My name is Chris and I was major Matt's interpreter in 2011 while he was in command of D Company, 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment. I miss the men I worked with in Afghanistan
I had the privilege to work for Major Matt Taylor as an interpreter in Helmand province, Afghanistan in 2011. He is a great leader and he took the battle to the enemy during each combat patrol
This was their first real op for the Jackal 1. Every military vehicle in the world has issues especially when rushed into theatre without years of testing. Many of the issues were fixed up and we're now using the Jackal 2 which is incredibly popular and very effective. Indeed, both the Canadian and US special forces are interested in them for their off road speed and reliability now.
You do realise this is the already out of date Jackal 1 on one of its first deployments, right? The Jackal is an immensely capable and popular vehicle with the troops to this day and all these problems were fixed years before you decided to comment.
No, it was the Pathfinders first mission in them, the vehicles were already in theatre during the previous Brigade deployment although I do not know how much they were used.
The SA80 was an AWFUL procurement by the MoD, however it has been upgraded to a very high standard and is an excellent weapon (if a tad heavy). It is easy to operate, highly accurate and very reliable, so don't be quite so fast to slate it - unless you've actually used one! Vehicles break constantly in Afghanistan.. it's a nightmare - but appreciate the harshness of the terrain they're used on, the heat, their natural size /weight, the loads they carry and they way they're used. It isn't a tank.
You do realize that the machines get upward of 200-300 degrees F or 95-150 degrees C. And these vehicles are massive and take a pounding just driving around. The heat of the desert means most vehicles cant cool themselves effectively. Where i grew up the dirt and heat could cause similar problems to even standard civilian vehicles.
I'm sure that every military general in the world sees your comment and goes "Oh my I have seen the light this person is clearly better than every strategic mind in the world!" Quite playing COD, boy. These are the real deal in this video. Life ain't a game and they are professionals at what they do. The Pathfinders role in this op ended up being crucial for later ops by British American coalition movements such as Op panther Claw. Do some damn research first.
Did they forget to test their vehicles and tow straps? Were these experimental vehicles that they decided to test on the battlefield instead of a controlled environment?
can sell you guys some nice ex army Landrovers? each one comes with a ball of string and a roll of gaffer tape, that'll make them good for at least 50,000 miles
The way that Jackal turnd over ?? we lost lads when the old Fox recce veh did the same!! good job for the role bars, but the lads almost came to a sticky end, £600000 is alot of money for these "trucks" OK they are better than the snatch Lannies but what about crew protection(OK IED)from small arms, and it is mountains with high ground, and no over head cover ?? OK Im out of the forces now, so Lads still in using these Trucks what is your opinion??
If you weren't so ignorant you would realize that the training schedules for the U.S. and British armies are set up completely differently. While Brit basic may be 24 weeks in comparison to the U.S. marines 12 weeks you are not factoring in the 4 weeks of additional infantry training and then mos specific training. Respect to both countries
Yaa ..but only usmc infantry unit have the 12week not all.. example like force recon and marsoc they are very tuff and professional unit.and marsoc can to handle with the sas operation and force recon can be to compare within SBS..my opinions in usmc only not the us army.
You cannot expect to go into them enviroments and nothing to happen to the vehicles, it's hard for them but we are good i cannot wait now, them enviroments are my kinda thrill :)
You're damn right that you guys have some of the best soldiers in the world. But to saddle them with poor equipment is just bad planning. Losing soldiers to equipment failures shouldn't be acceptable. Imagine what your forces could do with proper vehicles?
Be a Afghan in my own viewthere is no any chance for Americans and alliance to win many reasons, corruption of Govt, bombing innocent people from above, and no any security insurance of civilians is the main reason. That's why the taliban going strong day after day.
The way that Jackal turnd over ?? we lost lads when the old Fox recce veh did the same!! good job for the role bars, but the lads almost came to a sticky end, £600000 is alot of money for these "trucks" OK they are better than the snatch Lannies but what about crew protection(OK IED)from small arms, and it is mountains with high ground, and no over head cover ??
600k will buy you a POS. That was fucked when that Jackal rolled though, what a hassle. And if an IED went off next to that thing, there's nothing protecting the gunner, driver and passengers from shrapnel. Interesting doc so far.
why are these vehicles breaking down after a week... obviously serious design flaws.. these are military vehicles meant for the harshest environments in the world...
@ThaiTyBeta The U.S should start caring (seeing how your in the shits atm),these men were not being fired upon, you cant simply just blow up a vehicle that was purpose built to withstand RPG's and IED's...you think every soldier just walks around with a plentiful amount of explosives? You watch too many movies - the real world isn't as easy as you think. They earn they pay in situations like this, it's a tough one to be in but towing it is all they could do.
Gotta love how you ignore all the facts I say to both change the point entirely and fail to counter anything I said. Afghanistan is definitely a waste of resources at the moment, but that wasn't the issue. These guys know what they're doing, the Pathfinders are just below SAS/SBS in terms of skill after all. You seriously expect anyone to think that you clearly know better than they do? I use facts, there's no getting around that no matter how hard you seem determined to try. :p
you said a Sgt. does have the authority to do that, implying that the other guy was correct when he said they could airlift it out... I never said they don't have the authority to leave/destroy vehicles, but in that situation they acted correctly. It would have been purely lazyness if they left it in that situation. I havn't watched this in awhile so i was going off memory, but I'm fairly sure they weren't taking rounds.
That looks like a miserable time having trucks break down in that heat and your all pissed off. Then people are shooting at ya and ya feel like a sitting duck. Then your gun jams. FUCK
@ThaiTyBeta Congratulations. I am laughing at you right now, as most others reading your posts probably are. What are you going to come out with next I wander?
I'm sorry but these vehicles are rubbish. Someone seriously needs to go back to the drawing board. Weren't they at least tested in the desert somewhere?
Right, so a Sgt. has the authority to call in and potentially risk a Chinook to transport a flipped vehicle when you have the means to correct the situation and have the vehicle back in working order. That is just..amazingly moronic. The common sense thing to do is what they did, tow it back on it's side and get the fuck on with the job at hand, LIKE A SOLDIER. They were not under fire or in immediate threat, they acted correctly.
The MOD seem to waste so much money on crap equipment, only to redesign it time and time again until "it works". A prime example being the piece of crap Jackal in this video or the SA80. It is far better and cheaper just to buy good in the first place.
Correct that it was UKSF, but it was most definitely not "rightfully so" to wait for US SF to appear. The SAS/SBS coulda had the job done and dusted years ahead of schedule were it not for American ego to want to score the kill. Britain doesn't give a shit about ego, they just want the job done.
Russia helped out a whole lot more then the U.S... Not to mention Eisenhower wasn't really a field commander.. Monty's more comparable to Patton or Bradley
Stupid lingusit.The men said, when Russian were in Afghanistan at that time the Russian soldiers and the Afghan Army personnel came to our village.Other then that, no one has come to our village yet!
@bollox679 They are not released used much no more mate, they where only there for temp until the Panthers/Vikings where created. Can't believe they gave them fucking Jackals these boy's should of got the Mastiff.
I didn't say "rightfully so" for the US SF to appear I said it for a reference of 9/11. I agree with you There is no doubt that if back in that situation, the British would of engaged and killed OBL.
Once again, you only change the subject when you have nothing to back up your original arguement about how apparently know how to conduct recon better than these guys. You repeatedly state that apparently you know better than some of the best spec ops on the planet. That's the point of this, but clearly given you lack facts to talk about that as multiple people have proven to you...you change the subject to just be all OMG AFGHAN BAD. Once you can hold a coherant arguement, try responding.
Man those trucks seem really unreliable! Why would the governent send them in? surely they could have tested it in Egypt, Saudi, Sudan Pakistan etc before sending them into a warzone what a complete Cock up
Money better spent on highly trained Sniper squads, tanks or some large vehicles to draw them out.. The only way to beat them is beat them at their own game and not piss of the locals.. Millions of dollars wasted on being tough instead of smart.
