theboardwalkpodcast
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja82572 wrote
Reply to comment by thebolts in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
Contracts in general varied from year and job. I made upwards of $180k when I was there. The largest contract I heard of was for logisticians. Some of them were still clearing north of $300k a year at the end. I met one such person in 2016. He’d been contracting for 12 years and was heading home for good. He had a house in Dallas and 2 cars paid in full with no additional debt. He was retiring at 33.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja7dozj wrote
Reply to comment by Woody1001625 in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
This is Zach. I didn't make it out to Kandahar until 2016, and I'm not sure there were any Brits in TAAC-South. But, we did have a situation where an Australian major (he's a cousin to us after all) was trying to tell an American civilian to calm down and called her a cunt. Cultural differences are a son of a bitch. I'll never forget that.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja7de4r wrote
Reply to comment by Expensive_Winter_864 in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
Deployment cycles certainly had an effect on the war's winnability. Wesley Morgan's book The Hardest Place directly addresses the difficulties faced in the Pech Valley due to our rotations. We consider theater-level changeover to be a bigger issue. A new ISAF commander would show up and they would have a new plan, which means it's time to scrap the old one. Any progress made over the previous year would be halted to pivot to the new priorities. And an even bigger contributing factor, probably the biggest, to the war being lost was the inability to build a stable government. That responsibility fell on the State Department.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja7ckle wrote
Reply to comment by rab777hp in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
I don't say this to be flippant, but how was everyone supposed to get to Kabul from every corner of the country? Had those in charge accepted the reality following Doha Agreement, things are different. Instead, they sat on their hands and did nothing and we were left with August 2021.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja7c4x4 wrote
Reply to comment by hangarang in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
We couldn't accomplish anything with 2500 advisors in country. Which is why 5000 soldiers and marines were sent back in for the evacuation. If Bagram requires more people, and it would have, then you send more people.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja6hdaz wrote
Reply to comment by AutisticFloridaMan in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
Yeah it was on FLIR like normal but he saw someone moving in the backseat and then eventually a couple of kids got out. Wild.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja6a4qm wrote
Reply to comment by AutisticFloridaMan in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
Kyle - Only guy I’d call a hero was an airman on board one of our ISR planes. They were setting up a strike on a high value target. Everything was ready. They’d been after this guy for months and wanted him dead. They clear the strike on this dude’s car. Missile goes off the rails time to target is stated. This airman sees one or two kids in the backseat. Calls for a strike cancel and they send the missile to another laser on the side of the mountain. People were pissed bc they didn’t get their guy but he saved two kids lives that day. Absolute hero.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja5u820 wrote
Reply to comment by Krieger22 in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
Nobody wants to be the guy holding the bag when the bottom falls out. Duffel Blog for reference.
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Politicians holding up a bill to help those who helped us sounds about right.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja5tk2c wrote
Reply to comment by Jeff-FaFa in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
This is Zach. I'm a casual observer in the r/army subreddit. And ol sarmage is a hero and an inspiration.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja5sivy wrote
Reply to comment by Jeff-FaFa in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
It costs us $366 a year to make this podcast. So if BlueApron wants to send us $366 dollars we won't stop them from hocking their overpriced meal kit business. (What the fuck even is Square Space)
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja5sb7s wrote
Reply to comment by TICKERTICKER in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
Oh boy, where to start? The decision to evacuate from Kabul instead of Bagram was heavily criticized, and unfortunately we all learned why. Removing servicemembers from Afghanistan before diplomats was also a poor decision. Acting as if everything was okay up until nothing was okay might have been the worst real-time decision. There were reports of State Department personnel acting as if everything was business as usual while the Taliban marched into Kabul.
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A withdrawal should have started much sooner and been conducted out of Bagram. The Departments of State and Defense should have begun identifying and moving out SIV holders earlier. But that would have required an objective understanding of just how bad things were on the ground.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja5ppvk wrote
Reply to comment by rafael-a in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
Kyle - Kabuli Pulao
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja5iqlc wrote
Reply to comment by rafael-a in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
This is Zach. Chopan kabob is an all timer for me.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja5gu94 wrote
Reply to comment by theboardwalkpodcast in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
Kyle - Cherry Garcia is the best ice cream, but chocolate chip cookie dough is second.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja5f0aw wrote
Reply to comment by bitesized-planetoid in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
Kyle - Hey European! Sorry for the refugees, but I can’t speak for why the EU continues to accept them. Afghans have been a refuge seeking people since prior to the Russian invasion, so there has always been an Afghan refugee issue. I think the US is obligated to help those afghans who helped us and the other NATO countries during the war effort by providing safety, housing and some job opportunities. But, as you know especially in Europe, those things are sadly hard to find anywhere even by native citizens of the west. Don’t think it’ll get better. Much of the world has been destabilized and people, either to escape war or as opportunists, will use whatever loophole they can to reach the glorious welfare states of the west one way or another. As for whether it is our fault? Yes, I believe a lot of it is the US’ fault. I’m sure it’s nice to live in Europe, though where there is no history of meddling in the affairs of poor countries.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja5e1tz wrote
Reply to comment by CheesingTiger in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
Kyle - That’s a good point, but for many who want to get into the Intel field the military is the only way they can. And it’s weird to think of Intel being privatized considering, outside of corporate espionage, intelligence is in service of the state and I think it’s strange any of it is contracted out to private entities. True intelligence is conducted by the guys on the ground, often local nationals, who risk life and limb to tell us things for either patriotism or the USD. The “analysts” are just bureaucrats with a job title that sounds cool to people who don’t know and the roles in the Intel agencies are better suited to Mormon types who are squeaky clean and idealistic and believe in the cause. Because I never believed in the “cause” I’m not a very safe asset for the state to keep around. I work in a totally unrelated field now.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja5d9at wrote
Reply to comment by llacer96 in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
Kyle - I went in during a really big unemployment crisis in 2011. I was young and had no idea what to do with my life and thought I wanted to see what the Army is about despite reading all the famous war novels warning against it. I really just wanted to try it and go and have the experience. They were offering a bonus to linguists and going to study languages in Monterey CA seemed nice. And it was nice and it was difficult and at the end of it I could speak Korean. Well, Kim Jong Il died at the time and the army asked any native Korean speaker to switch to a linguist job and they’d promote them. So I finished school and since everyone had been promoted into the slots above me, my only chance at promotion was to switch jobs. Lol. Hard to explain but that was the first sign it was a shit show. Then I was assigned to fort hood which is a terrible place to be. Then I worked the Afghan mission in spy planes or remotely with drones. I met a lot of good people who are my friends to this day, but you quickly realized all the missions didn’t really matter because at the time no one could tell you why we were even in Afghanistan. I knew I wanted out so used my security clearance to do more Intel work when I realized that everyone knew the war was a failure and we just had to keep going through the motions. See documentary: hypernormalisation. We all knew it was a sham and kept going. I realized I wanted no part it in it, quit, went home and became an RN and got my masters degree with my GI bill. All that killing and death and hard work for a mission everyone knew didn’t matter.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja5c8sk wrote
Reply to comment by EqualityForAllll in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
I'll try to answer all of these.
- The US initially went to Afghanistan following the events of 9/11 to eliminate Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida.
- Contractors became a useful tool to bypass troop limits in war zones. $108b, per the Costs of War.
- Civilian deaths had numerous causes, most commonly from drone strikes, crossfire, and botched missions. Estimated civilian deaths from the Costs of War are around 70,000 people.
- The US didn't decide it was okay to torture. Certain individuals did. Torture is wrong.
- Conducting patrols through poppy fields was common. Guarding them was not.
- The US is trying to pressure the Taliban government to become more tolerant and inclusive before releasing additional funds. Mind you, our government is still sending them money, just not as much.
- We don't have a good number but there are quite a few Americans still in Afghanistan.
- That money isn't for reparations. And it's being withheld from the government for the above stated reasons.
- American foreign policy has certainly become more expeditious since World War II and that creates myriad problems. Problems that are not well known to people who enlist at 20 years old.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja54vcz wrote
Reply to comment by noOneCaresOnTheWeb in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
Well, the Taliban is running the show in Afghanistan again and thousands of people are dead. So there have been a few consequences. But none for the leadership that did the lying.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja54n5t wrote
Reply to comment by CheesingTiger in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
Zach - It seems the military as a whole is losing the race to attract good talent. I got paid about 5x more to do my job as a contractor than I did as a soldier. Why stick around when I know where the payday is? Furthermore, I now work in a completely different field in the civilian world. There are overlaps to my time as an analyst but I did not get my job because I was an analyst. I got my job because I had experience leading people from my days as a squad leader. That's becoming more common, at least among my friends. The military, specifically the Army, is starting to learn you can't treat soldiers like shit for $35,000 a year and expect them to stick around. If not for contracts, the situation would probably be worse.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja52sl9 wrote
Reply to comment by bitesized-planetoid in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
- Bin Laden was in Afghanistan and then fled to Pakistan.
- I don't know what you should do with rejected Afghan asylum seekers. I couldn't tell you the first thing about your country's laws.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja4tke3 wrote
Reply to comment by llacer96 in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
Zach - My parents both retired from the Army and tried to steer me away from joining. After pissing away an academic scholarship, I went to the recruiter. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do but I knew I wasn't ready to continue trying to be a student. I took the ASVAB, scored really high, and joined. I don't know if I had a choice but to support the military when I joined, considering its impact on my upbringing. It's safe to say I certainly became disillusioned by the time I got out, but not necessarily with the military, but rather with senior leaders and policymakers.
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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja4p29a wrote
Reply to comment by drums_addict in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
Zach - Internet access is available in all provinces with varying levels of stability. All the figures we have found suggest only about a quarter of Afghans use the internet, specifically on their phones. We have followed certain Afghans who do exactly this, using technology to help provide education to remote and/or underserved areas of Afghanistan. I great account to follow for such activity is The Helmand Journal. He is doing a lot of good work and has opened at least a half dozen schools that I can think of. But he's only one person.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja86gk8 wrote
Reply to comment by thebolts in We are the voices behind The Boardwalk Podcast, back for another discussion before we begin our next season covering all things Afghanistan. Ask us anything! by theboardwalkpodcast
If so I’d wager that it’s a small contributor.