Taking it to 'em. Much respect for these young men.

Some fish in a barrel will fuck you up, if you shoot at them.

Hooah!

Link to full screen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o65nB1J4sPI

Looked like they were alternating HE and - gasp! - WP.

Damn I hear willie pete going out in there. Thats some nasty shit! Nice job guys! Respect

Explain please for the mortar dim-witted such as myself...

1. What is HE and WP?
2. How do they know they're hitting anything? Was someone off camera on Coms getting hit results?
3. General comment...those look like some big-ass rounds!!

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
Explain please for the mortar dim-witted such as myself...

1. What is HE and WP?
2. How do they know they're hitting anything? Was someone off camera on Coms getting hit results?
3. General comment...those look like some big-ass rounds!!

HE = High Explosive rounds
WP = White Phosphorous rounds

They are close enough to see where they are hitting, and have a direct line of sight to the target (little fuckers aren't hiding behind a big hill or something). Listening to the comments at the end, it sounds like the got shot at the few days prior. They set up on the location that they were taking rounds from.

GET SOME!!!


Watching this, I am reminded that there's 3 family members that always win...
Father Time
Mother Nature
and good old Uncle Sam!

That was pretty awesome. 81 I assume?

quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:
That was pretty awesome. 81 I assume?

Might be 120mm.

quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:
That was pretty awesome. 81 I assume?

Sorry, but not 81mm. I spent a couple years in one of those platoons.

Each infantry company had an 81 platoon, 3 guns and crews.

Battalion had a 4.2 inch platoon. We used to compete against the 4.2 guys to see who could get on target the fastest. They got so wrapped in in using range finders, misc. tables of info that we always beat them on target. The only thing they had better was the range they could shoot.

quote:

Originally posted by Elk Hunter:

quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:
That was pretty awesome. 81 I assume?

Sorry, but not 81mm. I spent a couple years in one of those platoons.

Each infantry company had an 81 platoon, 3 guns and crews.

Battalion had a 4.2 inch platoon. We used to compete against the 4.2 guys to see who could get on target the fastest. They got so wrapped in in using range finders, misc. tables of info that we always beat them on target. The only thing they had better was the range they could shoot.

Now a light Rifle Company has two 60mm and BN Mortars was 2 120s and 2 81mm and two inserts so that the 120mm could shoot 81mm.

I can't speak to Mech or Stryker mortars.

Elk, look at the cheese charges or lack there of on the out going rounds. It looks like target is pretty close. I didn't spend much time in the mortar pit, you would probably know better.

Don't see too many 120's in the USMC. Hence I was thinking 81.

Big Army got all the cool toys lol.

"One day we started firing mortars, and it didn't quit for four days. We went through every kind of mortar there is. Little bitty stingin' mortars, and big ol' fat mortars, mortars that flew in sideways, and sometimes mortars even seemed to come straight up from underneath."

Some of the most impressive stuff I saw while in the 81 platoon was when we were firing WP into pine forest. They would detonate when they hit the branches on the way down, resulting in wall of burning WP from tree top to the ground.

Each round had several propellant packs. The Fire Direction Center (FDC) would plot ranges, azimuths and charges of propellant. Those excess little packs of propellant would be later collected and burned.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
Explain please for the mortar dim-witted such as myself...

1. What is HE and WP?
2. How do they know they're hitting anything? Was someone off camera on Coms getting hit results?
3. General comment...those look like some big-ass rounds!!

1 was already answered. For 2, it's likely that they have a 13F (Forward Observer) with them to CFF (Call For Fire) and adjust rounds.

TOF (Time Of Flight) for mortars is usually around 60 seconds.

A general rule that 13 series typically go by is to always use the mortars before artillery. They can adjust fire much quicker and get clearance to fire much quicker using mortars than they can with artillery. Typically the ground commander can authorize fires with mortars but some units will require clearance from higher before allowing artillery to be fired.

Keep in mind that indirect fire is an area weapon and not a point weapon. You would ideally like to "bracket" the target (alternating rounds in front and back while closing in with regards to accuracy) or "walk them in" where the rounds land behind them and progressively land closer and closer to them forcing them to either get hit or move towards your direct fire to be killed.

quote:

Originally posted by Elk Hunter:
Each round had several propellant packs. The Fire Direction Center (FDC) would plot ranges, azimuths and charges of propellant. Those excess little packs of propellant would be later collected and burned.

Elk,

Now we all know that all the FDC does is sit there playing cards, sleeping and smoking...

What I found amazing, and I'm not a mortar guy, was how they switched the tube around so fast to fire in a different direction. Like "ploof" spin, next! And how some guys were adjusting the T&E on the fly and lobbing more rounds. You can see the training, they all knew how to drop rounds and they all knew to get out of the way. We only had the "small" camera view of the pit but they evidently saw the big picture and adjusted to suit.

Pretty frickin' awesome.

Thanks for the education, y'all...that's some bad-assery right there!! What do y'all think happened to the guy that got a little hurt? Pinch a finger loading a round? Whatever it was, didn't sound too pleasant.

quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:
What I found amazing, and I'm not a mortar guy, was how they switched the tube around so fast to fire in a different direction. Like "ploof" spin, next! And how some guys were adjusting the T&E on the fly and lobbing more rounds. You can see the training, they all knew how to drop rounds and they all knew to get out of the way. We only had the "small" camera view of the pit but they evidently saw the big picture and adjusted to suit.

Pretty frickin' awesome.

Most of the weight is on the base plate. Just a bi-pod holds the tube upright. All they lifted was the bi-pod and some of the tube weight. But not much.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
Thanks for the education, y'all...that's some bad-assery right there!! What do y'all think happened to the guy that got a little hurt? Pinch a finger loading a round? Whatever it was, didn't sound too pleasant.

Notice he didn't call a time out or go to his safe space, he stayed in the fight.

quote:

Originally posted by Elk Hunter:

quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:
What I found amazing, and I'm not a mortar guy, was how they switched the tube around so fast to fire in a different direction. Like "ploof" spin, next! And how some guys were adjusting the T&E on the fly and lobbing more rounds. You can see the training, they all knew how to drop rounds and they all knew to get out of the way. We only had the "small" camera view of the pit but they evidently saw the big picture and adjusted to suit.

Pretty frickin' awesome.

Most of the weight is on the base plate. Just a bi-pod holds the tube upright. All they lifted was the bi-pod and some of the tube weight. But not much.

I don't think it was the weight-lifting that Binky was impressed with. I agree with him: Simply badass that they switched targets that fast with no lull in the damage they were bringing to party. Those boys knew their job. God bless our troops.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
Thanks for the education, y'all...that's some bad-assery right there!! What do y'all think happened to the guy that got a little hurt? Pinch a finger loading a round? Whatever it was, didn't sound too pleasant.

Notice he didn't call a time out or go to his safe space, he stayed in the fight.

Bbbbbbut, but... he's a Millenial. Supposedly, we're incapable of such manliness.