Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military
From: meirose@BRL.MIL
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Explosive Ammo
Message-ID: <7558@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 17 Jun 89 04:46:42 GMT
Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM
Lines: 39
Approved: military@att.att.com

From:     meirose@BRL.MIL

>Hypothetically, if Y percent of hits with 'honest' ammo results in dead
>enemy, and X percent results in disabling injuries, then you have
>100-X-Y percent of the enemy casulties who will be patched up and return 
>to battle, probably rather angry at having been hit in the first place.  
>If, on the other hand, 'illegal' ammo increases either X or Y or both, 
>fewer enemy casulties will end up back in the lines against you, which
>improves the chances of you and your men surviving.  
>
>If you were an infantry commander, which would you rather use???

       If I were an infantry commander, I would definitely prefer the use
   of 'honest' ammo.  Whenever you kill an enemy soldier, you neutralize one
   soldier.  When you wound a soldier, you neutralize him, and the one or two
   other soldiers that try to patch him up or carry him to an aid station.
   A wounded soldier also requires more money/material to remove from the
   battlefield.  The wounded soldier requires an ambulance/medivac, surgeons
   and hospital space. 

      Another side of the argument is the morale side.  IMHO, when one
   of your compatriots is wounded it takes some of your concentration away
   from the fire fight.  Your worried about him or your trying to get him
   clear.  If the soldier is killed, there are two main reactions: fear and
   anger, and you where afraid before the death.

      Both of these arguments apply to a single engagement/battle, but 
   if there is wide spread use of 'illegal' ammo on one side, and if the
   ammo makes a large difference in the immediate kill rate, these arguments
   would make a difference in the overall war.

   (please excuse any impression of 'cold hearted attitude')

  Disclaimer:  These opinions are mine (at least it tastes like my foot 8-) )
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   Joseph Meirose                          |  Nuclear Winter gives a whole 
   Army Material Systems Analysis Activity |  new meaning to the phrase:
   Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD             |    "When Hell freezes over"
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