A simple but to me very baffling question.......:-)
Many years ago much was made of the fact that the Vietcong went into battle carrying nothing much more than his weapon , as much ammo as he could lift ...and a bag of rice........the little fellas were always amazed at the amount of gear a US soldier was expected to hump into the woods and I would have guessed rightly so........
fast forward a good few years and I was watching a news item from Afghanistan last night.....there's the Taliban fellas looking much the same as a Vietcong did 40 or more years ago..an AK47.a few spare mags and that was about it.......
and there.........sweating their nuts off is a British Patrol.......looking to me like they were carrying enough kit for a 3 month camping trip to the Brecon Beacons....loaded right up they were and with a whacking great big backpack..
so ..my question is........why the hell do they carry so much gear????????
Now......
.......if they are out on a patrol that is intended to 'stay out' for a week or so I could understand it....
...but these guys were out on a 'circular' patrol from their firebase ....and heading in a general fashion back to the firebase by the end of the same day......
....so ........... what the hell is in those whacking great big back packs and all that belt gear???
the way I see it is ( and as always ...I am ready to be properly corrected)
why would they need to carry anything more than.
A weapon and a load of ammo
A knife
A water bottle
A few high energy snack bars and chocolate etc
A medical pack.
and finally....maybe a couple of grenades?
I understand that they all carry comms gear these days but surely the modern kit doesn't take up all that much room???...
..do they really need to be so loaded up for a days patrol? Only asking ......:-)..
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RattlesnakeBob
A simple but to me very baffling question.......:-)
Many years ago much was made of the fact that the Vietcong went into battle carrying nothing much more than his weapon , as much ammo as he could lift ...and a bag of rice........the little fellas were always amazed at the amount of gear a US soldier was expected to hump into the woods and I would have guessed rightly so........
fast forward a good few years and I was watching a news item from Afghanistan last night.....there's the Taliban fellas looking much the same as a Vietcong did 40 or more years ago..an AK47.a few spare mags and that was about it.......
and there.........sweating their nuts off is a British Patrol.......looking to me like they were carrying enough kit for a 3 month camping trip to the Brecon Beacons....loaded right up they were and with a whacking great big backpack..
so ..my question is........why the hell do they carry so much gear????????
Now......
.......if they are out on a patrol that is intended to 'stay out' for a week or so I could understand it....
...but these guys were out on a 'circular' patrol from their firebase ....and heading in a general fashion back to the firebase by the end of the same day......
....so ........... what the hell is in those whacking great big back packs and all that belt gear???
the way I see it is ( and as always ...I am ready to be properly corrected)
why would they need to carry anything more than.
A weapon and a load of ammo
A knife
A water bottle
A few high energy snack bars and chocolate etc
A medical pack.
and finally....maybe a couple of grenades?
I understand that they all carry comms gear these days but surely the modern kit doesn't take up all that much room???...
..do they really need to be so loaded up for a days patrol? Only asking ......:-)..
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