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Old 10-25-2006, 05:01 AM
MARINEVET MARINEVET is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 144
Default Afghanistan Sitrep Of Sorts

MARINEVET SITREP

No?relax?not gonna be a real SITREP?involved in too many of those these days, anyway!

First a quick update on how I got over here?mostly about last year leading up to this assignment, etc.

I left the employ of Onslow County Local Government (County HR Dir) late last summer. It was time. Was going to kick back and relax, but some folks found out I was thinking about retiring (again) and had job offers even before I left the County.

Altho several interesting positions were made available, I ended up splitting my time between BlackwaterUSA and Texas A&M (TEEX/NERRTC). I advised both that I didn?t want to work more than 100 days a year. My time with BWUSA found me traveling back and forth to the UAE ?working on stuff??mostly SOF issues. TEEX/NEERTC effort geared towards WMD/Natural Disaster EmergMgt. Enjoyed them both.

During all this, however, a long-time Army friend of mine made me an offer I couldn?t refuse?asking me to come over to Afghanistan to become a member of his Advisory Team?the G3 Operations ?Mentor? (read Advisor) to the 205th Afghan National Army (ANA) Corps, which has the cog for the Southern AO in The ?Stan. When a buddy asks you to come lend a hand?that?s what you do. SO?that?s how I got here?Jul06.

THE REAL SKINNY?boots on the deck NOVEMBER SIERRA SCOOP

This is without a doubt, the most fouled up goat rope I have ever seen in my 45 years of service aligned with the Military! Sad, but true! THIS is THE WAR we should be fighting. We COULD be WINNING this one!

At first, and just as in Iraq, we kicked the crap out of the Talibs here, ane were on a roll. Our American Forces were superb?totally defeated the Talibs and other AGE (Anti-Govt Elements) on the field of battle. But also, as in Iraq, we didn?t keep the pressure on the way we should have?allowed political fervor to define the effort?caved to whims of various factions in our and other nations?etc. All that allowed for a resurgence of the Talib effort. My comments will not, however, become politically oriented?too much at stake for that?just too bad others in our Nation/around the globe can?t put such BS aside and come together on defeating an Enemy who has every intention of wiping us from the face of the Earth?no hype?I?m living and working with folks (very fine Muslim folks) who are, at this time, even more at risk than we are, but should they become subverted, WE are next?make no mistake about it!

There are very few American troops in The ?Stan at this time. You?ve probably read a lot about the ?tide turning??the ?NATO involvement??etc. Well, one of the main reasons the tide is turning is BECAUSE of the NATO involvement and pulling back of U.S. Forces. NATO ?buy in? is good, but that said, MOST of their forces are Second String, at best, and more like Third String ?scrubs? as the norm. They are not properly trained, equipped, and do NOT have the aggressive Warrior Spirit of our Military?! There is little continuity and/or cohesion in the current effort. I'm sure we?ll discuss more on the NATO issue later, but this is a major flaw in the effort.

Combine the foregoing with some of the poorest senior Officer (Col/GenOff) leadership I?ve ever seen, and we?re in trouble, Sports Fans.


Here?s what would WIN it for us over here:

Clean house in Kabul w/re to much of the Senior Officer leadership?bring some real war fighters in here!

GOD BLESS the National Guard, but dang it, they are NOT the force that should be over here training the ANA?and yet?they ARE the main U.S. Force here doing the training! Just NOT up to the job. In something this critical, we must not confuse EFFORT with RESULTS?! We have THE BEST Active Duty Military in the World?get them over here and get them involved. We were WINNING with them here?the Talibs would not come out and play when our AcDu Army and Marine Corps forces were engaged. There are many things (even over here) that our Guard folks can be doing and doing well. When considering the ?gutting? our Force Structure took awhile back, we must remember that the Guard (and Reserve) forces have literally saved our bacon in Iraq/other GWOT efforts.

Our SF folks should be here in large numbers doing what they do best. Altho limited, the SF/SOF folks reap huge dividends here.

IF we had one (1) U.S. Army Air Assault Division and one (1) U.S. Marine Corps Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) here, with additional rotor wing assets to augment their already robust r/w status, I GUARAN-DAMN-TEE you we would bring the Talibs/AGE to their bloodied knees in less than a year.

Oh yeah?couple other minor points?the ?new? Combat Leadership would have to be afforded full latitude to ?take the gloves off and let the dogs out??to be able to pursue the bad guys into Pakistan or wherever?can?t allow bad guys to play paddy cakes back and forth across borders!

I have briefed the above to some folks in the highest of Military Authority. Nothing I?m sharing here is ?classified??some folks are not happy with me because of my candor?tuff rocks?all they can do is cut my hair (bald head) and send me to Camp Lejeune?which?is HOME?! These senior folks (talking about 2/3/4-Stars & former Cabinet Officers) know me and they know I?m not some idle hand-wringing naysayer?they (now) know that the situation is very critical, and IF WE (we?re the only ones who have the wherewithal as a single entity) don?t ?do something soon??as in getting our collective heads out of our backsides, this flail is gonna come down like a house of cards. I am working back-channel with some heavy hitters...hoping for a miracle!

More later about life here?etc. Just wanted to set the stage with this SITREP.

Will try to attach a flick or two...me w/ANA folks/etc.

Semper Fi From the Sands of Kandahar,

WVM
Col USMC (Ret)
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WVM
Marine
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