We must hold fast in Afg, or we’ll lose all we have fought for
General Sir Richard Dannatt, the former CGS (UK's top soldier), has written this commentary:Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ought-for.htmlThe audit of our 10-year involvement in Afghanistan looks gloomy in terms of casualties – but the underlying trends are more encouraging.
The last two paragraphs are aimed at the domestic front:f counter-insurgency is fundamentally about winning hearts and minds, we now have a real chance of success. Trust is being built in the Afghan people’s minds that their own tribal chiefs, district governors and national leaders can start to deliver a better alternative than a reversion to the oppressive and fundamentalist regime of the Taliban and its al-Qaeda sponsors. This offers real hope for the Afghan people. If they are beginning to believe that they have a better future, then that belief must be shared and nurtured.
That is the opportunity for 2011. The risk, however, is of that hope being undermined by a precipitate reduction in our troop levels for domestic political reasons. If the public at home start to understand the progress that is being made, then that temptation will be easier to resist.
davidbfpo
Field Marshal Roberts, from 1880
Looking back to the British experience of Afghanistan, the National Army Museum in London currently has an exhibition entitled ‘The Road to Kabul: British Armies in Afghanistan, 1838–1919’.
The advertising poster, in an uncanny echo to modern times, quotes Field
Marshal Frederick Roberts, one of the most successful commanders of the Victorian era, as saying (in 1880):
I feel sure I am right when I say that the less the Afghans see of us, the less they will dislike us.
Last edited by Jedburgh; 01-03-2011 at 02:17 PM. Reason: Added link.
davidbfpo
Speaking of the literature of mental illness, here is a wonderful example of a cowardly bully serving as an avatar for his sponsor:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashman_%28novel%29
Definitely a novel to read if you want to round out your understanding of the insanity currently being attempted in Afghanistan. If Flashman was mentioned earlier in the thread, I sorry.
We need to return to McCuen for guidance as to where the hearts-and-minds effort should be equally focussed:Originally Posted by davidbfpo
Winning and maintaining support for the war on the home front(s) and in the international community. Doing so means maintaining legitimacy and avoiding losses through incompetence.
We have a problem...
Some time ago the question was asked as to how the Brit soldiers in Afghanistan can locate the enemy by his fire if they have one ear covered because of the use of PRRs. The answer is they can't... but for £10,000 a pop they can fix that.
I kid you not....
Read more here.
Acoustic gun fire detection systems have been around for 30 years, but almost always mounted on vehicles. This is just miniaturising it, for what purpose I cannot fathom. I can't see the point.... unlike PRR which is excellent.
Infinity Journal "I don't care if this works in practice. I want to see it work in theory!"
- The job of the British Army out here is to kill or capture Communist Terrorists in Malaya.
- If we can double the ratio of kills per contact, we will soon put an end to the shooting in Malaya.
Sir Gerald Templer, foreword to the "Conduct of Anti-Terrorist Operations in Malaya," 1958 Edition
Wilf it is the ear piece on the PRR that blocks out other sounds. One would have thought that would be quite simple to sort out given todays technologies. Until then the benefits against costs remain a problem with the PRR.
Many soldiers cannot locate the origin of single shots accurately because the hearing is not trained to interpret sonic booms properly. That's afaik why such sniper detection systems were in fashion in the last decade (usually vehicle-mounted, as Wilf already wrote).
The acoustic problems with radios can be solved differently:
A headset which dampens booms to protect the hearing (modern passive designs dampen explosion sounds much and let voice pass), includes tiny earphones and even serves as hearing aid for sounds of interest (especially voice).
The PRR Head-set is not a great design, so there are much better ones to be had, but the real secret of PRR seems to be knowing when to have on and an earpiece worn, versus when to have it switched off the earpiece out. Bimbling across the veld in the bright midday, they serve no point at all. Hand Signals does it all. But, at o'dark f**k me, in some bad part of Badguydhad, there are a literal war winner.
Having said that, there is a lot of tactical headset technology out there. Some good and some not so good. The real issue for me is that some of the better stuff does seem to very expensive and always have "Special Forces" associated with product description.
Infinity Journal "I don't care if this works in practice. I want to see it work in theory!"
- The job of the British Army out here is to kill or capture Communist Terrorists in Malaya.
- If we can double the ratio of kills per contact, we will soon put an end to the shooting in Malaya.
Sir Gerald Templer, foreword to the "Conduct of Anti-Terrorist Operations in Malaya," 1958 Edition
It is all a question of training. The Brit (fieldcraft) training was and still is two 40minute demonstrations - 1 day and 1 night - LOCATING THE ENEMY BY HIS FIRE. The periods end with (taken from the lesson plans):
So given that in the current war contact ranges vary but certainly are distant enough for crack and thump to be used we need to ask the current crop of coy comds how much time and practice is being allocated to learning this skill?Day : That is the end of this demonstration, and it must be clear to you now, that much practice is needed before you become proficient at locating the enemy by his fire.
Night: That concludes this demonstration of locating the enemy by his fire at night. In 40 minutes you cannot become experts. It takes time and practise, but this demonstration will have reminded you of the techniques required to locate the enemy at night, and the value of using ‘flash’ at night and not relying on the enemy using tracer.
Hands up all those who say zero.
Fuchs I'll wager it is merely a lack of training and if training and technology can meet half way there will be a marked improvement.
Agreed.The acoustic problems with radios can be solved differently:
A headset which dampens booms to protect the hearing (modern passive designs dampen explosion sounds much and let voice pass), includes tiny earphones and even serves as hearing aid for sounds of interest (especially voice).
OK lets go back to the beginning. This is an innovation which was born with Special Forces especially for indoor applications when after a few knock-knocks and flash-bangs the hearing is shot anyway. To protect one ear and feed voice in that could be heard by all was therefore critical to the success of the mission. Designed for special Forces.
Now the problem comes. The line infantry want them. So do they just take the Special Forces kit or do they get something suitable to their own needs?
The latter, surely. That means that the earpiece not be designed to shut out other (important) noise. That the earpiece when in place not interfere with normal hearing and be light and not intrusive and be forgotten its there. That a hand signal can be created to "switch on the PRR" and one to "switch off the PRR". There are certainly night use benefits but not to the extent that the scouts have their hearing interfered with buy PRR chatter.
Not true, at least for the British Army. Two things really pushed PRR. The first was PRC-349, issued per fire team as of 1979 and 1980. The next was field trials done in 1995-6, which showed a substantial and measurable improvement.
Kg for Kg, PRR is a stellar improvement in Infantry performance. Also, the original, voice only PRR the UK issued was incredibly cheap, and durable.
Well that issue is has already been dealt with by SOPs, and PRR is a substantial aid in that regard.There are certainly night use benefits but not to the extent that the scouts have their hearing interfered with buy PRR chatter.
Infinity Journal "I don't care if this works in practice. I want to see it work in theory!"
- The job of the British Army out here is to kill or capture Communist Terrorists in Malaya.
- If we can double the ratio of kills per contact, we will soon put an end to the shooting in Malaya.
Sir Gerald Templer, foreword to the "Conduct of Anti-Terrorist Operations in Malaya," 1958 Edition
Highway built to thwart Taliban bombers
The full title is 'Highway built to thwart Taliban bombers brings hope to farmers' by Robert Fox, in Evening Standard (of London); road building has featured before on SWC, so here is a small update an note the price for each mile of tarmac road one million UK Pounds.
Link:http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standa...-to-farmers.do
davidbfpo
Construction costs are one thing, maintenance and security costs another thing.
A tough winter can destroy a road, as can explosives. How many police stations and policemen are necessary to at least keep an eye on the road? How many military sweeps does the road require?
(I've seen road holes for the very first time on an Autobahn this winter, the biggest one was 1 m in length and exactly where my left tire was rolling towards at 90 km/h. That gave me a whole new view on roadholes.)
An improvement in what and measurable in what way... if I may ask?
Does anyone think for one moment that the locals think the road has been built for them and not to provide better/safer/whatever access to ISAF forces?
Like in Rhodesia the locals are likely to say "before the Taliban came we had no road, after the Taliban came the US/UK/whoever built us a road... so who do we have to thank?... the Taliban."
These people are stone-age but that does not mean they don't have some basic smarts.
Such a clearly incorrect description should not be used lightly.
They have a 19th century culture and partially late 20th century equipment.
In terms of trials, Platoons equipped with PRR accomplished missions quicker and with less casualties. However you want to cut it, for exactly the same equipment and training a Platoon equipped with PRR will be easier and more effectively commanded than without.
Infinity Journal "I don't care if this works in practice. I want to see it work in theory!"
- The job of the British Army out here is to kill or capture Communist Terrorists in Malaya.
- If we can double the ratio of kills per contact, we will soon put an end to the shooting in Malaya.
Sir Gerald Templer, foreword to the "Conduct of Anti-Terrorist Operations in Malaya," 1958 Edition
Less casualties? In which war did these tests take place?
Its not meant to be accurate... its meant to be disparaging. The people of Afghanistan are simply not worth the effort.
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