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Lt. Col. Dan Davis U.S.A. is the latest officer to have his fill of the "everything is proceeding apace" nonsense uttered by the high command regarding Afghanistan. Down where the rubber meets the road, the troops know much better the bullsh!t being spewed literally eminates from echelons above reality.
The corruption and ineptitude of the ANP and ANA is deadly real. The connivance of our government with those whom direct the killers of our troops from Pakistan is deadly real. The careerism and ominous silence from those in our officer ranks who should know their silence no longer reflects a stoic and heroic leader is intolerable.
Truth, Lies And Afghanistan-Armed Forces Journal
An officer's duty is simple. Our troops know their jobs about as well as any armed combatant force in American history. Maybe better. An officer's core responsibility is to unfcuk matters when they become screwed up. At the troop level it can actually be a pretty easy gig when surrounded by so many good men. They don't actually fcuk up all that much.
Above them? A different story. And EVERYBODY knows it. There's where it gets hairy for an officer. Thirteen, fourteen years in and you can smell that retirement as a LTC or full colonel. All you've got to do is shut your mouth, tow the line and pray there are no fcuk-ups below you which are damning.
Doing so, however, is not serving your duty when it means your troops bite the bullet for your silence. No officer is entitled to a retirement. There was no guarantee upon commissioning. A career as a army or marine officer isn't a marathon. It's a series of meeting engagements with life-any of which may require you to adhere to the core principle of unfcuking a problem-and doing so even should it mean falling on your sword for your troops.
We read a lot of lip-service by our senior military leadership about the devotion to duty of our serving soldiers, sailors, airmen/women and marines. Were our leaders so morally and ethically committed as those men and women whom serve under them then we'd hear and read the plain truth about all which we've figured out here at the WAB without their help.
I've been calling bullsh!t on this war since the Korengal in the fall of 2007. It was pointless as configured then and remains every bit as much so now. Our civil and senior military leaders owe an abject apology to our troops for this horrid mess of things that they've created.
Sadly, it'll never happen. Instead, they'll ride the coat-tails of our troops to their next gigs until finally riding off into the sunset at the tax-payer's expense. Too many of their troops won't be so lucky.
All those stupid allusions to Vietnam? While the battlefield sure looks different there's a real reason to think that the senior commanders are remarkably the same these days.
In Afghan War Officer Becomes Whistle-Blower-Scott Shane NYT February 5, 2012
This thing REALLY pisses me off...
The corruption and ineptitude of the ANP and ANA is deadly real. The connivance of our government with those whom direct the killers of our troops from Pakistan is deadly real. The careerism and ominous silence from those in our officer ranks who should know their silence no longer reflects a stoic and heroic leader is intolerable.
Truth, Lies And Afghanistan-Armed Forces Journal
An officer's duty is simple. Our troops know their jobs about as well as any armed combatant force in American history. Maybe better. An officer's core responsibility is to unfcuk matters when they become screwed up. At the troop level it can actually be a pretty easy gig when surrounded by so many good men. They don't actually fcuk up all that much.
Above them? A different story. And EVERYBODY knows it. There's where it gets hairy for an officer. Thirteen, fourteen years in and you can smell that retirement as a LTC or full colonel. All you've got to do is shut your mouth, tow the line and pray there are no fcuk-ups below you which are damning.
Doing so, however, is not serving your duty when it means your troops bite the bullet for your silence. No officer is entitled to a retirement. There was no guarantee upon commissioning. A career as a army or marine officer isn't a marathon. It's a series of meeting engagements with life-any of which may require you to adhere to the core principle of unfcuking a problem-and doing so even should it mean falling on your sword for your troops.
We read a lot of lip-service by our senior military leadership about the devotion to duty of our serving soldiers, sailors, airmen/women and marines. Were our leaders so morally and ethically committed as those men and women whom serve under them then we'd hear and read the plain truth about all which we've figured out here at the WAB without their help.
I've been calling bullsh!t on this war since the Korengal in the fall of 2007. It was pointless as configured then and remains every bit as much so now. Our civil and senior military leaders owe an abject apology to our troops for this horrid mess of things that they've created.
Sadly, it'll never happen. Instead, they'll ride the coat-tails of our troops to their next gigs until finally riding off into the sunset at the tax-payer's expense. Too many of their troops won't be so lucky.
All those stupid allusions to Vietnam? While the battlefield sure looks different there's a real reason to think that the senior commanders are remarkably the same these days.
In Afghan War Officer Becomes Whistle-Blower-Scott Shane NYT February 5, 2012
This thing REALLY pisses me off...
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