Weapons failed US troops during Afghan firefight

[Arcangel8654]

Re: Weapons failed US troops during Afghan firefight

95% of whats floating around this is all speculation and bullshit and armchair quarterbacking..We werent there or saw the enemy or what they had or how many, how far down in the valley the base was. what real air support was available or not. how many chechnyan merc snipers may have been involved. or if the weapons failures were truth or a bullshit chickenshit coverup story to cover someones ass. It wouldnt have mattered if our boys had aks,m4s,m14s.blah,blah blah. Because if you get get jumped with your pants down by a motivated overwhelming force determined to kill you with a plan, your gonna be in for the fight of your life regardless how cool gear is.

 

[ReaperDriver]

Re: Weapons failed US troops during Afghan firefight

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Gunfighter14e2</div><div class="ubbcode-body">This whole Fucked up deal is from a lack of
(1) Tactics
(2) Training
(3) Washington, not wanting to engage in a <span style="font-weight: bold">WAR </span> . </div></div>

Spot on. In addition I would add that the previous ground commander's policy of setting up these remote firebases out in BFE with very few troops manning it are a huge waste of resources and puts solidier's lives in danger for little to no gain. Pre-McCrystal, my understanding was that these FOBs were set up along the Af/Pak border to interdict insurgents coming and going. However, they are often so small and undermanned, my understanding is the guys essentially aren't able to go patrol effectively because they don't have the FP numbers in such a hostile environment. I've done a lot of CAS along that border ISO some of those FOBs and they are really exposed because they are being woefully under-resourced and essentially they hunker down in a defensive mindset rather than doing what they were supposedly there for in the 1st place (i.e. interdiction).

Again, I'm an AF puke, so if my understanding is incorrect about what some of those FOBs are doing or not doing... those of you "in the know", please accept my apologies in advance.