Welcome to the Llama Pit

Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone

  In honor of the upcoming HBO special “the Pacific”.  Semper Fi

Sunday, 25 1942 The Night A Marine Legend Was Born

Guadalcanal was a fierce clash of national wills. Bloodied and humiliated by the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, American armed forces were on the comeback trail less than six months after the debacle. At Guadalcanal, a disease infested island, two superb military organizations met each other for the first time in land combat—bayonet to bayonet—in a contest only one army could win.

The United States Marine’s were determined to keep their small foothold of Henderson Field and the Japanese were equally determined to drive them into the sea. During the protracted battle which lasted for six months, the struggle to “own” Henderson Field came to a bloody climax on Sunday night 25, October, 1942.

At Lunga Ridge—about 1,000 yards south of Henderson Field it was raining torrents, creating miserable, bottomless mud—typical Guadalcanal weather. The MARINES manning the main line of defense were exhausted. For two days Japanese human wave assaults had been flung against them. Each time the charging enemy had been driven off—but the weary MARINES knew their tough adversaries weren’t through. The Japanese would gather reinforcements and return.

About midnight, from the gloom of ink-black darkness cam hundreds of screaming Japanese troops. Throwing themselves on the flesh-cutting barbed wire, the first of the waves formed human bridges for their comrades to leap across. One of the Marine section leaders facing them was Sergeant “Manila John” Basilone. An experienced machine gunner, Basilone knew his guns would be tested to their mechanical limits. It would be up to him to keep them firing.

During the attack when grenades, small arms and machine guns were ripping the night and exploding human flesh splattered friend and foe, Sergeant Basilone stayed with his malaria-ridden men. Repeatedly repairing guns and changing barrels in almost total darkness, he ran for ammo or steadied his terrified men who were firing full trigger to keep a sheet of white-hot lead pouring into the ranks of the charging Japanese.

Bodies piled so high in front of his weapons pits they had to be reset so the barrels could fire over the piles of corpses. Not even the famous water-cooled heavy machine guns could stop all the assaults and one section of guns were overrun. Two men killed, three others wounded.

Basilone took one of his guns on his back and raced for the breach in the line. Eight Japanese were surprised and killed. The guns were jammed by mud and water and a few yards away the Japanese were forming for another charge. Frantically stripping mud from the ammo belts men fed them into the guns as Basilone cleared jams and sprayed the fiendish troops rushing at his positions with razor sharp bayonets and hands full of grenades.

Sometime after 0200 the firing died down. No one relaxed. At 0300 the final remnants of the Sendai Regiments with their officers prepared themselves for a final Banzai charge. The full weight of the fanatical Japanese seemed to fall on Basilone’s men. But he had set up a cross fire which smashed the charge. Dropping to the mud, still screaming Colonel Sendai’s remnants crawled forward trying to reach their tormentors. Depressing the muzzles of his weapons—Basilone destroyed them. Nash Phillips lost a hand fighting next to his Sergeant. He was surprised to see John Basilone appear next to his bed a little while after dawn. “He was barefooted and his eyes were red as fire. His face was dirty black from gunfire and lack of sleep. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to his shoulders. He had a .45 tucked into the waistband of his trousers. He’d just dropped by to see how I was making out; me and the others in the section. I’ll never forget him. He’ll never be dead in my mind!”

With dawn the battlefield was strewn with dead and wounded Americans and Japanese—but Henderson Field still belonged to the Americans and its ownership would never be seriously challenged again. At least 38 dead Japanese were credited to Sergeant Basilone—many were killed with his Colt .45 at almost arms length. Just 26 years old, Manila John Basilone had entered the ranks of the Marine Corps pantheon of heroes—and shortly America would take the big, handsome Marine with jug ears and a smile like a neon sign to their hearts. The legend of a “Fighting Sergeant” was born.

When the battle was over and his squad members interviewed, Sergeant Basilone was credited by his men for his will to fight and ability to inspire them in a night of cold fear none ever forgot.

Within a short time the Japanese evacuated Guadalcanal and prepared to meet other Marine invasions of their strongholds elsewhere in the Pacific. American fighting men had proven they could beat the best of the best, the most experienced troops Japan could throw at them. After Guadalcanal the Japanese high command had a fresh respect for the MARINES. They would be forced to meet time and time again as America pressed across the Pacific toward their homeland.

When he received the nation’s highest decoration, John Basilone replied modestly, “Only part of this medal belongs to me. Pieces of it belong to the boys who are still on Guadalcanal. It was rough as hell down there.” On the 1943 War Bond Tour Sergeant Basilone was to say, “Doing a ‘stateside tour is tougher than fighting Japs.”

When Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone voluntarily returned to the Pacific war it would be on the sands of Iwo Jima 19, February, 1945. At the head of another machine gun squad, he would drive hundreds of frightened raw troops off the beaches toward their assigned objectives. Iwo would be his toughest fight. Barely on the island two hours, he was killed leading his men.

Gunnery Sergeant Manila John Basilone was the only Marine in WWII to receive both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross.

Author, Charles W. Tatum

A view from outside

A French Infantryman’s View of American Soldiers

Military by Jean-Marc Liotier - American troops in Afghanistan through the eyes of a French OMLT infantryman

The US often hears echoes of worldwide hostility against the application of its foreign policy, but seldom are they reached by the voices of those who experience first hand how close we are to the USA.  In spite of contextual political differences and conflicting interests that generate friction, we do share the same fundamental values - and when push comes to shove that is what really counts.  Through the eyes of that French OMLT (Operational Mentoring Liaison Teams) infantryman you can see how strong the bond is on the ground.  In contrast with the Americans, the French soldiers don’t seem to write much online - or maybe the proportion is the same but we just have less people deployed.  Whatever the reason, this is a rare and moving testimony which is why I decided to translate it into English, so that American people can catch a glimpse of the way European soldiers see them.  Not much high philosophy here, just the first hand impressions of a soldier in contact - but that only makes it more authentic…..

“We have shared our daily life with two US units for quite a while - they are the first and fourth companies of a prestigious infantry battalion whose name I will withhold for the sake of military secrecy.  To the common man it is a unit just like any other.  But we live with them and got to know them, and we henceforth know that we have the honor to live with one of the most renowned units of the US Army - one that the movies brought to the public as series showing “ordinary soldiers thrust into extraordinary events”.  Who are they, those soldiers from abroad, how is their daily life, and what support do they bring to the men of our OMLT every day?  Few of them belong to the Easy Company, the one the TV series focuses on.  This one nowadays is named Echo Company, and it has become the support company.

They have a terribly strong American accent - from our point of view the language they speak is not even English.  How many times did I have to write down what I wanted to say rather than waste precious minutes trying various pronunciations of a seemingly common word?  Whatever state they are from, no two accents are alike and they even admit that in some crisis situations they have difficulties understanding each other.

Heavily built, fed at the earliest age with Gatorade, proteins and creatine (Heh.  More like Waffle House and McDonalds) - they are all heads and shoulders taller than us and their muscles remind us of Rambo.  Our frames are amusingly skinny to them - we are wimps, even the strongest of us - and because of that they often mistake us for Afghans.

Here we discover America as it is often depicted: their values are taken to their paroxysm, often amplified by promiscuity and the loneliness of this outpost in the middle of that Afghan valley.  Honor, motherland - everything here reminds of that: the American flag floating in the wind above the outpost, just like the one on the post parcels.  Even if recruits often originate from the hearth of American cities and gang territory, no one here has any goal other than to hold high and proud the star spangled banner.  Each man knows he can count on the support of a whole people who provides them through the mail all that an American could miss in such a remote front-line location: books, chewing gums, razorblades, Gatorade, toothpaste etc. in such way that every man is aware of how much the American people backs him in his difficult mission.  And that is a first shock to our preconceptions: the American soldier is no individualist.  The team, the group, the combat team are the focus of all his attention.

And they are impressive warriors!  We have not come across bad ones, as strange at it may seem to you when you know how critical French people can be.  Even if some of them are a bit on the heavy side, all of them provide us everyday with lessons in infantry know-how.  Beyond the wearing of a combat kit that never seem to discomfort them (helmet strap, helmet, combat goggles, rifles etc.) the long hours of watch at the outpost never seem to annoy them in the slightest.  On the one square meter wooden tower above the perimeter wall they stand the five consecutive hours in full battle rattle and night vision goggles on top, their sight unmoving in the directions of likely danger.  No distractions, no pauses, they are like statues nights and days.  At night, all movements are performed in the dark - only a handful of subdued red lights indicate the occasional presence of a soldier on the move.  Same with the vehicles whose lights are covered - everything happens in pitch dark even filling the fuel tanks with the Japy pump.

And combat?  If you have seen Rambo you have seen it all - always coming to the rescue when one of our teams gets in trouble, and always in the shortest delay.  That is one of their tricks: they switch from T-shirt and sandals to combat ready in three minutes.  Arriving in contact with the enemy, the way they fight is simple and disconcerting: they just charge!  They disembark and assault in stride, they bomb first and ask questions later - which cuts any pussyfooting short.

(This is the main area where I’d like to comment.  Anyone with a passing knowledge of Kipling knows the lines from Chant Pagan: ‘If your officer’s dead and the sergeants look white/remember it’s ruin to run from a fight./So take open order, lie down, sit tight/And wait for supports like a soldier./  This, in fact, is the basic philosophy of both British and Continental soldiers.  ‘In the absence of orders, take a defensive position.’  Indeed, virtually every army in the world.  The American soldier and Marine, however, are imbued from early in their training with the ethos: In the Absence of Orders: Attack!  Where other forces, for good or ill, will wait for precise orders and plans to respond to an attack or any other ‘incident’, the American force will simply go, counting on firepower and SOP to carry the day.

This is one of the great strengths of the American force in combat and it is something that even our closest allies, such as the Brits and Aussies (that latter being closer by the way) find repeatedly surprising.  No wonder it surprises the hell out of our enemies.)

We seldom hear any harsh word, and from 5 AM onwards the camp chores are performed in beautiful order and always with excellent spirit.  A passing American helicopter stops near a stranded vehicle just to check that everything is alright; an American combat team will rush to support ours before even knowing how dangerous the mission is - from what we have been given to witness, the American soldier is a beautiful and worthy heir to those who liberated France and Europe.

To those who bestow us with the honor of sharing their combat outposts and who everyday give proof of their military excellence, to those who pay the daily tribute of America’s army’s deployment on Afghan soil, to those we owned this article, ourselves hoping that we will always remain worthy of them and to always continue hearing them say that we are all the same band of brothers”.

RedOwl, Sniper finding robot

First we saw the Samsung Turret Robot for the DMZ in Korea, and now there’s a sniper-sniping robot that’s been created for use in Iraq. Well, this one doesn’t have any guns on it, but it can find where a sniper is hiding from up to a mile away by simply analyzing the sound of a distant gunshot. I bet you wish you had one of those in Counter-Strike, eh?
The RedOwl can be set up in a battlezone to figure out where snipers are hiding, keeping soldiers out of harms way and allowing them to take out the hidden fighters before they get taken out themselves. The coolest part? It’s controlled by a modified Xbox controller, making its maneuvering second-nature to many gamers-cum-soldiers. It should be ready for battle this spring, with each model setting back the government $150,000. Your tax dollars at work! — ADAM FRUCCI
PopSci, via New Launches

AC-130H, when it’s really cool to be a superpower.

The AC-130H/U Gunship
What is it? The AC-130 is an aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin Marietta . It is used by various arms of the United States military as a convenient means of:

Scaring the shit out of a lot of people at once
Killing a smaller number of people simultaneously
Destroying various types of ground targets.

Where did it come from? The AC-130H/U are the latest iterations of the fixed-wing gunship concept, and are follow-ons to the original gunship, the AC-47. It is built on the basic airframe of the C-130 Hercules, a medium intratheater transport aircraft popular in the Western world for its ruggedness, dependability and ability to operate from extremely rough airfields.

The AC-130U (the latest variant) has the official callsign of Spooky. Its predecessor the AC-130H was Spectre. Troops in Vietnam used to refer to the plane by these names, or as Puff the Magic Dragon. It was a companion to them, as it orbited their positions laying down covering fire; comments on the situation often included the line “Spooky understands.”

For more information on this reference, you might try looking up the works of Michael Herr, notably Dispatches.

What does it use? The armament of the gunship has evolved over time, with one constant being the horrific amount of fire that it can bring onto even the most carefully hidden targets. To do this, it needs three basic component systems.

Sensors
Spooky sees farther into the electromagnetic spectrum than we do. In addition to television imaging sensors, it has infrared detectors for night use, and synthetic aperture radar for imaging ‘hard’ objects under soft cover (say, trees).

Navigation
In order to be effective, the AC-130 has to be able to find its targets. Modern versions use all forms of navaids from GPS to Inertial Navigation Systems.

Weapons
The AC-130H mounts a 105mm gun, a 40mm gun, and two 20mm Vulcan cannons. The -U replaces the latter with a single 25mm gun. Early variants (and present ones, as additional armament) can be fitted with miniguns.

What does it cost? The AC-130U costs (in fiscal 98 dollars) approximately $81.1 million. The AC-130H costs approximately $52.3 million.

The Gryphon, New and Improved

Back in 06 we reported on the ESG Gryphon Personal Flying Wing, and it had military applications written all over it, or, a cool opening scene to the next James Bond Flick. The latest version, rechristened the Gryphon Attack Glider by SPELLCO (the new company name), has slimmed down the weight by 30 pounds and also offers the ability to carry up to 100 pounds of onboard gear and even carry weapons hard points for mini missiles and bombs. Yowsa. And with a maximum glide speed of 135 MPH, that makes this not only an attack glider, but a serious special ops platform for attacking well behind enemy lines.

Pilots wear a specially designed helmet that offers a heads-up display and provides on-board oxygen for those high altitude HALO JUMPS. And with its ability to coast as far as 125 miles inland, jumpers can launch from any air platform outside enemy airspace and glide to their target with a tiny radar cross section. Landing is accomplished by separating the wing from the parachute pack with the pull of a standard rip cord. As the pilot slows his descent, the attached wing dangles from a safety cord to land nearby. Which is good if you don’t want to attract attention by sending it out of control to land where you don’t want it. And while there is a commercial version of the Gryphon for parachute sport enthusiasts, if the company manages to create a fly by wire steering option (it currently steers by hand controllers) and mini jet turbines to increase its range, the Gryphon may go “black” for good.

But where’s the fun in that?

Hat Tip: Geekologie

New body armor from bear protection suit inventor

The suit has stood up to bullets from high-powered weapons, including an elephant gun. The suit was empty during the ballistics tests, but he’s more than ready to put it on and face live fire. The whole suit is made from high-impact plastic lined with ceramic bullet protection over ballistic foam. Its many features include compartments for emergency morphine and salt, a knife and emergency light. Built into the forearms are a small recording device, a pepper-spray gun and a detachable transponder that can be swallowed in case of trouble. In the helmet, there’s a solar-powered fresh-air system and a drinking tube attached to a canteen in the small of the back. A laser pointer mounted in the middle of the forehead is ready to point to snipers, while LED lights frame the face.

He has spent two years and $15,000$150,000 in the lab out back of his house in North Bay, designing and building a practical, lightweight and affordable shell to stave off bullets, explosives, knives and clubs. He calls it the Trojan and describes it as the “first ballistic, full exoskeleton body suit of armour.” The whole suit comes in at 18 kilograms. It covers everything but the fingertips and the major joints, and could be mass-produced for about $2,000, Hurtubise says. [not an exoskeleton but full body armor]

Civil War Santa

Civil War Harper’s Weekly, January 3, 1863

A different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight. 
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near. 
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood,  his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
“What are you doing?” I asked without fear,
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
Then he sighed and he said “Its really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.”
“It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ’ Pearl on a day in December,”
Then he sighed, “That’s a Christmas ‘Gram always remembers.”
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ’ Nam ‘,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue… an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.”
” So go back inside,” he said, “harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”
“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
“Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son..”
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
“Just tell us you love us,  and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.”

Futuristic Assualt Rifle

They call it the weapon of 21 st century. It was developed in 2001 by the Belgian manufacturer Fabrique Nationale.

in Herstal this 5.56mm assault rifle was a breakthrough in design and development in light assault weapons. Modular weapon system F2000 uses 5.56×45mm caliber assault rifle bullets and it can held up to 30-round in a case. The rifle is almost entirely built out of a polymer plastic. This rifle is a gas-operated design utilizing a short-stroke piston system.

One of the design improvements was one-hand firing capability. Soldiers don’t need to hold the rifle with two hands anymore which gives a shooter more mobility.

Rifle consists of two assemblies: barrel and receiver which are joined together.

On the top of the barrel group there is MIL-STD-1913 rail which is used for mounting different optical sights and is also used as a carrying handle. This rifle uses all the latest gadgets such as: built-in laser sight, halogen tactical lights, a 40mm grenade launcher (for example M203), shotgun and less lethal launcher.

The F2000 ejection system is also brand new, ejecting spent cartridge casings forward and to the right side of the gun. When firing the shooter can choose between three modes: safe, semi-automatic and fully automatic.

Few variants have been developed for a different purposes:

F2000 Tactical: it lacks the optical sight and comes with an extended top receiver
FS2000: is legal for civilians, semi-automatic version
FS2000 Tactical: is equipped with extended barrel and attached flash suppressor
FS2000 Standard: it lacks a grenade launcher computer, it is equipped with F2000 1.6x magnification optic sight

It is used by army in several countries: East Timor, Belgium, Chile, Croatia, India, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Saudi Arabia and Slovenia.

This gun is still in process of testing and has not yet seen any major combats. Some sources even say that the rifle is too complex to handle it in combat. It must be assembled with

great care to avoid fracturing any small parts.

New Technology to silence cannons

This is actually an M109 Self Propelled howitzer which has a 155mm canon and a range of over 30km with a kill radius of 100m and can make a crater of over 50m with HE shells. As for the object it is parked behind, I have no idea what the hell it is except that it could be used to test muzzle velocities and calibration perhaps, or is someone’s idea of a joke photo.