Americans abandoned my men, says 42 Cdo CO

[Rotary Booty]

USARMY

Are you saying that the CH46 was shot down while flying into a hot LZ behind enemy lines?

In this particular case, how did the US Forces 'adapt and overcome'? It would appear from reports that it was our guys who had to do that, and they did, successfully.

[SYB]

"Green Beret DNA."
How can you add to that?
Good effort Royal!

[USARMY_]

My point with saying we are trained to adapt and over come is simply to show contrast.

The helo came down for whatever reason. The mission changed.

There is a war on in case you didn't notice. Things aren't always going to be peachy. So grab hold of your bootstraps and stop complaining about getting your hands dirty, b/c it doesn't speak highly of British forces. I couldn't imagine US forces acting the way you guys are. Britt’s are highly touted warrior’s world wide, now stand and deliver on you reputation.

[Sven]

US forces are trained to adapt and over come when the mission changes.

I`m not quite seeing this your way USARMY, - tragicaly the CH46 crashed. The US Aviators adapted and overcame this awful event - by refusing to fly? Doesn`t seem very resourseful to me. I accept your point that in the world of us part time soldiers it would have been better to call a End Ex, but the troops of 42 commando didn`t have that luxury. They were relying on the US helicopters to reinforce/resupply them.

[USARMY_]

Again, I wasn't saying anything about the Navy or USMC helo pilots overcoming anything.

If my memory serves me correctly, that day there were intense sand storms.

Imagine if several helo's went down. Then there would have been a "Black Hawk Down" situation. Would this ahve been better? I don't see the problem. They made the right choice.

So your boys had to sit tight for a while, so the mission was scrapped. Big deal drive on.

[Rotary Booty]

USARMY

We did notice there was a war on, especially at RAF Brize Norton today, as the second batch of our dead were brought home! Please don't resort to such crass statements, and I believe the reputation of our troops has been confirmed by what has taken place to date; your President has confirmed that, as well as all your military spokesmen.

My query about the CH46 incident was based on your statement,

Did you ever stop to think that more lives could have been lost by inserting more helo's into a hot LZ?

Just checking your grasp of the situation. Now it was intense sand storms.

Just washing my hands, and grabbing hold of my bootstraps......ah, that's much better. Thanks for the tip.

[rabby]

If my memory serves me correctly, that day there were intense sand storms.

Imagine if several helo's went down. Then there would have been a "Black Hawk Down" situation. Would this ahve been better? I don't see the problem. They made the right choice.

So your boys had to sit tight for a while, so the mission was scrapped. Big deal drive on.

Erm, was the mission scrapped??? Just because the RAF decided to stand in when the American pilots decided to save their own necks, only means the American of the mission got scrapped, the Brits however adapted and overcame the situation, and flew 40 Commando to the LZ.

The men of Plymouth-based 42 Commando were forced to launch a risky daylight attack the next morning, when RAF pilots saved the day.

Thanks to our boys, who saved our boys, the mission was succesful.

[TheCount]

I'm hoping that when I join the RM they can instill a level headedness and coolness' to my personality, some of the comments made by our members across the pond have been, in my eyes, nothing short of outrageous.

[Guest]

US correct me if I`m wrong, but wasn`t the whole fleet of sea knights taken out of service last year, because they were developing faults in the rotors and gearboxs? I think the number was in excess of 270!! maybe they should have scrapped the lot, and started from scratch, even bought BRITISH, as, like our troops, they are reliable. I have just left a hospital in the uk, visiting a member of 40 Commando, and his words were that they were shitting themselves every time something US showed up, as if they hadn`t enough too worry about. no appologies if i touched a raw nerve

[TexasRanger]

I dont think we have cornered the market on outrageous statements. We are just responding to the 6 or 7 threads that have been started on this forum for the sole purpose of making our military look bad. Notice none of us started threads that were meant to talk trash about the Brits. Some U.S. soldiers probably made some mistakes but that doesnt mean ya'll are perfect. No one is perfect. Not that you said you were perfect but I just dont see the point in turning the whole board into a trash Americans forum, it may cause Americans on here to make outrageous statements. If it is requested by the mods I will go ahead and leave the board as Im not looking for trouble. I assume my foolish American comrades will do the same. If our departure is not desired why dont we foucs on some other aspects of conversation.

[Guest]

Tex, its a free world mate, we all have our own opinions, just that some suck, we can all handle the enemy, shyte, thats what we`re trained to do, but blue on blue is a little different.
Did you read about the Chinook that got fired on by your guys? the RAF pilot put her down a few yards from the said person, left the chopper and chinned him, had to be pulled apart, but like the pilot said, "How Many F*"*ing Iraqi`s have you seen in Helicopters lately?" we can handle some mistakes, but that is common dog, knowing that the enemy have jack shyte in the sky, your opinion please

[Sticky Blue]

I don't think the Iraqi forces have ever had Chinooks, have they? I suppose as it was a helo there could have been a very, very slim chance that it could have been an Iraqi helo but, consider:

all of the Iraqi air bases now have runways that look like the moon

every aircraft that has been seen on the ground in Iraq has been hit

no Iraqi aircraft have been sighted or shot down in the air

who in their right mind would fly through hostile airspace, towards a superior enemy force's front line and then attempt to fly over it into a hostile country. If they were flying to surrender surley they would have announced their intentions

As Bootneck said: common dog!

Part of it is the culture difference, we are more reserved and the US forces are more Gung Ho. We have had experiance of working in similar environments before and are perhaps a slightly more 'thinking' soldier (I'm not saying US forces are stupid), rather than the action soldier of the US. Perhaps the fact that US forces have asked for UK assistance with aspects of their regular training says something for our methods.

[USARMY_]

You know what strikes me as strange, Americans didn't even blink when you guys decided to fly two helos into each other killing our Marines, or when you gunned down our journalist or when you fired upon our tanks or when you....

Listen some of you look for reason's to hate America and spew nonsense. That's fine but you need to know there will be on the spot correction. If you don't like strait forwardness then keep your suck shut.

[Sven]

Personaly I think that last comment was crass and distastful beyond beleif. If you want a civilised discussion about the diffrences between US / British Tactics, then fair enough. If not, please think before you post.

[Andy O'Pray]

Sven, Not only were the remarks crass and distasteful, but also inaccurate, however, I have come to expect this from that particular contributor.

Aye - Andy.