Posted on 10/24/2017 4:27:14 PM PDT by markomalley
Fly under the radar is what I say.
Come home
Part of the NATO problem is a language barrier and a mind set on how to how to run ops.
It is my understanding that this effort was lead by the French.
Did La David parle vous? how many on his team did?
Blame Bammie, the Mooselimb ...
One way we would get around that is the Europeans are multi linguistic.
You speak English and they don’t but they understand Spanish and Menendez talks to the guy and on and on..Spaniard speaks Greek..
Nato lead missions suck
Another nothing-burger. All of the men who died (as others have observed) were superbly trained. It’s a two-year pipeline from initial selection, through the “Q” course and all the other training required to become a Green Beret. Much of that instruction is among the most rigorous and realistic. It may not be combat, but it’s as close as you can get.
Additionally, the media ignores the fact that other Green Berets on the mission were highly experienced. US commanders would not send an “all-rookie” A-team on a search for a high value target. Having said that, there are some unusual aspects about this mission. First, why no dedicated UAV support when one was airbone and in the area (arrived overhead five minutes after the shooting started).
UAVs are not only useful in searching for the target, they are also armed (in most cases) and enhance situational awareness for friendlies on the ground. Many don’t realize that the DCGS intel crew—in Europe or the CONUS—can talk directly to our troops and they, in turn, can see what the drone “sees” through systems like Rover.
Additionally, I’m not sure why they elected to drive to the target area (85 miles through bad-guy land) when French helos were available for insertion and extraction. Likewise, you’d think CAS aircraft would have been on higher alert—if the French were aware of the mission beforehand. More concerning is the fact our Green Berets—qualified JTACs—were unable to communicate with the French pilots, four years after we began join ops in the region.
I would imagine the reason the French led this is because the language is common in Much of Africa, but if some one tells me place “Jaunty plumare on tet’ I will think target because communication is broken and trust is thin in NATO
Has the number of enemy casualties been reported?
Not the best way, though: usually you pair new guys with blooded, experienced NCOs if there's any chance at all of combat, particularly combat with a larger force. Infantry combat is not one of things where you throw somebody into the water to see if he can swim. I am a combat veteran and Thank God we had Korean War combat vets to guide us through those first firefights.
It makes me wonder what the heck the leadership in the chain of command was thinking. Either no one expected contact or somebody screwed up, big time.
What STUNS me is Benghazi.
Obama and Clinton let those people twist in the wind for over 13 hours when the same air assets that overthrew Libya sat in Sigonella Italy 30 min away
I checked at the time, Air base Sigonella was manned with NATO forces including American Air support
hey always send you out with a Sea Daddy
Look, Obama set the North of Africa on fire, for a purpose.
To invade Europe
Bush Quelled Africa, Obama lit a fire and fanned the flames.
Obama has deep issues with the British and the Mau Mau uprising.
He identifies with that bloody Kenyan uprising
No comparison between Niger and Benghazi. When the Green Berets in Africa were ambushed, help was dispatched immediately; French Mirage jets were overhead within one hour—30 minutes after being scrambled. French helos with their SF and additional Green Berets arrived just after that. After repelling the attack, our forces stayed on the ground until Sgt Johnson’s body was recovered. We also put a UAV overhead within five minutes after the ambush began.
Our personnel in Benghazi were abandoned. Deliberately. I don’t have any credible info about armed acft at Sigonella, but there is a US F-16 at Aviano AB in northern Italy. There are credible reports that the wing was spinning up that night (along with other military assets), but they were told to stand down. We also had cruise missile capable CGs, DDGs and SSNs in the Med that could have launched on command, based on targeting info collected by the UAV that circled overhead.
The process began when Obama was briefed by SecDef and CJCS chair and told him about what was happening. POTUS went AWOL, so did Hillary. To this day, we don’t know who was calling the shots in the situation room.
During the Obama years we had Keith Ellison stuffed down America’s throats..
He swore an oath into office on the Koran, and they made a BIG STINK that it was Thomas Jefferson’s Koran.
The pretense was that EVEN Jefferson admired the Koran.
The TRUTH was Jefferson did own the Koran in order to study the barbaric Barbary pirates and he SWORE we would never pay terrorist..
In the End Obama was the 1st American to do JUST THAT!
All While claiming to be just like Jefferson.
What a creepy SOB! What a traitor!
I agree we had assets 30 min away in Sigonella
That was his MOS before he entered SF pipeline. What I can’t figure out about Johnson is whether he was SF qualified. In his official photograph, he’s wearing a red airborne beret, and I don’t see a Ranger or SF tab. However, that could be an old photograph, taken before he gained those qualifications. BTW, after retiring from active duty, I spent some time as a civilian analyst at an Air Force intel production center. One of my co-workers was an ex-Green Beret who spent 10 years as an Abrams tank mechanic before he got bored with that and tried out for special forces. He was the oldest guy in his various courses.
Interestingly, the Navy SF community often referred to SEAL operators under their previous rating before joining the teams. It wasn’t unusual to see a SEAL listed as a Gunner’s Mate First Class, etc. Now, most who are ID’ed are listed as “Special Warfare Operator Second Class,” etc.
Yes, but what assets?
All the assets that launched the initial attack on Libya from what their website said at the time
What was al that shuck and jive about “we had assets in Rota but couldn’t figure out what pantys to wear to the party?
Rota was 1.25 hours away by air
Days by ship
We evacuated Libya with hired ships from Malta
Bahh Bahh Benghazi stinks way more than this.
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