01 August 2006

Anchors away...

Well we are well underway off the beautiful Chilean coast.  The operation is going well.  It is a great combination of geo-political and military scenarios.  Much like the real world, it is very complicated.  Forces are deployed with differing objectives from their national command authorities and the presence of asymmetric threats is high.  I really like the multinational environment.  It forces us to look at the proficiency of our neighbors and recognize that we may not have the edge in every area. 

 

All I can say is that most of the SA (South American) navies are very proficient.  Our days have been long and sometimes full of tedium.  The crews on all the ships are fairly young.  Everyone aboard these vessels is technically savvy, maybe too savvy.  It has been a problem with the proliferation of electronic gadgets and their possible compromising of a ship’s EMCON (emission condition).  But in general, it is generally helpful to have a “battle cell phone” when all of your other circuits are down or otherwise occupied.

 

There a few famous examples of military personnel using “standard and public” technology to effect critical operations.  The call for fires in Greneda made through a commercial operator at Fort Bragg from the island by a squad of Army Rangers comes to mind. 

 

Major John has threatened to provide me with an Army issue boot-to-butt course correction if I should set foot inside the pictured McDonald’s.  Don’t worry, sir, I will stay with the local cuisine.  I had also been commenting on Scoot’s blog about military matters and was quoted out of context by Hunter at Random.  I want to be clear about something, US military personnel volunteer for service which is honorable and dangerous.  As a consequence of our service, we are subject to more restriction on our rights and privileges.  This is a voluntary contract and entered into with full knowledge. 

 

While I may not agree with every DoD policy, I adhere to them and seek to influence or change them as my position allows.  It is one of the best aspects of our democracy, civilian control of the military, which allows me to point back to the citizen and remind them of their duty to make sure the military reflects their values and beliefs.

1 comment:

Citizen Deux said...

As I have become somewhat good friends with the Chilean Lieutenant responsible for sub operations, that could probably be arranged.

I will steer clear of the McDs. Although we did have Peruvian hamburgers for lunch today - they were oval. As for the song, I'll have to get back to you. Although you haven't lived until you have watched Latin American Idol.