First up:

by Spc. Teddy Wade May 5, 2006

Staff Sgt. Brad Smith, from 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, shoots at a suspicious object during a patrol along a main supply road near Tikrit, Iraq. Photo courtesy US Army.

In my day, we called this plinkin'...

Norfolk, Va. (May 10, 2006)Master-at-Arms 3rd Class Matthew Kaczynski, assigned to Inshore Boat Unit Four Two (IBU-42), mans his .50-caliber machine gun during a Naval Coastal Warfare Squadron Four (NCWS-4) demonstration at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek. The squadron's primary mission is conducting anti-terrorism and force protection in harbors and coastal waterways overseas. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 3rd Class Matthew D. Leistikow

Now, izzit is just me, or izzat a brand-spanking-shiny-new M60 on that there pintle? Dang, those Navy guys sure do have purty, and *clean* weapons...

by Master Sgt. Johancharles Van Boers May 11, 2006

A Soldier from the 25th Infantry Division takes aim at an “insurgent” during the battle for Gahr Albai and Millawa Valley, a war game scenario at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif. The Soldiers are honing their combat skills in preparation for a deployment to Iraq. Photo courtesy US Army.
CSA-2006-05-11-085023

Any of you small unit leaders out there think this guy is hitting anything farther than maybe 50 meters away with the boresight that MILES laser unit *appears* to have?

Now, this last one really started all my sensors. That said, I don't know what the Force Protection Level is at FOB Remagen, either. Info I would have were I deployed there, so I may be a little picky here.. Of course, first off, that's a vehicle that's aged a *lot* better than I have, of course, I'm a bit tougher to do a depot rebuild on, too. My father fielded M577 CP Carriers in his day. And here they're serving 6 years beyond my retirement, no real end in sight. Of course, that's nothing compared to B52s, or the M2HB... At least they've got new generators. He's got an oil basin under the final drive housing there, that's a plus. He's got fluids handy (I assume those are for him...). But, combat zone, no helmet, no flak vest, and while I understand no LBE at the moment, his weapon is *muzzle down* in the rocks, no plastic muzzle guard on it, even. He's got no magazine (again, might be their rules for on the FOB) but it also means, sans LBE, his ammo isn't handy, either, should he need it. Troops will often opt for comfort over safety, especially when the weather goes to extremes, and, in fact, leaders have to balance all of that against the need and the perceived threat, before you just go be a hardass about everything. All I know is - because I don't really know anything about the situation other than it's in Iraq, if I were a brand newby over there, I'd at least make the guy get his LBE (helmet, ammo and first aid pack because mortar/rocket frags *have* been known to cause severe bleeding, doncha know) so they were a lot more handy, and then trundled off to find out what the policy was, and the reality.

Whattaya you Fobbits and killers got to say, who've been there, or have good enough access to wait for the pics?