Secret special military forces in China

You may have seen them on TV. They are often portrayed in movies and televisions as fierce super-humans. Today, we take a close look at what kind of training China's soldiers have to go through to become a member of the elite Special Forces.

“From now on, you will have no names, no titles, no ranks. You only have a code name, and what's that? Rookie, rookie, rookie!”

And this proclamation is just the beginning of a special forces training session, held annually at a military base in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan province.

18 elite members are selected from soldiers and officers alike to participate in the training. They undertake training that other normal soldiers also have to go through, like lifting, but with a twist. There are no dumbbells in the weight room; instead, you have a 2000 pound assault boat. And push-ups.

In the field, there's no time to think about how to keep your face or clothes clean. Because the soldiers understand, on the real battlefield, a split second of inattention can have grave consequences.

Despite the sprinting, lifting, crawling, and shouting, physical pain is the least of it. The training is a real test of mental strength, of bravery, team spirit and most of all it's a struggle against human's deepest fear: death.

Soldier Chen Yuqiang told us, "I was really scared in the beginning. I didn't have much confidence because I was afraid it was just going to get more and more difficult. I didn't want to let my team down. But in the end I was able to persevere. Now I think as long as you keep at it, it doesn't matter what kind of difficulty is in front of you."

This is just one day at the training camp. Plenty more challenges will come the soldier's way. But they will fight on as they understand the sacred responsibility they have to protect the country and its people.

Πηγή

SYSCOM Wants to Know: How are your FROG Gloves?

Marine Corps Systems Command is canvassing deployer Leathernecks for their feedback on their fire-resistant gloves.MCSC’s Program Manager (PM) for Infantry Combat Equipment (ICE) is sponsoring an Internet survey on Flame Resistant Organizational Gear (FROG) gloves.All active duty and reserve Marines who were or are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, and who currently have a Command Access Card (CAC), are invited to participate.

 The survey is located at https://usmcsurveys.natick.army.mil and will be open through Oct. 21. There is a demographics section that needs to be completed prior to beginning the actual survey.The results of the survey will help members of PM ICE improve FROG gloves that were fielded beginning in 2006. 

 The team hopes to field new improved gloves by the end of fiscal year 2012.We did some posts a while back on gloves, but let’s give it another shot. What have readers found are the best, most durable, safest gloves for combat use?

Πηγή

Warfighter of the Future

In the spirit of Christian’s write up on the post 9-11 Warfighter, I wanted to add my own speculation as to what we might see in the future.

When I was active duty, and shortly after my first tour in Afghanistan  I was selected to represent the SEAL community at Crane for the SOPMOD kit update.  It was a great experience and a real eye opener as to what technology was available and what was in the RDT&E phase.  The next decade or so will bring some significant advancements……

1st Line Gear:

We’ll see smart uniforms that integrate armor into the entire uniform package (especially IED defense).  They will include integrated solar cells for re-charging on the go, material that will encourage coagulation to stop bleeding AND nano technology built in that will blend to any environment.

2nd Line Gear:

You’ll see bio enhancement packages that add strength, endurance and prevent injuries.  Imagine a brace like DonJoy engineered with enhancements that allowed the Warfighter to run faster, farther with more weight and be less prone to injury.  The same nano camo will cover everything. We’ll see continued advancements in synthetic polymers and energy absorbing materials that allow for much lighter armor plates (“feather-weight plates”). Helmets will now come standard with fully enclosed (environmentally controlled) heads up displays in both Thermal, IR, and 3-D. They will have built in comms and be capable of on demand Google Earth, drone feeds as well as be interconnected with other Warfighters camera systems and receive target imagery from Intel.

3rd Line Gear:

The days of carrying 120lb ruck sacks are behind us.  The new Warfighter will be much lighter, stronger and equipped with an extremely light 3rd line.  Small packs will carry rations, water and light weight overnight gear.  Solar cells built into the uniform will not only act as a power source but they will provide heat on cold nights or cooling in hotter climates ( I know of one program that is already working on this).

Sound a bit far fetched?  Who would have thought unmanned drones would be monitoring battlefield fifteen years ago? We have an excellent viewership at Kit Up! and it would be great to your comments.

Πηγή 

Longest Sniper Kill Ever

Barrett .50 cal M82 Sniper Kill Shot

Direct Action Snowboards

There are a lot of things that suck about fighting in the cold—especially when there’s snow in addition to the cold—that make the miserable life of a grunt even more miserable. It sucks to be really wet. It sucks to be really really cold. It really sucks to be really wet and really cold all at the same time. It gets worse, of course, though regular cold and wet is bad enough. 

Cold and wet fighting at altitude is worse by an order of magnitude, as many of you reading this can attest.Frigid, snowy conditions give a whole new meaning to the term cold bore shot.Ice and snow confound mobility. Cold thickens CLP and other lubricants. 

Weapons are fouled by snow and ice. Plastic and rubber pieces and seals fail or break as metals grow brittle. Muzzle velocities drop, the range of most weapons is degraded. Weapons with a short trigger pull (we don’t count the rather lackluster M9) are something less than forgiving of numb fingers or hands wrapped in thick gloves and mittens. Many fabrics lose flexibility and serious shrinkage can occur (not just in the fabric, either.) There’s lots of things to keep in mind.

To get to the fight you need skis, snowshoes, snowcats, perhaps a Bv206S. Some units train to do nothing but fight in the snow. The Gebirgsjäger, Israel’s Alpinistim and of course our very own Tenth Mountain. Their professionalism and adaptive skills notwithstanding, it may be someone in the civilian sector who has developed the latest and greatest in mountain warfare TTPs. It’s won’t ever show up in 31-70 Chapter 6 or and any of CALL’s handbooks, but we thought it was funny. 

Figured maybe it was appropriate for the Labor Day Weekend to wax a little less serious for one article. The guy designing what we have decided should be called the Direct Action Assault Snowboard is Dave Lee, former professional snowboarder and design genius behind lots of unique work at Signal Snowboards: watch the Signal crew do battle on the slopes.

When you’re done, sound off with any of your cold weather experience in the field. Have a favorite little stove small enough to throw in a 3-day pack? Any hints or tips you can pass along to others? Looking for anything in your experience (kit or lesson learned) that might help some other poor bastard humping the side of an icy mountain at the ass end of a freezing valley barely out of the stone age.

Πηγή

Hellenic Special Forces training