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The Schizophrenia and Cost of Combat Withdrawal

10/8/2019

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​BLUF: Last month we hated forever wars, this week we’re mad that we’re out of Syria.
Forever wars that lack end-states are folly. Since the US military is not institutionally capable of achieving our desired end-states in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, etc., it’s fair to ask, “Why are we there?”
In Sept 2019, the Democratic Presidential candidates agreed with me.
Lethality vs Facilitator
The Orientation Problem — It’s not that our forces are incapable of winning. It’s our preparation and ethos that prevent us from linking our theory to our tactics in modern war. If a force is going to be primarily a lethal will-crushing collection of units, then we shouldn’t send these units to state-build.
An infantry battalion is supposed to close with and destroy the enemy. We can train them to do other things, but their ethos remains. They must prepare for battle and never allow complacency to creep into their mindset.
Check out the Break It Down Show episode related to this topic
Partnering Pitfalls
If instead, units are going to partner, create host-nation capacity and ideally foster stability, our imposition of will focus must be significantly dialed back. A skilled partnering-focused unit switches to surrendering will to the host nation partner-this is a rare skill that’s in no way in line with institutional doctrine.
US forces cannot successfully dominate their host-nation “peer” (and let’s be honest, few Americans consider or respect their partner as a peer) and expect to reliably create the tactical successes required to advance the strategic outcomes. Despite this, dominating partnered peers is what happens all day, every day.

Withdrawal
Finally, as a force, the US doesn’t train or anticipate transition. Our lack of capacity in this phase means the tasks of leaving result in actions that are shockingly removed from reality and embarrassingly dismissive of the host-nation partner. Read more on Transition Operations
I watched us pull out of Iraq, I watched us pullback in Afghanistan and we consistently managed to destroy our progress in the process. We’re not good at leaving. BUT! We’re worse at staying gone!
Remember Pres Obama’s “No boots on the ground pledge” for Syria?
“In no event are we considering any kind of military action that would involve boots on the ground, that would involve a long-term campaign. But we are looking at the possibility of a limited, narrow act that would help make sure that not only Syria, but others around the world, understand that the international community cares about maintaining this chemical weapons ban and norm. So again, I repeat, we’re not considering any open-ended commitment. We’re not considering any boots-on-the-ground approach.”
And yet, we have President Trump announcing …we’re going home from Syria,
“it’s time to come back home.”
“We’ve been there for many, many, many years beyond what we were supposed to be. Not fighting. Just there. Just there. And it’s time to come back home,” Trump said in his first public remarks since the shift was announced late Sunday. “But I can understand the other side of it,” he continued. “But if you go by the other side, that means we should never, ever come home. “The President lamented that the most difficult aspect of his job is writing letters to the families of soldiers killed overseas. He described writing to families of soldiers killed by mines or snipers, calling it “devastating.” “We’re willing to do what we have to do, but there has to be an endgame,” he said. “And if you stay, it’s going to be the same thing. Eventually, you’re going to have to leave.”
Our Problem
Ultimately, this post isn’t about presidents. I get it, tens of millions of Americans hate President Trump. His actions have certainly inflamed and divided us. However, if the boss, and that’s what President Trump is right now, says, “enough,” then it’s enough.
It’s easy to sit in judgment and criticize our President’s leadership and claim corruption…but YOU are missing it.
These missions impact lives. Your ill-informed opinions aren’t worth what the deployed service members, and their families must endure. Remember we don’t like forever wars…if the President ends one, ummm? Why is everyone so mad?
Remember those devastating letters the President has to write?
Boom
Meet Kenton Stacy. An IED hit Stacy on November 9th, 2017, in Ar-Raqqa, Syria.
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He survived and spend the next 18 months in the hospital. Since he was released this spring, he’s been back three times fighting for his life.
The Syrian conflict that so many of you hunger for left Kenton a quadriplegic, blind in one eye, and destroyed his vocal cords.
By the way Kenton is a husband and a father of four.
The cost isn’t Turkish hotels; it turns out politicians do just fine enriching themselves, the cost is the damage to Kenton and his family.
I hosted his wife Lindsey on the Break It Down Show. I wanted to illustrate their day-to day-life. If you’ve got the courage that’s asked of the Stacy’s every day…listen to their story. Then, tell me how fired up you are to send someone like Kenton out with no defined end-state.
Understand, this family is struggling to survive day-to-day. Kenton not only constantly battles for his life; he’s also in a headspace where he’s not sure if he wants to keep fighting for what’s left of it.
The Challenge
Sure, maybe you’re right, and the President is wrong we should stay in the region…but you’re not writing those letters to the Stacy family, are you?
Instead, you’re yelling on Facebook or reading in-depth analysis from someone who’s got no skin in the game. Rather than letting hatred of President Trump guide our actions. Get the Stacy family some relief. If the Kurds are that important, this is the cost. My challenge to you is this, DO SOMETHING!!! If you don’t know what to do or how to do it, reach out to me @peteaturner #stacystrong
Help Kenton directly through the Sinise Foundation
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11SEP01 My Tale

9/11/2018

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​11SEP01 My Tale
 
On 9/11 I was working at CDW selling computers to schools and government offices. I wasn't terribly good at it, I was never much of a corporate guy. The success I had, was garnered through hard work and lots of it.  I don't want to give the impression that I was bad at my job, but I didn't care about it, the company didn't care about me…and we had an agreement of sorts. I'd not be there for long.
 
Besides my day job, I was also bouncing at a local bar. I was also in the Army Reserve* I also had a stupid legal thing happen which meant I kept getting arrested and going to court for no damned reason.  I was in survival mode trying to figure out how to earn enough money to deal with my divorce, sell a house I didn't want, and solve my legal conundrum; my life was in turmoil.  I didn't know how to be whatever CDW wanted me to be. If I'm honest, I didn't take what we did there very seriously, I was meant for something else, but didn't know what.
 
* For those of you who don't know, I was a spy in the Army. I'd already deployed once to a conflict zone. I was good at it.
 
This is a good illustrative aside- My boss, a great dude, but Tony had no idea what to do with me. The company was always trying to incent our sales staff to work harder, but that was never my problem. I never made enough money and I had no real future in the company.
 
Tony calls me to his cubical and says, "I don't know how to motivate you. It's like you don't even care if you lose your job." "Tony, I can explain, I don't make enough money. You guys don't care about that, I'm not in CDW's future-plans…and if I am, I'm unaware of it—which is a problem. If I lose my job, I can find another employer to constantly ask more of me while underpaying. I can replace this situation dozens of times over in Chicago. (where I lived at the time)."
 
I didn't dislike Tony, not even on the day when I was fired for parking my golf cart in the river. I just wasn't cut out for the corporate world. I was always going to be a thoroughbred giving 5 cent rides at the fair at CDW.
 
On the morning of 9/11, I'd put a CD in my player. My signature block was always updated with the disc I was currently playing.
 
Pete Turner
(800-729-8921)
CDW-G Education, State and Local
In the CD player now
Janes Addiction Ritual De Lo Habitual
 
I was just starting my day. It was just before 8 AM Flight 11 had already hit tower 1.  It was still likely an accident. A few of us had discussed it and wondered out loud about what would and had happened.  At 8 am I dialed and left a voicemail for call #1. Next, I dialed my last call of the day to a High School in North Carolina…
 
Track 2, No One's Leaving, is the track playing, I got through to the lady who ran the IT department…instantly, I heard screams in the background. "What's going on?" She responds, "I don't know, they're saying a plane hit one of the twin towers in New York.
 
As we tried to sort out we were saying to one another. I heard a woman in the background scream out! Another one hit the other tower. I said, "Good Bye," All around the cubical farm, heads popped up, like prairie dogs. I was different.
 
I grabbed my stuff, walked to Tony's desk, "A second plane hit the other tower, that's not an accident, that's terrorism, I need to get to my unit." Tony, ever the great guy, looked at me, shocked—we all were—nodded his head and I left.
 
I was asked today, what did I do about my daughter who was 4 years old at the time? I have no memory of doing anything, I'm sure her mom and I worked something out, but my place was with my unit. I have no recollection of any of the regular life stuff. It simply wasn't important.
 
Living in the Chicagoland area, we didn't know what was going to happen, were we next? Were the twin towers just the first salvo, other planes were reported to have crashed, other still unaccounted for.
 
The news of the plane hitting the Pentagon arrived as I did at my unit. Within 20 minutes, the South Tower of the World Trade Center had fallen as I waited for someone to open my unit's HQ.
 
I sat, with another soldier who arrived moments after me, for over 36 hours. We didn't know what to expect. I just knew that the pen I had been kept in was opened.  I finally knew that I had a purpose, it wasn't 5 cent rides…I was going to war, and I was fine with it.
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More - Catch Up Show May 23

5/23/2018

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More - It's been awhile since we had our hosts chat about the show, what's coming up and what's been happening. Today's show, discusses potential guests, Album Fights and saying "Farewell" to Mark Valley as an official part of our show.
We've all enjoyed Mark being a part of the show in an official capacity and we'll continue to collaborate on various projects. 
#AlbumFight #BIDS
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A Stone Estate in the English Countryside

4/1/2018

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Well, it looked like one anyway.  It really is a Tudor-style residence built a hundred years ago on a beautifully manicured property in what has been the posh part of Los Angeles the whole time.  And it is a proper abode for an Englishman who can live wherever he decides, the likes of Andy Summers.
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Our meeting with the guitar great was granted through his PR team, who vetted us, I suppose, based on observations of previous episodes to include one with his former bandmate, Stewart Copeland.  However it fell into place, we were happy to have booked him.
I was concerned that this would be a difficult interview.  As a rabid fan of The Police, I have consumed about all there is to see and hear about them.  Sting has always been their charismatic spearhead.  I've dissected every lick Stewart has ever recorded for the public, so I knew I could talk with him for hours.  Andy has always been the stoic, guarded, above-it-all member of the band.  
So there we are, Pete and I, rolling down a very busy street, looking for a rock star's address.  How on earth could a member of what in their heyday was the biggest band in the world have a house on a main thoroughfare?  It seemed quite strange.  And then, as we were instructed (thanks, Dennis - more on him later), we entered a nondescript gate between long ivy-covered walls, meandered past some beautiful, if less grand, estates, and up to another gate.  I pushed the intercom button and heard a voice I immediately recognized as Andy Summers (we spoke on the phone a half hour prior.)  I announced myself, "Hey Andy, it's Jon from the Break It Down Show."  And in a milestone moment, those words opened a gate behind a gate concealing a secret location.  I could have turned around and gone home right then.
Thank goodness I didn't.  In the context of my love of Andy's old band, I'll admit that he was my third favorite member of the Police.  Sting being an unstoppable pop music force, and me being a drummer, I can justify ranking Andy behind them​, even given his obvious instrumental prowess.  Based on our conversation, his hospitality, his willingness to share the origins and drivers of his artistic directions, and understanding a little more about why we should let him explore without imposing upon him the burden of pop entertainment, he deserves a greater share of my attention.  And if we want to learn more about our own humanity, he deserves it from all of us.

​Jon Leon Guerrero


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Mark and Pete - Kaffee Klatsch Pt 2

3/20/2018

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Panthers - Today we put up Pt 2 of our bonus show with Mark and Pete chatting about Black Panther, President Donald Trump and a variety of other things. Good hard laughs await you in this episode. As these two talk until the batteries drop. 
#BonusShow #BIDS #Podcast
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Mark and Pete - Kaffee Klatsch Pt 1

3/13/2018

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Kaffee Klatsch - Mark and Pete were working on Mark's new show The Live Drop. Instead of getting all of their work done, they ended up chatting ranging a wide variety of topics. 
​
​The conversation is fun, lively and we just couldn't take deleting it. So here's Part One of their chat. 

​Mark will feature the Live Drop on hiswebpage 

Away With Words Podcast 

​
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Drew Cohn Interviews Pete -BONUS Episode

2/1/2018

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Jon and Pete NAMM Show and Grammy Chat

1/31/2018

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Holiday Update and Catch-Up

12/14/2017

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What's New With BIDS

10/6/2017

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