Adm. Bill McRaven, the head of U.S. special operations, is mapping out a potential Afghanistan war plan that would replace thousands of U.S. troops with small special operations teams paired with Afghans to help an inexperienced Afghan force withstand a Taliban onslaught as U.S. troops withdraw. While the overall campaign would still be led by conventional military, the handfuls…
Army Capt. Will Swenson has been recommended by the top U.S. general in Afghanistan for the Medal of Honor after widespread speculation about why his heroism had gone unrecognized, according to a published report. Swenson braved enemy fire on Sept. 8, 2009, with Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer, who will receive the nation’s top valor award…
“Sorry about that, it is my culture”, that is what our terps and Afghan soldiers we used to work with always said when we questioned something they did. Sometimes it was men walking holding hands, sometimes it was them smoking hash on guard duty. Other times it was when we were conducting military operations and…
“Not surprising at allâ€. That is what first came to mind when I read the story below. It was just a matter of time before all of the most feared facets of being an Embedded Trainer came together to result in one of the most feared outcomes. Air Support is never there when you need…
In this episode of Downrange, you will see them cover a lot of Afghanistan. They talk about the new COIN guidance coming out from Gen McChrystal, Sen, oops I mean COL Graham talking to the troops, and how the ETTs in country are helping Afghan men become nurses.
This morning I was fortunate enough to participate in another DOD sponsored blogger’s round-table discussion with COL Tom McGrath. You can see his bio and the minutes of the call (when they are posted) at http://www.defenselink.mil/blogger/index.aspx. The actual audio of the almost 30 min call is located by clicking here. I encourage all to listen…
