Help me settle a debate!

[XxAR10xX]

My roommate and myself were having an argument the other night over blackhawk helicopters, etc. He is thinking about joining the Navy, so he thinks he's the authority of military strategy.

He was saying that if a helicopter went down, first and foremost it's the pilots responsiblity to destroy the copter - even if the pilots is in a firefight. He said that the pilot should save a grenade or ammo to destroy the bird instead of using it in the firefight. He reasoned that destroying the bird and its technology is vital to US military security, and that is more important than the soldier's life.

First of all, I told him that I don't even know if pilots carry grenades. Second, I would believe the first priority of the pilot is to defend himself as well as his crew, at all costs.

Also he was saying that in a desert rescue scenario, sending ground units is better than sending a helicopter (with airsupport). We were talking about a scenario similar to what happened just before Desert Storm where spec ops got trapped behind enemy lines. He even told me that the military does not do helicopter rescues behind enemy lines! I told him that heli rescues would be the right choice in that situation, especially since it was the wide open desert (not a city) and the heli is the fastest way in and out.

Let me know if I'm wrong and the world's coming to an end cuz my roommate is right.

 

[synoptic]

First off, with a blackhawk, I would believe you're right, the pilots first responsibility is to his crew. Blackhawks are not some top secret weapon that noone can know about, they are being used all over the world. For point 1, I'd say he is wrong.

Point 2- Wrong again. Helicopters are quicker, that is their biggest advantage. They allow troops to be dropped off and picked up with minimal engagement before drop off and after pick up. He is joining the Navy, compare it to the ocean, when a pilot is down do they usually send only ships to extract him? Or do they usually send a helicopter?

Your friend is obviously wrong, have fun trying to convince him of that though

 

[Majic]

Tell your friend to decline sea duty when he goes into the Navy because he doesn't have clue. The Blackhawk has sophisticated equipment on board, but it aint the space shuttle. You don't destroy it because it may be salvagable later. The priority is to stay alive.
So your friend thinks it's better to drive across terrain at maybe 50 mph than to fly across the same terrain at 200 mph?

If he is such a mechanized tactical genius, why is he joining the Navy????

 

[ojibweindian]

I would not want him as a shipmate; know-it-alls like that get people killed.

I suspect, though, that once he gets to Great Lakes, he'll quickly lose the know-it-all attitude.

 

[ajacobs]

Proper procedure I am sure would be to send what ever transmition you can about your location and that you were down etc (this part probally happened in the air) and certainly to Z out all the radios and com equiptment. This would prevent the enemy from being able to get ahold of the encripted comunication. Of course the encription on the singars is changed often in a battlefield situation anyway and would certainly be changed if they new a radio was lost.

 

[Sisco]

They are going to have fun with him out in the fleet!

 

[XxAR10xX]

Thanks for confirming my long running suspicions that he's a bonehead. Because he's played all these computer games it somehow it translates in his head to real world situations. For godsakes, he was trying to make a comparision between "Mechwarrior" tactics and helicopter tactics. In someways I do hope the military thing does go through. For him it'll be like taking a bath in a tub full of ice.

 

[Standing Wolf]

He is thinking about joining the Navy, so he thinks he's the authority of military strategy.

That might work in France, but...

 

[Mal H]

Sounds like officer material to me!








(With apologies to any USN officers here. It's a joke!)

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Tell him to sharpen his lookout skills. Should the fleet become fog-bound, he may be their only hope of properly retrieving a mail-bouy.

He should also learn where to obtain a bucket of prop-wash, and to note the location of the sky-hook locker. Sky-hooks are worth their weight in platinum.


Poor kid.

 

[Wanderer]

I he ever goes down in a chopper, he's gonna have his arse kicked by everyone else for wasting a grenade

 

[Justin]

OT