Fight or Flight
I am hugely disappointed by the recent boat seizure affair in which Iran seized two of our boats and their crews. I can't comment on the specifics because we haven't heard the real story, yet. The various cover stories that have been put forth are obviously false. However, this affair highlights several things that I've been harping on.
1. What were these boats doing operating without immediately available backup? We've seen this in the loss of our EP-3 to the Chinese, the loss of the Pueblo to the NKs, and numerous instances of harassment. We're sending our troops into harm's way without backup. This is a leadership failing, pure and simple, and demonstrates a compete lack of attention to detail, planning, and preparation. It also demonstrates a fantasy view of the world to think that unfriendly countries won't engage in unfriendly acts. Our leaders are violating the trust of the troops, ignoring the lessons of history, and failing to execute basic operational planning.
2. What kind of Rules of Engagement (ROE) were these people operating under? Is there any ROE that justifies surrendering two boats and their crews without firing a shot?
3. I hope that these crew members are not treated as heroes and given medals as we've done with so many other people who have done nothing but become prisoners. The Jessica Lynch incident is a good example of this. These people did nothing right. At best, they followed a bad set of ROEs by not fighting back. At worst, they allowed an unfriendly foreign country to seize two of our assets without firing a shot. As a military, we've begun rewarding victimhood instead of heroism. The crews should be dismissed from the military and their leaders should be court-martialed and terminated. Somewhere, Bull Halsey is crying.
4. Why are we there? If we won't fight even for ourselves, what are we doing in the Mid East? You can't protect anything if you're not willing to fight for it. This simply encourages and paves the way for the next incident.
5. I've long pointed out that the Navy has lost its combat mentality. Clearly, these crew and their leadership did not have a combat mentality. They were mentally unprepared for a warfighting situation.
We don't need more ships or planes or weapons. Those won't make our military stronger. We need an attitude adjustment. We need to remember what a military is for. We need to re-instill a healthy respect (fear) for our military among potential enemies. We need to abandon the social engineering that so dominates our military and return to warfighting focus. CNO Richardson, you have your main task clearly laid out for you. Nothing is more important than returning the Navy to a combat force.
This incident was an embarrassment, yes, but it was also a microcosm of so much that is wrong with the military.
This is the age old instinct of fight or flight being played out in the Navy. If we won't fight then we should leave.
1. What were these boats doing operating without immediately available backup? We've seen this in the loss of our EP-3 to the Chinese, the loss of the Pueblo to the NKs, and numerous instances of harassment. We're sending our troops into harm's way without backup. This is a leadership failing, pure and simple, and demonstrates a compete lack of attention to detail, planning, and preparation. It also demonstrates a fantasy view of the world to think that unfriendly countries won't engage in unfriendly acts. Our leaders are violating the trust of the troops, ignoring the lessons of history, and failing to execute basic operational planning.
2. What kind of Rules of Engagement (ROE) were these people operating under? Is there any ROE that justifies surrendering two boats and their crews without firing a shot?
3. I hope that these crew members are not treated as heroes and given medals as we've done with so many other people who have done nothing but become prisoners. The Jessica Lynch incident is a good example of this. These people did nothing right. At best, they followed a bad set of ROEs by not fighting back. At worst, they allowed an unfriendly foreign country to seize two of our assets without firing a shot. As a military, we've begun rewarding victimhood instead of heroism. The crews should be dismissed from the military and their leaders should be court-martialed and terminated. Somewhere, Bull Halsey is crying.
4. Why are we there? If we won't fight even for ourselves, what are we doing in the Mid East? You can't protect anything if you're not willing to fight for it. This simply encourages and paves the way for the next incident.
5. I've long pointed out that the Navy has lost its combat mentality. Clearly, these crew and their leadership did not have a combat mentality. They were mentally unprepared for a warfighting situation.
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| Unprepared for Combat |
We don't need more ships or planes or weapons. Those won't make our military stronger. We need an attitude adjustment. We need to remember what a military is for. We need to re-instill a healthy respect (fear) for our military among potential enemies. We need to abandon the social engineering that so dominates our military and return to warfighting focus. CNO Richardson, you have your main task clearly laid out for you. Nothing is more important than returning the Navy to a combat force.
This incident was an embarrassment, yes, but it was also a microcosm of so much that is wrong with the military.
This is the age old instinct of fight or flight being played out in the Navy. If we won't fight then we should leave.
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