03-23-2007, 10:39
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#1
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Area Commander
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Buckingham, Pa.
Posts: 1,746
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Marine Corps Special Operations Co.
This just hit the Drudge report. Not being a former serviceman I was surprised that the entire unit was asked to leave the theater. I am assuming that expelling an entire unit from a theater is a highly unusual move.
Quote:
Top general in Afghanistan expels Marines
37 mins ago Top general in Afghanistan expels Marines
Mar 23, 2007 11:52 AM (37 mins ago)
by Rowan Scarborough, The Examiner
(U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command)
WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The top American general in Afghanistan has expelled a U.S. Marine special operations company for the way the men responded to an ambush March 4, Marine sources said.
Maj. Cliff Gilmore, a spokesman for Marine Special Operations Command, confirmed to The Examiner that the company of 120 Marines is redeploying.
He said the decision followed an ambush on the company's convoy by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device. A second Marine source said the Marines retaliated and some civilians were killed.
The action brought an abrupt end to what promised to be a historic deployment. The unit sailed in January from Camp Lejuene, N.C., as the first Marine Corps special operations company sent overseas. The Corps joined U.S. Special Operations Command a year ago.
The company is now redeploying to Kuwait after just a few weeks in Afghanistan in what was supposed to be a six-month tour.
A Marine officer assigned to special operations said Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the top U.S. commander, took the extraordinary step of expelling the unit after he consulted with Afghan Prime Minister Hamid Karzai.
A spokesman for Eikenberry could not be reached today.
Gilmore said, "The unit responded to the ambush and the local population perceptions of that response have damaged the relationship between the local population and the Marine special operations company."
rscarborough@dcexaminer.com
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rubberneck is offline
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03-23-2007, 10:59
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#2
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 20,929
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I do not think we should “speculate” concerning this re-deployment. We were not there on the ground and should keep our opinions to ourselves.
Team Sergeant
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"The Spartans do not ask how many are the enemy, but where they are."
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Team Sergeant is offline
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03-23-2007, 11:02
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#3
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Area Commander
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Buckingham, Pa.
Posts: 1,746
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Team Sergeant
I do not think we should “speculate” concerning this re-deployment. We were not there on the ground and should keep our opinions to ourselves.
Team Sergeant
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Fair enough.
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rubberneck is offline
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03-23-2007, 18:37
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#4
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Guest
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politics
Good relations with the host government is second to the safety of the warrior, but if it is a toss-up, adios muchacho.
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03-23-2007, 22:31
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#5
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: The Woodlands, Texas
Posts: 931
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Unfortunately, this is SOP. I saw this treatment for an SF team from one of our sister groups in Afghanistan. A coalition soldier was fatally wounded during a fight. Somewhere during an investigation, the ownership of that fatal bullet was in question. The team was removed from their location and later redeployed to CONUS. They left in what they perceived was "disgrace". They felt blamed. Evidence later showed that no one in that team was manning the kind of weapon that delivered that fatal round on the day in question.
Unfortunately, our MARSOC brothers will suffer from the high visibility they have endured since their activation. No one said SOF work was without its pitfalls.
These guys are fellow elite warriors. They will survive this and go on to kick butt again.
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- Retired Special Forces Officer -
Special Forces Association Lifetime Member
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Basenshukai is offline
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03-24-2007, 08:11
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#6
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Guerrilla Chief
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 704
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Fighting under a microscope is going to get Americans killed if it has not already. Makes me sick to hear all the second guessing of split second decisions made during a fire fight.
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Five-O is offline
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03-24-2007, 08:27
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#7
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
Posts: 24,835
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Too many people already do that with cops, so it is a normal extension of that mindset.
As soon as they let people start suing over tactical military decisions, the US will be done for.
I would be more concerned over what the ROE was, how they reacted, and what they did after the fact to remediate the problem and the damage.
TR
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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The Reaper is offline
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03-24-2007, 10:06
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#8
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Guerrilla Chief
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 704
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by The Reaper
Too many people already do that with cops, so it is a normal extension of that mindset.
I would be more concerned over what the ROE was, how they reacted, and what they did after the fact to remediate the problem and the damage.
TR
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Right on target Sir. Its not exactly the same as an LE shooting but damn if "they" are not trying to make it so. We have guy's volunteer for military service; more specifically the Army and Marines who actually want to be trigger pullers, and try to bone them up the a@# when they do their job. If the ROE's have de-volved into a sucide pact, who the F would want to raise their hand???
Last edited by Five-O; 03-24-2007 at 10:08.
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Five-O is offline
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03-24-2007, 17:47
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#9
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SF Candidate
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Eglin Main
Posts: 144
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"Nothing in the ROE prohibits your right to self defense..."
That in mind, since this was in response to an ambush on the unit, and the Marines felt to be in imminent danger the response should be justified. Obviously, you should know your target and whats beyond, but after being hit by an IED I can see where you might be a bit disoriented.
Don't think its grounds to send them home though. I thought CFC-A disappeared after NATO took over?
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SRT31B is offline
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03-24-2007, 18:11
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#10
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Virginia
Posts: 222
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Quote:
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A Marine officer assigned to special operations said Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the top U.S. commander, took the extraordinary step of expelling the unit after he consulted with Afghan Prime Minister Hamid Karzai
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It doesn't suprise me these guys were expelled after seeing this name. Anybody in SOF that has been near this guy knows why.
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abnremf is offline
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03-24-2007, 18:45
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#11
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: LA
Posts: 1,653
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Is LTG Eikenberry an armor officer?
__________________
Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home.
He knows only The Cause.
Still want to quit?
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NousDefionsDoc is offline
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03-24-2007, 18:46
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#12
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Savannah, GA
Posts: 2,308
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Amen, brother. In spades.
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The Main Thing is to keep the Main Thing the Main Thing
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abc_123 is offline
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03-25-2007, 07:56
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#13
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 20,929
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LIEUTENANT GENERAL KARL W. EIKENBERRY
Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry is the commander of Combined Forces Command - Afghanistan.
Prior to his current assignment, he was the director for Strategic Planning and Policy for U.S. Pacific Command at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii.
His operational assignments include service as commander and staff officer with mechanized, light, airborne, and ranger infantry units in the United States, Korea, and Europe, most recently as an assistant division commander with the 25th Infantry Division (Light) at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
He has served in various strategy, policy, and political-military posts, including as the U.S. security coordinator and chief of the Office of Military Cooperation in Kabul, Afghanistan; as an assistant Army and later defense attaché at the United States Embassy in Beijing, China; as the senior country director for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mongolia in the Office of the Secretary of Defense; and as the deputy director for Strategy, Plans, and Policy on the Army Staff.
He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, has earned master’s degrees from Harvard University in East Asian Studies and Stanford University in Political Science, and was a National Security Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. He earned an Interpreter’s Certificate in Mandarin Chinese from the British Foreign Commonwealth Office while studying at the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence Chinese Language School in Hong Kong and he has an Advanced Degree in Chinese History from Nanjing University in the People’s Republic of China.
His military awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Ranger Tab, the Combat and Expert Infantryman badges, and master parachutist wings. He has also received the Department of State Superior Honor Award, the Director of Central Intelligence Award, and Afghanistan’s Akbar Khan Award presented by President Hamid Karzai.
He has published numerous articles on U.S. military training, tactics, and strategy, on Chinese ancient military history, and on Asia-Pacific security issues. He was previously the president of the Foreign Area Officers Association and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:...lnk&cd=1&gl=us
LIEUTENANT GENERAL KARL W. EIKENBERRY, U.S. ARMY
FORMER COMMANDING GENERAL
COMBINED FORCES COMMAND-AFGHANISTAN
BEFORE THE HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE ON DEFENSE
AN ASSESSMENT OF SECURITY AND STABILITY IN AFGHANISTAN
FEBRUARY 13, 2007 http://armedservices.house.gov/pdfs/...mony021307.pdf
__________________
"The Spartans do not ask how many are the enemy, but where they are."
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Team Sergeant is offline
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03-25-2007, 08:09
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#14
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: LA
Posts: 1,653
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Roger, I saw that too when I was searching for his branch. I think they should post the branch when they put the bios together.
__________________
Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home.
He knows only The Cause.
Still want to quit?
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NousDefionsDoc is offline
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03-25-2007, 08:17
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#15
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
Posts: 24,835
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by abc_123
Amen, brother. In spades.
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Not likely, with an EIB, a CIB, and Master Wings.
According to his bio, "commander and staff officer with mechanized, light, airborne, and ranger infantry units in the United States, Korea, and Europe".
Ranger, mech, and light guy, with a tour or two in an airborne unit like the Deuce.
GOs give up their branches when they are promoted, BTW.
That is why you will not see them with branch insignia.
TR
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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The Reaper is offline
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