# Offering up military expertise



## pptranger (Oct 29, 2014)

Hi all, 

Just wanted to offer up my expertise on military matters. 

I am a retired Sergeant First Class (1991 - 2013), US Army and NY Army National Guard. 

Job wise, I have been an artilleryman, recruiter, and network maintainer. 

I have worked at every unit level from three man section to Division Plans staff. 

I serve in Iraq in 2005 and responded to the WTC attacks on 9-11.


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## InstituteMan (Oct 29, 2014)

I am suspect there are some folks here who may be hitting you up for information. Welcome to WritingForums, btw.


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## Toot Sweets (Oct 30, 2014)

Thank you for your commitment to our protection pptranger. It's also cool to have you here, welcome!


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## egpenny (Oct 30, 2014)

Oh, goody, goody, and from the Army, too.
My questions:
When doing a tour in an Arab country, is alcohol restricted for service personnel?
If so, do civilian contractors run stills and can a soldier get access to it?

This part of my story, concerning alcohol, is set in Afghanistan, my MC is a US Army Staff Sergeant. He has mild-to medium PTSD and has just returned from settling the affairs of a wife and child killed in a (?) small market robbery.
He is thinking of drowning his problems with a drink or twelve or more, and so the above questions. 


When I lived in Libya in the 70's we all brewed beer at home and some of the guys out in the field (oil field workers) had stills.


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## Tyler Danann (Oct 30, 2014)

Well done for sticking it out for that long.  My brother is a lifer but I 'only' did 6 and a half years before leaving to pursue travel and writing! 

We had a 2-can-rule back when I was in the Balkans but in Arab-land?


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## pptranger (Oct 30, 2014)

EG, 

1. Yes. However, many soldiers will still get alcohol mailed to them in care packages, though, disguised as mouthwash, etc. Others can get it while patrolling off post. Some Muslims are drinkers, others have no problem selling it. 

2. I haven't dealt much with contractors, so I don't know if they would have a still, per say, but their access to alcohol would be a lot easier.  

Your Staff Sergeant COULD get alcohol. More likely he woudl wind up mixing small amounts of alcohol with pain killers and sleep aides. 

What do you mean, "Settling affairs"? Unless the woman an child were killed by US forces, the local afghan authorities would handle such matters. If it were the case that a mother and child were killed by US forces, then an indemnity would be paid by the US, usually several thousand dollars, and it would probably be handled by a COmpany Commander, either a Captain or Senior Lt.

- - - Updated - - -

Nope, all Middle East tours are dry except for leave in Doha. Then you get two cans.


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## Tyler Danann (Oct 30, 2014)

A woman I knew actually lost her finger by selling alcohol 'under-the-table' during the 1st Gulf War. The locals caught her selling it to the army-folks and lopped off her index finger.
This was in Kuwait IIRC.


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## pptranger (Oct 30, 2014)

Yep. Shira law.


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## egpenny (Oct 31, 2014)

Hey Ranger, thanks for the answers.

The woman and child were murdered in the states. He get's emergency leave to take care of the paperwork that death entails, and when he returns to Afghanistan he had a passing thought about drowning his problems in something...there is internal dialogue about the availability of alcohol, and then he disregards the idea.

Again, thank you for your answer to my question and for serving in all the sh**-hole places the US sent you.


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## Xan (Oct 31, 2014)

First, thank you for your service. I don't know if people tell you that often, or if it gets old hearing it, but I still very much appreciate all the not-fun you did to allow us civvies to have fun.

Oh man, golden opportunity to ask questions. I've been trying to understand ranks in relation to assignments. Wikipedia and other sources have been sufficient to get an idea on what ranks typically lead what size of unit (sergeant typically leads a squad of 8-12 soldiers, a platoon is roughly 40 soldiers and typically lead by a lieutenant, etc). But I'm not clear on what units are sent on what type of missions, nor how spec op units are led. To ask more precisely:

*Are spec ops units organized differently than normal units? Do they have more officers in smaller, squad-sized units, or higher-ranking officers participating in smaller unit groups (as is often portrayed in movies)?
*What kind of mission is given to a single fireteam? What is assigned to a squad? What about platoons and companies? (bigger than that I'm not too worried about.)
*Are support units (medical, supplies, etc) organized any differently than normal frontline units?
*Are modern military units roughly the same size as units in ancient times (medieval and older)? Obviously this will depend on specific militaries, but as a wide generalization.
*Who assists officers? For instance, a lieutenant will be assisted by a sergeant. A captain by lieutenant(s). Does the pattern hold? Will a general have as part of his staff multiple colonels, or will his staff consist of majors and captains and others? How many NCO positions interact with officers like majors, colonels, and generals?

Kind of a lot of questions that may turn into a really long response, for which I apologize.


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## TKent (Oct 31, 2014)

Ditto!                          




> First, thank you for your service. I don't know if people tell  you that often, or if it gets old hearing it, but I still very much  appreciate all the not-fun you did to allow us civvies to have fun.


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## pptranger (Oct 31, 2014)

egpenny said:


> Hey Ranger, thanks for the answers.
> 
> The woman and child were murdered in the states. He get's emergency leave to take care of the paperwork that death entails, and when he returns to Afghanistan he had a passing thought about drowning his problems in something...there is internal dialogue about the availability of alcohol, and then he disregards the idea.
> 
> Again, thank you for your answer to my question and for serving in all the sh**-hole places the US sent you.



Depending on how close to him the wife and child were, and how close to rotating home his unit is, they may keep him back in the states.


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## J Anfinson (Oct 31, 2014)

Hi, and thank you for your long service. I did about 8 years in the Missouri and Oklahoma Army National Guard and was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and responded to Hurricane Katrina/Rita in 2005. 

Oh, and I was in the engineers. Totally different animal from the grunts.


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## pptranger (Oct 31, 2014)

Xan said:


> First, thank you for your service. I don't know if people tell you that often, or if it gets old hearing it, but I still very much appreciate all the not-fun you did to allow us civvies to have fun.
> 
> Oh man, golden opportunity to ask questions. I've been trying to understand ranks in relation to assignments. Wikipedia and other sources have been sufficient to get an idea on what ranks typically lead what size of unit (sergeant typically leads a squad of 8-12 soldiers, a platoon is roughly 40 soldiers and typically lead by a lieutenant, etc). But I'm not clear on what units are sent on what type of missions, nor how spec op units are led. To ask more precisely:
> 
> ...



WElll, I was artillery, not SF, but I will try to answer as best I can.

1. Yes. The basic building block is the Operational Detachment, with one officer, one warrant officer, and 10 sergeants. That may vary based on mission. They can operate in bigger units, but they train and execute missions as a team. Each team can be broken down into smaller units. Please look here for a good reference. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_Special_Forces_Group_(United_States)

2. Most SF missions are based around training foreign fighters, either allied military or insurgent. An ODA may break into several small teams to teach patrolling, direct action, etc. For an operation mission, they would act as a Det, attacking small high value targets or tracking down enemy leaders and targeting for airstrikes, etc. It depends on the type of conflict, from counter insurgency to full on warfare. The majority of their work would be behind enemy lnes, disrupting logistics, etc, and rarely would they act as a full company, or even a platoon. That is what Rangers are for. 

3. See the organizational cart in the wiki entry. "B" teams provide forward logistics, and "C" teams rear logistic. SF will draw what they need from Big Army. 

4. No not at all. Even in line infantry, a modern rifle team can cover almost 400 meters of frontage. meaing, they can engage targets easily for two hundred meters on each side. Typically, a defensive formation, such as a firebase, will have guard positions every hundred meters or so. 

5. OK, well, teams are lead by sergeants or corporals. Squads are led by Staff Sergeants. Platoons are led by LT's, assisted by Platoon Sergeants. Company Commanders are assisted by First Sergeants, Battalion Commanders by Sergeants Major, and so on. A Company Commander, usually a captain, has a senior LT, called the Executive Officer, as his staff. At Battalion and higher, functions are broken down by area, such as intel, supply, operations, etc. These are run by someone one rank down from the Commander. So, for example, an Brigade is commanded by a Colonel, who has a Lt Colonel as his XO and Senior staff leaders. 

Reference this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_organization#Armies


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## pptranger (Oct 31, 2014)

Thanks!

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J Anfinson said:


> Hi, and thank you for your long service. I did about 8 years in the Missouri and Oklahoma Army National Guard and was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and responded to Hurricane Katrina/Rita in 2005.
> 
> Oh, and I was in the engineers. Totally different animal from the grunts.



I was artillery. Much more civilized than grunts!


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## J Anfinson (Oct 31, 2014)

pptranger said:


> I was artillery. Much more civilized than grunts!



Whoops, my mistake. I see where you said that now. I'm tired and should probably go to bed. It's been a long week. Lol.


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## LeeC (Oct 31, 2014)

pptranger said:


> Depending on how close to him the wife and child were, and how close to rotating home his unit is, they may keep him back in the states.




I wouldn't know how the Army is now, but back in the early 60's when I was a LRRP, they didn't even let me know my mother had passed on until I was back at base camp a month later. Also would have something to do with what one was up to obviously.


Sorry to stick my nose in, probably missing the point. Happy to see you got thru it all


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## Xan (Nov 1, 2014)

pptranger said:


> WElll, I was artillery, not SF, but I will try to answer as best I can.
> 
> 1. Yes. The basic building block is the Operational Detachment, with one officer, one warrant officer, and 10 sergeants. That may vary based on mission. They can operate in bigger units, but they train and execute missions as a team. Each team can be broken down into smaller units. Please look here for a good reference. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_Special_Forces_Group_(United_States)
> 
> ...


Woops, I didn't phrase my questions well. Only the first one was intended to deal with SF; the rest were more for normal units.

For #4, I was actually asking about the number of men in the unit. However, the engagement range is quite useful for another story I have on the back burner. The other questions you answered very well, thank you! And thanks for the links, too.

Something that always made me wonder about the Honor Harrington universe was that at times in the series, Admiral Harrington had lieutenants or captains serving on her flag bridge. Obviously it is fiction, and maybe the Navy does things differently (I know the author based a lot of things off of the British Navy during the colonies era), but it just seemed odd to me. From your answer to #5, I can see that wouldn't happen in the army.


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## pptranger (Nov 2, 2014)

Remember that in the Navy, Captain = Colonel and Lt = Captain, for equivalent Army Ranks.


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## Xan (Nov 3, 2014)

pptranger said:


> Remember that in the Navy, Captain = Colonel and Lt = Captain, for equivalent Army Ranks.


Hmm, didn't know that. Is that because of their Ensign rank?


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