SwiftVets.com

[Guest]

"SWIFT-BOAT" THIS LEFTY

In the final analysis victory or defeat on any
battlefield,too many times, will be measured on the
weight or lack thereof in the leadership personalities
involved. If true victory is desired,the so-called "
GREY-MAN" of management lore must be shunned to the
sidelines and staff positions. For the very blandness
of his persona will be readily measured in the buckets
of blood and broken bodies of his subordinates. True
warriors are now moving to the forefront but role
players do remain evident as they try to distance
themselves from an endeavor they cannot understand.



One must only look at history to make this point.We
go to war with a far different Army leadership than
the one which eventually wins our wars for us. Perhaps
recalling the comments about ' Stormin Norman' prior
to and immediately after the first Gulf War should be
recalled; ' He is a hard-nosed combat guy and
peacetime requires a different type of leader.'
Leadership is either in your personality or it is not.
It cannot be taught or bought with a Harvard degree on
the wall. You either are one or you are not on the
battlefield. The actual arena is the ultimate
equalizer and no board or computer program can ever
match the total reality it brings.


This is not an angry tirade but it can bring dismay
when a fine Special Forces NCO comes back from eight
months in combat and retires without a Combat Infantry
Badge(CIB) because his commander sets himself up as
the arbiter of who will receive it. The battlefield
and the regulations dictate who receives "The Blue
Badge Of Courage" and not you pal. Back in the day a
Soldier received the CIB if he was involved in combat
action on his first day in-country or after thirty
continuous days in the combat Infantry unit,including
Special Forces.There are those who will debate this
but that is just fact.

Professional jealousy,the worst disease in the US
military community, once again rears it`s ugly head.
Named and unnamed 'sources' within the military speak
of 'bringing Blackwater under our control.'
Back-channel messages to Congress push these type of
ideas. What they do not say is that private security
contractors have been left,at times, to fight and die
as the US military unit down the road did not move to
assist. Why? 'Because, they get paid more than us.'
That is one heck of a reason to leave an ally or
fellow American to die.


'Rules of engagement'? War is one continuous
judgment call after another and UW brings a whole new
set of nuances and professional by-laws. The enemy
purposely places his civilians between himself and our
troops. We cannot require them to hold fire and
mistakes will be made. In this scenario the enemy is
to blame and not our troops. Explain it darn it or get
someone who can. America has always rued the day it
built one millisecond of hesitation into the Soldier's
or Marine's trigger finger.

"Professional jealousy" is something the "Twit
Brigade" in Congress will never understand as
unacceptable behavior and may even identify with it.
After all, they are fully ready to send an American
Army to defeat for political advantage.Capturing the
White House or Congress seems more important than
capturing any enemy or key terrain in the war.High
paid professionals have always been the target of
military ire running back to the Vietnam War. The
myths retold in the movie "Air America" started at the
bar with jealous military officers and civilian
government officials. Those of us who spent time in
the "in-between world" during Vietnam know this well:
" Someone needs to be in charge of you." "Someone"
five pay grades higher than your level was, you fool.


Senior Officers who retire, many times go into the
private sector using connections and expertise gained
in the military. The Ranger, SEAL or Special Forces
operator goes into the private sector and uses these
very same items gained from military experience and
training.Some write and teach about war and some
continue to participate at the gut level. After all,in
war actual gun-toting warriors should be treasured and
rule supreme. "Mercenaries"? Kiss my fourth point of
contact pal. After all, it is the war "managers" who
do not grasp unconventional war/insurgencies and not
the warrior on the ground. Who would our diplomats
prefer "riding shotgun", a Private of Infantry or a
retired warrior with decades of experience? The answer
should be obvious.

Trained professional security personnel have as
primary functions to protect specific persons and
property. One would hope the Infantry Soldier not on
patrol today will be on ambush tonight. If he is
not,then he is being under-utilized. Senior officers
are demanding control and the missions of private
contract security elements and in the next breath
bemoaning not having enough troops to clear a road.
"Security" plays no role in this bunch coveting
control of private security contractors but ego
does.It is about "control" period and the basis is
jealousy.These self-congratulating 'managers' are
attempting to try and convict as many Soldiers and
Marines as they honor. One cannot truly protect
critical installations/persons and hunt down and kill
the most wanted terrorists by playing "Mother may I?"
with your troops.



Look at the recent investigations of snipers and
others.We have one General who spends an inordinate
amount of time trying to punish trained warriors for
not saying "please" before killing the bad guy.If you
want pristine warfare then buy a video game because
you will not find it in actual combat.War is a
messy,dirty business and manicured,perfumed princes of
management would have been better off hawking shoes
for a living and so would the Army.Squeaky-clean
freaks need not apply but they do.


After the attack on America in 2001 we declared war
on terrorist entities ' worldwide.' That is the true
lie of this war and not whether we should have invaded
Iraq. Like Vietnam, much of our society and even our
military have business as usual outside of Iraq and
Afghanistan except for Special Forces. There is ample
intelligence tracing our enemies preparing and then
launching a worldwide war on us. If we have
investments in those countries supporting or
participating directly covertly, in terrorism, we seem
to choose to ignore it even as our allies are being
attacked; ' You have an internal problem pal.' This is
a lying statement made by our diplomats worldwide and
is not based in available intelligence but naked
professional fear. Asia is aflame and America is
'fleeing the scene' or 'sleeping with the enemy.'



The enemy will time and again place innocent
civilians or not so innocent civilians between you and
him. HE IS THE GUILTY PARTY and not our troops. When
you blame our troops you assist the enemy in
accomplishing all he hoped to gain from this terrible
and criminal tactic. Would you prefer our troops to
run or stand there and be shot because civilians are
present, without responding? You cannot 'manage' your
way out of that question,regardless of where you got
your MBA.



'The 'better life for locals' will only happen
after you win. This does not rule out Civic Action and
Nation Building but understand and be prepared to
explain that in the interim civilians will in fact die
and be maimed. That is the enemy plan and not the
intention of our brave fighting a hard war.


The seeming inability to explain the above to the
American people and local people appears to be the
over-riding problem and not our troops,in most
cases.Put into this mix childish inter-service
rivalries and you have U.S. Marines being thrown out
of a country by the same General who wishes snipers to
play 'mother may I?' before killing a known enemy. We
are putting our fighting warriors through grueling
investigations and even trial, in a frantic search for
scapegoats,on the outside chance they may be guilty of
something. It appears the 'girls in the band' not only
wish to use Blackwater as a convenient excuse for not
clearing and securing roads but their own troops in
uniform. Perhaps they should learn to secure roads
before calling for even more responsibility.


Is the left-leaning cry that Iraq and Afghanistan
are ' just like Vietnam ' valid? Only in the fact
intelligence is ignored on territorial grounds and
'arrogance is ignorance with a light coat of oil' has
once again been validated. If you are told by a local
criminal that well known terrorists are lurking nearby
and you do not use all national technical means to
verify,you are fleeing from the intelligence. If you
attempt to cover your butts and careers with the
broken hearts,spirits and careers of your
subordinates,you are the lowest form of military life.
It is war and there is no place for fearful
leaders,who even consider themselves before those who
live,work and die at the tip of the spear.


When valiant Sailors and returned POWS exposed
Senator John Kerry as the military fraud he always
was, the Left said he was ' swift-boated.' It is my
earnest hope some read the above and claim I am guilty
of ' swift-boating.' It would be the highest
compliment I have ever received. War,fought in
earnest, leaves no room for self promotion at the
expense of the troops in the arena. If the Left truly
cares about the genesis of PTSD among returning
veterans,look no further than the mirror. No
battlefield horror could match the damnation and scorn
of those who sided with our enemy in Vietnam. That is
the most over-riding similarity between this war and
my war. The enemy is the same and he is you,Lefty.

ZIPPO

[Guest]

Genius!!

[BuffaloJack]

Unfortunately, Zippo, you are preaching to the choir.
Warriors of honor and grit will not hesitate to eliminate the enemy; and should a few mistakes be made and an occasional bystander be killed, it is because the enemy has staged the situation to accomplish this very goal. The left controls the media and they are very good at demonizing. This is why honorable people are pursued in the perpetual witch hunt that follows our military. This situation is not helped when calculating devious individuals are in high positions of public trust and see every action by our military that has unexpected casualties as a means to advance a leftist agenda through the sacrifice of the very people defending our country. These people are not the ones at the forefront of danger operating under the rules of engagement where they may only return fire if fired upon. If these politicians and media personalities were the ones on point carrying an M16, then you would be certain that they would shoot first. But it isn't that way. And honorable men and women will continue to be sacrificed to advance the agenda of others who are not honorable and who would themselves cower in fear if the positions were reversed.
Jack
_________________
Swift Boats - Qui Nhon (12/69-4/70), Cat Lo (4/70-5/70), Vung Tau (5/70-12/71)

[GenrXr]

Ahhh, yummy, a little righteous indignation in the morning not only tastes good, but goes well with coffee and is a great start to the day.

Who is Zippo, btw?
_________________
"An activist is the person who cleans up the water, not the one claiming its dirty."
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing." Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Founder of Conservative Philosophy

[Guest]

in from greasy:

Maj. Mark Smith make some very valid points about incompetent leaders in
combat.
I can relate to a sorry Major and Lieutenant we had in my unit.
My platoon was pinned down by a battalion of NVA regulars on May 4, 1968.
Two of my friends were already killed and the green tracers were after us.
One Lt. Ahouse, our platoon leader was down crying because he had us in the
center of a rice paddy and we had a wood line we should have been in.
Company Commander, Maj. Thompson who was safely in the rear at our base camp
in Dian, Vietnam kept asking on the radio for someone to "give him a body
count". Someone finally asked if the bastard wanted the enemy or our body
count?
We by the grace of God got out alive thanks to the 1st Infantry (Big Red
One) coming out to help us. Nine American KIAs and 250 plus NVA dead. Should
have been worse thanks to Thompson and Ahouse. Damn sorry combat leaders.
Fine read echelon bull shitters.
Leaders care for their men and damn to hell the regulations if you can keep
your men alive and kill the enemy. That is the object of war.
Please read the following by Vietnam ex-POW Maj. Mark Smith.
Support the troops, win the war and come home.
Danny "Greasy" Belcher, Executive Director
Task Force Omega of KY Inc.
Vietnam Infantry Sgt. 68-69
"D" Troop 7th Sqdn. 1st Air Cav

[Guest]

[GenrXr]