wounded, as well as two vehicles.

No changes in territory recorded.

In the Krasni Lymansk direction:

According to Russian sources, the units of the Center Group of Forces, army aviation strikes, and artillery fire repelled four attacks by the assault groups of the 24th and 63rd Mechanized Brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the 12th Speciale Forces Brigade "Azov" and the 15th Regiment of the National Guard in the areas of the settlements of Chervonaya Dibrova and Kremenaya of the Lugansk People's Republic.

The losses of Ukrainian Armed Forces in this area amounted to 150 military personnel and one vehicle.

No changes in territory in this area.

In the Donetsk direction:

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Units of the Southern Group of Forces, in cooperation with aviation and artillery, repelled two enemy attacks in the areas of the settlements of Belogorovka, Lugansk People's Republic and Klescheevka, Donetsk People's Republic.

In addition, fire damage was caused to concentrations of manpower of the 28th Mechanized and 77th Airmobile Brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as the 241st Territorial Defense Brigade in the areas of settlements of Kurdyumovka, Razdolovka and Bagdanovka of the Donetsk People's Republic.

The total losses for the day for the Armed Forces of Ukraine amounted to up to 205 military personnel, two armored vehicles and two UAV control posts.

Russian Forces as a result of offensive operations moved their positions closer to the chemical plant in the north of Avdiivka.

Ukrainian Forces continue heavily bombardments of Russian Forces advancing in the vacinity of Stepove.

Russian Forces will use the FAB3000, a 3'000kg bomb on the Avdiivka chemical plant, according to Russian sources.

As a result of fighting in the south of Avdiivka, Russian Forces have improved their positions again, making progress north in the Yasynuvatskyy Ln area.

Heavily artillery preparation, trench building and tunnel making in this area by Russian Forces in preparation for further ground operations that may now be beginning in earnest.

In the South Donetsk direction:According to the Russian Federation's Ministry of Defense, active in the South Donetsk direction the actions of the units of the Vostok Group of Forces, with the support of military aviation and artillery, inflicted fire on accumulations of military personnel of the 72nd Mechanized and 78th Air Assault Brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the areas of the settlements of Nikolskoye and Novomykhailovka of the Donetsk People's Republic.

Enemy losses in this direction amounted to up to 100 soldiers, three pickup trucks and one U.S.-made AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar.

Russian Forces continue using Lancet and Skalpel drone assaults to target Ukrainian armored vehicles, with two strikes in the vicinity of Novoukrainka.

In the Zaporizhzhia direction:

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the professional actions of the units of the Russian Group of troops, aviation strikes, and artillery fire repelled the attack of the assault group of the 65th Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of the village of Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Also, fire damage was caused to concentrations of manpower and equipment of the 117th Mechanized Brigade of Armed Forces of Ukraine north of the settlement of Novoprokopovka in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Losses incurred by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in this direction amounted to up to 40 military personnel and two vehicles.

Russian Forces launched offensive operations in the direction of Piatykhatky, according to Russian sources, advancing 500-600 meters in some places.

#source8

On the west of Robotyne, Russian Forces were heavily shelling Ukrainian Forces as they attempted to advance south from the southwestern outskirts of the village, however, under heavy Russian artillery fire, they were forced to retreat, abandoning multiple tanks and armored vehicles, as well as dead comrades.

#source9

A second video published by Russian sources shows a similar attack a day earlier, with Russian Forces taking their time to line up accurate shots on incoming Ukrainian Forces lined up in an assault, also on the southwestern outskirts of Robotyne, in attempts to assault Novoprokopivka.

#source10

Meanwhile on the Northeastern part of Robotyne, Russian Forces were using heavy bombardments of MLRS to destroy the armored vehicles of Ukrainian Forces driving through the area.

#source11

In the Vremivka salient area:

Russian Forces were heavily bombing the treelines near Urazhainoye in recent days, however video published by Ukrainian sources showed a number of Russian armored vehicles coming under heavy shelling in the vicinity of the treelines west of Novodonetske.

In the Kherson direction:

According to the Russian Federation's Ministry of Defense, as a result of a complex fire defeat, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost up to 60 servicemembers killed and wounded, two pickup trucks, and two Msta-B Howitzers.

Operational-tactical and Army aviation, UAVs, Missile Forces, and artillery groupings of the troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation hit manpower and military equipment belonging to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 118 regions.

Air Defense systems shot down ten Ukrainian UAVs in the areas of the settlements of Raigorodka, Sergeevka of the Luhansk People's Republic, Spornoe, Marinka of the Donetsk People's Republic, Novoe of the Zaporizhzhia region, New Camps of the Kherson region.

Russian Forces continued heavy bombing and shelling of concentrations of Ukrainian manpower and equipment, with videos sources showing the use of FAB500 targeting Ukrainian Forces gathering near their foothold in Krynky and targeting concentrations in Ivanivka as well.

#source5

Russian Forces were heavily bombing inside Krynky as well, with multiple published videos showing the use of missiles and guided bombs in this area.

#source4

In the southwest of Krynky, Russian Forces published video showing a special operation to engage enemy forces during the medical evacuation of wounded soldiers who's positions were surrounded.As per the video, Russian Forces successfully engaged with Ukrainian Forces in the area, keeping them occupied during the evac and successfully forcing Ukrainian Forces in the area to retreat to better positions from some areas on the southwestern outskirts of the foothold.

#source3

According to Ukrainian sources, Ukrainian Forces took advantage of fog on the banks of the Dnieper and have used the weather to transport further infantry to Krynky.

#source6

Russian Forces were also heavily bombing Otradokamenka, near Kozatske using FAB500 guided bombs according to Russian sources

#source7

Total destroyed since the Special Military Operation began:

534 aircraft, 254 helicopters, 8881 unmanned aerial vehicles, 441 anti-aircraft missile systems, 13383 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1183 combat vehicles of multiple launch rocket systems, 7073 3D field artillery guns and mortars, and also 15,237 units of special military vehicles, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[demiurgeua]

Українські десантники продовжують відбивати атаки рашистських загарбників

Воїни окремої аеромобільної бригади Десантно-штурмових військ Збройних Сил України продовжують відбивати атаки рашистських загарбників ( https://www.facebook.com/oaembr46/videos/484775177366483/ ). _________ Warriors of the separate airmobile brigade of the Airborne Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine repelled attacks of the russian-nazis invaders (…

[michaelcosio]

Dec 14, 2022

There is no calm on the frontline. There is nothing easy and simple. Every day and every meter is given extremely hard. And especially where the entire tactic of the occupiers boils down to the destruction of everything in front of them with artillery - so that only bare ruins and craters in the ground remain.

Russia is destroying city after city in Donbas - like Mariupol, like Volnovakha, like Bakhmut. Defense in such conditions is not just heroism, it is something more. And I thank all our warriors who withstand the pressure of the occupiers.

I would like to note the warriors of the 46th separate airmobile brigade, who very skillfully and bravely defeated the enemy during another attack and forced him to retreat. Well done! I would also like to note the warriors of the 80th and 95th separate airborne assault brigades who are fighting in the Kreminna direction - and very effectively. Thank you, warriors!

Thank you to our anti-aircraft gunners and the Air Force for repelling another attack by Iranian drones this morning. The skies of the Kyiv region are defended by the 96th anti-aircraft missile brigade of the Air Force - thank you, guys!

Glory to all who fight for our country! Glory to all who fill with their courage and effectiveness the word that is now heard all over the world, the word - Ukraine.

🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

from Office of the President of Ukraine

[sfc-paulchambers]

1 NOVEMBER 1967 - OPERATION CORONADO IX BEGINS - #VietnamWar On 1 November 1967 the Mobile Riverine Force arrived at Dong Tam in the Mekong Delta from off Vung Tau to initiate Operation CORONADO IX. The 3d Battalion, 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division landed, and assumed the defense of Dong Tam Base. The 3d Battalion, 47th Infantry took over the role of waterborne force, and on 2 November conducted an operation that destroyed an enemy base complex, including 141 bunkers, and captured of a cache of weapons, equipment, rice and other supplies. It was a promising start, and on 5 November 2d Brigade, 9th Infantry Division units conducted a two-battalion sweep into the Viet Cong stronghold of the Cam Son Secret Zone. For the next several weeks elements of the 2d Brigade, 9th Infantry Division, in conjunction with South Vietnamese Army and Marine Corps units and supported by Regional and Popular Forces, conducted a series of amphibious and airmobile assaults and ground operations that resulted in the destruction of enemy support facilities, but only sporadic - albeit sometimes heavy - combat that failed to develop into major engagements in which significant Viet Cong main force units could be destroyed. CORONADO IX ended on 22 January 1968 having achieved only moderate success. #Armyhistory #USArmy #TRADOC #MilitaryHistory #MekongDelta Posted @withrepost • @armyhistory (at Nashville, Tennessee) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ckbljd4ul02/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[theseventhoffrostfall]

Numerous works of sci-fi have used some reasoning like shields to bring back swords and such, either alongside ranged weapons (i.e. Sun Eater) or replacing them all but entirely outside niche cases (i.e. Dune)--not even counting settings like Traveller that have melee combat for the thinnest of justifications or 40k where it’s sort of kind of justified by a mix of advanced armor/material science and an incredible surfeit of zealots and lunatics-- but I’m interested in seeing that sort of thing being taken down a few notches. 

I’m curious if you could come up with some sort of advanced, ubiquitously-available AA technology (along with possibly ECM along similar lines) that spells death for any craft in the atmosphere save the most heavily-armored/armed drop ships for planetary invasions (Like big and non-maneuverable enough to be working on the battalion or even brigade level), possibly scrambling satellite surveillance as well, so you have advanced sci-fi tech but with the general tactics (and thus that tech applied to) ground-based formations, equipment and maneuvers for sort of a peak early cold war vibe.

Though this also is dependent on coming up with said AA/interdiction technology that feels convincingly powerful but that can’t be applied against the same ground forces, and takes such a form as to make air assault/airmobile ops and CAS not viable for anything but niche uses rather than just provoking the question “why don’t they do XYZ or at least pour plenty of resources into developing countermeasures for this”. I like an aesthetic-based setting as much as the next guy (not actually all that much, truth be told) but it’s more important for me for the setting to make sense

[stealth-skills]

45th VDV’s operator helmet cam video during the early days of the Russian-Ukrainian war of 2022

[usafphantom2]

Bell AH-1 Cobra / Vietnam 1969

By June 1967, the first AH-1G HueyCobras had been delivered. Originally designated as UH-1H, the "A" for attack designation was soon adopted and when the improved UH-1D became the UH-1H, the HueyCobra became the AH-1G. The AH-1 was initially considered a variant of the H-1 line, resulting in the G series letter. AH-1 Cobras were in use by the Army during the Tet offensive in 1968 and through the end of the Vietnam War. Huey Cobras provided fire support for ground forces, escorted transport helicopters and other roles, including aerial rocket artillery (ARA) battalions in the two Airmobile divisions. They also formed "hunter killer" teams by pairing with OH-6A scout helicopters. A team featured one OH-6 flying slow and low to find enemy forces. If the OH-6 drew fire, the Cobra could strike at the then revealed enemy. Bell built 1,116 AH-1Gs for the US Army between 1967 and 1973, and the Cobras chalked up over a million operational hours in Vietnam. Out of nearly 1,110 AH-1s delivered from 1967 to 1973 approximately 300 were lost to combat and accidents during the war. The U.S. Marine Corps used AH-1G Cobras in Vietnam for a short time before acquiring twin-engine AH-1J Cobras...114th Assault Helicopter Company?

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

If you’ve been watching television footage of the fall of Kabul, you have been watching the Afghanistan war in toto.  As pickup trucks and Humvees filled with Taliban fighters triumphantly drive into the city along streets crowded with Afghan civilians waving to them, sortie after sortie is being flown by American military helicopters from the Embassy compound to the airport, where whoever is on those helicopters will be airlifted out of the country.  By noon on Sunday, it was reported that Taliban fighters had occupied the presidential palace in Kabul and that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had been flown out of the country bound for Tajikistan.

Please take careful note of the contrast here.  The people who won the war are driving and walking victoriously into Kabul.  The people who lost the war are flying away in defeat, proving that the grand technological and tactical advance that was supposed to be the military helicopter has finally been proved effective for something:  It’s really good at evacuating the losers in a rout.

All day, MSNBC and CNN have been showing footage of U.S. Army Blackhawk and twin-rotor CH-47 Chinook helicopters flying into and out of the American embassy compound.  Perhaps in a day or so – or even later today, the way things are going – we’ll get a new iconic image of that final lift-off from the American Embassy that we all recognize from the day Saigon fell in April of 1975.

Nothing is ever new when it comes to modern American wars because we never learn anything.  The helicopter was supposed to win the war in Vietnam for us.  Instead, military helicopters flew us into one battle after another that we “won” according to the American military but in actuality lost to the North Vietnamese.

The first major engagement between American forces and North Vietnamese regulars took place in November of 1965 in the battle of the Ia Drang Valley.  It was the first time that American “Huey” HU-1 helicopters were used in an entirely new military tactic, to carry troops from the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment in an “airmobile assault” on a force of North Vietnamese regulars that had been detected in the Central Highlands near a Special Forces camp that had recently been overrun.  The battle went on for four days.  Five hundred American soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing.  North Vietnamese forces suffered somewhere between 1500 and 1700 casualties, but nobody really knows. American forces collected the last of their dead and wounded and moved out of the area on the fifth day of the battle and did not return.  The North Vietnamese and their allies among the Viet Cong maintained their forces in the area.  The Central Highlands continued to be the scene of fighting over the next decade.

The battle of Ia Drang was and still is celebrated as the first big victory of the Vietnam war. Another battle with heavy casualties fashioned as a major American victory took place in May of 1969 at what became known as Hamburger Hill in the A Shau Valley near the border with Laos.  The American assault involved five battalions from the 101st Airborne Division and several units of the South Vietnamese army and was conceived initially as another “airmobile assault” intended to “seek and destroy” North Vietnamese army units facilitating resupply of enemy forces via the nearby Ho Chi Minh trail.

The battle went on from May 13 to the 20th.  More than 440 American soldiers were either killed or wounded, 320 of them alone from the 3rd Battalion of the 187th infantry, nicknamed the “Rakkasans,” the unit which over the years became synonymous with the battle.  Less than three weeks after the hill had been taken, it was abandoned by the 101st Airborne Division, which wrapped up its operations in the A Shau Valley and moved on.  The North Vietnamese units they had fought remained where they had been, and resupply of enemy forces continued along the Ho Chi Minh trail.

We had hundreds of helicopters in Vietnam carrying soldiers in “air assaults” all over the place, flying over the jungles and landing on “LZs” or landing zones and depositing troops and then flying them out again.  Down in the jungles, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese military units lurked, with their pouches of rice and their AK-47 rifles and their 60 millimeter mortars and their RPG grenade launchers, and ten years after the battle of the Ia Drang valley which was such a major victory, the last Huey ferried the last American soldier and the American ambassador  out of the Embassy in Saigon and it was over.  The North Vietnamese and the VC had zero helicopters, and who won?  They did.

You see where I’m going with this?  Flash forward to March of 2002 and the first big battle of the war in Afghanistan called Operation Anaconda, which was – wait for it – an attack by “air assault” involving -- are you still waiting? – the “Rakkasans” of the 101st Airborne Division, this time the 1st Battalion of the 187th Infantry.  The battle took place in the Shahi-Kot Valley in Paktia Province, the capital of which fell to the Taliban a few days ago.  The mission was to root out Taliban and al Qaeda fighters who had holed up in a complex of tunnels and caves in mountains surrounding the valley.  The battle went on sporadically over a period of ten days.  Eight American soldiers were killed and 72 were wounded.  Several Chinook helicopters were hit by enemy forces and destroyed and several more were damaged.  Estimates of enemy dead ran from 100 to 1000, depending on who was doing the estimating.

General Tommy Franks, commander of Central Command, declared Operation Anaconda “an unqualified and complete success.”  Reporter Seymour Hersch, writing in the New Yorker, said the operation was "in fact a debacle, plagued by squabbling between the services, bad military planning and avoidable deaths of American soldiers, as well as the escape of key al-Qaeda leaders, likely including Osama bin Laden."

That was 19 years ago.

Today we’re watching the same Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters ferry what we are told are American civilians and what we hope are their loyal Afghan employees to the relative safety of the Kabul airport, from which they will be airlifted by Air Force C-17 cargo jets to greater safety in Germany or whatever friendly country will permit them to land.

Here’s what I find astounding, yet oddly wonderful:  A report I read about the evacuation of Saigon said that American commanders knew that North Vietnamese forces surrounding Saigon were observing their helicopters from the ground yet chose not to shoot them down as they made their way first to the Tan Son Nhut American airbase and from there to ships of the American 7th Fleet offshore.  With armed Taliban fighters now on the ground in Kabul, you can be sure the same “courtesy” is being afforded the helicopters flying from the embassy to the airport.  A burst of fire from a Taliban .50 caliber machine gun or a single warhead from an RPG grenade launcher could take out any of those helicopters and bring an immediate end to the evacuation by air.  That’s how vulnerable are America’s almighty force of military helicopters.

But let me tell you what it feels like to ride in one:  you feel like you’re the king of the world.  I rode around northwest Iraq with the commander of – you guessed it – the “Rakkasans” while I was embedded with the 101st Airborne Division in 2003.  Because he was a Colonel and the commander of the 187th Infantry, he had not one but two Blackhawks, one to ferry him, and the other in convoy behind us as his backup helicopter and gunship.  Wearing headsets and microphones so we could speak to each other over the roar of the Blackhawk’s turbine engines, we sat on seats immediately behind the pilots.  M-240 machine gunners were to either side of us aiming their guns through open doors.  We flew at low altitude up to the border with Turkey and visited a Kurdish outpost that the 187th helped to supply and train. The day was loud and fast and glorious.

I had ridden in another two-helicopter convoy a week or so before with Major General David Petraeus, commander of the 101st, out to visit one of his units south and east of his headquarters in Mosul.  Suddenly it came over the radio that an Apache attack helicopter had been shot down by RPG ground-fire not far from where we were flying.  The pilot ordered the helicopter’s doors closed, pressurized the cabin and started to climb to a higher altitude.

Because another helicopter was shot down about five miles away, suddenly we were flying at 28,000 feet.  That’s how vulnerable the commander of the 101st Airborne Division was in his “command and control” helicopter. (I later discovered that the Blackhawk’s capability to avoid enemy fire by flying at such a high altitude was a military secret.)

I remember years before being herded into an old unused movie theater at Fort Benning, Georgia.  It was August of 1969, and they had a surprise for all of us newly-minted impressionable young lieutenants attending the Infantry School.  Lt. Col. Weldon Honeycutt, who had commanded the 3/187th Infantry battalion at Hamburger Hill was on a publicity tour intended to counter the bad press coverage the battle had been getting.  It seemed that suffering 440 casualties in a single battle and then walking away from the objective you had fought to achieve wasn’t going over very well with the American public, so Honeycutt was out there ringing the victory bell and promoting Nixon’s new policy of “Vietnamization” which he had announced earlier that summer, many said in reaction to the losses suffered in the battle of Hamburger Hill.  Honeycutt had made a special stop at Fort Benning to pump up the troops.

We were crowded into the seats of the World War II era theater, they dimmed the house lights, and there he was spot-lighted on stage, the hero of Hamburger Hill.  A rather squat figure in combat fatigues with a crewcut and a thick neck, Honeycutt strode purposefully to the microphone and began his practiced story of the glorious battle, punctuating his tale with bangs of his fist on the podium.  When he was finished, he stepped away from the podium and stood before us with hands on his hips and loudly barked, “QUESTIONS GENTLEMEN?”

The theater was silent.  It appeared that no one had a question for Lt. Col. Honeycutt. I could see a major in the wings pointing at his watch, signaling that it was time to go.  Then the guy next to me, whose name was Strosher, and who only months before had received a battlefield promotion in Vietnam from Sergeant to First Lieutenant, raised his hand.

“IN THE BACK!” barked the colonel.

Strosher stood up and called out his name and rank and asked, “Sir, where you were during the battle of Hamburger Hill?” He remained standing.

Honeycutt paused, looking momentarily confused, as if that question had never been asked of him before.  “Uhh,” he stammered, “I was in my C & C ship at my assigned altitude.”  He was referring, of course, to his “command and control” helicopter.  “Uhh, 2500 feet as I recall.”

Strosher lifted a hand and said “That’s all I needed to know, sir,” and sat down.

The theater erupted in laughter.  We had all read the coverage of the battle.  We knew it was yet another defeat masquerading as a great victory.  As the laughter died down, the major stepped out of the wings and whispered in Honeycutt’s ear, and guiding him by the elbow, escorted him off the stage.

Strosher, who had served two tours in Vietnam as an enlisted man, knew the answer to his question before he asked it.  He had just stuck a pin in the balloon of the entire war in Vietnam, and Colonel Honeycutt and his helicopter had shown him the way.

That’s why I can say with some certainty that what you’re seeing on your television screens right now is the story of America’s technological military folly in a nutshell. Those helicopters that “won” Operation Anaconda and “won” the battle of Ia Drang and “won” the battle of Hamburger Hill didn’t win the Afghanistan war any more than our remote piloted Predator drones and Air Force attack jets and B-52’s and smart bombs and super-secret satellite surveillance and electronic battlefield simulations and every other doo-dad we came up with. But at least we’ve finally found something we’re good at: air evacuation of the capital cities we lost.

[Lucian Truscott Newsletter]

[refactortactical]

Air Assault #airassault #heloinsertion #airmobile #psd #pmc #rotorwing #sniperrifle #overwatchposition #longrangerifle #clandestinemediagroup https://www.instagram.com/p/B7U5xzPhFOM/?igshid=14d6qsns4zq2m

[mandalorianmercs]

RT @KraytClan: “With solid skills, a top of the line jetpack and a little luck, the daredevils Aerial Assault Troopers take to the sky above the field of battle.” Congrats Fitz Kal’ad for his approval in Airmobile Aerial Assault Brigade! 📸 by Cliff Gull #kraytclan #mandalorianmercs #brigades https://t.co/bxNLlSUhzt

[demiurgeua]

На Луганщині українські десантники розбили колону бронетехніки рашистських окупантів

На Луганщині воїни окремої аеромобільної бригади Десантно-штурмових військ Збройних Сил України знищили колону бронетехніки рашистських окупантів. _________ In Luhansk region warriors of the separate airmobile brigade of the Airborne Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed the column of armored vehicles of the russian nazis. Десантники розбили колону з 14 одиниць ворожої техніки…

[blackbeargear]

Dutch army with @warriorassaultsystems Predator backpack 👌🏼😋More SOF support? Oh yes, more info soon, stay tuned!🤙🏻 Air Assault! #reddevils #sofsupport #luchtmobielebrigade #landmacht #airassault #raid #airmobile #blackbeargear #infantry #556 #rifles #platecarrier #cqb #militarypolice #peaceofficer #igmilitiacanada #picoftheday #instadaily #cqb #igmilitia #usa #2a #warriorassaultsystems #airsoft #glock #safarilandholster #ar15 #rcmp Reposted from @12c_sof_support @foxtrotromeobravo7 https://www.instagram.com/p/CGQST1zpLz_/?igshid=1jwfpyipmuopn