Posted on 05/19/2010 8:16:47 AM PDT by FReepaholic
From Michael Yon's Facebook page:
An American soldier emailed from Afghanistan saying that his unit has been ordered to patrol with no round in the chamber.
http://www.facebook.com/MichaelYonFanPage/posts/123097424378854
This is the kind of stupidity that leads to fragging.
No joke.
Just to be clear, “no round in the chamber” doesn’t mean the magazine isn’t full, right? Need more information. The only conceivable purpose of such an order (no round in chamber) would be to slow down any response a soldier might have to an ambush. ..Which makes no sense on the face of it.
Why not just make them carry in Condition 4 while they are at it!
Simply Unbelievable!
As an officer serving in Afghanistan, if one of my men violated this order, I would be duty bound to praise his readiness to deal with emerging situations. [Note: I am only an “officer serving in Afghanistan” by the Blumenthal standard. In actual fact, my service ended several years ago, but this is the Obama generation so the truth doesn’t have to influence my words.] A good officer distinguishes between orders he doesn’t understand but that could be reasonable and orders that he understands perfectly well and knows cannot be reasonable. My duty to the Constitution of the United States extended to loyalty to my men and my country but not quite far enough that it included blind loyalty to a Community-Organizer-in-Chief who wanted to “send a message” at the risk of my men’s lives.
Was it mentioned what type of unit this soldier is in or what his MOS/SSI is?
If this is an infantryman or a SOF trooper, this is totally unacceptable. However, if this is a member of a support unit, his CO may have good reason for this directive.
Lately, Michael Yon has posted some things which make you wonder about his present state-of-mind. (See blackfive.net for a long discussion of his “problems”.) Several military sites have ceased their praise of him.
And if I had not done those things that I needed to do to ensure that my troops did not get shot, either by friendly or unfriendly troops, then I would have been the knucklehead. You sound like some genius on the division staff.
good question.
were the cooks and clerks in camp told not to chamber a round?
or
Was it infantrymen on patrol?
It’s you who had so little confidence in your men that you called them knuckleheads, and worried so much about ADs/NDs that you agreed it was best they not have chambered rounds ON PATROL.
That speaks for itself.
Write about it in your next novel
I will. And you’ll still remember your troops as knuckleheads that you didn’t trust to carry chambered rounds ON PATROL.
And the next time I’m on patrol, I will decide who chambers rounds and when, whose weapons point which direction when, who is responsible for what when and will make sure that every man knows what he is supposed to do, when. I suspect that you did the same thing.
Praise the LORD for officers like you!
Former.
Thank you for your service!
It was my duty, and a pleasure.
I've heard its called the Obama Double Cross.
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