Boom Boom, and whatnot

posted @ 14:16...

In my last post I neglected to discuss the sound of artillery.  See, there's more to it than what you've always heard in the running cadence.  (note:  For those who don't know,  when asked "What's the sound of artillery?"  You should respond with the timeless and appropriate, "BOOM BOOM!")

 

Well, in my experience at the OP (observation point) last Sunday I found that there is another, more subtle sound that goes along with this type of weapon.  And you can probably only hear it from the forward observers' position because of the close proximity to the projectile as it flies.  It's very hard to describe with words.  In fact I've spent the past four days trying to figure out if describing it is even possible.  So here goes. It's essentially the sound of the artillery round splitting the air around it as it sails through the sky.  The closest thing I can compare it to would be a jet... but then you think jet engines, and that's not it at all... It's the sound of the air being violently and three-dimensionally sliced and disrupted.  Not so much a whoosh... maybe a textured rushing sound.  If you're at an OP about half way between the gun and the target, you can't see it, of course... but you can follow it across the sky with your ears.

 

Now... I've got to get some sleep. I just came back (safely, of course) from a 14-hour mission, and have had no more than two hours of sleep since Wednesday morning.  (It's now Thursday afternoon, Afghanistan time.)  Maybe I'll write about that mission in my next post. [zzzzzzzzzzz...]  The important thing is, I got a lot of great footage - using both sunshine and night vision equipment (not at the same time... duh).