tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6708375.post115410654726872192..comments2024-03-28T03:54:21.932-04:00Comments on Canadian Cynic: This just gets better and better.CChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11406057201126015750noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6708375.post-1154314969966931682006-07-30T23:02:00.000-04:002006-07-30T23:02:00.000-04:00Thanks, CO. I'll add this.I was on a gun for a yea...Thanks, CO. I'll add this.<BR/><BR/>I was on a gun for a year, and then in the Command Post for two years. A total of maybe 12 weeks in the field on live fire exercises.<BR/><BR/>Here's the sum total of the mistakes I saw:<BR/><BR/>- We once fired at the wrong time. This was because the fire orders were being given from our regimental commander in a non-standard way. Our rounds went to the right place, but they went before they were supposed to.<BR/><BR/>- We once fired at the wrong target. The command post officer failed to double-check the calculations from the technician, and sent the fire order without checking. Our observers immediately radioed in to say the rounds were off target and to check again.<BR/><BR/>We were high school kids, mostly. We trained a few weeks in the summer, a few weekends in the year, and one evening a week. We were not the professional, highly-trained units in the IDF.<BR/><BR/>My conclusion is that someone was ordering fire on the UN observer post. Maybe they saw it as a calculated risk, because there were Hezbollah units nearby. But that means they knew there was a chance of hitting it, and they took that chance.<BR/><BR/>They lost, and four peacekeepers are dead. One was a Canadian.<BR/><BR/>Any reason to feel okay with that any more? I, for one, am very, very pissed off about it. And don't think for a second that my MP doesn't know it.M@https://www.blogger.com/profile/13408488215496128814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6708375.post-1154193417329932292006-07-29T13:16:00.000-04:002006-07-29T13:16:00.000-04:00m@What you say makes a lot of sense.Canadian Obser...m@<BR/><BR/>What you say makes a lot of sense.<BR/><BR/>Canadian ObserverAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6708375.post-1154153572161835752006-07-29T02:12:00.000-04:002006-07-29T02:12:00.000-04:00Actually, when you're in the middle of a live fire...<I>Actually, when you're in the middle of a live fire exercise, and the lieutenant in the headphones says he's about to get over-run and he needs artillary support then and there and not five minutes from now, you can forget to cross-check coordinates for friendly positions.</I><BR/><BR/>First, have you ever been in a live fire exercise? I have. I was a signaller in the RCA. And that's not how it works at all. You care passionately, all-encompassingly, that every round goes where it's supposed to. If you're even near one of the "safe boxes" around your FOOs or other friendlies, you double-check <I>everything</I>. I know that was the case in every box I was in. <BR/><BR/>What you're suggesting is like suggesting that infantrymen fire indiscriminately when the going gets tough. That doesn't happen, either. I've never been in a real combat situation but that's not what you said. <BR/><BR/>Second, what Israeli positions were in danger of being overrun? Kinda hard to be overrun when you're safe in your positions on your side of the border.M@https://www.blogger.com/profile/13408488215496128814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6708375.post-1154135759156864892006-07-28T21:15:00.000-04:002006-07-28T21:15:00.000-04:00DavidThanks for bringing that point forward. Perh...David<BR/><BR/>Thanks for bringing that point forward. Perhaps Seer could clarify?<BR/><BR/>Canadian ObserverAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6708375.post-1154117998771262362006-07-28T16:19:00.000-04:002006-07-28T16:19:00.000-04:00The seer said: "Actually, when you're in the middl...The seer said: "Actually, when you're in the middle of a live fire exercise, and the lieutenant in the headphones says he's about to get over-run"<BR/><BR/>So Hezbollah was over-running the IDF's position in Israel? That is an interpretation I haven't yet heard.David Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05891790923170327958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6708375.post-1154112242219862912006-07-28T14:44:00.000-04:002006-07-28T14:44:00.000-04:00And furthermore, throughout the entire history of ...And furthermore, throughout the entire history of Isreal, when things like this started getting out of hand, the United States would come in and shut things down. This time, Our Beloved Leader dispatched bombs instead of diplomats. So if you're to Government of Isreal, waiting for people like George to bail you out, what do you do?<BR/><BR/>And when we have Stephen running things on our side of the Great Lakes, do we really, seriously and candidly believe we have a right to throw stores?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6708375.post-1154111192385622342006-07-28T14:26:00.000-04:002006-07-28T14:26:00.000-04:00Actually, when you're in the middle of a live fire...Actually, when you're in the middle of a live fire exercise, and the lieutenant in the headphones says he's about to get over-run and he needs artillary support then and there and not five minutes from now, you can forget to cross-check coordinates for friendly positions. And as for the lieutenant, or sergeant, giving you the coordinates, the incoming fire at times impairs concentration. That's why, in the US Army, they give purple hearts for friendly fire too.<BR/><BR/>I'm not saying invading Lebanon s a good idea, all I'm saying is that when your in the middle of invading Lebanon and taking heavy fire, you can get distracted.<BR/><BR/>On another note, Our Beloved Leader had a plan for rebuilding New Orleans, too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com