tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post3308801268153908522..comments2024-03-21T14:41:14.622-07:00Comments on Graphic Firing Table: The Army I Knew: Panama, Part 3, Police, Parachutes and The Porcupine DanceFDChiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-33517237604401662332018-08-08T13:50:32.851-07:002018-08-08T13:50:32.851-07:00Love the posts and stories. Can you speak to Pana-...Love the posts and stories. Can you speak to Pana-Jungla School at all? I went in 1986 and it was a fucking bitch! The instructors were assholes much like the PDF Jump School guys, but they were competent and knew their stuff. I have a great interest in Panama as I was there from 1985-1988 and just finished writing a book about my friend and former commanding general, Burn Lorffke.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18087280247109525935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-85493837555756734152018-01-27T20:20:57.440-07:002018-01-27T20:20:57.440-07:00Yeah, the Chiricana wife thinks I should volunteer...Yeah, the Chiricana wife thinks I should volunteer to help train them.Tom Kratmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13342132821284754125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-51155110244315081612017-05-19T14:11:21.457-07:002017-05-19T14:11:21.457-07:00Good stuff. I was in A Co at Kobbe, JM qualified....Good stuff. I was in A Co at Kobbe, JM qualified...anyway, one day we went to see Panama's AF and the condition of the planes we'd be jumping out. It didn't take long before we told them no way in hell...Timnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-7226121371073522382016-05-31T18:01:32.625-07:002016-05-31T18:01:32.625-07:00Jeffro: Back atcha. Good luck in college, and I h...Jeffro: Back atcha. Good luck in college, and I hope the Paradise of the Pacific lives up to its billing...<br /><br />Tom: I had left by '89, so I never saw the PDF in action. It's kind of sad, but at the same time kind of <i>hooah</i>, to hear that my old pal Smiley and his bros put up a good fight before they went under. I cordially hated their asses when I was there, but as a GI it's oddly satisfying to hear that for all that I thought they were dirtbags that when it came time to knuckle up they - at least some of them - could walk the walk.<br /><br />And it's interesting to know that the government has taken a page from the <i>Reichswehr</i> and sneakily resurrected their army...FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-46441897197007028452016-04-27T07:06:49.735-07:002016-04-27T07:06:49.735-07:00Addendum:
In many respects, yeah, the PDF was not...Addendum:<br /><br />In many respects, yeah, the PDF was nothing much. However, note that when we invaded, while we may have killed them at fifteen to one or so, casualty infliction was much more even, roughly about 300 or us for 400 of them. Why the different disparity when counting only dead? You don't take huge chances with people who demonstrate a willingness to fight hard; everybody gets double-tapped. After all, and by way of example, bayonets aren't really for fighting, but for terror, which terror is enhanced by the way they really _are_used, finishing off the wounded. As for fighting hard, note what happened to the SEALs at Paitilla. Also note that, at the Comandancia, outnumbered and grossly outgunned, hit by surprise in the middle of the night, they still managed to hang on quite a while, driving our initial entry parties out a few times. Moreover, when we did take the place there were only something like five POWs, all of those being wounded. There were more prisoners taken at the Alamo. So they don't have a lot to be ashamed of there. Now their officers, some of them, should be stood against a wall and shot on general principle. I am thinking especially of Moises Cortizo, West Point 1980, who abandoned his command on Amador. Tom Kratmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13342132821284754125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-83088778868658746762016-04-27T06:57:25.689-07:002016-04-27T06:57:25.689-07:00Panama's Army.
They've recreated it but, ...Panama's Army.<br /><br />They've recreated it but, perhaps taking a leaf from where we hid the German Army until it could be resurrected as the Bundeswehr, it's in their border guards. Look up "Senafront."Tom Kratmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13342132821284754125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-35947685532796074672016-02-17T19:35:03.031-07:002016-02-17T19:35:03.031-07:00Hey FDChief!
Great post. I was in the 193rd from...Hey FDChief!<br /><br />Great post. I was in the 193rd from 87-91 and am going to college there now (2016) thru an online school. I visited a lot over the years and those were some great times there. And, the Airborne BN was very good when I was there. All I could do to keep up.<br /><br />J street is no more. The Ancon Inn closed years ago and there are only a few old farts who dare to go to El Ranchos, where nary a "snivilian" gringo (that's not a Zonie) dare to tread. <br /><br />Tons of retiree pukes from civilian life who complain that TGIF "isn't the same." Good news though. There is a Hooters and I will check it out.<br /><br />All the Best to you and All the Way.Jefehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14350965572467589678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-57651250995056879362014-07-28T17:29:55.046-07:002014-07-28T17:29:55.046-07:00Lisa: They are, at least for paratroops.
jim: I h...Lisa: They are, at least for paratroops.<br /><br />jim: I had a brain-fart, thinking that you needed to be JM-qualified to get your Senior or Master wings. That was the "star" I mentioned. I've edited the text to reflect the correction. Dunno what I was thinking.<br /><br />We went through the same sanitization process in the early 80's as well; the BDU was supposed to have name tags, DUI, and combat patch (if any), period. All the sexy badges were no-go'd.<br /><br />But when I was levied to Panama I was running ahead of the tropical-weight BDUs. Instead we were issued the old OG-107 "tropical combat uniform" i.e. "jungle fatigues". THOSE you could still sew on all your catch-me-fuck-me shit, and we did. I ETSed out of Panama so I turned up in my first USAR unit still wearing them until I got my new BDU shirts and trousers (I'd lost a fair bit of weight in the jungle...).FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-68091750874243136912014-07-27T07:41:46.195-07:002014-07-27T07:41:46.195-07:00Chief,
"But the point is that I got my jump w...Chief,<br />"But the point is that I got my jump wing star at the laziest school in the Army." Please explain as i don't understand this above sentence.<br />I went to JM straight out of Benning/jump school sep/1968 as a 2LT and this was a 2 year experiment they tried with young RA LT's which was dropped in 69 to my knowledge.I graduated.<br />It's interesting but sometime in the 80's i was at Benning and we were not authorized to wear our DA approved foreign wings on the BDU uniform, as i was so informed by the USAIS CSM Cobb. For a while foreign wings were disallowed, and now every thing hangs on a utility uniform.<br />My VN wings were made from coke cans, or so the story goes.<br />jim hruskarangeragainstwarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02126542922536584950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-10655650545117300492014-07-26T12:55:44.470-07:002014-07-26T12:55:44.470-07:00PS:
The initial "1719" is a mystery!PS:<br /><br />The initial "1719" is a mystery!Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08839236994990699117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-67515332708514988302014-07-26T12:54:49.879-07:002014-07-26T12:54:49.879-07:001719I always love your personal military recollect...1719I always love your personal military recollections.<br /><br />You wrote:<br /><br />"You can tell a lot about soldiers by how they march, and what their marching said about the PDF was fairly uncomplimentary"<br /><br />and that reminds me of something I read recently about the execution of PVT. Slovik. The witnessing LT Gozik said Slovik "walk(ed) as straight as a soldier ever walked. I thought he was the bravest soldier I ever saw.”<br /><br />One's bearing matters.<br /><br />Also, I have heard that foreign jump wings are among the coolest of the cool badges.Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08839236994990699117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-88075598190614575802014-07-23T11:43:45.618-07:002014-07-23T11:43:45.618-07:00Nice, hope you did not drag your silk through that...Nice, hope you did not drag your silk through that cow flop.<br /><br />PS - what is on for August? Have you done Bannockburn in the past? If not, why not this year since it was 700 years lat month. And with the Scottish Independence Referendum coming in September, maybe it is time, no???Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-14309665672902585792014-07-23T10:15:42.873-07:002014-07-23T10:15:42.873-07:00chute, hitchute, hitbriannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-51394535681595840902014-07-23T10:15:08.306-07:002014-07-23T10:15:08.306-07:00Thanks Chief; I love your Army stories.
I never ha...Thanks Chief; I love your Army stories.<br />I never had a chance at Canadian jump school, but did a few civilian jumps - the first time I got blown off the DZ and up until the last second I was sure I was going to go through the roof of a house, as it turned out I landed precisely in his driveway and my shute settled over a wooden fence that would have broken my legs had I hid it. Fortunately no one was home to see that!Brianhttp://brtrain.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-898021491166536862014-07-21T22:29:13.240-07:002014-07-21T22:29:13.240-07:00Good story.
It really is interesting how military...Good story.<br /><br />It really is interesting how military types size up their fellow travelers in just a few seconds.<br /><br />When we did the National Reserve Artillery competition, I always made sure that each of my guns had a coffee pot cooking when the marking staff (always from a different unit) arrived on the gun position. Each gun was given a designated examiner to watch the gun crew's performance.<br /><br />Being handed a steaming mug of java after being given permission to come onto the platform usually impressed the marker with a strong: "not only do we know how to set up a gun position, but we are organized enough to spare some thought to basic creature comforts as well" vibe.Aelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10788190394672505925noreply@blogger.com