Jump to content

REMEMBER RIO HATO Panama 1989


BIGGREG
 Share

Recommended Posts

I think that you are reffering to Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada...the drop of the reserves happened there. :lol:

 

I don't know if the 82nd in Panama before the drop did that :rolleyes:

 

 

We didn't jump into Grenada but AIR LANDED on the afternoon of 25 OCT 83. Seems that MG Trobaugh wanted to wait until he had the ENTIRE DIVISION on the ground before anyone started moving out towards their objectives.

 

Needless to say that while we were in the air we must have changed out our gear AT LEAST 10 times because the BRASS couldn't decide if we were going TO JUMP IN or FLY IN, plus at the time the Rangers were still fighting to secure the airfield so the LZ was "HOT" as we say....

 

The ENTIRE OP was "FUBAR" from the time we left Ft. Bragg. Especially since we lost Mike Ritz and Gary Epps. :crying:

 

Adam

B 2/325 AIR

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Buffalo Grunt

Pascal .. The reason that units such as the 75th Infantry are elite are the men that serve and the training that they go through .. they train every day, as if it was the real deal .. Training and Discipline are key components to an elite unit and your statement that training goes out the window when a unit is in a combat situation can't be farther from the truth .. They rely on that training to kick in and for them to do what needs to be done.

 

I only replied to this thread because these guys did a great impression and I wanted to give them some insight on how to make it a little better .. In a combat situation rolled up sleeves would not have been tolerated .. camo would have been applied to the face, neck, ears, and back of the hands. You'd occasionally see guys rolling up their sleeves a few turns, but as I stated earlier, your squad leader or someone would most likely square you away.

 

Again, you that did the impression really looked the part .. great attention to detail with the uniforms and equipment (TOE) Keep up the enthusiasm.

 

My very best to all ..

:thumbsup:

 

"In the field" does not equal "In operations" I'm afraid.

A band that rehearses in a garage does not behave as a band on stage does.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pascal .. The reason that units such as the 75th Infantry are elite are the men that serve and the training that they go through .. they train every day, as if it was the real deal .. Training and Discipline are key components to an elite unit and your statement that training goes out the window when a unit is in a combat situation can't be farther from the truth .. They rely on that training to kick in and for them to do what needs to be done.

 

I only replied to this thread because these guys did a great impression and I wanted to give them some insight on how to make it a little better .. In a combat situation rolled up sleeves would not have been tolerated .. camo would have been applied to the face, neck, ears, and back of the hands. You'd occasionally see guys rolling up their sleeves a few turns, but as I stated earlier, your squad leader or someone would most likely square you away.

 

Again, you that did the impression really looked the part .. great attention to detail with the uniforms and equipment (TOE) Keep up the enthusiasm.

 

My very best to all ..

:thumbsup:

 

Dear Buffalo Grunt

 

First of all i would like to thank you for your Service

Secondly i would like to thank you for your comments that i always take as positive to improve the look that we have.. I know about the sleeves and I will make William do at least 25 for that...LOL...

Pascal.. I also would like to thank you for your comments and for the "horse" you lend us...the impression was also even better thanks to that and to you..

The goal of REMEMBER is always to be historically accurate all the time but also there are two other things:

1. Remembering the Veterans and what they did..

2. Starting interesting discussion about a subject that will improve the knowledge of everyone here on this forum.

 

Big Greg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, great, great job!

I have two questions: why didn't you wear stripes of white engineer tape on your left arm? I know a very few pictures of Rangers during Op. Just Cause, but in almost all the others portraying regular Army or USMC personnel they seem to wear it (as a mean of recognition); it's true that they were all bunched up toghether in Panama City while the Rangers were by themselves, but I guessed they worn them anyhow.

I read and saw some pictures of a supposedly "Ranger style" to put camouflage cream on the face, not making irregular spots, but orizontal regular stripes; is it true? If so, why didn't you do that that way?

Thank you! All the rest it's just amazing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

we did what Ted told us...

 

No armbands

and for the camo the RANGERs need to do a specific pattern that you can see on Me and on William on Marc and Manu

 

well.. the pattern is on the face of the guy(Will) with all the complete parachute equipment if you spot him look for the others... :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

flashesandovals

Hi Donald,

 

My apologies for not getting back to you earlier...I am not "on" (the forum) every day...

No, I am not a US Army veteran, nor have I had the priviledge to serve with the United States Military at all.

However, I served with the equivalent of the 75th, as a Squad Leader, Platoon Sergeant and finally as a Platoon Leader with 3rd Para-Commando Battalion, Belgian Army.

I participated in operations in Somalia 1993 (In fact, I was IN Somalia when the Rangers died) and also during the Rwandan massacre in 1994 when we performed a NEO on Kigali. (prepared for a jump, but executed a TALO instead)

Our structure, TOE and missions were similar to the 75th at that time. We even had exchanges during joint exercises with both the 1/75 and 3/75 in 1992/1993 in order to optimize operational relationships between our two organizations.

There is a special bond between all paratroopers worldwide, and I am talking about units on jump status, not the 5-jump holidays anyone attends.

Living the life of a paratrooper is what creates that bond, not just the fact that one jumped out of an airplane.

Becoming a parachutist is the easy part, staying in, and living the life is what makes it tough.

I am not saying that discipline goes out of the window when in operations at all. I am just trying to point out that being a leader in any organization (elite or else) allows you (and forces) you to make decisions on the spot. If that means that you think it is good to allow your troops to deviate from certain standards in certain circumstances, it is your call.

In this particular case it is clear that the guys would have rolled their sleeves down prior to the jump. In fact, no one would even have had to tell them - that is what discipline is all about.

It is training that makes sure that certain actions during operations "survive" as automatisms.

There are plenty of pictures and film from all modern conflicts to prove that even the United States Military soldiers happen to appear out of uniform when deployed.

A san example I will try to dig out a picture that was published in the book "D-Day in Grenada" which was on sale in the 82nd ABN Museum showing an 82nd trooper with his sleeves rolled up half way between wrist and elbow...

I don't know if you have seen "Restrepo", but it gives you an accurate image of what uniform standards represent in operations.

 

And one last thing before this becomes a book - the guys did a great job representing the Rio Hato Operation under the guidance of a retired US Army 75th Ranger Regiment NCO.

 

I myself, am not into reeancting but I have been collecting US Army uniforms, insignia and equipment from 1945-1995 since 1976.

 

Hope this answers your questions.

 

Good night,

 

Pascal

 

Are you a US Army Veteran? If so, when did you serve and with what unit/units.

 

No, I never served with the 75th Infantry Regiment ..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

we did what Ted told us...

 

No armbands

and for the camo the RANGERs need to do a specific pattern that you can see on Me and on William on Marc and Manu

 

well.. the pattern is on the face of the guy(Will) with all the complete parachute equipment if you spot him look for the others... :lol:

 

Thank you! So the Ranger-face-camo-style it's not just a rumor...

As for the armbands, I am just curious to know if they were actually worn by the Rangers or not :think:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

flashesandovals
Being in the 7th ID (L) during this era, I'll have to disagree with you ... SOP is SOP and when you're in a unit like the 75th Infantry, etc. they don't look the other way when it comes to this .. especially dress and equipment codes .. you'd simply unbutton your sleeves .. there would be no rolling up of sleeves .. believe me when I tell you this. that's not to say it didnt happen from time to time on an individual basis, but that individual would be "squared away" by his squad leader or PSG ...

I owe you a few pictures...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...