A Difficult Question, a Sensitive Subject

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Mar 26, 2003 | 09:35 PM

#16

2K1F150

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A Difficult Question, a Sensitive Subject

Quote:

Imagine doing it while everyone has a gun and is trying to prevent the enemy from killing one of them as the structure is built.

I can relate to that statement... I was a carpenter in the Army. In a combat engineer unit. I never had to do it for real, but I did it many times in practice.

Steve

Mar 26, 2003 | 10:01 PM

#17

horsepuller

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A Difficult Question, a Sensitive Subject

IOBM, is right. Gas turbine engines used for aviation usually don't have an air filter because of the high amount of air they flow. It would be plugged in a matter of minutes in that kind of environment. If anything, some will have a coarse screen to keep out the FOD (foreign object damage.)

For all our technology, sometimes all it takes is a bird to stop an aircraft engine.

It would be interesting to see how military weapons would be designed if they conformed to the same safety and product liability laws as the civilian world. Pretty difficult, considering the whole point of military weapons is to cause carnage.

Really, I think war is just organized chaos!

Scott

Mar 26, 2003 | 10:39 PM

#18

Chas1234

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From: Quaker Hill ,CT U.S.A.

A Difficult Question, a Sensitive Subject

I have never been in the military but my last job I work for the state of Ct and my "job for 2-3 week's was to drive "surplus" Army 5 ton dump trucks from the Federal government as it a fed/ state job . These trucks were used ( most had 30,000 on the ticker , now was that 30,000 or 130,000 or more I dont know . I will say that they will take quiet the beating as one of the trucks had a pretty good rod knock at idle . These trucks had the Duel fuel turbo charged inline 6 ( run on Diesel or gasoline) engines and they had some guts but were getting tired . At any rate I give or troops alot of credit as those trucks get offly hot inside . As for the sand I dont think that it will effect the engine as they are sealed up really well .
Jon

Mar 26, 2003 | 11:02 PM

#19

BrianA

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From: Trussville, Alabama

A Difficult Question, a Sensitive Subject

Quote:

Originally posted by 1956MarkII
Anyways, here's my question: why are there so many US casualties in Iraq due to everything BUT combat with Iraqis? "

My opinion: this is a testament to the superiority of our (entire) military forces. When fighting the enemy, the coalition forces are significantly superior (all aspects of equipment, training, etc. taken into consideration). That is to say: we kick their butts.
The deaths NOT due to enemy fire are those that are, due to the fact that man is not perfect, almost "unavoidable". Every case of accident or friendly fire will be reviewed and I'm sure the cause identified and an explaination given as to how it COULD have been avoided. But the fact remains, put that many men in almost any environment doing things as complex as what they are doing, and stuff is going to go wrong. People die doing all sorts of mundane tasks every day. It just doesn't make the world news.

Mar 26, 2003 | 11:20 PM

#20

wille3r

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From: DeQuincy, LoUiSiAna

A Difficult Question, a Sensitive Subject

Hey Scott, FOD-- Foreign Object Debris............ Not being a wisecrack or insulting your intell., It`s just so you`ll know!! Only way I know is airframe mod. class. Stay cool !!!

Mar 26, 2003 | 11:24 PM

#21

FordRancher

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From: South Dakota

A Difficult Question, a Sensitive Subject

I agree with BrianA. There has probably always been these kinds of friendly fire accidents for as long as battles have been fought. Today though, with our advance technologies, there are so few deaths from actual battles that "friendly fire" and accidental deaths make up a larger percentage, even though they are probably considerably lower than in the past. This is a great thread and I think there has been a lot of good informative reponses. Glad to hear from the military people to get a better understanding about all this.

Mar 27, 2003 | 07:14 AM

#22

horsepuller

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From: Southern California

A Difficult Question, a Sensitive Subject

Oh no.

I just heard on the BBC that a marine unit was attacked by rockets and they returned fire on their own unit. 30 wounded. I hope it's not true.

Scott

*on edit* Unfortunately it's true. 37 wounded in the 2 batn. 8th marine div.

Last edited by horsepuller; Mar 27, 2003 at 07:36 AM.

Mar 27, 2003 | 11:16 AM

#23

rebocardo

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From: Atlanta GA

A Difficult Question, a Sensitive Subject

As for how accidents happen, being tired and up for over 16 hours and scared can easily kill you. Many of the fatal accidents in linesmen (people that work on high power electric lines on poles and underground in pits) happen when they have worked over 16 hours. Because of stress they let their caution drop or get lax just for one second or do not follow procedure. Then they get toasted or fall from a bucket.

Being in the military means working in a hazard area where OSHA does not give everything the kiss of their approval. My friend worked on Harrier jets and his buddy forgot to put some kind of safety on the seat. His buddy ended up blowing himself through the roof of the hanger with an express ride on the seat. Its sad and it happened during peace time.

When you have 100,000 people in one spot, you are going to have accidents from the normal course of (military) business.
You can just imagine the mistakes that get made when you are exhausted, scared, and maybe your knees are shaking and you have trouble even keeping a thought intact.