Dick and Dynamite

If you can't fuck it up, then blow it up

_________

The problem in defense is how far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without
--Dwight D. Eisenhower
_________


Ranger Question of the Day:

Why is this soldier profiling in front of a primed explosive charge?
This is a major safety violation.

__________

This photo accompanying an article on computers (Soldier Uses Web to Stay in College) caught my eye.

It shows a young Airborne enlisted combat engineer in front of a cache of explosives that is about to be blown up. Ranger assumes it is ordnance being destroyed, since MRE's can be destroyed by eating them.

Look at the amount of explosives being used to destroy this cache. It is the old Special Forces formula "P", which means plenty! If these boxes were stacked on a grid of four, four pounds of C4 on top of them would do the job very nicely. In fact, one pound would probably do it, but it is best to be safe and to use more than enough.

But christ, this is a stupid waste of expensive explosives. Why not simply detonate the captured/old ordinance with a kicker charge?

Additionally, the charges are placed in an amateur fashion. The charges should be on top of the materiel, in order to blow it into the ground. The idea is to destroy the materials, and not to spread it over the countryside.

To the reader, this may seem a picky point, and it is. This picture shows that the elite 82nd Airborne doesn't have the experience nor the state of training that is required of an elite unit.

Further, the picture clearly shows why this war is out of fiscal control. In this one random photo, the waste of war is clearly shown. All one has to do is look at the picture.

Absolutely incredible.