Balls of Steel (British Paratrooper)

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unozero

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Paratrooper who lost three limbs in Afghanistan bomb vows to return to sniper job
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If he succeeds in his ambition, 26-year-old Corporal Tom Neathway will be the most injured serviceman ever to return to battle.

He has already passed an Army Medical Board assessment which graded him as operationally fit and is to begin a new course of weapons training to bring him up to the necessary standard.



BAMF.
 
Eejit said:
What a ****ing nutcase.
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He's a para.

He volunteered for a job with the description "jumping out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft into an area full of people who want to kill you."

The term "****ing nutcase" barely does him justice.

Anyway, his attitude is, as the article states, admirable. Thats real dedication to the job.
 
How with that sort of disability is he able to function as a proper soldier?
 
Shift said:
How with that sort of disability is he able to function as a proper soldier?
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The Article said:
"I just want to show the army what I can do. The more I can do, the further forward I will get in Afghanistan and that is my ambition," he said.

"There are plenty of jobs at Camp Bastion I could do, but I'm determined to go back to one of the static observation posts. I want to take a sniper's role on the peaks at Kajaki.

"You only need one hand to fire the sniper rifle so I cannot see there is anything to stop me."
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It seems he wishes to be assigned to a combat role where his problems won't affect his performance.
 
The Brits are well known for being crazy. I thought Bayonette charges went out of fashion after the 1800s.
Executive Summary
In May 2004, approximately 20 British troops in Basra were ambushed and forced out of their vehicles by about 100 Shiite militia fighters. When ammunition ran low, the British troops fixed bayonets and charged the enemy. About 20 militiamen were killed in the assault without any British deaths.

The bayonet charge appeared to succeed for three main reasons. First, the attack was the first of its kind in that region and captured the element of surprise. Second, enemy fighters probably believed jihadist propaganda stating that coalition troops were cowards unwilling to fight in close combat, further enhancing the element of surprise. Third, the strict discipline of the British troops overwhelmed the ability of the militia fighters to organize a cohesive counteraction.

The effects of this tactical action in Basra are not immediately applicable elsewhere, but an important dominant theme emerges regarding the need to avoid predictable patterns of behavior within restrictive rules of engagement. Commanders should keep adversaries off balance with creative feints and occasional shows of force lest they surrender the initiative to the enemy.

I. Overview of Bayonet Charge
On 21 May 2004, Mahdi militiamen engaged a convoy consisting of approximately 20 British troops from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders 55 miles north of Basra. A squad from the Princess of Wales regiment came to their assistance. What started as an attack on a passing convoy ended with at least 35 militiamen dead and just three British troops wounded. The militiamen engaged a force that had restrictive rules of engagement prior to the incident that prevented them from returning fire. What ensued was an example of irregular warfare by coalition troops that achieved a tactical victory over a numerically superior foe with considerable firepower.

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders are an infantry regiment of the British Army with a rich history. It is one of Scotland’s oldest fighting forces. It is best known for forming the legendry “thin red line” at the Battle of Balaklava in the Crimean War against Russia in 1854. It later fought with distinction in World War I and World War II, including intense jungle warfare in Malaya. After Iraq, it served in Afghanistan before returning home in 2008.


Country: United Kingdom
Branch: Army, 16th Air Assault Brigade
Type: One of six Scottish line infantry regiments
Role: Air assault-Light role
Motto: Nemo Me Impune Lacessit

No One Assails Me With Impunity

Atmosphere Preceding the Attack

After a period of relative calm, attacks escalated after coalition forces attempted to arrest Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. British soldiers in southern Iraq said they were “stunned” by the level of violence near Basra. In particular, Mahdi militiamen conducted regular ambushes on British convoys on the roads between Basra and Baghdad.Frequent, uncoordinated attacks inflicted little damage, although precise data is unavailable in open sources. Since the Scottish and Welsh troops arrived in Basra, Shiite militias averaged about five attacks per day in Basra.


The Bayonet Charge


The battle began when over 100 Mahdi army fighters ambushed two unarmored vehicles transporting around 20 Argylls on the isolated Route Six highway near the southern city of Amarah. Ensconced in trenches along the road, the militiamen fired mortars, rocket propelled grenades, and machine gun rounds. The vehicles stopped and British troops returned fire. The Mahdi barrage caused enough damage to force the troops to exit the vehicles.The soldiers quickly established a defensive perimeter and radioed for reinforcements from the main British base at Amarah – Camp Abu Naji. Reinforcements from the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment assisted the Argyles in an offensive operation against the Mahdi militiamen. When ammunition ran low among the British troops, the decision was made to fix bayonets for a direct assault.



The British soldiers charged across 600 feet of open ground toward enemy trenches. They engaged in intense hand-to-hand fighting with the militiamen. Despite being outnumbered and lacking ammunition, the Argylls and Princess of Wales troops routed the enemy. The British troops killed about 20 militiamen in the bayonet charge and between 28 and 35 overall. Only three British soldiers were injured.This incident marked the first time in 22 years that the British Army used bayonets in action. The previous incident occurred during the Falklands War in 1982.




II. Why the Bayonet Charge Was a Tactical Success

The bayonet charge by British troops in Basra achieved tactical success primarily because of psychological and cultural factors. It also shows that superior firepower does not guarantee success by either side. In this case, the value of surprise, countering enemy expectations, and strict troop discipline were three deciding characteristics of the bayonet charge.


Surprise as a Weapon


The Mahdi fighters likely expected the British convoy to continue past the attack. Previous convoys of British vehicles had driven through ambush fire. British military sources believe the militiamen miscalculated the response of the convoy and expected the Scots to flee.

• Although the raid is a well-honed tactic practiced by jihadist and Arab irregulars, the surprise raid has been an effective tool against Arab armies, both regular and irregular.


Irregular fighters usually are not trained in the rigid discipline that professional counterparts possess, and the surprise attack exploits this weakness.


Enemy Expectation that Coalition Troops Would Avoid Combat


Propaganda by Sunni and Shiite jihadists regularly advertised the perception that American and British soldiers were cowards. Similar rhetoric increased after the battles of Fallujah in April 2004, perhaps to steady the resolve of militia fighters in the face of aggressive coalition attacks.


In addition, British convoys did not engage significantly during previous ambushes, which probably validated the narrative for many Mahdi militiamen. Because many of the Mahdi fighters were teenagers, it is also likely that the Mahdi army used these ambushes for training and recruiting. The attacks were an opportunity for young fighters to use weapons in combat with little risk of serious reprisal.

• In short, the bayonet charge not only surprised the Mahdi militiamen, it also debunked the perception that coalition troops were reluctant fighters seeking to avoid conflict.



"I wanted to put the fear of God into the enemy. I could see some dead bodies and eight blokes, some scrambling for their weapons. I’ve never seen such a look of fear in anyone’s eyes before. I’m over six feet; I was covered in sweat, angry, red in the face, charging in

with a bayonet and screaming my head off. You would be scared, too."
Corporal Brian Wood
Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment



"There was a lot of aggression and a lot of hand-to-hand fighting. It wasn’t a pleasant scene. Some did get cut with the blades of the bayonet as we tumbled around, but in the end, they surrendered and were controlled. I do wonder how they regard life so cheaply.

Some of these Iraqis in those trenches were 15 years old – against trained soldiers."
Colonel Mark Byers

Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment
- Urban


Strict Discipline

A crucial distinction during the bayonet charge was the professional discipline of the British troops in contrast to the disunity and confusion of the militia fighters. Irregular militia often fight with passion and benefit from knowledge of the local terrain. Professional soldiers, however, formally trained in tactics and squad unity can often overcome these and other obstacles. During the bayonet charge, the soldiers rarely lost their nerve and not a single soldier lost his life.
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With a metal body, he'll be the best sniper ever, as long as he keeps it well oiled.
 
it's very courageous and patriotic of him


that being said i think it's completely and utterly retarded
 
It is daft. I don't really care if you only need one hand to fire a sniper rifle, if worst came to worst, and you would need to react, and move, he will be putting himself in jeopardy as well as become a liability for the rest of his team. He is brave to be going back in, but with a disability like that, its just plain idiotic.
 
"Some of these Iraqis in those trenches were 15 years old - against trained soldiers"

those are the worst kind!!!


also I'm somewhat disappointed a sniper rifle wasnt attached to any one of his three missing limbs ..the other two could be a hook and perhaps a corkscrew
 
He should attach some form of flamethrower attachment to his limb, throw some iron armor over himself, maybe attach some form of flying mechan...

Wait a minute..
 
If only he'd put that sort of dedication into something other than blowing out the brains of Afghans.
 
The Monkey said:
If only he'd put that sort of dedication into something other than blowing out the brains of Afghans.
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Indeed, a more accurate thread title might be "Deranged, injured mercenary determined to kill again"
 
Fair play but i don't think he is in a suitable state for combat and could potentially bring danger to his squadron.

The safety and efficiency of the armed forces comes before any sort of honour or heroics.
 
Solaris said:
Indeed, a more accurate thread title might be "Deranged, injured mercenary determined to kill again"
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i swear you change your mind regarding the war every other month

last i recall you were flying the flag for it, unless i'm mistaken
 
The sad thing is, they'll probably just replace his prosthetic legs with mops and keep him at some military base as a janitor.
 
There are some pretty amazing prosthetics available now. They cost an assload, but there are legs that got one guy within 3 seconds of Olympic qualifying time.
 
HAHA, typical gun loving white trash AMERICAN. First he goes to a war just so he can shoot people, but once he loses his leg he still wants to shoot people! typical wal-mart loving amer- OH ITS A BRITUSH PERSON DURP DURP DURP HE'S COOOOL
 
ZT said:
HAHA, typical gun loving white trash AMERICAN. First he goes to a war just so he can shoot people, but once he loses his leg he still wants to shoot people! typical wal-mart loving amer- OH ITS A BRITUSH PERSON DURP DURP DURP HE'S COOOOL
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*high five*


lol
 
Am I the only one who noticed Short Recoil just posted in this thread?
 
knut said:
i swear you change your mind regarding the war every other month

last i recall you were flying the flag for it, unless i'm mistaken
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Damn commies, can't even make up their own minds about a war.
 
If he loses another arm, can the insurgents say
.
.
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.
.
.
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He is been......... disarmed ?
 
this is how he will look when he is back to afganistan

robocop.jpg
 
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