Quote:
Originally Posted by kell490
Do you think Carters choice to not use a military invasion to rescue the hostages was a mistake? It seemed to me the ayatollah khomeini by taking the hostages he really justified military action. Carter approved 2 raids 1 which ended badly the 2nd a wild idea to land a c-130 in a soccer stadium never happened. The interviews with the special forces who spent many days training stated they were 90% sure they could have taken the embassy without loss of any Americans. If Carter had reacted quickly with military force he could have change the future and we might not be in the situation we are in now. I even think Iran would have been better off Islamic state has been a disaster for the average Iranian.
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I was in the marines at that time and had just been transferred to Hawaii 3 weeks prior. I worked in a MATCU unit (Mobile Air Traffic Control Unit). As it turns out, our MATCU unit was the only combat ready MATCU unit in the corps at the time. I tell you this to explain, in detail, the state of the military at that moment in time.
This was post Vietnam era and the last troops out of Saigon was a scant 4.5 years earlier. There were no heroes and America pretty much had had enough of the military. Carter did his best to accommodate their wishes. The "GI Bill was called VEAP and one could attain a whopping $8,100 in total college funds after you kicked in $2,700 of it. When in public, you were told to keep a loooow profile. The American public did not care for the military or those in it.
The M-60 Patton tank was still front line and technically inferior to the T-72 we obliterated 11 years and a great Republican Regan later, in Desert storm. Iran and Iraq were. "wrapping up" an 8 year war that killed about a million troops between them and Iraq was our allies. We had M-16 A1 rifles of Vietnam vintage all shot out. 1 in 3 jeeps was operational. There were no Bradley's, humvees, strikers, amwraps, whatever but, there were peeeeelenty of worn out, non armored deuce and a halfs and jeeps. There were amtracs without armor plates as well. All of motor transport cannibalized other vehicles to keep a few running.
The Huey was still front line and the Blackhawk was about 4-5 years in the future. The cobra gen 1 was available and the apache was on the drawing board. Tow missiles were available, no hellfires. m-60 mortars common but hey, we did have the 1911 so....there's......that.
The radars I worked on we're the TPN-8, Vietnam vintage, made in 1960 by ITT.....40 mile PAR radar....with transistors!!!!......then there was the infamous UPS-1.....I believe the marines first radar made in 1940.....yes, 1940.....80 mile range....oh boy.....it ran on vacuum tubes...we used to break the nipple of the thyratron and stuff it full of Christmas lights.....cost to the us taxpayer? $1,500 in the all so clever use it or lose budget process.......prc 25 radios .....yessssss, real antiques.....and we were the only unit that could deploy anywhere in the world and set up an airport with 24 hour notice.....IF they could get there C-141 style, and IF the crap didn't fall apart along the way....real junk....money was on the TPN-8 as the UPS-1 was always down for parts.
We did have plenty of trichlorethelene we bathed our hands in to make the circuit boards shiny for inspection....lieukemia due any day now.....lots of paint and ospho to keep the ancient, broken gear, looking good! We used to wipe the radars down with a light oil to make them glisten for field day inspections....every Friday....whether they worked or not.
We did not receive a pay raise for two of the 4 years I was in so the squabble today is not new. Thank you nothing Jimmy Carter. To say morale in the military was low is a gross understatement. despite the fact we could get reenlistment bonuses of a factor of 7 (SRB of 7), a bump in rank, advanced school and choice of duty station, 95% of my unit left when their enlistment was over. Much like America, we had enough of it.....
too...
What I'm telling you is the morale was down, no budget to waste or, put to good use, ancient, worn out equipment, and one of the highest departure rates in history, going to war would have been one of the most stupid things we could have done. Thousands upon thousands of lives would have been lost.
Not for lack of bravery. Hevk, we were bored, we would have welcomed the change. We were simply not prepared for a sustained conflict.
Our flight line consisted of Huey's, cobras, F-4's, crusaders, A4 sky hawks (1954 invention), F-14 tomcats (phew) and the F-16 juuuuuuuuust being released..the F-15's were there but, not prevalent....the AV8 -A harrier gen 1.....on a bright side, we did have the A-10 warthog just two years old........
Thanks to Regan and the republicans in general, we developed the Abrams tank, massive amounts of F15's, f16's, AV8 B's, F-18 Hornets and super hornets, all of the Ohio class subs, the nuclear carriers numbering what? 12? Aegis cruisers, tomahawk missiles, hellfire missiles, apache helicopter, M-4 carbines by the thousands, Bradley's, humvees, etc....etc...etc......etc...
Thanks to THAT, we attacked our former allies, Iraq, 11 years later and fisted his entire army, 4th largest in the world at the time, in 4 days??????
There are many families that owe their lives and kids lives to Regan and the republicans. I treasure what those folks did for our soldiers. They improved morale and brought dignity back to the service. They were exemplary during Gulf Storm and we all know how well that was run. Oddly enough, we apparently forgot the lessons we were taught in 1979 that there was a balance of power and as long as Iraq and Iran were at each others throat, a crazy guy called sadam kept a lid on things. Shame we forgot that. We knew it in 1979. I'm very proud how America turned and embraced our military. 11 years earlier we were pretty detested wherever we went. Go figure.
Say what you will about republicans but, make nooooooo mistake, they got that decade right and saved many military lives. Carter? Nice guy who was simply not the right guy for the job. Like a bad draft in the NFL. Move him out and move on. We did. Thank God.
Military is much, much, much better now. I have a son who is combat medic but, I am confident he would fare better than we would have thanks to those collective republican efforts. So, to you Hillary and your vast right wing conspiracy BS, F.U.....guess how many fingers I am holding up now?
Notes:
Summer of 1980 we trained Iraqi air-traffic controllers in Hawaii. They were an allies fighting Iran. Odd quiet bunch and rarely so much as smiled. They left 2 weeks later to go back to a land most of us didn't even know existed. Odd and uncomfortable working with them. Just odd. Awkward.
The boogy boarding at Kaneohe MCAS is excellent. Pyramid rock and beach off the end of the runway is one of the best beaches in Hawaii.
Night diving in turtle bay will open your eyes to hammerhead sharks as they were studied there by the navy, even more interesting is the diving on the edge of the Molokai channel, at night. Do NOT use a game bag when spear fishing at night. NOT a good idea and bring a backup flashlight. Dive partners are mandatory.
Hawaii is a great place to protect Americans from bad beer.
Semper Fi
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