Michael Yon (born 1964)[1] is an American writer and photographer. He served in the Special Forces in the early-1980s, one of the youngest soldiers to pass the Green Beret selection process, and he became a general freelance writer in the mid-1990s. He focused on military writing after the invasion of Iraq.[2] Yon has been embedded on numerous occasions with American and British troops in Iraq, most prominently a deployment with the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment (Deuce Four) of the 25th Infantry Division in Mosul, Iraq that ended in September 2005.[3]
Sir, the enemy is attacking, they’re at the gates !!
Well, then fill out the necessary requisition forms in triplicate and await your orders ...
Sir ?
Absent the "who, what, when, where", let us continue to exercise our imagination.
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.