Wednesday, 22 November 2006
 

Thoughts and questions from an Aussie
Contributed by Martin Andrew

[Friends, neighbors and fellow Dogs, your friendly neighborhood webmaster finds himself on the horns of a dilemma. Once again the only Dog in the pack who has never worn an American uniform has chosen to post comments on the site that do not by any stretch reflect the attitudes of the majority of the pack, and has even chosen to end his post with a statement indicating that he fully expects others within the pack to be offended by what he wrote.  Your friendly neighborhood webmaster, who has been justifiably criticized in the past for making and implementing some somewhat imperious decisions about the site has resisted the temptation, for now at least, to simply remove the offending post. Pending discussions within the pack and a ruling from our duly elected Chief Operating Dog the post will remain on the site. Your somewhat imperious, still, and not always so friendly neighborhood webmaster, however,  will not allow it to remain on the site without a preceding note (this paragraph) stating that it does not reflect the views of the pack or the webmaster. --- Bill Faith]

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[Further thoughts from the webmaster in an attempt to prevent future confusion: Your sometimes not so friendly neighborhood webmaster has been guilty in the past of being somewhat dictatorial about the design and content of this site and has promised the pack to try to be less so in the future. That promise aside, there are limits to your sometimes not so friendly neighborhood webmaster's patience and tolerance.  Your sometimes not so friendly neighborhood webmaster is a Viet Nam veteran, as are a majority of the Dogs in the pack. Your sometimes not so friendly neighborhood webmaster in particular, as were some of the other Dogs, was still in uniform when one William Jefferson Clinton was in Moscow making nice with the enemy, and when one John Forbes Kerry was slandering our troops in Viet Nam in front of the U. S. Congress.  Your sometimes dictatorial when he's pissed enough neighborhood webmaster hosts an unabashedly anti-Clinton, anti-Kerry, anti-Fonda, anti-Murtha, anti-jihadi, anti-moonbat, pro-America, pro-troops, and pro-veteran blog. Any Dog who has a problem with that is welcome to leave now before things get any uglier. Cheers, y'all.]

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[Martin Andrew has submitted his resignation from the pack and your sometimes not so friendly neighborhood webmaster, having had a good meal, a brief nap, and some time to cool off, has removed two paragraphs that were here earlier.]

When I as at the Harvard University's 'Undermining Terrorism' conference in May 2002 (how's that for name dropping) there was an occassion where I found the old 'I will fight to the last drop of your blood', stil being sprounted and the latest Doonesbury cartoon puts it even more effectively.  I love that sort of attitude which seems to be quite prevelant - let sonmeone else do the dirty work and it is not new - ask uncle Karl (Marx) as he wrote about it and there were grumblings going back to the in the US Civil war on the Northern side about rich industrialists not getting their sons draftyd and the families getting fat on contracts.

Secondly, and more importantly whats wrong with having Hillary Clinton as the next President?  Granted that Bill Clinton was seen by many Aussie's as a larrikin (loveable rogue - think Paul Hogan) and that Hillary in her university days looked more manly than Bill, most Aussies appear to genuinely like them both.  Hell I'd vote fro Bill just on his record with Monica and his appetite for food. and she looks like a babe when compared to New Zealand's Helen Clark Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

My thoughts anyway and all I can say for my final word is 'Incoming!'

Contributed by Martin Andrew on November 22, 2006 at 04:51 AM in Bill Faith, Martin Andrew | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Saturday, 21 October 2006
 

Combat Shotguns in Malaysia
Contributed by Martin Andrew

During the Malayan Emergency the chance of a kill by weapon in very thick jungle, was during an ambush: Bren light machine gun, shotgun,  M1/M2 carbine,no. 5 SMLE rifle, then the Sten/Owen sub-machine gun .  Conversely during a chance encounter on a patrol it was the M-1/M-2 carbine, No. 5 rifle, shotgun, Bren LMG  and the Sten/Owen SMG

During trials, and on operations shotguns produced more hits per exposure than any other weapons in patrol and surprise close quarter actions. The wounding effect of multiple hits by SG buckshot was very effective. The No.5 SMLE rifle was bolt actioned but the effect of a .303-inch, or alternatively a 7.62 mm round from an SLR/M14/G-3, was such that the terrorist was knocked down and finished off with another shot. The Bren LMG, or any machine gun for that matter, was the best weapon when preparing an ambush, providing a large amount of firepower and giving fire superiority.

In the Malaysian Confrontation the Royal Air Force flew Whirlwind helicopters out of Labuan on missions along the border with Kalimantan, Indonesia. The side door is on the right hand side, which is also the pilot's side. This meant that the left hand side of the helicopter was a dead zone as suppressive fire went. To remedy this a person usually interested in shooting, it was not a dedicated gunner, flew in the left hand cockpit seat and shot out through the window. The usual weapon was a Remington 870 but the preferred weapon was the Browning A5 borrowed from the New Zealand Special Air Service, who had removed the sear. This gave a full auto shotgun that was fired sideways so that the dispersion went sideways, due to recoil the weapon shot upwards on full auto. Shotguns were also fired sideways so that the empty cases did not end up on the floor jamming the rudder pedals.

The rounds themselves were zinc cased tropical ammunition and were from Fabrique Nationale (FN). The use of zinc-covered rounds was necessitated by the paper cartridge cases, common at the time, swelling up ane then being unable to feed causing a jam. Paper cartridges causing jams due to swelling had been a problem since the First World War, and were only cured by using metal cases. FN produced at least three types of 12gauge zinc shotgun cased rounds. Two had a case length of 59mm (2.3 inches) for use in shotguns with a 2.5inch chamber but the other was only 49mm (1.9 inches) long. All have the head stamp 12-FN-12. They are all have a brass stub with a cardboard case that is covered by a zinc sleeve. The first one has a khaki cardboard case with a yellow wad. It has four SG lead buckshot over 28 B lead shot – the combination load developed for use in the Malayan Emergency. The other 59mm round has a blue cardboard case containing nine 00 lead buckshot. The 49mm round has the zinc rolled crimped over the cardboard case with a big yellow wad and contains number 4 shot. The 49mm case round is designed for 12 gauge shotguns with a 2-inch chamber. Twelve gauge shotguns with a two-inch chamber were designed for people who couldn’t handle the recoil of full 12 gauge shotgun loads. Two English gun makers that made double-barrelled shotguns for this cartridge were Purdy and Cogswell and Harrison.

Contributed by Martin Andrew on October 21, 2006 at 12:31 PM in Martin Andrew | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Use Enough Gun
Contributed by Martin Andrew

In Malaya the British trials and operational experience showed that 9mm and 0.30 calibre rounds had poor penetration of foliage. Shotguns up to 50 metres and weapons using 303in ammunition were better in this respect and gave a better chance of an incapacitating wound. In Vietnam the Australian Army infantry quickly replaced the Owen submachine gun with M-16 assault rifle.

The M-16 combined the weight and handiness of the M-1/M-2 carbine and greater firepower using the 5.56 x 45mm round, which is far more powerful than the .30-inch carbine round, giving a better chance of incapacitation but the light round was easily deflected by foliage when compared to the full power 7.62 x 51mm round used on the standard L1A1 self-loading rifle (SLR). This could penetrate a 20cm tree and hit the target behind it Currently, the M16A2 rifle and M4 carbine, both in 5.56mm NATO (5.56 x 45mm), are the standard assault rifles in the US Military, generally the M-4 is the standard issue weapon in the Special Forces and the M16 in infantry and other units. This means that the infantry soldier has a greater chance in hitting a fleeting target in the jungle and in urban conflict compared to larger rifles in 7.62mm NATO (7.62 x 51mm). What has been lost is the power to penetrate through material such as foliage, and harder material like rock, brick and trees, especially as there is no longer a section 7.62mm machine gun.

The following will stop a 5.56mm round fired at less than 50 metres: One thickness of well-packed sandbags; a five centimetre concrete wall (non-reinforced); a 55-gallon drum filled with water or sand, a small ammunition box filled with sand; a cinder block filled with sand (block will probably shatter); a plate glass windowpane at a 45-degree angle (glass fragments may be thrown behind the glass), a brick veneer or a car body (5.56-mm rounds penetrate but may not always exit).

By comparison a single 7.62mm NATO ball round at 200m will penetrate 103cm of pine board, 17.5cm of loose sand, 20cm of cinder block and 5cm of concrete.  Thus weapons using 7.62mm have better penetrating capability than ones in 5.56mm. 7.62mm NATO machine guns will ‘chew up, many types of protection affording little cover to the personnel behind them, that would be proof against 5.56mm weapons. This is the conclusion the Russian Army came to after evaluating its experiences in Chechnya and Dagetsan. Russian soldiers are to be reequipped with small arms in 7.62 x 39mm and 7.62 x 54mm, consigning the 5.45mm weapons that originally replaced them back to store. The 7.62x39mm M43 round is not as powerful as the 7.62mm NATO round but is still better at penetrating light cover than the 5.45mm round.

In an article titled, Who “Blinded” the Infantry, which is from a larger piece about the findings of a conference about the Russian Army’s performance in Chechnya and Dagestan in 1999 and 2000, Lieutenant Colonel Aleksey Ionov wrote: Small Arms remain the primary, and frequently the only, means of combating the enemy at close range. As a whole they have validated their high qualities: effectiveness, reliability and ease of servicing. At this time there are shortcomings in some models, as well in with the entire family of small arms. The most glaring of these – deficiencies in the means to mount optical and night sights, the lack of organic heavy calibre weapons in combined arms subunits, and the insufficient effectiveness of firing from 5.45mm calibre weapons at troops behind light protection, the serious problem of discovery caused by firing hand-held antitank weapons, and the low power of the RGO defensive and RGN offensive hand grenades. This is not a new phenomenon. The Australian Imperial Force in a 1919 report on the use of hand grenades in the last nine months of the First World War, commented that the Number 34 egg –grenade ‘is unsatisfactory on account of the fuse being too long, also it has little effect’. The Number 34 grenade weighed 340gm and the segmented Number 36 Mills Grenade was over double the weight at 709gm. Further the Russian soldiers in Chechnya called for the replacement of the 5.45 mm RPK light machine gun with the full power 7.62 mm PK series general-purpose machine guns. The Russian soldiers were high in their praise for many of their small arms, which used larger calibre ammunition, such as the 7.62mm AKM assault rifle, the 7.62mm SVD sniping rifle, the GP-25 40 mm under barrel grenade launcher, the Pecheng machine gun, which is a modernised PKM machine gun, and the Vzlomshchik 12.7 mm heavy calibre sniper rifle. The Pecheng has a heavier fixed ribbed barrel in a metal sleeve which forces air over the barrel to keep it cool. It has 80 percent commonality with the PKM, with a more robust bipod at the muzzle and no hot air interfering with the sight picture, the dispersion is reduced by 1.9 times with the bipod and 1.7 times on a tripod compared to the PKM.

Contributed by Martin Andrew on October 21, 2006 at 12:14 PM in Martin Andrew | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBack

Friday, 06 October 2006
 

Vale Jingcha
Contributed by Martin Andrew

Vale Jingcha - Obituary for a Dear Friend

On 14 September my dear friend Professor Frederic Wakeman Jr passed away from cancer.  Although we had not corresponded for a couple of years he will be deeply missed.  I knew Fred from his work on the Shanghai Municipal Police and he was a referee for my sojourn to Harvard in 2002.  Fred was from the ‘Ernest Hemingway School of Hairy Chested Writing.’  An accomplished martial artist, he had a habit of turning up in unusual places throughout his life.  He was involved in underground martial arts competitions in Taiwan and the odd pub brawl in London. As for his career prior to his becoming an academic, his book on Dai Li, the Chinese Spymaster was written with a working knowledge on this type of work.  His back injury was initially caused when he carried a back pack around the jungles of a South East nation in 1960. Fred ended up in a wheelchair from surgery to reduce his pain which left him with a gammy left leg.  He told me not to have surgery on my back and that is the reason I have not done it to this day.

All I can say is raise a glass in his honour- Vale Jingcha.

Contributed by Martin Andrew on October 6, 2006 at 06:39 AM in Books, Martin Andrew | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, 19 August 2006
 

Supporting the Lebanese Army
Contributed by Martin Andrew

I believe that the Lebanese Army with their show room condition M-113 mobile coffins  er.. APCs should be rearmed with state of the art weapons and be given the task of removing Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon.  The Syrians were given the boot, now it's the time for the Iranians to be shown the door, and as for the supporters of Hezbollah in the Lebanese parliament annd the electorates who voted for them, or what's left of them thanks to the Israeli Air Force, who should be forced to choose - a Sh'ite state or the state of Lebanon.    The Principles of Applied Marksmanship can be used later.   If they do that then a mini-Marshall Plan should be introduced to aid a fledgling democracy.  Another buffer zone is created for israel, the Lebanese Army becomes a force of peace, and the US and other supporters of a new Lebanon get huge brownie points.  And did I mention Iran and Syria get a punch in the nose to boot.

My thoughts anyway.

Contributed by Martin Andrew on August 19, 2006 at 09:00 PM in Hezbollah, Islamism Delenda Est, Israel, Lebanon, Martin Andrew | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Saturday, 22 July 2006
 

GI Zhou Newsletter
Contributed by Martin Andrew

Tongzhimen shubingmen he pengyoumen, nimen hao!  Dorogiye tovarshchi soldaty i druzhya!  Prolettarii vsekh Stran, Soyedinites!

This  is the first of hopefully many more newsletters on the PLA and if you have any requests please pass them on.

Armour in the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War

In the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War the following Chinese AFVs were employed - the Model 59 main battle tank, the Model 62 light tank, the Model 63 amphibious tank and the Model 63 armoured personnel carrier. The Model 62 were at the vanguard of the first PLA units to cross into Vietnam and were used for infantry support.

Chinese VISMOD AFV

The PLA have used the Model 62 light tank as a visually modified vehicle for blue force opposing forces (OPFOR) use. This vehicle’s gun a ‘T’ shaped muzzle brake similar to the one used on the 90mm gun of the M48 main battle tank. It also had a circular infra- red searchlight mounted on the top and a fume extractor mounted 1/3rd up the barrel. The mantlet was also squared off to represent the M48.

WZ131-1 Light Tank

In 1967 the PLA decided the Model 62 (WZ131) light tank needed updating as the 85mm gun was starting to show its age. The improved tank was designated the WZ131-1 and the project had a long history resulting in various upgrades that eventually led no where.

One upgrade was the addition of skirts over the tracks and bar armour around the rear arc and sides of the turret to detonate HEAT rounds before hitting the turret. In Chinese they translated as ‘improved screen added outfit cannon tower bars’. They do however give a great place for tank hunting teams to throw and hang explosive charges where they will sit against the sides of the turret.

A laser rangefinder was added to the top of the mantle to improve accuracy and at the same time, to improve the survivability of the commander in close battle, a 12.7mm machine gun turret from the Model 63 APC was to the commander’s cupola. Very similar in shape to the 12.7mm machine gun turret used on the M-113 ACAV, this copied the US Army in the Vietnam War where crews often added the ACAV turret to various AFVs. This increased their firepower in the event of close in attacks by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces by increasing the survivability of the gunner. This was the reason behind the adding of the Model 63 machine gun turret to the Model 62. In the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War the Model 62 suffered from severely from RPG hits due to the close in nature of the terrain. It was not introduced into service as it added 479mm to the profile of the tank and the experience of the Israeli Army in the 1973 Yom Kippur war where tank commanders were decapitated when the machine gun turrets atop their M48 and M60s were shot off in combat.

The Model 62 light tanks in PLA service have been modified with a bank of four smoke grenades launchers in armoured mounts added to both sides of the turret. The WZ131-1 had a combat weight of 19.86t, four crew and had an overall length with the barrel forward of 8.016m, a width of 2.994m with its side skirts and a height of 2.742m to the top of the machine gun turret and 2.263m without the turret. Its 316 kW diesel engine gave it a maximum speed of 60 km/hr and a maximum range of between 400 and 450km. Improved ammunition storage gave it 62 rounds of 85mm ammunition onboard compared to 46 on the Model 62. This could have been incorporated in the Model 62 during refits and maintenance. Compared to the Model 62 3,000 rounds of 7.62 mm machine gun ammunition was carried compared to the Model 62 and 825 rounds of 12.7mm machine gun rounds compared to 300.3das to the top of the metres long with the barrel including the barrel , by 2.994 inc85m wide by 2.35m high

The United States no longer has a light tank, not replacing the M551 Sheridan and Taiwan has updated the M41 as far as it can conceivably go. According to a Chinese article, Taiwan will start replacing the M41D from 2007 with an 8 x 8 wheeled light armoured vehicle mounting a 105mm gun. This may be a case of Chinese mirror imaging, foreshadowing the replacement of the Model 62 with the Chinese eight-wheeled 105mm gun armed wheeled tank destroyer.

The United States Army has had a difficult time trying to provide a light tank/wheeled armoured gun system for its personnel after the retirement of the M551 Sheridan after the 1991 Gulf War. The programme to make a light tank/armoured gun system (AGS) for the US Army started in 1980 and the M1128 Stryker Mobile Gun System has yet to come into service. The M8 Armoured Gun System was developed – a light tank with a 105mm low-recoil gun but it showed how difficult it is to balance firepower, mobility and survivability on the modern battlefield. The PLA tried to find a replacement for the Model 62 light tank during the Cultural Revolution with the ill-starred WZ 132 light tank.

The history of the WZ132 saga can be broken into three parts or phases; phase 1 from 1967 to 1969’ Phase 2 from 1970 – 1972 and Phase 3 from 1973 – 1975. If better is the enemy of good, this project exemplifies it. It went from a simple project competing with the upgraded Model 62 (WZ131-1) to almost an entirely new design. The first design used solid road wheels similar to those on the Model 63 amphibious tank and had a long barrelled 76.2 mm gun with a pepper box muzzle brake, making it look similar to Taiwan’s Type 64 light tank, itself a copy of the US M41 Walker Bulldog light tank. The next version of the WZ132 used the standard 85mm gun.

The capture of the then new Soviet T-62 main battle tank during the Zhen Bao Dao/Damiansky Island Incident gave Chinese armour designers access to the latest Soviet technology including the 115mm UTS-5 smoothbore gun and its APFSDS ammunition. To enable the vehicle to engage modern Western main battle tanks (MBTs) equipped with the 105mm gun, a 100mm smoothbore gun was installed in 1970 with the gun also being tried on the Model 59 MBT.

The diesel motor incorporated a supercharger, using compressed are, to give the tank a speed boost in combat. The WZ132’s 405 kilowatt diesel engine gave it an impressive power to weight ratio of 18 kilowatts per tonne and could climb 45 degree slope. Its maximum range was 500km and unlike the Model 62 it was amphibious, being able to travel a maximum of 6.84 km/hr in the water. The WZ132 design was finalised in 1973 but languished until its cancellation in 1975. It was decided to upgrade the Model 62 instead and resources, likely due to the dismal combat performance of light armoured combat vehicles like the BMP-1, or lack of it, during the Yom Kippur War. Light tanks could not compete on the modern battlefield and resources were needed for other projects rather than another light tank.

The final version of the WZ132 had a combat weight of 22.5 t, and had a hull length of 6.049m and an overall length with the gun forward of 8.528m. It was 2.92 m wide, 2.121 m high at the cupola and besides the 100mm gun, was equipped with a 12.7mm machine gun on the turret roof and two 7.62mm machine guns in the turret. It could carry 41 rounds of 100mm, 500 rounds of 12.7mm and 2,400 rounds of 7.62mm machine gun ammunition.

The Russian Book Red Dragon: Military Technology and Armaments of China: Volume 1 – Tanks, on page 94’ talks of 100 Model 62 light tanks being exported to North Korea armed with a copy of the U-5TS 115mm smoothbore gun used on the on the U- Russian T-62 main battle tank.. If correct then the Model 62 would have incorporated technology from the WZ132 programme and the turret could be the one from the WZ132.

WZ 111 Heavy Battle Tank

In 1960 China decided to develop a light, medium and heavy tank similar to the US program of 1951. The Model 62 was to be upgraded or replaced, the medium tank was to be an upgraded Model 59 and the heavy tank was to be a copy of the Soviet T-10 and known as the WZ111. Only the

Model 69, the upgraded Model 59, entered service.

The T-10 had some major problems including a cramped turret and a flimsy hull, inherited from the IS-3, made worse by the hull now having a stamped belly plate in a shallow V shape, an even larger and heavier turret, and thus even more heavily stressed engine.

The project was cancelled in 1964 after a running chassis had been built equipped with a rudimentary steel box where the turret would go.

PLZ45 155mm Self-Propelled Gun (SPG) System

The PLZ45 system has been in use since the late 1990s when Kuwait bought a battalion and in 2001 a second. For those with access to Jane’s Armour and Artillery some of this is old hat but this article gives the structure of the way the PLA foreshadows the organisation and equipment of the PLZ45 artillery battalion in the PLA’s new armoured corps structure.

Best described as Chinese M109A6 Paladin, the PLZ45 is the latest SPG in PLA service. In a PLZ45 SPG there are three eight-gun batteries (companies) with each SPG supported by a GCL45 ammunition supply vehicle, a copy of the United States Army’s M992 Field Artillery Ammunition Supply Vehicle (FAASV), using the same chassis as the PLZ45.

The PLZ 45 has a chassis length of 6.66m, a width of 3.23m and a height of 2.6m and has a crew of five. It can travel at speeds up to 55 km/hr a maximum distance of and is powered by a 412Kp diesel engine. It has a combat weight of 32t. The GCL45 has a three crew, a combat weight of 33 t and can carry 90 155mm rounds and charges. It can feed the 6 to 8 rounds per minute into the PLZ45 and has a maximum speed of 55 km/hr and a maximum range of 450km. Both vehicles have a cupola 12.7mm machine gun. The maximum range of the gun is quoted at 30km for normal rounds, 39km for base bleed rounds and 50km for rocket assisted rounds.

The company headquarters each have two ZCY45 C3 vehicles based on the YW534H APC. The vehicle has a crew of four and has an enlarged and heightened rear superstructure with two C3 terminals. The vehicle has a combat weight of 14.9 tonnes, can travel at a maximum speed of 65 km/hr and has a cupola mounted 12.7mm machine gun for self-protection.

The battalion headquarters, has nine GCL45 forward observation vehicles, one artillery locating/fire correction radar on a 6 x 6 truck chassis, a 4 x 4 truck mounted meteorological vehicle, two W653A armoured recovery and repair vehicles (ARRVs), four 4 x 4 maintenance and repair trucks and two ZCY45 C3 vehicles for the battalion HQ staff.

The GCL45 has the same enlarged rear chassis as the ZCY45 with the observation equipment mounted in a small armoured turret atop of the enlarged rear hull. The combat weight of the vehicle is 15.2t and it has a maximum speed of 65km/hr and a maximum range of 500km. There is a crew of four. As the GCL45 and ZCY45 use the same chassis as the PLA’s latest armoured ambulances which could lead to charges of targeting ambulances in combat.

Look for some of my my work on the PLA coming up (hopefully) in the Jamestown Foundation’s China Brief.

Wo Pengyou Zai Jian!

This is the first and hopefullt the first of many for the Old War Dogs. PLA.On the technical side I look at shotgun ammunition, copies of the SIG-Sauer P226 and P228 pistols, a 35mm under barrel grenade launcher for the Model 95, a 40mm automatic grenade launche, the old Model 80-II main battle tank and the Model 81 armoured command vehicle.

Butchering a Classic Design – The New Police Revolver and Ammunition

The new Chinese police revolver being introduced into the Public Security Bureau is a butchered copy of the Smith and Wesson (S&W) Military and Police/Model 10 revolver. The major differences are an enclosed ejector rod, ramp front side and a rear sight, which the S&W Model 19, an improved version of the Mode1 10 incorporated. Unloaded, it weighs 700g and has an overall length of 180mm. The major difference is that Chinese engineers have added a safety catch above the cylinder release.

There two types of service ammunition identified and the best description would be 9 x 19mm rimmed and replicate the old.38 Smith and Wesson cartridge. The first is a duplex rubber round which looks the same size and shape as the old 38/200 and designed for internal security use during riots. This is 30mm long and weighs in at 12.6g.The rubber projectiles will be low velocity otherwise they would foul the rifling. The second cartridge is a copper jacketed semi-wad cutter round – the blunt nose adding to its ‘man-stopping’ ability. Both have a heavy roll crimp at the mouth of the case.

The old Smith and Wesson Model 10 in 38/200 I used to shoot in my early air force days had better ergonomics and a more powerful round than this piece of crap. The safety catch shows, that other than special units, the lack of weapons proficiency of Public Security Bureau officers.

‘Chinese’ SIG-Sauer Pistols

The Chinese have copied yet another Western design but at least make no attempt to hide it. The NORINCO NP22 is the SIG-Sauer P226 and the NP24 the P228. I am not bothering to give the details of the weapons as that gives NORINCO more credit that it deserves.

LG-1-I 35mm Underbarrel Grenade Launcher

This weapons slips over the barrel and attaches to the forward hand guard of the Model 95 assault rifle. It uses a copy of the Russian 40mm VOG25 HE grenade scaled down to 35mm which is muzzle loaded into a short rifled barrel like the Russian GP-25 underbarrel grenade launcher. It is 217mm long, 49mm wide and 95mm high and unloaded weighs 0.8kg and the rounds has a muzzle velocity and a maximum range of 400m.

Chinese 40mm Automatic Grenade Launcher

The Chinese have entered the 40mm automatic grenade market with the LG3. The weapon uses the standard 40mm grenades and weighs 39kg empty. The weapon is 1030mm long, 229mm wide and 195mm wide and is a very clean design. The tubular tripod again is a very clean design that enables the launcher an elevation of -10^o to +42^o and a radius of 180^o and the equipment is quoted being able to put a ten round burst at 2200m in an area 9 x 50m.

This round is the base of all Chinese shotgun rounds as the cartridge does not have any projectile/s in the wad. The case is 63mm long meaning the case is shortened to 2.5 inches allowing more rounds per tubular magazine. The round is used for riot control and the wad is quoted as being unable to pierce the skin four metres from the barrel. The round weighs 10g and has a report on firing of 120dB.

The Model 81 ACV is also designated the WZ 701 and is based on the Model 63 and uses the same extended hull as the WZ750 ambulance. The vehicle weighs 13 tons loaded for combat and contains seating for two crew forward of the rear and up to eight personnel in the rear. This makes for a crowded vehicle which includes a seat against the rear door and normally the personnel in the rear varies from 3 to 5. A battery fire control vehicle would have less personnel for example. The Chinese ACV version in the article was equipped with five Model A-220 short wave/FM radios, one Model 714B back pack radio and one Model 339 message machine.

The Model 80-II main battle tank was designed for export and is an improved Model 69-II. The state of the Chinese armoured industry during this period with the time it took to develop a simple upgrade. Started in as project 8503 its development was not finalised until December 1990 when M1A1(HA) Abrams and Challenger 2 main battle tanks were about to blast apart the Iraqi Army’s armoured forces especially any Chinese vehicle they encountered. They were obsolete from the moment they were ready for production but the design was further developed into the Model 59D main battle tank.

The combat weight is 38.5 tons and has a crew of four. The vehicle is 9.336m long, 3.372m wide and 2.29m high not including the 12.7mm cupola mounted machine gun. Its diesel engine is capable of 535kW and has a torque of 80 kP. The vehicle has a maximum road speed of 57km/hr and a maximum range of 500km. The 105mm main gun is a copy of the British L7/US M68 and there are 44 rounds available. The co-axial 7.62mm machine gun has 2,250 rounds available and the 12.7mm AA machine gun 500 rounds.

With the PLA moving to an all arms mechanised force and reorganising its forces to perform independent action at the operational level, training has become more sophisticated with joint operational planning required as well as training areas to allow for the PLA’s emphasis on ‘informationalised warfare’. Combined arms training requires large instrumented exercise areas and in the past few years the PLA has invested considerable resources in developing new combat ranges and training centres to develop and train its forces for modern joint operations. Based on the instrumented US United States Army’s National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, the PLA hopes to create a force capable of engaging and defeating enemy forces on the periphery as well as offensive operations against Taiwan.

The NTC has from its beginning had a dedicated opposing forces unit to act as the enemy equipped with dedicated OPFOR forces and equipment to train the US Army against Soviet forces. The United States military incorporates ‘Red Teams’ into its planning and crisis-decision planning process to look at possible counters to their actions and incorporate changes before they could become a reality. Opposing forces training had three benefits: it adds realism not found it set- piece scenarios; this realism, which takes the form of changing battlefield conditions, causes commanders to use initiative to accomplish their missions; and thirdly, it exposes troops to new tactics, theoretically the tactics of a potential enemy.

The PLA adopted the idea creating its first OPFOR unit in the Nanjing Military Region (MR) in the 1980s and provided OPFOR personnel for other military regions. 84 established a large simulation centre in Beijing. The Shenyang MR has a site for tactical logistics simulation training system where two divisions can practice information warfare exercises. Generally in the PLA, OPFOR units are referred to as ‘confrontational’ (duikang xing) or ‘blue’ (lanse) forces. The Shenyang MR contains a large sized OPFOR unit to enable exercises at the ‘higher levels’, with the Nanjing MR high technology OPFOR unit is known as the ‘Black Panther Unit’ (hei bao bu dui). Like the NTC the PLA has visually modified some of their armored vehicles, the early ones including the Type 62 light tank visually modified (VISMOD) to represent the US M48 medium tank. Chinese media reports on recent exercises have shown OPFOR units honing their skills and the units they face all over China. These range from special forces attacks on high value targets to anti-invasion techniques in the recent Peace Mission 2005 exercise with Russian military forces. The latter was more for show as mechanised forces overrun airborne forces if in the area and will decimate a beach head if given the opportunity.

The PLA has created a divisional land forces training areas similar to Ford Polk using technology developed by the Nanjing Research Institute on Simulation Technique (NRIST). Called the digital directional (asset tracking) system, it utilises GPS tracking, audio-visual frequency compression and digital communication techniques, and could be used as a battle management system. This shows that the Chinese military is serious in having its forces to operate seamlessly in joint operations.

The PLA, like the late Soviet army, keeps the majority of its equipment in store for use in war, utilising earlier versions and small amounts of more recent equipment in training. Although this ensures new equipment in times of mobilisation it leads to problems of personnel not being trained on the equipment issued on mobilisation and equipment breakdowns due to poorly kept batteries, hydraulic fluids and deteriorated fan belts if not stored correctly,. This happened prior to Russian attack on Grozny invasion of Chechnya in late December 1994. The mass movement of military equipment and working the equipment up, such as bore sighting tank guns, alerts an opponent to a mobilisation.

To enable advanced joint counter-terrorist training the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Regional Anti-Terror Training School in the Midong New District in the capital, Urumqi started construction in August 2005. The first phase, planned to be completed in mid-2010 at a cost of 700 Million RMB, will be used by regional police forces to research and develop methods to defeat separatists. Covering 367 hectares it will include facilities for advanced driving training and anti-hijacking training of aircraft and trains.

The question is does the PLA forces learn from battles with OPFOR units or are they more for developing new tactics, than training units for combat. The PLA certainly evaluates foreign militaries translating their documents and foreign military journals, having a whole unit used in that role. Foreign officers are sent to study overseas as well as reports from defense attaches and visitors to military conferences, seminars and exhibitions. The mind set however may be different. Can a schooling system, that prides itself on rote learning, and not learning how to judge, challenge and think, produce a force agile enough in thinking to perform in a modern high speed war. Can the PLA produce commanders that can think inside an opponent’s decision cycle?

The PLA has been expending considerable resources to improve their command and control systems. To test the systems out the PLA recently conducted a major joint command and control exercise linking units from the centre linking units from the Beijing, Guangzhou, Shengyang and Chengdu military regions. The headquarters is being run from the Guangzhou MR headquarters ‘to work out the deployment and cooperation between the Army, Navy and Air Force when "separated by hundreds of kilometres’ in the Guangzhou region. Another article noted about this exercise that: ‘To ensure the joint training command is up to speed, various arms and services and various units are linked to each other via networks with their equipment capable of effective coordinated operation.? Based on the principle of ‘integrating military with locality and field locations with fixed locations’, they set up multiple sets of fiber-optics transmission systems and use the method of integrated platforms, integrated networks, and integrated applications to connect the major command systems in the cooperation zone, thus ensuring that commanders at all levels are able to transmit and receive telegrams, data, and images real-time at their levels of command. By using uniform interface, upgrading and designing software, and adopting uniform technical specifications, they integrated their existing equipment and information resources and built a complete set of field electronics information networks, thus realizing interconnection of different information equipment and information systems and effectively raising the quality of joint training.’

The importance of training the C2 systems in the Guangzhou MR cannot be underestimated as the headquarters responsible for the South China Sea and Taiwan. On operations it is imperative that everyone uses the same procedures and commands and the exercise showed that the different commands were not using the same standard operating procedures. Hu Jintao and the Central Military Commission have reinforced the need for standard operating procedures and called for all headquarters units to read and adopt the new regulations for operating headquarters units. This exercise exposed flaws which artificial command post exercises of the past did not. The enemy was not allowed to win and cause problems for the losing staff’s promotion prospects. Peace Mission 2005 held with the Russians last year was so stage managed that it lost any relevance for operational training except for the TU-95MS cruise missile carriers, and continuation training of airdropping procedures.

With the PLA starting to develop their own version of the 1980s Soviet Operational Manoeuvre Groups and the US Army’s mechanised and armoured divisions in Desert Strom, training in command and control and battle management systems will be intensified. The structure of the PLA’s new self-propelled gun (SPG) battalion, itself a copy of the US Army’s Paladin SPG battalion, is a portent of the increasing reliance on automated systems fire control systems linked in with signals intelligence and unmanned air vehicles. This will require more specialist training and either extending the contract time and an ever increasing reliance on volunteers, increasing the wage bill accordingly. The PLA has yet to decide how it will keep the personnel it has invested its training expenditure on in an ever increasing market driven economy wanting people with those same skills. Many Chinese appear to still believe the old adage, Haotie bu zading, haozi bu dangbing, ‘Good iron is not used to make nails, good sons should not become soldiers.

Wo Pengyoumen Zai Jian!

Contributed by Martin Andrew on July 22, 2006 at 08:33 AM in Martin Andrew | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 28 June 2006
 

Who Are We?
Contributed by Bill Faith

It all started with an email from Russ Vaughn, which I posted here. That set off a flurry of emails which led to the creation of this site. I'll let Russ explain more:

Through the magic of the blogosphere it is becoming increasingly evident that there are a lot of old dogs out there mastering the new tricks of this 21st Century phenomenon. While some are technically skilled enough to create their own sites, like your host Bill Faith, far more fall into my category: those who tenaciously hunt and peck out their opinions on war, society and life in general, and have only the basic computer skills requisite to sending those opinions into the ether of this wonderful thing called the Internet.

Old War Dogs is a site designed for these old dogs to practice their new tricks without having to compete with the fluid skills of younger, more technically savvy bloggers. While we may be too old to carry a gun in the ranks, we can still pound these keys. Mao’s dictum that political power flows from the barrel of a gun, while true, predates the blogosphere; and this old dog bets the Chairman would be truly stunned at the power that flows from the keyboard.

Blog on you old mutts!

	Ron is entitled to wear stars and numerals indicating multiple awards of several of the ribbons shown. The webmaster has so far been unable to obtain suitable artwork. Sgt (E-5) Winter, Ronald United States Marine Corps 1966 - 1970
	See all of Ron's Old War Dog posts in one place here.

Ronald Winter is an author, public relations executive, college professor and award winning journalist. He regularly writes and speaks on matters of public interest including the military, politics and the Vietnam War particularly as it relates to the ongoing War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq. Ron is author of the book Masters of the Art, A Fighting Marine’s Memoir of Vietnam published by Random House, and regularly posts commentary on war and politics in his column Winter's Soldier Story at his website www.RonaldWinterbooks.com. He grew up in the farming country of upstate New York near Albany where he gave up an academic scholarship at the State University there in 1966 to join the Marines and fight in Vietnam. Ron was a helicopter crewman and machine gunner, flying 300 combat missions. After Vietnam he returned to his studies earning undergraduate degrees in Electrical Engineering and English Literature. In a two-decade journalism career that included stints as investigative reporter, supervising editor and columnist, Ron was the recipient of several awards and a Pulitzer nomination.  He owns Spectre Communications where he specializes in marketing, media relations and political communications. He also is the Eastern Representative for Michael J. London & Associates public relations firm. Ron is an adjunct professor of communication at the University of Hartford.

	SP/4 Mellinger, George M. U. S. Army 1969-1970 Viet Nam October 1969-October 1970 39 Engineer Bn, 18 Engineer Brigade Texas Army National Guard 1971-1972
	See all of George's Old War Dogs posts in one place here.

George Mellinger received a BA in Psychology in 1968 and began graduate school, but enlisted in the Army in 1969 as the one acceptable way to avoid the draft. His primary MOS was 12B20 Combat Engineer, but in Vietnam he served as battalion Kit Carson Scout handler and then as a line squad member, before being REMFed back to the company motor pool. After ETS, he worked for the Veterans Administration for seven years before returning to school to study history. He also volunteered for a year in the Texas Army National Guard. As a history student he specialized in Russian History, in which he is ABD, and also studied Early Islamic History; all his degrees are from the University of Minnesota. He has taught at university level, and is the editor/author of two academic volumes on the Soviet armed forces and the author of four (and counting) commercial books on Soviet Aviation history.  He continues to follow military matters, particularly Russian/ex-Soviet, and hopes to die “on duty” at his keyboard. He is also hated on the web under the screen name Rurik. Rurik has been a frequent contributor to Small Town Veteran, where he introduced himself to STV readers with this post. Click here to see the entire STV Rurik collection. George has resigned from Old War Dogs effective 2007.01.21 and now posts at Veteran-American Voices.

	SGT (E-5) Krupienski, Robert U.S Army 1961-1964, 1964-1967
	See all of Bob's Old War Dogs posts in one place here.

Bob spent 6 years on active duty with the Army starting in February of 1961, taking his basic at Ft Leonard Wood, Missouri. They had wooden barracks and coal burning furnaces for heat and hot water back then. From there he went to a Nike Missile base northwest of Cincinnati (D Btry, 5th Msl Bn, 56th Arty, Oxford, Ohio). That was his duty station for his first enlistment, which ended in February of 1964. After Bob was discharged he bummed around the country for a while with no real plans for the future, then re-enlisted in late 1964. Upon re-enlistment Bob was assigned to Brooke Medical Center for Med Records training. During his training he learned that his father was terminally ill so he requested a compassionate assignment to the Chicago area. The request was taking forever. Finally, his brother got hold of a powerful Chicago Alderman and within days Bob was at his duty assignment at the 5th Army HQ in Chicago, at 51st and Hyde Park near the Museum of Science and Industry. He was there about a year. From there Bob went to Korat, Thailand and was assigned to the 31st Field Hospital which was part of the 9th Logistics Command. As the end of he assignment came near I requested and got a 6 month extension . That put him back in the states with less than 3 months to go so he got an early out. Bob is currently working for a engineering firm in downtown Chicago. He has been with them for 30 years and spent 25 of those years at job sites during construction. They are in the power industry. Bob tells me: I am sure I am not the only one who, as we reach our twilight years, has found the need to re-connect with people from out military days. The need became stronger for me beginning March of 2007. I, and around 30,000 other vets and supporters went to DC to keep Hanoi Jane and her followers away from the Vietnam War Memorial. I met a lot of vets there but none from my old units. That was also the time I decided to join the Patriot Guard Riders. Yep, even at my age I ride a motorcycle.

	SSGT King, Lloyd A. U.S Army 1967-1973, 1986-1992 1st Squad, 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division Airmobile Republic of South Vietnam, 1968 - 1969
	See all of Lloyd's Old War Dogs posts in one place here.

Lloyd A. King, Jr. was born in the rural town of Batavia in western New York State.  Lloyd graduated high school in Sweetwater, Texas and attended college at Philadelphia College of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania majoring in Industrial Design with a minor in Fine Arts. Lloyd's many aspirations were put on hold in 1967 during the Vietnam War when he was drafted into the U.S. Army.  Lloyd served as a non-commissioned officer in the infantry with the 101st Airborne Division-Airmobile during 1968 and 1969, the two worst years of the war. Following Vietnam, Lloyd worked in the Oil and Gas Industry for twenty-eight years retiring as a Director of Safety and Training.  In conjunction with his notable career, he lived in nine states and traveled to numerous foreign countries.  He and his wife live in Lafayette, Louisiana, which he refers to as his adoptive Cajun hometown.  Lloyd began delving into the world of creative writing as a combat infantry soldier in 1968.  He penned his emotions, experiences, and the sights and sounds of war in the form of poetic vignettes while in the jungles of South Vietnam.  He described the things he couldn’t tell his family back home. Thirty years after surviving Vietnam, Lloyd decided to tell his family about his experiences, but he couldn’t verbalize events that still haunt him today like the rage of a fierce thunderstorm.  On July 28, 1998, he began a literary mission to tell others what the war was like…hoping that his family and friends would understand the war and better understand Lloyd as well. Lloyd considers himself very blessed to be alive.  Wounded twice, he experienced many of life’s terrible adversities firsthand…and somehow survived.  Through seeing death, fear, killing, and atrocity, he learned about his own mental and physical capabilities and limitations. (Click here to read more.) Lloyd has resigned from the Old War Dogs pack effective 2008.02.28

	Gene is entitled to wear 2 Oak Leaf Clusters on his Presidential Unit Citation and two stars on his Europe/Africa/ Middle East Campaign Ribbon. The webmaster has so far been unable to locate suitable artwork.  Sgt. Harrison, Gene Hq 1st Bn 254 Inf 63 Div United States Army "Death before Defeat"
	See all of Gene's Old War Dogs posts in one place here.

"Gene Harrison" is the nom de guerre of a WW II veteran who served in Europe with Hq 1st Bn, 254th Inf, 63rd Infantry Division from Aug 1943 to June 1945, and then with SHAEF until April 1946. His regiment was attached to the First French Army for the Colmar campaign.  He and his battalion were awarded the Croix de Guerre by General Charles de Gaulle. The 63rd made the first break in the Siegfried Line near Ensheim Germany, where Sgt Harrison received a Bronze Star for gallantry in action on March 19, 1945. When the war in Europe ended, a chance meeting of an old friend resulted in his transfer to SHAEF Signal Corps, where he served with General George S. Patton, Jr., until Patton’s death in December 1945. On his return to Com Z he used the GI bill to train up through the PhD. That degree opened various faculty appointments in several Ivy League universities. His CV boasts more than 100 publications, including original work in peer-reviewed journals and several widely quoted books. He is, without question, a blot on the “liberal,” academic landscape.

	GMG3 Gardner, Steven M. U. S. Navy Feb. 1965 to Feb. 1971 Vietnam Service: 1966-1967 Cam Ranh Bay, 1968 – 1969 An Toi , Cat Lo, Vung Tau    "Other than 3months in GMG A school and 4 months aboard the USS Nereus AS-17 the rest of my time was spent in the Republic of Vietnam aboard  Three different divisions of Coastal Squadron 1."
	See all of Steve's Old War Dog posts in one place here.

Steve Gardner, known in some circles as "the tenth brother," served in the U. S. Navy from 1965 to 1971, spending almost the entire time patrolling the rivers and canals of Viet Nam as a swift boat crewman, including 2.5 months as John Kerry's gunner on PCF 44. He came home to raise 3 loving children and 4 loving grandchildren, whom he visits as often as he can get to Cincinnati. He worked and ran boat dealerships in three different states prior to the Kerry wars, after which he spent two years out of work; the company he's now with hired him knowing all about his background and he now covers three states and loves what he's doing.

	SSgt (E-5) Faith, Billy D. USAF 1970 - 1974, USAFR 1974-1975 Viet Nam, 1971-1972 (14th, 8th Aerial Port SQs, PACAF)
	See all of Bill's Old War Dogs posts in one place here.

In the spring of '70, with American troops in Cambodia, National Guardsmen at Kent State and hundreds of long haired smelly people running around with "If you aren't part of the solution you're part of the problem" signs Bill Faith decided college just didn't seem "relevant" any more and enlisted in the Air Force. After training and a few months at Kelly AFB to practice what he'd been taught, Bill arrived at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base in November of '71 for six months of shuffling papers around trying to look busy. When the air base was shut down as a result of Congressionally mandated troop cuts right in the middle of the NVA's spring offensive, Bill was reassigned to Ton Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon for 90 days Delay Enroute on the way home. Tired of shuffling papers, he volunteered at that point for the 8th Aerial Port Squadron's Mobility (Bare Base) Team and got an opportunity to do some site-seeing in such beautiful exotic places as Cam Ranh Bay (where the Mob team was the only Air Force presence; the base was shut down, remember?), Qui Nhon (likewise) and Kontum (where there'd never been a real air base to begin with). The highlight of Bill's Viet Nam experience was not dying at Kontum. After Viet Nam, Bill spent several boring months looking busy at Bergstrom AFB waiting for his ETS date. When he returned to civilian life the GI Bill made it possible for Bill to spend two years at the University of Texas, earning a BSEE with Highest Honors degree in 1976, and later an MEEE degree from UT Arlington. After stints with Motorola in Fort Worth, Emerson Electric in St. Louis, and Rockwell International in Cedar Rapids, Bill was given an opportunity to "explore his interests in other areas" when Defense Secretary Cheney told Congress it would be OK to cut the defense budget a little and Congress overreacted. After a few months of odd jobs and freelance computer programming Bill settled into a technical support role, first spending 8 months answering a Microsoft telephone and later at an "outsourcing" contractor which provided technical support for several major PC and peripheral manufacturers. When Bill's health problems became worse about the same time someone realized Indians can answer email and some Canadians sound American enough to answer the phone, Bill entered early retirement. The VA considers Bill "Totally and Permanently Disabled" (non-Service Connected) and sends him just barely enough money to survive on every month. To the extent his health permits, between occasional trips to Ft. Worth to visit his daughter and grandson he spends the bulk of his time surfing the web and blogging. Prior to becoming webmaster for Old War Dogs, Bill blogged at Small Town Veteran, and before that at In Bill's World. *** Update: Bill is also now blogging at an OWD satellite site, Bill's Bites.

	Sgt Dog, Gray USAF 1970 – 1974, USAFR 1974 – 1976 5008th Tactical Support Squadron, Elmendorf AFB, AK 3902nd Air Base Wing, SAC HQ, Offutt AFB, NE
	See all of The Gray Dog's Old War Dogs posts in one place here.

The Gray Dog was born in West Virginia but grew up in the Detroit area.  After graduating high school in 1969 with a student deferment in hand, he entered Wayne State University as a Music Major.  After a sudden illness in his second semester forced him to withdraw from classes, the Selective Service saw fit to reclassify him 1A.  With a low lottery number and a new draft status, Mike decided to be proactive and enlist in the Air Force in July 1970.  His hopes of becoming an Air Traffic Controller were dashed when he didn’t pass the vision test, thus the Air Force armed him computer training and shipped him off to Alaska. At Elmendorf AFB all newly arrived airmen were assigned to a Security Police Augmentee Team. So when he wasn’t defending the country from behind a computer console, The Gray Dog was issued an M16 and walked guard duty during the long Alaskan nights.  Two years later he was reassigned to SAC HQ at Offutt AFB, NE.  There, he was an Operations Supervisor assigned to the 3902 Air Base Wing. After leaving the Air Force, The Gray Dog remained in the computer industry as a mainframe software developer which he still does today, making him a dinosaur in the industry. In 2004, with the maniacal rants Michael Moore and John Kerry proliferating through the air waves, The Gray Dog decided to add his voice to the conservative blogs that were springing up throughout the country by starting his web site and assisting and contributing to his son’s site, IHateJohnKerry.net.  He  also was a contributor at Reject Liberalism and it was also during this time that he began regular correspondence with Old War Dog Jim Bartimus.    The Gray Dog and Jim became fast electronic pen-pals and contributed frequently at each others site.  The Gray Dog has recently resurrected his own fine site, The Gray Dog

	Del is entitled to wear a V for Valor device on his Navy Commendation Ribbon. The webmaster has so far been unable to locate suitable artwork. Cpl. Del Vecchio, R. J. U.S. Marine Corps 1966 - 1968
	See all of Del's Old War Dogs posts in one place here.

When R. J. Del Vecchio entered the Marines in 1966 the Marine Corps decided to make use of his BS and MS in chemistry and assigned him to a Photography MOS. He spent from Dec '67 to Nov '68 in Viet Nam, working as a Combat Photographer for the 1st Marine Division, based in Da Nang, and traveled over most of I Corps, from An Hoa in the southern tip to Hue most of the way north. Many of his photographs are in the National Archives, College Park, MD. After his service in Vietnam, Del continued working in the field of chemistry and became a pro-veteran activist using his experience and knowledge of the conflict in SE Asia. His book, Whitewash/Blackwash: Myths of the Viet Nam War, co-authored with Mr. Bill Laurie, explodes many of the major myths of the Vietnam War. Now active in veteran circles, also Director of a charity for disabled ARVN vets suffering still in Viet Nam, been back there twice in the last 15 months to find and help them. He is also a regular lecturer in high schools and colleges on the history of the war. Learn more about Whitewash/Blackwash, including ordering information, here. Learn more about The Vietnam Healing Foundation, which Del directs, here. Click here and here while you're at it.

	MSgt (E-7) Craig, Bobbie USANG 1973-1976, 1982-2004 Desert Shield, Desert Storm 1990-1991 Various periods of Active Duty 1973-2004
	See all of Bobbie's Old War Dogs posts in one place here.

("Bobbie Craig" is the nom de blog of a retired Air National Guard NCO who prefers to keep her real identity secret for reasons the webmaster knows and considers perfectly valid.) As the daughter of a career Army man, it was a family joke that whatever "Bobbie" grew up to be, it would be in the Army. Years later, Bobbie was expecting to pursue a career in federal law enforcement and found that the competition usually included military police experience. In order to keep up, in spite of the fact that we were in the midst of a serious conflict in a little place called Viet Nam, Bobbie tried to enlist, but insisted that it would be for military police training. The Air National Guard finally called and said that they could guarantee her a slot in that career field. So, it was off to Lackland for basic and SP training in 1973. That was the beginning of a very satisfying career with the ANG, to include interesting trips to some fascinating places in a wide variety of assignments. Special memories for Bobbie include being one of the first 4 women to graduate from USAF Law Enforcement technical training (back in the day when women were not issued combat boots. Ever done the low crawl in regular shoes, guys?); packing C-130's for deployment all over the world in support of every imaginable contingency; riding those hulking birds all over the world, wearing out 5 laptops doing load plans during Desert Storm, printing the final ones to get the units home with no screen; and getting to drive to DC on 9-12-01 to support operations there. After retirement in the spring of 2004 it was Bobbie's honor to stand with other veterans who opposed the lunacy of Kerry running for the presidency. That group continues operations in opposition to the Idiots for Peace as they work to undermine all the sacrifices we have made.

	CPT Briscoe, Shane U.S. Army, 1971-1976 2/34 Armor, Ft. Carson 4th Infantry Division Headquarters, Ft. Carson 1/77 Armor, Ft. Carson 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Nuremberg
	See all of Shane's Old War Dogs posts in one place here.

Shane Briscoe is the pseudonym (for purely business reasons) for a West Point graduate (Class of ’71) and former Army Captain who, though he signed up at the height of Vietnam, ended up missing combat altogether. The son of an Army officer (we call them “Brats”), Shane grew up on Army Posts around the world, from Germany to Hawaii and in between.  He sought nomination to West Point with the goal in mind of a military career, but such was not to be. “Vietnam changed the Army, and not for the better,” Shane says.  “Fighting a war with one hand tied behind your back and no strategy for clear victory will do that to any army.  Having said that, I thank my West Point classmates and everyone else who stayed in and fixed things so that we have the professional, dedicated, lethally effective force we have today.” Commissioned an Armor officer, Shane served as a Platoon Leader and Executive Officer in two Fort Carson tank units and later at 4th Infantry Division Headquarters as a Public Affairs and Information Officer (“I was setting myself up for civilian employment”) before being posted to Germany in 1974.  “My Dad always told me volunteering was bad luck, but I wanted a short tour so I could be in the United States to find a civilian job when my commitment expired in 1976; I volunteered for Vietnam first, and then Korea.  They told me, ‘Lieutenant, you’re on orders for Germany,’ and that was that.” Shane was assigned to the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, the oldest regiment on continuous active service in the U.S. Army.  Its mission at the time:  Patrol the southern sector of the East German Border, along with the Czech Border as the very frontline NATO force.  "In other words, we were the tripwire tasked with delaying the Warsaw Pact until our heavy divisions could organize.  Gen. Tommy Franks of Iraq War fame was a fellow regimental staff officer." Leaving the military in June 1976, Shane went into corporate public affairs, serving first as speechwriter for the chairman of a major utility company before finding his true calling in the oil business in 1980.  He now works as a senior executive with an international oil and gas company headquartered in Houston. “There is nothing more important than fighting and winning the War on Terror,” Shane believes.  “This is World War III and the stakes are every bit as high as in World War II, the American Civil War and our Revolution.  The rest of the world is too decadent and too socialist (same thing) to recognize it, but this war is also a fundamental clash of civilizations—the modern, Judeo-Christian, human-justice forces of Western Civilization against barbarians, pseudo-religious zealots stuck in the Middle Ages with no morals and, more important, no restrictions on their behavior.  Winning this war, and winning it decisively, is the only option.  It is the challenge of our age and a life or death struggle for our way of life.” Shane also has his own blog at AyesRight.

	Karl is entitled to wear an Oak Leaf Cluster on his Air Force Commendation Medal, 3 bronze stars (instead of the one shown) on his Vietnam Service Medal, and 4 Oak Leaf Clusters on his Air Force Service Longevity Medal. The webmaster has so far been unable to locate suitable artwork.  LTC (Ret.) Bossi, Karl R. Enlisted, U.S. Air Force Reserve 1959 – 1962 (94th Troop Carrier Wing - Hanscom AFB, Bedford, MA) Officer, U.S. Air Force 1962 – 1982 (Japan, Vietnam, Spain, Turkey, U.S.)
	See all of Karl's Old War Dogs posts in one place here.

The youngest of three brothers, Karl Bossi was born and raised in Boston in the predominantly Irish section of Dorchester, a few years prior to the start of World War II. His brothers served in the USAF but Bossi chose to make the military a career. He could never know that the C-119 flying boxcars he supported as an airman would one day fly combat missions as AC-119 Gunships from his base in Vietnam. As a nuclear weapons/conventional weapons maintenance officer and later an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officer, Bossi worked in various squadron-level and staff assignments. He managed nuclear and conventional weapons operations, performed operational testing of new weapons, led a munitions squadron in Spain, advised the Turkish Air Force, and directed nuclear weapons stockpile activities. In 1968 after graduating from the Navy EOD School in Indian Head, MD, Bossi volunteered for Vietnam and was assigned to the 14th Special Operations Wing at Nha Trang Air Base. As the officer in charge of the EOD Team he gained first-hand knowledge of Viet Cong bombs, bullets, and booby traps. In 1982 Bossi retired at Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, New Mexico as the Chief, Maintenance and Quality Assurance Division, Field Command Defense Nuclear Agency. He landed a position there as an aerospace logistic engineer at Sperry Flight Systems, later Honeywell Defense Avionics Systems Division. Over the next 15 years Bossi contributed to many key defense avionics programs involving the B-1B bomber, OH-58D helicopter, F-117 stealth fighter and C-17 transport aircraft. Bossi holds graduate degrees in counseling and guidance and procurement management and is a published writer and author of a 5-star memoir, entitled Just Call Me Moose. Bossi's articles with photos have appeared in the Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque Tribune, Albuquerque Business Journal, New Mexico Magazine and the nationally syndicated Country Woman Magazine. Learning conservative principles started early for him. Fifty years ago as the Editor of the Yearbook at Boston Technical High School, Bossi ended the prologue with these words: “May God grant us strength to surmount the obstacles which lie ahead in a world made difficult by conflicting philosophies and aggressive governments.” Today every American must fully grasp the consequences of failing to win the war on terrorism. The Old War Dogs who launched this website understand. Karl has announced his resignation from the Old War Dogs site effective 2006.10.22.

	SP/4 Bartimus, James R. U.S. Army 1970-1973 Vietnam June 71-March 72 102nd Engr Co. 815th Engr Bn Camp Dillard Co E, 1st Engr Bn, 1st Inf Div Ft. Riley, Ks.
	See all of Jim's Old War Dogs posts in one place here.

Jim Bartimus was born and raised on a farm in the hills of Illinois. He enlisted in the Army during his junior year in high school. He was trained as a crawler tractor operator (62E20) with the combat engineers at Ft Leonard Wood. From there he went to NCO schooling for senior operators and was deployed to Viet Nam in 1971 as a SP/5 with the 102nd Engineers CS at Camp Dillard in the central highlands near Da Lat. The mission at hand was to build QL-20, a main corridor to the southern part of the country. This was a full circle operation with rock crushers, asphalt plant and an off compound rock quarry. The sergeant running the drilling and blast crew in the quarry rotated out and Jim replaced him after learning the tricks of the trade. He received his hard stripe E-5 ranking with an MOS for quarrymen (62G30) and also did the EOD work when required. Using time delay caps on 200 shot patterns with between 2000 and 3000 lb of TNT you can pretty much pile the rock anywhere you want it, and we were good at it. Those three steps are still in the side of that hill and will be forever. The 102nd was slated to stand down in 72 and some of the upper echelon changes didn’t seem to agree with those that were working off compound in the real war zone. (long story).  JB got demoted to SP/4 and was replaced with an E-6 and continued with his work in the quarry. The day he held that badly wounded mans (Sgt Roher’s) head in his lap shielding his eyes from the sun will never be forgotten. He ran a track drill over a booby-trapped 81mm mortar round that was meant for me. We also lost the life of an old papasan that day that was very dear to me. I will never forget the Vietnamese friends that I had over there and the compassion we had for them. They weren't all the enemy. Jim rotated back to Ft. Riley Kansas in March of 72 after the 102nd stood down and was assigned to Co E 1st Engr Bn 1st Inf Div, which was a floating bridge unit. After leaving the military Jim returned to Illinois and married a nice Irish girl, and worked as a mechanic in the automotive and the trucking industry. He accepted a position in Texas doing engine (irrigation) rebuilds & machine work and spent 12 years working there and raising their son in a good environment. JB is back in Illinois now and works for one of the largest independent oil field operators working the Illinois basin. His current job is process management and control stuff and taking care of the onsite 3 Megawatt power generation facilities and doing computer work and web authoring after hours for entertainment. Jim is also the proprietor of the fine Fractured Fairy Tales site.

	Capt. (O-6) Bailey, Larry U.S. Navy 1962-1990
	See all of Larry's Old War Dogs posts in one place here.

A native of East Texas, where he graduated from Marshall High School and Stephen F. Austin State College, Larry Bailey was raised on a dairy farm, where he milked an estimated 300,000 Holsteins and Jerseys. Upon graduation from college, he went to Navy Officer Candidate School and was commissioned an ensign in 1962.  After a less-than-stellar eight months as a destroyer sailor, he volunteered for Underwater Demolition Training at Little Creek, Virginia, and graduated therefrom in January 1964.  After spending a year at UDT-22, he transferred to SEAL Team TWO, where he spent the next three years.  Among his deployments at that command were combat tours to the Dominican Republic and Viet Nam. Larry's 27-year Navy career saw him stationed in Panama, Bolivia, Scotland, the Philippines, and Viet Nam, in addition to various stateside postings, which included Little Creek, VA; Coronado, CA; and Ft. Bragg, NC.  He commanded Naval Special Warfare Unit TWO in Machrihanish, Scotland, and Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado.  He retired from the US Special Operations Command in 1990. Since retirement, Larry has worked as a consultant, speechwriter, fundraiser, and general gad-about.  His most notable activities included presiding over Vietnam Vets for the Truth, which campaigned against John Kerry in 2004, and over Vets for the Truth, which unsuccessfully tried to deny John Murtha a 17th term in Congress. Larry and his wife Judy are the parents of two adult children: Tucker and Hallie.

	Arch is entitled to wear an Oak Leaf Cluster on his Distinguished Flying Cross and 10 Oak Leaf Clusters on his Air Medal. The webmaster has so far been unable to locate suitable artwork. Major Arthur, Arch U.S. Air Force 1967-1987
	See all of Arch's Old War Dogs posts in one place here.

Arch Arthur was born in Birmingham, Alabama – the son of an infantry lieutenant who was wounded in Normandy, and again on the first day of the Battle of the Bulge, then gave his life for his country in April 1945. Two years later, Arch's mother married a career naval officer who spent WWII island-hopping the Pacific as a Seabee. His family moved from Gulfport to Guam, Washington DC, Boston, New York and Norfolk. Arch attended public schools and two military academies, graduating from high school in Newport RI. He earned a BA in Asian Studies at the University of Oklahoma and married Judith Kennedy – the daughter of a retired artillery officer. In 1967, 2LT Arthur graduated USAF officer training school. He attended undergraduate navigator training and the F4 aircrew training course before volunteering for South East Asia. He was assigned to Homestead AFB, FL. In 1971 while TDY to Phu Cat, he got orders to the 366 Tactical Fighter Wing at DaNang AB, RVN. During his tour, he flew 164 ½ combat missions. During the 1972 Eastertide Offensive Arch flew Linebacker and strike missions. As a Stormy Forward Air Controller, he and Cisco, his aircraft commander, made 7 passes on a SA-2 site the North Vietnamese set up just south of the DMZ. A site across the border fired five missiles; they saw three. The fourth detonated just below their aircraft. Both engines caught fire and stuck in full afterburner. Flight controls failed crossing the beach and the nose pitched up. As the aircraft slowed to 450 knots, they both ejected and parasailed about 1 Km feet wet. NVA artillery shot at their rafts for half an hour until HH-53s from the 33 ARRS rescued them. After recuperating for 10 days, he returned to Stormy. After Vietnam, he was assigned to 58 TTW at Luke AFB, teaching aircrews to operate the F4C. In 1975, he moved to Clark AB, Philippines in an operational test and evaluation unit – the 1st Test Squadron. In 1978 he served in the 4th TFW at Seymour-Johnson AFB, NC. After 13 years in the cockpit, he accepted an overseas assignment as a US military-political affairs officer in Central America. Returning to CONUS in 1981 with three overseas tours, he finished his career as a staff officer in Air Defense Weapons Center at Tyndall AFB, FL. From concept to operational status, Arthur was responsible for three major range improvement programs – formation drone control, vector scoring and telemetry relay. Before retiring in 1987, Major Arthur had earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism and another for extraordinary achievement, the Purple Heart, the Air Medal with 11 oak leaf clusters and other citations. He held aeronautical rating of Master Navigator and a Top Secret SBI clearance. After retiring from the Air Force, Mr. Arthur accepted an executive position with LTV Aerospace and Defense – Missiles and Electronics Group/Sierra Research Division in Buffalo, NY. At Sierra, he was program manager and product line manager of avionics with full profit-loss, orders, sales and performance responsibility for $100 M in active US DoD, foreign military and commercial contracts. In 1999, he was promoted to director of business development, marketing wideband time space position information technology. In 2004, Arch accepted early retirement and founded his own defense electronics firm. In December 2006, he moved from Buffalo to a rural town south of Birmingham.

(Unit patches pending)	OST-6 "Antimedia" U.S. Navy 1968-1974
	See all of Antimedia's Old War Dogs posts in one place here.

Antimedia served in SOSUS, which was secret but has now been declassified.  His entire service was shore-based - one year and three months in training, two years and nine months in Cape Hatteras, NC and two years in Newfoundland, Canada. Antimedia also has a great blog of his own, Media Lies.

	Sgt. Andrew, Martin Royal Australian Air Force, 1977-2005 International Military Liaison Darwin October 1999 – July 2000 RMAF Base Butterworth July 1982 – November 1984
	See all of Martin's Old War Dogs posts in one place here.

Martin Andrew is an Aussie ring in.  Best known for his GI Zhou Newsletter and his contributions to the Jamestown Foundation's China Brief he spent 28 years in the Royal Australian Air force rising to the rank of Sergeant.   A dedicated REMF or Pogue, postings during his career included Malaysia where he received an Australian Service Medal for liver abuse and getting married, and eleven and half years in the Northern Territory. The highlight of his career was being an International Military Liaison Officer from October 1999 to July 2000 in Darwin, during Australia's involvement in East Timor the first time.  He worked as a liaison officer with elements from various forces including the Jordanian Special Forces, South Korean Rangers, Irish Rangers, Canadian Defence Force and the Fijian Defence Force. Martin holds a Masters Degree in Asian Studies and has been to Harvard University as a Research Affiliate on North Asia.  His contributions will be in the area of North Asia, modern weaponry notably infantry weapons ,and modern warfare.  He was trained in many small arms during soujourns to Fabrique Nationale and Heckler and Koch in the 1980s and travelled extensivelly around East Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei from 1991 to 2003 collecting much information about the region for his university research.  He looks forward to contributing to the Old War Dogs but acknowledges he is a pup - he owns a half Staffordshire Terrier/half Australian Red Heeler who is his best friend and companion. Martin Andrew has resigned from the Old War Dogs site effective 23 Nov 2006.

	Gary is entitled to wear 3 Oak Leaf Clusters on his Air Medal, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze OLC on his Air Force Good Conduct Medal, 2 OLCs on his Army Good Conduct Medal, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze OLC on his Air Force Longevity Medal and 3 OLCs on his Outstanding Unit Award ribbon. The webmaster has so far been unable to locate suitable artwork. SMSGT Adams, Gary ("Boomer") U.S. Air Force 1956-1986
	See all of Boomer's Old War Dogs posts in one place here.

Gary was born and raised in Ashland, Wisconsin, on the shore of Lake Superior (some call it Gitcheegumee). He enlisted on June 12, 1956 upon graduation from high school.  Basic training was at Parks AFB, Pleasanton, CA and was one of the very last classes before the base was closed and all basic training moved to Lackland AFB, TX.  Gary's first assignment was to be Itazuke AB, Japan.  He departed Oakland by ship (MSTS M.M. Patrick) and spent 17 days, three days in a typhoon, enroute to Yokohama, Japan.  At Tachikawa his assignment was changed to Kadena AB, Okinawa where he spent the next four years (Dec 56 - Dec 60).  While there he met his Miss Okinawa in 1958 in the Airman's Club. Gary comments: "It took three months of trying to get her attention before she finally spoke to me and three more to get her to go on a movie date". They were married on March 16, 1959 and have one son (48), one daughter (46), eight grandchildren and one great-granddaughter who lives with them. Other assignments:  Fairchild AFB, Spokane, WA (Dec 60 - Sep 64), Pease AFB, Portsmouth, NH (Sep 64 - May 66), Ching Chuan Kang AB, Taichung, Taiwan (May 66 - Jun 67), Travis AFB, Fairfield, CA (Jun 67 - Dec 70), Grissom AFB, Peru, IN 9 (Dec 70 - May 72), a second tour at Kadena AB, Okinawa (May 72 - May 80) and finally Andersen AFB, Guam in May 1980 where SMSGT Adams assumed the position of his career as Chief Boomer, Pacific Tanker Task Force.  He retired on March 1, 1986. Gary logged 212 combat support missions (800+ hours) in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam conflict.  Notable historical events he participated in:  Frequent Wind (the withdrawal from Vietnam) - flew 12 hour communication relay sorties on the last two days, 29 and 30 April 1975. He also participated in 8 of the 11 days in December 1972 during Linebacker II when the B-52's conducted an intensive 11 day bombing of North Vietnam.  An unforgettable 11 days it was. After Gary retired he was hired by Pacific Stars & Stripes as the Guam Area Manager.  He held that position until he resigned in December 1989.  Gary is now 100% retired and stays home to take care of his many canine friends and play with his great-granddaughter who will someday be a pilot and take him for a space ride (she already loves airplanes).

Webmaster's note: This post may change as time goes on without being re-dated. I'm still looking for better pictures of some of the ribbons and badges, and the post will grow as we recruit more Old War Dogs.

Contributed by Bill Faith on June 28, 2006 at 07:25 AM in Anthony Pahl, Arch Arthur, Bill Faith, Bobbie Craig, Gene Harrison, George Mellinger, J D Pendry, Jim Bartimus, John "72nd TCS" Werntz, Karl Bossi, Larry Bailey, Lloyd A. King, Martin Andrew, Russ Vaughn, Shane Briscoe, Site Notes, Steve Gardner, The Gray Dog, TorqueJaw, William "1stCav" Page, Zero Ponsdorf | Permalink | Comments (31) | TrackBack