Posted on 07/02/2011 8:13:03 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
U.S. Air Force airmen from the Washington Air National Guard directed multiple airstrikes May 25 helping a significantly outnumbered U.S. Army and Afghan National Security Force unit fight through an ambush and free a district center from insurgents.
Joint terminal air controllers from the 116th Air Support Operations Squadron, in communication with coalition fighter and bomber aircraft, directed aerial attack on enemy positions while U.S. and Afghan soldiers fought to drive insurgents from Do Ab, a tiny village in Nuristan province, Afghanistan.
It was the largest battle ever fought by members of the Washington Air National Guard, and one of the most significant battles in the last 10 years of the war in Afghanistan, according to soldiers who fought in the battle.
Approximately 40 U.S. service members, including two JTAC airmen, and about 20 of their Afghan counterparts went to Do Ab after intelligence reports indicated insurgents overran the district center.
The airmen and soldiers from the 133rd Infantry Regiment, Task Force Ironman, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, TF Red Bulls, fought through a massive ambush from an enemy force numbering in the hundreds, killing more than 100 insurgent fighters in an intense seven-hour battle.
(Excerpt) Read more at dvidshub.net ...
If I had a Infantry division up against a USAF combat control team well hidden in a LP/OP with sat comm I would be outnumbered.
Sort of like the power of the pen per se.... FAC or CCT special tactics teams an their brethren can bring down hell on the enemy....
My observations of such men during my military career...
This article points out something I have been saying and advocating for years - napalm. With the enemy embedded deep in the mountain tops/sides, bombs often don’t do much damage.
Napalm will cover everything in its path, and a couple of nap bombs will cover hundreds of feet, it not yards, depending on how it hits (angle of glide). There is no hiding from it.
Also, it can drip over the side of the canyon-tops to burn out any troops hidden below it.
The decision to take napalm out of our weapons inventory is one of the stupidest and costliest in terms of American lives lost, that I can think of.
Time for someone in the military to get some balls and advocate that we bring it back. Let Obama decline to do it - it would make a great election weapon against him.
The aircrews making these runs have to be sweating BBs and a bunch of other stuff. They are asked to hit almost pinpoint targets with aircraft that don’t fly slow at all, manoeuvr in tight terrain and at night. They are flying airplanes older than they are.
There is no tolerance for error in the USAF, it is brutally competitive. Like so many in our military, they are the very best of the very best and they must hold to that standard every single day in every single way.
Outstanding article. Outstanding men. F U taliban bitches.
Napalm can also suck the air out of bunkers and caves.
We dropped from the inventory because the one photo fro Vietnam showing the naked and burnt girl crying and running after a airstrike.
We are becoming soft....
THE FINAL
INSPECTION
The soldier stood and faced God,
Which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
Just as brightly as his brass..
‘Step forward now, soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?’
The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
‘No, Lord, I guess I have not.
Because those of us who carry guns,
Can’t always be a saint.
I’ve had to work most Sundays,
And at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I’ve been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny,
That wasn’t mine to keep...
Though I worked a lot of overtime,
When the bills just got too steep.
And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear..
And sometimes, God, forgive me
I’ve wept unmanly tears.
I know I don’t deserve a place,
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around,
Except to calm their fears
If you’ve a place for me here, Lord,
It needn’t be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don’t, I’ll understand.
There was a silence all around the throne,
Where the saints had often trod.
As the soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
‘Step forward now, you soldier,
You’ve borne your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven’s streets,
You’ve done your time in Hell.’
It’s the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us the Freedom of the Press.
It’s the Soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us the Freedom of Speech.
It’s the Soldier, not the politicians
That ensures our right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness..
It’s the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us the Freedom of the Press.
It’s the Soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us the Freedom of Speech.
It’s the Soldier, not the politicians
That ensures our right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness..
It’s the Soldier who salutes the Flag,
Who serves beneath the Flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the Flag.
THESE COLORS DON’T RUN
Lest anyone misunderstand, understand this, Christ never rebuked the Centurion for being a soldier:
Mat 8:5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
Mat 8:6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
Mat 8:7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
Mat 8:8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
Mat 8:9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
Mat 8:10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Mat 8:11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 8:13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
Washington Air National Guard... Joint terminal air controllers from the 116th Air Support Operations Squadron... while U.S. and Afghan soldiers fought to drive [Islamic terrorists] from Do Ab... in Nuristan province... Approximately 40 U.S. service members, including two JTAC airmen, and about 20 of their Afghan counterparts went to Do Ab after intelligence reports indicated [Islamic terrorists] overran the district center. The airmen and soldiers from the 133rd Infantry Regiment, Task Force Ironman, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, TF Red Bulls, fought through a massive ambush from [Islamic terrorists] numbering in the hundreds, killing more than 100 [Islamic terrorists] in an intense seven-hour battle.Bravo!
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