In this first episode, Gunny does his absolute best to get his beloved cat, Mattis, out of the tree.
Animated by Marine vet Vannick Douglas.
WATCH
A Marine animator brings ‘Gunny’ to life in this debut episode
When Army basic training soldier Jennifer Campbell was told to run through smoke on the obstacle course, she leaned into it and went for the awesome photo moment of charging through the thickest plume of smoke.
Want more? This is why officers should just stay in the office
Unfortunately for her, it wasn’t white smoke; it was o-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile, a potent form of tear gas used to teach basic trainees to trust their chemical masks and other gear. But Campbell wasn’t wearing chemical gear; she was running full speed and sucking down air on an obstacle course.
So the young soldier got two lungs full of the agitating gas, forcing violent coughs as her drill sergeants got a good laugh and the other trainees scrambled to get their masks on.
But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and Campbell got her own laughs when the winds shifted and the rest of her platoon got hit unprotected, including the drill sergeant who triggered her episode. See how it all went down in the Go90 video embedded at the top.
Watch more No Sh*t There I Was:
Why it sucks to report to the ‘Good Idea Fairy’
A Ranger describes what being a ‘towed jumper’ is actually like
This is why the military shouldn’t completely outlaw hazing
Smooth talking your way through gear turn-in is a stinky proposition
Airborne forces face a problem whenever they have to jump behind enemy lines — whether it’s to seize an enemy airfield or to take and hold territory.
The paratroopers can’t bring their own armor support, because America doesn’t currently have an airborne-certified tank or large armored vehicle. (The Stryker and the Light Armored Vehicle have undergone successful airdrop tests, but neither has been certified).
But it wasn’t always this way. During the Cold War, Airborne forces relied on the M551 Sheridan, an Airborne-capable light tank first fielded in 1969.
The M551 Sheridan tank was a 16-ton tank made primarily of aluminum and employed by airborne forces. (Photo: U.S. Army)
The Sheridan was a replacement for the World War II-era Mk. VII Tetrarch tank and the M22 Locust Airborne tank. The Tetrarch was a British glider-capable light tank and the M22 was an American tank custom-built for glider insertion.
The M551, unlike its predecessors, was airdrop-capable, meaning it could be inserted using parachutes instead of gliders. The tank was also used with the Low-Altitude Parachute Extraction System, an airdrop system that allowed the U.S. to drop the tanks from a few feet to a few dozen feet off the ground.
An M551 Sheridan is pulled from the back of a C-130 by the Low-Altitude Parachute Extraction System. (Photo: U.S. Air Force)
The Sheridan was crewed by four people and weighed 16 tons, light enough that it could actually swim through the water. It was powered by a 300-hp diesel engine and could hit approximately 45 mph. It could travel 373 miles between fill-ups.
The tank used an experimental 152mm gun that could fire missiles or tank rounds. Even its tank rounds were experimental, though — they used a combustible casing instead of the standard brass casings.
The M551 Sheridan tank firing a Shillelagh missile. (Photo: U.S. Army)
The Sheridan served well in Vietnam and Panama. During Operation Just Cause, it was even airdropped into combat, allowing paratroopers to bring their own fire support to the battlefield.
The tank’s main gun could inflict serious damage at distances of up to 2,000 feet, allowing it to punch out enemy bunkers from outside the range of many enemy guns.
Unfortunately, the light armor of the Sheridan posed serious issues. Some Sheridans were pierced by enemy infantry’s heavy machine guns, meaning crews had to be careful even when there was no enemy armor or anti-armor on the field. Worse, the main gun started to develop a reputation as being unreliable.
Firing the main gun knocked out the electronics for the longer-range missile, meaning that a tank firing on bunkers or enemy armor at close range would usually lose their ability to punch targets at long range. And there was no way to avoid this issue as the Shillelagh missile couldn’t hit targets at less than 2,400 feet.
The only way for an M551 to punch at close range was to give up its capability at long ranges.
By 1980, most cavalry units were moving to the M60 Patton Main Battle Tank, which was actually introduced before the Sheridan. The Patton featured heavier armor, more power, and a more reliable gun. It had also just been upgraded with new “Reliability Improved Selected Equipment,” or “RISE.”
According to an Army history pamphlet, one cavalryman told the Stars and Stripes, “We can get the job done with the Sheridan, but most cavalrymen would rather have the tank.”
The airborne forces would keep the Sheridan through 1996, partially because they had no other options. A number of potential replacements were canceled and modern airborne forces just make do without true armored support.
The Army is, once again, looking at new light tanks or heavy-armored vehicles to support paratroopers. The new solution could be another custom-built tank, like the Sheridan. But as of summer 2016, its specifications were up in the air. It just has to be capable of an airdrop, and it has to get the job done.
We Are The Mighty had the great privilege of attending the 2016 DoD Warrior Games to support wounded warriors as they competed with their fellow servicemembers.
The DoD Warrior Games is an adaptive sports competition for wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans. Each year, a different branch of the U.S. Armed Forces hosts the Warrior Games — and this year the Army invited the athletes to compete at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
The Warrior Games has athletes representing the Army; Navy; Air Force; Marine Corps; SOCOM and the United Kingdom, competing across several events: sitting volleyball; track and field; archery; wheelchair basketball; shooting and swimming.
Comedian and veteran advocate Jon Stewart emcee’d the Opening Ceremony.
“You are not alone, none of us here are alone,” said Rocky Marciano of Team SOCOM. “This has been a ten-day therapy session for me and I love it.”
Adaptive sports programs have proven to be an excellent form of rehabilitation for service members, providing these wounded warriors with an incredibly supportive community that focuses on performing at a high level despite injuries and illnesses.
The United Kingdom’s participation has been particularly impactful since they’ve been invited to the Warrior Games for the past four years. Brian Seggie of Team UK remarked, “If we’re on the same side, we should not only fight on the same side, we should recover together as well.”
This remarkable community is made possible by the efforts of each branch’s Wounded Warrior program, dedicated sponsors like Deloitte who bring in dozens of volunteers, enthusiastic family and friends and the incredible attitudes of each and every servicemember with the determination to keep moving forward.
The 2017 DoD Warrior Games will be hosted by the Navy in Chicago.
WATM hosted groups of veterans to answer several questions about their time in the military. The vets kept it real when responding to topics ranging from relationships to recruiters.
Editor’s note: If you have ideas for questions that you’d like to see a group of veterans answer, please leave a comment below.
Music courtesy of Jingle Punks:
All Ears – Auracle
Anyone Else-JP – The Beards
The U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment is the Army’s official ceremonial unit. It escorts the president, conducts ceremonies honoring the Army and its fallen soldiers, and provides a 24-hour honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns.
Known as the Old Guard, the unit has served the nation since 1784 and is expected to maintain the highest levels of professionalism and military bearing. Recently, Soldiers Magazine published a video by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jedhel Somera of the Old Guard in action during a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. Check it out below:
By the late 1960s, more than a half a million Americans were serving in Vietnam. Among them was revenge-seeking Marine, Lt. Dan Gannon.
Serving on the front lines was never the plan for this college grad, but after learning his brother had been shot in the arm during a combat operation, Gannon was ready to get in the fight.
“I got to go over and get those suckers for shooting my brother,” Dan humorously states.
Wanting to serve his country honorably, Gannon deployed with the Marines somewhere north of Danang where he would spend over 300 grueling days fighting in the humid jungle.
Related: This video shows the ingenuity behind the Viet Cong tunnel systems
In order to stay razor-sharp on the battlefield, Gannon chose to defer his RR leave to the end of his tour of duty.
“You don’t stop to think I want to be patriotic right now,” Gannon mentions during an interview. “You have a job to do and I want to do it the best way I can.”
Ganon’s Marines were commonly spread out thin and up to distances of a quarter of a mile. Throughout his dangerous deployment and multiple firefights, Gannon hardly acquired a single scrap — until one fateful day.
Also Read: Beware the American booby trap rigger in Vietnam
While taking contact, Gannon felt a sting in his arm and had to be told by one of his Marines that he’d been hit. He looked and saw blood streaming down his arm. The wound had to be quickly cleaned by the squad’s Corpsman as the enemy would frequently dip their bullets in feces before they were used.
Soon after, Gannon collapsed when his wound became infected and was evacuated by helicopter for medical treatment.
“I felt bad that I had to leave my Marines. I was that committed,” Gannon says.
Gannon was recommended for the purple heart but decline the accommodation.
Check out Iowa Public Television‘s video how Dan Gannon wanted to get into the sh*t and do his part.
In a proclamation signed before he left on the first foreign trip, President Donald Trump proclaimed the third Saturday of May to be Armed Forces Day.
“For almost 70 years, our Nation has set aside one day to recognize the great debt we owe to the men and women who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard,” Trump said in a statement. “On Armed Forces Day, we salute the bravery of those who defend our Nation’s peace and security. Their service defends for Americans the freedom that all people deserve.”
According to the Department of Defense website, the celebration of Armed Forces Day first began in 1950, following a proclamation on Aug. 31, 1949, by then-Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson. Johnson’s intention was to replace separate holidays for the Navy, Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force.
“I invite the Governors of the States and Territories and other areas subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to provide for the observance of Armed Forces Day within their jurisdiction each year in an appropriate manner designed to increase public understanding and appreciation of the Armed Forces of the United States. I also invite veterans, civic, and other organizations to join in the observance of Armed Forces Day each year,” Trump said in the proclamation, which has been issued by his predecessors in virtually the same form, including George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan.
Trump’s proclamation did make special note of the 100th anniversary of America’s entry into World War I, citing the 4.7 million Americans who served in that conflict. Trump also re-tweeted a Defense Department tweet featuring a video.
“Finally, I call upon all Americans to display the flag of the United States at their homes and businesses on Armed Forces Day, and I urge citizens to learn more about military service by attending and participating in the local observances of the day,” Trump’s proclamation concluded.
Thank you to the BRAVE servicemen women who have served, and continue to serve the United States- our true HEROES! #ArmedForcesDay https://t.co/5Kkh0PYs5A
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2017
The military is always working to improve technology in order to stay ahead of the threat. From on-demand satellite launches to intuitive prosthetic limbs, here are some of the coolest high-tech projects the military is currently working on.
U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant John A. Chapman was killed in action on March 4, 2002. He fought with courage and ferocity on the cold, snow-laden mountaintop of Takur Ghar, now known as Roberts Ridge.
Chapman was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions 16 years later, on August 22, 2018. Not only did he fight through borderline impossible terrain to eliminate enemy fighters, but after he was mortally wounded, he regained consciousness and continued to fight. He killed several enemy fighters, one in hand-to-hand combat, in a valiant attempt to rescue his fellow teammate Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Neil Roberts.
A U.S. Navy SEAL, Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Britt K. Slabinski, was also awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the recovery attempt.
In a grainy drone feed recently released by the U.S. Air Force to the public, the heroic actions of Chapman are unmistakable. The video also gives us a glimpse into the courageous acts of every other service member on the ground — the SEALs, the Ranger Quick Reaction Force, and the air crews.
This video contains the last moments of American service members in combat, and for the first time in history, a Medal of Honor recipient’s actions in combat. A video like this cannot do their actions justice, nor can they give us 100 percent certainty as to the reality on the ground. But it serves as a reminder of the very real sacrifice many have made in the service of our country. Those who made it off Takur Ghar will surely carry those memories with them for the rest of their lives.
Coffee or Die spoke to retired Master Sergeant Eric Stebner, a career U.S. Army Ranger who fought on Takur Ghar that day.
It was his first of 10 deployments in the Global War on Terror, and then-Sergeant Stebner was a young fire team leader in the 1st Ranger Battalion. “We were about three months into the deployment, and it was pretty slow up to that point,” he said.
Stebner recounted climbing the steep landscape, wading through the snow. Some fellow Rangers ditched their plates in order to make it up the mountain on time. “I was the point man as we went up there… I never did toss my plates though.”
When asked what it was like fighting on a slope like that — wading through snow with heavy gear after a merciless infil — Stebner said, “Man, by the time I got up there, I was going pretty slow. We all were. Traditionally, you go, ‘I’m up, he sees me, I’m down’ — but I was just staying up. Going up and down that slow would have been even more dangerous at that point. But we pushed through it.”
Stebner knew what was on the drone feed, he was there when it happened — he was the one who found Roberts’ body. But when a video like that enters the public eye, it can change things.
“I think it’s good for [the American public] to see it. To know the real story,” Stebner said. “When you think of someone getting a Medal of Honor, you think of a guy saving his squad, saving his team, clearing a bunker — Chapman did that, he earned it. It’s good for the public to be able to see it, read about it, and know it. That’s how a Medal of Honor is earned.”
The battle of Roberts Ridge is ingrained in Ranger history, but Stebner doesn’t talk about it often. As he progressed in Ranger Battalion, many of his younger Rangers had no idea he had fought there. One Ranger had known him for two years before he found out, and asked Stebner why he never told him. “Does it really matter?” Stebner said in response. “Whatever I do, I’m going to do regardless of whether or not anyone knows about what I did. You’re only as good as your last performance, so keep moving forward.”
Stebner reflects the quiet professionalism that defines the Ranger Regiment to this day.
The men killed in action during the Battle of Roberts Ridge
Navy SEAL Petty Officer 1st Class Neil “Fifi” C. Roberts
Air Force Combat Controller Tech. Sgt John A. Chapman
Air Force Pararescueman Senior Airman Jason D. Cunningham
160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) Sergeant Philip “Spytech” Svitak
75th Ranger Regiment:
Corporal Matthew A. Commons
Sergeant Bradley S. Crose
Specialist Marc A. Anderson
This article originally appeared on Coffee or Die. Follow @CoffeeOrDieMag on Twitter.
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If you hear of something getting “slimed,” you might be thinking about the green slime that has been a standby of Nickeloeon for decades. Well, if you’re talking to grunts, the word “slimed” can be something much more sinister.
To wit, when military personnel talk about something being “slimed,” it means that somebody’s used chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons and the vehicle or gear have been contaminated. Or, in the vernacular, the situation – or quite possibly, the entire world – has gone to hell in the proverbial handbasket.
Okay, state of the world aside, there is a more immediate problem. Now those vehicles and gear need to be decontaminated. The Mission Oriented Protective Posture gear, including that chemical suit, has saved your life – if you got it on in time. But you can’t stay in that hot, uncomfortable suit forever. But some chemical weapons can last a long time. Mustard gas is particularly persistent, and was used in an ISIS attack on American troops in September 2016.
So, you need to decontaminate the stuff that got slimed. Now, according to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, one of the most effective tools is to use water and detergent with perborates. It also helps if the water is hot. The equipment is then washed down.
You can see some Marines practice their decontamination drills on the chassis of an old helicopter in the video below. Note the protective gear.
Godzilla may be king of the monsters, but during the Cold War, he’d find the Caspian Sea a little crowded.
Now, Russia is building a new Caspian Sea Monster.
According to a tweet by the Russian embassy in South Africa, the Chaika A-050 is slated to enter service by 2020. The A-050 is what is known as an “ekranoplan,” or ground-effect vehicle. The Soviet Union pushed these airplane hybrids during the Cold War, largely because they offered a unique mix of the capabilities of ships and aircraft.
According to militaryfactory.com, the Lun-class ekranoplan is one such example. It had a top speed of 342 miles per hour — slightly slower than the B-29 Superfortress — which could go 358 miles per hour. However, the Lun carried six SS-N-22 Sunburn anti-ship missiles, which are limited for use on surface combatants like the Sovremenny-class destroyer and Tarantul-class missile boat. The Lun could climb to as high as 24,000 feet.
According to a 2015 report by Valuewalk.com, the Chaika A-050 will travel at speeds of up to 300 miles per hour, with a range of 3,000 miles. It will be able to carry at least nine tons of cargo or 100 passengers. However, a Sputnik News report indicated that the Russians could install the BrahMos missile on the new ekranoplan.
The BrahMos is a version of the SS-N-26 Oniks surface-to-surface missile that has been installed on a number of Indian Navy vessels. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the BrahMos has a top speed of Mach 2.8 and a range of 500 kilometers. The missile carries a 300-kilogram warhead, and can hit surface ships or land targets. The missile can be used by submarines and surface ships.
The U.S. Army has re-embraced sleeve rolling to the rejoicing of soldiers around the world.
But many soldiers have never rolled their uniform sleeves, and none have done it in the past few years. Plus, the current uniforms have pockets and pen holders that make it difficult to roll the sleeve in a neat manner.
Luckily, the Army spotted the problem and released a video through the Defense Media Activity that shows exactly how modern troops should roll camo-out sleeves.
If you’re currently logged into Facebook, you can check it out below. If not, click on this link to see it on Soldiers Magazine’s page.
(Video by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jose Ibarra, Defense Media Activity. H/t Soldiers Magazine)