We've had several discussions in these pages about what works, and what doesn't, in a combat situation when it comes to gear and equipment. I've emphasized the time-honored technique of K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple, Stupid! That kept me alive, just as it's kept untold numbers of combat veterans alive over the years.
Youtube's Lindybeige channel, an authoritative source of information about modern and historical fighting tools, techniques and equipment, has interviewed a veteran of the International Legion in Ukraine. This is the unit that takes in volunteers from all over the world and deploys them as part of the Ukrainian armed forces.
The first interview, discussing his experiences in general, may be found here. It's about an hour long, and is interesting in its own right. What I found more interesting was the half-hour-long second interview dealing with "useful and useless kit": what works, what doesn't, and what might actively get you killed in a modern combat zone. Not surprisingly to me, he comes to several of the same conclusions I reached in African war zones decades ago. My war(s) may have been a lot hotter (temperature-wise) than Ukraine, but we learned the same lessons, it seems.
Lessons from a soldier who learned them the hard way, and consequently knows what he's talking about. Useful, and recommended viewing.
Peter
8 comments:
"The Ukrainian army doesn't really go in for 'smart', definitely right now. In fact the legion will probably be possibly the first regiment in European history to learn drill at the end of a war."
LOL. You don't hear that from the regular media.
I watched it when he uploaded it. I need to watch it again, but: The bullet points.
*You are not SF, so you don't need to be kitted out like SF. In fact, it might do more harm than good to have a bunch if doo-dads you really dont need or know how to use in the field.
**practice with what you have
*Socks! It is alsmost like the lessons from every war (especally WWI) about feet have to be relearned
* Quality of life/camping gear is good. (The kettle)
*Good kit is good and range gimicky stuff is not.
Other important points:
- Individual first aid kits stay on your body at all times
- tourniquets are lifesavers if you have arterial bleeding
- NEVER show the first light at night (even IR lights)
- What works for CQB is useless or harmful in trench warfare.
I was amused how many American terms the soldier used. "Recon" instead of "Recce" especially.
Wow, whodathunk, the same things a backpack-only camper would carry.
Or a Roman Legionnaire.
which is why i still run old school gear like alice. it works. my eyes are fading so i run optics now, but no lights or lasers or other crap. works okay in the desert, not so much in the swamp/rainy season. and my fav rifle is still an old 20 inch ar. i hit what i shoot at with it. the basics never change. soldiers need food, good leadership, and dry socks. everything else is luxury.... but very nice to have.
Warfare, at its essence, is little-changed from the day of Marius' Mules. There is little beyond the actual bullet launcher that a legionnaire wouldn't understand.
If you think about it; many the basics of what a soldier would carry haven't fundimentally changed since Rome...
Warm bed roll
Mess kit
Weapon...
Dedicated, basic 1st aid is more of an 1890s/20th century think that has evolved to the IFAK.
We have added a lot and evolved alot, the kit has changed. What what is needed really has not.
Au contraire, MNW.
Even the ice-age man for thousands of years pre-legionnaire found in a glacier on the Swiss-Italian border hand bandaging material and herbal remedies for first aid among his kit.
Calling it an IFAK is recent.
Carrying an IFAK is millennia-old.
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