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| Army officer: prioritize new transport ships | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 13 2008, 01:52 PM (2,333 Views) | |
| The Patriot | Jul 13 2008, 01:52 PM Post #1 |
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Trainee
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![]() Took this pic of a PN transport ship – hull number I purposely blacked out - yesterday while I was waiting to board a fast ferry in a city in the Visayas. I struck up a conversation with the newly-minted lieutenant in charge of the guard detail and asked his permission to take photos. Understandably, he only allowed this bow shot since the topdeck was crammed of APCs, trucks, humvees, howitzers and other equipment. I told him that I’m a military enthusiast and is a member of PDFF. He said he and his fellow officers browse the site too but do not participate. He’s supportive of the discussions in this forum since its having an impact on the senior officers, he said without elaborating. He divulged that the ship is on its way to a hotspot in Mindanao with his Army unit on board (I saw the unit patch but he requested me not to ID his unit if in case I’m going to post our conversation on the Net) but had to make this unscheduled port call due to mechanical problems. Here are his comments of the voyage, his first on board a Navy ship: 1. The age and the state of the ship made most of the soldiers nervous, joking that their chances of dying while onboard the ship are greater than dying in a gun battle with the enemy. 2. The ship is so slow fishermen furiously paddling outrigger boats easily overtook it. I think he was only half-joking when he said this. 3. The ship is unescorted by a PN gunboat or patrol craft considering the number of soldiers and equipment on board, he said most of the officers could not help thinking of possible suicide attacks similar to what happened to the Sri Lankan Navy transports and the USS Cole attack. 4. When I noted to him that although a platoon of soldiers was securing the dockside, not even a single zodiac-mounted security was patrolling the sea perimeter of the ship, he just shrugged and said the area has no known terrorist presence. 5. I asked him about the accommodations on board, he replied with a wry smile “uncomfortable”. 6. He once also liked the Navy to have new frigates and corvettes but based on his experience, he now wants the acquisition of new transport ships first and enough patrol craft as escorts. New transport ship mean faster, safer and more efficient deployment and transport of troops and equipment from Manila to hotspots in the Visayas and Mindanao. |
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| flipzi | Jul 13 2008, 02:20 PM Post #2 |
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R-A-T-S
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Nice info! It's good to know the young officer shares our disposition and why we are talking here. It's the very reason why we do this. It's simply to defeat evil gripping the military and protect those who are risking life and limb, the men below, despite the shortcomings of the decision-makers in the military and the civilian government. Add to that the breed of greed on top who are making the lives of the frontliners more miserable. Going back to the subject, I agree that the mobilization should be improved as well. The security of those ships should not come as a question anymore. At least one or two FAC would be enough. |
![]() " Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them! - Art. II Sec 1, Philippine Constitution " " People don't care what we know until they know we care. " getflipzi@yahoo.com | |
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| seWer Rat | Jul 13 2008, 02:23 PM Post #3 |
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amateur sewer cleaner
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sir patriot, I think you are just too cautious, the unit itself posted their send-off ceremony pics on July 9, 2008 here: http://cmoladiv.multiply.com/photos/album/...CIO_TO_MINDANAO and this is the news article about the deployment:
If the ship departed on July 9 with those APCs on board and three days later on July 12, if you took the pic yesterday - the unit is still stranded in a port in the visayas due to mechanical troubles, shucks, I can understand the frustration of that young army officer... their pride and joy, the APCs and armor on the way to Mindanao onboard an old and slow LST baka tapos ta na ang giyera pagdating nila sa Mindanao..ang Besson-class na lang sana ang sinakyan nila baka hindi pa nagkaaberiya |
| To avoid criticism, write nothing, say nothing, do nothing, BE NOTHING. | |
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| flipzi | Jul 13 2008, 02:35 PM Post #4 |
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R-A-T-S
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... and with the these posts, the enemy must be planning on how they can attack the ship now. Moro rebs and JI are also reading this forum. Navy, you know what to do. |
![]() " Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them! - Art. II Sec 1, Philippine Constitution " " People don't care what we know until they know we care. " getflipzi@yahoo.com | |
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| seWer Rat | Jul 13 2008, 02:41 PM Post #5 |
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amateur sewer cleaner
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sheet...oo nga no, dapat padala kaagad sila ng escorts ASAP! complacency doesnt pay hayyy...ang LAD pinasakay sa sira-sirang barko |
| To avoid criticism, write nothing, say nothing, do nothing, BE NOTHING. | |
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| 40niner_com | Jul 13 2008, 06:44 PM Post #6 |
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Mods, Please delete this post or at least block off the photo (for now). LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS. Maybe you can restore it after a week or two. |
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| caterwaul | Jul 13 2008, 08:25 PM Post #7 |
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I beg to disagree mr 40niner, its not LOOSE LIPS THAT SINK SHIPS, you know yourself what sink ships - its ----- and incompetent GENERALS, ADMIRALS and DEFENSE OFFICIALS who send a decrepit, ill-maintained transport ship with soldiers and equipment onboard without escorts. Even without the internet, enemy assets could easily spot the ship leave its homeport to sail at a very sedate 7knots and wait until the engine conks out. They don't even have to bomb this ship, it will probably sink by itself if all the people on board hiccup at the same time. Heck, Patriot is even more prudent in his post than the guys at the LAD at its Multiply site who posted dozens of pictures for all to see. In contrast, Patriot blacked out the hull number, never mentioned the exact port in the visayas nor the unit on board. Why should we block the pics when a lot of lapses could clearly be seen, just to cover up the faults and deny the public the real situation of how the navy transports our troops? Don't you think it should have been the senior command that exercised prudence even before the soldiers and vehicles were loaded on board that LST? They even had a great photo op during the send off ceremony, a nice propaganda effort to make the enemy shake in their boots and slippers, supposedly. OPSEC violations my ass, how could the posting of this telling pic and the comments of the obviously frustrated young officer overcome the years of negligence and complacency that conspired for this ship to unexpectedly dock at a commercial port for emergency repairs. Do they really have to wait that the NPA and the islamic terrorrists develop a similar rudimentary but deadly naval warfare unit similar to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels? If that ship sinks, the blood will not be in our hands. We all know where to point our fingers! |
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| pachador | Jul 14 2008, 12:07 AM Post #8 |
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Thanks to patriot for posting the picture. The PN has only 2 kinds of large amphib transports, the Besson class and the old ex-world was 2 LSTs. Since news reports mention 24 armored vehicles to be transported and subsequently corroborated on the LAD site that the 1st MIB will go, we can deduce that the ex-world war 2 LSTs was used and not the Besson. Why? the old LST has more cargo volume than the Besson class because the Besson class has only 1 cargo deck(obvious from photos) while the old LST has an upper and lower deck. The upper deck of the old LST can carry soldiers and light vehicles while the lower deck carries the heavier armor. Thus, the old LST was likely candidate to carry the mechanized batallion which we now know to be true from the photo of patriot. there is no OPSEC needed there . the important thing is to secure the port area where the LST is docked which the PN accomplishes by barricading the area where the ship is docked with container vans.. in fact you can see a container van in the photo which could be a barricade or could be unloading additional supplies for the LST. When US navy ships dock in the philippines the area is barricaded with container vans as a buffer against suicide attacks the only OPSEC thing was not to mention 'visayan' port but rather just port if you want to be anal about it but even that it nothing since patriot can just be saying visayan port just to mislead when in reality the ship is still in sangley, batangas or who knows where =) one thing to add to is that the LAD website mentions that the LST BRP Benguet # 507 was used to carry the MIB so there was really no need to erase the hull #. what is nice in patriot's post is the mention that the army officers realize the need to get better amphib ships which will help the PN get support from the army for their plan to get the MPV transport ship. |
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| adrian_yamato | Jul 14 2008, 04:43 PM Post #9 |
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Let's hope their made it to their destination
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"There's only one Government, one Armed Forces, one Contitution, & one Filipino people" -word of then Gen. Angelo T. Reyes during the Mindanao war against the MILF & Abu Sayaff- "The Army is like a cooked Spaggetti, You can't push it, you have to pull it after you" -Gen George S. Patton-
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| Singa Lion | Jul 14 2008, 08:18 PM Post #10 |
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to my filipino halfbrothers its the hightime that you buy our Endeavour class transport ships, its not good to use very old ships for transport of soldiers, and tanks it might sink in even minor typhoons and about the escort its really important, when singapore sent the endeavour to assist tsunami victims in indonesia which is not a battle zone it was still escorted by our missile ships.now tht philippines is infested with jemayah islamiah and abu sayyaff but your navy sends unarmed tranport ships without escorts, now that is very brave or very foolish decision. |
![]() The SAF is an armed force , not a civilian corporation. Its mission is to defeat its enemies, ruthlessly and completely. Its an instrument of controlled fury, designed to visit death and destruction of its foes...soldiers must have steel in their souls ..must learn in war to kill and not to flinch, to destroy and not to feel pity, to be a flaming sword in the righteous cause of national survival. -BG Lee , 1984 | |
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baka tapos ta na ang giyera pagdating nila sa Mindanao..

and about the escort its really important, when singapore sent the endeavour to assist tsunami victims in indonesia which is not a battle zone it was still escorted by our missile ships.

8:59 AM Jul 11