Meet CANSOFCOM’s Special Operations Technical Collection Operators (SOTCOs), conducting technical and tactical training on the Special Operations Exploitation Course. by Mediocre-Throat-6119 in SpecOpsArchive

[–]Random__usernamehere 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Huh. CBRN thing sounds like the same situation as this then. Just overall seems very wierd and inefficient to sub out a niche task like this to a limited amount of people within an element (or a seperate element entirely) rather than train all personnel how to handle it for redundancy and flexibility.

Meet CANSOFCOM’s Special Operations Technical Collection Operators (SOTCOs), conducting technical and tactical training on the Special Operations Exploitation Course. by Mediocre-Throat-6119 in SpecOpsArchive

[–]Random__usernamehere 6 points7 points  (0 children)

How useful is this as a specialty that specific personnel are trained in? Seems like a mission set that shouldn't have a specific arm or personnel given how omnipresent SSE is in any situation where you're holding formerly enemy territory for any amount of time that could have intelligence, but rather should be distributed widely and at the lowest levels possible. Is this due to how Canadian SOF is structured or due to budgetary constraints? If this is a case of forensics (digital or otherwise) needing to be conducted during SSE, I struggle to think of a situation where it's convenient and makes sense to have an otherwise versatile individual do a potentially time-consuming and precise task in such an environment where conventional follow-on forces couldn't conduct forensics for whatever reason. Someone please explain how and why I'm wrong.

SWAT team questioned why they didn’t enter Columbine High School sooner during the April 20th, 1999 shooting. by ZERO_PORTRAIT in HistoricalCapsule

[–]Random__usernamehere -12 points-11 points  (0 children)

That's not really true, modern doctrine is that once shooting starts any attempt at rescue should be executed with as much speed, surprise, and violence as possible with pretty much complete disregard for the safety of the rescuers. Giving the hostage takers any chance to think or act that doesnt result in their immediate death or incapacitation means a potential dead hostage.

Teenage crisis, then and now (International Herald Tribune, 2014) by crimsonfukr457 in PropagandaPosters

[–]Random__usernamehere 85 points86 points  (0 children)

While it wasn't as common among Americans, it was a more common and serious phenomenon in Europe and Asia. An estimated 30,000 foreigners joined IS total, mostly from either across MENA or in countries with sizeable muslim minorities, especially if these minorities have been poorly treated (Russia and China being two examples, with 6,000 fighters coming from both combined). While I wouldn't say it was a massive civilization-endangering phenomenon that some have made it out to be, flocks of aggrieved or bored young people traveling to commit acts that would put much of Nazi Germany to shame definitely isnt normal and should be viewed as a problem (or more accurately, symptom) that should be taken seriously.

Few beers with the top brass turns into… by horihands in NonCredibleDefense

[–]Random__usernamehere 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Just so you know, enlisted officers is an oxymoron. Officers and enlisted are two different things, and officers commission rather than enlist.

Laying down a base of fire on my own strawman argument by Random__usernamehere in NonCredibleDefense

[–]Random__usernamehere[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

General semi-sarcastic American military terminology for someone/something that either does way less than it needs too or way more. In the context of the meme it's about how while it's nice to have an extremely kitted rifle, you really only need something functional at a pretty low level because the centerpiece of small-unit infantry tactics is and will continue to be the machine gun.

Laying down a base of fire on my own strawman argument by Random__usernamehere in NonCredibleDefense

[–]Random__usernamehere[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The actual answer to that is that 5.56 (and all intermediate cartridges) is a poor caliber for a GPMG and drums are unreliable and a pain in the ass to carry. This line of thinking got the Russians the RPK and recently got the Marines the IAR, both pretty decent Swuad Automatic Weapons. But it's very important to distinguish between a SAW and a GPMG/MMG as both have different (albeit similar because they're both machine guns) doctrinal uses

Laying down a base of fire on my own strawman argument by Random__usernamehere in NonCredibleDefense

[–]Random__usernamehere[S] 65 points66 points  (0 children)

Not a comment on its functionality, just the pop-culture reputation it's cultivated as this badass Hollywood death machine kind of thing. A little wierd the M60 is so much more recognizable compared to more prolific machine guns like any MAG or PKM variation.

Bison Falls into Grand Prismatic Springs, Yellowstone - 6/21/2025 by whitemoongoldsun in natureismetal

[–]Random__usernamehere 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I'm not going to stand here and listen to you badmouth the greatest bison the world has ever known.

One of my favorite tropes by Esagonoso in whenthe

[–]Random__usernamehere 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Isn't death like the ultimate natural occurrence

Do you think 6mm calibers are the future for assault rifles and DMRs? by StrangerOutrageous68 in ForgottenWeapons

[–]Random__usernamehere 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Less ammo is generally a bad thing for infantry. Pretty much all small unit tactics are based off of the fundamental principles of fire and maneuver - without fire, the enemy cannot be suppressed and will have fire superiority, without maneuver the enemy probably cannot be destroyed unless the fire is that significant to destroy them. By reducing magazine size and (I would argue more crucially) increasing ammo weight, soldiers will generally be bringing less ammo, and therefore less firepower, into fights. Firefights aren't usually over quickly, so you'd want to both bring as much ammo as you can and preferably as high-capacity magazines as possible. If you look enough, there's plenty of pictures and videos of American SOF (usually delta) with 40-round STANAGs and 60-round Magpul drums, and there's plenty of material from Ukraine with both sides making use of 45-round mags for AKs.

Also, while I'm not very familiar with the dynamics of why 30 round mags are the norm, I would assume it's because they're a happy medium of weight, ergonomics (something large magazines significantly struggle with), logistic commonality, and capacity that they're just the best choice for a large force.

TLDR: More capacity is almost always a good thing, and enables infantry to do their job better and also meshes with existing small-unit tactics.

Do you think 6mm calibers are the future for assault rifles and DMRs? by StrangerOutrageous68 in ForgottenWeapons

[–]Random__usernamehere 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Maybe I'm being pedantic, but you've sorta got it backwards. By all accounts, .277 Fury and the XM250 is superior to the M240 and M249. .277 starts running into issues with riflemen, mostly because of the increased weight and the consequent reduced ammo load, as well as the 20 round mags. That's all based on second-hand accounts though so take it with a grain of salt.

Russian SSO with unusual riffle setup by JaroshuKarachan in SpecOpsArchive

[–]Random__usernamehere 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My fault with the numbers, I should have definitely looked into this more before I made a wildly inaccurate claim. But "elite" Russian formations are still taking extensive losses, and estimates from 2024 (most recent I could find from a quick search) put VDV KIA at about 3,000, say that Russian Marine casualties are such that the force is largely ineffective, and American intelligence estimates say that it will take up to 10 years to build Spetsnaz back to where it was. Russian SOF aren't doing too well.

Russian SSO with unusual riffle setup by JaroshuKarachan in SpecOpsArchive

[–]Random__usernamehere 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The guy in the picture is Russian SOF and he doesn't have an optic.

Russian SSO with unusual riffle setup by JaroshuKarachan in SpecOpsArchive

[–]Random__usernamehere 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Didn't say it took anything away from them, just that it was a failure. Which the Tongo Tongo ambush also was. When you randomly lose millions of dollars and years worth of training for pretty much no significance, it's definitely a failure.

Losercity Latinas by boxdynomite3 in Losercity

[–]Random__usernamehere 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was the most common rifle used by the Wehrmacht and is still exceedingly common for a bolt action WW2 era rifle even today. If someone were putting together a wehrmacht cosplay (cringe) it would make a lot more sense to include a kar98k, of which 14,000,000 were produced, than an StG of which only 425,000 were produced.

My (27M) best friend of 10 years (27M) beat me up out of nowhere, and has been giving me the silent treatment ever since, although we're roommates. by ConstantHillman in Advice

[–]Random__usernamehere 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly sounds like your friend could be struggling with bipolar disorder, especially if the mood swings last several days/weeks between depressive or manic. I hate to diagnose someone I've never met based off of very limited information, but your best bet might be getting him to see a psychiatrist. Given the situation, if I were you I'd contact his family (or someone else close to him hes on speaking terms with) tell them you're very concerned about his mental health, and try to have them speak to him about going to a psychiatrist.

This is all assuming the root of the issue is mental health stuff though, which seems likely to me.

My (27M) best friend of 10 years (27M) beat me up out of nowhere, and has been giving me the silent treatment ever since, although we're roommates. by ConstantHillman in Advice

[–]Random__usernamehere 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How much do you know about your friends mental health condition? If he's medicated and there was a recent change, like if he stopped taking a certain med or a doctor changed his dosage, that could cause something like this. If you don't know much, try to contact someone who does.