Category Archives: Military

The things we take for granted…

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Sepia Mutiny’s favorite soldier, Lt Neil Prakash (aka Red Six), gives us a glimpse of the mind / heart / soul of a soldier thousands of miles from home –

2 things that break my heart: 1) SSG Terry promised his little 3 year old angel, Josephine, that he would be home for her birthday. So everyday when she wakes up at home now, she asks her mother, “Is it my birthday, today?” 2) Whenever I call my fiancee, I have to cut her off with “Baby, my 30 minutes are up.” I had no idea that she is on the other end, repeating to herself, Don’t say it. Don’t say it. Don’t say it. Someday, I won’t have to, Laura. But not anytime soon. Because you’ll be saying that to me when you come here. So I guess, “Now the rubberband is on the other claw!” to quote Dr. Zoidberg.

Good luck and Godspeed LT & Crew. If ever a group of men so richly deserved a simple hug & pat on the back, it’s you.

[Neil’s Blog, Previous SM Coverage here & his Silver Star] Continue reading →

‘The Little Tank That Could’

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The Harvard controversy on whether women’s technical aptitudes are innate:

… [The Harvard president’s] young daughter, when given toy trucks, had treated them as dolls, naming them “Daddy truck” and “baby truck.” But critics dryly observed that men had a longstanding tradition of naming their vehicles, and babying them as though they were humans.

Lt. Neil Prakash:

You can’t beat ol’ Blinkey for armored protection.

I call my baby, Blinkey, ever since she got one of her headlights blown off in Baqubah by an RPG. The RPG had ripped open that little corner of the hull and exposed the depleted uranium armor. She’s taken so much battle-damage that we’re being told she will never return to duty after this deployment… Supposedly, she will be coded out, ripped apart and studied at a lab. If that’s true, that breaks my crew’s hearts. She has taken a pounding and kept her crew alive. She should be bronzed and placed on a concrete slab at Ft. Knox for everyone to see.

For gallantry in action

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Lt. Neil Prakash was just awarded a Silver Star for leading his platoon through a horrific explosive gauntlet to victory against 60 Iraqi rebels.

Well done, soldier.

It took the crew about one hour to fight their way through the next one kilometer stretch of road. Official battle reports count 23 IEDs and 20-25 RPG teams in that short distance, as well as multiple machine-gun nests, and enemy dismounts armed with small arms and hand grenades.

… enemy dismounts were attempting to throw hand grenades into the tank’s open hatches… Prakash’s tank took the brunt of the attack, sustaining blasts from multiple IEDs and at least seven standard and armor piercing RPGs… One round blew the navigation system completely off of the vehicle, while another well-aimed blast disabled his turret…

By battle’s end, the platoon was responsible for 25 confirmed destroyed enemy and an estimated 50 to 60 additional destroyed enemy personnel. Prakash was personally credited with the destruction of eight enemy strong-points, one enemy re-supply vehicle, and multiple enemy dismounts…

“He’s a pleasure to command because he doesn’t require very much direction. He uses his own judgment and he’s simply an outstanding young lieutenant…” Although born in India and maintaining strong ties to the Indian community, Prakash was raised in Syracuse, New York, in what he called a very patriotic American household.

Previous posts: 1, 2, 3

Makin’ coffee

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Lt. Neil Prakash tells us how the military makes coffee:

Mr. Abrams the coffee maker… slip the lid into the back grill of the exhaust. Then set your canteen cup for about 2 minutes. Let the 900 degree exhaust of your jet engine heat that puppy up and BAM – hot water for shaving, Ramen noodles, coffee…

There’s a certain combination of brute force and delicacy here that I find very appealing 🙂

I’m not a soldier, I just play one on TV

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StrategyPage reports on the antics of a Indian soldier / Bollywood wannabees –

December 1, 2004: Twice this year, Indian soldiers have tried to use staged photographs, of non-existent fire fights, to win notoriety, medals and promotions. In the latest incident, a colonel commanding troops against tribal separatists in northwest India used civilians, pretending to be dead, and touched up with tomato sauce, to produce photos of the colonels brilliant combat leadership. The colonel was found out, court martialled and expelled from the army. The major who assisted him was suspended from the army for five years. Last May, some soldiers operating high on the Siachen glacier in the northwest, tried a similar stunt. They were also found out and punished. It is thought that similar attempts may have succeeded elsewhere, so the army is double checking past awards for bravery and outstanding performance in combat. This sort of thing is nothing new, and has been happening before the camera was invented. Especially in wars against irregulars, as India is fighting in its northeast and northwest, the temptation is always there.

Sheesh. Continue reading →