Operation Red-Wing: A Historical Mission

Colonel (Col) Michael Steele’s resolute beliefs regarding how to prepare his unit for combat and his bravado demeanor commanded respect from other bemused military officers. While serving as Commanding Officer (CO), 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Col Steele aggressively cultivated a command climate focused on three core principles: personal protection, precision, and lethality. Although these three core principles narrowly aligned with the Army's "Soldier's Creed", Col Steele’s principles did not reinforce the Army’s individual and organizational core values. 3rd Brigade’s disassociated ethical subculture fostered a toxic environment which compromised both subordinate commanders' and individual soldiers' moral standards to various extents. Col Steele’s vague guidance concerning proper ethical behavior during the execution of high stress Counter-Insurgency (COIN) missions resulted in subordinates failing to conduct kinetic operations in accordance with established Army ethical standards. The military establishment shall remember May 09, 2006 as the day the revered "Rakkasans" failed to personify the unit's motto of "Ne Desit Virtus," meaning "Let Valor Not Fail". For on this day, four soldiers assigned to Charlie Company, known to the “Rakkasans” as the "Kill Company", murdered eight unarmed Iraqi citizens during Operation Iron Triangle. These four soldiers failed to understand the nature and consequences of their iniquities as they could no longer distinguish

Throughout military history, there have been many leaders that can be considered either visionary or ethical. This paper will discuss how BG Robin Olds was a visionary leader, but not a very ethical leader. From the beginning of his career, he was a visionary in aerial combat tactics and a true believer of leading from the front. His vision of aerial combat was beyond his years, but often fell upon deaf ears due to his flamboyant nature. He never hesitated to say exactly what was on his mind, which is why his actions could be considered unethical. But, his men loved him, and would follow him to hell and back. First, this paper will discuss BG Olds’ visionary leadership abilities he displayed the Viet Nam

The book The Ugly American clearly demonstrates several of the established Special Operations Force (SOF) imperatives outlined in ADRP 6-22. As a Special Forces soldier I can relate these imperatives to stories illustrated in the book and apply them to real life situations that I have experienced in the field. The Ugly American is a goldmine of wisdom and a handbook for special warfare. All Special Operations soldiers should read it.

In September 2008, in Eastern Afghanistan, Trooper Mark Donaldson made an instant decision that may of got him killed or may change his life forever. His display of astounding courage that day saw him awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia, making him the first Australian to receive our highest award for bravery in wartime since Keith Payne in 1969, he was also the youngest person to ever receive a Victorian Cross. Yet it was Mark's crucial moments in Afghanistan, in which he saved so many lives that lead to him being able to receive such high award and be printed in Australian history. He was a rebellious child and teenager, who as a young boy got in with the wrong crowd and was peer pressured into doing drugs and drinking alcohol and this

These are the stories that need to be told to the American public by the soldiers who experienced them first hand. Sadly these stories only come out in books and novels and are often deemed as “true stories that never happened,” as seen in Tim O’Brien’s work. There is a clear reason for this.

An article from the New York Times written by Dave Phillips sheds light on the growing issue of suicide rates amongst military veterans. Dave Phillips does this by telling the story of fellow military men, through the eyes of one marine- gunner name Manny Bojorquez. Bojorquez, joined the marines at a young age of 19, one of the militaries most prestige combat forces. In 2008, the second Battalion, seventh marine regiment -also known as the 2/7- deployed to a mid-swath of Helnend providence. Bojorquez remembers this combat as one of the worst and most traumatizing combats of many marines’ lives. After experiencing these traumatic events, the agonies of war,

The U.S. military produces some of the bravest most heroic men and women on earth. From the moment the oath of enlistment is made to the time of separation or retirement, these courageous souls endure a number of amazing, historic and sometimes unbelievable events. They are praise for their service and lift even higher for their sacrifice, although most are unaware of the true sacrifices are made by some of these men and women. The most visible sacrifices or “outer sacrifices” are loss of life or loss of limbs while the inner wounds are bouts with depression, sexual assault, divorce, and most common alcohol other drug abuse.

On March 27, 2007 Marine Staff Sergeant Marc Golczynski was killed by enemy fire while on patrol in the al-Aanbar province of Iraq. This photo was taken by photographer Aaron Thompson for The Daily News Journal on the day of Sgt. Golczynski’s funeral. It shows a grief stricken eight year old Christian Golczynski stepping forward to accept the folded american flag, which moments before was draped over his father’s casket. This image makes you question the war effort and if it is worth this very real cost. I believe it does this very well.

The war in Afghanistan started in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks because of a terrorist group called Al- Qaeda, and its leader, Osama bin Laden, the one who planned the attacks. It was a very long and hard conflict that lasted approximately thirteen years. Canadian troops got involved for more than a decade fighting to make Afghanistan a better place for their citizens. The Canadian forces completed several key military operations, including “Medusa operation”, and more with the help of their allies before ending the conflict successfully on their own terms.

On July 29th, 2014 the last surviving member of the United States Army Air Corp (USAAC) aircrew that dropped the first atomic bomb used in warfare died. Theodore Van Kirk, also known as “Dutch”, was the navigator of the Enola Gay the day it dropped the bomb.1 In interviews throughout his life Van Kirk expressed no regret regarding his part in the dropping of the atom bomb, saying it helped to end World War II (WWII).2 The 69th anniversary of that historic mission, Operation Centerboard 1, is on the 6th of August, 2014.

The novel War, written by Sebastian Junger, is the journalist’s perspective of events that unfold during his time in Korengal, Afghanistan with the American Army. Throughout the book, he retells his experiences of being shot at, the emotional trauma of losing a soldier in combat, the undeniably strong bond between soldiers, and the consequences combat has on family members. While this novel has some very detailed and brutally honest components regarding the war in Afghanistan, I found the insight provided by Junger on combat to be very interesting. Once I started reading this novel, it was nearly impossible to put it down as I was finding myself entranced within this world of war. It was because of this insight into the world of combat, although brief, that permitted me to better understand what soldiers actually experience in warzones. My previous knowledge on the context of this novel, as well as personal experiences, transformed my mindset from thinking critically about the novel to becoming emotionally connected to the success of the soldiers. I found that the more I read this novel, the more my life experiences influenced my attitude towards the individuals and experiences as described by Junger.

I saw that the same young men who can rush into a cave with grenades and kill Taliban fighters without hesitation, could bear the scars having witnessed innocent civilian that was a circumstance of this war. I knew that my Soldiers were not machines and that I had to make sure that I understood them on all levels. Luckily for me, I knew the mortar sections values, beliefs, and more importantly, understood how it all would affect them…. a term that I think has been referred to as post-traumatic stress disorder for other in the officer ranks, emotional

The noise of gunfire was all around me. Left and right, my comrades were falling, and I could do nothing. The sound of screams and explosions echoed through my head. Our helicopter had gone down in the heat of battle. Whether or not my copilot survived, was unknown to me. At the time, all I knew was that I needed to continue to fight for my country. As screams echoed from other comrades, tears flew down my weather beaten face.

The ancillary viewpoints to a war and their unique life experience qualify them to offer unique insight into the many facets of conflict; the human condition, the struggles within, sheer will, commitment to an ideal, great military feats, or grievous failures for the betterment of mankind. People write about these things so we don’t repeat our mistakes. It is these stories of war written by a diverse background of contributors that captures our mistakes and equally our successes. Future generations must heed the hard earned tales of the many who have sacrificed so much and suppress the inclination to ignore what we have

This book presents us with knowledge of what battle is truly like, moreover, how extensive the preparation the troops go through is. They are trained for every predictable scenario, even how to act in captivity (Bowden 307). The troops additionally experienced intense fighting, furthermore, real battles are much more horrible than we can imagine and quick thinking is necessary. “The American teaches soldiers that they cannot shoot unless fired upon, but this rule was broken during this heated battle in order to potentially save lives for Americans.” (Anderson). This educates us by emphasizing that that training and rules do not always apply. The death toll of the troops was quite severe. It depleted the present community of both America and Somalia. “Eighteen Americans died and over 70 were wounded. At least 500 Somalis were killed and over 1,00 wounded, most of them civilians”