What's The Closest You Have Come to Buying The Farm?

MIflyer · May 22, 2023

Something that has happend a few times is looking up and seeing a car coming from the opposite direction across the centerline of a road. Most of the time they wake up ad jerk back over into their lane. But I can think of a couple times that they did not. On one occasion my brother was driving behind me, saw me swerve me Right and managed to get over on the shoulder himself; he complimented me on my reflexes. Another time I got over to the Right but the car behind me swerved into the trees. You never know if this time is the time to panic.

DBII · May 30, 2023

We had been having a light rain. I was heading home from work about 8;30 pm so it was dark. I was stopped at red light when a full size truck rear ended me. I had just paid off the car a couple of months earlier. I was not happy. I took off the seat belt and tried to get out of the car. My legs did not work. I could not move. Fire department put me on a back board and took me to the local hospital. Only a 5 minute drive with lights. As a mva victim I was left in the hallway on the back board for over an hour. That was worse than the wreck. I was in pain from the board put they could not unstrap me. After I don't know how long A doc came by and said nothing was broken and I should be ok. He loosen the stars but I had to stay under observation until after midnight on that board. Fast forward 4 years. I just paid off the replacement car. I was heading for work in the heavy Houston traffic. I was on the long stretch of the future toll road stopped behind over 10 cars at a red light. Yep a young driver hit me from being at over 45 miles per hour. Knocked me into the truck ahead of me. So I am sitting there thinking not again. I will just wait for the fire department. Then to cab started filling with smoke. I unbuckle opened the door took 3 steps and collapsed. Back to hospital on a back board in the hallway. Good thing too. The driver was seating in a chair across from me on a cell phone with his parents. Yeah I'm ok. The other driver just pulled in front of me and hammed in his brakes.i would have beaten him if I was not tied down.

MIflyer · May 30, 2023

A friend of mine was a Polish POW in WWII. He escaped once, was recaptured, and the escaped late in the war and made it to the US Army. He volunteered to be an interpreter and one day they ran over a mine. He was severely injured and the Jeep driver was killed.
Twenty years later, on the anniversary of running over that mine, he was driving home from work on I-40 and an 18 wheeler changed lanes and ran over the front of his car. He was not badly injured but the car was totaled.
We asked him if he was worried about the the next 20 year anniversary of the mine and he replied that he was sure he would not be around for that.

swampyankee · May 30, 2023

My closest? I was bicycling, doing about 25 mph, and caught my pedal on the ground, going over the handlebars, and landing on my head. I did get a concussion (I was out for some time), despite wearing a helmet (careless, yes, stupid, no) and came within a couple of degrees of a C2 (hangman's) fracture.

Capt. Vick · May 31, 2023

While in college down in Daytona Beach Florida, my roommate drove us to Morrisons Cafeteria for dinner across from the speedway. His driving "qwerk" was jumping on the gas as soon as the traffic light turned green. Anyway, for no reason I can remember, I asked if I could drive back to our apartment. So I was in the driver's seat when a tractor trailer ran his red light shortly after ours turned green. Silence in the car. I think everyone knew. I believe if he was driving we would have been killed. I think about that sometimes.

Airframes · May 31, 2023

I think the second most dangerous experience I had was being with an Officer who had a map - and a compass !

Greg Boeser · May 31, 2023

Airframes said:
I think the second most dangerous experience I had was being with an Officer who had a map - and a compass !

Which NCO was derelict in his duties?

ARTESH · May 31, 2023

POV:

We are buying "THE FARM" every single second!!!

ARTESH · May 31, 2023

POV:

We are buying "THE FARM" every single second!!!

MIflyer · May 31, 2023

A US Marine officer who served in Vietnam told me that once his tank unit was paralleling an infantry unit on a sweep through the jungle, and the commanding infantry officer came over and asked him where they were. The tanker basically had been following the infantry unit but had been more or less keeping track of where they were. He showed the infantry guy a spot on the map, who responded, "We can't be there! We are not supposed to be there!" and then told one of his NCO's to bring over a compass. He then laid the compass on top of the M48, where the needle just spun around. The infantry officer scooped up the compass, said, "It's broke! Get me another one!" and tossed it back to the NCO.

There is no reason to think that a compass laid atop a huge steel object with a running engine and operating radios would not read correctly, is there?

gumbyk · May 31, 2023

MIflyer said:
A US Marine officer who served in Vietnam told me that once his tank unit was paralleling an infantry unit on a sweep through the jungle, and the commanding infantry officer came over and asked him where they were. The tanker basically had been following the infantry unit but had been more or less keeping track of where they were. He showed the infantry guy a spot on the map, who responded, "We can't be there! We are not supposed to be there!" and then told one of his NCO's to bring over a compass. He then laid the compass on top of the M48, where the needle just spun around. The infantry officer scooped up the compass, said, "It's broke! Get me another one!" and tossed it back to the NCO.

There is no reason to think that a compass laid atop a huge steel object with a running engine and operating radios would not read correctly, is there?

I always thought you guys were exaggerating with stories like this but...
There's currently a TV series on down here with teams trying to move from point A to point B while being tracked by ex NZSAS soldiers. There was one team who had an ex US 'Special Forces' on it who ended up moving 180º from where they were meant to be, and then spent the next day going around in circles trying to work out where they were.
Don't they teach basic map work in the military over there?

DBII · May 31, 2023

MIflyer said:
A US Marine officer who served in Vietnam told me that once his tank unit was paralleling an infantry unit on a sweep through the jungle, and the commanding infantry officer came over and asked him where they were. The tanker basically had been following the infantry unit but had been more or less keeping track of where they were. He showed the infantry guy a spot on the map, who responded, "We can't be there! We are not supposed to be there!" and then told one of his NCO's to bring over a compass. He then laid the compass on top of the M48, where the needle just spun around. The infantry officer scooped up the compass, said, "It's broke! Get me another one!" and tossed it back to the NCO.

There is no reason to think that a compass laid atop a huge steel object with a running engine and operating radios would not read correctly, is there?

And that is why the inf walks.

manta22 · May 31, 2023

DBII said:
And that is why the inf walks.

In Germany a dumb 2nd Lt who couldn't read a map almost led a Corporal Missile Bn over the border into Czechoslovakia.

MIflyer · May 31, 2023

I read of a case where a US Army company commander was talking on the radio to a Lt who was leading a platoon through the jungle in Vietnam and did not know where he was. Finally, he called the Major and said, "I found out where we are, sir! We are in Nakkom Phenom!"

The Major replied, "That means Strategic Hamlet. That's like being in Resume Speed."

Dalton Fury, who led the US Army Special Forces into the Afghan mountains in pursuit of OBL, said that when they got to the forward base the CIA was already there. The CIA guy pointed at a peak and said, "That is such and such." The Army guy replied, "No, that is so and so, such and such is over there." The CIA guy said, "No kidding?"
Note that these guys had fully functional GPS.

DBII · May 31, 2023

gumbyk said:
I always thought you guys were exaggerating with stories like this but...
There's currently a TV series on down here with teams trying to move from point A to point B while being tracked by ex NZSAS soldiers. There was one team who had an ex US 'Special Forces' on it who ended up moving 180º from where they were meant to be, and then spent the next day going around in circles trying to work out where they were.
Don't they teach basic map work in the military over there?

I think they only teach gps nowadays. Dead reconing is not difficult. Just have to shoot two back azimuths from two known points. Hopefully you can find two known points and not just left tree and right tree. There is nothing like a several hours across Germany drive in the dead of winter with thick fog and snow at night to an area outside of the area you reconned the month before. Impressed the f*** out of Sqdrn staff. All done in a M1 prior to gps. To bad, the Co Cmdr forgot he sent me there. I got there on time, set up the battle position, coordinated with an 8th inf Plt that was blocking the main road through a small town. I found a nice place with flanking shots covering the main road. The orange units came sailing down the road to fight the inf. We popped up and wanted firing instructions from the co. I was told not to engage yet. My gunners were drooling. I sent in a spot report. CO said to hold fire. He returned on the radio, where the h*** are you LT. At the CP you order me to down south at 0100 hrs this morning. I did not send you there meet us at some check point I don't remember. Let's see, you sent your driver to my BP when I just went to my 3o minutes of sleep for the night to wake me up to tell me to call you on the radio. I chewed on the Plt because no one was on radio watch and I got busted for it. The co wanted me to radio him so he could tell me to relocate to the south. It's rough being a Lt. At lease I was an O2 and not an O1. Sorry, I got side tracked.

DerAdlerIstGelandet · May 31, 2023

gumbyk said:
Don't they teach basic map work in the military over there?

When I went to the NCO Professional Development Course, only a few soldiers failed the land navigation course. They were all airborne infantry. I think its because they were overconfident in their abilities, whereas the rest of us paid more attention and put more effort into it.

DerAdlerIstGelandet · May 31, 2023

DBII said:
I think they only teach gps nowadays.

No, standard map and compass land navigation is still taught. Its just whether any of them remember it after they get to an operational unit.

It's like when I was learning to fly. We were not allowed to use a GPS. Just a sectional, instruments, stop watch, and E6B. Why? Because those items never experience a dead battery.

gumbyk · May 31, 2023

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:
No, standard map and compass land navigation is still taught. Its just whether any of them remember it after they get to an operational unit.

It's like when I was learning to fly. We were not allowed to use a GPS. Just a sectional, instruments, stop watch, and E6B. Why? Because those items never experience a dead battery.

So the concept of 'continued competence' doesn't exist for the miliitary?

All of my licence renewals consist of dead reckoning for the nav.

DerAdlerIstGelandet · May 31, 2023

gumbyk said:
So the concept of 'continued competence' doesn't exist for the miliitary?

All of my licence renewals consist of dead reckoning for the nav.

It did, at least when I was in. I think some just focus on the easy and convenient technology.

special ed · Jun 1, 2023

Way back in 1960, after classroom escape & evasion where we were instructed to never use roads to walk out, we were bussed to some place in the mountains, dropped off & told to be at some other place to be picked up in a few days. After being lost, we were finally picked up, and at a briefing, a Q &A with an actual aviator who walked out after bailout in Korea, someone asked how he did it. His comment: "I just kept on roads heading south."

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