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Originally Posted by rubberneck
The public has been told over and over again how modern wars are increasingly being waged by the Special Operations community. If that is the case why isn't more of an effort being made to integrating mother Army into what you guys do. Am I missing the mark here? I apologize if I am mistaken.
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I'm going to try to be careful here and not step in it.
I think there's hope. I knew a LTC who admires the hell out of SF and used them to his full advantage, i.e. he let the SF use
him to
their full advantage. He gave them full credit with his chain whenever he could and they reciprocated with theirs. The teams spent time training his troops in cultural issues, language, etc. whenever they could.
LTC and his OSM (another great guy) drank their weight in chai, gave away herds of sheep and goats, dug wells, built schools, and generally made personal relationships a top priority. He fought with his command and won: "I'm a hero if I call in a $30,000 salvo of 155, and a wussy if I spend $10,000 to build a school, even if building the school will do much more to accomplish my mission." By the end of their tour they were routinely getting tips from the community about attacks planned on the clinics and schools they built, IEDs, etc.
This guy had
my town integrated into his command. If he needed something -- school supplies, OTC meds, clothing for the Kuchi -- all he had to do was ask. Grade schools held drives, moms and teachers packed boxes...well, it was pretty cool.
And when it came time to kick ass, they kicked it with authority.
He's now a COL G3 and will be a brigade commander next summer, so someone recognized he was doing something right.
See, there's hope.