Enterprising Soldier Trades for Toyota Technical AA Gun
It's a real shame that we sometimes send our military into harm's way without the proper equipment. But, it is good to know that we have resourceful soldiers who find a way to complete their mission regardless of what they are handed. :salute:
Quote:
Al Lami was one of the soldiers with 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment who landed at the Kabul airport early on during the evacuation efforts and immediately set about establishing security — which is a euphemistic way of saying that they did a lot of grunt work setting up and then manning guard posts and bolstering those defenses. And those defensive measures were crucial. On the other side of the airport’s walls, armed Taliban fighters operated openly, at times within 30 meters of U.S. troops, if not far closer.
Because the mission’s urgency required that the soldiers deploy quickly, and in enough force to secure the area, that left little room on transport aircraft for heavier equipment, like gun trucks. Though often used for mounted patrols or convoy operations, vehicles like MRAPs and M-ATVs can function as a static defense — a fighting position — and serve as both a visual deterrent and provide fire support in case of an attack.
“We just had our basic weapons, we didn’t have any heavy machine guns, any gun trucks or anything,” said Al Lami previously told Task & Purpose.
That said, soldiers are nothing if not resourceful, and they can make due in most any situation. When they noticed that a group of Afghan troops were preparing to leave — and abandon their Afghan National Army Toyota Land Cruiser, along with its Russian-made 14.5mm ZPU-2 anti-aircraft gun — they decided to make a deal.
“There were two guys standing by the truck, and we asked them if they had the keys,” Al Lami said. “They were like, ‘Yeah we do have the keys.’ And they gave us the keys for two cans of dip.”
[snip]
As the evacuation drew down, the Toyota technical was loaded into a U.S. transport plane and shipped to Kuwait where it’s awaiting final approval to be brought back to the U.S. and showcased at the 82nd Airborne Division War Memorial and Museum.
There is a lot more cool stuff to read in THIS ARTICLE such as his promotion by a 4 star.
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