NEWS: Chainsaws Reduce Risk of Injury to Troops in Afghanistan

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Stihls

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Chainsaws Reduce Risk Of Injury To Troops In Afghanistan -link -->>

Zhari District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan – The enemy has figured out the strategy here in Zhari but they have been unable to stop it. Day by day, Task Force Spartan is constricting the Taliban battlespace. It has become clear, at least in this small area of Afghanistan, that the Taliban are being strangled. The enemy remains strong but their legs are weakening. Nobody can discount the enemy’s courage or willingness to fight, or that they are being defeated. Task Force Spartan has been building combat outposts in the heart of enemy territory while conducting myriad other operations to kill the enemy, sap their willingness or desire to fight, and bring some order to this chaos.

Part of building new roads and outposts includes cutting down trees. Explosives are the chainsaw of war, and so naturally the troops have been cutting down trees with plastic explosives and detonation cord which thunder daily here. One might think that the fastest way to cut down a bunch of trees is to blow them up, but that’s not always true. Often the chainsaw is the tool of choice. The chainsaw method can be lighter and faster than using explosives. Importantly, when using explosives the civilians must be cleared out, but this is not so with a chainsaw. Importantly, too, before explosives can be used the troops must clear what they call a “BiP RAS.” (Blow in Place Restricted Air Space.) Our helicopters often fly so low that they can accidentally be blown out of the sky, or at least fragged, and obviously that is to be avoided. But the BiP RAS and other formalities also can take time, meaning our troops must stay in danger longer. On the other hand, our helicopter pilots don’t have to be warned about chainsaws.

Captain Doug Serota has been using chainsaws since he was a boy growing up in Alabama. When Captain Serota got his hands on a chainsaw, he stopped wasting time with explosives when possible. This reduces risks to his men, and frees time for other work. But like most everything, the chainsaw versus explosives question remains open. For instance, one of my tent mates, Sergeant Edward Wooden, has had to cross water here at night with explosives to blow down a tree. He stripped off his body armor, got across the water, quietly placed the explosives and slipped away. BOOM. Tree gone. The tree was large and would have required some time and much noise with a chainsaw, not to mention lights. In this neck of the woods a chainsaw is pretty much good for one thing: trees. Explosives, however, can be used for all sorts of tasks. In any case, the chainsaw in Captain Serota’s hands and the explosives in Sergeant Wooden’s hands have been knocking down a lot of trees. The Taliban are not happy to see their hiding places disappear.
 
Our military has always been very good at taking the terrain and making it into something that works better for us. That requires a lot of hard work and many armies are not willing to work that hard. The Brits were known to complain that our soldiers could take a forest and turn it into a fortress overnight, making their plans to attack the next day mere foolishness.




Mr. HE:cool:
 
I just wanted to say that as a Member here, and coincidentally a member of Task Force Spartan. I am with 3rd BDE 10Th MTN DIV LI ( SPARTANS) deployed to FOB PASAB. That this is a good post. I actually tried to get a few chainsaws brought with US this deployment as last deployment( brought my personal ms361 as unit would not provide or listen) in another Province they proved very valuable.

One of the hardest issues to overcome with running a saw over here is quality fuel, oil mix, and keeping stuff GTG( very few know how to use a saw, or maintain it properly)

Many of the engineers here have hydraulic operated saw attatchments for the engineer equipment, these are NOT very good at cutting stealthy as they require a hyd power source, usually an aux output from a machine.

Thanks
 
mlh29, is there someplace we can send you supplies that you need? Bars, chains, filters, spark plugs, starter rope, bar oil, mix oil, anything you need. I'm sure I've got some stuff to spare. It would all be new, probably in new packaging even. Let us know in this thread or send me a PM.


Thanks for your service, stay safe, give'em hell.



Mr. HE:cool:
 
It just occured to me, I've got some little booklets on safe cutting practices and basic saw maintenance too. Don't know if that would help or not, but might be good reading if you all are ever bored.:D




Mr. HE:cool:
 
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