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Originally Posted by Lothar
Sounds like a lot of arse covering ( and zero defect mentality) on the part of GOs who have no idea what it is truly like to hump that heavy ass, hot IBA. Espcecially when you are at 5000 ft plus in the Hindu Kush or sweating your ass off in TK, DR, Blessing, etc.......
Just my .02......
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That is IMNSHO a typical GI bitch. In reality NATTIC truly tries to provide the best equipment possible. They do seek and accept troop input. It is troops who actually do much of the testing. I am sure there are QPs on this forum who have been involved in the testing. We were involved in the testing done by the Tropical Test Center in the Canal Zone. Many improvements to equipment were developed there for issue in RVN.
Its not a matter of KYA. If a directive is issued forbidding the use of a certain piece of equipment then it is a matter of obeying orders. Standardization is a necessity when dealing with 130K+ troops. You may sweat your ass off humping the mountains and have to live with the deaths of a few comrads. Believe me, those stupid, unknowing FG and GOs live with their responsibilities and feel the weight of thousands of lives on their shoulders.
To me it is pretty simple. If they say don't then don't. The consequences for disobeying could truly be a LOD "No" finding and loss of survivor benefits.
An old saying I used to use on my men when given an unpopular order was: "You can make it easy and go ahead and do it; or you can bitch, stamp your feet and hit your head against the wall and then do it; but you will do it or else."
Sorry for the rant. Bitching is one of the few rights of a subordinate. I was a frequent and avid user of this right. But in the end I did as ordered.