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I think we thought they were a lot more sophisticated than they actually were. But shock and awe was designed to basically neutralize all of that anyway. The

I think we thought they were a lot more sophisticated than they actually were. But shock and awe was designed to basically neutralize all of that anyway. The Navy was the night shift and that included a lot of tomahawk missiles too. The Air Force was the daytime campaign so there was a lot of capability to take out different threats. The biggest threat I remember was we were very sure Saddam had chemical weapons (mostly because we sold them to him previously, but I digress). So we had to carry gas masks and did chemical attack drills alot. We also were forced to take many shots including small pox and an experimental anthrax shot. Many of my friends have medical conditions they believe are related to those shots.

the__alchemist 4y ago
Surprising re shifts! More recently, the Navy has been biased towards day shifts due to carrier landing windows. My understanding is a big part of the Navy training/brief/debrief focus is the recovery.
- mysterydip 4y ago
  There's a big difference in number of personnel involved and how important equipment (radar, IFF, landing systems) are for daytime vs nighttime recoveries.
wheelerof4te 4y ago
- yywwbbn 4y ago
  No, it was designed to strike fear and terror into the hearts of common soldiers so that they would run away/surrender instead of fighting. Civilians were just collateral damage. The uprising happened during the first war, but Bush I decided that he’d rather keep Sadam in power and that Kuwait’s oil was enough…
- SECProto 4y ago
  > Isn't shock and awe designed to strike fear and terror in the hearts and minds of the populace? When you bomb bridges, railroads and vital energy infrastructure, the civilians are the ones who suffer the most. Per the Wikipedia article on the invasion and campaign being referenced, no this was not the intent: > In practice, U.S. plans envisioned simultaneous air and ground assaults to incapacitate the Iraqi forces quickly [...] would allow them to attack the heart of the Iraqi command structure and destroy it in a short time, and that this would minimize civilian deaths and damage to infrastructure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq#Opening_attack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq#Opening_... The real impact turned out ... a bit different than this claimed strategy
diskzero 4y ago
Being on the ground and dealing with MOPP gear was no fun either. The Army certainly took the risk very seriously. The MOPP gear receded into the background on later deployments. While all the shots may be a slight concern, I am more afraid of breathing in all the invigorating air from the burn pits.

the__alchemist 4y ago

Surprising re shifts! More recently, the Navy has been biased towards day shifts due to carrier landing windows. My understanding is a big part of the Navy training/brief/debrief focus is the recovery.

mysterydip 4y ago
There's a big difference in number of personnel involved and how important equipment (radar, IFF, landing systems) are for daytime vs nighttime recoveries.

wheelerof4te 4y ago

yywwbbn 4y ago
No, it was designed to strike fear and terror into the hearts of common soldiers so that they would run away/surrender instead of fighting. Civilians were just collateral damage. The uprising happened during the first war, but Bush I decided that he’d rather keep Sadam in power and that Kuwait’s oil was enough…
SECProto 4y ago
> Isn't shock and awe designed to strike fear and terror in the hearts and minds of the populace? When you bomb bridges, railroads and vital energy infrastructure, the civilians are the ones who suffer the most. Per the Wikipedia article on the invasion and campaign being referenced, no this was not the intent: > In practice, U.S. plans envisioned simultaneous air and ground assaults to incapacitate the Iraqi forces quickly [...] would allow them to attack the heart of the Iraqi command structure and destroy it in a short time, and that this would minimize civilian deaths and damage to infrastructure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq#Opening_attack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq#Opening_... The real impact turned out ... a bit different than this claimed strategy

diskzero 4y ago

Being on the ground and dealing with MOPP gear was no fun either. The Army certainly took the risk very seriously. The MOPP gear receded into the background on later deployments. While all the shots may be a slight concern, I am more afraid of breathing in all the invigorating air from the burn pits.