Batboard

I just saw a news article on the NBC Nightly News that made me have to wipe a tear from my eye. In a month or so, our boys will be leaving Iraq & heading home. Some equipment & troops will be heading to Afghanistan however. Large pieces of metal armor will be cut up into small pieces so it's useless to the rebels. Communication trailers were shown being crushed, but what made me cry was the statement that devices that held frequencies, & encryption codes will be destroyed. They then showed lots of XTS5000's traveling down a conveyor belt being destroyed. OMG! Couldn't they blank the radios, & offer them for sale here? Our US tax dollars at work. I remember when we got out of Viet Nam, seeing perfectly good choppers being pushed off the side of aircraft carriers into the sea. So sad! GARY N4KVE

Same thing happens following any war or U.S. military action on foreign soil. WWII radio stuff was available on the surplus market(stuff that was stocked in this country by the military and bid out) but never used) for 30 years. It's only good tactical to make sure that your armament/communications can't be used by or resold to the enemy now or ever, and it'll probably always be that way.

I'm sure that armor can't be put to good use in Afghanistan, nor could commo equipment be used back here in the States to assist police and fire departments that are using antiquated or unreliable equipment. Another fine example of the entire system in this country being broken, by both "sides."

Another example of the sins of waste by our government..

N4KVE wrote:They then showed lots of XTS5000's traveling down a conveyor belt being destroyed.

Motorola must be pleased. Not a single one of them is going to make it into the gray market to cut into their profits.

That being said, on the other hand, add the costs of gathering them all up and shipping them back. Then add to that refurbishing them. AND certifying them as to be "good as new" (meaning an officer can trust his life to the radio.) You're getting close to the cost of a new radio and one that hasn't been subjected to all sorts of unknown abuse.

'Cause you know and I know, you're not going to see them in the back of a magazine being sold for $25 each.

Jeff

I wouldnt think they would even need to go through all of that effort...just sell them in bulk to a dealer or someone like GovLiquidation.

I have a feeling that some of the XTS2500,XTS5000 portables will be saved off the conveyors before going into the compacter by Iraq workers and will be hitting the secondary market.Also,some soldiers will have a few I think they will bring back home and will also filter into the secondary market like Ebay for example.

I don't believe enough will hit the secondary market to affect Moto sales but just enough to a see a few more XTS5000,XTS2500 more than normal on places like Ebay.

Captain Crunch, not just for guns anymore...

[quote= I think they will bring back home and will also filter into the secondary market like Ebay for example.[/quote]My brother got back from Iraq several months ago. They were searched numerous times every step of the way. There was a 55 gal drum at every site where you could deposit contraband no questions asked, but if you said you had nothing, & they found even a photo of Sadam, you were in serious trouble. GARY N4KVE

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp ... 6#38666846

Really.. do you want these?


And really, considering the equipment and gear they've amassed there, one XTS5k is more worthless than a penny.

Didnt see anything beyond sensible in the NBC news featurette posted here. I am glad to see they are making sure nothing falls into "unfriendly" hands that may be used against us in the future.
Those radios looked trashed! Could barely salvage a channel knob it seems from those things.
I have some old icom and vertex I would like to run through the "mutilator",also some midland mobiles.

They are probably pretty thrashed by the time they get to the crusher. Many have broken knobs and antennas, paint,cracks,electrical tape,epoxy, dirt, gouges etc. Not really worth it. I remember in the first gulf war the officers carried VHF Saber SecureNet-S radios. They had come Comms contractors put itinerant freqs in them of all things i.e. 154.600,154.570,151.625 in the clear.

danneskjold wrote:I wouldnt think they would even need to go through all of that effort...just sell them in bulk to a dealer or someone like GovLiquidation.

I also think so.

The thing about all of the equipment and armor that has been sent to iraq is its pretty beat up and worn out by now. The wars been going on for a while now and soldiers and the desert climate are not very friendly to radio and other equipment thats been given to them.
But on the other hand the armor should be salvaged as much as possible. A good friend of mine was sent to iraq in the 1st CAV div. with an Abrahms tank. A few days after arriving all of the tanks were parked in a motor-pool and never saw action. they sat their the ENTIRE duration of the war and never moved. Now they will most likely be cut up and destroyed. Why cant the US govt. Take the tanks back to the us the same way that they came over and park them at a motor-pool in the US? who knows? But its always nice to know that our tax dollars are going to be used to buy new ones when their needed.

From its inception this thread has been somewhat OT, but now it's gone so far that there is no point in continuing it. Let's stick to Motorola and similar subjects that members can gain knowledge from.

Locked.