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[Phase4 - Company Training]

Phase4 - Company Training

In the final phase we did various drills together as a company before being deployed to different regions in the country. The drivers had to master various driving formations and parking drills in contact[war] situations - interesting drill was keeping a formation of Ratels` refs the same; in took good communications to achieve this; by doing so the enemy, when not seeing the Ratels, could not work out how many vehicles there was. The gunners did their normal firing drills - something new was the "fire and move" drill done by vehicles only, with the troops remaing inside; and crossing little "koppies"[hills] - one vehicle went out in front, when it was sure it was safe, the others followed. The troops went through their normal drills, only difference, the had to synchronize it with troops from other platoons. In this phase everything came together.

As we were well trained by now, it did not take us long to master the drills. After a few weeks we were deployed to Rooi Kop[61 Meg], a few miles from Walvis Bay. We flew with a Hercules plane - an aircraft mostly used to deliver post and parcels. I thought Upington was dry, but this place was just sand ... lots of it ... dunes of it - the most famous Dune 7. I have never seen such a lot of armoured vehicles in one place; mostly Ratels and some tanks[Elephant tanks]. The majority had been damaged in the SWA/Angolan war - they were in bad shape. We had to take working parts from all over and put together "workable" vehicles. The drivers and tiffies checked the engines[V-10`s] while the gunners sorted out the cannons. Inspections was a nightmare in this place due to the sandstorms !

Some days we did manoeuvres in the desert while other days we stood gaurd at an Intelligence compound somewhere between there and nowhere. The structure looked like a dune from the outside and stretched a few levels underground - from above it looked like desert. Two troops were stationed at the gate with two troops at the entrance to the compound, searching people that entered and monitoring two or three cameras - till today I have no idea what went on inside. This went on for about a month and a half.

From there we were deployed back in S-Africa - Durban mud areas[Umlazi/Kwamakuta and Kwamashu] in a base called Group 10. We swapped the Ratels for Caspirs[troop carrier with 7.62 browning]. We had to keep the ANC[AK-47] and the Inkatha Freedom Party[self-made weapons and pangas] apart - racism at its worse - Xhosa vs Zoeloe. We searched houses and set up road blocks, confiscating huge amounts of weapons[mainly AK`s] and arresting the perpretrators. We saw daily shootings and petrol bombings - SA was coming apart at the seems. The SADF disliked the ANC strongly and helped out the IFP - the one was communist the other nationalistic. All in all I disliked both and hated being in the cross-fire - my attitude was : let them sort each other out. Some mornings we were up at 2AM doing some raid in these areas - it was chaotic.

After about two months we returned to Rooi Kop and finally to Upington where I could close this chapter in my life - I did one camp in 1993. I can`t say I loved the army, but it did teach me a lot and made me more mature. Soon after that the SADF fell apart and was incorporated with the communist scum that we were trained to hate and kill - Umkhontwe and APLA. The White permanent force members were pushed out and most became mercenaries - I even know of one in Iraq. I Look at the mostly, spineless youth of today, and wonder how different it would`ve been if they experienced what we did. Today the nigger defence farce is no force - but an pathetic aids-ridden ghost, and would easily fall to a well directed fart !

South Africa: SA army is 'unravelling'

Date Posted: Sunday 02-Aug-2009

The SA National Defence Force is in an "appalling" state of readiness. It could not handle much beyond the most trivial crisis, experts and politicians say.

Despite the purchase of big-ticket items in the controversial arms deal, the defence force is "unravelling" rapidly.

They blame ageing equipment, a skills shortage and the lack of a budget to match the increasing demands being made on the force.

"Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has expressed happiness with the readiness of the defence force," says Jane's Defence Weekly Southern Africa correspondent Helmoed-Romer Heitman.

"The reality is that the state of readiness is appalling: The SANDF is in no way capable of handling anything but the most minor crisis."
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Heitman says the present SANDF could not mount an effective intervention to stabilise Zimbabwe or rescue its peacekeeping troops in places such as Darfur.

It would struggle to patrol the Mozambique Channel if piracy moved south and hit our shipping directly.

"It lacks the aircraft and ships to patrol our waters effectively," he says.

It also lacks the troops to take over border security from the police, as Sisulu has suggested it should.

Henri Boshoff of the Institute of Security Studies in Pretoria, a retired officer, agrees the defence force "would struggle to execute some simple operations".

He adds that it cannot even deploy a cohesive battalion but must deploy composite units, because too many of the soldiers are "over-age and medically unfit". And budget cuts have had a severe effect on, for instance, firearms training.

He agrees with retired Brigadier-General George Kruys of the University of Pretoria that a high proportion of vehicles deployed for peace support operations are unserviceable.

"The roots of the problem are multiple," says Heitman. "Most obvious is the mismatch between defence funding and what is demanded of the defence force.

"The SANDF is doing an 18-battalion job with an 11-battalion army. That cannot be sustained."

Professor Renfrew Christie, dean of research at the University of the Western Cape, believes that "the secretariat and the generals have self-censored the requirements of the defence force.

"The result is that the real needs have not been communicated to the Treasury. They should be saying what they really need to do the job."

Another root cause of the problem is "the overdone defence cuts after 1989, which created a massive bow wave of obsolescence that threatens to overwhelm the army in particular", says Heitman.

He also blames the wasted cost of "re-engineering" the defence force according to business principles, which must now be undone.

And he fingers "the unwillingness to enforce discipline or demand integrity, even from senior officers".

The result, says Heitman, is a defence force "that is unravelling, and that will unravel ever more quickly as equipment runs out of useful life, as pilots leave for lack of flying and technical personnel for better salaries, and as experienced officers retire and good junior officers leave in disgust".

But not all the news is bad, he says. SA troops have performed well in Burundi, the Central African Republic, Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The government's bold decision to deploy troops in Burundi 10 years ago and "the professional conduct of our troops" stabilised the country.

He says emerging young officers and special forces in particular are keen, properly trained and want to do the job professionally.

But he warns that the defence force must move quickly to keep them.

Despite the huge controversy around the arms deal, Heitman says "the actual equipment is good, suited to our requirements and was acquired on excellent terms.

"The four frigates, in particular, were a stunning bargain compared with what other navies paid for similar ships in the same period."

Despite the good news, the defence force "is running on empty".

The government must urgently review what it wants the defence force to do and the force must then set out clearly what it requires to do its job properly.

"The government must either provide adequate funding or cut back the demands it makes of the defence force," says Heitman.

DA shadow minister of defence David Maynier says that if it does not do that, the country will be left with "soldiers without vehicles, ships without sailors, planes without pilots, and military hospitals without doctors".





Source Url: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=vn20090802062434798C127223

He adds that it cannot even deploy a cohesive battalion but must deploy composite units, because too many of the soldiers are "over-age and medically unfit".

And 90% has Aids ...

"The roots of the problem are multiple," says Heitman.

The problem is that there are no Whites in it ... only MUDS

Despite the huge controversy around the arms deal, Heitman says "the actual equipment is good, suited to our requirements and was acquired on excellent terms.

Nice to hear equipment is good ! 

[New "Police Commissioner" Demands Blackout On Crime Stats]

New "Police Commissioner" Demands Blackout On Crime Stats

Barely a week into his new job, and Bheki Cele, recently appointed National "Police Commissioner" [in the stead of that other career criminal and mobster Jackie Selebi] is now demanding an immediate moratorium on crime statistics. Seeing that our regular correspondents and ANC regime apologists insist that crime has shown a dramatic year on year decrease, one is mystified as to why the Marxist regime would want to dump crime stats down the "memory hole". Surely they've had massive successes with their country-wide crime docket fraud of the past few years and would want to flaunt the new,  improved crime stats for all the world to see ?

Not that one could expect any better from Cele. This mud is indistinguishable from the worst ZANU-PF africoons from up north. In his stomping ground of Natal, he races around in his blue light convoy, forcing innocent motorists off the road and screams racism if anyone dare confront his heavily-armed[which are useless] gang of mud heavies. A White motorist filmed the mud convoy racing around at speeds in excess of 160km/h. Some months ago, this stupid mud chimped out at some ANC / IFP party conflict, waving around a gun and threatening to shoot people. He also instructed the cops to open fire on IFP members.

In another incident, he rocked up at the scene of a hit and run accident involving a drunken buddy of his. A White cop at the scene explained to him that the BMW X5 belonging to one mud "Prince Zulu" had fake plates which belonged to a Toyota, not the BMW. In spite of this, Cele chimped out as only a jungle mud can, and demanded that the White cop [Capt. Shane Spilsbury] allow the drunken driver [who jumped a red light] to leave the scene with his falsely plated vehicle.

Formerly the "MEC" for Safety and Security in Kwazulu-Natal, Cele oversaw a massive jump in deaths[47% from 2007 to 2008] while in detention. Complaints against "police" brutality soared, putting the Natal provice sixth out of nine provinces on this issue. While I am all for using deadly force when dealing with mud scum, I am also acutely mindful of the uniformed criminal mud scum disguised as "police" officers. These rapacious savages need only the slightest excuse to reach for their guns, and especially so if you happen to be White.

Numerous cases abound where SA "Police" and Metro cop boons would pull over White motorists and summarily execute them, such as the case of the White motorist in Vereeniging / Vanderbijl Park shot by a Metro mud and witnessed by a passing White motorist, and another case in Kempton Park, where a drunken Metro mud shot a White 20 year old woman in the head at point blank range, for daring to ask him to move his vehicle and unblock a driveway at a night club.

So if you think Selebi was a bad-ass, wait till you see what's in store for SA with this new yard mud - you ain't seen nothing yet. Cele is a backward stone-age mud with a penchant for wearing panama hats and serious bling-bling. He is also a former terrorist, or at least claims to have been a member of the ANC's murderous ragtag bandits who bravely attacked unarmed women, school children and defenceless electrical pylons [anything and anyone who couldn't shoot back]. Cele is nothing but yet another typical africoon warlord - a stupid, arrogant mud with massive chips on each of his sloping shoulders, his filthy thieving black paws in the pockets of White tax payers.

The Democratic Alliance has called on the new national "police commissioner" Bheki Cele to retract his statement calling for a moratorium on issuing crime statistics. According to Dianne Kohler Barnard, the DA's police spokesperson, "It quite frankly beggars belief that just a few days into his new job, the police commissioner would make such a blatantly politically motivated and completely counterproductive announcement, and the commissioner must re-evaluate his stance on this matter right away."

On SAfm's After Eight Debate, Cele said he supported a moratorium for three reasons. Firstly, criminals use the statistics, and "If you don't release, it gives you the better edge to fight the crime". Secondly, Interpol and other countries that might be South Africa's peers in Central and South America only release statistics periodically and "nobody releases stats there of crime at all for a very, very long time". Thirdly, the statistics would be used for "political bashing". Kohler Barnard pointed out on Monday that if the statistics showed crime falling, the ruling party would be happy to flourish them. If the figures show crime rising, the police would "rightly come under criticism".

She mocks the idea that statistics can be used by criminals to plan crimes. "What evidence is there that criminals use annual crime statistics in the planning of crimes ?" she asked. "In particular, it is frankly inconceivable that rates of crime for the entire country, sorted into broad categories, could ever be used by criminals to their benefit. How many would-be murderers consult the SAPS Crime Statistics booklet to check up on the annual murder rate ? The DA challenges the police commissioner to elaborate on this claim, and provide concrete examples of where this has been the case".

She added that if it turns out that a few categories can be used by criminals, this is not a good reason for failing to release the vast majority of data that could clearly never be of any use to criminals. Kohler Barnard asked which Interpol study Cele is referring to, and how could a study that advocates periodic release of crime statistics possibly support his calls for a moratorium ? In addition, there is a wealth of evidence to support the Democratic Alliance's view that real-time updates and monitoring of crime statistics would be of significant benefit to efforts to fight crime, she said.

In a snap survey of Latin American countries, the DA found that Colombia, Costa Rica and Uruguay have all recently released statistics for 2008, and that some stats for the early part of 2009 are also already available. "Is Mr Cele's behaviour that of a non-partisan police official, or a deployed cadre from the ANC's National Executive Committee ?" Kohler Barnard asked. "State institutions can only be held accountable when they act in a transparent manner. In the case of the police service, it is essential that crime statistics are released on a regular basis, so that the public and civil society groups can assess, on an ongoing basis, how its government is performing".

[Phase3 - Platoon Training]

Phase3 - Platoon Training

Now that we 18 year olds could handle guns, it was time for the next step - training together with the other troops as a unit in the Ratel. Back we went into the bush at Riemvasmaak - today again ihabited by the mud khoi-san, unexploded shells and all - hope somebody told them to report any unexploded shells and grenades ! The first part of Phase3 consisted of the occupants of a Ratel working together - the second part of a "platoon" of Ratels [normally 4] working together.

More about the awesome Ratel. The Ratel was designed and built in SA. As I mentioned it was 6x6 and made of thick armoured steel and small windows - Russian RPG was its biggest enemy, it could pierce the steel and cause havoc. It was built V-shaped to absorbe landmine explosions - mines would blow of one wheel - no problem the Ratel had six and would continue ... on towards the commie scum. In case of enemy fire it could close up its windows at the drivers side[special plates] with the flick of a button. The driver also had a special hatch to escape through the floor if things got really hot. The Ratel was virtually a tank without tracks - tracks being a weak point - once it hit a landmine it came to a stand still with the track being damaged. The exact number of people inside, not 100% sure, but something like this ... you had your driver in front; corporal[2 liner] and gunner in the turret; 6 troops and a corporal[1 liner] in middle[one troop had a LMG machine gun, the other a russian RPG - confiscated from SWAPO] and a "budgy gunner" at the back with another browning. The cleaning of the guns was a nightmare and was usually done late at night after the days manoeuvres - we used to clean the guns with jet feul before the next morning`s inspection.

A friend of mine [recon operator] once told me that he witnessed a Ratel operating with three wheels - landmine damage - it had a left front wheel ... a right middle wheel ... and a left back wheel ... and being 6x6 it could still operate ... obviously not as well, but could get back to base to be fixed by the tiffies. A good movie on the net about the SWA/Angolan war is "The Last Domino" - its in seven parts - check it out. It should also be remebered when these SWAPO jungly bunies first saw the Ratel they did not know what it was [new White creation] - they tried to attack it with their AK`s ! - old school Whitey`s would simply ride over them - rules of engagement - dont waste ammo if you could kill otherwise.

The Ratel`s purpose was to get the troops inside as close to enemy lines as possible ... drop `em ... withdraw ... and back `em up with fire power so that they could get as close as possible to the enemy without being killed. "Fire and move" was another tactic employed by the SADF - troops moving alongside the Ratel ... backed up by the 20mm or 90mm, depending on the situation. A specific drill we underwent all to many times would consist of the following - The corporal next to me  in the turret would suddenly yell out while riding : "Target left nine `o clock ... approximately 500m ..." The Ratel would come to an immediate standstil. I would swing the turret left looking for a target ... identifying it lock my sights on 500m on the target ... answer "target identified" ... he would reply "fire" ... I would comply. Nine out of ten times the target would be struck.

Another familiar drill was "trench cleaning". We would move as close to the trenches as possible where the enemy would be hiding ... drop the troops and retreat[at this stage only the corporal and two gunners - myself and the "budgey gunner"] would be in the vehicle with the driver. Getting a nice view of the trenches ... we would park on more or less level terrain ... and let loose with the 20mm ... firing over the trenches at the enemy and keeping their heads down. This would enable the troops to get to the trenches. At about 15-20m from the trenches they would throw in hand grenades to immobilize the enemy ... and finally they would enter the enemy`s liar ... shooting at anything that moved. These were all drills and we never got to use them.

We were on ratt packs six out of seven days of the week. We slept in open terrain under the stars with scorpions, Rooi Katte[small carnivore] and an occasional puff adder our only companions. The silence was deafening being about 100km from civilization - the night sky a site to behold. I hated the army but loved Nature ... always had. I had made some good friends - at this time the SADF was Whites only - we even had an ex-Rhodesian who was as racist as hell. He shared first hand expereriences with us about the africoons and what he and his family had been through - nobody had to convince me the scum they were - this attitude my father had nurtured deep within me from childhood ... and for good reason. 

These drills brought us closer as a team ... a unit. Must admit it was pretty strange for me as I have always been a loner. But I had no choice ... work together ... or get left behind. I found out later in life that is the way it is ... of course without giving up your principles. Years later I watched a video which reminded me of the Ratel ... only difference was that these guys were in a tank and in actual contact [Afghanistan/Russina war] - "The Beast" - to me its the greatest war movie after "Saving Private Ryan".

Welcome brother !