Marines' beasts of burden are again leading the pack
Jack Linthicum
Marines' beasts of burden are again leading the pack
For centuries, donkeys and mules have been the preferred mode of
military transport in Afghanistan. At a training center in the Sierra
Nevada, Marines learn how to handle the sure-footed animals.
By Tony Perry
July 7, 2009
Reporting from Bridgeport, Calif. — With 75 pounds of military gear
cinched on her furry back, Annie was stubborn the whole way.
The two Marines assigned to her pushed, pulled and sweet-talked her up
the steep, twisting trail on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada.
"C'mon, girl, you can make it," Lance Cpl. Chad Campbell whispered in
her ear.
"Only one more hill," promised Lance Cpl. Cameron Cross as he shoved
Annie's muscular hindquarters.
The red-hued donkey snorted, nibbled on grass and let loose that
distinctive braying, which begins with a loud nasal inhalation and
concludes with an even louder blast of deep-throated protest.
She also dropped green, foul-smelling clumps, which the Marines
carefully sidestepped.
On the rocky, uneven path, Annie never stumbled. A good donkey,
Marines say, knows three steps ahead where it wants to walk.
For Campbell and Cross, the day with Annie could be a preview of days
to come. The two may soon deploy to Afghanistan, where donkeys and
mules have been the preferred mode of military transport for centuries
-- and remain so.
With the U.S. shifting its focus from the deserts of Iraq to the
mountains of Central Asia, this course on pack animals at the Marine
Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center has become critical to the new
mission.
Opened in 1951 to train troops for Korea, the center -- with its
administrative buildings, barracks, corrals and an enormous tent for
visiting troops -- is set on 47,000 acres of the Humboldt-Toiyabe
National Forest, where serrated peaks above 10,000 feet are the
perfect terrain to teach high-altitude combat skills.
Five donkeys, 24 mules and five sergeant trainers are stationed at the
center for the course, which is given eight times a year to Marines,
Army soldiers, Navy SEALs and some foreign troops.
Humvees and even helicopters are of limited use in Afghanistan's
mountains. There are few roads and the air is thin. But a 1,000-pound
mule or 400-pound donkey can easily carry a load one-third its weight
-- or more, if necessary.
The weapons of war have changed, but the basics of handling donkeys
and mules -- like the sawbuck saddle and packs on Annie -- are not
much different from how they were in the time of Genghis Khan.
"It's a very primitive way to carry very modern weapons," said Sgt.
Joe Neal, one of the instructors. "But it works."
On the first day of the 12-day course, Campbell, Cross and 40 other
junior Marines, all from Camp Pendleton, listened intently at the
corral in Pickel Meadows as instructors spoke of battles won with the
help of four-footed allies.
One of the Marine Corps' most fabled heroes, Sgt. Maj. Daniel Daly,
earned his second Medal of Honor for leading pack animals into combat
against Haitian bandits in 1915.
Assigned one of the older, scruffier mules, two of the Marines later
insisted the animal must have deployed with Daly.
The students learned to pack machine guns, mortars, grenades, Javelin
missiles and M-16 ammunition, as well as food, water and medical
supplies -- all needed to carry the fight to the enemy.
"The Taliban are born mountain men, they can move faster in that
terrain than we can," said Staff Sgt. Tyler McDaniel, an Iraq war
veteran who is now the lead instructor for the course. "The pack
animals are a force multiplier. They make sure we can get enough gear
and men to the fight."
For some of the Marines here, animals were part of their upbringing.
"I'm used to breaking horses, but I'm not used to packing mules," said
Pfc. James Moody, 19, of Zavalla, Texas.
But others had no experience. "This is all new to me," said Cpl.
Bradley Neuenburg, a 20-year-old computer buff from San Rafael in
Northern California. "I'm more used to basic syntax, binary language
and codes."
In the beginning, some were tentative with the animals, leery of being
kicked and reluctant to take charge. Instructors prowled around the
corral as the two-man teams struggled.
"Pull that rope tight," Sgt. Graham Golden told Neuenburg in a voice
loud enough to be heard by others having the same difficulty. "You're
not going to hurt the mule, and otherwise that load is going to fall
off up the mountain."
After several days of learning to handle rope, tie knots and hitches,
and pack and balance loads, the students were graded on the knots --
and their demeanor around the animals.
"It's a dying skill that we need to revive," said Sgt. Jerry Meece,
35, a lean, slow-talking native of Lufkin, Texas, who was a rodeo bull
rider for a dozen years before enlisting.
The animal packers course dates to the 1980s, when the CIA sent
operatives here before they were dispatched to help the Afghans fight
the Soviet occupation force. The agency bought several thousand mules
for the Afghans to maintain supply lines.
When they reach Afghanistan, the Marines probably will work with
donkeys, which are cheaper and more common. A good donkey can be had
there for $5.
As the Marines prepared for their first "hump" up the mountain,
instruction was intense, laced with an obscenity that is integral to
military patois. Golden spotted Pfc. James McGuckin, an 18-year-old
from Staten Island, curling a rope around his hand and forearm like a
suburbanite wrapping a garden hose for storage.
"Is that the way I taught you to handle ropes?" he bellowed, slamming
his clipboard to the ground. "Pay attention to detail! Are you a
[expletive] Marine or in the [expletive] Army?"
In combat, said Golden, 27, of Ferndale, Ark., any deviation from
training can get Marines killed.
McGuckin froze to attention and carefully placed the rope on the
ground. Other Marines watched wordlessly -- seemingly relieved it was
someone else who was the object of their teacher's ire.
Later, as he waited in line at the chow hall, McGuckin said he did not
mind being bawled out. "Someday, when we're in a fight, we're going to
need those animals and those ropes," he said.
The trek up the mountain to a grassy meadow the Marines call LZ
(Landing Zone) Penguin came on the fourth day. The rain of previous
days had abated, and only a few clouds shielded the Marines and the
animals from bright sunshine.
The Marines and animals trudged for more than three hours and three
miles up narrow, rock-strewn trails, a climb of about 1,000 feet in
altitude.
More arduous journeys would follow in the next eight days. One would
test the Marines' ability to use their animals to retrieve U.S.
injured and dead from a helicopter crash, with 200-pound dummies
called Rescue Randys as faux casualties.
The mules were purchased by the Marines from an outfitter in Montana.
The donkeys were rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management from its
vast acreage.
The mules -- bigger, sleeker and more cooperative -- led the single-
file procession. The donkeys were in back. The Marines devised
different strategies for their maiden convoy.
Lance Cpl. Usay Vue, 25, of Fresno, put apples from the chow hall in
his backpack. His mule, Gray, could smell the fruit and nosed the
pack. He seemed to be imploring Vue with a longing look in his brown
eyes.
As they waited in the corral for the order to move out, Vue gave in
and fed the mule a slice.
"You be good to me," he whispered in the animal's ear, "and I'll feed
you more later."
Vue's partner, Pfc. Tony Chan, 20, of Queens, N.Y., found that their
apple system worked well -- maybe too well. Gray wanted to move faster
than the column. "He was trying to motivate me, I guess," Chan said.
Pfc. Ilya Ward and Lance Cpl. John Fisher designed a buddy system. One
would take the reins while the other ran ahead to rip up clumps of
grass to feed their donkey, Jimmy.
"It's a way to keep Jimmy motivated," said Ward, who rode horses in
his native Siberia.
On those half a dozen occasions when Annie refused to budge, Campbell
and Cross stuck to the dictum drilled into them: Donkeys do not
respond well to rough treatment or harsh language.
Sgt. Chad Giles sat on his horse and watched the two 20-year-olds coax
and cajole Annie. He urged persistence but admonished against rude
language, saying they should talk to her as they would a woman they
loved.
Another Marine had trouble summoning up patience as his brownish
donkey refused to move, braying its discontent and threatening to
bring the convoy to a halt.
"I got the absolute worst [expletive] one of all," cried Pfc. Patrick
Burree, 22, of Santa Barbara.
Giles, 25, of Provo, Utah, was not sympathetic. "I told you not to
talk to her like that," he said, shaking his head in one of those
"some people never learn" gestures.
After a short rest, the donkey moved on its own.
The final push, to about 8,000 feet, was through a grove of pine trees
to a meadow the size of several football fields, with a small stream,
shade trees and an abundance of sweet grass. A snow-capped peak loomed
in the distance.
For the donkeys and the mules -- bred for strength and stamina -- the
size of their loads and the steepness of the terrain were no problem.
For the Marines, each with a 30-pound pack, they were.
Many were winded and flushed.
"She's OK, but I could be better," admitted Campbell, scratching
Annie's chin and patting her sides.
"We wanted a challenge and we got what we asked for," Cross said.
Campbell, of Pleasant Hill, Mo., and Cross, of Altus, Okla., were
pleased they had passed the first test. Campbell let Gus, a friend of
Annie's, take a bite of an apple -- and then took a bite himself.
"A little bit of donkey slobber never hurt nobody," he said.
Marines rested; animals grazed. The march down would be quicker,
easier.
"Now we know we can do it," Cross said, "even when you get a stubborn
one."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-donkeys7-2009jul07,0,3448109.story
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F07E6D9173FE633A25754C2A9629C946296D6CF
and
Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines
I'm Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines
I feed my horse on corn and beans,
And sport young ladies in their teens
Tho' a Captain in the Army.
I teach the ladies how to dance
How to dance, how to dance
I teach the ladies how to dance
For I'm the pet of the Army
cho: I'm Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines
I feed my horse on corn and beans,
And often live beyond my means
Tho' a Captain in the Army.
I joined the Corps when twenty-one
Of course I thought it capital fun
When the enemy comes, of course I run
For I'm not cut out for the Army.
When I left home, mamma she cried
Mamma she cried, mamma she cried,
When I left home, mamma she cried,
"He's not cut out for the Army."
The first time I went out for drill
The bugler sounding made me ill
Of the battlefield I'd had my fill
For I'm not cut out for the Army,
The officers, they all did shout
They all did shout, they all did shout,
The officers, they all did shout,
"Why, kick him out of the Army!"
Note: An English music hall number that was very popular in the
U.S. around the turn of the (last) century: It survives chiefly
as a singing square dance call. RG
Dennis
> The song doesn't boost the Marines that much.
The song's about horses, not mules, and I think it's a different sort
of Marines.
I was wondering whether we'd do this in Afghanistan! It makes so
much sense for that terrain. And it's so much better than our soldiers
breaking their *own* backs carrying things in the mountains.
I wonder if we'll use yaks?
Dennis
William Black
> Marines' beasts of burden are again leading the pack
> For centuries, donkeys and mules have been the preferred mode of
> military transport in Afghanistan. At a training center in the Sierra
> Nevada, Marines learn how to handle the sure-footed animals.
I seem to remember predicting this a few years ago.
--
William Black
Jack Linthicum
A little late, even then
“The training center here uses mules, as they have been since the
inception of the facility in the early 1950s,” said Gunnery Sgt.
Steven Brunner, Company Gunnery Sergeant for Headquarters & Service
Company, 1/3, and a native of St. Petersburg, Fla.
“We have learned, and history has proven, that even though we have the
best and most advanced modern military equipment, they still have
their limitations. In the mountains, you’re going to experience some
of those limitations.”
Andrew Chaplin
news:Xns9C413F5BD82DFts...@130.133.1.4...
> Jack Linthicum wrote:
>
>> The song doesn't boost the Marines that much.
>
> The song's about horses, not mules, and I think it's a different sort
> of Marines.
>
> I was wondering whether we'd do this in Afghanistan! It makes so
> much sense for that terrain. And it's so much better than our soldiers
> breaking their *own* backs carrying things in the mountains.
>
> I wonder if we'll use yaks?
>
> Dennis
Once the mules trust you, they are amenable, although you always have to be
careful (my great-great-grandfather, an armourer and a shoeing smith in the
Royal Artillery in India, was invalided out after being kicked and crippled).
The RA's mountain batteries could cover more ground on the march with their
pack mules (more than 60 miles per day) than any other troops of their time,
even on the Northwest Frontier.
<Eton Boating Song as rendered by Kipling>
Smoking my pipe in the mountings, sniffin' the mornin' cool,
I walks in my old brown gaiters, along o' my old brown mule,
With seventy gunners behind me, and never a beggar forgets,
That it's only the pick of the Army that handles our dear little pets.
For we all love the screw guns, the screw guns, they all love you.
So, when we call 'round with a few guns, of course, you will know what to do:
Just send in your chief and surrender, it's worse if you fights or you runs.
You can go where you please, you can skid up the trees
But you can't get away from the guns.
</Eton Boating Song as rendered by Kipling>
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)
William Black
> On Jul 7, 9:12 am, William Black <william.bl...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>> Jack Linthicum wrote:
>> > Marines' beasts of burden are again leading the pack
>> > For centuries, donkeys and mules have been the preferred mode of
>> > military transport in Afghanistan. At a training center in the Sierra
>> > Nevada, Marines learn how to handle the sure-footed animals.
>>
>> I seem to remember predicting this a few years ago.
>>
>> --
>> William Black
>
> A little late, even then
Perhaps, I seem to remember someone saying that helicopters do all that now
and I replied that helicopters don't work terribly well in Afghanistan and
they'd have to go back to mules at some point...
--
William Black
Beausaber
> The red-hued donkey snorted, nibbled on grass and let loose that
> distinctive braying, which begins with a loud nasal inhalation and
> concludes with an even louder blast of deep-throated protest.
SNIP
Which is the reason some armies slit the vocal cords - better
a silent mule than a dead troop given away by his animal.
Jack Linthicum
But a resentful mule?
William Black
British ( and Indian) army mules in WWII had their vocal chords removed to
allow their use on deep penetration patrols.
--
William Black
Richard Casady
<willia...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>British ( and Indian) army mules in WWII had their vocal chords removed to
>allow their use on deep penetration patrols.
I read that one of the nasty parts of war was the screams of the
wounded horses. Bloodcurdling, they say, and for a long time, since
flying bullets and shot preclude just finishing them off. To digress,
someone asked what bayonets were good for, since they inflicted few
casualties. It was pointed out that the enemy's horses were impressed.
Casady
Beausaber
> On Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:52:21 +0100, William Black
> someone asked what bayonets were good for, since they inflicted few
> casualties. It was pointed out that the enemy's horses were impressed.
>
> Casady
SNIP
Yes, the reason that infantry formed square at the command "Prepare to
recieve cavalry!" is that a horse, unlike a human, will not throw
itself headlong against something it views as dangerous - which a
double rank of sharp points obviously was.
BTW, I wonder what the USMC uses as lead horses. The US cavalry's
prefered mount in the "Good Ole Days" was the Morgan (British Empire
used the Australian Waler, which originated in New South Wales, WWII
Soviets the Budyenny, developed specifically as a cavalry mount and I
seem to recall the Indians had a post-WWII breeding progam that led to
their adoption of a new standard mount around 1960), although my
choice would be an English Hunter (technically, a type and not a
breed).
Jack Linthicum
Afghan ponies if you read their press. No reason to haul a horse off
to an area it can't feed off of or negotiate.
Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who
Rode to Victory in Afghanistan (Hardcover) by Doug Stanton
Andrew Chaplin
news:1a22c3f5-b1ba-4e34...@37g2000yqp.googlegroups.com...
--------------------------------
SNIP
--------------------------------
In Canada, use a Canuck. The horse shares lineage with the Morgan, and can
handle the climate. It's a little small, but it's tough, personable,
intelligent and curious, like a dog that can eat forage.
Dennis
> To digress,
>> someone asked what bayonets were good for, since they inflicted few
>> casualties. It was pointed out that the enemy's horses were impressed.
>
> SNIP
>
> Yes, the reason that infantry formed square at the command "Prepare to
> recieve cavalry!" is that a horse, unlike a human, will not throw
> itself headlong against something it views as dangerous - which a
> double rank of sharp points obviously was.
This reminds me of a story. Sometime around WWII, maybe just after,
someone was reviewing field artillery procedures. There was a period of
maybe 5 seconds where everyone seemed to just stand there doing nothing,
and the reviewers couldn't think of what it was for.
Finally, someone exclaimed, "Ah, I have it! They are holding the
horses!"
Dennis
Arved Sandstrom
> On Jul 8, 8:19 am, Richard Casady <richardcas...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>> On Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:52:21 +0100, William Black
> To digress,
>> someone asked what bayonets were good for, since they inflicted few
>> casualties. It was pointed out that the enemy's horses were impressed.
>>
>> Casady
>
> SNIP
>
> Yes, the reason that infantry formed square at the command "Prepare to
> recieve cavalry!" is that a horse, unlike a human, will not throw
> itself headlong against something it views as dangerous - which a
> double rank of sharp points obviously was.
Individual soldiers are able to convince (delude?) themselves that they
themselves will somehow against all odds survive; it'll be their fellows
to left and to right that get horribly slaughtered. All you need is that
one little spark of hope.
To put it another way, given a certain tactical situation, where any one
individual human or horse has a 1 in 10 chance of surviving, a human
thinks "I'll be one of the 1 in 10"; a horse thinks "F**k, I'm toast".
That's why humans gamble and buy lottery tickets, and horses don't.
AHS
Andrew Chaplin
I believe that story is more often associated with the Royal Artillery during
its transition from the horse-drawn 18 Pounder to the tractor-drawn 25
Pounder. There were apparently surplus members of the gun detachments standing
idle as the new gun came into action. A review of the specs showed that they
were there to manage the gun teams. It was gunnery staff in the RA
feather-bedding to maintain the strength of the regiment. They got caught.
Dennis
> Once the mules trust you, they are amenable, although you always have
> to be careful (my great-great-grandfather, an armourer and a shoeing
> smith in the Royal Artillery in India, was invalided out after being
> kicked and crippled). The RA's mountain batteries could cover more
> ground on the march with their pack mules (more than 60 miles per day)
> than any other troops of their time, even on the Northwest Frontier.
One of my father's friends flew supplies "over the Hump" into China
during WWII. One of his stories was about flying in a load of mules. The
mules panicked and started kicking everything; they had to shoot them!
In adult life I read a story about a bunch of mules being flown into
Europe in a glider. They obviously did a better job; every mule had his
own stall and had blinders. The mules did fine, bending their knees to
keep their balance as the gliders flew down. They did have someone
standing by with a shotgun if the mules panicked.
I have no experience with mules myself.
Dennis
Dennis
> To put it another way, given a certain tactical situation, where any one
> individual human or horse has a 1 in 10 chance of surviving, a human
> thinks "I'll be one of the 1 in 10"; a horse thinks "F**k, I'm toast".
> That's why humans gamble and buy lottery tickets, and horses don't.
What does a horse's ass think?
Dennis
Dennis
>: What does a horse's ass think?
>
> I don't know. What DO you think?
Hard to say. Horses don't unusally own donkeys.
Dennis