Military Roll Call! Veterans, GTFIH!

To answer you last sentence, the job was fucking awesome. But what made it awesome were the people I worked with. Bear down and get shit done.
 
Sir GymTanLaundry said:
To answer you last sentence, the job was fucking awesome. But what made it awesome were the people I worked with. Bear down and get shit done.
Click to expand...

That's what made being in the military awesome.
 
@Strychnine and @Sir GymTanLaundry

Thank you gentlemen. Good information. I imagined some of the information to be classified. What is interesting is that there is some information the military considers classified but you can find it as open source on the internet if you know where to look. When I was working at USSOUTHCOM (United States Southern Command) I had a classified computer and an unclassified computer. One day I read something on the classified computer that later came up on the unclassified computer on an internet site. Amazing! A had one officer who refused to put in for a TOP SECRET clearance. He said the less he knew, the better. Plus, less meetings and briefings to go to. Yeah, he had that part right. That was my last assignment before retirement. Not very pleasant. Plus I hate Miami. All branches of the military and all ranks of the military, from E-1 to O-8.

Anyway, @Strychnine has his military coin collection and I started my 'elements' collection in January of this year. Actually, another member of Sherdog peaked my interest on the subject. So, I slowly purchase small samples of different elements and was able to purchase some Uranium 238. Weapons grade Uranium would be the 235 kind that comes from U-238. That is what Iran is doing as we speak with their centrifugates. Separating U-235 from U-238. Boy, when my Uranium sample arrived in the mail, I was like a 5 year old kid on Christmas day. You can own, buy, and sell U-238 here in the U.S. Now, U-235 and Pu-239 (Plutonium, which also comes from Uranium) is a different story, you'll go to jail for sure. FBI, CIA, Police, and the Department of Energy knocking at your door and asking lots of questions.
 
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Phr3121 said:
@Strychnine and @Sir GymTanLaundry

Thank you gentlemen. Good information. I imagined some of the information to be classified. What is interesting is that there is some information the military considers classified but you can find it as open source on the internet if you know where to look. When I was working at USSOUTHCOM (United States Southern Command) I had a classified computer and an unclassified computer. One day I read something on the classified computer that later came up on the unclassified computer on an internet site. Amazing! A had one officer who refused to put in for a TOP SECRET clearance. He said the less he knew, the better. Plus, less meetings and briefings to go to. Yeah, he had that part right. That was my last assignment before retirement. Not very pleasant. Plus I hate Miami. All branches of the military and all ranks of the military, from E-1 to O-8.

Anyway, @Strychnine has his military coin collection and I started my 'elements' collection in January of this year. Actually, another member of Sherdog peaked my interest on the subject. So, I slowly purchase small samples of different elements and was able to purchase some Uranium 238. Weapons grade Uranium would be the 235 kind that comes from U-238. That is what Iran is doing as we speak with their centrifugates. Separating U-235 from U-238. Boy, when my Uranium sample arrived in the mail, I was like a 5 year old kid on Christmas day. You can own, buy, and sell U-238 here in the U.S. Now, U-235 and Pu-239 (Plutonium, which also comes from Uranium) is a different story, you'll go to jail for sure. FBI, CIA, Police, and the Department of Energy knocking at your door and asking lots of questions.

So, the U-238 has now gotten me reading about quantum physics and the world of splitting the atom through fission. Fascinating stuff. How those boys managed to make an atom bomb in 1945 with their limited resources is even more amazing. It's not like you can see an atom or know how to split it to cause a nuclear chain reaction. 1/1,000,000 of a second. A grapefruit size ball of U-235 will do the job, a little over 2 pounds. Than you have to miniaturerise it to fit on a missile. I'm not sure North Korea has reached this point yet. Pakistan and India seem to have.

Going from a kiloton bomb to a thermonuclear megaton bomb. Truly amazing. An atom bomb to set off a Hydrogen bomb. Entirely too much destructive power in my opinion, with you guys/girls in the U.S. Air Force holding the keys to the U.S. nuclear kingdom. Well, the U.S. Navy has a few in their submarines, but nothing like the U.S. Air Force.

I tell you, yes, I would be intimidated standing next to a 10 megaton bomb (missile). Would love to see the actual warhead. @Sir GymTanLaundry, you would not believe how much information is open source on the internet regarding the building of an atom bomb. Not all the key details, but enough to make any first rate physicist fill in the blanks. Getting the U-235 is the hard part. There is one article in particular I can point you to if you are interested.

The U.S. Air Force has lost some nukes and recovered others over the years on airplane accidents. My favorite is the 1958 Tybee Island mid-air collision. A Mark 15 thermonuclear bomb with a 4 megaton yield was never recovered, and is buried in the mud below the muddy waters off Tybee Island near Savannah, Georgia, to this day.

Ivy Mike, 10.4 megatons, 1952:
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Shoot me the article. I agree though, lots of info out there and crazy people that would love to get their hands on more of it. Sure s first rate physist would be very valuable. But unless you’re buying the weaponized stuff, it’s no easy feat to enrich.
 
Sir GymTanLaundry said:
Shoot me the article. I agree though, lots of info out there and crazy people that would love to get their hands on more of it.
Click to expand...

"United States of America v. Progressive, Inc., Erwin Knoll, Samuel Day, Jr., and Howard Morland" -- "A lawsuit brought against The Progressive magazine by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) in 1979. A temporary injunction was granted against The Progressive to prevent the publication of an article by activist Howard Morland that purported to reveal the "secret" of the hydrogen bomb. Though the information had been compiled from publicly available sources, the DOE claimed that it fell under the "born secret" clause of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954."

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Progressive,_Inc.
Link: http://www.andrewkaram.com/pdf/progressive.pdf
Quite the story for 1979. Today, you can find much more detailed information on the internet.
 
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Phr3121 said:
@Strychnine and @Sir GymTanLaundry




So, the U-238 has now gotten me reading about quantum physics and the world of splitting the atom through fission. Fascinating stuff. How those boys managed to make an atom bomb in 1945 with their limited resources is even more amazing. It's not like you can see an atom or know how to split it to cause a nuclear chain reaction. 1/1,000,000 of a second. A grapefruit size ball of U-235 will do the job, a little over 2 pounds. Than you have to miniaturerise it to fit on a missile. I'm not sure North Korea has reached this point yet. Pakistan and India seem to have

Ivy Mike, 10.4 megatons, 1952:
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I don’t believe that NK has minurtuized the warhead. Even if it was on CNN or any outlet tomorrow that they have I wouldn’t believe it and also wouldn’t be that concerned.

I’ve seen with my own eyes plenty of MMIII’s launch from Vandenberg AFB. I’ve also seen with my own eyes reentry vehicles hit their targets at the Kwajalein Atoll. NK has yet to do that at that scale.

Pakistan keeps their shit separate. Not just in the next room separate but in different areas of the country. For de-escalation purposes and they are probably worried about overthrow of government lol.
 
U.S. Army
Active duty-6 years
Reserves -3 years
2 tours- 12 mths Iraq, 12 mths Afghanistan
13B- Cannon Crewmember(Artillery!)
Sgt- E5
Many years removed from service.
 
surrealworlds said:
U.S. Army
Active duty-6 years
Reserves-3 years
2 tours-12 mths Iraq, 12 mths Afghanistan
13B-Cannon Crewmember (Artillery!)
Sgt-E5
Click to expand...

What year were you in Iraq? What location?
That girl in your avatar looks great. I have not seen hips like that in years. Silicone? Child bearing hips.
 
surrealworlds said:
08-09 Iraq
11-12 Afghan
You?
Click to expand...

. U.S. Army
. Active Duty: 8 years
. Reserves: 12 years
. Iraq tour: 03-04 - Sadr City (Thawra District) and Fallujah (Al Anbar province), both with elements the 490th Civil Affairs Battalion in support of the 4th Infantry Division.
. 11B (Infantry) and 38A (Civil Affairs)
. Major / O-4. I'm ancient, I got out in 2008 with 20 years.

Where was your artillery unit in Iraq in 2008? What unit was it?
 
Phr3121 said:
. U.S. Army
. Active Duty: 8 years
. Reserves: 12 years
. Iraq tour: 03-04 - Sadr City (Thawra District) and Fallujah (Al Anbar province), both with elements the 490th Civil Affairs Battalion in support of the 4th Infantry Division.
. 11B (Infantry) and 38A (Civil Affairs)
. Major / O-4. I'm ancient, I got out in 2008 with 20 years.

Where was your artillery unit in Iraq in 2008? What unit was it?
Click to expand...

I was stationed out Ft. Wainwright, AK.
I was with 2/8 FA attached to the 1/25th ID.
In Iraq we couldnt shoot Arty so we ended up being land owners. A 100-150 soldiers on COB Mullalah in Kandahar i think?
To be honest i always get the names of places from over there mixed up. Id have to look it up.

Anyways, in Afghan we spent the first 3 mths shooting Arty off a mountain and the rest of the time doing Personal Security for COL and his team of VIPs.
Nothing too intense but we did a lot of driving and rarely stayed in one place more than a night or two.
 
surrealworlds said:
I was stationed out Ft. Wainwright, AK. I was with 2/8 FA attached to the 1/25th ID.
Click to expand...

The 25th ID has a long history. They really kicked some ass in Vietnam. They are garrisoned out of Hawaii but you finished up in Alaska? From the freezing cold winters of Alaska to the hot summers or Iraq. That's almost a 100 degree temperature change. That's fucking crazy... Which one was better, the Iraq or Afghanistan tour?
 
Phr3121 said:
The 25th ID has a long history. They really kicked some ass in Vietnam. They are garrisoned out of Hawaii but you finished up in Alaska? From the freezing cold winters of Alaska to the hot summers or Iraq. That's almost a 100 degree temperature change. That's fucking crazy... Which one was better, the Iraq or Afghanistan tour?
Click to expand...

Funny you say that, when we left for Iraq it was still -20 in fairbanks but when we landed in Kuwait it was 80 degrees. Lol

Iraq was worse, we were boots on the ground kicking in doors and doing the damn thing. Naturally, shit happens, people get hurt, etc.
Afghan wasnt bad, the first three months were actually fun. I LOVE shooting Artillery and we were on a mountain base with some Aussies providing them support. We just sat on the gunline 24/7 and fired off whatever they needed. Good times.
The security detail for the Col was challenging but it also wasnt too bad. Avoiding IEDs mostly.
How about you? 20 years, any fun stories?
 
surrealworlds said:
How about you? 20 years, any fun stories?
Click to expand...

Great memories over 20 years, most good, thankfully. Fun stories and sad stories. I could write pages about it but will just summarize a few that stand out:

. I joined the U.S. Army out of college as a PFC (E-3), My love was for rifles and shooting. Made my way to Ft. Benning, GA, for Infantry basic and AIT. One of my earliest memories was the land navigation course (day). Land nav came easy to me and I found the time alone to be peaceful. I remember going through the course looking for blackberry shrubs. Ate a lot of blackberries during basic, IOBC, and Ranger school. All at Ft. Benning.

. Later went through OCS and found one of the female candidates sitting on the toilet doing her thing. This was at the later stages of the course when we were down to a class of 15 and they had us housed in a small old barracks building with only one latrine. She had forgotten to flip the ‘male/female’ sign outside the door. First time training with female soldiers.

. Back to Ft. Benning for IOBC. Our ambush site and the ice cream truck. My team was all set up to kick off the ambush when we hear this weird music followed by one of the Ft. Benning ice cream trucks. I mean, we were in the middle of nowhere with only a small trail and this guy manages to find the training area and drive through the trail. I wasn’t sure the truck was part of the exercise or not but noticed some frantic LTs running behind it trying to get the driver’s attention. Needless to say, it all went to shit, but all the LTs came out of the woods running to get ice cream like 5 year old children.

. There was the female Captain that got flipped over inside a port-o-potty and looked like a smurf for a few days. Yeah, she was not a favorite among the soldiers and nothing came of it. It was all blamed on high winds. There was also another officer who dropped his 9mm inside the port-o-potty and was made (ordered) to retrieve it.

. Civil Affairs was a completely different animal from the Infantry. Rank did not really come into play and we had female soldiers. Went from shooting people and blowing stuff up to helping people and building things up. Loved the children and animals in Iraq. Always made sure to have the veterinarian on my team when we went out. We also had doctors, nurses, and dentists. Like the Peace Corps. School, water, and sewage projects with the engineers.

. I was also a Casualty Assistance Officer for a soldier that was killed and returned home. Very unpleasant duty, but something that needed to be done for the family of the soldier.

. I loved my time with soldiers, not sitting behind a desk. After making Major I was moved to staff and worked in the S-2 (intelligence) and S-3 (operations and training). Didn’t get to go out much and play. Mostly meetings, briefings, planning, talking on the phone, emailing, and the dreaded PowerPoint presentations. Yes, I was no longer happy doing what I liked, so when I hit 20 years I opted to get out.
 
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Phr3121 said:
Great memories over 20 years, most good, thankfully. Fun stories and sad stories. I could write pages about it but will just summarize a few that stand out:

. I joined the U.S. Army out of college as a PFC (E-3), My love was for rifles and shooting. Made my way to Ft. Benning, GA, for Infantry basic and AIT. One of my earliest memories was the land navigation course (day). Land nav came easy to me and I found the time alone to be peaceful. I remember going through the course looking for blackberry shrubs. Ate a lot of blackberries during basic, IOBC, and Ranger school. All at Ft. Benning.

. Later went through OCS and found one of the female candidates sitting on the toilet doing her thing. This was at the later stages of the course when we were down to a class of 15 and they had us housed in a small old barracks building with only one latrine. She had forgotten to flip the ‘male/female’ sign outside the door. First time training with female soldiers.

. Back to Ft. Benning for IOBC. Our ambush site and the ice cream truck. My team was all set up to kick off the ambush when we hear this weird music followed by one of the Ft. Benning ice cream trucks. I mean, we were in the middle of nowhere with only a small trail and this guy manages to find the training area and drive through the trail. I wasn’t sure the truck was part of the exercise or not but noticed some frantic LTs running behind it trying to get the driver’s attention. Needless to say, it all went to shit, but all the LTs came out of the woods running to get ice cream like 5 year old children.

. There was the female Captain that got flipped over inside a port-o-potty and looked like a smurf for a few days. Yeah, she was not a favorite among the soldiers and nothing came of it. It was all blamed on high winds. There was also another officer who dropped his 9mm inside the port-o-potty and was made (ordered) to retrieve it.

. Civil Affairs was a completely different animal from the Infantry. Rank did not really come into play and we had female soldiers. Went from shooting people and blowing stuff up to helping people and building things up. Loved the children and animals in Iraq. Always made sure to have the veterinarian on my team when we went out. We also had doctors, nurses, and dentists. Like the Peace Corps. School, water, and sewage projects with the engineers.

. I was also a Casualty Assistance Officer for a soldier that was killed and returned home. Very unpleasant duty, but something that needed to be done for the family of the soldier.

. I loved my time with soldiers, not sitting behind a desk. After making Major I was moved to staff and worked in the S-2 (intelligence) and S-3 (operations and training). Didn’t get to go out much and play. Mostly meetings, briefings, planning, talking on the phone, emailing, and the dreaded PowerPoint presentations. Yes, I was no longer happy doing what I liked, so when I hit 20 years I opted to get out.
Click to expand...
Did you ever encounter the Pogey Bird during Ranger school?
 
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