Red Storm Rising

United States Army Ranks

The following table shows the ranks used in the United States Army. The order of rank is from lowest to highest rank.

Rank/Title Insignia Pay Grade Abbreviation Enlisted/Officer
Private No Insignia E-1 PVT Enlisted
Private E-2 Private E-2 PV2 Enlisted
Private First Class E-3 Private First Class E-3 PFC Enlisted
Specialist E-4 Specialist E-4 SPC Enlisted
Corporal E-4 Corporal E-4 CPL Enlisted
Sergeant E-5 Sergeant E-5 SGT Enlisted
Staff Sergeant E-6 Staff Sergeant E-6 SSG Enlisted
Sergeant First Class E-7 Sergeant First Class E-7 SFC Enlisted
Master Sergeant E-8 Master Sergeant E-8 MFG Enlisted
First Sergeant E-8 First Sergeant E-8 1SG Enlisted
Sergeant Major E-9 Sergeant Major E-9 SGM Enlisted
Command Sergeant Major E-9 Command Sergeant Major E-9 CSM Enlisted
Sergeant Major of the Army E-9 Sergeant Major of the Army E-9 SMA Enlisted
Second Lieutenant O-1 Second Lieutenant O-1 2LT Officer
First Lieutenant O-2 First Lieutenant O-2 1LT Officer
Captain O-3 Captain O-3 CPT Officer
Major O-4 Major O-4 MAJ Officer
Lieutenant Colonel O-5 Lieutenant Colonel O-5 LTC Officer
Colonel O-6 Colonel O-6 COL Officer
Brigadier General O-7 Brigadier General O-7 BG Officer
Major General O-8 Major General O-8 MG Officer
Lieutenant General O-9 Lieutenant General O-9 LTG Officer
General O-10 General O-10 GEN Officer
General of the Army O-11 General of the Army O-11 GA Officer

Warrant Officers

Rank/Title Insignia Pay Grade Abbreviation Enlisted/Officer
Warrant Officer 1 W-1 Warrant Officer 1 W-1 WO1 Officer
Chief Warrant Officer 2 CW2 Chief Warrant Officer 2 W-2 CW2 Officer
Chief Warrant Officer 3 CW3 Chief Warrant Officer 3 W-3 CW3 Officer
Chief Warrant Officer 4 CW4 Chief Warrant Officer 4 W-4 CW4 Officer
Chief Warrant Officer 5 CW5 Chief Warrant Officer 5 W-5 CW5 Officer

Rank Insignia and descriptions are from the following wikipedia page: US Army

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Russian Army ranks

The following table shows the ranks used in the Russian Army. The order of rank is from lowest to highest rank.

Rank insignia Enlisted/Officer
Private Enlisted
Efreitor Enlisted
Junior Sergeant Enlisted
Sergeant Enlisted
Senior Sergeant Enlisted
Sergeant Major Enlisted
Warrant Officer Enlisted
Senior Warrant Officer Enlisted
Junior Lieutenant Officer
Lieutenant Officer
Senior Lieutenant Officer
Captain Officer
Major Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Officer
Colonel Officer
Major General Officer
Lieutenant General Officer
Colonel General Officer
General of the Army Officer
Supreme Commander Officer

Rank Insignia and descriptions are from the following wikipedia pages Military ranks of the Soviet Union

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F-15 Eagle – F-16 Fighting Falcon – P51 Mustang

F-15 Eagle – F-16 Fighting Falcon – P51 Mustang

From Abbotsford Air Show 2006

Wikipedia entry: Boeing (McDonnell Douglas) F-15 Eagle
Wikipedia entry: Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon
Wikipedia entry: North American Aviation P-51 Mustang


United States Navy Ranks

The following table shows the ranks used in the United States Navy. The order of rank is from lowest to highest rank.

Rank Collar Sleeve Pay Grade Abbreviation Enlisted/Officer
Seaman Recruit None None E-1 SR Enlisted
Seaman Apprentice None E-2 SA Enlisted
Seaman None E-3 SN Enlisted
Petty Officer
Third Class
None E-4 PO3 Enlisted
Petty Officer
Second Class
None E-5 PO2 Enlisted
Petty Officer
First Class
None E-6 PO1 Enlisted
Chief Petty Officer E-7 CPO Enlisted
Senior Chief
Petty Officer
E-8 SCPO Enlisted
Master Chief
Petty Officer
E-9 MCPO Enlisted
Master Chief
Petty Officer
of the Navy
E-9 MCPON Enlisted
Chief Warrant Officer W-2 CWO2 Warrant Officer
Chief Warrant Officer W-3 CWO3 Warrant Officer
Chief Warrant Officer W-4 CWO4 Warrant Officer
Chief Warrant Officer W-5 CWO5 Warrant Officer
Ensign O-1 ENS Officer
Lieutenant
Junior Grade
O-2 LTJG Officer
Lieutenant O-3 LT Officer
Lieutenant
Commander
O-4 LDCR Officer
Commander O-5 CDR Officer
Captain O-6 CAPT Officer
Rear Admiral
(lower half)
O-7 RDML Officer
Rear Admiral
(upper half)
O-8 RADM Officer
Vice Admiral O-9 VADM Officer
Admiral O-10 ADM Officer
Fleet Admiral (for War time only) Special FADM Officer

Rank Insignia and descriptions are from the following two wikipedia pages: EnlistedOfficers

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Animations in Google Maps

For the last couple of days I have been trying to get some animation going on the Red Storm Rising Map, and I finally succeeded.

Luckily for me there are a lot of resources available for Google Maps. The most help I got was from this website: http://econym.googlepages.com/index.htm, to make the animation work I also added the epolys.js javascript to my javascript file, the epolys.js was written by Mike Williams who is the web master at http://econym.googlepages.com/index.htm

I want the animation on here because throughout the book there are some interesting things that can be animated (I think).

If you want to have a look you can find it at this location and then select “chapter 2”.

enjoy,

Mike.

United States Air Force ranks

The following table shows the ranks used in the United States Air Force. The order of rank is from lowest to highest rank.

Rank/Title Insignia Pay Grade Abbreviation Enlisted/Officer
Airman Basic No Insignia E-1 AB Enlisted
Airman E-2 Airman E-2 Amn Enlisted
Airman First Class E-3 Airman First Class E-3 A1C Enlisted
Senior Airman E-4 Senior Airman E-4 SrA Enlisted
Staff Sergeant E-5 Staff Sergeant E-5 SSgt Enlisted
Technical Sergeant E-6 Technical Sergeant E-6 TSgt Enlisted
Master Sergeant E-7 Master Sergeant E-7 MSgt Enlisted
Master Sergeant E-7 Master Sergeant E-7 MSgt (A diamond on the insignia indicates special duty held by a senior enlisted member of a military unit) Enlisted
Senior Master Sergeant E-8 Senior Master Sergeant E-8 SMSgt Enlisted
Senior Master Sergeant E-8 Senior Master Sergeant E-8 SMSgt (Same as Master Sergeant, A diamond on the insignia indicates special duty held by a senior enlisted member of a military unit ) Enlisted
Chief Master Sergeant E-9 Chief Master Sergeant E-9 CMSgt Enlisted
Chief Master Sergeant E-9 Chief Master Sergeant E-9 CMSgt (Same as Master Sergeant, A diamond on the insignia indicates special duty held by a senior enlisted member of a military unit ) Enlisted
Command Chief Master Sergeant E-9 Command Chief Master Sergeant E-9 CCM Enlisted
Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force E-9 Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force E-9 CMSAF Enlisted
Second Lieutenant O-1 Second Lieutenant O-1 2d Lt Officer
First Lieutenant O-2 First Lieutenant O-2 1st Lt Officer
Captain O-3 Captain O-3 Capt Officer
Major O-4 Major O-4 Maj Officer
Lieutenant Colonel O-5 Lieutenant Colonel O-5 Lt Col Officer
Colonel O-6 Colonel O-6 Col Officer
Brigadier General O-7 Brigadier General O-7 Brig Gen Officer
Major General O-8 Major General O-8 Maj Gen Officer
Lieutenant General O-9 Lieutenant General O-9 Lt Gen Officer
General O-10 General O-10 Gen Officer
General of the Air Force O-11 General of the Air Force n/a Gen USAF (This is a Honorary rank) Officer

Rank Insignia and descriptions are from the following two wikipedia pages: EnlistedOfficers

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Red Storm Rising on Google Maps

I have created a google map that follows the events that can be traced to a location in a Google Map. Hopefully I can update this map often as I re-read the chapters of Red Storm Rising.I am still tweaking the design a bit as I’m learning more and more about google maps, the following website helped me enormously: http://econym.googlepages.com/index.htm and of course google map API website as well.You can click here to view the page.Let me know what you think or give me any suggestions at highcarbbooks@gmail.com -Mike

AK-47 Kalashnikov

Date: 01-31-198?

The killed guard had an AK-47 which after he was killed was used by one of the terrorists to kill all the scientists. What is an AK-47? well this is what I found out:

AK-47 Kalashnikov

AK-47

Image from: Olive-Drab.com

The AK-47, also called Kalashnikov, is the standard riffle of the Soviet Army and many other countries in the world. It has been the weapon of choice of the Soviet Army since it entered into service in 1951.

The AK-47 is designed based on the assault riffle principle. During the Second World War the German Army discovered that most modern combat situation happen at a short range (less than 300 meters) and a regular riffle or machine gun, which used a long range powerful cartridge, was usually too much for the situation (too heavy, too cumbersome, or too big).

The German army came up with a design called the Sturmgewehr 44 (STG44) a compact lightweight and easy to handle riffle that uses a smaller less powerful cartridge then a regular riffle. Because the STG44 is a smaller and lighter riffle, and the bullets used are less powerful the weapon is easier to handle and more accurate in close combat.The Russian army liked the idea of the assault riffle and after WWII asked their weapon designers to come up with an assault riffle. One of these designers was Mikhail Kalashnikov and he took designs from other riffles and used it to come up with the AK-47.

The AK-47 uses gas to cycle the next round into the chamber. When a round is fired the gas build-up behind the bullet is redirected back to the chambering mechanism and the next round will be chambered into the breach (as shown in the animation below). Using the fully automatic setting the rate of fire is 400 rounds a minute.

AK-47 AnimationThe features that made this riffle such a big success are; the easy of use, maintenance, and ease of manufacturing. That is why there are over 100 million riffles made all around the world. Besides the Russian manufacturer IZH several other countries (mostly communists) have build their own versions of the AK-47.

Resources:

sovietarmy.com

wikipedia

Olive-Drab.com

Zhiguli Car

Date: 01-31-198?

The terrorist leader has his own private car, a Zhiguli. Owning a car in Russia during this period was quite rare. The following is what I found about Zhiguli cars:

Zhiguli cars were built in Togliatti, Russia, by a company called VAZ, also known as LADA in Western Europe. It was founded with the help of Italian car manufacturer Fiat. The first car that rolled off the production lines in 1970 was the VAZ 2101, a four door sedan whose design was based on the Fiat 124. The original Fiat design was adapted to work well in rugged countries with bad roads and harsh climates. The Zhiguli model had an even thicker body shell, tougher suspension, and a hand crank for starting the engine in-case the battery went dead in the unforgiving weather. The engine had a capacity of 1.2 liters and cranked out a whopping 64 bhp. The station wagon version (VAZ 2102) was also produced at the same time. It had the same characteristics of the sedan. The Western European versions of the cars were called the LADA 1200 and LADA 1200 combi (the station wagon).

Over the years the models were improved with different body styling and bigger more powerful engines but the production stopped in 1983. I found this picture of a more recent model, the VAZ 2107, on the “cars of the east” website by Kent Ekholm
VAZ 2107
Besides the Zhiguli cars the company also produced an all terrain car, the Niva. This car was sold in Europe and Canada. It was not distributed in the USA because of the then on-going Cold War. The LADA models were available in Western Europe until the late 90’s, when stricter emission and safety rules were applied and more competition from Asian manufacturers came into the market.
I found this news story about a Zhiguli smashed by a bear, not sure what the driver did to upset the bear though.

resources:

MVD

Date: 01-31-198?

The terrorist Rasul is a former sergeant in the MVD. It’s not a very important character in the book (he gets killed in the first Chapter) but I was interested in what the MVD does and stands for. After a bit of research this is what I found:

According to wikipedia, Answers.com and Reference.com, MVD stands for: Ministrstvo Vnutrennikh Del or the Ministry for Internal affairs. In Cyrillic it is written as: (Министерство внутренних дел).

The Ministry of Internal affairs deals with police matters, suchs as criminal investigations, traffic control, and maintenance of public order. Besides regular police matters the MVD also deals with fire fighting, prision services, car registration and the issuing of passports and visas.

The English home page of the MVD (http://eng.mvdrf.ru/) states that it is now called the Ministry of the Interior.

Resources: