Memorial Day Weekend Plans?

[Beloved Shiv]

In lieu of recent, rampant threads inciting vapid comments on idealistic hardware or kit and with a significant, though oft-overlooked holiday upcoming ...

What are your plans for Memorial Day? Sleeping in late, barbeque with the family? Renting Sands of Iwo Jima and FMJ?

Or attending local veterans ceremonies to pay your respects in person?

Even as just an admiring civilian, I'm looking for at least one gathering I can bring my son to. At five years he's still too young to comprehend even just the role our servicemen play, but I'm compelled to teach him this respect early and properly.

Please share any unique ideas for honoring those that have walked our wall and guarded our gates.

[Duke]

Something to do: Learn How To Use a Compass for LanNav

I haven't used a compass in years(so correct me if I'm wrong), but since many here wish to be in the infantry--go out and get a compass, map, pencil and protractor.

An Introduction:
Imagine you're alone in the bush humping an 80lbs ruck with the above items and guess what your unit is shot to **** and the only one left and you have no laser finder or GPS. Running aimlessly, you suddenly realize you're lost. You call BTN for extraction, but its too hot for helos and told to rendevous at the rally point. With that "thinking cap" you haven't used since kindergarten you can: find your position, get to a rally point and possilbly call for fire support.

Find your exact position, called resection.

1. Find two fixed positions, such as, where two creeks merge, an entrance to a meadow, an electrical tower or a road intersection and find them on the map.

2. Align your map exactly how the physical features appear in front of you, line the map with the north pointing exactly with magnetic north from the compass, EXACTLY MN.

3. Place the compass on the map to determine the direction of each of your selected positions. (Remember 0 degrees or 360 is magnetic north, 90 for MEast, 180 for MS and 270 MW.) Our example will be 39 degrees or NE and 161 degrees or SE.

4. (Tricky part) All military maps have this MG (Magnetic Grid) adjustment. This MG allows to reconcile the Map or True North and the Magnetic North discrepancy. On the maps I used, it's located on the bottom left hand side. It looks like a large orange italicized V. Near this V, which actually represents an angle, is a number. Add this number to your selected positions, most numbers are appox. 9 degrees. Thus, our example, is 39 + 9 = 48 and 161 +9 =170.

5. On your map draw a line with your protractor (they're actually square with a grid in the middle, not a semicircle) along the compass needle in the direction of 48 degrees and another line also along the compass needle at 170 degrees. The two lines will intersection, and at the intersection is your location.

Now you know your exact position and move to the rally point, but wait you spy an OP (Observation Post). Using your scope you see its an enemy OP. So, with artillery support at hand you decide to call for fire, but how??

1. Use the same method as above to get the enemy position. From where you are, get a compass read on the OP, our example--45 degrees. Next, carefully move to another location and get yet another read, 345 degrees.

2. Calculate for MN add 9 degrees, so, it's 53 and 354 degrees. On the map again draw the lines and at the intersection is the enemy OP.

3. (Tricky confusing part) To call for artillery you must be specific, you cant just say, "Hey, I'm between the woods and frozen lake. Put a round on the far side of the lake. Call for adjustment...uhh danger close" No, its a little more complicated. For calling in fire support, we use a grid system.

4. Every military map has these grids, and typically each grid is equal to 50 000 meters. In the legend you will see the ratio. For a scaler, remember 100 meters is about 120 yards or an entire football field.

5. To read a grid map and find the enemy grid you got to look at these numbers located on the bottom and right side of the map. A grid is made up of columns and rows. Every column and every row has a two digit number from 01-99. Since, we have pinpointed the enemy OP we can read the grid map. There's a rule in reading grids "READ FROM LEFT TO RIGHT AND THEN UP." You will hear that over and over when learning lannav.
Our example will be grid 3412. Grids are actually 6 digits long

6. (Tricky part) We have found our enemy OP at grid 3412, however grids are six digits long. It should be 34X12X with the Xs yet to be determined. Look at the enemy grid and pretend to evenly divide the bottom grid line into 10 equally long sections and do the same for the right sideline of the grid.

7. For an example, open another browser and open the reply post page, pretend the message body, where the emoticons are, is our enemy grid 3412. By evenly sectioning the grid and reading from the bottom to the right and then up I can zero in on any emoticon. For example, the one eyed emoticon is 6 on the bottom and 2 on the right or 346122. Another example, the smiley emoticon is 2 from the bottom and 7 from the right or 342127.

8. To call for fire on the that smiling son of a bitch you would call on grid tree-four-two-one-two-seven. (one, two, tree, four, fife, six, seven, ate, and of course niner) That about covers it.