Via Facebook  (with fisking by Chuck in italics):

Tim Lynch: It's still easy to take taxi around Kabul and it has never been safe to pack fobbits into Rhinos and drive them anywhere.


They wouldn't have been stuck in traffic if ISAF had not closed half the roads in Kabul (to protect their compounds) forcing all the traffic on 2 main east/west routes.


We could have saved billions and many lives by not spending 2 billion a week on a massive force protection system that has 6758 points of failure.


The Fobbits should ride to the airport in cabs like all the other westerners - it's safer, cheaper by millions, and if one is hit you don't lose so many people.


Armored vehicles do not protect people - people protect people and if you have zero people outside the wire, inside the community and looking out for your interests this is what happens. And there will be more, lots more, because the military refuses to understand the crippling effects of force protection dominance over all other things when it comes to evaluating commanders.


And, as has been noted for the past 8 years, the American intelligence agencies have no human intelligence capability at all. None. Just the folks who walk into the Fobs on their own and who knows what their agenda is?

Labels: Afghanistan

Mail Delivery To Service Members In Iraq Winds Down

By Caitlin Fairchild

With the announcement that the 43,000 U.S. troops left in Iraq will leave by the end of the year, the U.S. Postal Service will soon stop accepting mail addressed to military post offices in the country.

After Nov. 17, USPS will delete the ZIP codes for Iraq military post offices from its databases, Defense officials announced Wednesday. Items en route to Iraq as of Nov. 17 still will be delivered.

Service members remaining in Iraq under assignments for the Office of Security Cooperation or the Chief of Mission in Iraq will receive mail through the State Department embassy and consulate post offices.

The disruption of mail services could cause problems for service members voting.

According to a report released by the Federal Voting Assistance Program earlier this month, many service members stationed overseas indicated they did not receive an absentee ballot for the November 2010 elections. FVAP said the problem could be exacerbated for this year's elections due to troop reductions.

The Pentagon advised service members to coordinate with their unit voting assistance officers and U.S. Local Election Office to ensure they receive an absentee ballot in time.

"All military members need to be cognizant of the changes and make sure they're thinking about that as well," Defense spokeswoman Lt. Col. Melinda Morgan said.

ISAF response

Labels: Asshats and Douchebags

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
creeps through this petty place
until the last syllable of recorded incoming sirens
and all our flashlights have lighted fools the way to dusty death... at the chow hall

Out, Out! Lithium powered candle!
The Fobbit's but a poor player who struts
and frets his hour upon the tarmac,
and then hears the Herky-bird roar.

It is a trip taken by a warrior
full of sound and fury
signifying the coming.

With respect to Bill Shakespeare.

Today I relax in Bagram, tomorrow, near as I can tell, Jalalabad.

Labels: Afghanistan

In the big scheme of things, it might not great karma or luck or whatever to post this vid at the beginning of one of Chux deployments. But I also know it's had very few views, so I'm linking it. This is why Project Valour-IT exists. This is one of Chuck's passions.  The video deserves to be seen more.


~~Code Monkey

I have spent the last two or three days at Bagram AFB. It is the fount from which all fobbits in Afghanistan spring. Surprisingly, the civilian contractors I have dealt with have all been courteous, helpful, and genuinely good to talk to.

But the fobbits... Ugh. One of the big issues for the Army right now is the multicam uniform. It is a limited quantity thing, is only used in Afghanistan, and of course, that means that it's instantly cool to have.

You would think that the push would be to give priority to the people at the pointiest end of the spear... Those of us who might benefit most from being able to blend in to the scenery when being shot at. You would think that, but you would be wrong.

Every stinking fobbit on this base has multicam. I couldn't get in in Hawaii because it takes thirty days to get it there and I simply didn't have that much time before I deployed. I had to bring all my ACU patterned uniforms and gear, because I just hesitate to trust when someone tells me "oh, you'll be issued that when you get there. Turns out, I was right. There were shortages at the multicam issue... Little things like gloves that would fit, hats in my size, sleeping bags, etc. But oh boy do the fobbits have their geardo toys.

I took in some fobbit watching while enjoying a Green Beans sweet iced tea. It's right around 65 degrees and a tiny bit drizzly, and the fobbits are waling around in their multicam issue polar fleece. Let me repeat... They are wearing a heavy fleece because it's 65 with a very light rain. First, every soldier... That is, every warrior, knows that fleece gets wet and heavy in the rain... And fleece does fuck-all to keep you dry. Second, no warrior pulls out a fleece when it's still warm outside. Third, these fobbits were going to the PX of all places... Not like they were going out on patrol any time soon. It doesn't take much of a trained eye to spot the fakers from the warriors, usually you can tell because they have every bit of cool guy gear, and look ridiculously clean and their gear is always free from any kind of wear and tear.

More on the fobbits in another post when I can really get the blood pumping.

Right now I am in transit limbo, waiting on a plane ride to take me out to Jalalabad, where my unit is. Then to my FOB.

Meanwhile, a little monkey tells me that Mike Yon is considering posting video of a soldier dying on the battlefield from massive trauma.

Let me be succinct: I don't give a flying fuck what purpose he THINKS that will serve. There is no more private and personal moment for that soldier... And to shoot video of it for any reason, degrades that soldier, and his sacrifice, beyond belief. I always made a point to tell any media-types that went outside the wire with me that they were free to film whatever they wanted... Except a wounded, dying, or dead soldier. I also made them very aware of how serious I was about that simple rule... Their chances of returning from a mission were nil if they did that.

Too bad he was busy shooting video instead of putting some of that uber high speed medic stuff they taught him at special forces school. Maybe if he'd tried to HELP, that soldier would be alive. But he "kept his integrity" and took pictures.

Why does the thought of publishing this video repulse every fiber of my being? Because some day, it could be my wife, or my child who would google their dad, and they would see me dying, suffering, screaming in agony. You know what every loved one wants to know when they lose a soldier? "Did he suffer?" Would anyone want to watch their loved one die like that?

What kind of sub-human garbage would even consider publishing that?

Peeps, if you have ever considered hitting mike's tip jar, or have in the past, don't. He was once a good writer, doing something few would. Now he is trying to make a name for himself and find fame and fortune on the backs of dying soldiers. If you're a big Yon supporter, and you believe he is preaching the gospel and an unsung hero, then go away. Go back to licking the bus windows when your caregiver drives you from the managed care facility to your job making pencils.

If you need a picture of the moon in Afghanistan that is poorly focused, I will unpack my camera in a few days and take one for you.

It's really starting to rain right now... where did I put my fleece?

--Chuck

P.S. Yon seems to be a-skeered of what he perceives as threats from milbloggers. He's afraid for his personal safety. I am not now, nor have I ever, threatened him. You don't threaten people like him, you scrape them off your shoe... Like you would dog shit.

Labels: Afghanistan

Great. I'm here. That is to say,Kuwait. Waiting in the airport for my bus taking me to Ali al salaam airbase, where I will shower and sleep (and knowing the army, spend a fewvhours doing paperwork.)

Should beless than 48 hours till I go to Afghanistan.

--Chuck

I know I've been posting somewhat irregularly, and I don't think in the near future that is going to change.

For those who haven't heard yet, I was supposed to deploy to Afghanistan tomorrow. Understandably, I've been a might busy packing, trying to get all of the pre-deployment training, certification and medical clearances.Oh, and squeezing in as much time with the family as I can.

I am not deploying tomorrow. I found out at 15:53 today. Which seems like a nice reprieve, except that until 15:53, I was waiting to find out if I would deploy tomorrow or not. Nothing like cutting it close, right?

I will, however, be getting on an airplane to Afghanistan via Kuwait sometime between now and the 24th. I will be going to about as far east in Afghanistan as you can go without actually being in Pakistan, and will be back in the saddle, into the breach, seeing the elephant, and hopefully not finding any more IEDs up close.

Since I will be joining up with my new unit over there, I will not be gone for the whole year, just until late spring/early summer.

I plan on writing from Afghanistan, since I'm all about the global-corporate-imperialist hegemony through blogging. And also because, like 2005, I am going to have shit I need to get off my chest, and not allowed to yell and throw things at the TV.

--Chuck

Bonus! New blog post label: Afghanistan

Labels: Afghanistan