Time for any civilian operation in a war zone to think like the military, and operate under military tactics. There's no "safe" areas in Afghanistan, it's no different to Vietnam.
The anti-attack tactics involve dispersion, first up. A minivan full of attractive Taliban targets, might as well have a bullseye mounted on it. There's no way 8, 10 or a dozen Westerners should travel in a minivan.
Split 'em up, and let the local taxis transport them, one or two at a time. Instruct the taxis to keep a minimum separation distance of 150M.
There was one particular VC attack during the Vietnam war that drove the message home. Some office pogoes from HQ in Nui Dat decided they wanted to experience the war first hand.
9 of 'em climbed into an APC for a swan around when the APC's went on patrol.
They left the hatch open. It only took one VC to place a 155mm shell in the centre of the track, to bring the APC's to a halt, suspecting a booby trap.
As soon as the APC's stopped, the VC stepped out of the J alongside the last APC - the one carrying all the pogoes - and he chucked a 10kg satchel charge through the open hatch. I saw the result, and it wasn't pretty.
That was a very black day for Australian forces, and it need not have happened, if standard loss-minimisation tactics had been enforced.
Last edited by onetrack; 19th Sep 2012 at 01:43.
Reason: sp...