Troops in Iraq allowed to drink beer on Super Bowl Sunday!

[CMSbelt]

I don't think this would have been possible on any of my deployments, simply due to the logistics, unless beer is palletized like bottled water and there were a super special LOGPAC run on Super Sunday. It seems foolish to even ponder it - a special beer shipment to the FOB/LSA at least one day before Super Sunday. I am sure this requires guards and accountability procedures almost akin to arms room SOPs. Bn support platoon makes a special trip to receive it, unless it happens to fall on the day that they normally go to the FOB/LSA, then they bring it to the Bn. Unless there is a scheduled LOGPAC for that day from Bn to Co/Plt (generally not the case), then it sits at Bn and probably requires someone to guard it. When it finally does get sent to company/platoon, I suppose the guys on "red" cycle consume their 2 beers as they rotate off of guard duty. And the guys out in sector (strongpoints/ambushes/sniper recon/etc) - I guess we call them in early (beer first, mission second) or just let them drink it on the following day and don't tell anyone (especially not the General)?

Talk to someone currently serving in a staff billet in theater and I guarantee many units have tasked some Captain or Major to honcho this effort - to coordinate the special trip to pick it up, to figure out the distribution time/place/quantity, accountability procedures - this is a good solid 20 PowerPoint slides with lots of potential for flashy images, probably including 2 or 3 slides that have animations and at least 1 with sound.

This sounds like one of those ideas that some folks on the FOB cheer for, but the guys in the patrol bases and outposts react to in the same way that they react to "TGIF!" Seems like a morale booster for people who really shouldn't need one.

In Baghdad, the Brit soldiers don't seem to have any trouble finding beer. The troops in the remote areas will figure it out if they are allowed to. Is there a western military besides the US that has such a restrictive no-alcohol policy?

[sapperfitz82]

I apologize for my typing faster than my brain. I do recall that the discussion with my major quickly focused on the policy not the gaurd. Some perspective, this was the third gate on the compound. Not that that matters much. The major's ID card is good enough for him, his word should be good enough for his convoy.

I was also on a convoy of LMTV's that was stopped at the front gate to Kandahar after we spent two weeks walking through and ten hours driving back from the mountains. The wait was very long (I don't recall how long) and every soldier had to show his ID. We did not all carry ID's because they have our SSN on them which would be bad were we captured by the Internet saavy jihadi. The tower gaurd looked on as we passed ID cards back and forth so the gate gaurd could see that we all had one. Not sure what this garrison policy will accomplish in combat ops. Again, if the ID card on the commander is good enough for him, why is his rank not good enough for us all?

Long way round, rank means little, adulthood means less, and manhood no longers exists.

I am not so fast to discount that M18A1 on the bumper idea. Properly constructed and shielded, the blast could be deflected out. In some situations, I could see that the claymore might be better than the alternative. Think Jessica Lynch and the human wave. I'll take the 1.25 lbs of boom outside the uparmoured vehicle over an RPG through the winshield or the human wave pulling me out (Blackwater in Fallujah). These men may have been ahead of their time a bit.

On the other hand...perhaps a few test runs at Aberdeen would have been prudent.

[Uboat509]

I am not so fast to discount that M18A1 on the bumper idea. Properly constructed and shielded, the blast could be deflected out.

That's not a chance worth taking.

In some situations, I could see that the claymore might be better than the alternative. Think Jessica Lynch and the human wave. I'll take the 1.25 lbs of boom outside the uparmoured vehicle over an RPG through the winshield or the human wave pulling me out (Blackwater in Fallujah).

First of all the human wave thing is rare. Lynch was captured after a prolonged running firefight. A claymore would not have helped her. RPGs probably aren't going to fired from inside the effective range of the Claymores anyway. In any case 1.25 pounds of C4 is still a fairly sizeable boom, paricularly when added to IED going off on the outside.

These men may have been ahead of their time a bit..

Nah. Islamic extremist have been doing this for years.

SFC W

[ODB]

This is what could be confusing many from a distance.

M5 Modular Crowd Control Munition (MCCM)


The MCCM, a non-lethal variant of the Claymore munition, is the Army and Marine Corps' first non-lethal area coverage munition. It provides crowd control and force protection and temporarily incapacitates a large, hostile group without causing life-threatening consequences to the targeted individuals. This gives the field commander the option to apply non-lethal force as a first line of defense against aggressive noncombatants.

The MCCM is similar in appearance to the Claymore mine but is filled with 600 32-caliber rubber balls. It has an effective range of 5 to 15 meters with 60-degree coverage. MCCM is command control initiated and disorients and incapacitates targeted individuals for approximately 10 seconds.

[Schmedlap]

And I thought we were too prudish when our Division Commander cancelled "two-beer night" in Bosnia and ordered all of the beer poured out...

These are photos from “the demolition of alcoholic beverages and obscene CDs” in Ahvaz/Khuzestan.

See more of the gory photos at the Pedestrian blog.

[jkm_101_fso]

That's so wrong, man.

[tpjkevin]

Let us hold a min's silence for dear old Gordon and Co.