Parachute Crow?

[W. C. Stump]

Rick:

Shucks, I was hoping to share some of my crow and feathers with someone as I have had to eat enough over the Indian Balloon Observer's Badge. however, I think you did the right thing by closing down the potential character assassination of one of our members. If "Exbooty" has information of importance about any badge, then he should bring it on and leave the potato mashers at home.

[Prosper Keating]

In the airborne, we referred to non-para-trained personnel as 'crows'. It was a reasonably harmless label when applied to recruits but became an insult in the case of Senior NCOs, officers and assorted blanket-stackers, drivers, cooks-excused-boots and other forms of pondlife who swanned about the place - another bird in the mix - in red berets but had never really done P Company and would never attend parachute school but who were deemed vital to the administrative running of the unit. Did the Fallschirmjäger have any similar terms of abuse for jump-shy types who still managed to swagger about giving it large in jump smocks and FJ lids?

Prosper Keating

PS: even if someone is out to get me, it isn't Mr Sheppard and I am not in the least worried.

[Adam H]

Prosper,

I can't comment on the Germans but the Lawn Darts I know here seem to favour the term LEG (lacking enough guts) for anyone without jump wings on their uniform...

If our government sees fit to bring the defence budget up to a respectable level I might actually get loaded on my jump course sometime this century...otherwise I'm not holding my breath...

UTINQUE PARATUS

Cheers,

Adam

[Greg S]

Hey Prosper, There had to be some kind of derogative term used by the FJ and I would love to know what that was.

We (rangers) used the term "legs" for those who were not airborne qualified. "Dirty Nasty Leg."

We didn't care for the 82nd either and used to say if you weren't a Ranger then you were just support. The 101st was just killed when they went to an Air Assault Division . They all had good legacies but of course our unit pride superceded all, just like i'm sure theirs did as well.

[Michael Root]

Where were all these Bad Arse airborne boys while the 1st Armored Division (myself included) were Annihilating the Iraqi Republican Guard.

Rangers, 82nd pukes and the 1 O Worst boys are SUPPORT

Airborne units march in parades. Armored units win WARS.


Dirty Nasty Leg

[Greg S]

What kind of match was that. The Republican Guard was looking up for our air support while you all pounded them. We were waiting for it to get really hairy. It looked like you all didn't need us (rangers). The 82nd made it 60 miles from Baghdad. They had French Armored unit attached to them.

The Legs could handle that war one without us.

[Michael Root]

That my friend was the greatest show of american military might since WW2. Yes we had air superiority but that's been a USA trademark for the last 60 years.

Fortunately the air force still left 7th corps plenty of live targets.

As for the 82nd and the Frenchies, Scwarzkopf found them a place out in the middle of nowwhere where they could swap souveneirs and wouldn't hurt themselves. The 101st "air assaulted" into an abandoned area where they wouldn't get in the way.

The role of the American Airborne in the 21st century.

1) Hand out red cross parcels to refugees

2) Patrol "Hostile" areas with no ammunition on peacekeeping missions

3) Brag about Grenada and Panama (the place where they handed out purple hearts for heat exhaustion and water dehydration)

4) Watch the grass grow at hunter army air field

Ranger's new motto: Someone has to guard the women and children while the legs go off to war

[Greg S]

I have to agree with you on the 82nd and 1 O Worst. I have a friend next door from the 82nd that I through in a plug for.

However, treadhead - while the Rangers only number 2000 strong to include all three Bats and Regt. We are engaged in every conflict. Grenada, Panama, Haiti, yea and Somalia. We even had a raid in Afghanastan The use of Armored units will be limited if at all (except for APC's) in the near future. So its left up to the Rangers and their support to fight all other conflicts.


"Rangers Lead the Way" wonder how they got that motto Must be from fighting all of those conflicts

RLTW

[Greg S]

BTW

The treadheads did a damn good job. The Republican Guard didn't know what hit them.