Army manual on using horses, mules in combat slammed by animal rights group

A recently revealed manual written for the US Army's Special Forces extensively details techniques for managing pack animals like horses and donkeys in combat operations around the world. A major animal rights group has slammed he contents of the document for encouraging cruelty against animals.

The newsletter Secrecy News, a product of the Federation of the American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy, first made the document publicly available. Retired members of the Special Forces said in interviews with RAW STORY that the contents of the manual should not be taken too seriously, with one going as far as to dismiss the document "as an exercise in ass-covering."

Lengthy manual details pack animal management procedures

The United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg produced the 225-page manual "for Special Forces (SF) personnel to use when conducting training or combat situations using pack animals...It captures some of the expertise and techniques that have been lost in the United States (U.S.) Army over the last 50 years," according to its preface. The guide notes that while more advanced military technologies resulted in the deactivation of formal pack transport units after the Korean War, military operations in Haiti in 1994 and Afghanistan since 2001 have resulted in new attention to the deployment of troops with pack animals.

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"The U.S. military is willing to do anything to any animal. Are we back in 246 BC with Hannibal who had very limited transportation choices?" responded Erin Edwards, Media Liaison at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "Elephants may be tough but they’re no match for today’s weaponry."

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Army_manual_on_using_horses_mules_0130.html

Seriously what are these people thinking?

I know for a fact they are using them in Afganistan right now.

The military being beastly to animals isn't exactly nice, but I'd rather they'd stop being beastly to Iraqis before they worry about the mules.

Even after the calvary stopped being an effective military arm, mules and horses remained part of logistics until fairly late in the game. And there's still terrain that horses and mules can travel that 4wd vehicles can't. You haven't been riding on a real mountain or in real brush until you have to get off your mount and lead it.

:hippie:

Niceties are in short supply, especially if you're trying to accomplish some important and time-sensitive mission.

So, are they going to complain about the affects of bombing on local birds?

I've got an idea!

War is evil, horrible, and is no solution to any problem. Let us, as a species, outgrow it.

In many poor countries the practice is to work the animal in poor conditions until it drops. This is of course reprehensible but when people are poor they sometimes ignore the niceties of animal care.

Most servicemen did not grow up on ranches PETA has a point that animals should not be used in warfare, I'm assuming they're against the use of dogs as well as horses, but they are, and it only makes sense for the military to make sure that they are used as humanely as the circumstances allow. The US Calvery school at Fort Riley Kansas was world famous as a center for promoting all aspects of horse care as well as training excellent riders.

It sounds horrible but writing out the appropriate way to euthanize a horse or mule under primitive conditions is perfectly appropriate. Animals get hurt severely, often care is not possible and quite frankly, most people have no idea of how to shoot a horse humanely.

During Vietnam, dogs were trained as scouts and guards. What I heard was that most of them were unsuitable for civilian life after that experience, so they were put down in-country.

Does this tell us anything about combat?

Maybe everyfuckingbody should look at the effect of combat on the participants and the civilians involved.

We gotta find a better way.

He had been in the British Army as a cavalryman. Migrated with his wife and children (including my mother) to Canada.
He was hired by the Canadian Army to break horses.

He got on the wrong horse one day and was severely injured. The Canadians took him to the gate and he staggered home to die.

He had survived wars in Afghanistan and what is now Pakistan, and the Boer war. Only to be kicked to death by a horse.

Just an anecdote about soldiers and animals.

You cover the ass in the equipment you want it to carry, then get it to walk. :evilgrin:

:spray:

All the funnier for coming from someone with your username...

How are our troops supposed to follow and catch up with Talibanis who probably know every rock, nook, and cranny in the terrain and use pack animals?

PETA, on the other hand, is a crank outfit full of loonies who don't want me to fish because I might hurt a salmon with my hook. They think animals are human beings and should have human rights. NOT.