nomad_556

nomad_556 OP t1_jee1uha wrote

Reply to comment by nullcharstring in TIL that, during the Cold War, every infantry and armor battalion in the U.S Army had one officer trained to deploy the Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM), commonly known as the backpack nuke by nomad_556

Source for that claim is a history of the military art textbook written by a West Point professor that is a leading authority in Cold War history. It’s a pretty damned reliable source

Just a note that “trained to deploy” doesn’t mean actually issued the device. Very likely that the training was a precaution but very few devices were actually issued.

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nomad_556 OP t1_jecvksj wrote

Reply to comment by refreshing_username in TIL that, during the Cold War, every infantry and armor battalion in the U.S Army had one officer trained to deploy the Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM), commonly known as the backpack nuke by nomad_556

What’s interesting is that Russia’s military has a very curious dichotomy. One of my college professors was deployed many times as a logistics officer, and has a masters in history. She’s very well qualified to talk military history and while I was studying she pointed out an interesting trend.

Russia’s military is very poorly structured for attack. They don’t have a great Air Force or navy. They don’t train for assault, and their doctrine is old. Aside from WW2, modern Russia hasn’t really ever attempted to invade a foreign nation on a large scale (except Ukraine, which has been an abject failure).

What they are REALLY good at is defending their land. They have a ton of armor, a ton of artillery. Almost everyone who’s tried to invade Russia has failed. Hitler failed, napoleon failed, the Japanese almost succeeded but couldn’t quite (Russo-Japanese war prior to WW1).

It’s why Ukraine is going so poorly. Russia simply isn’t great at invasions. But they’re damned good at protecting the motherland (although they’d probably fall eventually if attacked by nato, it would be a long and bloody war).

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nomad_556 OP t1_ject3o3 wrote

Reply to comment by themagicbong in TIL that, during the Cold War, every infantry and armor battalion in the U.S Army had one officer trained to deploy the Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM), commonly known as the backpack nuke by nomad_556

Standards were different back then. Heavy customs enforcement wasn’t a thing like it is now. Hell, even in the last 20 years it’s taken a while to heavily enforce them.

I knew a staff sergeant once who was deployed to the Middle East in the early 2000s. He told me a about how when he was on deployment they destroyed a hostile truck (believe it was a car bomb, don’t quite recall).

In the wreckage of that truck he found some prayer beads, perfectly unharmed. He took them and brought them home. Back then during customs the tape they’d use to signal baggage had been checked wasn’t permanent. All he did was wait for the inspectors to slap the tape on and turn their backs, then into his luggage went the beads.

Still has them hanging in his car to this day.

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nomad_556 OP t1_jebwdlw wrote

Reply to comment by IamMillwright in TIL that, during the Cold War, every infantry and armor battalion in the U.S Army had one officer trained to deploy the Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM), commonly known as the backpack nuke by nomad_556

I know at least in the US some Korea/Vietnam vets managed to sneak weapons home and hide them in caches, some of which have never been found. I find it very hard to believe that the Soviet’s didn’t do the same, especially considering how much USSR equipment has been popping up in ukraine

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