Post by crazydima on Jan 18, 2011 1:35:08 GMT -5
Wow! What a tactical!!!
First of all I want to thank 137th for all of their hard work and effort they put into this tactical. If it were not for them then this would not have been possible. I want to personally thank my men for making the long trip to the event.
The 9th Airborne Brigade VDV had 8 Frontoviks who took part in the event. They were from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Missouri. For a change of pace we took our recon unit and mounted it on bicycles for the event. We made sure to have one for our O.C. as well. Several of our members already had their own bikes but were borrowed several from Jim Phillips of the German 353rd and he deserves a big thanks for helping us out. My truck was loaded out with 6 bicycles and 3 Frontoviks of the 9th.
Friday afternoon and evening was spent registering and then settling into the squad bay and followed by assigning bicycles to the troops. Once troops and bikes were matched up the recon team conducted maintenance on the bikes followed by test rides around the outside of the barracks and packed them for the following days missions. It was entertaining to watch as each man tried to figure out what he wanted and how to sling it on the bike. Our DP-28 owner and his “A” gunner were trying to figure out how to sling the DP and if they really would need it for our missions. After some deep soul searching it was decided not to take the DP out with us and stick to sub guns.
Saturday morning found all of us up early and getting ourselves ready for the day’s events. As soon as ate our donuts and drank our coffee and juice the recon team mounted up and went for a short ride around the housing area of the base to get warmed up. Once this was over we began to suit up and get ready to move our bikes out on to line for the S & A formation. Our team was armed with 4- PPS 43s, 1 MP40, 2 Sniper rifles, M38 carbine.
While organizing the men and bikes for the formation three of my men had decided to give a little demo to the rest of the force on how to conduct a mock jump from the door of squad bay. The door swung open and you could hear them yelling “GREEN LIGHT!…..Go! Go! Go! One right after the other the three Frontoviks ran out of the building with small white parachutes attached to their backs fluttering in the breeze behind them. It was quite amusing. They have since been re-assigned to the Siberian brigade of the VDV.
Once on line for S & A we met up with Herb who was our O.C. for the tactical. He is a Veteran of the Vietnam War and served in the brown water navy. He was a bit unsure of the whole bicycle thing when he first stepped up to our detachment but he took to it like a duck to water. He was a pleasure to work with and we thank him for being our O.C.
Our first mission was to conduct an area recon in the north lane to determine presence and strength of enemy forces without being detected. So we pedaled our way out to our jump off point and then dismounted to conduct recon. All was going well and we had scouted the first half of the area in question without a hitch. We heard mortar and MG fire as well as a pack gun firing from the west of our position. We moved to investigate and were able to spot an enemy transport truck, mortar and MG position. However, we could not get a good fix on the pack gun before we came under fire. So as per our orders we broke contact and extracted our team from the area then rallied at our bikes and reported our findings. Mission was considered a success.
Our second mission was to conduct a route recon along a main rode to an intersection containing bridge in the center lane. If the bridge was in enemy hands we were to try to take possession of it and hold for Allies to arrive. If unable to take and hold it we were to use explosives and blow it up. So once again we pedaled our way to the jump off point and dismounted. We split our forces to either side of the road and proceeded towards our objective. However, Allied forces had been able to take ground faster than expected and took the bridge before our arrival. So with plenty of time still left we and the Allies were pulled of the bridge and intersection and the Germans were allowed to set up a defensive perimeter around them. We then assaulted the defensive perimeter and eventually took possession of the bridge. However, our resident sapper was still hoping to blow the bridge and had to be told repeatedly to come up out of the creek and not blow the bridge.
Our third mission was to go to the South lane and conduct another route recon which would end up at the MOUT site. We decided to send out an advance party of three cyclists to push to the MOUT site to determine enemy presence and see if we could take possession of the site before the enemy. So we pedaled once again to our jump off point and waited for zero hour. Well due to a radio problem we started on time but should have waited due to delays on the enemy side. So as a result our advance party ran into the enemy while they were in the midst of having an organizational meeting to decide placement of forces in the MOUT site. So needless to say we sort of mucked up the waters a bit with our assault. Things were sorted out and we were given a chance to defend the MOUT site as well and boy did we make use of our weapons! It was great!!!
The fourth mission was to assemble all forces in and around the bridge area in the center lane for an all out fight for the bridge. Due to low numbers of Germans the members of the 9th Airborne eagerly helped to bolster the German defenses against the onslaught of Allied forces. Once again we made up for our lack of firing in the first two missions by spraying defensive fire all around the perimeter. We made the enemy pay dearly for the bridge and road intersection. Our resident sapper was happy since he was given the green light to blow the bridge with the satchel charge. My PPS 43 was quite warm by the end of the fight.
Now the tactical portion of the day was over and it was time to head back to the barracks for showers and supper and bed. Some of us rode our bikes all the way back to the barracks while other walked and rode back to the barracks. Leg cramps really suck!!! LOL!
As usual the Saturday supper of Spaghetti and all the fixins was terrific and our compliments to the 137th for their efforts. The USO canteen was a hit as usual and the snacks were great to buy using the repop French Francs to pay for them.
All in all it was a great time for our folks in the 9th Airborne. We only had one mechanical problem but that was a slipped chain it was easily fixed. We look forward to next years event
Again I would like to express our thanks to all of those who took the time and effort to make it such a great event.
Fear the bells!!!!!
Sincerely,
Dima
Recon platoon
9th Airborne Brigade VDV
First of all I want to thank 137th for all of their hard work and effort they put into this tactical. If it were not for them then this would not have been possible. I want to personally thank my men for making the long trip to the event.
The 9th Airborne Brigade VDV had 8 Frontoviks who took part in the event. They were from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Missouri. For a change of pace we took our recon unit and mounted it on bicycles for the event. We made sure to have one for our O.C. as well. Several of our members already had their own bikes but were borrowed several from Jim Phillips of the German 353rd and he deserves a big thanks for helping us out. My truck was loaded out with 6 bicycles and 3 Frontoviks of the 9th.
Friday afternoon and evening was spent registering and then settling into the squad bay and followed by assigning bicycles to the troops. Once troops and bikes were matched up the recon team conducted maintenance on the bikes followed by test rides around the outside of the barracks and packed them for the following days missions. It was entertaining to watch as each man tried to figure out what he wanted and how to sling it on the bike. Our DP-28 owner and his “A” gunner were trying to figure out how to sling the DP and if they really would need it for our missions. After some deep soul searching it was decided not to take the DP out with us and stick to sub guns.
Saturday morning found all of us up early and getting ourselves ready for the day’s events. As soon as ate our donuts and drank our coffee and juice the recon team mounted up and went for a short ride around the housing area of the base to get warmed up. Once this was over we began to suit up and get ready to move our bikes out on to line for the S & A formation. Our team was armed with 4- PPS 43s, 1 MP40, 2 Sniper rifles, M38 carbine.
While organizing the men and bikes for the formation three of my men had decided to give a little demo to the rest of the force on how to conduct a mock jump from the door of squad bay. The door swung open and you could hear them yelling “GREEN LIGHT!…..Go! Go! Go! One right after the other the three Frontoviks ran out of the building with small white parachutes attached to their backs fluttering in the breeze behind them. It was quite amusing. They have since been re-assigned to the Siberian brigade of the VDV.
Once on line for S & A we met up with Herb who was our O.C. for the tactical. He is a Veteran of the Vietnam War and served in the brown water navy. He was a bit unsure of the whole bicycle thing when he first stepped up to our detachment but he took to it like a duck to water. He was a pleasure to work with and we thank him for being our O.C.
Our first mission was to conduct an area recon in the north lane to determine presence and strength of enemy forces without being detected. So we pedaled our way out to our jump off point and then dismounted to conduct recon. All was going well and we had scouted the first half of the area in question without a hitch. We heard mortar and MG fire as well as a pack gun firing from the west of our position. We moved to investigate and were able to spot an enemy transport truck, mortar and MG position. However, we could not get a good fix on the pack gun before we came under fire. So as per our orders we broke contact and extracted our team from the area then rallied at our bikes and reported our findings. Mission was considered a success.
Our second mission was to conduct a route recon along a main rode to an intersection containing bridge in the center lane. If the bridge was in enemy hands we were to try to take possession of it and hold for Allies to arrive. If unable to take and hold it we were to use explosives and blow it up. So once again we pedaled our way to the jump off point and dismounted. We split our forces to either side of the road and proceeded towards our objective. However, Allied forces had been able to take ground faster than expected and took the bridge before our arrival. So with plenty of time still left we and the Allies were pulled of the bridge and intersection and the Germans were allowed to set up a defensive perimeter around them. We then assaulted the defensive perimeter and eventually took possession of the bridge. However, our resident sapper was still hoping to blow the bridge and had to be told repeatedly to come up out of the creek and not blow the bridge.
Our third mission was to go to the South lane and conduct another route recon which would end up at the MOUT site. We decided to send out an advance party of three cyclists to push to the MOUT site to determine enemy presence and see if we could take possession of the site before the enemy. So we pedaled once again to our jump off point and waited for zero hour. Well due to a radio problem we started on time but should have waited due to delays on the enemy side. So as a result our advance party ran into the enemy while they were in the midst of having an organizational meeting to decide placement of forces in the MOUT site. So needless to say we sort of mucked up the waters a bit with our assault. Things were sorted out and we were given a chance to defend the MOUT site as well and boy did we make use of our weapons! It was great!!!
The fourth mission was to assemble all forces in and around the bridge area in the center lane for an all out fight for the bridge. Due to low numbers of Germans the members of the 9th Airborne eagerly helped to bolster the German defenses against the onslaught of Allied forces. Once again we made up for our lack of firing in the first two missions by spraying defensive fire all around the perimeter. We made the enemy pay dearly for the bridge and road intersection. Our resident sapper was happy since he was given the green light to blow the bridge with the satchel charge. My PPS 43 was quite warm by the end of the fight.
Now the tactical portion of the day was over and it was time to head back to the barracks for showers and supper and bed. Some of us rode our bikes all the way back to the barracks while other walked and rode back to the barracks. Leg cramps really suck!!! LOL!
As usual the Saturday supper of Spaghetti and all the fixins was terrific and our compliments to the 137th for their efforts. The USO canteen was a hit as usual and the snacks were great to buy using the repop French Francs to pay for them.
All in all it was a great time for our folks in the 9th Airborne. We only had one mechanical problem but that was a slipped chain it was easily fixed. We look forward to next years event
Again I would like to express our thanks to all of those who took the time and effort to make it such a great event.
Fear the bells!!!!!
Sincerely,
Dima
Recon platoon
9th Airborne Brigade VDV