I wonder how many days this strongest soldier would have lasted at the "Frozen Chosin" in 20 degrees below zero temperatures with no body fat ? The Marine Corps icon, Chesty Puller during an interview mentioned how he wanted his Marines to be physically, husky with some body fat. If this strongest soldier were have been a grunt in Vietnam and made it through his first 90 days increasing his survivability 50%, with in another 90 days he would look like the rest of the other grunts, thin who have lost more than a few pounds humping in the hot and humid jungles of Vietnam. The U.S.Navy has it's BUDS at Coronado and those who are most likely to drop out are those strongest soldiers who have no body fat and since wannabe SEAL's spend a long time in cold water the effects are hypothermia. Enough to make a wannabe SEAL to ring that bell and dropout. Wont even touch on how this strongest soldier wipes his ass after taking a dump on the battlefield.
Chosin was a blunder, no one prepared for it and body fat or not, no one was in any shape to fight by the end of it. And speaking for myself, I suffered less from lack of food when I was a 6' skinny 135lbs 18 years old than I do now at 6' 190lbs. I was used to hardship and malnutrition back then, not so much now.
The Frozen Chosin was when the 1st Mar Div found itself surrounded by 8 Chi-Com divisions. During the Second World War the average American recruit was in pretty good physical shape. It was still the era of manual labor. There was a large number who were rejected for military service but the majority were for bad dental hygiene because of growing up during the Great Depressions and a poor diet, not enough moo milk. The era that had the lowest number of recruits being rejected for physical reasons was the Vietnam War era.This had more to do with President Kennedy's national physical fitness program where every kid from the 1st grade through high school would spend one hour per day for PE. Something like 90% of the males who graduated from high school could pass the army's PFT. Today 3/4 of those who want to volunteer to serve are rejected. We have become a nation of young snowflakes and Pillsbury Doughboys. .
Yes and it was a military blunder by the US. They advanced too fast and didn't planned for a chinese intervention and got cut off. 3/4 are rejected because they're not needed. Modern militaries are a professionals army, not canon fodder.
A military who can no longer kill the enemy with one shot, one kill. Going back to Colonial America, Americans were always known around the world for being marksmen. Then in the early 2000's something happened. American marksmanship had fallen into the crapper and neither the Army and Marine Corps Knows why. Maybe the changing demographics in America ? Maybe growing up from birth being exposed to political correctness every day ? Something happened and it's a national security issue. Will political correctness prevent the Army and Marine Corps calling an ace an ace when they see it ? It's bad enough that the Marine Corps has dumbed down their PFT four or so times since WW ll. But for the first time in over 125 years the Marine Corps has dumbed down their rifle marksmanship training program. Today when you see some young Marine wearing his rifle expert badge on his chest you want to ask that Marine did he qualify on the KD range using open iron sights ?
But I'm not dependent on technology and I can survive being off the grid, the majority today can't and would die. Twenty so years ago I asked the XO of a destroyer if they still used celestial navigation using a sextant ? Don't know if he was being honest but he said he still used a sextant and required other officers to do so. Back when Obama and Putin got into a stare down over Syria and Obama blinked we learned that the Russians could spoof GPS and making GPS useless on the battlefield and at sea. It seems the U.S.Navy became so dependent on technology that they stopped teaching wannabe naval officers how to navigate using the stars and the sun while using the sextant. The Navy has reintroduced the sextant at Annapolis and OCS. Holy crap, since the GPS the United States has deactivated most of their LORAN transmitters and aviation and maritime shipping is 100% dependent on GPS. Before GPS and LORAN there was dead reckoning and the sextant when flying. Most planes had a little glass/plastic bubble on top of the fuselage where you could take a navigation reading using a sextant. Notice the little bubble just behind the cockpit on this C-47 Like on like on the B-52 bomber it was a sextant telescope. Doing it the old fashioned way – with a sextant.
Yes I get what you're saying, and I agree that the old timer made the best of what they had. But at one point you must evolve with the tech.
Never had to use a leaf. I would break open C-rat cases and plunder the TP from each box of c-rats. When out on an all day patrol we would settle in for the night in either a defensive position or ambush position. I would study the map and look for what was the most likely way that Charley would be coming from when he pays us a visit at O-Dark 30. Then I would walk out a ways and drop my trousers and take a poop not burying it. Around 0330 hrs you would hear Charley who found my poop and he would yell "CHET TIET" !!! and we would open fire and soon there were red and green tacers criss crossing all over the place.
the sextant telescope allows the navy men to navigate without GPS, because the russians can spoof GPS after putin defeated obama in syria, our new Commander In Chief will not allow America to be tricked again.
Technology... Never allow yourself to become dependent on technology and especially if you have a military. Every time an advancement in technology is made in warfighting...the other side is developing a technology to defeat that new technology. During the 1990's a general was answering questions during an armed service committee in Congress.The subject was the Stryker Brigade and the LAV Stryker vehicle. Senator: General, if our satellites in space were taken out by the enemy would our soldiers in the Stryker Brigade be able to keep fighting ? General: (long 15 second pause) "No." My MOS was 0849 (Shore Fire Control Party Man) Basically a naval gunfire spotter. Under PC social engineering that word "man" was declared sexiest, homophobic and politically incorrect.The MOS was replaced with a new MOS 0861. Back in the day a naval gunfire spotter went into combat with either a M-14 or M-16 and had a map, a pair of binoculars and a compass and had a radioman carrying either a PRC-25, PRC-47 or a PRC-41 He didn't carry a slide rule in his pocket and there was no small hand held calculator back in the day so the Marine had no choice but to use his brain housing group. The minimum GCT to fill the 0849 billet was a 110 GCT score. During the 1990's GPS was being used and less thinking was needed and the GCT was lowered to 105. By the end of the 1990's the naval gunfire spotter had GPS. laser range finders laser designators, hand held calculators, he no longer had a purpose for his brain housing group and the minimum GCT score was lowered to 100.
We don’t rely on GPS as our sole means of navigation and we sure as all f**k don’t use a sextant. That’s dumb.
Again, you’re rambling. I answered the other guy that GPS isn’t our sole means of navigating, at least in the fighter community. All of our advances in technology are awesome, but we still have back-ups and back-ups for back-ups. I can’t figure out what the hell you’re trying to talk about. Clearly I’m not old enough.
the sextant was used to fight highly advanced white European civilisations in the world wars today's fancy navigation gadgets are obsolete and merely used for third world oil producing countries.
Russia Has 1 'Weapon' NATO Can't Easily Defeat GPS jamming. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/russia-has-1-weapon-nato-cant-easily-defeat-55387 It gets better or worse depending... Have you watched a millennial trying to read a road map ? How many millennials know how to use a map and compass ? Ever seen a millennial changing a flat tire ? They use their smartphones to change a flat tire by calling AAA.
And yet, soon in your case, you'll depend on millenials to change your diaper and to feed you. Senility is a bitch.
They shoot horses don't they ? Or is that politically incorrect today ? When I was born they said my life expectancy was suppose have been ten years ago. Those entering the world today will live into being over 100. I've watched the world's population more than double from 3 billion to 7 billion. Look at California today, it's just not progressive policies that destroyed that state but overpopulation. Overpopulation is one of the biggest contributors to climate change. I'm going to die rich because I'm going to own the trademark for Soylent Green.
Strength and stamina aren't synonymous. I've always been strong, but childhood asthma reduced my stamina below 'normal'. I did great in track on the short runs, and sports like baseball, but was usually near dead last in the mile runs. I could hike a fair distance, though, with a light pack.