Lt.Col. Glen Butler is on to something here. Listening would be good. Empowering would be better. The only problem is that it would involve training them. It's amazing how many are doing good things without being trained.
Imagine what training them would do for us.
Depending on where they go, the Captains are likely getting some COIN education. The Corporals? Not so much. COIN is not trained in NCOES. In fact, many tactical tasks are trained to Cold War standards. Emplacing an M-8 chemical alarm was not done on one single OP I ever saw in Afghanistan. Nor were anti-tank mines. Both are still part of the ARTEP standards for tactical tasks trained/evaluated at the first line leader level.
What happened to, "Train the way you fight, fight the way you train?" For us, it's "Train the way you train, forget it. Fight the way you fight."
No, instead we train for a war that will not be fought again until well after these Corporals are out of the military entirely. But by golly, we're ready for those pesky Reds!
Happy Birthday, Dad...
1 day ago
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the blog post From the Front: 05/05/2009 News and Personal dispatches from the front and the home front.
ReplyDeleteWith Obama in charge, I have to agree. On the other hand, however, we may be fighting the commies before we know it. The USSR...er...Russia and the Reds is China are backing Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and Georgia, to name a few. O won't tangle with them which will make them feel empowered which in turn makes us appear weak. Do you follow my theory?
ReplyDeleteIt just makes me apprehensive. That's all. God bless your family and you. :)