LFC Comments by Brian Massie, Director:
We welcome a new contributor to our website. An Army veteran with many years of dedicated service to our great nation. He is writing to a group known as Flag Officers 4 America…. https://flagofficers4america.com/
*****
Open Letter to Flag Officers 4 America
Written by: “Anonymous 2”
September 2, 2021
To: Flag Officers 4 America,
Please allow me to express my frustrations regarding the military I proudly served in for over thirty years, but no longer recognize.
Where is the competency I experienced in the army and national guard? West Berlin, Bagdad (OIF II), and post Hurricane Katerina relief operations are the deployments I participated in. In every instance, I felt there was competent leadership. That my soldiers, and my life were of value to the command structure. A sense of mission always prevailed, providing purpose to the deployment. Now in Afghanistan we left Americans and allies behind, abandoned sophisticated military equipment, essentially all but formally surrendering to the Taliban. I don’t understand why there isn’t accountability for Secretary Austin, General Miley, the entire JCS, or at the theater level in the DoD regarding this command failure. Where is the leadership?
I refuse to believe the military I served in could not conceptualize a credible exit strategy for leaving Afghanistan after all this time. Any group of senior NCOs I served with could have planned and executed such a strategy. Yet at the national command level, developing a cohesive exit strategy to end our twenty-year commitment of forces in Afghanistan apparently was not possible. What ever happened to concepts like Joint Operations, Strategic and Contingency Planning, Course of Action (COA) Development, or Critical Thinking and Analysis? They were all in the general curriculum at C&GSC when I attended, albeit a long time ago. Have they since been supplanted by the study of white supremacy, vaccine implementation, and global political correctness at the strategic level?
I never progressed beyond the rank of Major; therefore, it must be beyond my limited abilities to comprehend why there isn’t accountability for failures committed at the command, and national policy level – like Afghanistan, or Benghazi. Yet as a company, detachment, or battalion commander; if I ever left any of my soldiers (or interpreter’s) behind, abandoned a weapons system in the field, or ran away in the face of the enemy I would have been held accountable – and rightly so. How soon before the Taliban will begin parading American hostages out in orange jumpsuits, and what will our response be? Perhaps a stern “knock it off” will suffice.
I write not in despair, but rather with some resignation. Am I resigned to watch the country I love, and had served for decades slowly crumble before my eyes? Much like watching a slow-motion train wreck. Today is Thursday, and tonight is burger night at the local VFW – really good burgers by the way. Tonight, I will likely commiserate with my fellow veterans, bitch at the TV above the bar regarding media coverage of this fiasco, and know there is little recourse to what is happening. Two phrases from my period of service seem quite appropriate right now; bend over, here it comes again (BOHICA) and it is, what it is. However, I will not go quietly in the night. I will write, speak out, and do all in my power to educate my fellow citizens that we are not sheep. We have a voice, and we must USE IT. Therefore, I still serve!
Thank you for this opportunity to vent. I am quite aware that this will likely never be read, but have expressed myself none the less. That at least provides a small measure of satisfaction. However, I am open to specific ideas regarding how I may serve my country again.
God Bless the United States of America, may she always remain a Constitutional Republic.
Sincerely,
“Anonymous 2”
*****
Categories: Community Activism, Contributors, Free Speech Zone