Satiating my battle heart

[sonofsteinway]

I left the Australian army about three months ago and now i see the civilian side of the armed forces. Most of what you are told, if not all of what you are told if you dont know anyone in the ADF is through the media and it angers me to no end most times.
 Also, because i no longer get the satisfaction from shooting crazily into enemy (hyperbole, BTW) i get it from answering questions from guys and girls who dont know any better.
 I have served seven years in the infantry and have been deployed to Afghanistan, Timor-leste. I have also been to (here we go): Papua New guinea, Thailand, Maldive is., Kuwait, UAE (cant tell you where), Germany, Holland, Czech rep., Hawaii, USA, Canada and French Caledonian is. All these places with the army or directly related to the army.
 As a rifleman i am qualified in a variety of weapons easliy known with some research, such as the F88 austeyr, F89 machinegun, grenade launchers, rocket launchers, the 84mm recoiless rifle, .50 cal mg's, 81mm mortars and a bunch more im not qualified on but have experience with.
 So, if anyone has any questions about the Australian army and army life in general (if not from Aus) ill gladly answer them! keep in mind there are no-go areas, and ill let you know when they arise.

[jesc]

How does a squad of snipers communicate that all of them have a clear line of sight on the targets they're assigned to at a given time?

[pianowolfi]

Welcome to PS and to the civil society (I hope it will be a really civil, and peaceful society) I think you are serving humanity better as a pianist, even (or even especially!) as a beginner pianist You will need some patience, but after all it will be worth it!

[sonofsteinway]

How does a squad of snipers communicate that all of them have a clear line of sight on the targets they're assigned to at a given time?

I have a few sniper friends and have worked in a few 'iffy' areas with them.
 depending on the mission specific task they are assigned they will work differently. As most things- its not like in the movies, although snipers do work in pairs. Mostly they work as overwatch to a patrol if the terrain may dictate it, as in afghanistan, but if not they can and will operate only in the pair, just the two of them marching their way through bushland reaching a final and anticlimactic goal.
 As for comms, they are linked together in their pairs always, but will also have a radio on them at all times so they are in communication with not only hq but the patrol they are assigned to. If by themselves they will generally only get into comms with hq, because they can skip the usual chain of command as they are under direct command of the most senior commander on the field. If on rare instances they are operating in multiple sniper teams then they will generall blend the hq and team channels together to save time.
 so- in summary, just one radio does the trick!

[jesc]

I have a few sniper friends and have worked in a few 'iffy' areas with them.
 depending on the mission specific task they are assigned they will work differently. As most things- its not like in the movies, although snipers do work in pairs. Mostly they work as overwatch to a patrol if the terrain may dictate it, as in afghanistan, but if not they can and will operate only in the pair, just the two of them marching their way through bushland reaching a final and anticlimactic goal.
 As for comms, they are linked together in their pairs always, but will also have a radio on them at all times so they are in communication with not only hq but the patrol they are assigned to. If by themselves they will generally only get into comms with hq, because they can skip the usual chain of command as they are under direct command of the most senior commander on the field. If on rare instances they are operating in multiple sniper teams then they will generall blend the hq and team channels together to save time.
 so- in summary, just one radio does the trick!

Thanks! I was just curious to know other methods, cause I know of a team that instead uses a button(on the rifle I can't remember specifically).

Probably the method is specific to a stand-off/hostage situation. Each sniper was assigned a target. Everytime a sniper has a line of sight (i.e. a kill is certain), he presses it signaling the potential kill.

The person overseeing the operation then gets multiple signals each point in time. It is when all the signals are a go that a potential window to break in is presented.

But the situation I described is totally different compared to working in an open field, which is the one you described. I appreciate the info you've shared, and learned something new.

[megadodd]

Hi, this is great! I've been wondering something for my entire life without really having gotten an oppertunity to ask someone.
My (previous) neighbour was in the UN forces and had been serving for about 10+ years.
He was usually assigned from his family into Libya or Kongo and places for a year, and he came home, and went back etc etc.
When he was home, he was SO cracked up, didn't speak to anyone but his kids, gave them alot of things he bought.
But it bugged me that even though it was so obvious he was in pain when he got back.
WHY did he go back? With kids at home really missing their father, they had to live with their gramps while he was gone.

What is it that is so sensational about going back, only to make yourself suffer more?
(I'm talking about this one particualar person now, not everyone that's serving millitary)

[pianoplayjl]

Wow I've always dreamt of being a SEAL. Highly unlikely though. I read an article about Iraq war veterans who've gone mad a suicidal.

What are the Psychological implications of the Iraq/Afghanistan war?

And, this might also be a dumb question but are some members of the Australian military entitled to top secret clearance (if there is any)?

JL

[sonofsteinway]

pianoplayjl: SEALS are very VERY fit and usually require a certain amount of experience in regular infantry (or navy etc..) and its a career choice, not one made lightly. However, completely achievable with the correct amount of dedication.

And to answer what seems like one question;
 Post traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is almost always felt by everyone involved in direct conflict and will in no way effect a person positively. Though diverse as the amount of sufferers that it afflicts it is in no way easier to deal with or treat.
 I have suffered the repercussions of my conflicts in afghanistan. I was involved in a defensive battle of our 30 strong platoon against about 40-50 taliban trying to overrun our position. In a sliver, i had 9 rpg's fly over MY head alone, not to mention the tens that went over our position. Anyway, i didnt feel the effects of what i did until two/three years later when i fell into a very dark depression garnered with HEAVY drinking (two bottles of scotch or vodka a night for countless days)
 HOWEVER, id do anything and drop anything to go back.
 Why?
 Imagine yourself, in a piano metaphor, just beginning to learn for the first time in your late teens. Now, magically, you have the skill to play as a top level professional given to you and you spend the next year on tour earning thousands and having respect lavished upon you. then you lose it in one instance after that year. Wouldnt you want to do anything to have it back?
 Going on deployment into a warzone is like this. You have in a matter of months trained up to go somewhere you will never go again and you may have never left your own home country. When you are overseas in uniform you experience things never to be repeated or copied and will never be recountable by anyone else that wasnt there. Couple that with the added MASSIVE adrenalin rush of combat, and it IS a massive rush- like bungy jumping for the first time multiplied about 50, and then; nothing. You are back at your home in a matter of days mingling with the family talking about the same things you have for the last 10 years.
 Battle will never be matched for experiences outside of battle, like black diamond skiing or skydiving. Your life is at risk at any moment and when not in battle, that fact remains. I have had friends deny their newborns a father for the first year of their lives to return, had seperations of relationships all to go back and experience it again.
 As for a generalisation of the wars. PTSD is much deeper than what most media streams dictate it is. Many men crumble like a child out of nowhere just because it got too much, or regressed into a depressive state, or went so far as suicidal. But many of us are unknown or forgotten, or in my eventual case, are mistreaded by the very institution that created the problem (no questions on that please).
 
 So, i hope tht helps a little. And remember that the soldiers only made the choice to stand up for what their government believes it must do. We dont make the decision to go, the government does so dont persecute us, persecute the person who was voted in by you.

any other questions?

 

[sonofsteinway]

And, this might also be a dumb question but are some members of the Australian military entitled to top secret clearance (if there is any)?

 Not dumb at all,
 yeah we are. And its a MAAAAASSSSIIIIVVVVEEE headache to go through. In brief, fill out a 100 page document on the COMPLETE history of yourself, PROVEN with all proper documents (pay slips for every employer ever, birth certificates from mother father and their respective partners if separated, passports and histories of ANY foreign travel, Documentation of ANY houses you lived in officially etc) as well as interviews with you, your parents and siblings, ALL of your friends and employers past and present.... and MUCH more.
 its about a six month process and even then, not many people have FULL Top secret clearance, there are a number of areas inside TS clearance that are separated distinctly......
 Its a Horrible thing to have really....

[pianoplayjl]

Say that Australia hasn't pulled out of the Iraq war yet. Would you rather tour Afghanistan again or go to Iraq? If so why Afghanistan  and not Iraq/vice versa?

[jesc]

Deja vu

This thread reminded me of a forum I used to visit years ago populated by retired people (mostly from the army and air force).

But the PTSD there was very deep and it was rarely discussed in the open. You'll get rare glimpses like: How one of them related on how he can't stand some first person shooter games cause unpleasant memories come back to him (probably vietnam era, he was quite old).

This made me miss some of the discussions back there unfortunately I'm a kind of person that may look back but never... ever goes back. I leave a one-way trail lol.  

[sonofsteinway]

Say that Australia hasn't pulled out of the Iraq war yet. Would you rather tour Afghanistan again or go to Iraq? If so why Afghanistan  and not Iraq/vice versa?

To be completely honest, being in a warzone is 99% boredom and 1% absolute anarchy. Iraq was like a warzone when it started but petered off (for Australians) pretty early because we only had a comparitavely small commitment. I would go to Afghanistan because its still a nightmare over there and not 100% boredom like it was in the last years of Iraq....

[pianoplayjl]

Have you ever defused an IED manually and is it possible?

[doudly]

Hmm, a friend of mine, Iranian soldier, I believe, claims that sexual intercourses are pretty common during long missions, that local "prostitutes" are often hired and sometimes male/female (or even male/male I suppose) soldiers have it going.
In most occidental armies, though, intercourses in wartime seem to be heavily punished, especially between same army members.

wats yo side of the story on dis ?

[sonofsteinway]

Have you ever defused an IED manually and is it possible?

I was a Rifleman, not an engineer. Engineers are the guys who defuse IED's manually.
 Its completely possible and to be honest most IED's are manually defused because its not as easy in Afghanistan to call over a robot as it is in a developed city.
 I did however, have an engineer explode whilst defusing an IED. It had an anti tamper trap on it and he ended up surviving it. Though, he lost his sight, smell, taste, right arm, left hand and most of his left leg too..... dangerous stuff IED's.

In most occidental armies, though, intercourses in wartime seem to be heavily punished, especially between same army members.

wats yo side of the story on dis ?

"fraternisation" its called. No matter where you are, people are going to want to have sex.
Though vague i think you know what i mean- except the man on man action.