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Milblogging.com's goal is to create the best directory of blogs that make up the Military Blogosphere. Learn more about the selected military blog by reviewing the information below.

Listing Information

Profile

Submitted By:	LL
Date Submitted:	04 Oct 2005
Claimed By:	UnClaimed
Claimed On:
Website URL:	http://www.fortunateson.org/
Title:	Fortunate Son
Author:	Fortunateson
Country:	Afghanistan
Language:	English
Branch:	U.S. Army Visit the Army community on Military.com
Gender:	Male
Favorited:	5
Feed:	http://www.fortunateson.org/blog/atom.xml
Description:	I chose the name "Fortunate Son" for my website because it most aptly expresses the pervasive concept....

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Preview Last 5 Entries:

Title:	Buy LT Kling's Soldiers a Beer
Posted On:	February 16, 2010, 14:58 PM
Listing Detail	-school friends, "Welcome Back. Its been a long time." I decided that I found a good reason to resurrect the old site I haven't written on in a couple years now! I get asked a lot: "Is there anything we can do for you or your guys?" I don't usually have an answer, we get too many care packages as it is and its much different that my last tour where we didn't have a PX within hundreds of miles. But I think I found a good way that everyone back home can participate by helping me to recognize the efforts of my Soldiers of 3rd Platoon, 808th Engineer Company. I'm so damn proud of these men and women and all they have accomplished this year and if I was independently wealthy I'd be taking them all out for a steak dinner and an open bar to celebrate. Unfortunately, I'm not blessed with that much disposable income but I still want to take them all out for a memorable evening together when we get back home. I can't yet say exactly when that will be due to security reasons, but its within the next two months and as soon as we're Stateside I can provide much more information so those who have contributed can follow along. The Army doesn't exactly give us an entertainment budget, but these guys deserve one special night together with a few beers and some great food after the incredible year they have given in service to our country and the people of Iraq! Help me out ya'll!! ses: 1) We will drink a lot of beer. 2) I will post follow-up pictures of the event here and on the FB group page. 3) Any money left will be donated to Fisher House in the name of SSG Clinton Newman. I've attached a picture of the knuckleheads that your generous $ will benefit! We took this just before we shipped out last year. (No there's nothing near that fun here in Iraq)

Title:	Winning Hearts and Minds Premiers on Blip TV
Posted On:	March 20, 2007, 07:28 AM
Listing Detail	Click To Play Meet the men of US Army Civil Affairs in Afghanistan. Sergeants Kling, Reisz, Carrillo and Captain Corsten tell us about the Civil Affairs mission and take us into the communities of Afghanistan to see what it takes to rebuild a war-torn country.

Title:	America Is At The Mall
Posted On:	February 28, 2007, 09:48 AM
Listing Detail

Title:	Article: War in Isolation
Posted On:	October 10, 2006, 15:47 PM
Listing Detail	My friend Robert Bryce just published another article recently in Atlantic Monthly discussing the IED threat we face out here every day. Having been hit by a couple of IEDs, its obviously something on my mind every time we head out of the wire. I've placed the full version of the article on pdf for download here. Robert is a fellow Austinite, a remarkable guy and a helluva writer even if I don't agree with everything he says all the time. Come to think of it, considering who I enjoy hanging around with, not agreeing with me on matters of politics seems to be a prerequisite for my friendship. From the article: IEDs also create fear and uncertainty...Fear and uncertainty, of course, ultimately breed mistrust. That may be the most damaging aspect of the IEDs: they prey on American minds, making soldiers suspicious of the local population and ultimately isolating them. This is likely the best point that could be made concerning the overall effect of IED's on our mission both here in Afghanistan and in Iraq. That isolation and mistrust is, in my opinion, the single most detrimental result of insurgent tactics that complicates and delays what really is our ultimate goal: economic connectivity and mutual, cultural acceptance. There are several factors that add to our isolation from the local population which in turn limits the effectiveness of our efforts. One of these is the employment of IEDs, but it’s not only the IEDs that alienate us from those we are ostensibly here to help. BODY COUNT POLITICS You don't have to read the writings of Mao or Ho Chi Mihn to know that defeating a democratic "superpower" isn't that hard if the voters back home don't believe in the cause. When public support drops to a certain level, partisan politics becomes the insurgent's most effective weapon. Reach that threshold and you'll soon have U.S. Senators and Congressmen (and don't forget journalists) racking up wins for you. Just keep the pressure on and be patient - victory is all but certain. Don't believe me? How many times have we already seen the "L" word on the cover of major weekly periodicals? The losses we've encountered thus far from all enemy engagements are "tactically insignificant"* from an operational perspective. This simply means there are not enough losses to have a noticeable effect on our mission capabilities. The fact is, more souls were lost (1,052 by most counts) in one friendly-fire incident in WWII, the sinking of the Montevideo Maru than in the first three years of GWOT combined. But of course "tactically insignificant" turns into strategic defeat when the politics played with our body-count undermines public support for our efforts. Americans have proven time and again that we can handle great loss of life if the purpose and end state are unambiguous and a direct threat to themselves is tangible. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration's mismanagement of information operations and public relations both pre and post-conflict in Iraq, combined with the misdeeds of a small, handful of individuals have eroded the credibility and moral clarity of our “side” of this conflict, thereby lowering the threshold of acceptable losses considerably. As a result, commanders on the ground are coming under increased pressure to prevent loss-of-life. The amount of second-guessing and hindsight recrimination that goes on after a KIA incident is disgraceful and can be a career-ending event for commanders if investigations find the slightest deviation from the increasingly constrictive SOPs, regardless of whether they would have made a difference. This politically-driven force-protection mania translates into increased security restrictions by risk-averse commanders that severely limit our mobility and effectiveness and by extension, our interactions with the public. I should add, most of these security measures, save the installation of electronic counter-measures (ECM) devices, do little if anything but provide window-dressing to our actual force-protection level. I think the question of "How can we win if we can't engage the enemy?" should be replaced with "How can you win a war if you can't risk loss of life?" Soldiers are spending more and more time inside the wire and less out amongst the local population building relationships and rebuilding infrastructure and governments. Its negative effect is most tangible. ETHNOCENTRISM Another major contributor to our isolation is our mentality and attitude toward the local populace. Soldiers and Marines are not policemen; we're not diplomats; we're not politicians or public officials. Our traditional, explicit purpose is to engage and neutralize the enemy. Most of us are good-hearted, well-intentioned individuals with a strong moral sense. However, the most striking and disappointing observation I have made since my arrival here nine months ago is our overwhelming, misplaced sense of superiority to the cultures we've come to assist. This phenomenon isn’t limited to those of us who serve in uniform; it is pervasive in civilian agency mindsets as well. The term for this is "ethnocentrism". Most soldiers, including many in Civil Affairs, limit their interactions with locals to a minimum; zero if possible. There is an unspoken but clear apartheid between Westerners and Afghans that only a select few chose to reach across. Many actively despise the Afghan nationals and certainly look down on them. Dehumanizing terms such as “Haji” and “Sand-Nigger” are reminiscent of those from another era: “Charlie” and “Gook”. In some ways these feelings are understandable; even I recoil at the harsh subjugation of women and the lack of what I would consider to be innate hygiene practices. But this superiority complex is unwarranted and dangerous. It’s important to divorce the circumstances from the individual and remember the profound disadvantages in education, health and technology that others have been born into. As we work toward burying ignorant, prejudicial views of the past back home, its disheartening to think we would simply move on to new, socially acceptable prejudices and not internalize the underlying lesson: We are all the same inside. That’s not just my feel-good, bleeding-heart belief, it is a scientific, genetically-proven fact. We may be here to help, but charity can easily be construed as condescension when the proper spirit isn't honored. Imagine someone "giving" you say, a loaf of bread by chucking it at your feet like you might a dog. How much would you “appreciate” that? Sure, you’d eat the bread if you were hungry but your feelings toward the giver would probably not improve from that interaction. Giving is a shared moment between two souls and has little to do with the gift itself. A sense of cultural superiority nullifies the giving spirit that must be present to foster understanding and recognition of a shared humanity. I’m not sure what agency or department would be best suited for training a more “spiritually enlightened” government service-member, but it certainly isn’t the United States Army or Marine Corps. This will remain our greatest hurdle to building true and lasting cross-cultural harmony, regardless of how many schools, clinics and roads we build here. A LIMITED EXCHANGE Unlike post-war Germany and Japan, we have no ability to venture out and intermingle with the local population. This is due as much to the nature of counter-insurgent warfare as to considerable differences in cultural norms and an inherent, if not understandable xenophobia in the traditional leadership of the indigenous population. Unfortunately this retards the process of cultural exchange and integration. We cannot even look at the women, let alone date or marry them. Adopting their children is so difficult, it might as well be impossible. The best we can hope for is to lay the foundations for individual freedom, education and the communications and commercial infrastructure that will foster the free exchange of ideas. This will facilitate the people’s ability to make informed choices as to what they read and write and how they will dress, behave and believe. It really is the only way to break the stranglehold of ignorance and oppression. The illiterate are doomed to fall prey to the designs of wicked men. Historically, cultural shifts are either slow or extremely disruptive and costly. It is going to take time, blood or both to build understanding and tolerance between the myriad cultures of the world, but it will happen. The more individual freedoms and connectivity with the outside world, the less time. The more enlightened and proactive our approach, the less blood. Our inability to see ourselves in others; our misguided belief that we are not connected in spirit; this is the ultimate isolation we must overcome. Author’s Note Whenever I make criticisms, particularly those directed at the military establishment, I feel the need to point out that the men and women I serve with are very professional. Their desire to “win”, to perform at the best of their abilities is without peer. They are the finest soldiers, sailors and marines on the planet. If dispersions are being casts here, it is not in their direction, but toward the training and doctrine of the military as an institution and its seeming inability to move beyond its stolid, conventional mindset and its fierce loyalty to the defense industry. Let us not fool ourselves. The military in its current form, and the defense industry built around it, are manifestations of our collective fears and of profit motive, not of our desire to help those in need around the world. I don’t see that changing any time soon. The military will always be good at halting foreign aggression and bringing tyrants to their knees, but for real change my faith lies in the peripheral cultural exchange and economic connectivity that ultimately results from military intervention and the requisite establishment of the rights of the individual. *The term does not connote a lack of sensitivity to each individual loss which is obviously a catastrophic event for friends and family of those who have fallen. No disrespect is intended.

Title:	Army Restructuring Doctrine for Counter-Insurgent Warfare
Posted On:	October 10, 2006, 15:38 PM
Listing Detail	Once only part of Special Operations doctrine, the concepts of Counter-Insurgent Warfare (aka Forth-generation Warfare, 4GW) are finally (after five years) beginning to find their way into standard Army training and doctrine. This New York Times article entitled "Military Hones a New Strategy on Insurgency" discusses these late-coming "revalations" and the coming evolution of the big-battle-trained solider. I have to feel a little vindication from this official recognition. Throughout countless, heated discussion with fellow soldiers and during "Cultural Awareness" briefings I have maintained an argument of what I call the "Tactical Advantage of Being Nice" - my way of explaining why it not only is a proper way to conduct one's self as a representative of the United States, but that in doing so it provides certain advantages. Make the local population choose between the "lesser of two assholes" and they'll choose the one's they identify with the most: The insurgency. The old-guard notion that "looking hard" all the time makes the bad guy think twice about taking you on is finally being reconsidered. Its clear that no matter how we act, the enemy has proven it is perfectly willing to take us on in one way or another. It's our conduct in interactions with the other 98% of the population that have a dramatic effect on how many enemies are created from them and how much cooperation can be expected in defeating existing ones. Noone "has your back" like the local population. With the majority of our KIA and WIA being the result of IED and in-direct fire, our reliance on popular cooperation is imperative to prevent loss of life. Additionally, this change of doctrine forces a serious re-consideration of soldier-to-population ratios with regards to post-conflict security. It is an encouraging (if not woefully belated) sign. Experts tend to agree we had an initial "window" to win the confidence of neutral locals and squandered it due to the SECDEF's insistence on minimal troop deployment. This was a result of the perceived political need to prosecute the war "on the cheap" and the consequent denial that led to the lack of planning for any but the best-case scenarios. I've come to several inter-dependent conclusions regarding this: 1) The lack of contingency planning was caused by the political reality of prosecuting a war that lacked overwhelming public support resulting in... 2) An increased reluctance and decreased ability to engage in future interventions (preemptive or otherwise) leading to... 3) A socio-political landscape that essentially requires that we sustain an initial (and potentially devastating) attack prior to any large-scale military deployment. 4) The lack of public support for an economically and socially disruptive full-mobilization and draft has caused our political "leadership" to make strategic decisions regarding troop utilization that has overextened our offensive military capabilities and has resulted in opportunistic negative developments with Iran and North Korea. Its great to know the Army is adapting its doctrine, however I suspect that we may not have the collective will for another intervention for decades to come. We have plenty "anti-War" types who are willing to demonstrate once war becomes a fait accompli, but we don't have near enough "pro-Peace" types willing to work for a more just and equitable world and actually prevent the conditions of war before they begin. As long as the average American's preoccupations are the price of gas; as long as we remain willfully ignorant of the world around us; as long as we're content to be the "Shining Gated Community on the Hill", it would seem to me that our fate will be to settle for the ensuing partisan blame game for the last crisis while waiting for the next Pearl Harbor or 9/11 in order to get people to pay attention to the miserable conditions of their fellow man and stop tolerating the existence of those regimes that benefit from their misery and ignorance. As it stands, the score is still 0-0, the newspapers have already printed the headlines declaring our humiliating loss, our broadcasters are sending the opposing side our playbook, sixty percent of our spectators (most were "fans" only before kickoff) have headed for the parking lot, our coaches are down to fielding only seven players and we're still in the first minute of the game.

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