SwiftVets.com

[neverforget]

Thanks, Navy brudders.

San Miguel always tasted good to me.

[NavyChief]

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[NavyChief]

deleted

[neverforget]

Will do. I wish you had all the hard copies to be able to do more analysis. Would be fun if we could all get the stuff, put it on the floor somewhere, and go to work. Especially if I learned to read the times more closely.

[NavyChief]

deleted

[ASPB]

[cipher]

31S30 here, back when KWs and KYs were still viable. (ASA? pick a rude word beginning with "A") Sign Anything. Went into microwave before it got usurped by housewives for cooking.... That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

This board seems kinda heavily weighted on the intel side of the house.
_________________
USMC 69-72, 7th Comm, 3rd MarDiv, FMFPAC
US Army 75-79, 97th Sig, SHAPE, NATO
Arkansas National Guard 79
Defense contractor for US Navy, SSPO, SP-20, SP-24, OP-12 84-92

[m_drummond]

Newbie here. I've been following things over at captainsquarters.

This analysis looks good to me. I'm confused over how Kerry got the after action report. I would assume this is not something that is in one's own service records. If after action reports are in one's own records, then doesn't this prove it's Kerry since only he or his next of kin could access it?

If it's not part of his service records, how did he get it and no one else has been able to?
________
CALIFORNIA MDECIAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

[ASPB]

[cipher]

This is a devil's advocate argument, just as food for thought.

I'm not a Swift boat expert. Shoot, I'm not even a novice. I've done some work for the Navy in my past (I know, I'll deal with St. Peter later...) and I do have some passing familiarity with automatic weapons of various flavors. I hope ASPB or some other Swiftie can find any flaws in my reasoning or assumptions.

The Rassmann incident. Assume that the Kerry account is TRUE, for the sake of this argument.

1) There was sustained and heavy small arms and automatic weapon fire from both banks of the canal directed at the five Swifts starting from the instant of the FIRST mine explosion.
2) No Swift boat could possibly be more than 37 yards from the nearest incoming fire (both banks, and that assumes the PCFs were in the center of the canal, which is a best case scenario, and not borne out by the fact that the boats had to be within FEET of the edges of the canal to negotiate the weir.
3) When the mine blows, taking out the -3 boat, IMMEDIATE action was sustained supression fire from all remaining Swifts. (we know this because Kerry said Rassmann is going (aft?) to get a replacement M-60 for the bow gunner whose weapon has fallen apart)
4) Assumption: Incoming hostile fire continues. (we know this because Kerry says so)
5) The M-60s and dual Maw-Deuces are in full rock n' roll protective fire. To keep the math simple, lets assume a cyclic rate of fire of 500 rounds per minute. In reality, swapping out ammo cans, and assuming no barrel swaps, lets call it 200 rounds a minute, actual, per weapon.
6) The -94 boat gets hit by an unidentified explosion. Assume for the sake of the argument, no damage sustained. Incoming fire continues (We know this because Rassmann says he dives under the water to avoid it).
7) The -94 unasses the AO at warp speed. Call it 25 knots. For a distance of 5000 meters, call it 3 miles. Elapsed time: 16 minutes, round trip. Expended ammo, 6400 rounds on the .50s, 3200 rounds on the aft -60. (the bow -60 is disabled, because Kerry said so)
8) Hostile fire continues while the -3 boat is being rigged for towing, people are getting fished out of the canal, and so forth. (Rassmann was under fire while getting rescued, so there is no reason to assume the incoming fire has stopped yet). Say the rescue takes 3 minutes. Another 1000 rounds for the dual deuce and 500 or so on the aft -60.
(question: Who is running the ammo to the weapons? Is there a first loader on the tub gun in a firefight, or does the gunner swap cans?)
9) Assume the VC are totally blind, deaf, and incompetent, and shooting randomly in the general direction of the water.
10) For argument sake, assume "heavy fire" is coming from a force of 20 VC with a normal loadout of 270 rounds of AK-47 ammo. Call it 5000 rounds. Let's DON'T assume that there are any belt-fed LMGs, I mean, this is already pretty ludicrous without explaining how a crew-served weapon can miss a 50 foot wide target at 100 feet.

Queries:
1)At what point does a commander make the decision to scuttle the -3 boat, and didi mau?
2)How much ammo was expended? (This would be an interesting piece of paper to find, the requisition for replacement ammo expended during this mission).
3)Can a Swift actually maintain a sustained attack of the close order of 90 minutes? 60 minutes? 10 minutes?
4)What are the odds that of 5000 rounds fired randomly that NONE would hit any one of five targets 50 feet long, 100 feet away?
_________________
USMC 69-72, 7th Comm, 3rd MarDiv, FMFPAC
US Army 75-79, 97th Sig, SHAPE, NATO
Arkansas National Guard 79
Defense contractor for US Navy, SSPO, SP-20, SP-24, OP-12 84-92

[ASPB]

Bumb
_________________
On Sale! Order in lots of 100 now at velero@rcn.com Free for the cost of shipping All profits (if any, especially now) go to Swiftvets. The author of "Sink Kerry Swiftly" ---ASPB

[poseidon]

> NavyChief wrote:
> 1) Was the river straight for 3.1 miles?

Chances are the river today is still much like it was then

bands [3,2,1] with pansharpening < RGB >
http://wmt.jpl.nasa.gov/browse.cgi?wms_server=wms.cgi&height=1000&width=1400&layers=global_mosaic&styles=visual&srs=EPSG%3A4326&format=image%2Fjpeg&bbox=104.897%2C8.78227%2C105.022%2C8.87875&zoom=&zoom.x=74&zoom.y=13

bands [5,4,2] with pansharpening < Pseudo >
http://wmt.jpl.nasa.gov/browse.cgi?wms_server=wms.cgi&height=1000&width=1400&layers=global_mosaic&styles=pseudo&srs=EPSG%3A4326&format=image%2Fjpeg&bbox=104.897%2C8.78227%2C105.022%2C8.87875&zoom=&zoom.x=74&zoom.y=13

[ASPB]

bump
_________________
On Sale! Order in lots of 100 now at velero@rcn.com Free for the cost of shipping All profits (if any, especially now) go to Swiftvets. The author of "Sink Kerry Swiftly" ---ASPB