Living in a Bradley Paradise

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Living in a Bradley ParadiseRia News just posted an article about the Bradley Fighting Vehicles in Europe. My curiosity was piqued as I spent 4 years in the U.S. Army working with these vehicles.The U.S. military reported that 117 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles in Europe were fully operational, although none of them were actually combat-ready, according to a report by RIA Novosti based on a Pentagon report.The Army allocated $10.1 million to restore 107 of the 117 vehicles. This was to be done by KBR. However, the company did not have mechanics with the necessary experience or personnel who could use the Army's inventory system. As of July 2025, only 51 BMPs had been restored to operational condition.The story shows how overextended the U.S. military is and how outdated the equipment is too. These Bradleys made a fine show in the 1980s and ran along into the Gulf Wars under the Bushes with credibility, as long as full air superiority, ground troops, and a batch of Abrams tanks were thrown into the equation. But in Ukraine, the Bradleys are pieced out, and the joy of hunting them down in the wild must be something like Teddy Roosevelt on an African safari.These vehicles were not exactly plush riding. In the back, there's not much wiggle room, and 6 dismounts would be crushed back there without being able to move a leg. We trained in the Mojave Desert and rattled around in the heat for six hours on a jaunt in the dust and sand, just in time to do the evening and night shifts, such as laying land mines and pounding metal stakes into the rock-hard soil all night. Dizzy from lack of sleep, we collapsed on the desert floor for two hours with the Milky Way looking down on us. The variation on the theme was to be sent to the cooks, all Black, to work as their dishwashers to the wee hours of the morning while they played cards or perhaps, with a wild halloo, took off after a sidewinder rattlesnake that slithered in for the evening. At 4am, time for perimeter guard in full chemical protection suit.