Happy 50th

[mudwhistle]

Wrong.

That was $5 billion worth of equipment, in 1973. Adjusted for inflation, that was $30.4 billion worth of equipment today.

So yes, far more was left in Vietnam than was left in Afghanistan.

To just give an idea, the most advanced fighter of the Afghan Air Force in 2021 was around 2 dozen Super Tucano's.

In South Vietnam, the US left the South Vietnamese Air Force over 300 A-1 Skyraiders. Almost 200 F-5 Tiger fighters. Over 150 A-37 Dragonfly fighters. Plus around 800 cargo aircraft, and over 650 helicopters. We left enough equipment to give South Vietnam a fairly modern military force.

Mostly what we left in Afghanistan was the dregs that they did not want to bother to bring back.

They left a shitload of up-armored vehicles that Democrats were bitching to GWB about, saying that he didn't care about the damned troops.
In less than a month they were driving them in Tehran.

I hear they also left a shitload of night-vision equipment.

 

[Mushroom]

I hear they also left a shitload of night-vision equipment.

That was an enormous deal, in the 1970s.

Even by the late 1980s, you could get night vision equipment as good as the military used on the civilian market.

Today, most of the civilian stuff is even better than what the military uses short of the binocular equipment. Today you can get basic night vision scopes for around $150.

And here is the funny thing, the batteries that the US stuff uses is specific to those devices. Those things are not worth very much without power. And the batteries for US military equipment is around $50 per pair of optics. With a lifespan of a dozen hours or so.

I seriously doubt the Taliban are going to be using cocoanuts and seawater to be recharging their batteries.

 

[mudwhistle]

That was an enormous deal, in the 1970s.

Even by the late 1980s, you could get night vision equipment as good as the military used on the civilian market.

Today, most of the civilian stuff is even better than what the military uses short of the binocular equipment. Today you can get basic night vision scopes for around $150.

And here is the funny thing, the batteries that the US stuff uses is specific to those devices. Those things are not worth very much without power. And the batteries for US military equipment is around $50 per pair of optics. With a lifespan of a dozen hours or so.

I seriously doubt the Taliban are going to be using cocoanuts and seawater to be recharging their batteries.

I agree with the battery situation....but the worst night vision goggles I used AN/PVS-5 on the teams was much better than the civilian stuff. The PVS-7s were better. About $9000.00
I drove for 5 hours without headlights with a pair of PVS-7s on.
Gave me a splitting headache.

You can get some NVG-40s on Amazon for $4000.00.
Then there's GPS equipment, COMSEC, and Infrared Scopes.

Nope....Biden was just too much in a hurry to get out of there. Gen Miley told Trump he wanted to leave all of that stuff behind and Trump said that he wanted every single bit of equipment out before the last man leaves.

 

[Ringel05]

Sept 73' was the start of my H.S. senior year.
I was in class 74-344 in Boot Camp. I was a Push Button HT3 by the time I got to 'A' School. I gave the Navy 5 years.

What was your rating?
I can't remember all of the ratings that had an 'A' school at NTC.
They had a pretty good Navy Cook school there. It was pretty extensive.

I went to Boot Camp at NTC and HT'A' Phase II there starting in 75'. Phase one was at Treasure Island SF. That's where they had the Fire-Fighting training and Damage Control School.

DT/CA, Dental Tech/Corpsman's Assitant, CA was basically a glorified LPN, mostly triage training. Did my basic there, 72-73. Started on Worm "Island" finished on Squirrel "Island" and actually ended up being placed in a GPO (Graduation Purposes Only) company. They said I couldn't march.......
I believe it was the Public liaison Lt that had me transferred, I'd had a couple of dealings with him early on. I worked in Brigade HQ the rest of my time in boot.

 

[mudwhistle]

DT/CA, Dental Tech/Corpsman's Assitant, CA was basically a glorified LPN, mostly triage training. Did my basic there, 72-73. Started on Worm "Island" finished on Squirrel "Island" and actually ended up being placed in a GPO (Graduation Purposes Only) company. They said I couldn't march.......
I believe it was the Public liaison Lt that had me transferred, I'd had a couple of dealings with him early on. I worked in Brigade HQ the rest of my time in boot.

Not being able to march didn't matter much in the Navy because Boot Camp was the only place you ever had to do it. We spent the entire 10 weeks learning how to march in our graduation ceremony and pass and review. Course for some reason they expected you to do it perfectly. They even awarded a special flag for the company that marched the best during graduation practices.

When I went thru Boot Camp we won the Cheerios Flag, similar to an Olympic Flag for athletics. That was what our CC wanted the most. He would have liked getting the D&C flag, but he got first pick on recruits specifically because of athletics.

They still had Worm Island when I went through. After we passed the halfway mark they sent us over to the main post. As you probably remembered, Worm Island was where the new recruits went to learned discipline in formation. They would make you stand at attention and make you drop if you moved or "wormed". It was important because they didn't want people worming during the long pauses during the graduation ceremony.

Fun times.

All of that extreme discipline was thrown out the window when you went to the fleet.

 

[Ringel05]

Not being able to march didn't matter much in the Navy because Boot Camp was the only place you ever had to do it. We spent the entire 10 weeks learning how to march in our graduation ceremony and pass and review. Course for some reason they expected you to do it perfectly. They even awarded a special flag for the company that marched the best during graduation practices.

When I went thru Boot Camp we won the Cheerios Flag, similar to an Olympic Flag for athletics. That was what our CC wanted the most. He would have liked getting the D&C flag, but he got first pick on recruits specifically because of athletics.

They still had Worm Island when I went through. After we passed the halfway mark they sent us over to the main post. As you probably remembered, Worm Island was where the new recruits went to learned discipline in formation. They would make you stand at attention and make you drop if you moved or "wormed". It was important because they didn't want people worming during the long pauses during the graduation ceremony.

Fun times.

All of that extreme discipline was thrown out the window when you went to the fleet.

Again I got lucky, for graduation the Lt picked me and I picked one other at his direction. He sent us over to the HQ building to be the "doormen" for the Base Commander. We spent most of our time smoking cigs and drinking coffee until we were positioned for his arrival which lasted all of maybe three minutes then told to meander to wherever on the base we wanted to go.
Years ago I looked on Google for the NTC there in San Diego and discovered it was no more.
Never did get sea duty mostly because my billet was primarily a shore support role.

 

[mudwhistle]

Again I got lucky, for graduation the Lt picked me and I picked one other at his direction. He sent us over to the HQ building to be the "doormen" for the Base Commander. We spent most of our time smoking cigs and drinking coffee until we were positioned for his arrival which lasted all of maybe three minutes then told to meander to wherever on the base we wanted to go.
Years ago I looked on Google for the NTC there in San Diego and discovered it was no more.
Never did get sea duty mostly because my billet was primarily a shore support role.

Graduation was over 2 hours long. All I knew is that we practiced that damn thing over and over for 2 months.
The Navy Chief of Staff was there to watch our graduation. James L. Holloway III - Wikipedia

They bulldozed Worm Island years ago.
They shut down NTC and put houses on it.
They did the same thing on Treasure Island over in SF.