The worst jobs in war

the_tyrant · 11-07-10, 01:01 PM

http://www.cracked.com/article_18796...story-war.html

somehow, being on a S-boat is paradise compared to these roles

nikimcbee · 11-07-10, 04:18 PM

Ha! I knew it

Quote:

In 1942, Joseph Stalin established Order 227 to make it clear that no commander or soldier fighting in the war had the authority to retreat in battle. And anyone who defied the order would be eligible to serve in something called "penal battalions." These separate units of convicts and rejects were intentionally sent to do the ****tiest and most suicidal jobs in the war. They were to be sacrificed so as not to risk "real" soldiers.
Thus, penal battalions were composed of gulag labor camp inmates, disgraced soldiers accused of cowardice and liberated POWs. You read that right ... their own POWs were punished for their stupidity of getting caught by having to serve in penal battalions, and that's if they weren't executed on the spot after liberation. So why not just run away? Because backing them up were barrier troops who were there for no other reason than to kill soldiers who tried to retreat.

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_18796...#ixzz14dLqmhih

Jimbuna · 11-07-10, 04:28 PM

In the Brit army the pioneer corps must have been an awful job....burying the dead and cleaning out the interior of damaged and destroyed tanks.

Platapus · 11-07-10, 05:27 PM

Two words

Graves Registration.

Torvald Von Mansee · 11-07-10, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Platapus

Two words

Graves Registration.

Came here to say this.

Though I suppose you'd get used to it after a while.

TLAM Strike · 11-07-10, 06:47 PM

I can think of another. Forgot what they were called (maybe August would know). But in the event that a bomber caring a nuclear bomb crashed there was a team of paratroopers who were to go in to the radioactive wreckage, retrieve the bomb and guard it until someone could show up and recover it.

August · 11-07-10, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

I can think of another. Forgot what they were called (maybe August would know). But in the event that a bomber caring a nuclear bomb crashed there was a team of paratroopers who were to go in to the radioactive wreckage, retrieve the bomb and guard it until someone could show up and recover it.

Never heard of that particular nasty job but it sounds like something the Air Force might have.

Platapus · 11-07-10, 09:04 PM

If there is an accident involving an Air Force controlled Nuclear Weapon, or a nuclear weapon in an Air Force controlled area, the unit that would respond would be EOD and specifically my old unit the venerable 2701 EODS at Hill AFB

We were the USAF's Nuclear Response EOD team.

August · 11-07-10, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Platapus

If there is an accident involving an Air Force controlled Nuclear Weapon, or a nuclear weapon in an Air Force controlled area, the unit that would respond would be EOD and specifically my old unit the venerable 2701 EODS at Hill AFB

We were the USAF's Nuclear Response EOD team.

That explains a lot...

Platapus · 11-07-10, 09:50 PM

I resemble that remark

TLAM Strike · 11-07-10, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Platapus

I resemble that remark

I think you resemble this more...

papa_smurf · 11-08-10, 06:17 AM

How about been in bomb disposal in the second world war? Everyday could be you last, you have to learn about each new bomb, and it could go off any moment and you'll go up in "the pink mist" as it was known.

TLAM Strike · 11-08-10, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by papa_smurf

How about been in bomb disposal in the second world war? Everyday could be you last, you have to learn about each new bomb, and it could go off any moment and you'll go up in "the pink mist" as it was known.

Heck bomb disposal in any war is like that. Do you think that the bad guys in Iran and Afghanistan don't make new styles of bombs. They are changing every couple of weeks.

I read that in the space of a few months in Iraq they went through every possible radio frequency to detonate IEDs before we jammed them all. It took 12 years for that to happen with the IRA in N. Ireland.

Herr-Berbunch · 11-08-10, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

I can think of another. Forgot what they were called (maybe August would know). But in the event that a bomber caring a nuclear bomb crashed there was a team of paratroopers who were to go in to the radioactive wreckage, retrieve the bomb and guard it until someone could show up and recover it.

I've been on the UK Nuclear Accident Response Organisation, to provide secure comms in such an event (well, a similar event, as we no longer have nuclear bombers

, it'd probable involve either road or rail accident now, or non-military nuclear carrying flights!), never got called out for anything nuclear but we did many exercises and sometimes the first to deploy overseas (Sierra Leone, Kosovo, etc... ) from the UK Mil as we were all prepped ready to go. And it would always be on a Friday afternoon after a Thursday cabinet/MoD meeting.

Aside from Graves Registration, simply being one back home to break the bad news, and hearts, would be emotionally shattering

Jimbuna · 11-12-10, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

Aside from Graves Registration, simply being one back home to break the bad news, and hearts, would be emotionally shattering

*Talking in terms of Police work*

Delivering a death message was always the hardest task

11-07-10, 01:01 PM	#1
the_tyrant Admiral Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Canada Posts: 2,272 Downloads: 58 Uploads: 0	The worst jobs in war http://www.cracked.com/article_18796...story-war.html somehow, being on a S-boat is paradise compared to these roles

11-07-10, 04:28 PM	#3
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,473 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	In the Brit army the pioneer corps must have been an awful job....burying the dead and cleaning out the interior of damaged and destroyed tanks. __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

11-07-10, 05:27 PM	#4
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,361 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	Two words Graves Registration. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

11-07-10, 06:47 PM	#6
TLAM Strike Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Rochester, New York Posts: 8,633 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 6	I can think of another. Forgot what they were called (maybe August would know). But in the event that a bomber caring a nuclear bomb crashed there was a team of paratroopers who were to go in to the radioactive wreckage, retrieve the bomb and guard it until someone could show up and recover it. __________________

11-07-10, 09:04 PM	#8
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,361 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	If there is an accident involving an Air Force controlled Nuclear Weapon, or a nuclear weapon in an Air Force controlled area, the unit that would respond would be EOD and specifically my old unit the venerable 2701 EODS at Hill AFB We were the USAF's Nuclear Response EOD team. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

11-07-10, 09:50 PM	#10
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,361 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	I resemble that remark __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

11-08-10, 06:17 AM	#12
papa_smurf Ocean Warrior Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: High Peak, Derbyshire Posts: 2,851 Downloads: 33 Uploads: 0	How about been in bomb disposal in the second world war? Everyday could be you last, you have to learn about each new bomb, and it could go off any moment and you'll go up in "the pink mist" as it was known. __________________