"Armed Action" Junglies in the Gulf

[lanky]

I just picked up this new book "Armed Action" a true story about a Lt Cdr Junglie flying a Lynx during the invasion of Iraq. Just finished the first couple of chapters and so far it looks good.

I thought you might be interested, especially as the author is still serving.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0755316010/?tag=armrumser-21

 

[theiftaker]

Read it, a very good read

 

[Spanish_Dave]

Me too, the airburst tank duel sounded bloody hard work and scarey, the best crew won though

 

[Spanish_Dave]

Me too, the airburst tank duel sounded bloody hard work and scarey, the best crew won though

 

[lanky]

I have just read the first half, one of the few books I would like to read in one sitting, but I need to get my head down.

 

[r.sole]

read it. Agree it was good.

However, the author has a annoying habit of making grand claims. For example, 'the most experienced helicopter unit ever to go anywhere' (ok I paraphrase a bit), but when I read that I thought 'have you checked out every AAC/RM/Crab SH sqn ever.....? Er no. There were quite a few of these statements which nearly made me sling the book out the window early on.

Having said all that, it was a very good read, and I got through it in about three days. For all of us cold war warriors, it gave a huge insight into what it's like trying to hit stuff with TOW when rounds are coming down the range at you.

 

[theiftaker]

read it. Agree it was good.

However, the author has a annoying habit of making grand claims. For example, 'the most experienced helicopter unit ever to go anywhere' (ok I paraphrase a bit), but when I read that I thought 'have you checked out every AAC/RM/Crab SH sqn ever.....? Er no. There were quite a few of these statements which nearly made me sling the book out the window early on.

Having said all that, it was a very good read, and I got through it in about three days. For all of us cold war warriors, it gave a huge insight into what it's like trying to hit stuff with TOW when rounds are coming down the range at you.[/quote]

And their failure rate

 

[r.sole]

Agreed.

Comment was more aimed at what the pressure that the bloke was under than the kit....guess if the thing misfires or goes rogue on you that adds to the pressure!

 

[Dimples]

just got a copy - looks good

 

[Rainbow-Warrior]

can anyone enlighten me whether the VP quoted in the book is Kosher? As a trained Inf signaller I was amazed to read that the QDG used a callsign "Dobbin" instead of the usual N21A type that are used across the battlegroup.

 

[Trahere]

As an ex AAC signaller I had never heard of c/s Dobbin either. Bear in mind though, that although 847 NAS works in support of 3 Cdo, they are a RN asset and this could be a peculiarity they have. Perhaps a question for Rum Ration?

 

[TheSpecialOne]

In Bosnia I spoke to a Sea King from 847 NAS during an emergency casevac - although he called himself "Junglie 1" all our callsigns were from the battlegroup CEI based on the callsign card, eg:

"Hello Junglie 1, this is H21C, over."

We had Light Dragoons on our net and none of them had strange psuedo Top Gun call signs

 

[Junglynx]

Callsigns are increasingly air traffic orientated.

Trying to get my unit integrated into the battalion cs matrix in Telic was a nightmare, they wanted us to remain distinct so the guys on the ground didn't have too much to think about, they just had to call for a standard callsign.

 

[sigs-rule]

the sea king was more likely 845 sqn.

847 are gaz and lynx.

 

[Junglynx]

845/846 = Sea King

847 = Lynx only nowadays

 

[timex]

However, the author has a annoying habit of making grand claims. For example, 'the most experienced helicopter unit ever to go anywhere' (ok I paraphrase a bit), but when I read that I thought 'have you checked out every AAC/RM/Crab SH sqn ever.....? Er no. There were quite a few of these statements which nearly made me sling the book out the window early on.

The point Jim was trying to make was that if you looked at the people flying on 847 at the time he "thought" that 847 was the most experienced at that time in that role. May be right may be wrong?

can anyone enlighten me whether the VP quoted in the book is Kosher? As a trained Inf signaller I was amazed to read that the QDG used a callsign "Dobbin" instead of the usual N21A type that are used across the battlegroup.

Yep it was "kosher", it all makes for clarity on a very busy net. We know who you are and vice versa, we used callsigns such as Havoc. For what its worth the QDG (Dobbin) were awesome.

Having said all that, it was a very good read, and I got through it in about three days. For all of us cold war warriors, it gave a huge insight into what it's like trying to hit stuff with TOW when rounds are coming down the range at you.

The TOW actually worked as advertised, we all expected the real missile to be OK. Yanks have nowhere near as many probs as we did (because they used live and fired off stock as newer stuff came in)!


Shaun