An odd thought

[Trident-za]

Was just reading Foxnews about yet another convoy attack... and I had an odd thought. How much is it costing the US to repair/replace all these damaged vehicles? And, does any one have stats on how many military vehicles have been destroyed?

Note, this is not a anti-war post.... I've just bought a new car, and was quite staggered, while shopping around, at how f**king expensive vehicles are (might just be in South Africa though).

Edit: I guess this should have gone in the "Off topic" forum. Apologies....

[Argyll]

Was just reading Foxnews about yet another convoy attack... and I had an odd thought. How much is it costing the US to repair/replace all these damaged vehicles? And, does any one have stats on how many military vehicles have been destroyed?

Note, this is not a anti-war post.... I've just bought a new car, and was quite staggered, while shopping around, at how f**king expensive vehicles are (might just be in South Africa though).

Edit: I guess this should have gone in the "Off topic" forum. Apologies....

Slow moving targets mate,and lots of them,they get hit almost daily say 3-4 hits,countrywide,OPSEC will not permit the number of losses,and they are not Military vehicles most of them,most are regular 16 wheeler trucks mate.......no armour and drivers with balls of steel,they are the unsung heroes in Iraq,and nobody gives them enough credit!

[Herrmannek]

Are those drivers iraqis or foregin PC?

[Argyll]

Are those drivers iraqis or foregin PC?

Mixed mate,think of a Nation and they'll be there!

[Haiw]

North-Korean truckdrivers?.... Naaaaah. :D

[Javehn]

Just just wrong , mate .

Because of this Rumsfeld with his "light Army" vission , so many people die in Iraq right now . I mean , to drive with an open 6 wheeler ? It's madness !! At list they scan the road before ?

[Trident-za]

Thanks for your insight Argyll.... yeah, never really thought of it before, but not a job I'd want :oops:

[Herrmannek]

Thanks for your insight Argyll.... yeah, never really thought of it before, but not a job I'd want :oops:

I would try* that job, but parking** bic truck is much beyond my driving skill


*mainly because I still don't know price of my life, and I liked that film about that nitroglicerine transport, needed for extinguishing fire in oil rig.
**I don't say I can drive it too :)

[Mark_Aspen]

Aren't these the contract jobs we read about? Great pay scale but the insurance companies will revoke coverage if the contractors leave their living areas.

Javehn: Ever do any livui for Solel Boneh in Levanon?

[Sayeret]

Javehn,

I'm glad that you agree with me about Rumsfeld. I think he's causing tons of problems for the US military. He believes that the new enemies of the US will be extremely lightly armed so that tanks won't be needed. Also he didn't allow the amount of troops needed for Iraq to be sent. Finally he always makes that really annoying and obnoxious smirk whenever he speaks.

[Javehn]

Javehn: Ever do any livui for Solel Boneh in Levanon?

Way before my time . Why ?
Convoy escort To the Nezarim counts ? Same **** , sometimes even scarier( i mean at the last time ) ...

[Tane Angle]

The truck driver contractors are very different from the contractors who protect the convoys with rifles.

What we need is actually two militaries. One would be rapidly deployable, made up chiefly of units like the MEUs, 10th Mountain and 82nd Airborne, SOF, and the Stryker Brigades. The other would be a bit slower to get there, but of much stronger, thicker capabilities for peacekeeping and the more traditional campaigns, like driving against enemy tanks across hundreds of miles of desert.

This isn't my idea or anything, soldiers have been arguing for this for more than two decades. We do have this today, but unfortunately, neither of the "two militaries" is large enough to function on it's own yet. The light military can in many situations, but the heavy one still isn't large enough to work alone. Thus, it has to borrow light units to fill the gaps.

That is the problem with the Styker, the Hummer, and such-they wer never intended for jobs requiring heavy forces, including peacekeeping under heavy fire. The Hummer is just a big jeep, even when uparmored. The Stryker was made to get to a still-developing crisis quickly, in order to head the crisis off, or barring that, to establish a toehold around airports and seaports and hold them long enough for the heavy forces to arrive.

Trident-za, I don't know for sure what the figures are, but I'd say a couple trucks a day during bad weeks. We're about 2,000 Hummers short of where we should be, if that helps. I heard something about how of the Hummers in Iraq, a few thousand are not actually usable, increasing the Hummer shortage to about 3,000-5,000. Hummers cost a bit more than the average civilian car, but those tractor trailers cost about as much as a house. I'm probably recalling some of the numbers wrong, sorry. And don't worry, this is very on-topic, I think.

Have a good one all, and just some thoughts...

[Red]

Was just reading Foxnews about yet another convoy attack... and I had an odd thought. How much is it costing the US to repair/replace all these damaged vehicles? And, does any one have stats on how many military vehicles have been destroyed?

Note, this is not a anti-war post.... I've just bought a new car, and was quite staggered, while shopping around, at how f**king expensive vehicles are (might just be in South Africa though).

Edit: I guess this should have gone in the "Off topic" forum. Apologies....

Slow moving targets mate,and lots of them,they get hit almost daily say 3-4 hits,countrywide,OPSEC will not permit the number of losses,and they are not Military vehicles most of them,most are regular 16 wheeler trucks mate.......no armour and drivers with balls of steel,they are the unsung heroes in Iraq,and nobody gives them enough credit!
Exactly,but that is why i felt that the US needed more troops and armor in country.At the current time,i dont think that there are enough resources to adequately protec those convoys which i believe in the view of the enemy are juicy and strategic targets.

[Tane Angle]

Of course we need more troops, especially of certain types. And we need more training. And we need more teachers and doctors. Problem is, we're fresh out. :|

Have a good one, and just some thoughts...