Finally done in Afghanistan?

[GrndPndr]

54 minutes ago, Premo said:

In the process of drawing down we would have had to leave Bagram at some point. My question to you and the marine battalion commander is when should we have done that? When was the right time to leave Bagram?

Keep it until we got everyone out? The Afghan government asked us not to evacuate while they were still in power. The concern being that it would have been perceived as a loss of confidence and started a rush to the exits/collapse of the ANA even earlier. Fair or not I think that drove much of the rhetoric we heard up to this point about the Afghans being able to hold their own.

At this point, I'd imagine we'd be witnessing thousands of people on the roads leading to Bagram stuck in the traffic jam to get out, helicopters and convoys making trips to/from Kabul through Taliban checkpoints. I'm sure nothing could go wrong with that.

 

One could also ask, why couldn't we have made Bagram our final departure place (instead of HK airport)?  Bagram easier to defend?  Fewer civilians?  When/if things go sideways would you rather be at KBL or AIX?

Did anyone consider this?  Sorry, some of these questions will seem a bit...rhetorical.

[Day Man]

2 hours ago, TheNewGazmo said:

Not sure who he thinks he is, but as an O-5 Battalion Commander he'd may as well be a butter bar asking for "accountability" on this issue.  

Not anymore.

[TheNewGazmo]

22 minutes ago, Day Man said:

Not anymore.

Seems like his mind was made up before he posted that video.  Most "company men" would have kept their mouth shut so I guess I'd have to respect him calling people out before his exit.  If I've learned anything in the past two decades, talking with your feet is probably the most effective way to get shit done and see change in the military.  

[Lawman]

In the process of drawing down we would have had to leave Bagram at some point. My question to you and the marine battalion commander is when should we have done that? When was the right time to leave Bagram?
Keep it until we got everyone out? The Afghan government asked us not to evacuate while they were still in power. The concern being that it would have been perceived as a loss of confidence and started a rush to the exits/collapse of the ANA even earlier. Fair or not I think that drove much of the rhetoric we heard up to this point about the Afghans being able to hold their own.
At this point, I'd imagine we'd be witnessing thousands of people on the roads leading to Bagram stuck in the traffic jam to get out, helicopters and convoys making trips to/from Kabul through Taliban checkpoints. I'm sure nothing could go wrong with that.
 

I mean… it’s a pretty basic principle of establishing any form of ground security that 2 is 1 and 1 is none. Overlapping fields of fire from mutually supporting positions, stuff like that is a requirement.

It was never an either or with Kabul or BAF. The people asking why abandon BAF are doing so because what kind of idiot leaves themselves with only one security position and no mutual support.

We could have just as soon operated both, and left both at the same time. That would have actually made sense… which is probably why we didn’t do it. We are actually repeating a mistake learned by the Marines during Lebanon, and again 15 years ago with Restrepo, but like most AARs, it was filed in a filing cabinet we set on fire and buried underground.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[RegularJoe]

19 minutes ago, Lawman said:

I mean… it’s a pretty basic principle of establishing any form of ground security that 2 is 1 and 1 is none. Overlapping fields of fire from mutually supporting positions, stuff like that is a requirement.

It was never an either or with Kabul or BAF. The people asking why abandon BAF are doing so because what kind of idiot leaves themselves with only one security position and no mutual support.

We could have just as soon operated both, and left both at the same time. That would have actually made sense… which is probably why we didn’t do it. We are actually repeating a mistake learned by the Marines during Lebanon, and again 15 years ago with Restrepo, but like most AARs, it was filed in a filing cabinet we set on fire and buried underground.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The decision was supposedly made by WH leadership to defend the embassy vs BAF.  As they could not bring in additional troops to secure both meant that existing resources had to be transferred to embassy security.

We could not bring in more resources/assets in the midst of a "drawdown" because of public perception.

 

Apparently a functioning embassy with no way to evacuate was considered better for us than a defensible position with a secure runway.

 

What do I/we know we don't reside at 1600 Penns.

[Lawman]

The decision was supposedly made by WH leadership to defend the embassy vs BAF.  As they could not bring in additional troops to secure both meant that existing resources had to be transferred to embassy security.
We could not bring in more resources/assets in the midst of a "drawdown" because of public perception.
 
Apparently a functioning embassy with no way to evacuate was considered better for us than a defensible position with a secure runway.
 
What do I/we know we don't reside at 1600 Penns.

I mean there is more than enough reporting sources flat saying advice was given and overruled. They just aren’t stating it near as loudly and with outrage as if somebody else had done it.

I mean yes I’m in the military and I’ll carry out orders even when stupid… but damn sure I’m gonna say to my boss this is F’ing dumb and will get people killed in the process of reminding us we could have done it better this other way.

Fact is Biden and his staff gambled this wouldn’t happen, and lost. Now they are trying to slip out of that ownership with any chaff and flare they can throw.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[fire4effect]

Honestly I hope they're starting to do the shell game if they haven't already and setting up temporary FARPs/LZs around Kabul. Soccer fields for instance are as common as  7-11s here. No more than 24 hrs in one space as temporary collection point for people needing extraction. Tell the Taliban we'll be moving around to keep ISIS off guard and unable to concentrate on one damn place because clearly you can't maintain security. 

[Guest]

Check out the amount of U.S. cash left for the Taliban in the middle of this clip. Incredible. More than a 20 year retirement's worth that's for sure...

 

Edited August 28, 2021 by dogfish78

[FLEA]

13 minutes ago, dogfish78 said:

Check out the amount of U.S. cash left for the Taliban in the middle of this clip. Incredible. More than a 20 year retirement's worth that's for sure...

 

would be fucking hilarious if they opened the cash bags and it was all just aafes pogs. 

[Clark Griswold]

Worth a listen, Angry Planet now 2 for 2

A Brief History of Lying About Afghanistan

 

[BashiChuni]

Looks like “over the horizon” is the new pentagon buzz word and talking point. 
 

what a joke

[Lawman]

Looks like “over the horizon” is the new pentagon buzz word and talking point. 
 
what a joke

“Foreign external augmentation of Defense”

Pronounce it
“Fay-Add”

Whoever wants to make LtCol? There’s your OER bullet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lecarpetron Dukemarriot]

The saga continues

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stuart-scheller-589062139_activity-6837780100155506688-293m

[Waingro]

26 minutes ago, Lecarpetron Dukemarriot said:

The saga continues

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stuart-scheller-589062139_activity-6837780100155506688-293m

Spoiler alert: ten-minute production, filmed in an abandoned school bus in the woods, where he verbally resigns his commission and talks about all the shít he’s seen in the corps. And to Venmo his wife money. And then that he needs philanthropist support to do what he’s about to do next. Which he later says is to “bring the whole fuçking system down.” And then “we’re just getting started.”

Pretty cringey, overall.

[uhhello]

33 minutes ago, Waingro said:

Spoiler alert: ten-minute production, filmed in an abandoned school bus in the woods, where he verbally resigns his commission and talks about all the shít he’s seen in the corps. And to Venmo his wife money. And then that he needs philanthropist support to do what he’s about to do next. Which he later says is to “bring the whole fuçking system down.” And then “we’re just getting started.”

Pretty cringey, overall.

[WAG]

47 minutes ago, Waingro said:

Spoiler alert: ten-minute production, filmed in an abandoned school bus in the woods, where he verbally resigns his commission and talks about all the shít he’s seen in the corps. And to Venmo his wife money. And then that he needs philanthropist support to do what he’s about to do next. Which he later says is to “bring the whole fuçking system down.” And then “we’re just getting started.”

Pretty cringey, overall.

Most likely response…deploy troops to DC.

 

 

[uhhello]

The chess board placement was key.  

[SocialD]

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Waingro said:

Spoiler alert: ten-minute production, filmed in an abandoned school bus in the woods, where he verbally resigns his commission and talks about all the shít he’s seen in the corps. And to Venmo his wife money. And then that he needs philanthropist support to do what he’s about to do next. Which he later says is to “bring the whole fuçking system down.” And then “we’re just getting started.”

Pretty cringey, overall.

 

14 minutes ago, uhhello said:

The chess board placement was key.  

He seems patriotic through and through to me. Dude tossed 17 years of benefits away because he believes in being a pro-U.S.A. patriot so much more than being some anti-U.S.A. stooge. Chessboard might be a sign of something, or not. You could argue it's cringe, or not cringe, but it doesn't matter. His message and actions are what matters. Incredibly similar to what the founding fathers spoke of prior to the war for independence.

o7 to Lieutenant Colonel Scheller 

[hindsight2020]

holy checkers move batman. I tell ya where he went wrong is he probably retained PYB's wife as counsel. Actually that's not true, cuz at least PYB retained his earned benefits! 😄 

To each their own. 

 

ETA: Almost forgot. The irony of posting that manifesto in front of a Chess board does not escape me in the least. yee yee!

Edited August 29, 2021 by hindsight2020
brevity

[ATIS]

Curious what his 214 is going to say.  General?  OTH? Other?  Been a looong time since I sat in legal school, 1995 in fact. 
OTH and BCD follow you. General as well, but still better than the others. 
 

ATIS. 

[gearhog]

Looks like we got our vengeance. Good work, everyone.

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/afghanistan-kabul-taliban-us-news-08-29-21/h_2bd817e241b383fb2d746202ef5ed752

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E9_5npPWEAAYZh8?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by torqued

[JBueno]

5 hours ago, dogfish78 said:

His message and actions are what matters. Incredibly similar to what the founding fathers spoke of prior to the war for independence.

 

Shack.

Very likely that “Scheller rambling in the abandoned bus” becomes synonymous with Washington crossing the Delaware.

[Breckey]

56 minutes ago, torqued said:

Looks like we got our vengeance. Good work, everyone.

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/afghanistan-kabul-taliban-us-news-08-29-21/h_2bd817e241b383fb2d746202ef5ed752

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E9_5npPWEAAYZh8?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

 

Initial indications from CENTCOM allude to there being large secondaries since the target was a VBIED. 

Edited August 30, 2021 by Breckey

[Waingro]

1 hour ago, torqued said:

Looks like we got our vengeance. Good work, everyone.

For 19+ years the Taliban have claimed civilian casualties for virtually every strike. Interesting to see that their propaganda arm now has Americans doing it for them.