So much love for snipers BUT... Where's the love for the Jtacs?

You might be asking, "what is a jtac" well... It is a joint terminal attack controller, I've always heard joint tactical air controller... Soo the control air that's the gist any way.

Not just any boot can call in an air strike to help prevent blue on blue and civilian casualties. Jtacs are supposedly a touch on the nerdy/brainy side to be able to do their job efficiently, this doesn't mean that some Jtacs haven't been pipe hitting monsters with a ma deuce but they need a little bit extra upstairs over your normal operator. A lot of math and numbers to crunch in high stress environments.. Mistakes can kill hundreds.

This guy for example killed 200 bad guys in a single day.. Tough for a shiper to keep up with that lol



A really good book to get a bit of an inside look at what Jtacs have to do is "level zero heroes: the story of US special forces marines in bala murghab afgansitan. Great great read. It really highlights the one arm tied behind our back approach that's been recently pushed forward in The RoE(rules of engagement)

Anyone have any awesome jtac stories?

a reply to: mindseye1609

What's a JTAC is exactly why there's no love for them.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Wudya mean? Because of the accidents? Or the amount of power they hold?

a reply to: mindseye1609

Go TACP!!!

a reply to: mindseye1609

Most people have never heard of them. And honestly until recently a lot of ground troops never worked with them. So they're still getting stories out.

It's not the kill count to me... When you say sniper my first thought is Carlos hathcock crawling 3 days to get in position for a shot, making it and crawling out.

It's amazing what they did..

a reply to: Irishhaf

Ya for sure , the stories out of the MACSOGv guys from the Vietnam era are the ones that I think I like the most. Modern kit and gadgets for the most part but ww2 balls and tactics. Some of these guys make Rambo look like a keyboard warrior lol. i just recently learned of George Washington bacon. He's pretty awesome and funny lol. Dude was a bad ass but a genius/eccentric all at the same time.

Don't get me wrong I got so much love for those guys and snipers and all infantry in general, I've just seen zilch about Jtacs until recently. And from what I've read they deserve some love lol they got it hard. They remind me of almost a wall street floor trader fighting with other Jtacs for the little air support there is all the while having to crunch the numbers and hope to god you don't kill all your brothers.. All while being shot at and shooting back.. It's a pretty crazy job.. You almost have to float above the commander and have to watch and predict what's going to happen... It's a job that would require some serious mental awareness (just my outsiders opinion of course)

a reply to: mindseye1609

No love for snipers here... Imagine if we spend as much on peace as we do war..

purp.

When a JATAC calls in naval gunfire from the USS New Jersey let me know.

a reply to: purplemer

Then someone who doesn't like the way your running things will come and take it.

Pretty easily too if the majority of your gdp is glow sticks and acoustic guitars...

a reply to: JIMC5499

Can they or no? How's that work? They can control artillery and mortars what about naval guns?

a reply to: mindseye1609

JTACs only do air power. There are Mortar Fire Controllers (MFCs) and Forward Observers/Forward Observation Officers (FOOs) for mortars and artillery. These guys can be grouped together or not depending on the assets available for the op. They usually work as part of the CO/OCs group depending on the size of the task.

a reply to: mindseye1609

Snipers are very well equipped to call in CAS in the USMC our scout snipers in an infantry battalion are referred to as STA platoon for strategic target acquisition. I do not know all the specifics of how the air force do things but will say that I have always been taught that knowing how to use a radio is the deadliest weapon you have in your arsenal. Calling for fire is not that difficult if you know where you are and where your target is. Also in the USMC we have a group called ANGLICO and those dudes pretty much do the same thing as your JTAC's and more.

a reply to: mindseye1609

Maybe if the MSM glorfied peace instead of war you would have a different opinion.

purp..

originally posted by: purplemer
a reply to: mindseye1609

Maybe if the MSM glorfied peace instead of war you would have a different opinion.

purp..

Yeah because warfare hasn't been around since the dawn of time.

Sometimes you need a hammer to get a job done and sometimes you need nails.. Take away either and everything falls apart.

originally posted by: purplemer
a reply to: mindseye1609

Maybe if the MSM glorfied peace instead of war you would have a different opinion.

purp..

There will always be someone willing to kill you for what you have that they want.
No type of rose-colored glasses will stop that.

While I appreciate the job they do I have to question the sanity of TACP, smart enough to join the usaf then volunteer to be billed with army... *shudders*

Just kidding nothing but luv for my brothers and sisters in uniform.

a reply to: mindseye1609

Since they retired the battleships they can't. I'm not sure how naval gunfire would work these days. We just happened to have a very accurate location when a SA-7 was shot at our helo. We called it in and the New Jersey fired to that position. There was no need for a correction.

a reply to: JIMC5499

all fire is still routed through the FDC, for naval Funfire you can still call in grid, polar, and shift methods and GPS if you have coordinates on a static target on hand, everything still uses the warning order

a reply to: mindseye1609

In my line of work we live our lives by the word of the combat controller.

Without JTACs not much happens in air to ground operations.