Comments on: ODA

By: Tom G.

Tom G. — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 03:13:01 +0000

Snake…you made me smile.

By: SteveC

SteveC — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 19:10:55 +0000

“Then Walding tried to inject himself with morphine but accidentally used the wrong tip of the syringe and put the needle in this thumb, he later recalled. “My thumb felt great, . . .”

With this sort of sense of humor the guy could be a pilot.

By: xairboss (alias) E Yat

xairboss (alias) E Yat — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:26:57 +0000

Maj. H, I think the WP article is misleading in that the site of the operation was 10M MSL. According to the article at Weasel Zippers, datelined from Ft. Brag "It was impossible for the helicopters to land on the jagged rocks at the bottom of the valley. The Special Forces soldiers and commandos, each carrying more than 60 pounds of gear, dropped from 10 feet above the ground, landing among boulders or in a near-frozen stream." Still, not something I would want to try for the fun of it.

By: Byron Audler

Byron Audler — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 11:35:52 +0000

Snake is dead on the money. On this matter you should trust what he says. ODAs almost work exclusively with the native forces to fight the enemy. They do it for two reasons: training and trust. The also work with Civil Affairs groups and specialized ODAs (help with the designator Snake, I don’t remember) that assist the population rebuild. Last, but most importantly, the ODAs embed right in the middle of the population and begin to interact. They not only make friends, but they also get intel.

I suspect that this jump was the result of timely intel, and that there was supposed to be someone important in the jump.

Last, ODAs aren’t about direct combat, though they are exceedingly good at that. They are about training, hearts and minds, and intel.

Once more, Snake was right, and this IS the best method to help change Afghanistan.

By: Quartermaster

Quartermaster — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 03:53:15 +0000

They did this type of thing in ‘nam, ad nauseum. It wasn’t just SOF types the did it with either. Search and destroy was the order of the day throughout.

In fairness, there is no way around it when you are dealing with an insurgency. They wear you down, or you grind them down. IN ‘nam, we ground them down, and the Comms betrayed the VC into Tet, where they were destroyed. After that it was a pretty conventional jungle war involving NVA regulars, and we kicked them back north as well. It wasn’t until after the treaty was signed that the left in Congress betrayed Vietnam and refused even to supply ARVN. The RVN lost because the US did not live up to its treaty obligation, thanx to the Democrats.

Victories such as this one have a huge impact on the Islamic insurgents. Some are feeling they have been abandoned by Allah. I’m more than happy they feel such, and am more than glad my taxes are going to aid in the effort.

Jerry Pournelle, a former Arty Officer in Korea, wrote what he calls the Prince of Sparta trilogy (a very good read if you haven’t read it). In the series we see the key to winning an insurgency – nerve. Don’t lose it if you want to win. We broke the back of the insurgents in Iraq because of this one concept and you can’t win if you allow the fifth column behind you to sap your will either.

By: Snake Eater

Snake Eater — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 03:46:58 +0000

Thomas Barton, J.D, Re your comment # 12 above…I totally agree… so it has always been …and so it shall always be …true wisdom, in my not so humble opninon, comes with accepting the hand that you’re delt, being thankfull that you’re alive and getting on with the rest of your life. Best

PS, Pardre Harvey, as we both know…any jump that you can walk away from is a successful jump.