Posted by CSM, USA (Ret) on October 13, 2009, 4:49 pm, in reply to "It is obivious that todays U.S. Army Soldier are poorly trained!"

Retired Boss: I served for over 20 years in the US Army, to include one of the decades in which you claimed service. I have one son, one daughter, one grandson presently serving, and another son who served 5 years and is now in law enforcement. They have between them 2 deployments to Afghanistan, 3 deployments to Iraq, and 2 deployments to Bosnia/Kosovo. I have recently toured 2 Army training bases, received briefings, and observed current training up close. I subscribe to several military publications and belong to a number of military related associations and organizations. Retired Boss, I express all that to suggest that maybe I have some insights you lack and to say that in my humble military mind, you are either severely misinformed or maliciously ignorant. The soldiers of today are better trained and better equipped than I was (or you for that matter, if you were in fact a soldier). You disrespect the fine fighting men and women of our military when you take one take one piece of bad reporting and make a blanket uninformed accusation. The only thing obvious to me, is that you can't spell obvious (or s##t for that matter). Please see the title of your post if you didn't get that previous sentence. And.... "the caissons go rolling along"

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Posted by Galvatraz on October 12, 2009, 11:55 pm, in reply to "It is obivious that todays U.S. Army Soldier are poorly trained!"

Hey retboss, were you ever in the military?? Just curious

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Posted by Retired Boss on October 12, 2009, 10:53 pm, in reply to "It is obivious that todays U.S. Army Soldier are poorly trained!"

Yes I do have firefight experience! I also am still carrying lead. Yes I do feel for the troops, I was not giving this individual a hard time, I was commenting on his training or the lack thereof. In the late 60's our military went from one shot one kill to massive fire. It didn't work for us in Vietnam and will never work in any war. Just on old individuals opinion.

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Posted by Pedro Panduko on October 12, 2009, 6:39 pm, in reply to "It is obivious that todays U.S. Army Soldier are poorly trained!"

So Retired Boss, you have quite a bit of combat firefight experience that you base your comments on? Tell us about it. I do believe that in this case the enemy, with AK47s, numbered somewhere in the range of 200. Would seem to me that even "Spray and Pray" would be the order of the day.

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Posted by BoBoTheBeaten on October 12, 2009, 6:26 pm, in reply to "It is obivious that todays U.S. Army Soldier are poorly trained!"

I think what's obvious is some guy panicked and let his barrel get too hot. Because you can fire 600 rounds a minute doesn't mean you can consistently do that. We use to carry interchangeable barrels just for that reason. It's also a good idea to see what you're shooting at and not just blow lead around. It sounds like that guy would have been good in a guard tower. All that lead fired and no casualties.

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Posted by Vet & Proud of It on October 12, 2009, 12:11 pm, in reply to "It is obivious that todays U.S. Army Soldier are poorly trained!"

Your touching on a hot button. The US still has the most professional fighting force in the world. It's all fine and dandy to sit over here in your house on your computer, judging an incident that took place 3,000 mile away and a year ago. If you served, you should know better than to enjoy the freedoms that our military provides and then belittle them for the way they provide it. I've served in two branches, more than ten years, and believe this is still the greatest country with the most professional Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen, and Coast Guard in the world. But then again, because of these professionals, you have a right and can say whatever you want.

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Posted by Retired 2004 on October 12, 2009, 9:59 am, in reply to "It is obivious that todays U.S. Army Soldier are poorly trained!"

1. Have you ever been in combat? 2. Do you know what your field of fire or sector of fire is? 3. Do you know the purpose of firing a weapon on "auto" vs. "semi-auto"? 4. "One shot one kill" is the creed of a sniper; it is not the policy of the US Armed forces. Did you know this?

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Posted by spaceone on October 12, 2009, 6:40 am, in reply to "It is obivious that todays U.S. Army Soldier are poorly trained!"

Army, go figure. They got money for replacement rounds and replacements. Yes training has gone bad, but what can they do? They take what they get and do what they can. Of course they can't stress the recruits out or slap them around like the old days. Pain was a great teacher.

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Posted by Animal_Tamer on October 12, 2009, 3:36 am, in reply to "It is obivious that todays U.S. Army Soldier are poorly trained!"

It's not as obvious as you suggest. In a combat situation, when you are out numbered, being heavy on your trigger can be extremely tactical; especially when you can't see your enemy. The additional rounds can suppress the enemy's ability to return fire and at the very least can slow or lock their movements, which is extremely important when they are advancing on your position and may outnumber those in your platoon. Our soldiers in Iraq & Afghanistan are often deployed in small numbers. The one shot one kill "plan" is extremely difficult at 300 plus yards with a .223 round on terrain that makes the enemy practically invisible. Let us not judge so harshly. Besides,.... having multiple rounds fired in your vicinity tends to interfere with your ability to calmly "acquire the target" for that single "one shot/one kill" method that you suggest. That method works well for snipers who use more powerful weapons at greater distances and who have to remain unseen. The method does not work so well for those in the infantry who are engaged in firefights. Oh, and just because the soldier threw his weapon down, didn't mean he didn't pick up another. It's not unprofessional to discard something useless and go to something that's going to keep your arse alive. God bless the United States soldiers! They are the world's finest! God keep them and bring them home!

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Posted by 1SG, USA (RET) on October 12, 2009, 12:03 am, in reply to "It is obivious that todays U.S. Army Soldier are poorly trained!"

It is obvious that you are misinformed.

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Posted by Granny on October 11, 2009, 8:52 pm, in reply to "It is obivious that todays U.S. Army Soldier are poorly trained!"

there is such a thing as suppressing fire. Sometimes you shoot just to keep the enemy ducking behind cover so your mates can maneuver. Not every shot is an aimed shot at an exposed target. Sometimes you have to pump a clip into an open window so you or your buddies can move. 12 rounds a minute is nothing for a fully automatic m4. Sounds like he was using semi auto fire and was conserving ammo. I've never been in a firefight so i'm not gonna armchair QB this one....

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