Dear combat veterans of /k/. Those of you who got to fight in

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>>31905888
Nice trips, this is gonna be a good thread.

>>What was differences and similarities to the Iraqi Insurgent and Taliban boy?

The "Iraqi insurgent" was a fucking coward. Straight fucking coward

>Be on patrol in the triangle
>Out of nowhere truck comes Tokyo drifting from the desert and engage us
>Engage back
>Monkey boy fired like 10 rounds at us and drove back where he came from
>Request to go after him
>"Aw fuck him hes probably wounded we lit him the fuck up"
>2 minutes later he comes right back shoots at us again
>Engage
>Drives away
>FUCK THAT LETS GO AFTER HIM
>"Screw it"
>Find the car abandoned with intact PKM
>What a waste, and we'll probably get shot at him again

At least the Taliban will fight us to the death instead of running like a bunch of pussys.

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>>31905930
>>Find the car abandoned with intact PKM

Do they just abandon weapons like that?

>>31905888

Iraq always scared me more than Afghanistan. For me Afghanistan felt like a nature walk 70% of the time. Iraq was just any window could be a sniper, or any shitty dirt corner could be a 30 pound IED. Whole houses and just gravel up in the air smacking you in the face or whatever. Fuck that.

>>31905965
You know how ISIS has a ton of US-made weapons? When they attacked the Iraqi Army, the Iraqis just dropped everything and ran. Weapons. Vehicles. Entire bases. Just left them in perfect working order and ran away.

>>31906115
fucking lol

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>>31906115
>>31905965


>MFW had this been the WW1 era rules on war trophies all those weapons we could've accumulated and collected

>>31905888
I doubt there's many guys here who fought in both campaigns.

Iraq was flat, Trashcanland was more mountainous.

Afghans fought better. They still had old timers that fucked with Russia.

>>31905965
Of course they do. Easier to blend in when you aren't carrying a gun or chest rig. And you can give any random kid a few hundred bucks and a grenade or pistol to take potshots at the Americans then run away

>>31905888
This is gonna be a little atypical since I was aviation groundcrew that went out with the III/V convoys, but:
>Iraq
99% IED's with the occasional guy sticking just the AK over or around something 800m off, firing half a mag blindly, and running away. Literally half the time only the front truck even had a vague idea we were being shot at the guy was so far away and "attacked" for such a short period of time. But this happened 2-5x every convoy, and we did convoys every day.

Separate entity but the mortar attacks on the mega-FOB I was based out of were multiple times a day as well, but between the C-RAM systems and the relatively low population density of a fucking airfield, I don't think they ever even hurt anyone in the year I was there (blew up our gym twice tho, the fucks). Most of the mortars were piddly shit either launched out of a moving vehicle or ice-packed and stashed because they're cowards. Despite a target area roughly the size of HUMONGOUS most of them completely missed the FOB.
>Afghanistan
Never hit or found an IED (not that surprising since we were on 2-track roads innamountains), much fewer attacks (maybe one every other week). The skill of the insurgents wasn't any better (either just sticking the gun out of cover to blind fire, or hopping about hip-firing while LILILILILILI'ing, also at extremely long range, but they were brave and fought to the death. They also frequently had serious-threat weapons like recoilless rifles and newer RPG's (mainly the tandem-warhead HEAT round for the RPG7 but we did find a few RPG29's about a year before they "officially" had them).

Again with the separate entity, but the mortar attacks on the COP I was out of were very infrequent, but very well executed. They had Chinese and Soviet large-diameter rockets as well as bigger mortars, and they knew what they were doing with them. They rarely missed the COP, and they fired in coordinated salvos. FOrtunately this was rare.

>>31905888
They way I've had it explained to me was Iraq was like getting by a humongous cock during the initial invasion and the surge. Then getting gang banged by a harem of micropenises in the off time.

Afghanistan was like an average dick, but eventually you got use to it. On occasion though something slips up and ass pain ensues.

>>31906377
>weaponry
In Iraq we found basically any and every weapon made. The Kurds still had flintlocks, and at least one guy we killed had a G36C. We even found a Lorcin .25acp over there. Belt-feds ran the gamut as well, though there were a LOT of PK's and PKM's. We found a fair number of RPD's in working order, and one cache a sister unit found had over a hundred new-in-box FN MAGs. You couldn't swing a dead cat and not hit 3 guys carrying RPG7's, they legit EDC'd those things with a Jansport full of rockets (legally). But we never found any RPG7 warheads other than the stereotypical shaped charge HEAT. Few of the guns showed signs of hard use, but most of them showed signs of neglect.

Afghanistan was much more homogenous. AKM's, PK's, the occasional PKM, a couple RPK's in 7.62. Never found a single rifle or RPK in 5.45, oddly enough. All the tribals had nuggets. I think the only real outlier to this was one tribal chief carried a nickel plated Star B in a bandolier holster, and I'm pretty sure he didn't know what it was beyond it was shiny. But they had heavy weapons. Boy they had heavy weapons. B-10 recoilless rifles, DShKM's, RPG7v2's, RPG28's, RPG29's. Even found a Katyusha, though no idea if they'd used it to shoot at us.

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>>31905930

>>Out of nowhere truck comes Tokyo drifting from the desert

>>31906377
>roughly the size of HUMONGOUS

I kekd audibly

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>>31906461
>We found a fair number of RPD's in working order, and one cache a sister unit found had over a hundred new-in-box FN MAGs. You couldn't swing a dead cat and not hit 3 guys carrying RPG7's, they legit EDC'd those things with a Jansport full of rockets (legally).
>EDC
>legally
>FNMAGs
My god

>>31905888
>An old bastard

Afghan was fairly rough for the first 6 months there until we kicked the shit out of them enough to mostly go away.
After that it was a lot of security work and running around chasing up intel leads, long range patrols, dodging land mines, kicking in doors and it calmed down a little bit. There where still some fairly rough areas you didn't want to go into without some considerable recon first and then in force if they stuck around. We did a lot of chasing people that seemed to manage to fuck off before we could lay the boot in- but we also caught plenty of them too and they where none too happy to see us turn up. Some of the most vicious shit fights I ever ended up in was actually against Paki arms dealers and criminals sneaking over the border in some later tours, they also had the odd Chechen in there and you know they're always up for a scrap.
Didn't think much of the Taliban, they where loathsome enough to hate, so you never really felt bad about them dying either.

Iraq
No one wanted to really go there that had already been in Afghanistan, my first tour was on the initial invasion and it was pretty fucking tough going. We met some really mean cunts out in the desert that chased us around for the better part of a week before we finally got them, lot of people will say 'all' the Iraqi's couldn't fight worth shit- but that's not necessarily true. Some of their special forces types where very dangerous, highly motivated and not inconsiderable with their gear and skills. 2nd tour many years later nearly got me killed (twice) and it was turning into a complete debacle by that stage with all the roadside bombs, plus being in a different unit at the time I did the scavenger hunt for chemical and other varieties munitions which wasn't much fun to begin with and even less so if you actually found something.

>>31905930
They sound smarter than the Taliban. He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.

>>31905888
The Taliban were the ousted warlord-feudal governing class of Afghanistan.

The insurgents in Iraq weren't Iraqi. They were Syrian, Jordanian, Saudi, Iranian, etc., and often government funded and supplied. (EFPs were Iranian, usually) They also tended to murder way more Iraqi civilians than they ever even really trued direct or IED conflict against Coalition troops mid to late war.

>walking patrols in interceptor vest
Afghanistan
>walking patrol in stupid spine compressing MTV vest
Iraq


Those mtvs fucked my back up. Now everyone has those cool plate carries with mtv cummerbund.

>>31906377
Balad?

I got to the point that I'd sleep through the incoming alarm my first tour there.

During the third tour some fuck tried using a sandstorm as cover to set up pretty close to the wire right outside our compound. A madman in a Harrier took off and dropped a 500pounder on his head.

>>31906461
>legally
What? No. RPGs were nearly "shoot on sight" illegal for civilians.

>>31908052
Interceptors were fucking awful. Maybe okay when it was just the vest, but add MOLLE webbing and it's"go fuck you and your back and shoulders" bad.

Luckily for I second and third tours I was SF support, so I had a MARCIRAS vest and didn't have to put any of the add-on crap on.

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>Taliban boy
>boy
That's a strange term to use. Almost like you have some ulterior motives.

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>>31908120
The Islamic definition of children is different from the rest of humanity.

Look at all of these young defenseless children who totally aren't adult males.

>tfw I will never see that /fa/ Afghan Police Chief again
He had all this nice jewelry and would wear fancy shades. Not sure if it was real or fake, but either way it looked very nice.

Oh...yeah...fighting...never happened for me.

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Iraq
>hotter, stickier, generally more miserable weather
>more of a "Push" from command and even for a while civilians (I was their during the surge so we had more open support then)
>lots more cat and mouse fighting, pop shots, ambushes, "firefights" that could last 30 seconds to a few minutes
>Felt more like police work at times, going door to door and looking for bad guys

Afghanistan
>cooler weather, like being in the mountains back home
>actually didnt mind it all that much, much preferred over Iraq
>more "traditional" fighting. We'd have an idea of where the enemy was and be able to move in an engage or be engaged
>more organized then Iraqi fighters, you could tell they new what they were doing. At least in comparison
>saw more of them attacking/killing/taking over villages. Some hated them and liked us fighting for them, others didnt give a shit either way since this has been going on for hundreds of years

generally I liked Afghanistan more, and felt like it was more "worthwhile" on a personal, smaller picture level. Im grateful for all the experience and stories I got, but in hindsight it was a total waste of time and not worth dying over. I just got caught up in the post 9/11 'murica and didnt know what to do for college so I did that instead. It still worked out, but if I had died over there for that I'd be pissed. If I could go back id rather learn a skill or get a better MOS
there are all my personal opinions and I dont speak for anyone but myself

>>31906115

The US and Israel are also directly supplying them with those weapons.

>>31908670
>Hurr
There were supply misdrops at worst.

>>31905888
Syria was pretty great DESU

>>31908694

Keep telling yourself that to feel better.

>>31907623
>even less so if you actually found something.

>rusty, leaking containers of 40 year old Satin, mustard, etc
Fun times, I bet.

>>31908058
>A madman in a Harrier took off and dropped a 500pounder on his head.
Marine or Brit? Did the limeys ever bring Harriers to that party?

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>>31908670

>>31908722
Pretty sure it was a Marine.

Went up to the roof and saw the fire outside the wire a bit after.

>>31905930
>patrol unable to disable a truck or its driver on two passes

USMC?

>>31905888
When looking at pic related I just can't help but think Kennedy should be wearing a helmet.

QUESTION TO AFGHAN VETS

What was the status of the Euro Warrior in theater? Are they generally shitty, generally interchangeable with the rank and file US soldiery? Basically, any facts, assertions, or anecdotes about the allies would be appreciated.

>>31909607
They don't commit that many troops. So they usually send their best. Even then, typical.

My experience is with Aussies, which isn't European, anymore, right? I dunno or care.

>>31909607

They committed so few that the only time I saw them was at Bagram.

>>31909634
>>31909656


So, i am trying to figure out grouping: Cannucks should roll over directly into their US counterparts with no significant issue, right? Is NATO soldiery in any way standardized, past ammo and radio comms.

>>31909656
rumor has it that the Euro militaries tried to get the most out of it as a SpecOps mass training event. I,ve also heard a rumor that Operators will muster out, do some time as a hired gun, then "re-enlist" and train up their guys. Just shit i heard.

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>>31908706

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>>31908203
>but if I had died over there for that I'd be pissed

>>31909682
Truth is you can find more out about foreign militaries in training than deployed. In training you see how they operate, and work with them.

Overseas we work together, but divide AO's. It's not like we all just meet up, ask our moms to play together, and operate in unison together.

>>31909894
i smiled aloud.

I am guessing with NATO and the continuing collapse of Europe plus NipNongFongs there will soon be a lot more joint deployments.

>>31906461
Ugh... why can't america be this cool?

>>31907651
Life isn't very valued. Look at the use of suicide bombers by IS. Disrupting the enemy is more than enough to warrant a life.

>>31906115
This is straight fucking propaganda. Irak has yet enough ammo to properly rely on its on supplies.

>tfw born too late for Iraq or Afghan
>get super jealous whenever I heard my ex mil friends talking about war stories

hold me /k/

>>31911169
You're not too late for Syria though. Once Clinton wins the election you can count on more wars

>>31909607
a massive italian convoy of armored recce trucks and dardo APC's is a helluva welcoming thing to see after being cooped up in a poorly defensible half-bombed out school we just kind of moved into.

>>31911193
syria and a new generation of REFORGER coming up. NATO requesting 40k+troops to hedge against the russians.

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>>31906377
>or hopping about hip-firing while LILILILILILI'ing
kek'd hard

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>>31911127
Fuck off basement dweller

>>31911193
>Once Clinton wins the election you can count on more wars
She at least would attempt diplomacy, versus "I'd have them blown out of the water for taunting" Trump.

>>31911758
Democrats go to war far more often than republicans.

>>31906196
I did Iraq a few times, Afghanistan just once. We were way up in the middle of nowhere in Afghanistan, those guys were pretty stoneage and couldn't shoot any better than Iraqis, but they were real fighters.

I've seen Iraqis firing an AK over thr heads firing backwards at us while they ran. They are garbage fighters. Yeah, they can dig holes and plant IEDs (mostly made and funded by furreners) but they can't fight for shit.

I think part of it is that there is no parallel to the puritan work ethic over there. I mean, fuck the puritans in general terms, but the work ethic thing is huge. Almost everyone pulls their own weight in our military. Over there hard work is looked down on, and I think that's the basis of why their military is typically shit.

Afghanis are way different depending on where you are. Their ancestors worked or they died.

As for all of the US humvees and weapons that ISIS has, they aren't any better fighters, just moderately better motivated. If we had to go fight them the suicide bombers would be a bitch, but they would fold just like the Iraqi Army.

I like Iraqis in general, they typically have a decent sense of humor compared to a lot of other cultures in that area. But they are by and large worthless in a real fight.

>>31905965
I wouldn't be surprised considering that the during the height of the Shia insurgencies weapons flowed from Iran like an Amazon river of ordnance.

>>31906461
I saw an apparently legit deslisle carbine over there once, along with some of Saddams briefcase MP5's. I also found an apparent WW2 GI 1911 in good shaped. A shitty E7 in my company stole it from me and took it home through customs in a holster since it was still marked Property of the US Army or US Military or something. That guy had a civvy doctor for a wife who paid all his bills, he could have just bought one when he got home instead of taking the one I wanted.

Shitheel took a piece of tiny shrapnel to the meat of the top of his shoulder from a mortar that hit our port shitters and got a purple heart to go along with his two stitches.

>>31909607

I worked with the Germans in Kunduz.

They have not atrophied much since WW2

>>31911758
do you know where you are again?

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Vietnam was scarier than both.

Holy shit it must've been a horrifying experience when you were truly in the shit.

>>31905930

He was actually incredibly smart to be doing that instead of directly engaging you guys.

>>31912440
WW2 was probably worse

>>31911928
Not recently.

>>31912402
Yes, not on /pol/.

>>31912690
WW2 was a lot of different wars.

Imagine being a Chindit in the middle of Burma surrounded by Japanese forces with way better numbers and equipment.

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>>31912440
>not wanting to go innajungle LRRPing with your SEAL pals
what are you, gay?

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>>31913311
Different anon here but playing Deadly Dozen 2 back in the day made me wish for a time machine.

My grandpa was in WWII but didn't talk about it much other than getting the point across to never trust the Japanese, but I had access to a chatty old guy who did talk about it. I legit think he was fucking grade A insane because...

>be like 10 or 11
>go find old man to see if he has work, got paid in homemade jerky/pickled stuff/oldschool sausage, milsurp, or hard cash
>mow lawn
>"so lil anon what should I pay you?"
>get allowed access to stash of cool shit, go over it, see this cool as fuck periscope thing
>what's that!
>literally tank periscope, old man explains how cool tanks are
>tells me story about how the Japs shelled the shit out of amtracks on Tarawa, old man doesn't really demonstrate value of tanks with that story
>see furry things in box, ask wtf they were
>"oh those are scalps, lil anon, real jap hair"
>literally what
>old man explains that's apparently what happens when a Turk gets drafted
>stare down at the fucking preserved human scalp in my hand as he tells this story about the Japs getting their skulls skinned and immediately drop it
>pick an old as fuck zippo lighter instead
>wash hands

When I got older he flat out told me how to rape a Japanese woman and get away with it by paying her dad or something. I've chosen to believe he was just fucking with me on that one.

>>31905888

They both share the same thing. They're both faggots.

>>31913792
>scalping
Badass.

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>>31908123
They must be referring to the child like mentality of most Muslims.

Like when you say something bad about one of them and they think it's ok to kill a bunch of people!

>>31908713
>Fun times, I bet.

Mostly mortar and artillery shells from about the mid-late 80's that the erstwhile Iraqi crews had buried in all sorts of weird fucking places.

About the only trepidation I had with Iraq was that place has been a river of blood running through it since anyone started writing shit down. I don't know how well most people are read up on the Iran-Iraq war, but that shit was WW1-ish in a lot of ways with trench warfare, gas attacks, artillery out the arse and then they just added in more modern technology to make it even worse in some ways. Heck in the marshlands to the south east they killed 1000's of Iranians by running high powered cables through the swamp, waiting until the whole area was loaded with troops and then lit them up while they where in the water. Then the next day they'd go out and finish off the not-quite dead-uns, load the bodies onto a barge and stack them about 5-10 deep to make a road by dumping sand and soil so they could move artillery and fighting vehicles into the marshes even deeper.

So when we got deployed to the deserts to the west on the initial invasion, I wasn't that unhappy!

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>>31912440

>MFW worked at a bar and met a Vietnam vet who fought in hue city
>Said "I'd rather take my chances in an Urban shit hole, than the green hell they call the jungle"
>Also said he remembered a damn fine ass from the city who had her head blown the fuck off by mortar shrapnel
>And sgt said "Too bad shes got a rod in her mouth"
>"Even I laughed but damn were those panties stained in piss and shit."

Guy was so mentally fucked up yet he still holds a 6 figure job down in the harbor.

>MFW Every time he see Chinese sailors come in with containers he freezes up and talks to them in Vietnamese. Suddenly everything turns into the 60s and 70s

Afghanistan was
>being cold as Shit
>being bored as Shit
>trying to find new places to yank it
>trying to not be too cold to yank it
>shitting in places that make gas station bathrooms seem nice
>looking at the beautiful view and wondering if someone's about to shoot you in the face
>getting randomly mortared
>getting randomly attacked by rockets
>shooting at the tree you THINK shot at you
>getting shot at by a different tree
>spooning with your buddy to stay warm
>"it's not gay unless our boners touch bro"
>driving around the mountains
>waiting for EOD
>like seriously, fuck EOD
>hoping the doorway you're about to through isn't trapped

Seriously though, Afghanistan was a lot of waiting, hoping, and being cold.

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>>31908203

>That thumbnail