I am livid. I’m shaking, really, so bear with me as I felt I needed to get this off my chest.
I am a former Special Forces Weapons Sergeant (18B) as well as a former Naval Officer during the latter part of my military career.
I served at first in the 82nd Airborne Division until I had enough rank to attend the Special Forces Qualification Course. I’ve served in 7th SFG(A,), 3rd SFG(A), 19th SFG(A) National Guard, 20th SFG(A) National Guard, and Special Operations Detachment — Europe (SOD-E) National Guard. Furthermore, because of that background, I was fortunate enough to serve ten months at SEAL Team EIGHT in the intelligence shop after I switched to the Navy and was commissioned while awaiting a class date at NMITC.
(Due to a comment I feel I need to clarify this. I never went through BUDS and was not a SEAL, when I switched branches for an officer ascension program, I was a 1635 Naval Intelligence Officer waiting on a class date at the Navy and Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center and spent temporary duty there in the intelligence shop.)
My stint at the newly formed 3rd Group was as initial cadre in forming up 3rd Battalion, which was destined to become the “Sub-Saharan Africa” battalion. They took a few of us from 7th Group because of our Spanish language capabilities and shot us through an intensive, 3-month Portuguese course. I was assigned to ODA 393 and our specialty country was Mozambique.
This battalion is now operating fully in Sub-Saharan Africa. I don’t know if these young men were from 3rd Battalion, but I suspect it is more likely than not.
When I first read of this ambush, I was not surprised but very much saddened as such stories always affect me. People were calling for an investigation, like “Benghazi” and while a bit flippant, I understand dark humour. I didn’t need an investigation as I pretty much understood what was going on.
It appears these guys were on what we call a FID mission: Foreign Internal Defence. That is when a 12-man ODA (A-Team) trains the forces of a host nation. A 12-man detachment can train 500 indigenous soldiers, in their language, to the standards of an American light infantry battalion (whether they keep those standards is another matter, but we basically teach what every US infantryman learns in AIT, as well as more advanced stuff as mission dictates.)
This can get dangerous, as my job as the weapons sergeant was then to take my newly trained troopies out on live patrols. Many of you may remember that during the 80’s there sure were a lot of “helicopter accidents” killing US “advisors” in places such as Honduras and El Salvador. A colleague of mine was actually blown in half by a FMLN satchel charge while manning an M60 in his base camp where they were training El Salvadorians, ahem, sorry, helicopter crash. Then there were the patrols with Hondurans on the southern border. Other teams were doing counter-narcotics.
So in my experience, things like this do indeed happen and always have. It’s not advertised much and most people in SF adhere to the motto “the quiet professionals.” It appears now that the ambush happened while returning from a meeting with local village elders. This, too, is part of the training you receive in the Qualification Course during Phase III “Robin Sage” as well as part of the exercise Jade Helm a few years ago when Alex Jones and other wackos were ranting about a government takeover and the fat-fuck militias were following SF guys around (as some one much wiser than I said on the internets, “everyone wants to be an operator until it’s time to PT, then they go to Taco Bell”)
So when this mother-fucker son-of-a-bitch and licker of dogs balls can’t even be bothered to contact family members of professional soldiers who routinely put their lives on the line without any expectation of recognition what-so-ever. It, just…. ach! I’m just boiling with rage.
Then this fuck-twit shit gibbon has the fucking gall to tell the widow, who can’t even see the body of her husband, that “he knew what he signed up for”
For fuck’s sake, twat-mouth, just shut the fuck up.
God, I’m yelling at the computer as I write this. The rage is overwhelming. And I have a problem with that. The VA has rated me 100% due to PTSD and severe depression, the rage is part of that and is really only a problem with certain buttons that are directly tied to these experiences. Thank God, otherwise, I’m pretty mello when it comes to family and anything not associated with the military and bureaucracy.
But this fuck-stick is just pushing all those buttons
And God, those widows and their kids. SGT Johnson's little girl was just overwhelmed next to her daddy’s casket on the tarmac as her mother collapsed over it.
FUCK!!! I wish they had President Obama!
Now the lump is coming in my throat and my eyes are uncontrollably welling up… I need to close out and go get a pack of smokes.
Thank’s for listening to my rant
Wednesday, Oct 18, 2017 · 6:21:37 PM +00:00 · Jeffersonian Democrat
Recommended list? For this? My ramblings? Thanks.
I very much appreciate the thanks for service comments, but it was just a job, really. And just because you may not have served in the military do not think for an instant that your own civic service deserves any less recognition.
And these four young brothers-in-arms deserve the thanks, really… they gave the ultimate sacrifice. Their families as well as any military family member will indeed agree that that is service as well.
I’m feeling better now as I had to take the train to Jena to do something and it was a beautiful, golden autumn day and very soothing. I came back, had dinner with my family and just read a bit of Beatrix Potter to my little girl and tucked her in.
I’m worn out too and I’m going to bed early. If I can’t reply to all of your comments I will at least try to rec them for you tacking the time to comment. Thank you and good night.