Death Knight

The dumber people think you are,
the more surprised they're going to be when you kill them
--William Clayton

Sure it's going to kill a lot of people,
but they may be dying of something else anyway
--Othal Brand

A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you
and fails, and then asks you not to kill him
--Winston Churchill
______________

I had the pleasure of speaking yesterday with a Marine who was out enjoying the sun on a bench. His talk of being a "killing machine" ties into the previous post.

The forearm tattoo and Marine Corps flags outside of his business were the giveaways, and I asked if he'd been in Vietnam. He said he was on the USS Kitty Hawk off of Vietnam, but never in Vietnam, as he joined the war late. He said he was also present off shore when the U.S. Embassy was overrun and masses of people were fleeing.

He told of his enlistment, how he joined in the Buddy System, how they managed to pass the entrance exam and how his mother signed his enlistment papers allowing him to join at age 17 from the 11th grade.

We spoke all too briefly, but his most poignant tale was of his transformation after Boot Camp at Parris Island. He was a country boy who had never left home, who fished and hunted and enjoyed a rather bucolic life. "The drill sergeants didn't have rules like they do today," he said. They punched, kicked and slapped the recruits into submission.

He used the word "brutalize," explaining they did this to break you all the way down. "But then they do build you back up, but into a killing machine." He explained how some of your self esteem returns, but not all.

I asked if reintegration into civilian life was difficult, and he said it wasn't for him, but allowed it might be different for those who had seen combat. He is married and seems to be a successful businessman.

He did note that he had a great focus on weapons when he came out, and that was because his esteem was wrapped into how good of a killing machine he could be, and the maintenance of his weapons was integral to that.

I was impressed with his good humor, self-awareness and willingness to speak with a stranger.

Behind the Green Door

It rains on the faces,
On my live friends' faces.
Those who cover their heads with a blanket.
And it rains on my dead friends' faces,
Those who are covered by nothing
--Rain on a Battlefield, Yehuda Amichai


The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves
--Julius Caesar, Shakespeare
________

What follows are two critiques on photos in the August VFW Magazine ("Ramadi: A Tale of Two Cities.") The photos and story are by Tim Dyhouse, who has done good coverage for the VFW. But I would suggest an elision of opening lines to the borrowed Dicken's title, simply: "It was the worst of times." While it is possible these are staged photos for public consumption, still they should reflect proper infantry combat knowledge and and tactics.

Since the pictures are flawed, Ranger wonders what is the state of training at the lowest levels of command for deployed U.S. forces. In "Dick & Dynamite" Ranger noted the 82nd Airborne's overkill style of explosives employment; now we are talking about USMC personnel actually engaged in ground combat, and how they leave themselves vulnerable in their positioning.

The cover photo shows a fire-team oriented to a threat. Note that only the middle rifleman is prone and prepared to fire with his rifle. Note the Marine next to the green door has his weapon pointed at the ground. In addition, the Squad Automatic Gunner is kneeling with his weapon also pointed at the ground.

All weapons should be pointed downrange and ready to engage and to bring maximum firepower to bear. The squad automatic weapon (SAW) should be the first and foremost weapon situated and ready to suppress and potential targets.

Why engage with a burst-regulated rifle when a fully automatic, belt-fed weapon is right there to be used? It is not a token weapon to be toted place to place. That is why the U.S. government pays $15,000 per SAW. They are there to be properly utilized.

A good general rule in combat is that your rifle muzzle should follow your eyes. In the above photo (p. 14), the rifles are all pointed at the ground and would take too many precious milliseconds to bear into a firing position. Also note that the SAW is not forward to provide instantaneous fire. Instead, it is behind the foreground left rifleman, whose rifle is not trained forward.

Most serious to this Ranger is the fact that a squad-level unit is backed into a dead-end street with no escape route. Forget that image is metaphor for the entire Iraqi project. In this position, an adversary has grazing fire, and the Marines here are lined up like ducks in a row. One burst or RPG round would cause multiple casualties.

Further, there is a break in the far wall where an adversary could fire through with any type of direct fire weapon. The Marines show no 360 degree defense by not placing a rifleman oriented to the rear. The lack of employment of this element is a recipe for disaster.

These points may seem minor to a casual reader, but it is these small, overlooked details that get military personnel killed. There is no forgiveness to small errors in combat. Every detail is important to longevity.

Ranger is not attacking good, brave, dedicated U.S. military personnel. This is an attack on a military command structure that is deploying troops into harm's way without proper individual and small unit training.

If these photos are indicative of the small units, then what is the "big picture"? Bravery does not trump proper tactics.

These pictures depict a military without a grasp of proper small unit employment. The fault lies with the command structure.