Mark's Afghanistan Adventure: HiMARS

Yesterday I went over to look at the HiMARS attachment that is adjacent to our camp. We often see their Marines in our BAS. HiMARS stands for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. They use to be an artillery company that shot 155mm Howitzers (M198). I know this because I was a GMO with 1/11 from 1998-2000. 1/11 is an artillery battalion and we use to go to 29 Palms to shoot our very loud and impressive artillery. Back then this company was also traditional artillery, but in the past few years has switched to the HiMARS role.

HiMARS are a rather impressive weapon. They are constantly on standby waiting for calls to provide artillery support for troops engaged in combat or to target buildings. The rockets they shoot can travel up to 80-100 Km (50-60 miles) and are very accurate in their impact zone. They are obnoxiously loud when they launch, but apparently are silent as they approach the target. They can carry various munitions rounds that serve various roles.

We were able to talk to the command element of this company, tour their command center, and look over the vehicles. Their training sergeant decided to have them demonstrate a dry run for us and roused up the ready crew. They basically get geared up and roll the vehicles just out the gate to a firing position. Pictures below.

Movie Reviews:

Kingdom of Heaven - would highly recommend. Good acting, get a little history, decent battles.
Taken - would also recommend. Lots of good violence.
Gamer – don’t waste your time.
Currently watching season 2 of Seinfeld. It is so funny looking at the hairstyles and clothing from the early 90’s.

Book Review:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Kind of like a Silence of the Lambs who done it. I thoroughly enjoyed and have since bought the sequel The Girl Who Played With Fire.