I'm not sure when they started, but it looks like they've moved to a "Battalion Tactical Group" structure that pushes combat assets like arty, Sappers, and ADA down to the battalion level. Sort of like a small BCT. Honestly, I'm not sure what the advantage is supposed to be for that in a conventional conflict. It could work if you have highly maneuverable forces that are extremely well trained and within quick resupply. Could. Because even then you're risking operational coordination, flanks, and lines of communication. In an asymmetrical fight, I can see the appeal. But again, you need very dedicated professionals in your military to make it work. Using conscripts, with an already weak NCO structure, is just begging for disaster against any semi-competent defense.
Ukraine
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Last: 2 yr ago by Red1
If an American wanted to volunteer in Ukraine, could he/she get there, probably through Warsaw? Could they bring any arms and ammo with them?
micahb2002 said:
If an American wanted to volunteer in Ukraine, could he/she get there, probably through Warsaw? Could they bring any arms and ammo with them?
There was supposedly a group of American and British SOF vets that were heading over. A tweet about it was posted a while back. They might could answer some questions. May even take a combat vet on with them.
Edit to say that the tweet was on one of the F16 threads.
Ukraine seems more capable and competent than anyone expected in this. Let's hope that's true in the long run.
chickencoupe16 said:micahb2002 said:
If an American wanted to volunteer in Ukraine, could he/she get there, probably through Warsaw? Could they bring any arms and ammo with them?
There was supposedly a group of American and British SOF vets that were heading over. A tweet about it was posted a while back. They might could answer some questions. May even take a combat vet on with them.
Edit to say that the tweet was on one of the F16 threads.
Found it.
Haha, thank god. I went back to look and was striking out hard. Maybe the wrong thread to start with. Googling the matter returns a lot of hits too, including this one:micahb2002 said:chickencoupe16 said:micahb2002 said:
If an American wanted to volunteer in Ukraine, could he/she get there, probably through Warsaw? Could they bring any arms and ammo with them?
There was supposedly a group of American and British SOF vets that were heading over. A tweet about it was posted a while back. They might could answer some questions. May even take a combat vet on with them.
Edit to say that the tweet was on one of the F16 threads.
Found it.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister invites foreign nationals to join the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine 🇺🇦 https://t.co/JVOjKuuMXW
— Ukraine / Україна (@Ukraine) February 27, 2022
May be worth it to hit up the nearest Ukrainian embassy/consulate.
Reddit may be of some help too: https://www.reddit.com/r/VolunteersforUkraine/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share.
Most of those BTGs, to my memory, were showing up in the DonBas area, and involved that portion of the Russian army that is actually well trained, equipped, and led. (They've got roughly two divisions worth of that type troops, IIRC.)
And even the U.S. Army is backing away, at least somewhat, on the BCT organization and moving some things back to the old divisional structure. The BCT structure was created for the COIN/LIC environment of the GWOT, especially to support ongoing rotational deployments.
In a fight like we're seeing in Ukraine, I'd take the old divisional structure. But that might be because I'm old.
And even the U.S. Army is backing away, at least somewhat, on the BCT organization and moving some things back to the old divisional structure. The BCT structure was created for the COIN/LIC environment of the GWOT, especially to support ongoing rotational deployments.
In a fight like we're seeing in Ukraine, I'd take the old divisional structure. But that might be because I'm old.
micahb2002 said:
If an American wanted to volunteer in Ukraine, could he/she get there, probably through Warsaw? Could they bring any arms and ammo with them?
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/christopherm51/american-nato-military-veterans-fight-russia-with-ukraine
I see a big difference between the Russian battalion centered BTG's and our brigade centered BCT's. I think at the battalion level you are just creating another level of middle management for logistics that is not necessary and adds confusion to the situation. It also dilutes your fires capabilities by dividing them so small. With brigade level control you can still concentrate fires to support a central advance while also being able to respond to divisional needs if they want to combine BCT fires for a division level advance.
The reality is we aren't even seeing cohesive battalion level operations from the Russians. They seem to have no concept of movement to contact, bounding overwatch, or basic battle drills. Everything is drive down the road till they are ambushed and then fight our way out. No infantry supporting armor, unit's taking a single hit and running or abandoning vehicles and surrendering. The number of vehicles just left because they slid off the side of the road or got stuck in the mud is surprising. These are simple platoon level self recovery drills in the US Army. All that and the Russians still haven't really gotten into heavy urban fighting.
The reality is we aren't even seeing cohesive battalion level operations from the Russians. They seem to have no concept of movement to contact, bounding overwatch, or basic battle drills. Everything is drive down the road till they are ambushed and then fight our way out. No infantry supporting armor, unit's taking a single hit and running or abandoning vehicles and surrendering. The number of vehicles just left because they slid off the side of the road or got stuck in the mud is surprising. These are simple platoon level self recovery drills in the US Army. All that and the Russians still haven't really gotten into heavy urban fighting.
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The S2 Underground continues to provide good overview of the tactical situation around the country as well as discussing some of the strategic level decisions being made across the EU.
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CT'97 said:
I see a big difference between the Russian battalion centered BTG's and our brigade centered BCT's. I think at the battalion level you are just creating another level of middle management for logistics that is not necessary and adds confusion to the situation. It also dilutes your fires capabilities by dividing them so small. With brigade level control you can still concentrate fires to support a central advance while also being able to respond to divisional needs if they want to combine BCT fires for a division level advance.
The reality is we aren't even seeing cohesive battalion level operations from the Russians. They seem to have no concept of movement to contact, bounding overwatch, or basic battle drills. Everything is drive down the road till they are ambushed and then fight our way out. No infantry supporting armor, unit's taking a single hit and running or abandoning vehicles and surrendering. The number of vehicles just left because they slid off the side of the road or got stuck in the mud is surprising. These are simple platoon level self recovery drills in the US Army. All that and the Russians still haven't really gotten into heavy urban fighting.
If you ever get a chance, check out "The Bear Went Over the Mountain." It's AARs from operations in the Soviet-Afghan War. Their company-level tactics were just abysmal, and it looks like nothing has changed.
I also agree with the critiques of BTGs. Even with trained, professional units it limits the effectiveness of fires and logistics. Funny enough, early Army of the Potomac brigades had fires at their level and it caused massive inefficiencies. It took Hooker and Meade to create a sustainable artillery structure for the army that worked extremely well at Gettysburg and beyond.
Do the Russians not have a guy in the rear anymore to shoot anyone who retreats?
I have read The Bear Went Over the Mountain and The Other Side of the Mountain. Seems the Russians haven't read it recently despite it coming from their own review of Afghanistan. They seem to be making a lot of the same mistakes.
On a lighter note, I enjoyed this video.
On a lighter note, I enjoyed this video.
Texas A&M - 148 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress.
Institute for the Study of War, Russia Team is doing a good job of consolidating information and putting it out in a concise briefing document.
https://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/Ukraine%20Conflict%20Update%2013.pdf
Things that stood out to me.
1) KIA: Russians claiming ~500 while US intel is saying ~5800. Probably somewhere in between but closer to the US number. To put that in perspective in 9 years in Afghanistan the Russians claimed to have lost 15,000 with some external estimates as has high as 26,000. If the high end numbers are correct and the Russians have lost 20+% of what what they lost in Afghanistan in 9 years you have to think the pressure at home will be significant on Putin.
The reports of from Belorus hospitals are significant and confirm a total lack of preparation for extended fighting. Apparently the Russian soldiers are having to drive their wounded back on anything that will run and going to the closest civilian hospital with no direction. The stories from the hospitals are horrible and they are completely overwhelmed. Many more will die waiting for treatment or never getting any at all.
2) In the east the Russians can not capture key terrain of the major cities and control those roads. Their advancement is through the county side between these cities on small roads not designed to traffic 65ton tanks and heavy trucks. This is slowing them down but not stopping them.
https://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/Ukraine%20Conflict%20Update%2013.pdf
Things that stood out to me.
1) KIA: Russians claiming ~500 while US intel is saying ~5800. Probably somewhere in between but closer to the US number. To put that in perspective in 9 years in Afghanistan the Russians claimed to have lost 15,000 with some external estimates as has high as 26,000. If the high end numbers are correct and the Russians have lost 20+% of what what they lost in Afghanistan in 9 years you have to think the pressure at home will be significant on Putin.
The reports of from Belorus hospitals are significant and confirm a total lack of preparation for extended fighting. Apparently the Russian soldiers are having to drive their wounded back on anything that will run and going to the closest civilian hospital with no direction. The stories from the hospitals are horrible and they are completely overwhelmed. Many more will die waiting for treatment or never getting any at all.
2) In the east the Russians can not capture key terrain of the major cities and control those roads. Their advancement is through the county side between these cities on small roads not designed to traffic 65ton tanks and heavy trucks. This is slowing them down but not stopping them.
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Russian soldiers who refuse to fight and are demanding to be taken home.
https://twitter.com/mdmitri91/status/1499355164314120195/photo/1
*edit* this photo is the supposed translation.
русская армия pic.twitter.com/qRpchZVZOa
— IgorGirkin (@GirkinGirkin) March 3, 2022
https://twitter.com/mdmitri91/status/1499355164314120195/photo/1
*edit* this photo is the supposed translation.
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USAF feeding Ukraine ISR data: TACTICS
I'm completely shocked right now at the Russian performance and status of their military.
bigtruckguy3500 said:
I'm completely shocked right now at the Russian performance and status of their military.
It's time for Ukraine to head eastward and become the largest country in Eurasia.
Just a reminder, don't design your MBT with ammo stored just under the turret ring.
this has to be some kind of record pic.twitter.com/wEUifNmQ3h
— matthew. (@iAmTheWarax) March 4, 2022
On second thought, I think the media isn't showing the complete picture. I think the Russians are having a harder time than they expected, but I think there's a lot of fake news out there that's terribly distorting what's actually happening on the ground as a whole. Likely the opposite of what's happening in Russia, still fake news, but opposite end of distortion. Truth probably somewhere in the middle.bigtruckguy3500 said:
I'm completely shocked right now at the Russian performance and status of their military.
bigtruckguy3500 said:On second thought, I think the media isn't showing the complete picture. I think the Russians are having a harder time than they expected, but I think there's a lot of fake news out there that's terribly distorting what's actually happening on the ground as a whole. Likely the opposite of what's happening in Russia, still fake news, but opposite end of distortion. Truth probably somewhere in the middle.bigtruckguy3500 said:
I'm completely shocked right now at the Russian performance and status of their military.
There's always issues with the fog of war and unreliable information. But the basic fact is that the Russian military has completely **** the bed so far. The only significant progress is happening in the South, and even that looks significantly slower than what had been expected. I expect we'll see the level of atrocities towards civilians start to go ever higher.
edit to remove
I think we are seeing a lot from the Ukrainian perspective because that's what's making it out to us. That is slowing going away as connectivity in the country is being cut off. I think a lot of abandoned vehicles are Russian doctrine to leave vehicles and simply move on and allow recovery teams to come alone behind. That works on a traditional battlefield but with a dynamic battlefield with in insurgent force it's not a good plan. The Ukrainians would do themselves a favor by burning all those vehicles they find.
I think the Russian Air Force is in worse shape than we thought and are simply unable to run SAED operations. While they have a lot of very capable air craft their ability to plan and execute large scale air operations just haven't been practiced and so aren't functioning on the level we expect from a near peer nation. The Ukrainians also still have a lot of medium and short range SAMs that are causing troubles for the Russians.
Ultimately the Russians expected the Ukrainians to be done fighting on the 3rd day and didn't plan to utilize many of their first tier units. This is partly due to doctrine to use marginal units to find and fix an enemy then allow top tier units attack and destroy them.
The Russians are learning and bringing in more forces. I think the only way this ends short of Putin being removed from power is a long drawn out military campaign followed by a very bloody insurgency. With Russian speaking portions of Ukraine supporting that I don't see it ending well for the Russians but that could take a decade to happen, possibly Putin dying from old age.
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Tweet from Marco Rubio is ominous and suggest change in the north.
For those not aware, Rubio is the ranking republican on the Senate Intel Com. He has clearly made the decision that projecting as much information as possible is a good strategy because it seems at times he's live tweeting from the briefings themselves. From some of the information coming out we have very deep intel sources in the Kremlin and Russian command structure.
For those not aware, Rubio is the ranking republican on the Senate Intel Com. He has clearly made the decision that projecting as much information as possible is a good strategy because it seems at times he's live tweeting from the briefings themselves. From some of the information coming out we have very deep intel sources in the Kremlin and Russian command structure.
Something changed for the Russian forces North & NW of #Kyiv over the last 12 hours
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 5, 2022
Whatever it is, it was not for the better
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In the newly occupied towns of Melitopol and Kherson, in southern Ukraine, the civilians aren't too happy.
The guy in the red pants either has ice in his veins or drank a bottle of vodka this morning because he doesn't flinch when they are firing live rounds over his head.
The Russian occupied city of Kherson. Large scale protests. A protestor climbs on top of a moving BTR and waves the Ukraine flag. pic.twitter.com/lcEAuqSX4m
— Alexander S. Vindman (@AVindman) March 5, 2022
Fuck off from our home! https://t.co/W4OCCgMGme
— olexander scherba🇺🇦 (@olex_scherba) March 5, 2022
The guy in the red pants either has ice in his veins or drank a bottle of vodka this morning because he doesn't flinch when they are firing live rounds over his head.
Texas A&M - 148 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress.
The Institute of the Study of War keeps a good overall picture map.
That dotted area between Chernihiv and Sumy in the north east is actually two long roads with Russians along them. They don't control that territory, just the roads they are driving on. Those that dealt with long MSR's through uncontrolled territory in Iraq and Afghanistan know just how vulnerable they can be.
The #Russian military has concentrated considerable combat power around Mariupol, #Ukraine, to encircle and ultimately seize or destroy it. Read the latest conflict update from @TheStudyofWar and @criticalthreats https://t.co/eeOyRlHWsI pic.twitter.com/EYaO8kK63p
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) March 5, 2022
That dotted area between Chernihiv and Sumy in the north east is actually two long roads with Russians along them. They don't control that territory, just the roads they are driving on. Those that dealt with long MSR's through uncontrolled territory in Iraq and Afghanistan know just how vulnerable they can be.
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The Russian air force obviously made a push today and it resulted in a lot of reported losses showing up on social media. The best running list I can come up with is 9 or 10 air craft shot down and 4 pilots captured.
1x Su-30SM multirole aircraft (pictured) - 2 Su-34 strike aircraft - 2 Su-25 close air support aircraft - 2 Mi-24/35 attack helicopters - 1 Mi-8 transport helicopter - 1 Orlan-10 UAV.
If that's what was shot down I would think a lot more made it to targets.
In the bigger picture that's approximately $225 Million US dollars worth of air craft destroyed in 24 hours.
Begs the question, how long can Putin fund this war?
1x Su-30SM multirole aircraft (pictured) - 2 Su-34 strike aircraft - 2 Su-25 close air support aircraft - 2 Mi-24/35 attack helicopters - 1 Mi-8 transport helicopter - 1 Orlan-10 UAV.
Russian Air Force losses over #Ukraine in the past 26 hours:
— Oryx (@oryxspioenkop) March 5, 2022
- 1x Su-30SM multirole aircraft (pictured)
- 1 Su-34 strike aircraft
- 2 Su-25 close air support aircraft
- 2 Mi-24/35 attack helicopters
- 1 Mi-8 transport helicopter
- 1 Orlan-10 UAV pic.twitter.com/3g2IQflNEL
Russian aircraft allegedly shot down near Mykolaiv city, Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/5N430fBYn6
— CaucasusWarReport (@Caucasuswar) March 5, 2022
Russian Mi-24 shot down by Ukrainian forces. Footage most likely from some sort of quadcopter drone.pic.twitter.com/C2B6lmVwMX
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 5, 2022
If that's what was shot down I would think a lot more made it to targets.
In the bigger picture that's approximately $225 Million US dollars worth of air craft destroyed in 24 hours.
Begs the question, how long can Putin fund this war?
Texas A&M - 148 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress.
I took this to mean that it wasn't for the better of Russian troops. Could definitely be the other way, but that was my first impression.CT'97 said:
Tweet from Marco Rubio is ominous and suggest change in the north.
For those not aware, Rubio is the ranking republican on the Senate Intel Com. He has clearly made the decision that projecting as much information as possible is a good strategy because it seems at times he's live tweeting from the briefings themselves. From some of the information coming out we have very deep intel sources in the Kremlin and Russian command structure.Something changed for the Russian forces North & NW of #Kyiv over the last 12 hours
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 5, 2022
Whatever it is, it was not for the better
That was my impression as well.chickencoupe16 said:I took this to mean that it wasn't for the better of Russian troops. Could definitely be the other way, but that was my first impression.CT'97 said:
Tweet from Marco Rubio is ominous and suggest change in the north.
For those not aware, Rubio is the ranking republican on the Senate Intel Com. He has clearly made the decision that projecting as much information as possible is a good strategy because it seems at times he's live tweeting from the briefings themselves. From some of the information coming out we have very deep intel sources in the Kremlin and Russian command structure.Something changed for the Russian forces North & NW of #Kyiv over the last 12 hours
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 5, 2022
Whatever it is, it was not for the better
Texas A&M - 148 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress.
When I said the Russians were starting to take rear area security a bit more seriously this is not what I had in mind pic.twitter.com/tpVo6JR5BH
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 5, 2022
Russians building "hillbilly armor" akin to what we did with our humvee's in the first years of Iraq, but different...
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Complete destruction as a Russian artillery unit was wiped off by Ukrainian forces near Mykolaiv, Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/ZdiSgDaCkM
— CaucasusWarReport (@Caucasuswar) March 6, 2022
This is why towed artillery is going away. It appears a counter battery round landed at the ammo point. Looking at the trees in the vicinity the explosion had to be massive.
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Looks somebody didn't do enough survivability moves during training.
Or not at all.JABQ04 said:
Looks somebody didn't do enough survivability moves during training.
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