Hello Fellow Dragoons,
The following articles of interest to the members of the RCD Association
have been extracted from the RCAC MilNews Digest of 24 March, with the
courtesy of Dave Wright [ <blocked::mailto:dwwright@rcaca.org>
dwwright(a)rcaca.org] the Corps Association Secretary. Those of you also on
the RCACA mailing list will notice the absence of photographs accompanying
these articles - unfortunately, the owner of our DragNet mailing list will
not accept html messages or attachments.
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Troops resort to buying their own gear
Military-issue boots, vests 'useless' in combat zone, soldiers say
Richard Foot | The Ottawa Citizen
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Canada's frontline combat troops in Afghanistan may
belong to a national army, but much of their clothing and equipment on this
mission is privately owned-paid for out of their own pockets-because the
gear supplied by the military is inadequate, soldiers say. More than a dozen
soldiers, interviewed during operations this month north of Kandahar, say
the non-shooting equipment issued by the military simply isn't comfortable,
strong enough or safe enough, for this rugged and dangerous mission.
While their actual uniforms are all military-issue, many soldiers say they
spent hundreds, in some cases thousands of dollars of their own money on
everything from desert boots to ammunition vests before coming to
Afghanistan. "I dropped a grand on gear before I came over here," says one
non-commissioned officer with the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia's
Canadian Light Infantry, who asked that his name not be published. "The
stuff the army issues is useless."
While some soldiers do wear their army-issued desert boots, most appear to
be wearing their own boots, purchased at a private kit shop back at their
base in Edmonton, or from mail-order military websites. They say the boots
handed out by the army are too stiff and heavy for long, multi-day marches
over the rugged Afghan terrain.
The army-issued tactical vests -- designed to carry ammunition, grenades,
bayonets and other supplies -- are also inadequate, soldiers say. The vests
supplied by the army, for example, carry only four magazines of rifle
ammunition. "Whose going to survive on four mags in a fire fight?" asks
another 1st Battalion soldier. "I carry 10 mags every time I climb out of
the LAV (light armoured vehicle). If we get into a fight with the enemy,
four mags aren't going to cut it. The army stuff is OK in Canada," he says,
"but over here your life depends on good gear." As a result, most of the
troops are wearing a mishmash of privately purchased "tac-vests," boots,
rucksacks, cold-weather clothing, and other gear.
And while many infantry troops say they've grown accustomed to providing
their own gear, what they can't understand is why they're being treated as
what they describe as "second-class citizens" at the base at Kandahar
airfield. Of the 2,200 Canadian military personnel in Kandahar this year,
only about 500 are front line combat soldiers. The remainder are support
troops-logistics, planning and transport staff, plus supply clerks and other
administration workers who, unlike the infantry, rarely leave the relative
safety and comfort of this base.
These rear echelon troops are being housed in dry, semi-private dome tents
built on concrete slabs, while Canada's combat troops, also known as the
"battle group," are being housed together, hundreds at a time, in three
much-hated giant white tents, known by the soldiers as BATs, or "big ass
tents." The BATs offer no privacy. They leak when it rains. And instead of
concrete floors, the ground inside is gravel and dirt. The BATs are also
filled with rows of tiny bunk beds, so small and flimsy that many soldiers
can't fit on them.
Unlike the housing for the support troops, the infantry BATs are located far
from the Canadian e-mail tents and recreation facilities on the base. "It's
fine for guys like us to live in the mud out on operations," says Master
Cpl. Keith Prodonick, an experienced front line soldier. "That's what we do.
But when I go back to base, I want a dry tent and a bed that doesn't break."
First Battalion soldiers grilled Gen. Rick Hillier, Canada's chief of
defence staff, about the BAT controversy during his surprise visit with the
troops in the field earlier this month. "The boys were asking Hillier, 'Why
do the support people get the good shacks and we get the BATs?'," Master
Cpl. Prodonick said. "We don't want better, we want the same as everyone
else."
Army officials here say the military is constructing better, more permanent
housing for the infantry troops at Kandahar airfield, but the new
accommodation isn't likely to be ready until the summer, when the 1st
Battalion goes home after its six-month tour.
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Appraising Anti-tank Guided Missiles
Harold C. Hutchison | StrategyPage
Which anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) are the best? This is a matter of no
small concern to the infantry, who have often been on the short end of the
stick when engaged in combat with armored vehicles. There are dozens of
ATGM models out there, and a few are better at what they do.
ATGM are usually controlled through a guidance system known as
semi-automatic command line-of-sight (SACLOS). All an operator has to do is
to hold the target in the sights of the missile launcher and the missile
will be guided on, either via wires that connect the missile to the launcher
or via electronic transmissions from the missile to the launcher. Sounds
simple, right? There's just one problem. Lots of people are shooting at
those who hold the launcher-and that makes keeping the sights on the target
much harder. New generations of anti-tank missiles have evolved that are
fire-and-forget, which allows the missile team to clear out of their firing
position. The missiles often deliver shaped-charge warheads.
Anti-tank missiles come in two varieties: Man-portable, which can be
carried by teams of two men. Some major systems of this type are the Milan,
the Javelin and the AT7 Saxhorn. The Milan is wire-guided and in wide
service around the world. It has a range of 2 km. The AT7 is also a
wire-guided missile with a range of 1.5 km. The American Javelin features a
2-km range, but it uses an imaging infra-red seeker that gives the missile a
fire-and-forget capability. Sweden's BILL system has a range of 2.2 km, and
uses wire guidance.
Two kilometers, though, is not much on a modern battlefield, particularly
wide-open spaces like plains and deserts. Longer-range missiles are
needed-because tank guns and the main weapons on infantry fighting vehicles
and some APC can reach further than the two kilometre limit. These larger
missiles are usually vehicle mounted, but dismounted infantry can also use
them (it requires a larger team, usually four or more personnel, and they
can not carry as many rounds). Some of the systems out there include the
HOT, a wire guided system with a range of four km; the TOW, similar to HOT
with a range of 3.75 km; the AT-5 Spandrel, a four km wire guided system;
and the AT-14 Kornet, with a range of 3.5 km, requiring only a three-man
dismount team.
Several other ATGM are worth mentioning. One is the Hellfire and another is
the AT-6 Spiral. These are primarily based off helicopters. The Hellfire has
a range of eight km and using laser-guidance similar to that of the Paveway
laser-guided bombs. The Spiral uses semi-active radio command guidance, and
has a range of five km. Israel has a family of similar ATGM called Spike,
that boast excellent performance, a variety of ranges and low prices. But it
is often politically incorrect to buy Israeli weapons.
Which of these systems works best? For dismounted infantry, the Javelin is
probably the best missile, due to its fire-and-forget capability. For
vehicles, the Kornet is probably the best, since it can also be used as a
dismounted missile more easily than HOT, TOW, or the Spandrel. For
helicopters, the Hellfire is probably the best option.
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For One Civil War Soldier, the Correct Name Rights a Wrong
The Associated Press News Agency
ATLANTA -- A misspelled letter kept a Canadian who died while fighting for
Union forces in the Confederate South during the Civil War from getting a
proper headstone.
After 142 years, that is about to change. Officials at Marietta National
Cemetery, outside Atlanta, will unveil a new marble headstone Saturday with
Pvt. Dennis Buckley's name and the Medal of Honor inscription he earned for
his war service.
Buckley, 21, of Lindsay, Ontario, was buried with his last name misspelled
on the headstone as "Burkley" at the government-run cemetery after his death
on July 20, 1864, in the Battle of Peachtree Creek. The error, blamed on
unclear handwriting in a cemetery register, also kept Buckley's headstone
from getting the Medal of Honor inscription, which he was awarded a year
after his death, cemetery director Sandra Beckley said.
The mistake was discovered about six months ago when John DuBois of
Caledonia, N.Y., who was doing research on Buckley's unit, the 136th New
York Infantry. He found records that listed Buckley as a member and a grave
number that matched the grave at the cemetery with Buckley's name
misspelled. The cemetery did its own research and confirmed the error.
"Obviously, he didn't have family, or they didn't come to the site to know
that it was wrong," Beckley said. "All of our Civil War records are in
handwritten script. When you look at all these records, you can see why. The
'c' looked like an 'r.' "
Officials attempted to remove the old headstone, but it crumbled, Beckley
said, adding that a temporary marker has been placed at the site until the
new headstone with gold lettering is unveiled. The ceremony will include
Canadian officials and DuBois. Officials said they are not aware of any
living relatives of Buckley.
DuBois said a lot of work went into confirming the mistake, including
finding diaries and other documents linking Buckley. "I knew it was him, but
I had to prove it," said DuBois, 64, whose grandfather, William E. DuBois,
served in the same unit as Buckley.
Research by DuBois indicates Buckley was shot in the head after capturing a
Confederate flag.
Misspellings are not confined to the past in this story. A press release
from the Department of Veterans Affairs announcing the headstone change
incorrectly spelled Lindsay, Ontario, and had the wrong style for DuBois's
name, using a lowercase 'b.'
There are more than 18,000 plots at the 23.3-acre Marietta National
Cemetery, located in downtown Marietta. Veterans and their spouses dating to
the Revolutionary War are buried there.
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