oXDemosthenesXo posted:

Are we still posting links to old effort posts? My one and only real contribution to this thread was my grandfather's WWII Combat Dope Sheets a couple of years ago. I can dig up the rest of the posts pretty easily.

ChubbyChecker posted:

https://i.imgur.com/ti3yHSs.mp4

Platystemon posted:

FrangibleCover posted:

The US did a brigade strength drop into Northern Iraq in 2003. Minimal resistance, all objectives achieved. Doesn't really prove anything except that they had a load of spare aircraft.

What I'd actually argue about is the utility of Airborne forces as a high readiness, high mobility force. Desert Shield dropped an airborne division into the Saudi Desert to square off against the Iraqi tanks. The bluff worked, but if the Iraqis had just gone hell for leather they could have minced the Airborne with their armoured battlegroups. The strategic mobility of these forces is high but their tactical mobility is Remain In Place and their firepower turns it into Die In Place against any competent opponent.

taqueso posted:

Has anyone tried to catapult troops? It feels like something that Leonardo da Vinci might have come up with but maybe someone really attempted it?

Gaius Marius posted:

They should build a statue of whoever did him in, thank them for ending that madman's reign of terror.

Mystic Mongol posted:

So, my neighbor is a 99 year old WW2 vet from England. He was the navigator for an Avro Lancaster heavy bomber... he started as a mechanic, because only gentlemen flew, and then the war used up all their gentlemen and he was promoted into action. The Lancaster had a wingspan of 102', and he was involved in the world's first night bombing campaigns... as hundreds of planes from across Europe would converge on a location within a three minute window and just bomb it to rubble, taking note of any V2 missiles they saw heading the other way and reporting the headings for the DH Mosquitos to fly back in the morning and try to find the trucks the missiles were launched from.

After the war was over, his neighborhood in the East End of London had been largely demolished. Along with the way that Bomber Crew were not treated quite as heroically as the rest of the soldiers, what with all the bombing they did, he moved with his wife, who invaded France as a radio operator, to America to start a new life.

In the 80s he gave a statement to PBS about his experiences, which drew attention from the neighborhood. He wound up giving presentations about the war from living rooms across the city. Through the 80s and 90s he spoke to individuals, small parties, and classrooms about being a bomber pilot. But around 2000 interest dried up--he says a sheet fell across America, and the youth of today are not interested in the war the way the youth of the previous generation were.

I've offered to record him doing his presentation in the basement, to share online with basically anyone interested. I never thought it would be a breakout viral hit or anything, but that his story is interesting and worth preserving, before this century old man who insists on shoveling his own sidewalk takes a final trip. He, however, worries that no one would be interested, and that it would be a waste of time and energy for both of us. Certainly, opinions on the English bombing campaign over Europe were never overwhelmingly positive.

So my question is, given that he's old enough that he doesn't give a presentation as sharply as he used to, and I'm not a film student and will be recording on an iPad, are his concerns accurate? Would people be interested in hearing what he has to say about his experiences during and after the war? I'd cut any dead air but the final result would be pretty rough.

Nebakenezzer posted:

How did they not make one of these TK-421?

Loezi posted:

Where, when and how did this naming scheme originate? I haven't really seen it used anywhere outside of the military context but absolutely loved in when I was in charge of the platoon CP and the associated equipment. All the check lists were so wonderfully easy to use when alphabetized in this way.

It's especially hilarious in Finnish, where long compound words are the norm. The FDF was recently looking for a "vastatykistömaalinosoitustutkakalustojärjestelmäinsinöörierikoisupseeri", roughly translating as "counter-artillery target designation radar equipment system engineer special officer".

Ataxerxes posted:

My one grandfather who fought in WW2 never talked about it and I kinda wanted to find more about it. Also, cheap model planes and later trying to understand what had happened and why.

zoux posted:

drat, do people with claustrophobia wash out of tank units often or do they make you get over it

Molentik posted:

I loved that book as a kid, still have it somewhere. Theres also castles and battleships etc.

Fish of hemp posted:

Yeah wasn't the whole point that free market will handle the nation building if we just let it do as it pleases?

Count Roland posted:

Ah yes the little green men

Nenonen posted:

This is not the current events thread

FuturePastNow posted:

I had a set of Desert Storm baseball cards. Deeply embarrassing now, but I was 10.

sullat posted:

If he wanted a biopic in French he shouldn't have lost

Koramei posted:

Dang those hills are a heck of a lot taller than I would have expected. I guess it's the same with cities getting buried over the centuries with the remains of older ruined buildings. Humans sure make a lot of stuff.

Cyrano4747 posted:

Bright Bart posted:

At this point Saving Private Ryan *is* military history, so I wonder if any historian or armchair historian can tell us why Spielberg left other nations out, if it's known.

Like did he do it for budget reasons? Not wanting to distract the audience? Because he actually didn't know better and either nobody else did or they did but didn't tell him? Because the US Army or Marine Corps and told the studio to keep it Uncle Sam? Some less likely but funnier reason?

Nothingtoseehere posted:

It's interesting that you feel the documents someone works with can be that personal, because it seems entirely absent from modern IT infrastructure.

Cessna posted:

Just go to "sudden death" instead of completely changing what is happening.