#10 & #31 and Richard:

This has happened in part because the constituencies have changed. Back in the day, a leader’s public was his men. They were his “constituency”. You gave them victory, kept them alive you were good. Today a commander’s constituency is sometimes a set of offstage judges and evaluators who are looking — because it sells — for an excuse to hang them. That’s how you get your Pulitzer, by getting someone in jail.

Back in the day, long ago and far away.
(I like to begin my war stories that away, my grandkids love it)

We were LURPS, or if you want to put it another way, Grunts sent out (way out) to find and identify NVA troop concentrations, convoys or supply trains.

The mission was locate, identify, destroy. NOT engage or be detected.

Seems simple but it never was. Along with commo problems, normal patrol problems (hordes of insects, snakes and terrain problems) it appeared that there were multi-layers of idiots that were tasked and determined that we would fail in our mission and that they would do their best to make that happen in order to get promoted.

I won’t go into the details except to say that they almost got us killed several times and let the enemy go scot-free more times than I could count.

So. This malfeasence in Afghanistan is not surprising. Just Sad to think that in over forty years the “Brass” still doesn’t get it.

Believe it or not…Wars are won by the enlisted, not the officers.

If they let them, that is.

Papa Ray