Military Ring Info

NATO forces are still massing around the town of Marjah in Afghanistan for the upcoming offensive against it. The town is effectively cut off by NATO forces which will keep the Taliban from receiving supplies during the seige.

Skirmishes have begun between US forces and the Taliban which is normal during this stage of the operation. Skirmishes will occur when opposing forces are in close proximity to each other so this is perfectly normal. Each side is checking out the other and they will test each other with small battles.

There are estimated to be between 400 to 1000 Taliban fighters in the town of Marjah. Our military ring customers who are facing the enemy will use overwhelming force to take the town. Part of the wait time is designed to give the Taliban a chance to escape before the actual attack. The object of the attack is not necassarily to kill people but to recapture the town.

This is a personal war story of an event which happened to me when I was a Fire Support Officer in the US Army. This is the kind of story that all of our military ring customers have to tell and goes into the fond memories file.

Back in the day when our armored task force was training at the National Training Center in California we were tasked to conduct a defensive operation. We were expecting the enemy to attack through a certain area which he did. We had set up a screening force whose only job was to fire a few shots at him to slow him down and then skedaddle back to the area where we wanted to fight him.

This worked fine except for the fact that one of my Fire Support Teams decided that he didn’t want to break off contact and run. That was all well and noble but the problem was that when he was killed in his one man fight (he did actually cause some enemy casualties) the maneuver team which he was attached to lost all of their artillery support.  We needed him to stay alive so that he could continue to call in artillery and air strikes and do more damage that way.

I wanted to chew off a piece of his rear end but I never did. Every time I thought of the bravery of his actions I couldn’t do it. http://www.militaryringexpress.com

When I think about the time that I spent in the military the thing that I miss the most was the teamwork. There is such a feeling of satisfaction that a military leader gets when his troops work together to pull off an operation.

Each man has a specific job to do and each job contributes to the mission. If one of them fails the fate of the others will be in jeopardy. Thats the way that military teamwork goes. All of our military ring customers know how to operate as a team.

Sometimes a custom military ring customer will wind up with a group of individuals that he or she has never seen before but each one will know their individual job. they will instantly meld together and perform as a team because they are used to operating as a team.

If I consider all of the things that I miss from my time in the military the teamwork will have to top the list. Military teamwork, (as all of my military ring customers know) can’t be duplicated in the civilian world.

US troops are gearing up for the biggest part of the new offensive in Afghanistan. The offensive action thus far seems to have been to capture the area around Marjah. It seems that the city of Marjah is the focus of the offensive so this is where the biggest part of the battle will take place.

NATO forces are consolidating for the attack and once again we are letting the civilian population know that they should be prepared to leave the city.

This will be the most difficult part of the offensive begause fighting is tougher for the attacking force in an urban environment. The structures which are indigenous to the big city offer defenders cover and concealment from the invading attackers. Buildings offer excellent protection from enemy fire and there are thousands of good hiding places inside of cities which you may not see on a normal battlefield.

Cities also give the defenders concealed avenues of movement through the streets and alleyways. The defenders can move easily and quickly through the streets without being seen and they can mass forces very easily. The city by nature of its narrow streets gives its defenders excellent kill zones where they can methodically take out the attackers.

The advanced technology that our military ring customers have will do a lot to equalize the advantages of the defenders by providing real time battle intelligence. We wish our troops well. 

The Precision Guided Mortar Munition is a new mortar round which the Army is developing. This new round will increase mortar accuracy enough to take out point or hard targets. This is very significant to me for two reasons.

Not all of you custom military ring customers are aware that is is difficult to get direct hits on targets with mortars. A mortar is an indirect fire weapon which kills be showering shrapnel on the target, not by hitting the target directly. In addition the mortar fires a high angle trajectory. Now my military ring customers who are fire direction specialists understand the ramifications of this but most other military ring customers probably don’t. What this means is that when a mortar fires a shell it fires it into the air at an angle greater than 45 degrees so the shell travels more distance up into the air than it travels across the ground. While it is in the air it is buffeted more by the wind and weather effects. This causes it to be moved around and thrown off course. Many of these factors can be identified and corrected before it is fired but there is still an effect.

The next good thing about the precision guided munition is that it gives the lower level commander an option to use a precision weapon. Normally precision weapons are only used by division level commanders and higher. The precision mortar will give the task force and company level commanders the opportunity to take advantage of precision bombs.

There is much debate on the don’t ask don’t tell policy of the US military regarding the service of gays in the armed forces.

First of all lets remember that gay men and women have always served in the military and always will. I say that we should not deny anyone the right to serve in the armed forces for any reason other than that person not meeting the minimal physical or mental requirements of military service.

On the other hand we must keep in mind my military ring customers that the military is a unique organization and there are certain rules of order which must be maintained because of the nature of their job. The military is not a organization which can afford to promote indivuality. All must conform to its established and proven protocols.

For example there are dress regulations, haircut regulations, standards of conduct, etc. These have been proven over years to be effective in maintaining military order and can’t be overlooked or relaxed.

Whether a person is gay or not should not be a standard of military service. The terms of the military take precedence over the likes or dislikes of the individual. Anyone who meets the standards that the military required should be allowed to serve, but sexual orientation can’t be flaunted. A soldier either male or female should look and behave like a soldier.

The Army is fielding a family of vehicles called manned ground vehicles MGV. The MGV will perform many of the functions that the Army now uses different types of vehicles to perform but they will all have the same chassis so the majority of their parts etc. will be interchangeable.

These vehicles will be lighter and more mobile than the current vehicles that the Army uses to perform the same functions. At the same time they will employ better technology and better firepower. Advanced technology will also give them very good protection from enemy weapons even though they will be smaller.

Another advantage is that they will be easier to transport because of their smaller size and lighter weight. This will enable the Army to move soldiers and equipment to the place where they are needed quickly and easily. They will also be able to snuff out small fires wherever they may occur.

There are several of these vechiles which we will mention here today they are;

1) The Reconnaissance and Survey Vehicle (RSV) which will be outfitted with sensors which will give it the capability to conduct day and night all weather intelligence gathering missions. I imagine that this vehicle will be used as a scout vehicle for our custom army ring customers who are scouts.

2) The Mounted Combat System (MCS) which is a small version of the tank. This vehicle will have the capability to fire at targets out to 5 miles which will be beyond its line of sight (BLOS). All of our tanker ring customers will be proud of this one.

3) The Non Line of Sight Cannon which is a 155mm cannon. This cannon will have the capability to fire 155mm artillery rounds faster than the current 155mm artillery pieces that the Army currently uses. This artillery piece is so good that it has the capability to fire multiple rounds and have them to impact simultaneously. It does this by shooting each round at a different trajectory. The field artillery ring customers who use this piece of equipment will be able to accomplish more with less personnel.

4) The Non Line of Sight Mortar which is a high angle firing system. The mortar has the ability to fire rounds over the top of mountains or high hills and hit a target on the backside. Our infantry ring customers who are mortarmen will be even more flexible in their ability to perform their mission.

5) The Field Recovery and Maintenance Vehicle (FRMV) will be used to remove broken down or damaged vehicles from the battlefield. It will have a 2-3 man crew of mechanics who can perform quick fixes or evacuate the vehicle and its crew to the rear for higher level repairs. Our military mechanics ring customers will be able to respond faster and provide maintenance support far forward then in the past.

6) The Infantry carrier vehicle (ICV) will carry a crew of 2 along with a 9 man infantry squad. It will be armed with a 30mm MK-14 cannon and a 7.62mm machine gun. It will able to perform day or night and during all types of weather. The infantry ring customers that it carries will have a weapons platform to support them when they dismount.

7) The Medical Vehicle will be able to provide advanced trauma care and life support right on the battlefield. This will be a wonderful addition and will certainly save lives. It will also be used to evacuate the wounded or injured to the rear for even more advanced medical care.

The Command and Control vehicle will be used to maintain command and control on the battlefield. It will be equipped with advanced sensors and communications to help the commander to manage the battlefield. We will have to integrate the design of this vehicle into our military ring designs once it is fielded.

The term Final Protective Fire really means exactly what it says. It is used by combat arms units conducting defensive operations. This is a term that you do not want to hear during combat because if you do you are in some serious trouble.

Normally you will fire the FPF when you are being overrun. When you fire the FPF you shot everything that you have left as fast as you can. Infantry ring customers know this term very well. When the Field Artillery Observer sees that his infantry is  being overrun he will call the artillery and ask them to fire the FPF.

The Field Artillery Fire Direction Officer has the FPF plotted as a line on the ground. He knows that the line is very close to the friendly infantry ring customers so he has the Fire Direction Center to give the guns the command to “Use Gunner’s Quadrant.” Each gun chief knows to use the gunner’s quadrant which is a precision instrument. This insures extra accuracy so that no friendly troops are hurt by friendly artillery. The artillery military ring customers know that they need to fire everything that they have as fast as they can to help out their infantry brothers.

The Army will issue a different camoflagued uniform to units which are currently serving in Afghanistan. The problem with the uniform now is that the Universal Camoflage Pattern (UCP) isn’t always suitable for the terrain features of Afghanistan.

Unlike the terrain in Iraq there is a greater variety of terrain in Afghanistan so the UCP is not always a good pattern to wear. Afghanistan is chacterized by all types of terrain from deserts to mountainous terrain, and a variety of climates. Mountanous areas may be snowy and contain various amounts of vegetation, whereas lowland areas may have totally different features.

The Army feels that the MultiCam Pattern (MCP) will be more effective in all areas of Afghanistan. The MCP has already been in use by Spec Ops ring customers serving in Afghanistan from all branches of the military.

The new pattern was evaluated extensively by the Army and was the perferred pattern of military ring customers who were surveyed about their experiences in Afghanistan.