General Discussion Thread

[Eaglenine2]

How did the 9th Motorized concept worked?

[Bernard Woolley]

In the conditions the division found itself, badly.

[Matt Wiser]

Badly, to say the least. They got mauled. After that, they were pulled off the line to be rebuilt as a Mech Infantry Division.

Seems ol' Chebrikov had drawn up a list of possible successors as he got spooked by that assassination attempt in 1988. A document has recently surfaced where he states who he wanted the Central Committee and the Politburo to consider as his successor-he wasn't going to pick who he wanted as he did not have Stalin's power. Three names stand out: Boris Pugo, the Interior Minister and not only a hardliner, but also having his own private army in the form of the Internal Troops of the MVD. Then there's Viktor Grishin: First Secretary of the Moscow City Committee and very well connected. Yigor LIgachev, a Politburo member (but not on the Defense Council) was also on the list: also a hardliner and opponent of meaningful domestic reforms prewar. KGB Chairman Kosov was NOT on the list, it should be noted.

[Poohbah]

Badly, to say the least. They got mauled. After that, they were pulled off the line to be rebuilt as a Mech Infantry Division.

Seems ol' Chebrikov had drawn up a list of possible successors as he got spooked by that assassination attempt in 1988. A document has recently surfaced where he states who he wanted the Central Committee and the Politburo to consider as his successor-he wasn't going to pick who he wanted as he did not have Stalin's power. Three names stand out: Boris Pugo, the Interior Minister and not only a hardliner, but also having his own private army in the form of the Internal Troops of the MVD. Then there's Viktor Grishin: First Secretary of the Moscow City Committee and very well connected. Yigor LIgachev, a Politburo member (but not on the Defense Council) was also on the list: also a hardliner and opponent of meaningful domestic reforms prewar. KGB Chairman Kosov was NOT on the list, it should be noted.

I could see General Lodge dropping hints to all 3 that one of the other 2 is spying for the Americans...

[Wolfman]

How’s everyone’s 4th of July going?

[jemhouston]

Hamburger for lunch, hot dog and apple pie for dinner.

[Poohbah]

Picnic dinner with the senior group from our church (when we got here, we were still officially young adults), at the lake shore park, followed by a concert and fireworks.

We are at peace, and we are free. That is a miracle, and miracles are the way things ought to be. CAN YOU DIG IT?

[Poohbah]

Although I add for the record that Wichita is hosting the most postwar American event I can possibly think of . . .

A Monster LAV competition.

Take a surplus LAV-25, strip the armor, screw with the engine and the transmission to have insane power and gear ratios, make a colorful shell . . . and drive it on a dirt course in a stadium or arena. Do tricks and flips. The fans consume beer, buy merch, and have a blast.

I have yet to take my bride so such a fine cultural event. (She is dubious of the cultural significance.)

[clancyphile]

Although I add for the record that Wichita is hosting the most postwar American event I can possibly think of . . .

A Monster LAV competition.

Take a surplus LAV-25, strip the armor, screw with the engine and the transmission to have insane power and gear ratios, make a colorful shell . . . and drive it on a dirt course in a stadium or arena. Do tricks and flips. The fans consume beer, buy merch, and have a blast.

I have yet to take my bride so such a fine cultural event. (She is dubious of the cultural significance.)

Does the Bushmaster still work?

[Poohbah]

Although I add for the record that Wichita is hosting the most postwar American event I can possibly think of . . .

A Monster LAV competition.

Take a surplus LAV-25, strip the armor, screw with the engine and the transmission to have insane power and gear ratios, make a colorful shell . . . and drive it on a dirt course in a stadium or arena. Do tricks and flips. The fans consume beer, buy merch, and have a blast.

I have yet to take my bride so such a fine cultural event. (She is dubious of the cultural significance.)

Does the Bushmaster still work?

Nope. Don't want to accidentally light up the stadium.

[Matt Wiser]

4th went very well: BBQ with burgers, corn on the cob, fireworks show, and, oh, some knotheads off in the distance with some "Happy Fire."

[Poohbah]

Well, my lovely and gracious bride and I last night watched the new Roland Emmerich film, 49 Easting.

They did Hollywood it up a bit, but they did preserve the fact that there was, in fact, a battle at Valles Caldera, along phase line 49 Easting, in 1986.

(All right, they Hollywooded it up a LOT.)

The actor they got to play someone who's roughly me, except they made him into the platoon leader instead of the platoon sergeant (who was a she), and he doesn't get medevaced. Apparently, someone told them a 21-year-old Gunnery Sergeant wasn't plausible. It wasn't in 1985, but it was almost routine in 1986 (after Gray ordered mass sackings of staff NCOs who should've been canned long before the war started--when an ALMAR begins with MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN, you know it's going to be either epic, a s*** show, or an epic s*** show).

And Roland Emmerich loves himself some patriotic imagery. The climactic fight, when the guy who sorta is(n't) me, orders a platoon rush, drags the company along with him, then the battalion, and finally the entire 26th Marines, while the 28th Marines are doing a no-f***ing kidding bayonet charge? No, we did not have anyone carrying the regimental and national colors, this wasn't the Civil War. We did platoon and company bounds, just like the book says. Not this mass zerg rush stuff.

Might as well have added some bald eagles soaring overhead shouting,

'MURICA!

In Dolby Surround Sound . . .

But they did get the impact right. The Soviet 13th Army went into Valles Caldera fully expecting to win. They staggered back to Santa Fe, and everyone knew exactly who'd won and who'd lost. The rot took a year to set in, but one year later, when we started PRAIRIE FIRE, 13th Army just collapsed at contact.

It's a good movie if you don't know a damn thing about the battle. And it has its moments. (The cheerfully crazy Irish illegal alien who showed up at 2/26 as an Army designated marksman because his orders got jacked up and asked, "So, if I go with you lot, will I get to kill lots of Communists?" Yeah, he was real, and if anything they toned him down.)

[Poohbah]

Boss-Ma'am posted a tweet saying that she's attending Oshkosh with her Skyraider.

She posted a picture of herself with her Skyraider. In her flight suit.

She's 60 years old. A legit grandmother.

She was accused of thirst-posting.

[Lordroel]

She was accused of thirst-posting.

What, for posting a picture of herself ore here bird.

[Poohbah]

She was accused of thirst-posting.

What, for posting a picture of herself ore here bird.

Both. She's considered a GILF.

[Matt Wiser]

Not the only one at Oshkosh: Goalie and I are there again with 512. It's going to be a busy week.

[Matt Wiser]

Oshkosh report: Fifi and Doc (the only two flying B-29s) flew in today, as did the F-22 and F-35 demo teams. Maj.Gen. Steve Ritchie (USAF, Ret.) flew in as well, in the Collings Foundation's F-4D. The round table where the F-4's role in two wars (SEA and WW III) will be lively.

[Matt Wiser]

Oshkosh report; Doc and Fifi, the two flyable B-29s, are here, along with two of the three flyable SB2Cs. A big draw on the flight line was a reproduction Me-262 using GE CJ610 Tubojets, inside housings that are similar to the original Jumo 004 engines.

[Lordroel]

Oshkosh report; Doc and Fifi, the two flyable B-29s, are here, along with two of the three flyable SB2Cs. A big draw on the flight line was a reproduction Me-262 using GE CJ610 Tubojets, inside housings that are similar to the original Jumo 004 engines.

That was most likely a sight to see.

[Matt Wiser]

Well, EAA Oshkosh is in the books. Flew back this morning, and it was a blast! Two flying F-4s (The Collings Foundation's D model, flown by Steve Ritchie, and 512 with yours truly and Goalie in the back seat), both B-29s (Doc and Fifi), several Skyraiders (Sophie's was not alone: two in Korean War vintage markings, two SEA, and one H model dressed up in the Desert SW's Counter-SOF scheme), the USAF Heritage Flight, the Navy's, and the Golden Knights. With the usual WW II warbirds, two MiG-17s,that reproduction Me-262, and lots of General Aviation and homebuilts.

The various panel discussions were interesting, of course. Steve Ritchie and I had a good one about a comparison between air ops in SEA and in WW III, with both of us agreeing that having a second pair of eyes in the back seat was a very good thing.