Comments on: Mech Infantry’s Next Step

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:28:55 +0000

The Infantry uses it’s legs. Get out of those death traps. Tell your Gens no MSR’s and no roads for you.

By: franknbeans4761

franknbeans4761 — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 03:51:22 +0000

Who are Mike Sparks’ other names? Is it BlacktailDefense?

By: david ogg

david ogg — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 07:41:23 +0000

YOU DO NOT HAVE THE CLASSIFIED VEHICLE ATTACK DATABASE. Your conclusions are faulty.

By: knowstankguy

knowstankguy — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 07:37:53 +0000

Tankguy AKA Greg Wooden is a cyberpussy who goes around the internet attacking actual U.S. Army Soldiers and infantry officers like Mike Sparks (many of whom call M113s “Gavins”) while Wooden claims to be in the Army yet is so unmanly and cowardly he fails to post his name to his lying drivel. google search shows him to be a balding, overwight black guy scamming for younger women; he also claims to be a “genericdad” who has fathered generic children out of wedlock. Do the search, discover the phony Tankguy/Greg Wooden/Genericdad the CYBERPUSSY.

By: We know the truth about sparks

We know the truth about sparks — Thu, 22 May 2008 01:31:39 +0000

Sparks you are one sick puppy.

By: Tankguy

Tankguy — Sat, 17 May 2008 12:01:25 +0000

Mike,
You haven’t answered anything. There are M113s in Iraq. They do not patrol. They may have been used in the initial invasion, but they are not being used on a large scale in the counter-insurgency fight.
I am in Iraq, right now. On the ground in East Baghdad. I have not seen one M113 outside the wire since my arrival. That is a fact. That points to the heart of your massaged data. One thing that you conveniently leave out whenever you post your numbers. Mike, M113 aren’t patrolling, so of course they aren’t getting hit. That would be like me saying that the John Deere Gator has the best track record in Iraq. Sure they are here, they are used by contractors as utility vehicles on FOBs, but they don’t patrol. Your argument is completly asinine and very telling of your complete and utter ignorance of the situation on the ground in Iraq.
You have, as always, ducked the question of your record of combat service, Mike. Very telling as well. You pop in, sling an insult similar to a school aged child and –poof– you are gone. Nothing of substance. Just like most of your published works. Nothing of substance there either.
Enjoy sitting on the side lines while those braver and more willing than yourself carry out the mission that you too have sworn to do.
Again, until you have served here, patrolled the streets of Iraq and seen what’s going on, you can not possibly offer anything of substance. It is simply a case of put up or shut up. I think you know which way I am leaning on that equation.
Let me know when you become a Soldier that shoulders some of the burden and I may entertain future exposure to your ranting and incomprehensible conclusions. Until then Mike, continue to be a good little cheerleader, just try to remember which team you are on. You seem to have a tendency to root for the other side quite a bit.

By: Tankguy

Tankguy — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:13:22 +0000

Mike,
I reread some of your vitriol below and have a question. What are the lies that you claim I am posting?
You, yourself stated on your YouTube site that you have been out of the Reserve since the early 1990s. So, how is that currently serving?
Second, you claim to be an Infantry officer in the Army Reserve. There are VERY few infantry units in the Reserve, and they are not where you are located, so how is this possible?
Third, as asked by many here, and every other site that you have contaminated with your presence, what is your combat tour record? Which unit(s) have you deployed with? Which theaters? Iraq, Afghanistan?
Just a simple question that strikes to the heart of your accusations of lying. Mr. Sparks, the simple fact of the matter is that once again, you have painted yourself into a corner. You are once again confronted by fact, and you once again resort to name calling and insults like a petulant child. I am in Iraq, right now. There are no M-113s routinely patrolling Baghdad. There are Strykers out there though. If you underdstood the situation on the ground in Iraq, and stopped trying to interpret every shred of information through your “I hate Stryker” lenses, you would see what is happening here.
So, I am once again, standing by waiting for you to back up your claims of combat experience, your explanation of your inside knowledge of what’s happening on the ground in Iraq and how in the world you are an infantry officer in the USAR.
It is not me that is lying. I am on the ground in Iraq, you are in your living in Georgia or North Carolina. Here is a suggestion to get you involved in the fight. Since most of the boys live out on Combat Outposts now, a care package for Soldiers could get you involved in the effort. Guys like things like baby wipes, books, DVDs, magazines, tobacco products, beef jerkey, foot powder and non-melting snacks.
I think the time is overdue for you to come clean on your claims of experience Mr. Sparks. Neither I, nor anyone else on this forum cares how many books you have written, or how many websites you run. What have you done to serve your country and honor your fellow Soldiers? What have you done to gain inside knowledge of the fight on the ground in Iraq? Unless you can answer those simple question, I fear it is your credibilt that is suspect, not mine.
Reply to this post for an “Any Soldier” address for the two main Forward Operating Bases that my unit mail comes through and I will provide it.

By: Tankguy

Tankguy — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 08:46:23 +0000

Mike,
I too have experience on CH-47s, but mine is vastly different from yours. While you like play dress up and pretend way in the hulk parked outside the business park, I actually flew into Baghdad in one. I know this is so far removed from your experiences that it defies your ability to grasp. I base my facts on cold, hard observations made on the ground in Iraq. Not things that I pontificate upon sitting in a recliner in my living room. So to refute your patriot vs. dependent insult, I would recommend that you sir, pick up a gun and get in the fight. Until you do, your opinions and views mean absolutely zero to me. Less than zero, they don’t even register. I think the majority of people exposed to your school of thought have been able to identify that your claims and stories are pure fiction. When you have ground combat experience in Iraq, then you are qualified to present facts regarding what is happening on the ground.
You can continue to hurl insults and pound your chest and pretend that anyone care about what you think. I most cetainly don’t. I am more concerned with the 25 target to my front that what an armchair soldier has to say.
Now for FACTS:
1. Number of M-113s I have seen on patrol since arriving in the OE: Zero
2. Number of Strykers I have seen in high conflict areas: loads, I know you won’t stoop to claiming that the Sadr City area is not a hot area at the mintute, right?
Your claims of M113 superiorty continue to be your downfall, Mike. Have you patrolled though the Nuhallas of urbarn Baghdad? Do you know what the terrain is like? Do you know the composition of the road networks? Do you understand the latest TTPs of the enemy? I would venture to say the answer to all of the above questions is no. I am not lying, I am stating fact.
Again, either pick up a rifle and get in the fight, or sit on the sideline and stay the hell out of the way. Your choice.

By: James Hasik

James Hasik — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 05:52:56 +0000

Oh, one more thing. Anyone wondering whether Mike Sparks has completely lost it should check out what his 2nd Tactical Studies Group does:
http://www.geocities.com/roswell.geo/
Whoa.

By: James Hasik

James Hasik — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 05:05:19 +0000

I found Lieutenant Wu’s editorial interesting, and given his experience with the Alabama Guard in Iraq, I must consider his perspective with some seriousness. I do think that some of what he wants has arrived in vehicles like the RG-31 and the Cougar, and that more may yet be available in the forthcoming (and somewhat smaller) JLTV.
It’s also nice to see that Mike Sparks is still out there having fun. I do wish that he’d finally just tell us with which unit he serves.
More to the point, I’d definitely like to know about this study that Army Times cited regarding combat casualties. I studied this issue in 2006, and briefed OSD/PA&E on my findings, but my dataset suffered from suppositions introduced by my interpretations of the Army’s sometimes laconic fatality reports. Still, if anyone is interested, it’s available on my website: http://www.jameshasik.com.