I’ve got a friend who had an extraordinary career in the Army. He was a CAG officer who retired a couple years ago as a bird Colonel. I met him 15 years ago, as a major, when he brought his unit to my ranger district, repeatedly, to train; we’ve been friends ever since.

Wednesday, I heard from his son, currently an Air Force officer who is in the process of transferring over to Army SF. There’s a reason he didn’t just go for AFSOF, but suffice to say, he wasn’t content with his role in the AF. He has already passed SFAS, and was headed to
N Carolina with his wife and his dad. What lies ahead are (in order) jump school at Benning, SOFCCC (Captain’s Career Course) and the Q Course, which is essentially all the training to become Army SF; 2 years + in his case.

The three of them were passing through and we arranged for them to stay at the house last night before continuing on this morning. I could add, they’re not heading straight for NC, tomorrow Navy is at Air Force and he played football at the USAFA.

I thought I should get something special and went shopping for bourbon and picked up a bottle of Horse Soldier Small Batch. I knew the story. The distillery was founded by members of ODA 595 and 574. Mazar-i-Sharif was the targeted by Team 595 and the Northern Alliance, while Team 574 was inserted into southern Afghanistan where they tied in with Hamid Karzai and his Pashtun Militia, with the liberation of Kandahar as their goal. More on this later.

After buying the bourbon, I searched for some YT reviews, and I have to agree, it’s a good, but not great bourbon. That could change, they have been contracting for bourbon from Middle West Distillery during their transition to a fully operational distillery of their own. It has been built, and I think they are actively aging their own bourbon now. I expect you’ll see a change in their product. One reviewer was especially enthralled by the story of those soldiers in the early days of the Afghan War. He provided a link to a documentary that I watched today.

Legion of Brothers; the Secret Mission to Overthrow the Taliban is the documentary, and I highly recommend it. After little more than month in country, ODA 595 and the Northern Alliance liberated Mazar-i-Sharif and almost simultaneously ODA 574, working with Hamid Karzai and his Pashtun militia liberated Kandahar. A total force of 24 Green Berets and additional SF totaling less than 100, broke Taliban control of Afghanistan and drove them back into Pakistan. What happened after that is well recorded.

Decide for yourself on the bourbon, it’s at least good, and I believe a portion of the profits goes to help wounded veterans.
Legion of Brothers

I wish him well and great success in the SF Q Course. Tell him the body can do much more than the mind thinks it can.

Charlie Mike and De Oppresso Liber.

quote:

Originally posted by SW_Sig:
I wish him well and great success in the SF Q Course. Tell him the body can do much more than the mind thinks it can.

Charlie Mike and De Oppresso Liber.

He’s committed, and given the addition of family history, I’d be really surprised if he didn’t sail through like he did SFAS. I know he arrived here in great shape.

The molds that make the bottle's tin label are made out steel from the World Trade Towers.