sparau
Super Anarchist
Predictably Russian state media are saying yuuge voter turnout despite Kyiv shelling on this historical holiday where Ukraine's future is fixed for the children...
Ukraine and Only Ukraine. If it isn't about Ukraine then fuck off
- Thread starter d'ranger
- Start date
Ease the sheet.
ignoring stupid people is easy
- 20,386
- 2,364
Twice?
Slow learner?
Putin’s recruits are heading for slaughter
Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling commanded the 1st Armored Division during the Iraq surge and later commanded U.S. Army Europe.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to activate 300,000 “reservists” — some of whom have previously served, some who have not — to hold the line in Ukraine has led thousands of young Russian men to flee the country. The call-up is an outrage, but not only for the reasons you might imagine. Sending new recruits, poorly trained Russian reservists and untrained civilians into Ukraine is a recipe for slaughter. They will not be prepared for what they will encounter.
Years ago, I was given the command of the organization that oversees all basic training for the Army (what some call “boot camp”) as well as managing the advanced training that follows for every Army trooper. At the time, the United States was recruiting approximately 160,000 soldiers, warrant officers and officers each year.
Most Americans who volunteer to join the Army undergo 10 weeks of basic training, then head to different locations for more training in an assigned specialty. “Basic” is a packed period in which soldiers learn and practice such skills as rifle marksmanship, first aid, map reading, land navigation and grenade throwing. They also learn about working as part of a team, reacting to various kinds of attacks (artillery, chemical, ambush, etc.), drill and ceremony (how to march, salute and other elements of discipline), professional ethos and values, and a variety of other skills. It is intense.
The length of the follow-on training depends on the specialty selected by each soldier, but it’s measured in months, not weeks. An intelligence specialist who works as an interpreter spends almost a year learning the trade. Logistics specialists — truck drivers, fuelers, mechanics — spend less, depending on their jobs. Most recruits will spend three or four years in uniform, and a large percentage reenlist and stay in the professional force.
I later became the commander of the U.S. Army in Europe. In that role, I was able to visit Russia several times and observe how another army trained its conscripts and incorporated them into its force.
Russia’s army is mainly a conscript force. Twice a year, Russian men between the ages of 18 and 27 present themselves to their local commissariat. This annual pool is more than 1 million men, from which 120,000 to 140,000 are deemed qualified and are compelled to serve. Russian conscripts then participate in one to two months of basic training (the exact number of weeks is not defined), followed by three to six months of advanced training in a particular skill set. Graduated soldiers report to their units for a short 12- to 18-month enlistment. Few make the army a career.
It is easy to see why. Russian drill sergeants were unprofessional and continuously harassed and hazed recruits. Marksmanship training was geared toward familiarization with a weapon, but not qualification on it. Soldiers were allocated few rounds for practice on firing ranges. First aid training was rudimentary, map reading and land navigation was nonexistent, soldier initiative was lacking, and discipline was lax.
The barracks were crowded, bunks were close, ventilation was poor. Showers and toilets were gang latrines. Food in the mess halls had small portions, no choices and little nutritional value. I didn’t observe any training on values, soldiers’ ethics, professional behavior, or the teaching of land warfare, all key parts of U.S. basic training. Most training in those areas, I was told by a Russian colonel, is conducted after soldiers leave basic and report to their units. To which I could only conclude: Yeah, right.
Shortly thereafter, I visited a tank regiment. I was ushered to that battalion’s single T-72 tank crew simulator, participated in a drill, and found the device rudimentary and unrealistic. U.S. armor crewmen spend extensive time in tank simulators before firing dozens of live rounds at different types of moving and stationary targets at extended ranges — on multiple types of tank ranges. After experiencing the Russian simulator, I went to their single tank range and was proudly told by the Russian commander that each of his crews was able to fire one live round per year. I tried to keep my jaw from dropping.
Having watched the Russian army during the first seven months of its campaign in Ukraine, I cannot say I’m surprised by any of their setbacks. The Russians performed as their training would have suggested: poorly. The casualty counts reflect this. It is no wonder so many young Russians are fleeing the country.
Which brings us back to how Putin’s 300,000 “reservists” will fare against Ukraine’s NATO-trained army. It is likely those recruits will join units that have recently been traumatized after seven months of combat and already suffer from poor morale. It won’t help that those units have recently been reinforced with prison parolees, ragtag militias from false “peoples’ republics,” and recruited guns from private armies.
The results will be predictable. Putin might continue to send unwilling Russian men to an ill-conceived and illegal invasion for which they are not trained or prepared. But it’s not warfare. It’s just more murder — this time of his own citizens.
Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling commanded the 1st Armored Division during the Iraq surge and later commanded U.S. Army Europe.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to activate 300,000 “reservists” — some of whom have previously served, some who have not — to hold the line in Ukraine has led thousands of young Russian men to flee the country. The call-up is an outrage, but not only for the reasons you might imagine. Sending new recruits, poorly trained Russian reservists and untrained civilians into Ukraine is a recipe for slaughter. They will not be prepared for what they will encounter.
Years ago, I was given the command of the organization that oversees all basic training for the Army (what some call “boot camp”) as well as managing the advanced training that follows for every Army trooper. At the time, the United States was recruiting approximately 160,000 soldiers, warrant officers and officers each year.
Most Americans who volunteer to join the Army undergo 10 weeks of basic training, then head to different locations for more training in an assigned specialty. “Basic” is a packed period in which soldiers learn and practice such skills as rifle marksmanship, first aid, map reading, land navigation and grenade throwing. They also learn about working as part of a team, reacting to various kinds of attacks (artillery, chemical, ambush, etc.), drill and ceremony (how to march, salute and other elements of discipline), professional ethos and values, and a variety of other skills. It is intense.
The length of the follow-on training depends on the specialty selected by each soldier, but it’s measured in months, not weeks. An intelligence specialist who works as an interpreter spends almost a year learning the trade. Logistics specialists — truck drivers, fuelers, mechanics — spend less, depending on their jobs. Most recruits will spend three or four years in uniform, and a large percentage reenlist and stay in the professional force.
I later became the commander of the U.S. Army in Europe. In that role, I was able to visit Russia several times and observe how another army trained its conscripts and incorporated them into its force.
Russia’s army is mainly a conscript force. Twice a year, Russian men between the ages of 18 and 27 present themselves to their local commissariat. This annual pool is more than 1 million men, from which 120,000 to 140,000 are deemed qualified and are compelled to serve. Russian conscripts then participate in one to two months of basic training (the exact number of weeks is not defined), followed by three to six months of advanced training in a particular skill set. Graduated soldiers report to their units for a short 12- to 18-month enlistment. Few make the army a career.
It is easy to see why. Russian drill sergeants were unprofessional and continuously harassed and hazed recruits. Marksmanship training was geared toward familiarization with a weapon, but not qualification on it. Soldiers were allocated few rounds for practice on firing ranges. First aid training was rudimentary, map reading and land navigation was nonexistent, soldier initiative was lacking, and discipline was lax.
The barracks were crowded, bunks were close, ventilation was poor. Showers and toilets were gang latrines. Food in the mess halls had small portions, no choices and little nutritional value. I didn’t observe any training on values, soldiers’ ethics, professional behavior, or the teaching of land warfare, all key parts of U.S. basic training. Most training in those areas, I was told by a Russian colonel, is conducted after soldiers leave basic and report to their units. To which I could only conclude: Yeah, right.
Shortly thereafter, I visited a tank regiment. I was ushered to that battalion’s single T-72 tank crew simulator, participated in a drill, and found the device rudimentary and unrealistic. U.S. armor crewmen spend extensive time in tank simulators before firing dozens of live rounds at different types of moving and stationary targets at extended ranges — on multiple types of tank ranges. After experiencing the Russian simulator, I went to their single tank range and was proudly told by the Russian commander that each of his crews was able to fire one live round per year. I tried to keep my jaw from dropping.
Having watched the Russian army during the first seven months of its campaign in Ukraine, I cannot say I’m surprised by any of their setbacks. The Russians performed as their training would have suggested: poorly. The casualty counts reflect this. It is no wonder so many young Russians are fleeing the country.
Which brings us back to how Putin’s 300,000 “reservists” will fare against Ukraine’s NATO-trained army. It is likely those recruits will join units that have recently been traumatized after seven months of combat and already suffer from poor morale. It won’t help that those units have recently been reinforced with prison parolees, ragtag militias from false “peoples’ republics,” and recruited guns from private armies.
The results will be predictable. Putin might continue to send unwilling Russian men to an ill-conceived and illegal invasion for which they are not trained or prepared. But it’s not warfare. It’s just more murder — this time of his own citizens.
LeoV
Super Anarchist
- keep them in the back as reserve if needed/after more training and but priortize to let them dig 2d and 3rd line of defence.
- use them for a mass assault overrunning Ukr defence, probably a mass slaughter will ensue if Ukr get intel where it ill happen.
- reinforce existing regiments with the problems Hertling describes.
Any other plans for them ?
They had a force of 1 million, now they need 300K more, and even more in the pipeline.
Putin; what do you need for the next big assaults I want ?
Generals; as always, man with good morale and the best material trained to use them.
Putin; part mobilisation will get your man you need.
Generals; And the material and fighting spirit ?
Putin; numbers will make up for that, mobilize more man.
- use them for a mass assault overrunning Ukr defence, probably a mass slaughter will ensue if Ukr get intel where it ill happen.
- reinforce existing regiments with the problems Hertling describes.
Any other plans for them ?
They had a force of 1 million, now they need 300K more, and even more in the pipeline.
Putin; what do you need for the next big assaults I want ?
Generals; as always, man with good morale and the best material trained to use them.
Putin; part mobilisation will get your man you need.
Generals; And the material and fighting spirit ?
Putin; numbers will make up for that, mobilize more man.
ShortForBob
Super Anarchist
Not Quite Henry V is it?
Еще раз к пролому, дорогие друзья, еще раз;
Или закрыть стену нашими английскими мертвецами.
В мире нет ничего, так становится мужчиной
Как скромная тишина и смирение:
Но когда взрыв войны дует в наши уши,
Затем имитируйте действия тигра;
Напрягите сухожилия, вызовите кровь,
Прекрасную натуру маскируйте жестокой яростью;
Затем придайте глазу ужасный вид;
Пусть подглядывает через перенос головы
Как медная пушка; пусть бровь ошеломит его
Так же боязливо, как испорченная скала
О'эрханг и джутти его проклятую базу,
Напитался диким и расточительным океаном.
Теперь стисни зубы и широко растяни ноздрю,
Задержите дыхание и согните каждый дух
В полный рост. Вперед, благороднейший англичанин.
Чья кровь впитается от отцов воинственных!
Отцы, которые, как и многие Александры,
В этих краях с утра до вечера дрались
И вложили мечи в ножны за неимением аргумента:
Не позорьте своих матерей; теперь засвидетельствовать
Что те, кого вы назвали отцами, родили вас.
Будь подражанием людям более грубой крови,
И научите их воевать. А ты, добрый йомен,
Чьи конечности были сделаны в Англии, покажите нам здесь
Характер вашего пастбища; давайте поклянемся
Что вы достойны своего разведения; в чем я не сомневаюсь;
Ибо нет никого из вас столь подлого и подлого,
В глазах твоих нет благородного блеска.
Я вижу, вы стоите, как борзые, в слипах,
Напряжение при старте. Игра идет:
Следуй за своим духом, и по этому обвинению
Кричите: «Боже за Гарри, Англию и Святого Георгия!»
Or
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour’d rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o’erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O’erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill’d with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call’d fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game’s afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George!’
LeoV
Super Anarchist
Lyman offensive this morning according to Rus Rybar, but just in, Novoselovka liberated. So Ukr is really on the move.
badlatitude
Super Anarchist
- 31,275
- 6,013
Thanks Meli, that adds the proper context to pure madness.
ShortForBob
Super Anarchist
You are welcome.
billy backstay
Backstay, never bought a suit, never went to Vegas
LeoV
Super Anarchist
Advance of Ukraine.
I have moments of amazing stupidity.
Steam Flyer
Sophisticated Yet Humble
Wow, the UKR has pushed back almost all the way to Severodonetsk and this time with consistent lines.
badlatitude
Super Anarchist
- 31,275
- 6,013
CNN: U.S. Embassy Warns Americans to leave Russia now
"Security alert for Americans in Russia
Russia may refuse to acknowledge dual nations' U.S. citzenship, deny their access to U.S. consular assistance, prevent their departure from Russia, and conscript dual nationals for military service...
and those residing or travelling in Russia should depart Russia immediately while limited commercial travel options remain"
They can be arrested on the street and taken into custody
LeoV
Super Anarchist
'Honestly, they're all going to die' What Russian soldiers who have already fought in Ukraine think about Putin's mobilization effort — Meduza
Interviews by Lilia Yapparova. Abridged translation by Sam Breazeale.
Ex Machina
Super Anarchist
And from what I’ve seen of the new recruit videos , a drinking club with a war problem
Ease the sheet.
ignoring stupid people is easy
- 20,386
- 2,364
You and me both...
Keith
Super Anarchist
Finland closes highway for fighter jet drill for first time in decades
Finland has shut down a section of one of its main highways for five days for the first time in decades to allow its fighter jets to practice landings and take-offs on a reserve road runway. The Nordic country, which is applying for NATO membership following neighbouring Russia's invasion of...
"Finland closes highway for fighter jet drill for first time in decades"
Keith
Super Anarchist
Ex Machina
Super Anarchist
That loois like a truck full of ammo boxes , not a boat full of trucks
