Q. Popular media often portrays stationary guns as an awesome position to be in. Using a stationary machinegun is portrayed as simple as hiding behind your bunker, sandbag, building, trenches, etc. and waiting for waves of charging enemy soldier to run at your position. Once you load in your ammo, all you do is keep firing ammo at the human waves of enemy soldiers rushing and its a simple turkey hunt in which you have a blast spraying thousands and thousands of bullets into hundreds and hundreds of enemy soldiers. Many war movies portray soldiers manning stationary guns as one-man armies that could hold of entire battalions until ammo runs out. Don't even get me started on video games which portray manning a stationary machine gun as turkey hunting and a thrilling fun experience.
When I watched the 1930s adaptation of All Quiet On the Western Front, it portrayed using stationary guns as anything but easy and a blast. Even though German defenders were spraying thousands of bullets into hundreds of French soldiers in one battle scene, it felt like an unnerving terrifying experience in which it felt that no matter how many French soldiers were being slaughtered, more and more kept coming and they were eventually going to overrun the stationary guns (which obviously didn't happen). All Quiet On the Western Front's battle scenes were played by former German World War 1 vets living in America at the time and the set pieces and battle choreography were directed with the help of German soldiers. The movie is so accurate World War 1 documentaries today still feature the battle scenes of the film.
So after watching the movie I began to wonder just how difficult it is to use a stationary gun. The movie made me interested in warfare so I began to watching documentaries. In every documentary I watched, stationary guns are portrayed as anything but easy positions to defend. The documentaries don't even portray using such guns with continuous non-stop automatic firing but with bursts of fire (even against human waves) and it shows the guns as being quite inaccurate even if the enemies are charging at you in the open and are clumped together in the hundreds. Its only when human waves get within meters that such guns are shown in the documentaries as resembling the man-slaughter tools showed in games and movies.
I am intrigued and am seeking to learn more about the real nature of using stationary guns.
When I watched the 1930s adaptation of All Quiet On the Western Front, it portrayed using stationary guns as anything but easy and a blast. Even though German defenders were spraying thousands of bullets into hundreds of French soldiers in one battle scene, it felt like an unnerving terrifying experience in which it felt that no matter how many French soldiers were being slaughtered, more and more kept coming and they were eventually going to overrun the stationary guns (which obviously didn't happen). All Quiet On the Western Front's battle scenes were played by former German World War 1 vets living in America at the time and the set pieces and battle choreography were directed with the help of German soldiers. The movie is so accurate World War 1 documentaries today still feature the battle scenes of the film.
So after watching the movie I began to wonder just how difficult it is to use a stationary gun. The movie made me interested in warfare so I began to watching documentaries. In every documentary I watched, stationary guns are portrayed as anything but easy positions to defend. The documentaries don't even portray using such guns with continuous non-stop automatic firing but with bursts of fire (even against human waves) and it shows the guns as being quite inaccurate even if the enemies are charging at you in the open and are clumped together in the hundreds. Its only when human waves get within meters that such guns are shown in the documentaries as resembling the man-slaughter tools showed in games and movies.
I am intrigued and am seeking to learn more about the real nature of using stationary guns.
Answer
Again Bog Cleaner with inaccurate answers he thinks are gospel.
Infantry's job is to clear enemy positions. Fire support merely softens up hardened positions to allow Infantry to advance and begin their attack. Doing two weeks per year does not qualify you to as an infantryman or bring you anywhere near their level.
Even mentioning the F89 in this question shows your actual lack of knowledge. The Mag 58 is what we use in the Australian army as a Sustained Fire Machine Gun (SFMG), but it is only called that when it is mounted on the tripod, otherwise it's an LSW because it can be carried by a gunner at section level.
Now to answer this question:
Machine gun fire is for area targets and the beaten zone must be taken into consideration. In SFMG the beaten zone is an elongated oval shaped area in which the rounds will generally fall. Firing machine guns at different distances will give you different sized beaten zones, usually more compressed the further you shoot, out to 2000m with harassing fire out to 3000m, but for that you need a C2 sight attached to the tripod with an aiming post.
The sustained rate of fire is 200 rounds per minute and rapid is 400 rounds per minute, or a 20 round burst every 6 seconds and 3 seconds respectively.
In addition to beaten zones we can also traverse our guns with the moving of a dial which we call clicks. We then have different target types, being point targets, traverse targets, final protective fire targets (FPF) and targets to switch to when moving troops get too close to our fire.
If you had the ammunition, proficient gunners and spare barrels you could effectively hold off waves of men with a machine gun, but you'd be under the pump and would want to be on the ball.
Again Bog Cleaner with inaccurate answers he thinks are gospel.
Infantry's job is to clear enemy positions. Fire support merely softens up hardened positions to allow Infantry to advance and begin their attack. Doing two weeks per year does not qualify you to as an infantryman or bring you anywhere near their level.
Even mentioning the F89 in this question shows your actual lack of knowledge. The Mag 58 is what we use in the Australian army as a Sustained Fire Machine Gun (SFMG), but it is only called that when it is mounted on the tripod, otherwise it's an LSW because it can be carried by a gunner at section level.
Now to answer this question:
Machine gun fire is for area targets and the beaten zone must be taken into consideration. In SFMG the beaten zone is an elongated oval shaped area in which the rounds will generally fall. Firing machine guns at different distances will give you different sized beaten zones, usually more compressed the further you shoot, out to 2000m with harassing fire out to 3000m, but for that you need a C2 sight attached to the tripod with an aiming post.
The sustained rate of fire is 200 rounds per minute and rapid is 400 rounds per minute, or a 20 round burst every 6 seconds and 3 seconds respectively.
In addition to beaten zones we can also traverse our guns with the moving of a dial which we call clicks. We then have different target types, being point targets, traverse targets, final protective fire targets (FPF) and targets to switch to when moving troops get too close to our fire.
If you had the ammunition, proficient gunners and spare barrels you could effectively hold off waves of men with a machine gun, but you'd be under the pump and would want to be on the ball.
Advice for someone just starting to save for retirement?
Me
My wife and I are in our mid-thirties with a teenage daughter and currently have nothing saved for retirement. We have a current net income of about $7,300/month which is subject to decrease because my wife just began her teaching career and has very little job security. Our income will fall to $5,950 during the summer months and we are basically just crossing our fingers that she will either be renewed or land a new position next fall.
Our current fixed expenses are $5340 and we allocate another $600 for discretionary expenses (anything that is irregular, unexpected or not a required living expense would come out of this), which totals up to $5,940 or pretty much our entire income without my wife working. There is quite a bit of debt included in that fixed number, and we are doing our best to get that under control. We are hoping to eliminate about $500/month in medical and credit card expenses in the coming year.
We do not have any expensive luxuries. My wife has a $30/month gym membership and a $20/month data plan for her tablet. We have bare-bones TV and internet service and pay only $85/month for basic cell phone service. We allocate $100/month for Costco/Sam's Club, which helps keep our expenses down in other areas. We do not smoke, drink with any regularity, gamble or anything of the sort. We do like to dine out or order takeout once or twice per week, but we do it frugally.
Clearly we have a decent amount of extra income coming in at the moment but since we only had $1,000 in savings prior to my wife starting her teaching job, our emphasis right now is on rebuilding our savings. I do, however, have $1,000 set aside for starting a Roth IRA. My current employer offers a 401(k) program through John Hancock but they do not make any kind of contribution and I have been told by a couple coworkers that the fees are high to the point that they do not recommend joining the plan.
So I guess I really have 2 questions. Where do I begin and how can we work toward devoting more of our income to retirement? Absent a decent employer retirement plan, is a Roth IRA a good starting point? Are there any in particular that you would recommend?
Thanks, everyone, for your honest feedback. Ursugardaddy, I admire your willingness to make sacrifices but am not quite ready to go to the extremes that you have. I do want to live well in my later years but not at the expense of being miserable in my prime. Also, my wife and I will be equal partners in these decisions, whatever they may be.
Answer
You guys putted yourself into this situation and need to seriously go without until you get things within order. You are not being honest with your monthly bills and since you are asking for help, you need to be honest and list everything. If you have a 1,000 put a side for savings then you have additional savings. Why would you put all of your money into a roth IRA account? You need $2,000.00 because your wife and you are two people. Your total of $85.00 for a phone is a lot and you should get a $50.00 unlimited monthly plan which would let you save $15.00 per month. That is about 180.00 per year. $30/month gym membership cancel that and you would save another 360.00 per year. Have your wife run around the street, up and down the backyard. Do the running with her, if you do not like running then drive beside her for her safety. We are up to 540.00 savings for the year. I would temporary cancel the tablet which would allow you to save another $20.00 per month. Get a house computer and everybody can use that. We are up to 760.00 savings for the year. I can keep going if I knew your real expenses.
You need to be the man and get your finance house within order because spending 5940.00 on a 7300.00 is expensive. You are stating 5940.00 but really if you dig deep into that number you would find that it is really more. Be the man and stop with this none sense. $600 for discretionary expenses is crazy when you have medical and credit card expenses. Take the discretionary expenses and save half of that within a bank account.
My wife got a credit card and I cut the card up, its only open to build plus keep credit. She talk about buying clothes, I take her to the thrift store. I'm thank everyday for doing this because we have a nice cash cushion and retirement savings. I'm like this for my family well-being. She received a nice wedding ring, necklace, watch and bracelet for our 10yrs wedding anniversary. That's all she would be getting for awhile. No car insurance, no car payment, no debt at all. Be the man and put your foot down. Stop living for other people. Let them think whatever and call me whatever, I just say within my mind "i'm all that down at the bank"
Saving is not hard, people make it hard. The money is within your hands so control it and do not let it control you. You only have yourself to blame for this situation so do not become mad when a person is doing better than you.
Take Care
You guys putted yourself into this situation and need to seriously go without until you get things within order. You are not being honest with your monthly bills and since you are asking for help, you need to be honest and list everything. If you have a 1,000 put a side for savings then you have additional savings. Why would you put all of your money into a roth IRA account? You need $2,000.00 because your wife and you are two people. Your total of $85.00 for a phone is a lot and you should get a $50.00 unlimited monthly plan which would let you save $15.00 per month. That is about 180.00 per year. $30/month gym membership cancel that and you would save another 360.00 per year. Have your wife run around the street, up and down the backyard. Do the running with her, if you do not like running then drive beside her for her safety. We are up to 540.00 savings for the year. I would temporary cancel the tablet which would allow you to save another $20.00 per month. Get a house computer and everybody can use that. We are up to 760.00 savings for the year. I can keep going if I knew your real expenses.
You need to be the man and get your finance house within order because spending 5940.00 on a 7300.00 is expensive. You are stating 5940.00 but really if you dig deep into that number you would find that it is really more. Be the man and stop with this none sense. $600 for discretionary expenses is crazy when you have medical and credit card expenses. Take the discretionary expenses and save half of that within a bank account.
My wife got a credit card and I cut the card up, its only open to build plus keep credit. She talk about buying clothes, I take her to the thrift store. I'm thank everyday for doing this because we have a nice cash cushion and retirement savings. I'm like this for my family well-being. She received a nice wedding ring, necklace, watch and bracelet for our 10yrs wedding anniversary. That's all she would be getting for awhile. No car insurance, no car payment, no debt at all. Be the man and put your foot down. Stop living for other people. Let them think whatever and call me whatever, I just say within my mind "i'm all that down at the bank"
Saving is not hard, people make it hard. The money is within your hands so control it and do not let it control you. You only have yourself to blame for this situation so do not become mad when a person is doing better than you.
Take Care
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