Lethal Minds Volume 1

Volume 1, Edition 1, 01JUNE2022

Jun 01, 2022

Volume 1

When I first spoke to Tom (Maj Thomas Schueman USMC) about creating an online military focused journal, both of us foresaw a huge climb uphill in our future to get the idea off the ground. We could not have been more wrong. We did not create the Lethal Minds Journal so much as it seemed to be very insistent about creating itself.

The Journal is not a new idea. The military community on social media did what all great Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines do when given a platform: They spread knowledge. They work to better the community. Hundreds of servicemembers and veterans are out there creating content to educate, inform, and to create dialogue. Veterans and servicemembers are creating art and works of literature, moving into fields that have been waiting for veteran voices for a long time.

To me, the Lethal Minds Journal is a living gallery of the veteran and active military communities. The goal of the Journal is to gather together all the content spread across dozens of platforms and present it in a clear, concise, and easily accessible manner.

We’ve had huge support from the mil community, great submissions from hundreds of contributors, and volunteer support from veterans who dedicated personal time to building a digital framework and editing submissions. We are excited for you to read our first edition, and we hope the Journal grows to be something that everyone; creators, contributors, and readers, can be proud of.

Be informed, be prepared, be lethal.

Graham (CPT US Army)

Editor of Lethal Minds Journal

The World Today

Across The Force

Opinion

The Written Word

Health and Fitness

Physical Training In the Military

Transition and Career

Warrior Mindset In Finance

Photographs for the Journal were contributed by:

Dedicated to those who serve, those who have served, and those who paid the final price for their country.

The World Today

In depth analysis and journalism to educate the warfighter on the most important issues around the world today.

On Ukraine - Northern Provisions

On February 24th at 0400, Russian forces began their invasion of Ukraine, an operation that President Putin called a “special military operation”. The first images flooded onto Telegram channels and Instagram feeds - the final images of a Ukrainian border guard fleeing the Kalanchak outpost as Russians rolled across from Crimea. The world had watched for months as Moscow had built up Russians on the Ukrainian border, in the South, East, and in the North in Belarus under the guise of “training”. Despite the incursion of Ukraine by conventional Russian forces, this was not the first time Russian forces operated in Ukraine, this is a war that has been long ongoing. In 2014, the Ukrainian people protested against corruption in their government - a revolution which was supported, funded and even aided by American politicians and NGOs. After violent clashes with government officials, they achieved their success through what would become known as the Revolution of Dignity. The clashes left 121 dead, mainly civilians and 1,811 injured overall. Then President, Viktor Yanukovych fled the country. This wasn’t the end. Ethnic Russians and Ukrainians of the left and right political spectrum fought with each other in various cities, especially in Kharkiv. Separatists and Nationalists fought each other in the streets. On February 27th in 2014, Russian troops with no insignia seized Crimea and Separatist fighting (backed by Russia) soon broke out in Donbas, heavy fighting occurring in Donetsk, much of it beginning in April of that year. This war has been ongoing for eight years and is nothing new to Ukrainians.

Ukraine itself has a history of continuously fighting for its independence. Russia has a long history of violence against Ukraine, these are old conflicts which many Americans do not understand. It’s important that we try to understand the connection between the old and new. We often make another mistake which is assuming autocrats will react to democratic sanctions through pressure or financial burden. This is not how autocrats operate, nor how they are primarily financed. The sanctions placed against the Russian Federation post-invasion serve more to harm the average Russian than they do any damage to President Putin or his Oligarchs. Economic sanctions will not be a deciding factor in a complete Russian withdrawal from Ukrainian territory, however, well trained and well equipped Ukrainians capable of running Russian line units out of their country can accomplish that intended goal and are currently accomplishing that as I write this.

However, technology is only as good as the individual operating it. We saw the complete opposite take place in Afghanistan. Immediately after American forces withdrew from the region, despite being heavily armed and heavily equipped with American weaponry and equipment - more so than your average Ukrainian soldier has been - many Afghan National Army units crumbled, fled their posts and units deteriorated as Taliban fighters and convoys flooded city after city. The Ukrainians however, have held out for some time and have displayed courage, endurance and even a desire to fight. President Putin’s advisors expected a 3 day operation to take Kyiv, even Pentagon Officials estimated that Kyiv would fall in a weeks’ time, we are currently pushing three months with Russian forces having withdrawn from Northern Ukraine having failed to take Kyiv. Their forces now relocate in the east for a renewed offensive in the Donbas Region to save face.

The fate of Crimea, The Donbas and of Ukraine as a whole for now remains up in the air as the flames of war continue to plague the nation. As stated before, this is not a plague new to these people, and having met many of them in person, they are not a people whose flame is so easily extinguished by water. Their spirits are strong. Whether you, the reader, believe what you will about the Russian-Ukraine War, despite your feelings and mine, its fate and outcome can greatly alter geopolitical issues to come. Whether we like it or not, the world is watching, as Western nations, especially America, have taken a largely hands off approach, the maintainers of the CCP are no doubt foaming at the mouth with Taiwan in their gunsights. We have seen a series of tactical, strategic and geopolitical failures for America in the past year alone. The outcome of the War in Ukraine will not just affect Ukraine, it will not just affect Europe - but it will affect the world on a larger scale, opening doors for some, closing doors for others. It is far from over and has already forced nations like Sweden and Finland into potentially joining NATO over concerns of their own security and independence. China has tightened its gaze on Taiwan whilst it expands its influence and control in Africa. No matter the outcome, after the events that have taken place, its safe to say the world will not be the same.

Wheat Shortages Will Most Likely Fuel Instability - S2 Forward

On March 15th, the Ukrainian government banned the export of wheat, oats, and other foods that are critical for global food supplies. Roman Leshchenko, the Ukrainian Minister of Agrarian and Food Policy, stated that the export ban was needed to prevent a “humanitarian crisis in Ukraine,” and to “meet the needs of the population in critical food products.” The new policy on exporting food also includes prohibiting the export of millet, buckwheat, sugar, live cattle, and meat and other “byproducts” from cattle. In 2021, Ukraine was the second largest supplier of grains for the European Union (EU) and a large food supplier for low and middle-income countries in Asia and Africa, accounting for 10.5% of the total world exports, reportedly accounting for 21.2 million metric tons exported from Ukraine across the world. Unfortunately, the Russia-Ukrainian war is between the leading global exporter of wheat and the fifth global exporter respectively.

According to the Farm Bureau, in 2021, the top destinations for Ukrainian wheat were Egypt ($858 million), Indonesia ($727 million), Turkey ($445 million), Pakistan ($353 million) and Morocco ($232 million). Reuters reported that after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, the price of wheat on the Chicago Board of Trade jumped 54% in just nine trading days, from $8.84-3/4 per bushel on Feb. 23 to $13.63-1/2 on March 8.

While Ukraine has intentionally halted their wheat exportation, the international community is attempting to pressure Russia via sanctions. With that being said, the countries that will be affected most by this conflict will be countries who import wheat from both Ukraine and Russia. Some of the main importers from both Russia and Ukraine are:

• Egypt, where a total of $3.02bn worth of wheat was imported in 2019, $1.44bn came from Russia, and $773.4m from Ukraine.

• Ethiopia, where a total of $458,42m worth of wheat was imported in 2019, $142.01m came from Ukraine and $64.77m from Russia.

• Yemen, where a total of $549.89m worth of wheat was imported in 2019, $145.81m came from Russia and $79.8m from Ukraine.

• Lebanon, where a total of $148.49m of wheat was imported in 2020, $119.1m came from Ukraine and $22.93m from Russia.

These numbers were reported by Investment Monitor on 2 March 2022.

GTAS Forecasting also reported that most of the Ukrainian exports were carried out through ports on the Black and Azov Seas-Odessa, Pivdeny, Chornomorsk, Kherson, Mariupol and Berdyansk. On February 24, when the Russian invasion began, most of the seaports were closed, so the port's operations have already been disrupted with no ships allowed to enter or leave the ports.

According to Alan Matthews, a retired professor of European Agricultural Policy at Trinity College, the disruption of supplies of cereals, oilseeds and other commodities that are shipped along the Black Sea region will have significant implications for food security in those countries that are net importers of commodities, and especially those in North Africa and the Mediterranean region that are highly dependent on such imports from Ukraine.

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, Ukraine will most likely continue to retain as much domestic food and food by products in order to prevent starvation, however, this could potentially be used as a platform for negotiations with their European partners with respect to additional arms and ammunition or political leveraging. Ukraine previously acted as the EU’s fourth biggest external provider of food prior to the invasion. Additionally, the overall price of wheat is almost certainly going to increase until Ukraine resumes exporting wheat or other countries increase their wheat exports in order to stabilize the market.

Now, what does this mean for the United States and its armed forces?

With Ukraine halting exports, this could lead to increased instability across the world. Countries such as Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon, and Ethiopia, who already have ongoing instability through politics or ongoing turmoil, would have another layer of friction once wheat from Ukraine stops arriving and causes increased food prices. Steep rises in food prices have previously caused political unrest in Egypt and other countries including Bangladesh and Indonesia. The Guardian reported that in 2007 and 2008, shortages caused by droughts in key wheat and rice-producing countries and a surge in energy costs led to riots in more than 40 nations around the world. This instability could result in several different responses – humanitarian aid, embassy reinforcement, embassy evacuation, military assistance, advise and assist missions just to name a few.1

Buena Vista and the Ghosts of Kyiv - Patrick Henry

RETRACTION: After receiving additional information regarding the content of this article, Lethal Minds Journal is issuing a retraction. Col Andy Milburn led an infantry platoon in Mogadishu, advised the Iraqi Army in Fallujah during Phantom Fury in November 2004, and commanded 1/3 Marines in Karma. He also served as the commander of a CJSOTF in Mosul. His service record is fully verifiable. Lethal Minds does not restrict authorial opinion, but will correct verifiably incorrect statements.

On February 24 thousands of foreign invaders marched, drove and flew across the wide and porous Ukrainian border. In the coming hours and weeks following the Russians front line, combat troops and logistic personnel hurriedly followed the thunderous sound of guns southwest, scurrying along hastily secured main supply routes towards Kyiv. Conversely, Ukrainians dropped what they were doing, kissed their families goodbye and moved selflessly to defend their people, land and history.

Outgunned and under-equipped, President Zelensky famously shrugged off an American offer to be evacuated, responding curtly "I don't need a ride, I need ammunition." Ukraine and the Western world heard him and responded immediately. Thousands of pieces of military hardware and millions of rounds of ammunition began being staged and expediently moving from Poland east into Ukraine and into the hands of those who needed it most. Along with the hardware came thousands of Western volunteers. Every single one of them is a true hero, many of them battle hardened special forces, snipers, rangers… warriors of the GWOT… in their own imaginations.

Don't get me wrong, there are some incredibly selfless, brave and experienced men with formal military training and combat experience alongside well meaning, inexperienced but selfless young men who are here to contribute to a just cause in any way they can. However, for every 22 year old air force mechanic who sold his car to fund his equipment and transportation into Ukraine, there's 90 snipers who have claimed "confirmed kills on black ops missions" huddling comfortably in the basement of Kyiv's only bar that remained publicly open during the risk of Russian envelopment: the Buena Vista.

I arrived in Ukraine as the Russians were routed- and it's important to discern a withdrawal from a route: the Russians didn't tactically withdraw, they were run down and slaughtered en-masse from the outskirts of Kyiv back to the border. The Kyiv I walked into was a recovering ghost town. Checkpoints every few blocks, passport checks every few kilometers. While still quiet besides a rare intermittent air raid siren, the city was certifiably safe. And if you poked your head into the Buena Vista, you hear the exchange of a hundred fake war stories between the ghosts of Kyiv.

In no rush to jump in with an inexperienced and under equipped foreign legion unit chalk full of gung-ho liars and posers, I sought to find the best group of integrated volunteers here to contribute to the fight, in a way that I could lend my personal experiences, knowledge, skills and 135 lbs of personally bought equipment I lugged into Kyiv. Enter the Mozart group.

A friend I trust and respect back home tipped me off to "The Mozart Group." A quick Google search showed promise- a startup private military contracting company offering specialized training to Ukrainian special forces units, one course of action I had decided would be a valuable use of my time in Ukraine. An email later I had an invite to a steak dinner from Andy Millburn himself, a decorated former Marine Colonel who's last command in uniform was leading the 2nd raider battalion, the Marine Corps elite commandos. I shrugged off the cringe-inducing video Mr Millburn had just posted to Twitter, filming himself while on a jog through the quiet city, sweat dripping from his nose onto his camera professing that Kyiv was indeed still under threat of Russian envelopment, as I understand the importance of raising funds for such an undertaking- I had spent over five thousand of my own dollars prepping my kit, traveling to and billeting myself in country. A few hours later I received an address for our meeting and was on my way.

Two hours and three wrong addresses, Mr Millburn provided me later I sat down and was introduced to his crew. A hodgepodge group of men from different backgrounds; men with a varied background of military experience, a dude who looked like he belonged in a library who couldn't look away from his phone, and a handsome Bruce Willis looking man who I swore I had been in a briefing room with at some point in my military career. It turns out that Milburn doesn't go anywhere in the country without a camera crew following him, documenting the selfless courage of an American volunteer. Oh, and he also wears a wire, recording conversations for future use in what he'll likely try to sell to Vice News or Netflix.

One of the men made a joke that Mr Millburn was looking like the next Erik Prince, the billionaire CEO of the company formerly known as Blackwater. While he outwardly shrugged off the comment, a thinly concealed smirk revealed everything in an instant. The men at the table weren't here to help the Ukrainian people, they were here to line their pockets by securing a contract to train Ukrainians.

I guess this is a natural next step when you spend 30 years in the military, but don't make general and secure a board seat on a defense contracting company. Sadly it's nothing that isn't predictable coming from a generation of military officers who promised the world in Afghanistan, lined their chests with medals and promoted through the ranks while accomplishing nothing in Afghanistan besides the largest Taliban foreign military assistance program imaginable. But at least Marines didn't wear white socks.

I spent the next two days assisting training for a unit that a Ukrainian company commander had paid the "Mozart Group" to lead. A group of men and women aged 18-60 that were highly motivated, professional and prepared to take the fight to the Russians to defend their sovereign territory. They were attentive, professional, polite, in good spirits and appreciative of our help. Some were self equipped and clearly had experience, while others did not yet know how to reload their weapons. They were also paying Mr Millburn what I can only assume was an absurd daily rate while he sat on his laptop in a 3 bedroom penthouse apartment in central Kyiv, on behalf of a few of his paid partners who are only in the country for a paycheck, a paycheck Mr Millburn would dodge and deflect any time his people complained they weren't getting paid. The other half of the cadre, including myself, weren't getting paid. But that didn't stop Mr Millburn from proclaiming he flew me out to train their men, a bold lie that if believed truly showed how professional and dedicated the Mozart group is to helping the Ukrainian people.

After being flagged (having a live and loaded AK 47 pointed at me) about 10 times and catching the Mozart group cadre snapping pictures of me twice that I saw, untold more times I didn't notice for their website and ravenous self promotion, I headed back to Kyiv with no intent to on board permanently with Mr Millburn and the merry gang of war profiteers, and sought to employ myself elsewhere. I received a text from their finance nerd while linking up with my next option, asking if I'd like to help run training the next morning with a CNN crew tagging along. Knowing I had nothing else planned the next morning, I told Mr Millburn over text I would come, not asking for any compensation, but that I didn't want my face on camera. 30 seconds later I received what I can only describe as an emotional old man melt down.

I assume Millburn still thinks he's the commander of a special forces battalion, and that he could treat people working for him any way he wanted with no repercussion, as he spoke to me with such aggressive disdain that I would ever accuse him of being so unprofessional as to allow "his Marines" faces to be exposed on camera- just like I had caught them doing twice earlier that day.

I was reminded that he was in special operations longer than me while screaming into his newest generation iPhone and spattering spittle on his 800 dollar sweater. He barked that he was in a bad mood (cool buddy, don't care) accused me of not really wanting to be here (I came here on my own dime) and told me to get in line if I wanted to get paid. He told me to ask Colonel Buhl about him. He'll tell me how he takes care of his Marines.

Ok bud, what is this, 2005? Sadly, Mr Millburn, while having been handed command of a special operations unit, never actually went to any selection, he was never a special operator. He was a hand shaker and ass kisser. The first sergeant major of MARSOC was a motor transport Marine. That's not to rag on Marines in motor T, but there's something to be said about a unit that is headed by men who have never earned their seat in the room, unlike Rangers, Green berets and Seals who require their officers prove themselves by passing through the bloody canals of their selection programs. Mr Millburn landed in special operations due to a lucky window of time where they literally didn't have anyone else. If Mr Millburn had any experience actually operating, instead of existing in the bureaucratic self-licking ice cream cone of the Marine officer Corps, he might've learned a few things, like the power of a peer evaluation or the importance of selection and vetting. And if he ever did any work in the private military world he'd understand the importance of having people sign NDAs. Not once was I asked for any documentation or proof I was who I claimed to be, nor did he ever even get my real name or email address.

I could've been the "doctor" who spends his nights in the Buena Vista, carrying a sword- yes, an actual sword, and a Glock on his hip. Carrying a weapon here as a foreigner will get you killed unless you're directly on the front and integrated with a Ukrainian unit. Carrying a pistol out here is impossible unless you're Ukrainian police, military or in a special unit. When I asked this guy how he's carrying it, he told me he was "ess oh eff." I asked him if it was real, and he unholstered, removed the magazine (keeping the top of the mag concealed by his finger) and slipped it into his pocket. He swiftly racked the slide and showed me the chamber before pulling it away. The gun was an airsoft gun. I truly hope when he gets yoked up by Ukrainian police he isn't outright shot.

In a flagrant rush to secure funding and tell the world they mattered, Mozart Group invited an outsider to sit at their table and showed me what they’re all about.

If you Google Milburn’s company today you'll no doubt find him promoting himself, his company, his book, and the books he'll write about saving Ukraine alongside digital begging for donations, while ordering $2000 steak dinners and somehow occupying 3 bedrooms while pushing his employees to sleep on floors and couches. He's gone so far as to author articles for Task & Purpose, simultaneously acting as a war correspondent journalist while click bait advertising himself as the counter to the Russian PMC Wagner group. Isn't that a bit of a conflict of interest, T&P?

Meanwhile, a crowd of fake operators gather tonight and every night in the Buena Vista to retell battles that only exist in the minds of the delusional, while true heroes stand watch on the front in wet trenches with AK-47s in hand, asking not for fame or monetary compensation, but for ammunition, reinforcements and heavy weapons.

Photo Contributed by Neville Johnson

Aggressive Expansion at Any Cost: China’s Growing Relationship With The Taliban - George Carty

If you grew up like me, you were told that the biggest threat to American democracy was foreign terrorism. You probably remember 9/11. If you were too young, you would surely have been taught about it from an early age. Our generation was sold on the Global War on Terror to send a message to Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and their sympathizers based on our perception of this threat to our way of life. While our anger was exploited in the Middle East, our backs were turned to a growing titan that we must address.

China has slowly but decisively been rising into an economic superpower, surpassing many Western nations already due to their mercantilist and aggressive foreign policy. Chinese projects and deals like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the various investments in construction in Africa are turning Chinese foreign policy into one of the most expansive endeavors of modern times. The rise of China has captured the attention not just of their rivals, but of other groups that fight for a rise to power, and those that may have an interest in seeing the West decline.

Why does any of this matter to the average enlistee? This is about situational awareness and a cultural change within the ranks. Terrorism is still a threat, but often foreign militant groups are nothing without the support of powerful nation states. Attention must be shifted to the threat of China’s expansion and cooperation with our enemies.

Following a chaotic and dramatic exit of American and coalition forces from Afghanistan, the Taliban quickly and publicly declared China as their closest ally in rebuilding Afghanistan. The payoff for the Taliban in such a relationship is clear: significant funding from a rising superpower, connections that could aid Afghanistan in entering the global economy, and protection from outside intervention in the future. The question is: What is in it for China? Under what conditions would China support the Taliban, a former terrorist organization responsible for human rights violations? The Taliban assures China that this relationship will be mutually beneficial.

The brief history of the Taliban-China relationship begins with a $2.8 billion deal in 2007 for China to mine copper in Mes Aynak, Afghanistan. The relationship between the US-backed Afghan government and China was rocky, but it weakened further when Afghan authorities caught and arrested a Chinese espionage unit keeping their eyes on the Uyghurs suspected of terrorist activity. Fast forward to the summer of 2021: One month after the first conversation between the Chinese foreign policy minister and Taliban spokesmen, the world witnessed the catastrophic and demoralizing ending for the US mission in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is unable to survive on its own, at least for now. While China is extremely self-interested and will stop at nothing to achieve the “Chinese Dream,” a factor that is tampering with that dream is the Chinese-separatist terrorist groups that have fled to Afghanistan. China will support the Taliban if they believe Afghanistan will provide a stable environment for their economic and political goals, such as the BRI and CPEC. By using the Taliban as a means of security, China will have their “guaranteed” security for their laborers in the region, as well as a deterrence for other Islamic terror groups from using Afghanistan as a training ground to plot attacks against China.

Can China Benefit from Supporting the Taliban?

China can certainly benefit from the Taliban’s willingness to provide cheap security should they decides to include Afghanistan in the BRI. Given Afghanistan’s poor track record with harboring Chinese separatists, China will want evidence that the Taliban will protect their laborers, infrastructure, and investment. The Taliban has given its assurance that they will cooperate with China in disallowing Chinese-separatist groups from operating in the country.

What Are the Risks?

China acknowledges that Central Asia and the Middle East offer challenges that they call the “three evils” – terrorism, extremism, and separatism. Although the Taliban is no longer really a terrorist organization, since they have complete control over the Afghan government, the country still attracts terrorism from other groups. China must also consider that an investment in Afghanistan may not offer promising returns while the country is still reeling from a 20-year war.

The Terror Love Triangle

The Islamic State in the Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) operates in Afghanistan, and their primary objective is to overthrow the government in Pakistan. As an ally of Pakistan, China must be guaranteed that ISIS-K will not have room in Afghanistan to plan and/or coordinate attacks. ISIS-K and the Taliban have historically fought over control in certain regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan of course supporting the Taliban. Although Pakistan has previously used proxy groups against India (or at least expressed interest in doing so), it is unlikely they will go against China’s wish.

The Conditions

China expects that the Taliban will cut ties with anyone that is against China’s interests, including terrorist groups, and Western countries. They also expect the Taliban to promote peace in Afghanistan and for better or for worse, behave themselves. The specific conditions are as follows:

First, the Taliban must prove to China that they will not support the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) or Chinese separatists. Unsurprisingly, this is the first condition since China has named terrorism “the enemy of mankind”. Second, they must reform their government to promote a stable environment with the best interests of their citizens in mind. This, as any GWOT vet understands, is highly unlikely to happen, but Taliban control over the media may allow them to demonstrate an acceptable image as China’s dancing monkeys. Third, they must keep a distance from the United States or other forces that are hostile towards China. Interestingly, the Taliban has explicitly stated that it hopes to maintain a diplomatic relationship with the US. However, a relationship with the US is also unlikely. Lastly, they must promote improved human rights, protect the rights of women and children, and consider a more moderate government. Are you rolling your eyes yet? Only if these conditions are met will China consider giving the Taliban the support it desperately wants.

The Outcome Thus Far

The reality is that the Taliban has already been upholding their end of the would-be deal with China by diligently working to rid Afghanistan of Uyghur militants. This being the primary concern for China, the Taliban has made this a priority in Afghanistan. It has been reported that the Taliban removed the fighters of the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) away from the Chinese border and eastbound, indicating to China that they are willing to cooperate. Journalists in Afghanistan have reported that the Taliban closely monitors the behavior of its members in front of Western media to avoid a worldwide demonstration of their daily human rights abuses. The perceived improvement in behavior, even if it is only a dog-and-pony show, should be enough to satisfy the demand to put on a more “moderate” face and keep the best interests of Afghan citizens in mind.

China is not far off from providing the support that the Taliban needs. They were first in line to provide humanitarian support to Afghanistan, mostly through providing COVID-19 vaccinations and medical supplies. China has a long history of making investments in developing countries, namely African countries like Djibouti, where Chinese investment makes up 70% of their GDP. Although Djibouti has lesser problems in dealing with terrorism than Afghanistan, case studies of China’s choice to invest in developing countries signifies that they are willing to mitigate risk and use their resources to properly build their developing investment infrastructure. The BRI is one of the most significant foreign policy decisions that China has made throughout its history, and it is a tool that is being used in their pursuit of hegemony. This is what makes it an issue of international security.

Pakistan has a history of mutually beneficial support with the Taliban, recently praising the takeover of Kabul, declaring the action “breaking the chains of slavery”. With that said, Pakistan has been putting pressure on the Taliban to disallow terrorist groups from operating in Afghanistan. A China-backed Taliban is a force likely to eradicate ISIS-K and other groups that could have been potentially used as proxy groups.

The image of a Chinese-funded Taliban will anger GWOT veterans, rightfully so. Although an agreement with the Taliban may seem like a radical idea, it will only happen because of China’s self-interested pursuit of earning strategic advantages. Geographically, Afghanistan will provide yet another opportunity for strategic investment for China while securing more of its western border. Additionally, this will add a direct avenue to Iran, who is now a partner for the BRI as well. The Taliban has given its word publicly that Chinese separatist groups will have no haven in Afghanistan if they are in charge, which they have already acted on. Although the Taliban has stated that “friendly” ties to the US would be nice, they have no reason to cooperate with the US if China requests that they maintain distance. The Taliban also is likely to put on a “moderate” appearance in front of the media, especially western media, to appease China’s request for a more moderate stance. Since the Taliban will meet China’s conditions, China will choose to include Afghanistan in the BRI and consequently support the Taliban.2

Picture contributed by Preston Lehman

Across the Force

Written work on the profession of arms. Lessons learned, conversations on doctrine, and mission analysis from all ranks.

Warfighting After the War on Terror - Neil D. McCoy, Adam D. DuVall, & Joshua L. Larson, & Luke T. Hudson

Twenty-eight years ago, the Marine Corps published Fleet Marine Force Manual 1, Warfighting, solidifying maneuver warfare as its warfighting doctrine and philosophy. FMFM 1 has since been renamed MCDP 1, Warfighting, and its writings have stood the tests of time through the last eighteen years of combat in the Middle East and beyond. Marine Maj Ian Brown published a book entitled A New Conception of War: John Boyd, the U.S. Marines, and Maneuver Warfare,”1 the most comprehensive history of the Marine Corps and its relationship with maneuver warfare. This work highlights the level of acceptance of maneuver warfare throughout the Marine Corps, as well as Marines’ reservations with the concepts in application. Today, it is generally accepted by the Marine Corps that practicing maneuver warfare in both its physical form and as a mindset will continue to elevate the Corps as a warfighting organization. The problem with the current outlook, however, is that, although the Corps has made it clear verbally for the last three decades that we prepare and fight wars under the philosophy of maneuver warfare, it is rarely seen in practice in training environments, at our schools, in the Fleet Marine Force, and—most important of all—in combat. Therefore, going forward, the Marine Corps must address the current level of understanding of maneuver warfare, the current implementation of maneuver warfare inside the Corps today, and how, through training and education, we can transition the responsibility of maneuver warfare to the small unit leaders of the Marine Corps.

Where We’ve Been and Where We Are

The Correlates of War database has recorded 464 conflicts since 1815, with 82 percent occurring between state and non-state actors.2 The most well-known of these wars include the French-Algerian War, the Irish “Troubles,” the Vietnam War, and the Philippine Insurrection. These four among many other hundreds of conflicts show a trend falling further away from conventional state versus state warfare. The Marine Corps, however, continues to place the majority of its peacetime training focus on state versus state fighting. To reinforce the point of misplaced focus, for the last fifteen years of combat, Marines have not faced a single uniformed or “state” enemy force on the battlefield.

Furthermore, Marines are tasked to remain flexible enough to deal with multiple types of operations ranging from stability operations to high-intensity combat. These are tall orders for young men and women who, in most cases, possess a still developing prefrontal cortex.

At face value, both the United States and the Marine Corps demand its Marines embody the traits of the professional warrior and practice our warfighting doctrine in order to defeat the enemy, and yet the Service does a poor job of explaining, teaching, and assessing the concepts of maneuver warfare in both training and educational environments.

Presently, while maneuver warfare is acknowledged as the Corps’ warfighting philosophy, the authors have identified a significant disparity between the level of understanding between the officer corps and enlisted community. This disparity stems from the lack of implementation of maneuver warfare in both its physical form and as a mindset in the daily lives of Marines. Having been through every level of enlisted PME that exists today in the Marine Corps, the authors think that the vast majority of enlisted Marines, regardless of MOS, possess a severely deficient understanding of maneuver warfare. This requires immediate attention. One of the greatest problems is that Marines who serve outside the GCE believe that the principles of professional warfighting lie outside of their level of expertise or do not apply to them. And yet, according to MCDP-1, Warfighting,

Every Marine has an individual responsibility to study the profession of arms. A leader without either interest in or knowledge of the history and theory of warfare … is a leader in appearance only.

This is where we are now.

Where to Go from Here

Having acknowledged where the ideas and concepts of maneuver warfare have been and where they are now, our next logical step is to recognize and implement methods that will better prepare us for war. Before continuing, however, we ask you, the reader, to reflect on these two questions:

What are the timeless qualities that we require from our warfighters?
How do we cultivate those qualities?

These questions will likely produce a variety of answers from leaders across the Service, but instead of answering them directly, the authors propose a focus in three areas that will develop qualities that will serve well in any kind of conflict. The areas include personnel management, focused and purposeful training, and command sponsored PME.

Personnel management. This is one area that has not improved, updated, or evolved fast enough since the adoption of maneuver warfare by the Marine Corps. Marines continue to be placed in billets based on a number of questionable criteria with temperament, ability, and intellect falling very low in that ranking system. Too often, Marines are placed in billets and in geographical locations simply because a position has opened—they just so happen to be up for rotation, or the needs of the Marine Corps dictate that move.

While these factors may indeed have an effect on our manpower model, they should not be the dominant determining factors for billet assignment. MCDP 1 states:

Since war is at base a human enterprise, effective personnel management is important to success. This is especially true for a doctrine of maneuver warfare, which places a high premium on individual judgment and action. We should recognize that all Marines of a given grade and occupational specialty are not interchangeable and should assign people to billets based on specific ability and temperament.

In order for the Corps to effectively educate Marines on the tenets of maneuver and develop technical and tactical proficiency, the right men and women must be placed in key billets around the globe. This is particularly true for instructor billets at the schoolhouses. Through student-centered learning and exercises that focus on problem-based decision making, the right instructors can inculcate in young Marines a thirst for lifelong learning that will eventually begin to change the culture of the Marine Corps.

Focused and purposeful training. Standards-based training that seeks to mimic the rigors of combat has long been the mantra of our warfighting institution. Too often in the FMF, however, training simply becomes a checklist-based execution of tasks that are pulled from the training and readiness manuals with almost no tie-in to actual modern combat.

And to be clear on this point, a Marine does not need direct combat experience to create tie-ins. This can be done by retrospectively analyzing the experiences of warriors who have gone before us. Take combat marksmanship as an example. There have been proven methods that focus on intuitive gun fighting that are utilized across the world in many allied armies, particularly their special forces communities. These methods seek to perfect the basic fundamentals of shooting combined with a relentless combat mindset to increase speed, accuracy, and overall lethality against the enemy. The Marine Corps, however, continues to practice annual rifle training that has remained fundamentally unchanged in the last 20 years, and, what is more, it is only conducted once a year for every Marine. Focused training implies that one must spend hours conducting the task via thousands of repetitions. If there is any hope of achieving a level of proficiency in marksmanship that modern combat demands, it is imperative that the entire model of training be revamped. The type of focused training that contains a “why” behind it will also act as a “gateway drug” when introducing the ideas of maneuver warfare to young Marines. By reaching the deepest parts of their thought process with an exercise like shooting and perfecting an employment technique, we can exploit their interest to facilitate conversation about the art of war and how the task they are currently performing relates to it. Yet another example of this focused and purposeful training of would be the 2019 1stMarDiv Infantry Rifle Squad Competition, won by a rifle squad from 2d Battalion, 7th Marines (2/7).

During the course of the 7th Marine Regimental Squad Competition and subsequent training in Camp Pendleton leading up to the Division competition, the squad from 2/7 scarcely focused on performance examination checklists or rigid/structured training per the infantry training and readiness manual. Instead, the squad, guided by four SNCOs and NCOs from the regiment, concentrated on scenario-based live fire and patrolling exercises, tactical decision games, discussions of maneuver warfare, and non-standard approaches to combat marksmanship. These reinforced perfect repetitions, intuitive gun fighting, and employing a combat mindset at all times. The squad members unanimously attributed their victory at the Division competition to the non-standard training. This preparation was solely based on commander’s intent and a ruthless focus on developing a mindset for winning in combat, not winning a competition.

PME. “Self-directed study in the art and science of war is at least equal in importance to maintaining physical condition and should receive at least equal time.”6 In conjunction with focused and purposeful training, or more simply put, deep knowledge of and skill in the science of warfare, PME should be vigorously implemented at every level of a Marine’s career. Furthermore, identifying those who have a particular aptitude for the art, history, and theory of warfare is a responsibility that leaders cannot take lightly as these are the men and women who will shape the way we fight in the future. Some maneuver warfare-focused PME programs exist in the FMF. The members of 2/5, over the course of the last two years, were able to develop a thirst for PME inside their battalion that directly related to increased lethality during training and on deployment. Several SNCOs and officers of the unit identified a need to distribute Marines with a passion for the art of war and education throughout the maneuver companies. Former instructors from the School of Infantry and graduates of Infantry Small Unit Leaders Course were dispersed based on temperament and ability. They then easily developed effective training events, making the events interesting and opportunities to explore warfighting concepts in a manner that generated buy in or retention from the Marines. The focus that these key individuals placed on professionalism, history, current events, progress, and competition fostered an environment where Marines willingly sought out education in maneuver warfare, which subsequently resulted in a greater efficiency in the execution of warfighting skills.

According to the Commandant’s Planning Guidance,

What we need is an approach that is focused on active, student-centered learning using a problem-posing methodology where our students/trainees are challenged with problems … We have to enable them to think critically, recognize when change is needed and inculcate a bias for action without waiting to be told what to do.

The Commandant charges the Marine Corps with developing a more effective approach to learning and becoming better decision makers with a bias for action. This is not a new idea.

In fact, a young infantry staff sergeant submitted it as a proposal to the Commandant’s 2017 Innovation Symposium 2017. The submission was awarded as a winner.

The staff sergeant’s proposal focused on institutionalizing decision-forcing cases, tactical decision games, and sand table exercises into not only PME schools but also the FMF.

This plan was widely recognized by the Marine Corps as a vast improvement to the current model of instruction.9 After receiving such praise, however, nothing happened. It seems counterintuitive that the staff sergeant’s proposal has not been institutionalized and ruthlessly enforced at the education facilities, even after receiving the Commandant’s endorsement. The authors invite all Marines to challenge the ideas in this article and use it as a catalyst for discussion. By no means do we think that the above-mentioned training and education methods are the answer to building maneuverists—there is no set recipe. We only hope this sparks honest, frank, and fruitful discussions for implementing more effective means of developing a culture of maneuver warfare throughout the Marine Corps.

Photo Contributed by Brandon Sleasman

Conclusion

Gen Alfred M. Gray, LtGen Paul Van Riper, and Mr. John Schmitt once spoke in an interview about the intellectual renaissance that took place within the Marine Corps during the post-Vietnam era.10 Each spoke of the difficulties they encountered with the lack of acceptance of maneuver warfare at an institutional level. Even with a growing acceptance of the ideas throughout the last three decades, practice and study of maneuver in not only its physical form but as a mindset is slow going in implementation across the force. We as a Corps need to institutionalize the concepts that have been solidified as our doctrine for so long and adopt more focused, purposeful, and adaptive training and education methods that assist in the preparation for combat. Gen Berger recently reinforced the fact that outdated training and education models will not be enough to defeat the enemy in future asymmetrical battles when he stated,

As good as we are today, we will need to be even better tomorrow to maintain our warfighting overmatch. We will achieve this through the strength of our innovation, ingenuity, and willingness to continually adapt to and initiate changes in the operating environment to affect the behavior of real-world pacing threats.

The Commandant has clearly communicated his intent. It is now time for this warfighting organization to go forth and execute.3

Trusting the Links in the Chain - Nate Gladdin

Around a decade ago I was assigned to an Air National Guard Operations Group, as part of the instructor cadre. Along with performing my primary role as an Instructor Flight Engineer, one of my extra duties was to act as the Unit Career Advisor. I was tasked with meeting with every enlisted individual below E-7 on a one-on-one basis. This typically occurred when newly assigned or during the window for reenlistment. It was meant to assist senior leadership understand personal and professional goals of all their enlisted members.

During one of those meetings I spoke with a young E-4. He was assigned to one of our support elements, so as an enlisted flyer I saw him often, but we rarely spoke beyond pleasantries. He was quiet but polite and always seemed to have a positive attitude. When we sat down to discuss re-enlistment he told me he planned to separate. His reasoning was simple, he didn’t feel fulfilled by his role within the Air National Guard. Looking at his ASVAB scores, performance reports, collegiate pursuits and through simple communication it was apparent he was incredibly sharp.

I asked him his plans and he said he would finish his degree and look for a job, most likely in the aviation sector. I mentioned to him to consider becoming a C130H flight engineer, explaining what my position entailed and what it could lead to in the future with him being so young. After giving it a few days of thought, he let me know he wanted to apply.

Working with his supervisor, we found a loophole in the regulations which allowed him to be selected prior to his typical cross-training window. I requested he meet the selection board. He was unanimously approved and dates for flight training were assigned. While he awaited his class start date to begin he attended college for another semester.

About two months later I walked into the squadron. As I walked past the office of the Ops Group E-9 he told me we needed to meet with the OG/CC, an O-6. Once we reported in they let me know my “hand picked” FE candidate had been detained over the weekend on his campus for a DUI. I felt deflated. A little while later we called in the young man and had him explain what happened.

He owned his mistake, completely. Never once did he search for sympathy. When he was released, the conversation turned to punishment—which would ultimately be decided by others well above my pay grade of E-6. What shocked me though was our group commander asked myself, the section supervisor and his group chief what we would hope happened to the Senior Airman. I assumed his career was over.

I told the leadership in the room I felt he was worth fighting for. I felt he had made a stupid mistake, but if we helped him now we would have someone who would bounce back and make the flying squadron better. The two SNCO types in the room trusted me and agreed to back him. The Colonel trusted his senior enlisted leaders opinions, so he agreed to do his best to see the E-4 had a second chance.

About twenty four months later—as an enlisted aviator—he was flying combat sorties as an FE in a deployed location. On one of his first days his crew had an engine failure shortly before landing which he expertly handled, keeping his crew safe.

The next time I saw his aircraft commander he told me how well his young FE had handled himself. "Composed, but quick” were the exact words he used. He barely made it to 100 hours of total flying time prior to deploying and already the young aviator was proving his worth when it mattered. A few years after returning from this deployment (as well as one more) the now junior NCO flight engineer finished his bachelor's degree. Once all his other prerequisites were accomplished he applied for a pilot slot. Again, he met a selection board. While he had proven himself downrange on two deployments he still had a résumé which include punishment. The board, made up of senior squadron leadership, chose to select him despite the setback. At the time of this article being written, the one time E-4 who hadn’t felt fulfilled is now an O-1 and in flight training to become an Air Force pilot. I would like to highlight a few of the different elements of this scenario, explaining how the Leadership Chain had a direct impact on the Kill Chain. The first thing to point out is me, the author, had been assigned to the Operations Group for around nine months when I suggested this individual for flying duty. I was promoted to E-6 maybe five months prior and at the time was the most junior of the instructor cadre.

My extra duties had only been assigned to me within 60 days of submitting my candidate for selection. Those above me in the ranks were willing to hear my hiring suggestion because I had earned the right through hard work and technical knowledge. Second, in order for him to be sent to training I had to request his section supervisor, an E-7, sign paperwork expediting his skill level.

This meant I would be taking one of his most productive Airmen from him with a year left of service to provide his section. Essentially I was asking to short staff one of the most overworked, under-appreciated sections in order to bolster another one. All with a deployment on the horizon. His SNCO agreeing to this was a clear example of selfless, long-range leadership. He chose to better one Airman instead of being selfish. Because his NCO core was strong in their abilities to perform and develop they carried the weight. When new Airmen arrived they were quick to train them and prepare them for our deployment.

The third point of interest is the actual incident, and its timing. When it occurred he was within 180 days of leaving for initial flight training. Despite leadership having to go through formal processes—which can take considerable time—the decision was to not release his training start date. Eventually the date had to be shifted, however, by showing a willingness to support a junior enlisted despite his mistake, leadership was proving two things.

First, they were willing to trust the NCO tier, proving leaders from E-5 through E-9 had ownership in the mission. Also, second chances were hard earned, yet possible if the individual showed overall good character and a relentless work ethic.

Two traits all military organizations should demand.

A fourth point is while there was punishment, the Airman in focus did not become a focus. Better stated, he did not become a target. As a new E-6 who had just been embarrassed I could have recommended we cancel his selection. I wouldn’t have been wrong if I had chosen to do this. Once he returned from flight training, as his lead instructor it would have been easy to use his past mistake as a reason to push him beyond the others.

Instead, alongside the more experienced FE’s we demanded his utmost as an aviator and Airman—but not as one with a blemish to highlight. Once downrange he was able to perform at a high level due to the fact he’d been developed, mentored and prepared without retribution.

Because we were held to high standards by past NCO types who had trained each of us, we prepared him to operate as an aircrew member where it counted most, in support of those on the battlefield. Our command staff was clear in their intent on how they expected their young members to be developed which gave us an appropriate focus.

Lastly, when he finally accomplished his education and was approved to meet a selection board, it would have been a fair decision if they had rejected him as a future officer and fellow pilot. From the junior NCO link on the chain, up through the O-6, Group Commander link he had been allowed to prove himself worthy of a second chance. His career had advanced beyond what many, in today’s military, would ever be granted.

By choosing him, what is actually occurring isn’t rewarding him, post punishment. It is offering him the next opportunity to prove leadership trusts him. At some point in the coming years, as this now young lieutenant advances, he will become an Aircraft Commander. This will mean during deployments he will be the final authority for himself and five other individuals each time they takeoff to perform whatever the mission requires on any given day. This will revolve within the Kill Chain, which all who serve live within. Meaning the standards and consequences will be higher than ever before.

If—in time—he moves higher up the ranks he will be expected to command a Squadron and conceivably someday a Group or even a Wing. At each level his youthful mistake will offer him insight and guidance as to how to assess disciplinary situations. This will mean he will have moved along the leadership chain, from junior enlisted to senior officer. At the end of his military career he will—no matter what rank he retires at—be the direct result of what can occur when leadership strengthens each of its own links along the chain.

Tactical Surprise - 18A Chronicles

In 2010, I deployed to Western Paktika Province, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. At the time of deployment, I had been the Reconnaissance Platoon Leader in Headquarters Co, Xxx Battalion, Xxx Infantry Regiment, Xxx Brigade Combat Team, xxxx Division for nine months. Since we were deployed prior to the “Afghan Surge” of late 2010, our Battalion had responsibility for a large area of operations (AO) in Western Paktika Province.

Western Paktika Province was known as one of the tougher places to fight in Regional Command East; direct fire contact with enemy forces was common, but pressure plate IEDs had been the most lethal and increasing threat in the AO. The terrain varied from high desert valleys, with small

farming villages, to rocky mountains up to 12,000 feet elevation with streams and large pine trees. Most of the routes in the AO consisted of rocky trails that were slightly wider than a small truck. A large-scale paving program commenced less than a year before our deployment and had begun to make vehicular access to populated areas more feasible and decreased the amount of IEDs emplaced in the roads. Route improvements, however, still had not been implemented in the more rural areas of the province.

Upon finally arriving to FOB Sharana, we commenced the process that each recon platoon in a Light Infantry Battalion has to sort out: mission clarity and guidance. We were told to expect to fulfill the roles of Battalion Quick Reaction Force (QRF), Aerial Reaction Force, Focused Targeting Force, EOD Escort, traditional Reconnaissance, and Route Clearance Patrol. With this broad range of duties in mind my PSG, SFC Xxxxx Xxxxxx and I kept our Soldiers’ training simple and structured. Our platoon drilled extensively with our new Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan Uniformed Police (AUP) partners on tactical call outs, small unit tactics, map reading, dismounted and mounted patrolling, searches, and Tactical Site Exploitation (TSE). Initially placed on QRF and EOD escort we were determined to make the most of every trip outside the wire.

Route Idaho was located in the Mata Khan District, north of FOB Sharana. The only trafficable road available to U.S. and Afghan forces, Route Idaho was a dusty, winding, washed out, unimproved road that ran directly through the population centers of the district and connected Sharana City (Paktika’s provincial capital) to Paktia Province in the north. The two Army National Guard platoons in the Mata Khan District Center and the Afghan Uniformed Police also located there depended on Route Idaho for logistics from FOB Sharana. The Taliban were fully aware of the strategic importance of the route to the Afghan Government, and IED cells began targeting U.S. and Afghan vehicles along the route. Due to the frequency of enemy IED activity and the growing lethality their IEDs began to exact, Route Idaho earned the name “IED Alley.”

The Soldiers in my platoon had conducted numerous patrols into Mata Khan District and were aware of many known pressure plate IED hotspots along Route Idaho, and we began to detect a pattern

in the location and frequency of IED emplacement. While conducting post blast analysis on Route Idaho after an IED had blown up an Afghan Uniformed Police vehicle, we were able to follow the IED emplacer’s footprints roughly 1.5k to his kalat while EOD was interrogating the IED site. While no military aged males were present at the kalat, tactical questioning of locals in the area revealed that the Taliban IED cell emplaced their IEDs at night and generally moved into the area from the west. Armed with this new intelligence, I immediately went to work to discover how often patrols were conducted and if there was a correlation to IED emplacement. I detected a pattern: the IED cell would very often emplace their IEDs within 24 hours of a patrol leaving the area. The IED cells also frequently used the same locations along the route that offered easy access and retrograde should they be compromised. This intelligence allowed me to determine the most probable timeline and locations for IED emplacement; statistically improving the chances our planned Small Kill Team’s (SKTs) could successfully intercept the IED cell at work.

I began to informally structure a concept for an operation (CONOP) with my PSG, SFC Xxxxx; the Sniper Squad Leader (SL), SSG Xxxxxx; 1st SL, SSG Xxxxxx; 2nd SL, SSG Xxxxxx; and 3rd SL, SSG Xxxxxx. Each of these NCOs brought a wealth of knowledge to the planning stages, and I sought to harness their collective experience. We began with sorting out what task organization would be required to successfully intercept and eliminate a Taliban IED team. We focused on building the SKTs around our snipers, who would be able to accurately engage during low visibility far more effectively than any other weapons system we had. I emplaced our SKTs in positions that allowed mutual support if enemy contact was made; each SKT could maneuver on enemy forces, assist with breaking contact, or be reinforced by the patrol base location.

Up until this point in our battalion’s deployment, no unit in the Task Force had been able to achieve tactical surprise on enemy forces or successfully intercept an IED cell at work. Based on my

assessment, it appeared our Task Force’s units were conducting patrols at roughly similar times each day and usually using vehicles. The patrols had set enough of a pattern that the enemy IED cells were able to set their own based on our activity. I sought to execute this operation outside of the set pattern to achieve tactical surprise on the enemy operating in Mata Khan District.

After some refinement, the Battalion Commander approved my CONOP, and we were ready to execute Operation Iron Lashkar (Pashtu for “camp”). The CONOP called for a traditional dismounted area reconnaissance of three locations, to include the most prevalent IED hotspot identified on Route Idaho which was located directly adjacent to the village of Rowston Khel. This hotspot was a stretch of Route Idaho that offered the Taliban multiple avenues of approach as well as cover and concealment due to the proximity of the village. On 8 May 2010 our patrol left FOB Sharana moving dismounted approximately 10k, we infiltrated the area during daylight hours and arrived in the village by afternoon. The strategy was to present the appearance of being the Provincial Reconstruction Team to minimize suspicion of our objectives. I issued strict orders to my Soldiers to remain hyper-vigilant while appearing casual on security. While I conducted a Key Leader Engagement with a local elder, discussing everything from the current weather to projects that he would like to see in the future, SFC Xxxxxxx and the Sniper Squad conducted visual reconnaissance of the patrol base location that during our planning we had selected using overhead imagery. SFC Xxxxxx confirmed the location was suitable and we began to move generally southeast to a wadi as the sun began to set. We entered the wadi, and I instructed the entire patrol to lie down as we waited for the cover of darkness. This tactic achieved the goal of minimizing the enemy’s ability to determine our direction of travel. Once it was dark, I called all leaders to my location to discuss our occupation of the patrol base and reaffirm mission specifics of each SKT. Since the ANA did not have night vision equipment, we chose to leave them in the patrol base location and not embed them in the two SKTs. I asked SFC Xxxxxx how he intended on ensuring the

ANA did not fire in the SKT’s directions should contact with the enemy be made. He wryly glanced at me and the other NCOs, the look alone assuring all around him that he had the issue under control. We moved to and occupied our patrol base which was located near a pump house surrounded by irrigation ditches and trees. The evening call to prayer began while we waited to push out our two SKTs; my interpreter listened intently for anything out of the ordinary during the prayer and reported that nothing was awry.

I led SKT-1 to the northwest as SSG Xxxxxx, my senior SL, led SKT-2 to the southwest, with both teams set to over watch IED hotspots on Route Idaho. SKT-1, with SSG Xxxxxxx, my Sniper SL, on point and in file, had advanced to within 150 meters of our planned hide site; I halted our movement there and moved to SSG Xxxxxx’s position on point. I was wearing a Peltor headset that offered me the advantage of sound amplification and awareness, and I had heard the distinct sounds of someone digging. We carefully advanced another 50 meters toward the road and our hide site before SSG Xxxxxxx began to hear the digging sounds. At this distance, we could also see the outline of a silhouette

on the road. I moved down the file and informed my Soldiers what we had seen on the road and gave orders that under no circumstances were they to engage until my order. I returned to my Sniper SL, and we continued toward our hide site, pausing every 25 meters for stealth and situational awareness.

Upon reaching our hide site, which was located less than 70 meters from the digger’s location, I motioned for the file to move out into a line oriented toward the road and placed the two Air Force TAC-Ps covering the rear. As rehearsed, all Soldiers assumed a prone position to minimize any audible noise, and we began to observe the activity on the road. I placed SSG Xxxxxx and his Sniper Team, armed with the M110 SASS (suppressed and equipped with extremely accurate night optics), in the middle of the line and within arm’s reach of me. The Sniper observed the digger, with an AK-47 slung on his back, moving about and actively emplacing an IED. Moments later, a second figure appeared from behind a rise in the road bank, quietly pushing a motorcycle from left to right of our position. The motorcycle had saddle bags and what appeared to be RPGs sticking out on each side. The motorcycle man began to unload his cargo next to the digger and the two had a quiet discussion then went back to work. The motorcycle man then pulled an RPG launcher from behind his back and set it down with the other cargo. SSG Xxxxxx whispered to his Sniper “make absolutely sure that is an IED emplacement team.” The Sniper whispered back “yes, I can see his face (the digger), the hole, and the equipment around him.” SSG Xxxxxxx glanced in my direction, his facial structure visible in my night vision goggles and whispered “sir, we are 100 percent sure.” I informed the patrol base that we had positive identification of two armed insurgents emplacing an IED and were preparing to engage. Although initially a little skeptical that his Lieutenant actually had the enemy in his sights so quickly, SFC Xxxxxxx used the platoon’s satellite radio to relay this information to Battalion. The two TAC-Ps immediately placed a request for Close Air Support in the form of two F-15Es should air support be needed. In an effort to mask our presence as much as possible, I indicated to SSG Xxxxxx and his

Snipers that, on my signal, they would initiate our ambush on the digger with the suppressed M110. I then ordered my M249 gunner to traverse his fire in a manner to beat the entire kill zone, and then continued down the line, assigning sectors of fire and giving the M320 grenadiers the task of launching one HEDP each to isolate the kill zone and cover “dead space”.

I then knelt beside my snipers, took aim with my laser on the motorcycle man, and readied my M4. I issued the order to engage. The sniper’s suppressed shot was quiet and the large bullet slammed into the digging insurgent’s abdomen. Nearly simultaneously, I placed the aim of my laser on motorcycle man and squeezed off a low three round burst into him, ensuring that the steady rise of my muzzle would impact in the vital area. The two grenade rounds fired from the M320s burst into the dusty road bed obscuring the kill zone as M249 tracers beat back and forth and up and down. The motorcycle man had visibly shuddered from the impact of my first burst but recovered himself and began to run in a zigzag pattern. I ordered my far-left grenadier to fire an illumination round to locate the insurgent who was then seen running into Rowston Khel village with a third insurgent who had been hidden by the road bank to our far left.

In that very instant, the two F-15Es arrived a few miles out with the pilots requesting an update on the situation. Our TAC-P excitedly relayed that we needed the aircraft’s sensors to begin scanning west of the village and that we had made contact with an enemy IED team. I ordered the TAC-P to request a “show of force” fly over to deter any remaining enemy in the area from thinking they had an advantage on our team sized element. The pilots responded that they would fly over the kill zone from east to west at around 200 feet and drop flares. We waited cautiously in our hide site, lying in a prone position and observing the kill zone and village for any movement. With afterburners engaged and dropping flares, the F-15 screamed in at what seemed like only a few feet above us, the display of power no doubt ensuring that we would have the rest of the night to ourselves.

After waiting about ten more minutes without any movement observed, I gave SSG Xxxxxxx the order to swing to the left of the kill zone and clear it moving south to north. Seeing the potential that the Taliban may have emplaced an IED in the kill zone before we intercepted them, I said we would use a high-powered flashlight to ensure that no hazards were at our feet. The SKT then cleared the kill zone from south to north, while the sniper team secured our movement by observing to our north. SSG Xxxxxxx moved cautiously forward, while I moved to his left with two more Soldiers to our left and right covering the flanks. We paused about 15 to 20 feet away from the dead insurgent, and I aimed my weapon at the now seemingly lifeless enemy. I quietly motioned for SSG Xxxxxxx to disarm and check the insurgent for any signs of life. As he silently moved forward, I flipped my flashlight on so that he could plan where each step landed while scanning for any disturbance to the road bed that would offer any sign that an IED was buried there. SSG Xxxxxxx disarmed the insurgent who had an AK-47 lying a few feet to his left. The Soldier on the left flank noticed a small blood trail leading away from the kill zone in the direction that the motorcycle man had run. I radioed back to our patrol base to inform SFC Xxxxxxx that the kill zone was clear and that I would need the tactical site exploitation (TSE) kit moved

to my location. He passed to me that battalion was informed of our situation and that our Alpha Company would be sending a platoon out with EOD to pick up the body, motorcycle, and IED materials. We formed a perimeter and waited for SFC Xxxxxxx with the TSE kit and personnel to move to our location.

Upon clearance of the kill zone, our SKT recovered one EKIA, two pressure cooker IEDs, two AK-47s, two RPG launchers, five RPG rounds, two hand grenades, one modified motorcycle outfitted with RPG quivers and saddle bags, one pressure plate, one IMCOM, two cell phones, and one blasting cap. A week later, in an irrigation ditch where he had succumbed to his wounds, the body of the second insurgent was found by a local farmer and reported to local Afghan Uniformed Police.

This engagement broke the cycle our Battalion had been in during the early part of the deployment. Our Task Force had been unable to target insurgent cells effectively due to patterned mounted patrolling in Mata Khan and other districts across Paktika Province. The enemy operating against us were accustomed to observing and engaging Afghan and Coalition Forces during the day, and mounted in vehicles. The engagement was the first of many successful operations that my platoon would conduct in Mata Khan District. Intelligence gathered from these operations would lead to Special Operation Forces (SOF) conducting a nighttime raid, and killing the cell leadership about two months later. Having proved our operational proficiency and skill, this mission also proved to be a turning point in how my platoon would be used throughout the deployment.

As I reflect on this operation, I cannot help but wonder if there were strategic consequences because of the deaths of these two insurgents, as well as the many others for which we became directly responsible. I am proud of what my Soldiers accomplished during this operation and the deployment overall. However, many questions still remain. Did we rid the battlefield of two insurgents that night

only to create four more to take their place? We were concentrating on destroying the enemy, a task not uncommon in warfare’s history. Killing, per se, has never been an essential ingredient for victory in warfare. Based on this belief, could our efforts have been better placed in developing our ANA and AUP allies? Intelligence revealed that after the SOF raid on the IED cell leaders, the entire cell had reconstituted within approximately two months and renewed operations in Mata Khan. This experience has led me to believe that by concentrating on destroying the enemy, we only provided a short-term solution to the people of Mata Khan. Spending more time and energy engaging the civilian population and training our Afghan counterparts was the long-term answer. Most insurgencies thrive on the mistakes our Soldiers and Marines make at the strategic level which negate the tactical successes we achieve on the ground every day. It is without a doubt that destroying enemy forces has a place in our current conflict; however, if we focus on the destruction of the enemy, we will overlook the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. While this engagement surely is considered a tactical success, we failed strategically by not allowing our Afghan Allies to truly lead the operation regardless of the outcome.

Opinion

Op Eds and general thought pieces meant to spark conversation and introspection.

When Swords Gather Dust - Condition Set

When does a warrior realize their government no longer cares for them? When must they confront the reality that their politicians know not of or care not for their profession? For the samurai that day came on January 30th, 1877, the day their government came to seize their weapons. For the United States Armed Forces that point is known as August 31st, 2021, the final day of The Fall of Kabul. Though this wasn't where either of their troubles started but was only a single event in the slow starving of their culture. While we may look through the history books and know September 24th, 1877 as the final day of the Satsuma Rebellion, when the samurai were finally put out of their misery. We look to the future with uncertainty as to the fate of the GWOT veteran. Some may say that the GWOT veteran will never suffer to the lengths of which the last samurais did, but let me lay out in what ways these warriors alike have been left to starve.

When the sword finally hangs on the wall of the family home it is hard to not look at it each time in passing, to feel security in that time of life, which many relate to as their most powerful period. It's hard for many to transition from an occupation of such immense power into what many warriors perceive as the mundane occupations of the citizenry. When it came to the samurai many were lost in finding purpose in the rapidly changing landscape of Japan in the Meji Period. Many feared them, and the samurai were taught up till this point that they were a superior class. Had every GWOT veteran been expected to work at a fast food restaurant upon their end of service it would be no stretch of the imagination to see in what difficulty the samurai transitioned. For our GWOT veterans, transition was no simple task either, to leave your community and be dyed the dark colors of war then cast back in, leaving many lost. In addition the veterans of GWOT were both feared and admired just like their samurai counterparts. For many they were seen as good enough to be thanked for their service but not worth the risk of letting a “murderer” or “PTSD psycho” into their business.

This led both the samurai and veterans to become immersed in a plethora of harmful behavior, from wide spread alcoholism to bouts of violence, these warriors lashed out like a wounded animal unable to comprehend the pain that plagues them. Soon enough this led to suicide to which the samurai had to commit in a unique way, as they could only honorably die by seppuku (a form of ritual suicide) or by battle. This led them to suicidal rebellions sometimes facing odds as numerous as 60 to 1. But our veterans meet a much less dramatic end, often alone, they slip uneventfully into death. The end result is the same though, a glorification of this tragedy, for the Japanese saw the suicidal ends of the samurai as honorable and well met, something worthy of remembrance, they couldnt see a government who failed them leaving many to believe this their only option. As for the veteran they were seen as victims, an ending to a sad story who we’ll

never forget. Where we’ll wear black bracelets originally meant for combat death and hold them to the same esteem. This is not to say that they should be forgotten, but just as the samurai were enticed with glory, many veterans became enticed by the outpouring of pity they observed countless times.

The above reasons may be apparent in the harm they cause their participants but of all the parallels the benefits were the most well hidden source of harm. The samurai were given both a pension and rice stipend, they had no obligation to work or seek work only further exacerbating the issue of losing their purpose and sense of self. By the time these were ended (prematurely at that) many samurai had no job, no skills in which to secure one, and were consumed in their bad habits due to their lack of productivity. What was originally meant to ease the burden of the loss of their social class (or merely a means to keep them quiet until their government was strong enough to face them) turned into a source of their inability to adapt to their surroundings. Today we see this in the form of VA benefits, not to their existence but the ease in which the system can be exploited. No matter if the rating is 10% or 100%, seeking treatment isn't required. What this means is if one should desire they can receive a livable wage with no expectation of effort on their part. Not only does this leave those injured both mentally or figuratively to maintain a state of mind, at least outwardly that they aren't improving but is also an attraction to those who are uninjured to seek the benefits from a system of minimal accountability. What one is ultimately left with is a system of dependency that slowly decentivises (though not purposely) finding work or purpose outside the warrior culture and soon the lion is no longer a lion.

When one factors in the less quantifiable metrics that both ages of warriors faced such as a society that viewed their purpose with diminishing importance, or their governments no longer entertaining their interest in policy, it is not hard to see why for many, life became so turbulent. Even today the starving of the warrior culture can be so unnoticeable that those who seek help are perceived as weak or talked down upon by veterans who transitioned successfully. Even if a challenge of negligible difficulty is presented against the whole, success of integration and continuation of prosperity is afflicted. But these challenges many face are not negligible and only appear so because we as a whole have become numb to their existence. Though one may be hungry for answers we must do diligence in examining the issue at hand, that we are not in a battle but a siege, and salvation will not come from confrontation but substance. What the warrior needs is a purpose, not a hand out, not pity for their predicament, if we can but realize this we may avoid the final steps of the samurai.

An Homage to the Infantry - A Third Option

Always, my friends come when I least expect them. That’s the point, really – the purpose of your apprenticeship of the mud. Like a wheelbarrow carving a rut through a backyard, these once foreign, now familiar actions wear grooves into the dusty recesses of your mind, leaving canyons in a formerly virgin countryside.

At first, these reflexive actions are mere acquaintances. Shivering in the cold, looking for some semblance of shelter during your first rainstorm in the field, you hold them at arm’s length. How could you come to know them as friends? These alien foreigners, these hostile, martial men. And yet, their prowess is undeniable – spectacular, even. They have what you want. They are your gateway; your salvation.

By harsh example, you learn their ways. “Silence, violence, silence.” says a ghostly whisper, before compelling the squeeze of a machine gun’s trigger. Dragon’s breath erupts from the end of the barrel, like the very finger of God himself, and that canyon in your mind grows a little deeper. In the evening, mind and body running on fumes, wet with exertion and rainfall, you groan as you gratefully withdraw from the perimeter of your defensive line. Too tired to care, seeking the softest rock as a makeshift bed, your ancestral brain’s desires gently pull you into a dream state. But your newfound friends rebel. With the sad necessity of a parent spanking a child, they jolt you from the beginning of sleep. “Shield your weapon from the rain, or you will die in a night attack.”

Time unfolds, and its swift current flows like the streams your learned friends have told you are safe to drink from. The harsh apprenticeship of the mud continues. Your friends teach you their language, and over time you begin to speak more and more like them. “Fire and Maneuver. Overwhelming firepower at the point of attack. This operation will be conducted in four phases, phase one: planning, phase two: movement…”. You walk like them. “That hilltop will silhouette us. Avoid it.” You look like them. “Camouflage all exposed skin; loam on the bone, light green in-between.” You sound like them. “Exercise noise discipline at all times.”

And they never really leave you.

There is no defensive perimeter in a suburban house. No machine guns and mortars, no need for the apprenticeship of the mud. Time is measured in weeks, not miles marched or patrols launched. Here, there is no need for your new friends, who at this point in your life have been with you for so long that they have become closer than blood. But their presence lingers. Through the hazy smoke of shared cigars, comforted by the mellowing embrace of good whiskey, tranquility appears to be the theme. Visions of high school glory are traded with glee, and for hours you’re the person you used to be. A bullwhip’s crack, like a rock striking the canyon floor, abruptly upends your mental state. “What was that?”, time’s frozen river halts in an instant. “Just a car backfiring,” you think. But your friends have already whispered to you, “Contact, 3 O’clock”.

A sweep of your eyes takes in the room at an instant. The differences are small, but subtle. Your high school buddies, bereft of your ghostly friends, with countenances yet untouched by the apprenticeship of the mud, react like untrained animals. Adrenaline dumps into their systems, they defensively recoil, necks hunched, shoulders flared, arms rolled, like scared deer ready to bolt off the highway. And yet. Your brother, a Ranger, and your father, a Patrol Officer – your bloodline, masters of their own harsh apprenticeships – react differently. With thin-sliced calculations made possible by years of repetition, a simple glance reveals that they have ghostly friends of their own.

Your bloodline hasn’t flinched. It has turned towards the sound, universally. “Actions on contact”, our collective friends whisper.

A lifetime later, after another, different, equally harsh apprenticeship, celebration is in order. Just outside of the bubble of the center of the universe, a cool beverage wets your throat as you sit at a bar with another Snake Eater. The music is blaring, and bumping, and you’re at ease, and is that an ambulance I hear outside? A whistle? A high-pitched ring, but it’s part of the song, right, and before you know it those grooves in your mind have prompted action, halfway out of the chair and on your feet, and your friends are in your ear, “INCOMING”.

The Snake Eater across from you inclines his head slightly with a knowing gaze and a half-smile. “Not an arty-sim, bro.” Another graduate of the apprenticeship of the mud – he has the same friends I do.

I carry my friends with me now, all the days. I don’t fight them. I’m grateful for them. A leisurely stroll with my girlfriend on spring day is not a combat patrol, but blink twice on a hike and I’m back with my platoon. Why am I making so much noise walking? And my gunners are talking shit to each other again, and there’s a persistent ache in my traps and shoulders, and the trees aren’t just trees they’re cover, and “Hey, wouldn’t that be a great spot to emplace machine guns and mortars?” comes the ghostly whisper, and –

“Babe?”

Blink again. I’m always caught off guard by how stunning she is. What is she doing here? This type of beauty, it’s not what I’m used to seeing out here. I swear, my Platoon Sergeant was right behind me. I can see his face, camouflaged to avoid detection, hear the dull, rhythmic shuffle of the platoon, smell the odor of sweat mixed with CLP and dirt.

“You zoned out again,” she says with a laugh.

A smile breaks over my face. “You know how I get sometimes.”

To the everlasting glory of the Infantry.

The Luckiest Kid In The Valley - Bart Cerny

Photo contributed by Brandon Sleasman

Sangin river valley, circa may 2011. The most heavily mined and heavily fought over piece of dirt in the world at that time. The firefight started at 6 am. They usually didn’t attack until 10. We had been off and on getting shot at and returning fire for the better half of the day when the ICOM chatter picked up transmissions from a building in between active engagements by the enemy. I asked my platoon commander and our radio operator where this was coming from. They identified the source as a lone compound to our north, a direction we hadn’t been actively engaged from.

I grabbed my sniper rifle and ran up to one of our positions to get a better view.

I knew from my range card the corner of the building was 727 m away. I glassed the area through the scope of my M110 SASS. I noticed this kid, who couldn't have been more than 8 years old, looking at us and moving to the back side of the building, coming back out and looking, ducking away. I yelled at the RO to tell me when they transmitted. Every time this kid ducked behind the building we would get ICOM traffic from that building. Every time the ICOM traffic went off, the machine gun and mortar fire got more accurate. Although I couldn’t physically see a radio in his hand, the consistent correlation of ducking behind the wall, then a radio transmission, then more machine gun fire is all the justification I need to send this 8 year old to the afterlife. I dialed on my preset 700m dope, quickly checked my mirage and wind. Locked in my shooting position and sighted in. The kid was standing just in front of the corner I passed at 727 meters away. Breathe in, breathe out, slow steady trigger squeeze. The round impacted exactly where I intended, which was about 2 ft to his left and a foot above his head. My message was pretty clear and the kid scampered around the corner as fast as he could.

My hunch paid off.

Not even 10 seconds later an adult male holding a radio steps out from around the corner to see why his child spotter ran off.

The next round wasn’t meant to scare.

I made a quick mental adjustment knowing him to be at about 730m and with my 700m dope sighted in at his neck and fired. The time of flight of the bullet allows me to sight back in on target to observe my shot and make an adjustment if necessary. I saw him slump and grab his chest. My round impacted him dead center of his chest. He stumbled back and fell down out of view.

We received no more radio traffic from that position for the rest of the day and the machine gun fire petered out without a spotter.

I told this story a few times when I went on to become an instructor, about the importance of target identification and factoring in all the information you have and making sound judgements. I used to always think I did the right thing that day. When Kabul fell I wondered if that kid was there, maybe radicalized because I shot his dad 11 years ago (he’s definitely of ‘fighting age now’). Seeing how the man I shot was older, and the war was constant, his life expectancy was not that great. The kid on the other hand may have just witnessed his dad getting shot in front of his own eyes by the Americans, right after they shot at him. I probably created a future enemy that day, even though I spared his life.

I can’t help but wonder if I should have just shot the fucking kid.

What It’s Like Not To Go To War - Steve Callahan

If Mr. Marlantes is reading this (hi, big fan) I hope he’d forgive the pun in the title. I first read his book, “What It Is Like To Go To War”, about three months into my seven month deployment to Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Like any infantryman, I craved the violence that would ensue from a deployment to the desert. I wanted to have my day in the sun, standing shoulder to shoulder with giants and fighting the enemy. I never got that; and it haunted me for a long time.

It takes a while to come home. You’re stateside, yes, but you’re not home. You’re here, yes, but you’re not here. You are torn between two worlds. One of chaos and violence and threat, lurking around every corner; and one of peace and serenity and comfort. Deployed, all I wanted to do was pet my dog. Now, I can’t stand him sometimes. If Tim O’ Brian were in my shoes, maybe he’d have written “The Things They Take For Granted”. I am over it now, for the most part, but that feeling of longing and missing out on the action, and knowing that I’ll never have my day in the sun still wriggles up from the depths, like a sea monster of fables. It lurks beneath, swimming silently, its mighty tail swishing and swaying, sending wake to and fro on the surface.

The blessing here is that my friends and I came home—with all ten fingers and all ten toes, no less—and that is reason enough to be grateful to have never tasted the sweet cocaine of combat. I asked some of them what their experiences were like, to elucidate the feeling of being in a combat zone, without the combat ribbon. They will remain anonymous, but their answers were illuminating. “I feel like since we didn’t have an engagement, I’ve come home and just spent my life constantly waiting for it to happen” said one. “I simply am not able to relax…always worried about an EDL, carrying, parking the car securely, securing the hotel door, etc…mentally I’ve never left—and I don't think that’s necessarily a bad thing.”

The residual stress of deployment had no release for us, like a horror movie where the strings of a violin cause the tension to build and build and build, until you’re just sure that the monster is going to show up as soon as that closet door is closed. But it’s just another takeout. The jump scare never comes. The tension that builds is no doubt pale in comparison to the abject horror of seeing your buddies killed, or of rounds flying towards you; but it is palpable. Deployments are a strange sort of animal, the friendships and bonds are impenetrable, the memories are forever, the stress—that unholy behemoth—will lurk under the surface. But combat or no, I am grateful, and have become a better man, for my experiences.

“Going to war I thought it automatically meant seeing combat. It is what I trained to do since the beginning of my career in the Marine Corps. So when I was deployed to Afghanistan it almost seemed like it was inevitable. I played the scenario in my head constantly…and when it never happened, I almost couldn’t believe it. At first I felt like a failure, like I didn’t do my job… could never and would never compare to the legacy of Marines, Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen that came before and took the fight to the enemy. It took some time for me to accept that and even more for me to realize that seeing combat doesn’t define the impact you made.” Wise words from a wise friend. Our collective experiences are ones fraught with disillusion and resentment. This is what happens when you train for a war that never comes. You tie up the dogs of war, and lower Mencken’s black flag. We become lions in a cage; to be gawked at and laughed at, and have our massive paws shook and “thank you for service”’s thrown our way. But we are still lethal creatures, locked in a prison of violence, with no release. It could be as much as a simple shift in mindset, as my buddy went on to explain, “as cliche as it may sound I feel in my gut that the time we spent in war we made a difference. Everyday we were there the Taliban didn’t attack us. Every day the Taliban decided not to terrorize the village adjacent to us.” So maybe it’s not so much that we weren’t good enough, but too good to see combat, barring the fact that it seemed like we got mortared and rocketed all the time. And maybe that is enough. Maybe we can push forward, blaze a new trail, maybe we can forge a new world.

There’s a scene in the zombie/survival television show “The Walking Dead”, where the main characters are kidnapped by cannibals. They are tied up, with their heads over a feeding trough. A few minor characters get their brains bashed in and their throats slit, and as the blood drains down the trough, a character named Bob makes a desperate plea to the cannibals. He speaks of a better world, a world before the zombies, a world before the carnage and violence and horror and mayhem. He laments, “We can put the world back to how it was.” The cannibal’s cold-hearted reply is simply “Can’t go back, Bob.” And he’s right, you can’t.

“My life is a movie with no ending” said another friend, “…I have been hardened but not tested.” This is the perfect summation of the sentiment, or to continue with his quote, life is “a crescendo with no resolution.” What was refreshing conducting these interviews was knowing that I am not the only one that feels this way. There was a profound sense of longing for something that I’ll never have; a sense of almost, but never quite getting there. In shared suffering there is shared strength, and this is where we are able to come together and remind each other that it is okay, and natural to feel this way. Our world has changed, and maybe that’s okay.

Life before Afghanistan seems like a dream and life before the Marine Corps, even more so. My world is forever altered, though I never fired a round in anger. Maybe, one day I could be like Bob, and dream of a world made new again, or maybe I can be like my boys and accept that I’ll never leave the desert, that we went to do a job, and that we completed the assigned mission. Still, that monstrous thing swimming beneath the surface occasionally gives me that sense of regret; but there is always the hope of the new world, a better world, a world of acceptance and peace. A world in which we can say, without the icy coldness of cannibalism, but with love, you “Can’t go back, Bob."

In Search of The Tactical Athlete - Edward Honn

“Sir, hold up, Gunny is falling behind,” Staff Sergeant Ramirez called out during a platoon training run, just loud enough for me to hear (saving the senior enlisted some face). ‘Again?’ I responded. This was becoming a trend. My Platoon Sergeant, an 06 by trade, was a supreme subject matter expert. Equipment capabilities, operational planning, systems employment, he knew these things from top to bottom. But his physical traits did not mirror his professional competencies. An initial grace period was followed by informal counseling. Then formal counseling. Eventually, he was fired and replaced by Staff Sergeant Ramirez; what he lacked in experience, he made up for in a desire to learn and excel in all aspects of the “whole Marine” concept. A lack of personal fitness had successfully undermined Gunnery Sergeant Moore’s professional credibility.

Why is being fit so important to Marines, and the military in general? At the base, one must be fit enough to accomplish the mission, to be an “asset”, and not a “liability”. Think back to your recruiter. The Airman, Soldier, Sailor, or Marine that first motivated you to consider an enlistment or commission. Were they out of shape or fit? Did the uniform fit well or was it wrinkled and disheveled? Ideally more of the latter. But health, wellness, and performance is not just integral to portraying a popular recruitment image. Poor physical fitness can prevent you from shipping out to entry level training. It will stop you from pinning on the next rank. It dissolves professional credibility and leadership capability. It can make the difference between an absence of radio chatter and a 9-line.

Fitness is not everything in life, in the military, or in a leadership paradigm, but it does comprise a sizable portion. In that regard we are paid as modern-day warriors, or “tactical athletes,” to perform a variety of physical tasks from standing watch to 20-mile hikes, under any and all situations (“any clime or place”). And yes, you are an athlete. And as a well-rounded “tactical” athlete, you must develop the requisite physical skill set based on your chosen profession: power, strength, endurance (overall work capacity, running, hiking, strength/muscular endurance), core/pillar strength, and resiliency. Time to dissect and dive into each category.

In physics the term “power” can be defined as mass times acceleration times velocity. Think of the power needed to quickly clean and carry a casualty in a CASEVAC training scenario, to quickly shut the hatch on equipment in order to get back into the fight. When rounds are coming in, how fast can you react, step, and forcefully accelerate into a 15m sprint to cover? What are some methods in which one can increase their power? Explosive medicine ball throws, Olympic weightlifting, plyometric (jumps, bounds, skips, etc.), and weighted/resisted sprints (band, sled, parachute) are all great ways to increase overall power output. I would recommend putting these exercises towards the beginning of a training session, as the muscle fibers correlated with power typically are larger and fatigue quicker. Power diminishes under fatigue.

In the context of this conversation “Endurance” is not a newly discovered old, old wooden ship (Mr. Burgundy),but rather prolonged bouts of aerobic and muscular activity. I could write an article comprised solely of techniques and tactics to increase your cardiovascular endurance, but I will save that write-up for another day. Ensure that your heart and lungs are healthy and are built to withstand fatigue. You might be built like a tank, but if you can’t breathe under duress you will not be able to bring that strength to the fight. Leverage all means of conditioning: running (tempo/long/easy runs/intervals/hills/sprints), biking, rucking (light, medium, and heavy loads under different time and terrain constraints), rowing, swimming (prepare for the littoral future fight), bodyweight circuits, complexes, strongman, etc. Build a cardiovascular base of lower-intensity, longer-duration exercise before you begin to increase overall difficulty (intensity, resistance, difficult terrain, etc.).

A strong core will not only increase your performance, but also protect you against fatigue and unpredictable physical stressors. Let’s start with defining what the word “core” means: muscles that stabilize the body ( pelvic/torso/spine area) comprised of lower back muscles, abdominal muscles, oblique muscles, and muscles of the hip and pelvic floor. Ensure proper selection of core exercises that hit specific areas of the core (anterior, posterior, lateral, rotational) as well as “full-body” core exercises. For example, anything that puts greater emphasis on your rectus abdominis (the long muscle that forms a traditional “six-pack”) can be categorized as “anterior” core. Posterior core is worked when targeting “back-side” muscles including the glutes, hamstrings, and spinal erectors. Lateral core exercises target the transversus abdominis and internal/external oblique muscles while rotational core exercises include many of the aforementioned muscles in addition to the latissimus dorsi and lumbar muscles, among others. Some of my favorite targeted core exercises include hanging leg raises, ab rollouts, back extensions, single-leg glute bridges, Pallof presses, and cable woodchops (high to low, low to high, etc.). Remember to incorporate movements that simultaneously tax your core along with other major muscle groups. Examples include: weighted planks, dragon flags, Turkish get-ups, and off-balance loaded carries and holds.

“Resiliency” is a word that gets tossed around by many contemporary teachers, officers, politicians, etc. The word itself is derived from the Latin verb resilio, which means to recoil, rebound, or jump back. The term has been used to describe ability to recover from unfortunate events (depression, illness, injury, etc.), the capability of a material to resume its shape after a deformity, and the ability for a system (organization, corporation, agency, etc.) to return to equilibrium due to an unexpected disturbance. In the context of this article I will define resiliency as one’s ability to withstand stressors while maintaining high levels of physical performance and cognitive stability. What can you do to temper your body, mind, and soul? Do hard shit. Do the things that you don’t want to do,no matter the surrounding circumstances. And do them often. You wake up early to complete a 7-mile training run but fatigue, hunger, and anxiety over upcoming work tasks are running high. As you look outside, you soon realize that it has started to rain. To make things even worse, the temperature has dropped to a frigid 35 degrees from a bright and breezy 52 the day before. As Jocko would say, “Good.” Prove to yourself that you are not a victim of misfortunate circumstances. As Epictetus stated, “it’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” So do hard shit. Every single day. Wake up early. Add weight to a run. Add plates to the squat bar. Add meters to your swim. Embrace uncertainty and pain with excitement, courage, and humility. Testing your resiliency often will help to mold an unbreakable physical cast filled with unwavering passion and resolve.

When I speak to my midshipmen, I do not belabor the importance of physical fitness; it is understood. I need them to rise above the minimum academic and physical fitness standards so we can work towards higher level personal development: defining “leadership” and formulating their own method of leading others. I would offer you, the reader, the same advice. Being physically fit should be an afterthought for you. If you aren’t up to par on service, unit, section, or individualized fitness standards do not worry. Analyze your deficiencies using the aforementioned framework and create an action plan going forward. Embody and embrace the tactical athlete mindset. Increasing your physical fitness can only serve to advance your leadership capability, professional capability and overall lethality.

Be an asset, not a liability.

The Written Word

Poetry and Fiction written by servicemen and veterans.

Store #1260 - R.W Parker

When I was nineteen years old, I saw Tommy Lewes reach into a Humvee turned blast furnace to save a man who had no chance of living. Older now, he stares empty eyed beyond a diner parking lot to a highway exit sunrise that would look the same for a hundred miles in either direction he drove. The heat outside and the air conditioning within leaves the window streaked with rivulets, bars of light and fog. The static hiss of the grill and the smell of cooking meat are a whisper from lives past.

Tommy turns to look at me. His eyes are shot through with red, sclera knotted with veins like lines on a map to somewhere I don’t want to go. But he called me at four o’clock in the morning and asked me to meet him and I got in the car and drove one hundred and twenty-seven miles. I look back across the table at Tommy.

He pulls hard on a Camel Red, then exhales out of the corner of his mouth. There’s no smoking here but no one is bitching. Maybe because it’s 6:43 AM. Maybe because Tommy looks like it’s not worth taking it up with him.

My eyes sting from the smoke. I never took to smoking, even bored and scared, when we were the men we thought we’d be forever.

The man Tommy pulled from that Humvee, Sergeant Jonas, died in the air somewhere over Greenland. But Tommy affirmed the dignity of his twenty-three years by giving him twenty-seven more hours of morphine dreams. Now Tommy is here, but not here. He’s there. Sometimes I’m there too. His eyes are flat when he locks them onto my own and says, “I stepped on a cock and balls once in Baghdad.” He says it offhand.

Like you might say, “I drove a Toyota Corolla in high school.” I don’t know what to say. I wasn’t in Baghdad with him.

That was later.

We were children in the desert, teenage Marines with muscles and bad tattoos and farmers tans. I would have known what to say back then. We would have laughed because that’s the gift the Corps gives young men who aren’t promised the next day. But then we were home and I was in college and he was pulling duct work and we just slowly ran out of things to talk about other than Jonas and whether Vaquerano even felt the rocket propelled grenade that cut him in half.

I went to grad school. Tommy joined the National Guard.

I got married and he went to Baghdad.

“Fuck. Baghdad was just suicide bombers, man. Heads and dicks. Fuckers’d clack off and the heads and dicks’d get left behind. Rest of the motherfucker is pink mist, but the head is somewhere around and you have to find it. First Sergeant said heads are like cigarette butts, you don’t leave them on the ground. Ought to have just left that shit in the street, man. It’s like those fuckers go to paradise and still get to see what they did.” His voice trails off. “I got so tired of picking up heads, dude.”

We’re old enough that “dude” feels like a regression. I have a mortgage. I belong to an HOA. Tommy stares down into a plate of eggs and hash browns he hasn’t touched since our waitress Samantha laid it there. The lights on poles in the parking lot switch off. When Tommy looks up from his plate he’s gazing at me from a distance measured in years.

“Anyway, we get called out after this one shitstick did his thing,” he said. “We roll out in five vics. We get there, there’s people dead all the fuck over. Women. Kids. Men. There’s a crater in the pavement.

There’s a woman, not a damn thing wrong with her.

Except there’s only half of her there. That half looks like she’s asleep. Like she just laid down in the street and went to sleep.”

He shakes his head, bemused. “Anyway, we clean all that up with snow shovels, man. But I know there’s a head somewhere and I got to find it. I never let my guys pick up heads. Feet and shit was on them, but I picked up the heads. I learned that shit in Ramadi with Vaquerano.” As if I’m a congregant I say, “He never felt it.” It’s call and response.

Peace be with you.

And also with you.

Vaquerano.

He never felt it.

The door opens and the air conditioner kicks on in response. Two old men walk in, both of them all skinny legs and mustaches and melanoma. They look at us. Weighing risk. One looks me in the eye and offers a lift of his chin and a tight smile. Then they sit down at the bar and give us their backs. They say nothing to us. But they know everything about us, as we are coming to know them. To be them. Tommy and I are both quiet for a minute. Me looking at him.

Him waiting like an ambush.

Photo contributed by Isaac Waller

“Anyway, I spotted this fucker’s head. I turned around to tell Jorgenson I was walking over to bag it, to watch out for me while I was moving. I was walking backwards and I stepped on something I thought was donkey shit.

I lift up my boot and there’s a cock and balls. Not on my boot. On the pavement. Goddamn. Fucking cock and balls, man. I mean, what the fuck is that?”

My eyes shift to Samantha wiping the booth next to us. She heard it all and now we’re both trying to pretend she didn’t. But the part of me my wife will never meet wants to see Samantha scraping torn and spattered meat off the asphalt with a snow shovel rather than wiping down that table. I want her to know.

Tommy comes back to me suddenly, drinks deeply from his thick handled coffee cup. He has aged in the journey. I feel the distance between us. I can barely recognize the guy from the barracks room where we drank beer underage, Ramadis dust still falling from our boots onto waxed linoleum tile. I’ve spent almost as long getting away from the places we shared as I spent getting to them and I don’t know Tommy anymore. I don’t know where he got the scars on his knuckles.

I don’t know what happened to the light in his eyes. I don’t know any of those brothers forever anymore.

I just know who we thought we were when we were golden and strong and nothing hurt. Eyes still on his plate, he pushes a fork through cold eggs for the first time and asks;

“How you been?”

I don’t know how to answer that. I’m fine. I’m happy. I love my wife and kid. I have friends I like and a job I don’t hate. I’m fatter than I want to be, but not enough to care. Sometimes I’m alone in a crowd and I miss the sound of diesel engines and the smell of sweat and gun oil and the authority of steel and brass.

I miss walking amongst an army of kings. I tell Tommy a lie that’s completely true. He knows it and acts like he doesn’t.

“I’m OK, man. Nothing much to tell. Beth is good, Hailey is growing up. You heard from anybody lately?”

He inhales sharply through his nose and the creases on his face deepen. He immediately looks older than thirty-seven and I know someday we'll be old men if we are lucky.

“Yeah. Sometimes.”

He looks back out at the parking lot.

It’s daylight now and traffic is picking up as the world awakens. He rests his forearms on the table; burn scars still vivid, shiny scales. The tattoo on the inside of his forearm, a rifle topped by a helmet jutting upwards from a pair of boots, is diffuse and faded.

I can barely make out the names flanking the rifle. I know Jonas and Vaquerano are there. I look for them and they materialize in blue-green. The other three are unknown to me. They sit on Tommy’s side of the booth. I wasn’t there when they went across the river.

Tommy’s eyes are more focused as he says, “It’s good to see you. We should talk more. Maybe hang once in a while.”

I wait a beat too long before I nod and say sure, that sounds good and Tommy looks away to signal for the check. Samantha lays it down silently, picks up our plates, and retreats. I protest enough that Tommy agrees to let me get the tip. We both know there’s more than one hundred and twenty-seven miles between us now, but we ignore it because when I was nineteen Tommy Lewes reached into a Humvee turned blast furnace to save a man who had no chance of living.

By the time I get home, Beth is dozing on the couch as she does on weekend mornings; spooned around Hailey, long lost to the Disney Channel.

I drop my wallet and keys on the hall table and remember shrugging off forty pounds of body armor rimed with months of salt and thick with the smell of me. Beth smiles, but her eyes are dark with concern.

She reminds me I promised to take Hailey to a birthday party that afternoon. I think of talking about jobs and investments and athletes I’ve never heard of with Pottery Barn parents I don’t even know.

I see Tommy Lewes bumping my gloved fist then staring down his rifle as I prepared to swing a sledgehammer at a blue steel gate. I hear the sound of snow shovels scraping hot pavement. Then I lean down to kiss my wife and child and head to the shower to try, once again, to wash away the man I thought I would be forever.

Pacific Winter - Cora Reichert

Photo contributed by Cora Reichert

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

In Donetsk, they are blowing up gas stations. 

In Okinawa, the streetlight night is globes of gold fog. Carrie? 

Sidewalks gleam with rows of conical lights, slicing open

the soft mist of sideways rain. I’m given a second chance

at the PX credit-card machine, but my eyes are fogged 

with a mask and glasses, a nicotine headache. 

Carry home stretched plastic handles, bags of cans colliding

at your knee. We are all mad here: my friend James has a 

bottle of Don Julio in his wall-locker, and Calvin talks about 

bachata instead of war. I feel blank. White noise lies over 

our mountain to the north, the red scars scooped in her side

from decades of artillery ranges. A guy who lives on this street

says that America has already surpassed its Grecian limit of 

two hundred years. I spent three hundred dollars

at the mall in Chatan yesterday, or was it the day before,

and did I really learn the salsa in a barracks room? To what

am I a traitor? We balk at moving on, at leaving the long,

steam-smelling summers, the typhoon sirens we despise. 

We comfortably expected to play COD on the weekends

and die in red water, to make worthwhile our friends and brothers

drowning in surfing accidents. The truth is, 

nobody dies for redemption (double cancellation is still erasure) 

and the moment of passing is only panicked choking

and a rush of waves. Mummified tongues. Resurgam? Is it

murder or an accident- or both- and does it matter? Can we

erase the gathering of women after the street is cleared and 

scraped of tagged bodies, women blaming men for the 

abrasion of a dividend to a lost generation? Spit

Copenhagen and call it a ‘victory,’ dizzy with conclusive

adrenaline and repetitive, screaming dreams. Blood on 

your hands that you can never wash away, even after a 

Purell baptism and a change of clothes, pulling a splinter

of a dynasty from your left shoe. Women

are also killers. Men are also lost in love. 

We worship the gods who enslave us and slaughter

our earnings with the euphoria of a sheathed knife. Stale

cigarette smoke, twenty years of drunk apartment kitchens,

thumbing the wetness of red-tipped wine-corks into an oven-fired bowl. 

Where is the social media nostalgia of the future war and the climax

of twenty years of drunk America, fighting curfews on foreign shores?

Give us back our best years from bottles of Zoloft and Adderall. 

Let us fire, lovingly, into long, bicycle streets, keycard open

the halls of justice, and pass out, sweating in a pool of blood.

Father to Son - Neville Johnson

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This is a wonderful life

said the father to his son

But the memories

they don’t match his smile

His eyes are heavy

with these memories

This is a wonderful life

My son, this life you live

said the father to his son

Heaviness to his coat today

it was absent the year before

This is a wonderful life

Said the father to his son…

On Killing - Nate Lightfoot

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We were taught to flick the Switch 

Just like Grossman said 

But not what to do 

When the Circuits all fuse 

And the Room is bathed in Red

Winter in Gaul – J. H. Edmonds

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

By no half measures will we survive winter
Against cold northern winds and marauding bands
We must guard our hearts, so hope does not splinter
And set now to work, the whole Legion’s hands
For there are ditches to be dug, and ramparts built
Trees to be felled, for abatis, shelter, and fire
To those in toil not engaged, there is but deep guiltAs we earnestly set forth on what Caesar desires
Yet for hours it may be required to drop trowel and ax
And hold sword and spear firm against danger
So the Gauls, Celts, and Germans find a great task
In assaulting our camp and exciting our anger
Harass if they must, for they know without doubt
That with winter quarters closing, and camp nearly struck
The Legion will march and turn all tribes to routBefore the iron of Rome ends their good luck
A spring and a summer may be spent laying siege
Perhaps in fall we’ll cross the channel, to shed Briton’s blood
Petty chieftains and their vassals will lose their prestige
As their pennants and youth rot face-down in mud
But for now there is only winter, and toil aplenty
We must first conquer the doubts of our souls
Wondering if a son of mine in Rome now turns twenty
And if next winter will find me home, fat, safe, and old

Health and Fitness

Fitness and PT Guidance for improving diet, physical performance, health, and leading troops in physical training.

Physical Training In The Military - The Phyz Factory

So you’ve passed Basic or Recruit Training and you’re now at your unit. Some of you might be thinking “What’s next?” others might be thinking “I’m still F****d”. Either way, at one point or another, training is paramount to making sure first and foremost you can do your job! Secondly of course now that training is over and you may have a bit more freedom, you may want to focus on sports or personal goals in fitness or training.

Our background here at the Phyz Factory is soldiering As British Royal Marines Commandos and Athletes in Rugby & Basketball, as well as a passion for Functional Fitness.

No matter where you find yourselves in the world being able to get to that far distance RV, climb that rope or Yomp/Ruck to an objective is non-negotiable…. And what about when we get there? We must be FIT TO FIGHT!

We all know how tough it is to sprint from building to building, breach compounds and ‘Break Contact’ while being able to function mentally at the same time so we need to make sure we’re in the best shape we can be, especially when it may be a situation we’ve never been in.

At The Phyz Factory we post workouts on a daily basis that are always random and forever changing, we have an 8 week pre military & bodyweight programme, as well as an 8 week running programme… but what about those who are now serving? We all know how tough it is to fit in your own training when busy on exercises or overseas and diet and nutrition is always a minefield when on Rations or MRE’s. So to contribute to the lethal mind journal we thought we’d give you some pointers on training while serving to help you keep yourself as physically prepared for whatever the job may throw at you.

A typical week in a commando unit when not on exercise and doing low level training will generally consist of the following:

Troop Phyz – normally ran in the morning by anyone from the troop commander to the most junior Marine. It will be chosen by them and can range from a run to a swim to a functional fitness session to a game of football; (that’s soccer to you guys across the pond, the real football!) Crucial for bonding, good for getting younger ranks to step out and take charge, and always good to get a blow.

Personal Phyz – usually done on an evening after the days work. Whether guys are into swimming, weightlifting, crossfit or sport. It gives the lads time to do phyz they enjoy and the onus is on the individual to improve themselves on anything they may find weak.

Points to note

Soldiers Under Standard – if there is a member of the troop or squad who is falling behind on Yomps, rucks or runs it is firstly up to them to take this into their own hand and do their own remedial phyz, if they do not then this is the point when more senior members of the troop or peers should take them under their wing and have them tag along to help them improve their weaknesses. You’re only as strong as the weakest man.

Overtraining – we mentioned it is down to the individual to choose their session. However, running every day in troop phyz is detrimental too. It should be planned the week before amongst the men to make sure there aren’t too many clashes in types of exercise. Weekends are usually left free for guys to rest or if they wish do extra or their own phyz.

Injuries – if someone is injured they shouldn’t be forced into Troop Phyz, however they should try their best to do what they can and rehabilitate as best they can during troop phyz times. For example a lower leg injury… go and hit some weights. Upper body injury, go for a run. If its anything serious they should go to the med centre to be assessed to get themselves back to full fitness asap.

Mobility & Stretching – Crucial to training. Every session should start with a proper warm up and cool down and should be planned into the session! Swimming is also key for training and rehab. Don’t skip it!

Below we have included a basic week while at a commando unit from ourselves personally but as we all know in this job, things change hourly so remember to remain flexible at all times. We will hopefully see you all in the next edition.

Monday

Troop Phyz (AM) – 5 MILE RUN – in trainers as a squad at the slowest mans pace, last mile individual best effort to the finish.

Individual Phyz (PM) – Your Choice

Tuesday

Troop Phyz (AM) – Functional Fitness / Crossfit Circuit – Ran by the Crossfit enthusiast of the troop (there’s always a few) must remember to make it fit for all abilities in the group whether that’s by time weight or just going bodyweight. We call these scaling options (if you’re stuck for a circuit hit us up @phyzfactory).

Individual Phyz (PM) – Your Choice

Wednesday

Troop Phyz (AM) – Pool Session – Ran by the Troop fish, whether it’s a sprint session, endurance session or just a recovery session. See how the boys are feeling and judge your audiences response.

Individual Phyz (PM) – Rest/Active recovery i.e Yoga or if feeling good crack something light like a zone 2 cycle.

Thursday

Troop Phyz (AM) – Bike Session – Ran by the Troop Lance Armstrong (pre doping) – great to shake the legs out (or burn them out). Bikes are great for everything especially if you’ve had a lot of impact in the week. You can still get a hard session in on the bikes and a variety of sprint sessions.

Individual Phyz (PM) – Your Choice

Friday

Troop Phyz (AM) –BATTLE PHYZ – In boots and uniform, could be a ruck, could be in body armour or helmets with weapons. The aim of this session is to finish of your week with maximal effort. You may be a little fatigued and sore but you potentially could be on the battlefield. You could mix in a ruck with a circuit at the end including stretcher carries, log carries, fireman’s carries or combat PT. Something to make you work as a team and graft together! You could even invite another troop along as a competition…or Prey

Individual Phyz (PM) – Rest – its been a hard week. If you loved training get in the pool for for a walk or do a really really slow cycle.

The Weekend.

By all means train if you want or have some beers. Here at the phyz factory we’d probably do both!

We haven’t mentioned nutrition too much and will potentially hit this up in future edition’s but everyone knows how important it is so make the smart choices as well as enjoying yourself. We are big advocates of balance, just make sure that’s what it is and you’re not unstitching all of your hard work!

Shape

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Transition and Career

Career and civilian transition guidance, geared towards helping servicemembers plan their careers and help transitioning servicemembers succeed in civilian life

Warrior Mindset in Finance - Financial Enabler

I started my time in the USMC not knowing anything about the tactics, nor did I have a warrior mindset. I also thought this was not something that could be learned. It wasn’t until my first deployment as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician that I realized what a warrior mindset was. This was because I was with two men that helped me craft what it meant to me. Furthermore, these two men had a clear definition of what it was to them and how to live by it. Now, after 17 years in the military, I realize that it can be applied to all things in life, including finances. After asking a wide array of service members of all services, from infantrymen, logisticians, SMU operators, females and males, I gathered that we all define the warrior mindset differently. To me it is the relentless pursuit for perfection while being prepared for the inevitable losses so we can learn from them. Allowing us to employ the appropriate amount of aggression towards an objective. This thought process has allowed me to be successful in the military, and in my personal life. I seek to explain how it is applicable to the world of finances. I will break this down to a 3 step approach towards finances.

Learn about finances and wealth management and never stop learning.
Make mistakes, learn from them, get back up and keep moving.
Deploy your assets continuously and aggressively to achieve your financial goals

To apply a warrior mindset towards finances we must first have an objective, such as being financially independent, to create generational wealth, to retire early or simply to create more wealth. Once you decide what you want you can start by employing the three steps. Now, you may be wondering what you need to learn while navigating the daunting world of finances. As a way to strive for brilliance in basics, I attempt to streamline what must be learned. First thing, and probably the one that reaps the most reward is investing. This goes from the stock market to crypto or gold. Second is real estate, this one is the easy button for service members because of BAH and the benefits of the Veterans Affairs (VA) loan process. Third, retirement accounts, which I see differently than investing because the goals are more long term and require more delayed gratification. Lastly there is insurance, which protects your family, future, and possibly some of your debts.

Diagram

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From there we move on to making mistakes in order to learn from them. This is a key part of the warrior mindset because lessons are often learned in blood. You must take calculated risks with your finances, whether it is by buying DOGE coin, a house or something as simple as committing more of your funds towards saving. It is necessary to do this because if we do not take risks, we may miss huge upsides. But we must taper the downside by calculating the risk. I call this the Risk Assessment/Return Avoidance (RARA) calculation, in which we mitigate risk but recognize what returns we negate by not getting involved in that activity. Third is the deployment of your assets continuously and aggressively. This is necessary to maintain a steady pace of growth. The idea of continuously deploying the assets is as simple as dollar cost averaging. Which is the idea of continuously depositing funds to an asset to average out the cost over time. In the graphic below we depict an initial investment of $1,000 followed by a monthly contribution of $100 to Apple starting in April 2017 until April 2022.

Chart, line chart

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The next thought is on being aggressive, and this means looking for opportunities in stocks, crypto, real estate or any other asset that interests you. I will tie this to the idea of looking for weaknesses in our adversaries, and identifying what areas we can exploit. Being diligent will allow you to capitalize on the chances given to us.

I am purposefully concise in the explanation of these concepts because I do not want to pontificate on my thoughts and methods. I instead seek to create a spark, to energize you to start learning and to create a financial strategy for your life. Define your warrior mindset, apply it to all aspects of your life, and you will be successful. Let adversity and your failures be your teacher to be a better person, wife, husband, friend, and warrior.

The views expressed here is not financial advice, but the personal opinions of the author. It should not be considered financial guidance from a finance professional.

This ends Volume 1, Edition 1, of the Lethal Minds Journal (01JUNE2022)

The window is now open for Lethal Minds’ second edition, releasing July 1st.

All art and picture submissions are due to our email as PDFs or JPEG files to our email by 20 June.

All written submissions are due to our email as Word documents by midnight on 20 June.

lethalmindsjournal@gmail.com

Special thanks to the volunteers and team that made this journal possible:

Erin

Steven

All articles published in this journal are the personal opinions and positions of the authors themselves. The Lethal Minds Journal and Lethal Minds team are not responsible for the content and opinions expressed by our contributors.

By submitting work to the Lethal Minds Journal, all contributors recognize and authorize the Lethal Minds team to publish and feature their work in the Lethal Minds Journal. All contributors relinquish their right to profit from their submission to the Lethal Minds Journal.

Laura Reiley. “War is driving up food prices, exacerbating shortages abroad, especially for food insecure nations “. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/03/11/ukraine-impact-on-countries-food/

The Associated Press. “Ukraine bans exports of wheat, oats and other food staples.” https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/ukraine-bans-exports-wheat-oats-food-staples-83337319

Julie Ingwesen and P.J. Huffstutter. “Wheat prices soar on Ukraine fears, but U.S. growers can't cash in.” Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/wheat-prices-soar-ukraine-fears-us-growers-cant-cash-2022-03-21/

Marina Leiva. “Which countries are most exposed to interruption in Ukraine food exports?” Investment Monitor. https://www.investmentmonitor.ai/special-focus/ukraine-crisis/countries-exposed-ukrainian-food-exports

Agnieszka Maciejewska and Katarzyna Skrzypek. “Ukraine agriculture exports – what is at stake in the light of invasion?” IHS Markit. https://ihsmarkit.com/research-analysis/ukraine-agriculture-exports-what-is-at-stake.html#:~:text=Ukraine%20is%20one%20of%20the,countries%20in%20Asia%20and%20Africa.

Veronica Nigh. “Ukraine, Russia, Volatile Ag Markets”. Farm Bureau. https://www.fb.org/market-intel/ukraine-russia-volatile-ag-markets#:~:text=Ukraine%20is%20the%20world's%20largest,a%20September%20and%20October%20harvest.

Hoh, Anchi. “China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Central Asia and the Middle East.” Digest of Middle East Studies 28, no. 2 (November 2019): 241–76. https://doi.org/10.1111/dome.12191.

FULL TEXT: Remarks by China’s Ambassador at United Nations Briefing.” Accessed May, 2022. https://newsus.cgtn.com/news/2022-02-10/FULL-TEXT-Remarks-by-China-s-Ambassador-at-United-Nations-briefing-17wGX4AcyT6/index.html

United States Institute of Peace. “China and the U.S. Exit from Afghanistan: Not a Zero-Sum Outcome.” Accessed May, 2022. https://www.usip.org/publications/2021/09/china-and-us-exit-afghanistan-not-zero-sum-outcome.

Standish, Reid. “Taliban ‘Removing’ Uyghur Militants From Afghanistan’s Border With China.” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, October 5, 2021, sec. China In Eurasia. https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-taliban-uyghurs-china/31494226.html.

Gross, Terry. “A More Moderate Taliban? An Afghan Journalist Says Nothing Has Changed.” NPR, October 7, 2021, sec. Asia.

China in Afghanistan: How Beijing Engages the Taliban.” Accessed May, 2022. https://thediplomat.com/2021/12/china-in-afghanistan-how-beijing-engages-the-taliban/.

Chaudhury, Dipanjan Roy. “China Widens Presence in Indian Ocean through Massive Inroads in Djibouti.” The Economic Times, October 1, 2021. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/china-widens-presence-in-indian-ocean-through-massive-inroads-in-djibouti/articleshow/86676234.cms?from=mdr.

1. Ian Brown, A New Conception of War, John Boyd, the U.S. Marines, and Maneuver Warfare, (2018).

2. Sebastian L. v. Gorka and David Kilcullen, An Actor-centric Theory of War. Understanding the Difference between COIN and Counterinsurgency, (WHERE? 2011).

3. Experience and the developing prefrontal cortex; available at .

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

4. Headquarters Marine Corps, MCDP 1, Warfighting, (Washington, DC: 1997).

5. MCDP 1.

6. Ibid.

7. GySgt Joshua Larson, personal communication, September 2019.

8. 3Gen David H. Berger, 38thCommandant’s Planning Guidance. (Washington, DC: July 2019).

9 Innovation Symposium 2017 Award Ceremony; available at

https://www.dvidshub.net

10. Warfighting Panel. MAGTF Instructional Group: Gen Al Gray, LtGen P. K. Van Riper, and Mr. John Schmitt discuss MCDP 1 and maneuver warfare in the Marine Corps; available at

https://www.youtube.com

11. 38th Commandant’s Planning Guidance; MCDP 1, Warfighting

The War Murals Project

Jun 3, 2022Liked by Lethal Minds Journal

Great input from a wide variety of topics- this is a great way to consolidate knowledge beyond the noise of other social platforms where context and in-depth analysis is often scarce. Gives me a number of ideas on how to contribute.

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Lethal Minds Volume 1

Volume 1, Edition 1, 01JUNE2022

The World Today

Across The Force

Opinion

The Written Word

Health and Fitness

Transition and Career

The World Today

On Ukraine - Northern Provisions

Wheat Shortages Will Most Likely Fuel Instability - S2 Forward

Buena Vista and the Ghosts of Kyiv - Patrick Henry

Photo Contributed by Neville Johnson

Aggressive Expansion at Any Cost: China’s Growing Relationship With The Taliban - George Carty

Picture contributed by Preston Lehman

Across the Force

Warfighting After the War on Terror - Neil D. McCoy, Adam D. DuVall, & Joshua L. Larson, & Luke T. Hudson

Photo Contributed by Brandon Sleasman

Trusting the Links in the Chain - Nate Gladdin

Tactical Surprise - 18A Chronicles

Opinion

When Swords Gather Dust - Condition Set

An Homage to the Infantry - A Third Option

The Luckiest Kid In The Valley - Bart Cerny

Photo contributed by Brandon Sleasman

What It’s Like Not To Go To War - Steve Callahan

In Search of The Tactical Athlete - Edward Honn

The Written Word

Store #1260 - R.W Parker

Photo contributed by Isaac Waller

Pacific Winter - Cora Reichert

Photo contributed by Cora Reichert

Father to Son - Neville Johnson

On Killing - Nate Lightfoot

Winter in Gaul – J. H. Edmonds

Health and Fitness

Physical Training In The Military - The Phyz Factory

Transition and Career

Warrior Mindset in Finance - Financial Enabler

The views expressed here is not financial advice, but the personal opinions of the author. It should not be considered financial guidance from a finance professional.

This ends Volume 1, Edition 1, of the Lethal Minds Journal (01JUNE2022)

All articles published in this journal are the personal opinions and positions of the authors themselves. The Lethal Minds Journal and Lethal Minds team are not responsible for the content and opinions expressed by our contributors.

By submitting work to the Lethal Minds Journal, all contributors recognize and authorize the Lethal Minds team to publish and feature their work in the Lethal Minds Journal. All contributors relinquish their right to profit from their submission to the Lethal Minds Journal.

Laura Reiley. “War is driving up food prices, exacerbating shortages abroad, especially for food insecure nations “. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/03/11/ukraine-impact-on-countries-food/

The Associated Press. “Ukraine bans exports of wheat, oats and other food staples.” https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/ukraine-bans-exports-wheat-oats-food-staples-83337319

Julie Ingwesen and P.J. Huffstutter. “Wheat prices soar on Ukraine fears, but U.S. growers can't cash in.” Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/wheat-prices-soar-ukraine-fears-us-growers-cant-cash-2022-03-21/

Marina Leiva. “Which countries are most exposed to interruption in Ukraine food exports?” Investment Monitor. https://www.investmentmonitor.ai/special-focus/ukraine-crisis/countries-exposed-ukrainian-food-exports

Veronica Nigh. “Ukraine, Russia, Volatile Ag Markets”. Farm Bureau. https://www.fb.org/market-intel/ukraine-russia-volatile-ag-markets#:~:text=Ukraine%20is%20the%20world's%20largest,a%20September%20and%20October%20harvest.

Hoh, Anchi. “China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Central Asia and the Middle East.” Digest of Middle East Studies 28, no. 2 (November 2019): 241–76. https://doi.org/10.1111/dome.12191.

FULL TEXT: Remarks by China’s Ambassador at United Nations Briefing.” Accessed May, 2022. https://newsus.cgtn.com/news/2022-02-10/FULL-TEXT-Remarks-by-China-s-Ambassador-at-United-Nations-briefing-17wGX4AcyT6/index.html

United States Institute of Peace. “China and the U.S. Exit from Afghanistan: Not a Zero-Sum Outcome.” Accessed May, 2022. https://www.usip.org/publications/2021/09/china-and-us-exit-afghanistan-not-zero-sum-outcome.

Standish, Reid. “Taliban ‘Removing’ Uyghur Militants From Afghanistan’s Border With China.” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, October 5, 2021, sec. China In Eurasia. https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-taliban-uyghurs-china/31494226.html.

Gross, Terry. “A More Moderate Taliban? An Afghan Journalist Says Nothing Has Changed.” NPR, October 7, 2021, sec. Asia.

China in Afghanistan: How Beijing Engages the Taliban.” Accessed May, 2022. https://thediplomat.com/2021/12/china-in-afghanistan-how-beijing-engages-the-taliban/.

1. Ian Brown, A New Conception of War, John Boyd, the U.S. Marines, and Maneuver Warfare, (2018).

2. Sebastian L. v. Gorka and David Kilcullen, An Actor-centric Theory of War. Understanding the Difference between COIN and Counterinsurgency, (WHERE? 2011).

3. Experience and the developing prefrontal cortex; available at .

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

4. Headquarters Marine Corps, MCDP 1, Warfighting, (Washington, DC: 1997).

5. MCDP 1.

6. Ibid.

7. GySgt Joshua Larson, personal communication, September 2019.

8. 3Gen David H. Berger, 38thCommandant’s Planning Guidance. (Washington, DC: July 2019).

9 Innovation Symposium 2017 Award Ceremony; available at

https://www.dvidshub.net

10. Warfighting Panel. MAGTF Instructional Group: Gen Al Gray, LtGen P. K. Van Riper, and Mr. John Schmitt discuss MCDP 1 and maneuver warfare in the Marine Corps; available at

https://www.youtube.com

11. 38th Commandant’s Planning Guidance; MCDP 1, Warfighting

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