Posted on Jan 17, 2016
Blog: 10 US sailors held by Iran confirmed freed
2.42K
12
9
5
5
0
A former Navy Seal Officer on what may have "really" happened to those two Navy Fast Boats:
"MattBracken FactsWillOut • 4 days ago
I rarely pull out my dusty old trident, but in this case, here goes. I was a Navy SEAL officer in the 1980s, and this kind of operation (transiting small boats in foreign waters) was our bread and butter. Today, these boats both not only had radar, but multiple GPS devices, including chart plotters that place your boat's icon right on the chart. The claim by Iran that the USN boats "strayed into Iranian waters" is complete bull$#it.
For an open-water transit between nations, the course is studied and planned in advance by the leaders of the Riverine Squadron, with specific attention given to staying wide and clear of any hostile nation's claimed territorial waters. The boats are given a complete mechanical check before departure, and they have sufficient fuel to accomplish their mission plus extra. If, for some unexplainable and rare circumstance one boat broke down, the other would tow it, that's why two boats go on these trips and not one! It's called "self-rescue" and it's SOP. . . ."
"MattBracken FactsWillOut • 4 days ago
I rarely pull out my dusty old trident, but in this case, here goes. I was a Navy SEAL officer in the 1980s, and this kind of operation (transiting small boats in foreign waters) was our bread and butter. Today, these boats both not only had radar, but multiple GPS devices, including chart plotters that place your boat's icon right on the chart. The claim by Iran that the USN boats "strayed into Iranian waters" is complete bull$#it.
For an open-water transit between nations, the course is studied and planned in advance by the leaders of the Riverine Squadron, with specific attention given to staying wide and clear of any hostile nation's claimed territorial waters. The boats are given a complete mechanical check before departure, and they have sufficient fuel to accomplish their mission plus extra. If, for some unexplainable and rare circumstance one boat broke down, the other would tow it, that's why two boats go on these trips and not one! It's called "self-rescue" and it's SOP. . . ."
Blog: 10 US sailors held by Iran confirmed freed
Posted from americanthinker.com
Iran
Navy
Persian/Arabian Gulf
Navy SEALs
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 2
2
2
0
This entire thread on this blog is full of knowledgeable comments of Veterans who have real life experience playing this cat and mouse game with the Iranians in the Persian Gulf. One of the most likely scenarios seems to be that they were "electronically Jammed" across the spectrum, and immediately lost all communication by any means with any form of higher command that could bring the Navy version of a Quick Reaction Force to their assistance. It seems to my limited understanding of naval warfare, that we are going to have to routinely provide Greater Force Protection to any US Naval vessel, especially the smaller boats like these RIB Fast Boats, in these waters, or shadow such transiting smaller Navy vessels with Hellfire armed drones or combat aircraft (or their equivalent) to prevent the Iranians from doing this kind of thing. But again if you cannot communicate due to jamming, how could you let such a drone know you were in danger and needed fire support?
No doubt, The Iranians were using the most cutting edge Russian Supplied jammers/Electronic Warfare Equipment, and this was a kind of a
"Dry Run" to see how our Navy and other area Forces responds to a hostile act such as what this was. We failed badly as far as I can tell. Whatever ROE's the US Navy is operating under in these waters has to be significantly upgraded so nothing like this ever happens again
If it is true these boats were jammed and captured, this provides powerful evidence that we may have fallen behind the Russians and their allies, like the Iranians in ECW. There has already been widely circulated reports that the Russians brought with them to Syria their very best and latest ECW equipment (along with their most sophisticated Surface to Air Missile Batteries, obviously not for ISIS or any other Syrian rebel groups but to defend against US and our Allies, should we decide to use air power to force the Russians out of Syria).
We have been fighting this "shadow" war against the Iranians since the 1980s, in the Persian Gulf Waters, on and off, and our current president seems to be "full speed ahead" damn the torpedoes, when it comes to trying to make peace with this evil Iranian Regime, that has killed so many Soldiers and Marines in Iraq, with its proxy war against the US there , providing EFP (Explosively formed Penetrators), and other lethal weaponry to the Shiite Militias to be used to inflict as much death, injuries and pain on US Forces in order to get us to leave Iraq.
It worked with/on Obama . . . he left Iraq without a significant stabilizing US Military force remaining in Iraq, so that he could brag that he had kept a campaign pledge he made when running for President (ignoring that all important distinction that running for president is not the same as actually BEING President), and in so doing he willfully ignored the advice of many in the Military, and Civilian Expert Advisers, (and our regional Sunni Arab allies) who warned him that Iran would fill the power vacuum with our departure. They have.
This is one of many, many reasons that I voted Obama as our worst CinC in the last five president, right after his predecessor, who never should have invaded Iraq, in the first place, and taken out Sadam who helped maintain regional stability and keep the Iranians ambitions in check. We did what the Iranians could not do, get rid of Sadam, and they got the benefit of his death and the end of his nasty regime, while shedding no Iranian blood or treasure in the process. For that I blame GWB/Cheney/Rumsfeld and the Neocons.
No doubt, The Iranians were using the most cutting edge Russian Supplied jammers/Electronic Warfare Equipment, and this was a kind of a
"Dry Run" to see how our Navy and other area Forces responds to a hostile act such as what this was. We failed badly as far as I can tell. Whatever ROE's the US Navy is operating under in these waters has to be significantly upgraded so nothing like this ever happens again
If it is true these boats were jammed and captured, this provides powerful evidence that we may have fallen behind the Russians and their allies, like the Iranians in ECW. There has already been widely circulated reports that the Russians brought with them to Syria their very best and latest ECW equipment (along with their most sophisticated Surface to Air Missile Batteries, obviously not for ISIS or any other Syrian rebel groups but to defend against US and our Allies, should we decide to use air power to force the Russians out of Syria).
We have been fighting this "shadow" war against the Iranians since the 1980s, in the Persian Gulf Waters, on and off, and our current president seems to be "full speed ahead" damn the torpedoes, when it comes to trying to make peace with this evil Iranian Regime, that has killed so many Soldiers and Marines in Iraq, with its proxy war against the US there , providing EFP (Explosively formed Penetrators), and other lethal weaponry to the Shiite Militias to be used to inflict as much death, injuries and pain on US Forces in order to get us to leave Iraq.
It worked with/on Obama . . . he left Iraq without a significant stabilizing US Military force remaining in Iraq, so that he could brag that he had kept a campaign pledge he made when running for President (ignoring that all important distinction that running for president is not the same as actually BEING President), and in so doing he willfully ignored the advice of many in the Military, and Civilian Expert Advisers, (and our regional Sunni Arab allies) who warned him that Iran would fill the power vacuum with our departure. They have.
This is one of many, many reasons that I voted Obama as our worst CinC in the last five president, right after his predecessor, who never should have invaded Iraq, in the first place, and taken out Sadam who helped maintain regional stability and keep the Iranians ambitions in check. We did what the Iranians could not do, get rid of Sadam, and they got the benefit of his death and the end of his nasty regime, while shedding no Iranian blood or treasure in the process. For that I blame GWB/Cheney/Rumsfeld and the Neocons.
(2)
(0)
LTC Yinon Weiss
Interesting observation on the ECW contingency. It's actually the only explanation that I've heard so far that actually makes sense. It could definitely be seen as an act of war, or at least aggression, though in an ironic twist, both countries have an incentive to keep it hidden.
(1)
(0)
Capt Lance Gallardo
LTC Yinon Weiss -BTW I read that the US Naval Academy is teaching Celestial navigation again too Middies. You can't ECW "Jam" your eyes or brain, or the starry sky, now can you as far as I know? Getting both our land and sea warriors to "back up" their GPS and other Electronic aids to navigation seems, with competent Land navigation with a map and compass and terrain features, and our Sea Warriors constantly verifying their GPS with Celestial Nav Shoots with a Sexton, seems to me to be crucial to both land and sea navigation. Maybe the US Navy will require a trained Navy Navigator (in addition to the Skipper who used to be a trained celestial navigator, and is ultimately responsible for the position of his ship) trained in Celestial Navigation to be an integral part of any crew that it operating in these and other hostile waters.
Anybody got a Compass and good 1:24000 Map? I hated Land Nav, night and Day courses, while at Marine Corps OCS and TBS but I forced myself to get better and I passed every Land Nav test without cheating. Our Land nav instructor was a former Force Marine Recon company commander, who told us a story of a Vietnam Marine Officer (infantry I think), who at some Marine Corps function, found out the Captain was the Primary Land Nav instructor at TBS and he urged the Captain to not let any lieutenants graduate who could not get through Land Nav.: The former Vietnam Combat vet was haunted by the fact that he helped a fellow Lt. cheat his way through Land Nav while at TBS in the late sixties. "A Cobra Pilot, in Vietnam contacted the Platoon Leader of a Marine Infantry Platoon, and informed the second lieutenant (who was that TBS classmate who cheated his way through Land Nav at TBS), that he was leading his platoon the wrong way and towards an NVA Battalion. The Platoon Leader responded back on the radio that he that he "knew where he was and where he was going." His platoon was completely wiped out to the last man when they made contact with that NVA battalion. I have never verified this story, but we believed the Captain, who was one of the most decent and honorable of the tactics Captains that we received Infantry Instruction from while at TBS in Sept-Dec. 1990, during Desert Shield.
Anybody got a Compass and good 1:24000 Map? I hated Land Nav, night and Day courses, while at Marine Corps OCS and TBS but I forced myself to get better and I passed every Land Nav test without cheating. Our Land nav instructor was a former Force Marine Recon company commander, who told us a story of a Vietnam Marine Officer (infantry I think), who at some Marine Corps function, found out the Captain was the Primary Land Nav instructor at TBS and he urged the Captain to not let any lieutenants graduate who could not get through Land Nav.: The former Vietnam Combat vet was haunted by the fact that he helped a fellow Lt. cheat his way through Land Nav while at TBS in the late sixties. "A Cobra Pilot, in Vietnam contacted the Platoon Leader of a Marine Infantry Platoon, and informed the second lieutenant (who was that TBS classmate who cheated his way through Land Nav at TBS), that he was leading his platoon the wrong way and towards an NVA Battalion. The Platoon Leader responded back on the radio that he that he "knew where he was and where he was going." His platoon was completely wiped out to the last man when they made contact with that NVA battalion. I have never verified this story, but we believed the Captain, who was one of the most decent and honorable of the tactics Captains that we received Infantry Instruction from while at TBS in Sept-Dec. 1990, during Desert Shield.
(1)
(0)
0
0
0
Every time one of the Dets went out where I was they had a map with time, speed and correction charts if the Nav equipment went down. something else is going on here for them to being that close the Iranians thought they were in their water. The other odd thing is of one was broke why did the other not tow?? They should have had recovery gear on board to tow them out. There is a a lot of shady info goi go on here.
(0)
(0)
PO1 Matthew Murdock
Still they should have had a chart with waypoints and distances between them. That was SOP for us and they are not much different. Their Nav guy should know where they are all the time regardless of GPS.
(1)
(0)
Capt Lance Gallardo
PO1 Matthew Murdock - So then the Former Navy Seal Officer Matt Bracken's explanation that they were taken in international waters, after being electronically jammed, and unable to call in their position or for assistance, by a superior and overwhelming Iranian naval Force, seems the most plausible explanation to you then?
(0)
(0)
PO1 Matthew Murdock
It seems weird to me that guys that go through a 12 to 18 month long training cycle in all things related to small boats had no idea where they were. Unless they just got all stupid out there and no one knew what the fuck was going on. But I do think the Iranians held true to form and took them from international waters.
(1)
(0)
Capt Lance Gallardo
PO1 Matthew Murdock - We know that the North Korean are jamming our GPS Satellite signals and/or causing them to give inaccurate signals to aircraft operating in South Korea. It is not much of a stretch to think the North Koreans gave or sold this technology to the Iranians, whom they have helped develop their Nuclear Arms Program.
(0)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google