By Ryan Blum Best Defense guest columnist As I’m scrolling through my Facebook feed during my Monday morning commute I almost overlook a post from my old Company Commander: “Taliban Fighters Overrun Kunduz City as Afghan Forces Retreat” My mouth drops. Back in March of 2010 my unit took responsibility for Kunduz Province in northern…
Tag: Afghanistan
The USMC Unit Stalked by Suicide
So often, these types of stories are swept under the rug by the media and the general public. Vets deserve our support and help not just while deployed but when they get back too.-SF After the sixth suicide in his old battalion, Manny Bojorquez sank onto his bed. With a half-empty bottle of Jim…
Learning from Insurgent Tactics: The “Hide n’ Glide”
Since the War in Afghanistan and Iraq began, we have seen a multitude of different “insurgent” tactics come to light, the most notable (and deadly) ones being the use of the IED and VBIED (Vehicle Born IED’s) in ambushes, booby-traps and suicide attacks. But as far as actual ground tactics the enemy uses, there…
Lessons from the Battlefield
As a veteran, I know the horrors and hardships of war..I like to think I have hardened my heart enough to not let the news from the battlefield affect me anymore, but that is a joke. With the recent tragic loss of 30 Special Operation Operators, 22 of them from the Elite Seal Team 6 in Afghanistan (The…