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This guy was five years out from his service which is enough time to go soft. Back in the day I was an armor crewman in W Germany. I imagine in Afghanistan that tanks were not the best counter insurgency tool

He wanted the rush he did not get in service, That chance to see if he measured up. Not unnatural for troopers really. He got his rush without firing his weapon in anger and didn’t like it.

I never had to fire in anger or survival. As a young soldier we all were itching to go against Ivan just to alleviate the boredom around the kaserne. After decades of hindsight I say that I left the service before I could get shot at. I didn’t stick around for more years until Gulf War 1. I had buddies that did. They don’t talk about the road to Bashra.

For the most part individual soldiers are not particularly brave. They are just shooting and scrambling to quiet the guns on the other side for some peace and quiet themselves. There are standouts of course. Men who are true heroes not the fake heroes we have today.

I don’t know where to place this young man. He went to go see the elephant and lucky for him he can withdraw after having found his own line and limits. That has not been the case for all the others soldiers on all sides

I don’t know what to make of this conflict either. It didn’t have to happen. Russia plainly stated its case and position many years ago but the powers that be in the west refused to listen for whatever reason. The current conflict is the result. All unnecessary death is senseless whether it be in Ukraine or soon to be conflict in Taiwan

I imagine in Afghanistan that tanks were not the best counter insurgency tool

You are right. In fact, I don't think the Army even deployed any M1's to Afghanistan, and the Marines just a few. So This guy's unit might have deployed to Afghanistan, but he served in some role other than Tank Crew. It's also possible he was sent as an Individual Augment.

You also have to consider what soldiers fight for. Many will tell you they are fighting for their buddies, some for their family. This guy was with a bunch of strangers in a foreign country he had no connection to.