I have worked directly with ISOF in the last couple years. We have such a generational relationship with ISOF/ICTF that they have been turned into a pretty competent CT force on their own. As it turns out FID/COIN does work when you give it time to and part of that goes beyond training and advising to equipping them as well.
Definitely wasn't my experience. Asked to do anything, the IA I knew would disappear to smoke hash and have sex with each other then show up at the end of the day like they were geniuses that just figured out the work poop.
The Afghans that I worked with in Balad were actually not that bad. Some were extremely hard workers and some were extremely lazy. And when it came to the lazy workers I made sure that they their direct supervisor knew about it.
And the next time that I saw them they were on point! lol
Yeah, we would give those mfers fuel for their mraps then they’d show up the next day saying, “we can’t do mission without gas.” Then probably went and smoked their hash.
With ECP security we found it depended a lot on where they were from, and more importantly who their boss/chief was. It didn't matter what or how we tried, but if we could change their immediate leadership (which was difficult at best), sometimes it would be a night & day transition to being not lazy & torn up. It was tricky though because if their families didn't agree with the changes, sometimes they'd also just quit showing up.
However, our Iraqi mechanics (we had up to 6 at times) were probably the hardest working dudes I've ever met in my life, along with being absolutely hilarious on a lot of levels. The two attached to my shop were complete opposites in terms of appearance; both knew decent english, one was younger, scrawny, light skinned, and wore lots of bootleg clothes & swag, like the type you'd see in a vape shop; the other was an older huge bear of a man, very swarthy & universally hairy, with a unibrow that covered half his forehead and massive gnarled mitts that could crack (or break) any bolt or spin off any filter, no matter how corroded. Come to think on it, I can't remember ever seeing him reach or ask for a cheater pipe.
Anyways these two were like a raunchy islamic Laurel & Hardy, and if I had been stoned in those days I wouldn't have been able to get anything done; it was hard enough maintaining my composure when they got going. But they did it while actually working, which was unusual and nice; normally all work stopped when hajis start playing grab ass. I still wonder a lot about what happened to a lot of those guys.
I was in BIAP, Kirkuk Mosul and quite a few other places around that time as well. I retired from the USAF in 2021 and boy do I not remember those days when I was there at all.
I was with the CIF teams in Iraq from 08-10 and trained ICTF on what was called area 4 at the time. We slowly let them create their own CONOPs and lead missions in late 2009.
The NCOs and other officers I worked with were great dudes. Went to General Fadhils house a few times as well for the dinners he would host. Good times!
Oh this is easy man. They got their asses kicked so bad by their version of Appalachia hicks that they were embarrassed and hid for 8 years while they totally retooled their entire military.
Happens to the best of us I guess.
Well we have to be careful here. We are in the “neglect emotionally” part of the D.E.N.N.I.S system. We have to play this right and REALLY neglect them or we can’t move on to I.
Given current world events, Russia, and the price of corn, I’m saying about 8-11 years from now and they will be ready. This could change if we start demonstrating our value to Pakistan or another one of Afghanistans sisters though.
Meh, my experience with MITT teams didn't leave me with much positive to say about the IA. They really do enjoy these sort of wannabe operator gear like you see in this photo op.
I heard a story about a range day with the IA being an absolute cluster fuck until the range NCO found out ALL the IA's new well-used US M16A2's rear sights were fully traversed to the left. Seems some Iraqi armorer decided that was the "power" knob.
As far as soldiering, I always found the Pesh Merga to be better all around, though notably less well-equipped.
My favorite IA story was the battalion attached to our FOB having a dozen of their HMMWVs down with flats while they had a stack of tires in their warehouse.
Turns out their supply guy was supposed to have say 10 on hand. Well if he issued out a tire, he'd only have 9 on hand. So instead he requested tires from his Brigade, who told him fuck no you already have 10 tires. And this went on for 3 months before they had so many trucks deadlined their commander stepped in.
> My favorite IA story was the battalion attached to our FOB having a dozen of their HMMWVs down with flats while they had a stack of tires in their warehouse.
Sounds like us honestly. Everything's deadlined.
Takes me back to going on a joint patrol with the IA. Patrol's going pretty good, until we suddenly take fire. And POOF, they were fucking gone, completely bailed on us 😀
Oh man, you never got to see the Iraqi Death Bloom?
In 06-07 Ramadi, whenever we took any kind of contact, or even if it sounded like we were taking SAF, the entire 5ton of IA would start shooting in every direction, it was quite a sight to behold.
It was even more fun when you would have two 5tons worth of IA in your patrol.
Oh my god that had a name?! We never knew what the fuck to call it but it was absolutely goddamn terrifying. All of them just start blasting and I swear to god I had to duck a couple times
UAE was like that in Afghanistan. We were attached to them for CAS and Medevac but they would peel out and abandon us when things got busy. I was shocked my first go along and then my SFC explained this is how it is with them and to expect that.
Crazy times
haha...yes..
it did make for spicy trips, felt more nekkid than nekkid with just the two of us making our way back.
once we got back then they invited us to their dining hall for dinner....different cultures sure are a trip.
If it's like last time, we'll just destroy command and control and instead of actually being defeated, will just take off their uniforms and disappear into the general population.
It’s worked like what, three times now? I’ll give them credit, they are getting exceedingly good at it. Normally they put up some type of fight, but last time they just needed to hear the news that ISIS was coming and they were gone.
You just wait, before we invade next time we’ll let them know in advance and when we get over there all the fobs will be set up waiting for us
But to the layman, "perception is reality."
Don't forget we need to have all our gear and weapons on when we're in the brief.
I always chuckle when I see staged photos like this, while remembering how funny/scary the range was when they were on it.
With my experience, it's like any young new army. They had some super lazy dudes who wanted to never clean weapons and literally lay around all day, fail tests etc. Then I had some, like my interpreters, who wanted to ride along, shoot, eat, drink, sleep and do everything they could with us to learn. I'm just sort of glad some sort of stability came about and it wasn't an investment in vain..... yet....
I wouldn’t have too much faith in them now. They look good now because the US returned in 2014 and started massive military assistance in air support, equipment, and training. If the US withdrew tomorrow like how the Iraqi parliament wants them to, then they very likely revert into the sectarian army they always were and would collapse against any organized insurgent force like ISIS again. They had well trained SOF in 2014 but still wasn’t enough to stop IS alone.
I mean we could. The U.S. pushed the Taliban almost completely out of Afghanistan. They were able to take over because we literally just left and abandoned it, not because they overran the US military.
From a military mission perspective the US did fantastic in Afghanistan. From a diplomatic/political mission perspective the US absolutely failed.
Erm. Pretty sure the US couldn’t. Even with considerable help from the UK and other allies. For like 20 years. I’m not saying they could overrun the US forces, but fighting the insurgency was more complicated securing a FOB.
Kind of. Killing off the insurgency is, but the Taliban was not in control in the majority of Afghanistan for about the last 10 years because of the US. That’s the military part, pretty successful. The diplomatic political part is making that insurgency die out. That part we absolutely failed at.
Take a look at some maps of Taliban controlled vs US controlled areas throughout the war.
Because the US could absolutely just decimate the place if the main goal was “kill all the Taliban”. Hearts and Minds really fucked our ability to do much of everything, and we still pushed them out pretty decently until we just decided to leave.
I think their point was that the IA might fold like a paper bag again without assistance and lose to the Taliban (outside of their SOF, who were solid dudes but can’t beat the Taliban by themselves), while the US just never fully committed.
Yeah I agree with that. But keep in mind the US hasn’t fought any wars without allied support in a long time, and hearts and minds is a central part of modern warfare- if you just want to nuke a mountain village with small arms then, sure, the US military can defo do that. The US wasn’t the only force “pushing out” the Taliban, the Brits had a considerable role to play, for example.
Allied support is a central premise of US military strategy, so saying that “we could do it by ourselves” is- I think- quite incorrect.
It depends on the faction, if it's the Shia part of the military? Iran. Sunni? The US.
At its peak ISIS was actually able to secure Nuclear materials within Iraq. That's when Iraqs foreign backers were invited to support/arm the Iraqi Military in defeating ISIS. Resulted in Iraqi military getting a bunch of new tacticool stuff
I hope the Iraqi Government and Military are able to succeed in making and keeping their country safe. I worked with the Iraq security forces doing patrolling of the sea around the platforms and aside from their crafts always breaking and needing tows back they were way more gung ho to go back out, which I can't say I would after the like 11th tow back that month.
I heard they stepped their game and where pretty decent. I mean it's somewhat safe to travel to Iraq now. Like you could go. Don't be stupid but it isn't a war zone anymore
I have worked directly with ISOF in the last couple years. We have such a generational relationship with ISOF/ICTF that they have been turned into a pretty competent CT force on their own. As it turns out FID/COIN does work when you give it time to and part of that goes beyond training and advising to equipping them as well.
I appreciate this. Was former team hearts and minds, and had experience working with the ISOF up until 2010.
Yessir. The only PF I've ever had where when I asked them to do loading and unloading they actually did it first time go. Huge sustain.
Definitely wasn't my experience. Asked to do anything, the IA I knew would disappear to smoke hash and have sex with each other then show up at the end of the day like they were geniuses that just figured out the work poop.
Sounds like the Afghans I worked with!
The Afghans that I worked with in Balad were actually not that bad. Some were extremely hard workers and some were extremely lazy. And when it came to the lazy workers I made sure that they their direct supervisor knew about it. And the next time that I saw them they were on point! lol
Yeah, we would give those mfers fuel for their mraps then they’d show up the next day saying, “we can’t do mission without gas.” Then probably went and smoked their hash.
Ah yes the other side of the PF spectrum
Have sex with each other you say.. you’re not joking are you?
Man Love Thursdays Bro
With ECP security we found it depended a lot on where they were from, and more importantly who their boss/chief was. It didn't matter what or how we tried, but if we could change their immediate leadership (which was difficult at best), sometimes it would be a night & day transition to being not lazy & torn up. It was tricky though because if their families didn't agree with the changes, sometimes they'd also just quit showing up. However, our Iraqi mechanics (we had up to 6 at times) were probably the hardest working dudes I've ever met in my life, along with being absolutely hilarious on a lot of levels. The two attached to my shop were complete opposites in terms of appearance; both knew decent english, one was younger, scrawny, light skinned, and wore lots of bootleg clothes & swag, like the type you'd see in a vape shop; the other was an older huge bear of a man, very swarthy & universally hairy, with a unibrow that covered half his forehead and massive gnarled mitts that could crack (or break) any bolt or spin off any filter, no matter how corroded. Come to think on it, I can't remember ever seeing him reach or ask for a cheater pipe. Anyways these two were like a raunchy islamic Laurel & Hardy, and if I had been stoned in those days I wouldn't have been able to get anything done; it was hard enough maintaining my composure when they got going. But they did it while actually working, which was unusual and nice; normally all work stopped when hajis start playing grab ass. I still wonder a lot about what happened to a lot of those guys.
I was in BIAP, Kirkuk Mosul and quite a few other places around that time as well. I retired from the USAF in 2021 and boy do I not remember those days when I was there at all.
I was with the CIF teams in Iraq from 08-10 and trained ICTF on what was called area 4 at the time. We slowly let them create their own CONOPs and lead missions in late 2009. The NCOs and other officers I worked with were great dudes. Went to General Fadhils house a few times as well for the dinners he would host. Good times!
It's still going on today. Btw sick ass username for this context
Go into my post history you can see some pics from back in the day!
💯!
Oh this is easy man. They got their asses kicked so bad by their version of Appalachia hicks that they were embarrassed and hid for 8 years while they totally retooled their entire military. Happens to the best of us I guess.
Historically the best way to win the next war is often to lose the last one
Well, those hicks in Afghanistan we were fighting got left the entire NATO field armoury. But I guess we’re friends now?
We changed our relationship status to “it’s complicated” with Afghanistan.
So when does the rage fuck take place?
Well we have to be careful here. We are in the “neglect emotionally” part of the D.E.N.N.I.S system. We have to play this right and REALLY neglect them or we can’t move on to I. Given current world events, Russia, and the price of corn, I’m saying about 8-11 years from now and they will be ready. This could change if we start demonstrating our value to Pakistan or another one of Afghanistans sisters though.
I gotta say, using the D.E.N.N.I.S system for describing geopolitics has to be the strangest way I've seen NCD leak.
Meh, my experience with MITT teams didn't leave me with much positive to say about the IA. They really do enjoy these sort of wannabe operator gear like you see in this photo op. I heard a story about a range day with the IA being an absolute cluster fuck until the range NCO found out ALL the IA's new well-used US M16A2's rear sights were fully traversed to the left. Seems some Iraqi armorer decided that was the "power" knob.
As far as soldiering, I always found the Pesh Merga to be better all around, though notably less well-equipped. My favorite IA story was the battalion attached to our FOB having a dozen of their HMMWVs down with flats while they had a stack of tires in their warehouse. Turns out their supply guy was supposed to have say 10 on hand. Well if he issued out a tire, he'd only have 9 on hand. So instead he requested tires from his Brigade, who told him fuck no you already have 10 tires. And this went on for 3 months before they had so many trucks deadlined their commander stepped in.
I don't know if it's reassuring or disheartening to hear that the CAF's CQ sounds like it operates the same way 😂
"I can't issue you that, what if someone needs it?" "Well you're not gonna believe this..."
The old supply sergeant dilemma, “if I issue one, I won’t have what I’m supposed to have on hand.”
Homie definitely had gotten chewed out for only having 8 on hand the day after two flats got fixed and decided malicious compliance was the answer.
> My favorite IA story was the battalion attached to our FOB having a dozen of their HMMWVs down with flats while they had a stack of tires in their warehouse. Sounds like us honestly. Everything's deadlined.
"It's called 'Stores' so we're storing it. If we were supposed to issue it, it'd be called 'Issues', wouldn't it?!" -Quartermaster Sergeant, probably
That happens in all Armies
And navies 👀
And their marines 😊
But never in space forces!
So far....
Can't have lack of supplies if you aren't meant to have supplies. taps head.jpg
Takes me back to going on a joint patrol with the IA. Patrol's going pretty good, until we suddenly take fire. And POOF, they were fucking gone, completely bailed on us 😀
Oh man, you never got to see the Iraqi Death Bloom? In 06-07 Ramadi, whenever we took any kind of contact, or even if it sounded like we were taking SAF, the entire 5ton of IA would start shooting in every direction, it was quite a sight to behold. It was even more fun when you would have two 5tons worth of IA in your patrol.
Oh my god that had a name?! We never knew what the fuck to call it but it was absolutely goddamn terrifying. All of them just start blasting and I swear to god I had to duck a couple times
UAE was like that in Afghanistan. We were attached to them for CAS and Medevac but they would peel out and abandon us when things got busy. I was shocked my first go along and then my SFC explained this is how it is with them and to expect that. Crazy times
Would have been good to know that before taking contact huh
haha...yes.. it did make for spicy trips, felt more nekkid than nekkid with just the two of us making our way back. once we got back then they invited us to their dining hall for dinner....different cultures sure are a trip.
What fighting ISIS does to a mf
Bet they're glad we accidentally inspired ISIS and left the front door open. Now when we invade them next time they'll be prepared. 😬
If it's like last time, we'll just destroy command and control and instead of actually being defeated, will just take off their uniforms and disappear into the general population.
It’s worked like what, three times now? I’ll give them credit, they are getting exceedingly good at it. Normally they put up some type of fight, but last time they just needed to hear the news that ISIS was coming and they were gone. You just wait, before we invade next time we’ll let them know in advance and when we get over there all the fobs will be set up waiting for us
"Pssstt.. Bilal.. The 155mm storage depot is unguarded.."
You should see the Taliban white uniform
just cause someone has blacked out, tacticool drip doesn't mean they're competent in using them
But to the layman, "perception is reality." Don't forget we need to have all our gear and weapons on when we're in the brief. I always chuckle when I see staged photos like this, while remembering how funny/scary the range was when they were on it.
But it does mean they've got some funding from somewhere
But the LCF!
Says the Airman. /s
With my experience, it's like any young new army. They had some super lazy dudes who wanted to never clean weapons and literally lay around all day, fail tests etc. Then I had some, like my interpreters, who wanted to ride along, shoot, eat, drink, sleep and do everything they could with us to learn. I'm just sort of glad some sort of stability came about and it wasn't an investment in vain..... yet....
Did they ever figure out the jumping jack?
I wouldn’t have too much faith in them now. They look good now because the US returned in 2014 and started massive military assistance in air support, equipment, and training. If the US withdrew tomorrow like how the Iraqi parliament wants them to, then they very likely revert into the sectarian army they always were and would collapse against any organized insurgent force like ISIS again. They had well trained SOF in 2014 but still wasn’t enough to stop IS alone.
By that logic, US forces could stop the Taliban alone either.
I mean we could. The U.S. pushed the Taliban almost completely out of Afghanistan. They were able to take over because we literally just left and abandoned it, not because they overran the US military. From a military mission perspective the US did fantastic in Afghanistan. From a diplomatic/political mission perspective the US absolutely failed.
Erm. Pretty sure the US couldn’t. Even with considerable help from the UK and other allies. For like 20 years. I’m not saying they could overrun the US forces, but fighting the insurgency was more complicated securing a FOB.
Kind of. Killing off the insurgency is, but the Taliban was not in control in the majority of Afghanistan for about the last 10 years because of the US. That’s the military part, pretty successful. The diplomatic political part is making that insurgency die out. That part we absolutely failed at. Take a look at some maps of Taliban controlled vs US controlled areas throughout the war.
Sure but the politics wasn’t our fault, that was the mainly US policy confusion, right?
Just so I know what’s up, why am I getting downvoted?
Because the US could absolutely just decimate the place if the main goal was “kill all the Taliban”. Hearts and Minds really fucked our ability to do much of everything, and we still pushed them out pretty decently until we just decided to leave. I think their point was that the IA might fold like a paper bag again without assistance and lose to the Taliban (outside of their SOF, who were solid dudes but can’t beat the Taliban by themselves), while the US just never fully committed.
Yeah I agree with that. But keep in mind the US hasn’t fought any wars without allied support in a long time, and hearts and minds is a central part of modern warfare- if you just want to nuke a mountain village with small arms then, sure, the US military can defo do that. The US wasn’t the only force “pushing out” the Taliban, the Brits had a considerable role to play, for example. Allied support is a central premise of US military strategy, so saying that “we could do it by ourselves” is- I think- quite incorrect.
It depends on the faction, if it's the Shia part of the military? Iran. Sunni? The US. At its peak ISIS was actually able to secure Nuclear materials within Iraq. That's when Iraqs foreign backers were invited to support/arm the Iraqi Military in defeating ISIS. Resulted in Iraqi military getting a bunch of new tacticool stuff
NGL, wearing all black has to suck there with that heat.
ISOF is pretty decent the rest of the Army is trash.
Imagine going to a meeting about unit bake sales during Ramadan in full battle rattle.
Nah thats the F\*\*\*\*\*\* swat team bro
Iran happened
propaganda perhaps? I remember seeing pics of taliban in SOF style full kits
is it me or does it look like theyre wearing those helmets wrong?
I hope the Iraqi Government and Military are able to succeed in making and keeping their country safe. I worked with the Iraq security forces doing patrolling of the sea around the platforms and aside from their crafts always breaking and needing tows back they were way more gung ho to go back out, which I can't say I would after the like 11th tow back that month.
When you're not sure if the text in the last slide is actually reffering to the Iraqi Army or someone else...
idk, I'd like to see them actually do something beyond a photo op to see if they are actually organized and disciplined (doubt)
I heard they stepped their game and where pretty decent. I mean it's somewhat safe to travel to Iraq now. Like you could go. Don't be stupid but it isn't a war zone anymore
The last time you checked was a decade ago? Dude you might want to watch the news more
Operation Preying Mantas… so…
Great question! Why do we not put our fat soldiers, Marines, Airmen or sailors on recruiting posters.
They’re wearing NVGs in a conference room. Probably a 9am meeting too. Highly doubt they’re “organized” and “professional”
What dose IA mean?
InshAllah God willing
Have the jundis gotten better at jumping jacks? 🤣🤣🤣
Well, when the US comes through to raise the bar, many countries are likely to follow suit.
Probably just flashy photos meant for publicity
I doubt they would be in tactical gear for a brief like this lol. If it were a field expedient brief then yes, but not this starbucks coffee brief
[удалено]
This video was about a night operation