most wars are over resources.. get used to it. If you like the things America has to offer then you need to get your hands dirty or at least have a wing dipped in blood. Bottom line is its survival of the fittest, if we dont secure foreign resources and protect our interests then someone else will take them and sooner or later they will come closer to home and try and take ours. It boils down to planning ahead, storing reserves and not using ur own supplies while there are others available - remember, resources are finite.

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Well we laid a strip fer the Jersey Shore
An' prepared to cross the line
I could see the bridge 'as lined with bears
But I didn't have a doggone dime
I sez Pig-Pen, this here's the Rubber Duck
We just ain't a gonna pay no toll
So we crashed the gate doin' ninety-eight
I sez, let them truckers roll, 10-4
"Convoy"

perhaps you should start playing Age of Empires on the CPU to get an idea of what needs to be done to build and maintain a Nation..

__________________
Well we laid a strip fer the Jersey Shore
An' prepared to cross the line
I could see the bridge 'as lined with bears
But I didn't have a doggone dime
I sez Pig-Pen, this here's the Rubber Duck
We just ain't a gonna pay no toll
So we crashed the gate doin' ninety-eight
I sez, let them truckers roll, 10-4
"Convoy"

AoE is okay. i'd rather play civilization. for some alternate strokes of reality, i'll also play command and conquer: red alert 3. back during the red alert days of when westwood studios was still around, i always chose the side of the soviets. they had the better weaponry and technology.

I know they cant, my position is that i would have an illegal one if i was there.. period! repeat..i would not be in that truck without a defensive weapon whether company policy or not, i would make sure it kept concealed until needed. Now, I trust my military to get the job done but they are human and make mistakes and yes, some may panic, especially those in the Reserves that havent been training long.. now i'm not knocking the reserves as i have a good friend that just returned from Liberty serving in a Stryker unit and he wouldnt have pulled away, but even still he is a part time soldier that has been called up to full time duty..

btw, do we know if that unit actually broke rank & ran or were they following operational protocol? my understanding is there were no court martials or findings of wrong doing? Yes on the video it looks bad and i wouldve been pissed but the guy also panicked and did not do anything to get out of there.. he was cluttering up the radio with whining and not thinking of ways to make the situation better... as i said previously i would have:

1. had the guy behind give me a bump to try & restart & if that didnt work;

2. had him pull up beside and jump in his truck or;

3. jumped out the passenger side and ran to a truck or humvee behind me or;

4. made a run to a nearby house/building and started taking prisoners or called in the cavalry for extraction.

__________________
Well we laid a strip fer the Jersey Shore
An' prepared to cross the line
I could see the bridge 'as lined with bears
But I didn't have a doggone dime
I sez Pig-Pen, this here's the Rubber Duck
We just ain't a gonna pay no toll
So we crashed the gate doin' ninety-eight
I sez, let them truckers roll, 10-4
"Convoy"

The problem wouldnt be just stashing a weapon..It would be impossable to get one..Yes you could buy a knife at the px...But no soldier is gonna sell you an m-16,and you will never be in a position to get an ak-47..There is just no way to have a fire arm there..Yes you will hear stories,but they r just that..Besides,why would they let people have them who have no clue what they r doin with them?No one worries about getting shot,its the IED's that kill..The trucks u would use have combat locks on them..On top of that there is a panic button in the truck..push it and a message will show up on the qualcomm asking if you r ok..If you say you need help,you will be callin all cars lol...The unit didnt leave,but that one guntruck in the video did not stay with that truck like he should have..RumRunner,u either have courage or you dont..Its not an active duty/reserve thing..You are born with it or you aint got it,its not somthing you can teach..

as much as i would love an M-4 in the truck I would settle for trying to get a Beretta issued/signed out after explaining I have experience in handling a weapon. If that didnt work, I would try to acquire something off the street like a crappy Makarov or Star pistol or whatever Russian or Chinese stuff they are using..An AK would be great to hide behind the seat if possible but not very low profile if having to move it around.

Are they using those frequency jammers in the convoys to knock out the remote detonation of IED's? and how well are the KBR trucks armor plated if at all? can they at least repell small arms fire with bullet proof glass etc?

__________________
Well we laid a strip fer the Jersey Shore
An' prepared to cross the line
I could see the bridge 'as lined with bears
But I didn't have a doggone dime
I sez Pig-Pen, this here's the Rubber Duck
We just ain't a gonna pay no toll
So we crashed the gate doin' ninety-eight
I sez, let them truckers roll, 10-4
"Convoy"

I hope these arent the vests that KBR is giving their drivers!!

__________________
Well we laid a strip fer the Jersey Shore
An' prepared to cross the line
I could see the bridge 'as lined with bears
But I didn't have a doggone dime
I sez Pig-Pen, this here's the Rubber Duck
We just ain't a gonna pay no toll
So we crashed the gate doin' ninety-eight
I sez, let them truckers roll, 10-4
"Convoy"

In 05 the Volvos and MBs had ballistic blankets. Kind of like a giant vest on curtain rod that you could pull around from windshield post to post. You might have gotten some kind of weapon from Coalition troops like Pol or Bulgarians, but I think most of them have demobed. And KBR security runs random checks of your hootch any time they want looking for booze and drugs mainly. What that video showed was a very isolated incident. Like IV said the IED's are the main danger. They do have cell jammers, but these guys are very resouceful. they were taking heat sensors out of lights and using them as detonators and the like. In the early days they would put them in dead animal bodies. 1st convoy I was ever in looked like side winder in desert. Any thing like different color asphault or pile of rocks and everyone veered away. I was thinking who the Hell taught these guys to drive. lol IR is correct . You either have a knack for this kind of work or not. It is 99% boredom and maybe 1% terror.

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The problem with getting somthin on the street is,that you are never in that kind of situation to be out an about in public,just drivin through it..The military will not sign anything out to anyone..And you if u did find PVT.Pyle's m-16 laying there on base with no one around,I would not suggest picking that up and stashing it...The base will be on lockdown til the weapon is found..No one leaves..We had an inccident at one base like that..The kbr crew would leave on rhino buses to go on R&r..They didnt let them offbase til the next day when the weapon was found...Plane tickets ,R&R dates,and all that had to be redone for almost 40 people..A big headache..Here is some pics of a coupld up armoured recovery trucks we had..

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Thats what recovery does..The custom truck was called "the warrior"..But it sucked cause it only had a single stage boom,and like 15,000# winches...The beast with the 40,yes 40 trailer tires is a het..It is made to haul tanks..The trailer swings out the opposite way you turn,hydralics control that of course..That has two 55,000 pound winches..Its a bad mother...KBR does have a het division..Some are civillian hets,and some are military like the one above..Anyway,you can see the up armor..The volvos are up armored like the white wrecker,and the mercedes are done alittle different,but still pretty safe..I like those euro trucks..They have synchronized clutches..They shift like a sports car lol...