I'm right There With Him On This!


He was a good kid, respectful, an average middle-class boy of 16. I met him last week when I was a substitute teacher at the local high school. When he discovered I'd served in the war in Afghanistan, he said he was eager to enlist in the Army as soon as he was of age. In the past, I'd have applauded his bravery and ambition, and while warning that enlistment would send him to war, I'd have extolled the many opportunities the military could open for average people like us.

But now?

Of course I respect him for considering enlistment. But how could I, a veteran whose mission in Afghanistan was deliberately destroyed by President Joe Biden, encourage the kid to join the next generation of the military that will be betrayed by our own government?

It's a strange position for me to be in, as a proud veteran, to have to wonder how to respond when I meet an impressive young person who asks for advice about joining up. For answers, I turned to the previous generation of veterans whose hard work and sacrifice in the Vietnam War were similarly laid to waste. Back in a 2021 column, I mentioned Bill Albracht, a U.S. Army special forces captain who in 1969 in Vietnam at age 21, just five years older than the high school kid, led a heroic defense of and evacuation from a besieged firebase. When I emailed, I wasn't sure if Albracht would want to talk to me. He once told me he wasn't willing to act as priest, taking the confessions from all those who had dodged the Vietnam War. I worried he likewise wouldn't be willing to serve as therapist for an angry veteran of the next generation.

"Sadly, you and I now have much more in common," he replied. "What Biden did to you guys ... I have no words. The blood and treasure for absolutely f***ing nothing."

A little more...

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/patriotism-unity/fool-us-twice

It really is a sad state right now.  I saw something the recruiting issues, which have been bad, are just horrendous right now.  I come from a military family, and this really makes me ill (recruitment).

Quote from: taxed on October 01, 2022, 10:17:42 PMIt really is a sad state right now.  I saw something the recruiting issues, which have been bad, are just horrendous right now.  I come from a military family, and this really makes me ill (recruitment).

Yep, a picture is worth ten thousand words.
When I entered basic, we had already eliminated much of this waste, with the exception of one fat kid, he literally quit 3 weeks in.


US Army falls 25% short of recruiting goal
The Army fell about 15,000 soldiers - or 25% - short of its recruitment goal this year, officials confirmed Friday, despite a frantic effort to make up the widely expected gap in a year when all the military services struggled in a tight jobs market to find young people willing and fit to enlist.

I am not a fan of the Washington Examiner, it is a Moonie publication and it is extremely biased. That said this is a tough topic, I too am a Vet of the Vietnam war era and each time I go past my old HS I see the plaque with names of guys I went to school with who died in Nam. For what? For an idea, the falling domino theory. But that history and the corruption of South Vietnam are forgotten today. The Russians couldn't win or accomplish whatever outcome was favorable in Afghanistan. Some wars are necessary some mistakes, we need to recognize that.

"This report raises critical questions about the U.S. government's ability to carry out reconstruction efforts on the scale seen in Afghanistan. As an inspector general's office charged with overseeing reconstruction spending in Afghanistan, SIGAR's approach has generally been technical; we identify specific problems and offer specific solutions. However, after 13 years of oversight, the cumulative list of systemic challenges SIGAR and other oversight bodies have identified is staggering. As former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley told SIGAR, "We just don't have a post-conflict stabilization model that works. Every time we have one of these things, it is a pick-up game. I don't have confidence that if we did it again, we would do any better." This was equally apparent after the Vietnam War, when a war-weary and divided country had little appetite to engage in another similar conflict. After Vietnam, for example, the U.S. Army disbanded most active duty civil affairs units and reduced the number of foreign area officers, the Army's 'regionally focused experts in political military operations." Special Forces moved away from counterinsurgency and instead focused on conducting small-scale operations in support of conventional forces. And USAID's global staff was gradually cut by 83 percent."

https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/lessonslearned/SIGAR-21-46-LL.pdf

Quote from: Solar on September 30, 2022, 04:47:59 PMI'm right There With Him On This!


He was a good kid, respectful, an average middle-class boy of 16. I met him last week when I was a substitute teacher at the local high school. When he discovered I'd served in the war in Afghanistan, he said he was eager to enlist in the Army as soon as he was of age. In the past, I'd have applauded his bravery and ambition, and while warning that enlistment would send him to war, I'd have extolled the many opportunities the military could open for average people like us.

But now?

Of course I respect him for considering enlistment. But how could I, a veteran whose mission in Afghanistan was deliberately destroyed by President Joe Biden, encourage the kid to join the next generation of the military that will be betrayed by our own government?

It's a strange position for me to be in, as a proud veteran, to have to wonder how to respond when I meet an impressive young person who asks for advice about joining up. For answers, I turned to the previous generation of veterans whose hard work and sacrifice in the Vietnam War were similarly laid to waste. Back in a 2021 column, I mentioned Bill Albracht, a U.S. Army special forces captain who in 1969 in Vietnam at age 21, just five years older than the high school kid, led a heroic defense of and evacuation from a besieged firebase. When I emailed, I wasn't sure if Albracht would want to talk to me. He once told me he wasn't willing to act as priest, taking the confessions from all those who had dodged the Vietnam War. I worried he likewise wouldn't be willing to serve as therapist for an angry veteran of the next generation.

"Sadly, you and I now have much more in common," he replied. "What Biden did to you guys ... I have no words. The blood and treasure for absolutely f***ing nothing."

A little more...

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/patriotism-unity/fool-us-twice

I had a similar situation with my brother. Me and 2 of my other brothers joined but when it was the youngests turn obama was messing everything up and so we didnt encourage him to join. I wish he had been able to be a soldier but how can he in this army?

Quote from: midcan5 on October 02, 2022, 08:00:41 AMI am not a fan of the Washington Examiner, it is a Moonie publication and it is extremely biased. That said this is a tough topic, I too am a Vet of the Vietnam war era and each time I go past my old HS I see the plaque with names of guys I went to school with who died in Nam. For what? For an idea, the falling domino theory. But that history and the corruption of South Vietnam are forgotten today. The Russians couldn't win or accomplish whatever outcome was favorable in Afghanistan. Some wars are necessary some mistakes, we need to recognize that.

"This report raises critical questions about the U.S. government's ability to carry out reconstruction efforts on the scale seen in Afghanistan. As an inspector general's office charged with overseeing reconstruction spending in Afghanistan, SIGAR's approach has generally been technical; we identify specific problems and offer specific solutions. However, after 13 years of oversight, the cumulative list of systemic challenges SIGAR and other oversight bodies have identified is staggering. As former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley told SIGAR, "We just don't have a post-conflict stabilization model that works. Every time we have one of these things, it is a pick-up game. I don't have confidence that if we did it again, we would do any better." This was equally apparent after the Vietnam War, when a war-weary and divided country had little appetite to engage in another similar conflict. After Vietnam, for example, the U.S. Army disbanded most active duty civil affairs units and reduced the number of foreign area officers, the Army's 'regionally focused experts in political military operations." Special Forces moved away from counterinsurgency and instead focused on conducting small-scale operations in support of conventional forces. And USAID's global staff was gradually cut by 83 percent."

https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/lessonslearned/SIGAR-21-46-LL.pdf

Now, go back and actually read the article that had nothing to do with the site posting it.
As to your Afghan BS? Trump had a working exit strategy, the DNC/NWO purposely destroyed, got our guys killed along with countless others.
This is what the article is about, the US has a shitty track record for starting new wars for no other reason, than personal gain for their Crony Capitalist buddies.

Joining the military under the NWO is nothing short of suicide and a life time of regret if one were to kill somebody, only to discover the whole purpose of the war was to line someone's pocket for the powerful.

I love how you're always willing to deflect for the corrupt leftists.

Quote from: T Hunt on October 02, 2022, 08:47:34 AMI had a similar situation with my brother. Me and 2 of my other brothers joined but when it was the youngests turn obama was messing everything up and so we didnt encourage him to join. I wish he had been able to be a soldier but how can he in this army?

Yeah, I went in under Nixon, morale was great, but when Carter entered off, everything went to shit!