https://warriorlodge.com/blogs...diers-in-afghanistan

A NOS FRERES D’ARMES AMERICAINS

"We have shared our daily life with two US units for quite a while - they are the first and fourth companies of a prestigious infantry battalion whose name I will withhold for the sake of military secrecy. To the common man it is a unit just like any other. But we live with them and got to know them, and we henceforth know that we have the honor to live with one of the most renowned units of the US Army - one that the movies brought to the public as series showing "ordinary soldiers thrust into extraordinary events". Who are they, those soldiers from abroad, how is their daily life, and what support do they bring to the men of our OMLT every day? Few of them belong to the Easy Company, the one the TV series focuses on. This one nowadays is named Echo Company, and it has become the support company.

They have a terribly strong American accent - from our point of view the language they speak is not even English. How many times did I have to write down what I wanted to say rather than waste precious minutes trying various pronunciations of a seemingly common word? Whatever State they are from, no two accents are alike and they even admit that in some crisis situations they have difficulties understanding each other. Heavily built, fed at the earliest age with Gatorade, proteins and creatine- they are all heads and shoulders taller than us and their muscles remind us of Rambo. Our frames are amusingly skinny to them - we are wimps, even the strongest of us - and because of that they often mistake us for Afghans.

And they are impressive warriors! We have not come across bad ones, as strange at it may seem to you when you know how critical French people can be. Even if some of them are a bit on the heavy side, all of them provide us everyday with lessons in infantry know-how. Beyond the wearing of a combat kit that never seem to discomfort them (helmet strap, helmet, combat goggles, rifles etc.) the long hours of watch at the outpost never seem to annoy them in the slightest. On the one square meter wooden tower above the perimeter wall they stand the five consecutive hours in full battle rattle and night vision goggles on top, their sight unmoving in the directions of likely danger. No distractions, no pauses, they are like statues nights and days. At night, all movements are performed in the dark - only a handful of subdued red lights indicate the occasional presence of a soldier on the move. Same with the vehicles whose lights are covered - everything happens in pitch dark even filling the fuel tanks with the Japy pump.Here we discover America as it is often depicted: their values are taken to their paroxysm, often amplified by promiscuity and the loneliness of this outpost in the middle of that Afghan valley.

And combat? If you have seen Rambo you have seen it all - always coming to the rescue when one of our teams gets in trouble, and always in the shortest delay. That is one of their tricks: they switch from T-shirt and sandals to combat ready in three minutes. Arriving in contact with the enemy, the way they fight is simple and disconcerting: they just charge! They disembark and assault in stride, they bomb first and ask questions later - which cuts any pussyfooting short.Honor, motherland - everything here reminds of that: the American flag floating in the wind above the outpost, just like the one on the post parcels. Even if recruits often originate from the hearth of American cities and gang territory, no one here has any goal other than to hold high and proud the star spangled banner. Each man knows he can count on the support of a whole people who provides them through the mail all that an American could miss in such a remote front-line location: books, chewing gums, razorblades, Gatorade, toothpaste etc. in such way that every man is aware of how much the American people backs him in his difficult mission. And that is a first shock to our preconceptions: the American soldier is no individualist. The team, the group, the combat team are the focus of all his attention.

(This is the main area where I'd like to comment. Anyone with a passing knowledge of Kipling knows the lines from Chant Pagan: 'If your officer's dead and the sergeants look white/remember it's ruin to run from a fight./ So take open order, lie down, sit tight/ And wait for supports like a soldier./ This, in fact, is the basic philosophy of both British and Continental soldiers. 'In the absence of orders, take a defensive position.' Indeed, virtually every army in the world. The American soldier and Marine, however, are imbued from early in their training with the ethos: In the Absence of Orders: Attack! Where other forces, for good or ill, will wait for precise orders and plans to respond to an attack or any other 'incident', the American force will simply go, counting on firepower and SOP to carry the day.

This is one of the great strengths of the American force in combat and it is something that even our closest allies, such as the Brits and Aussies (that latter being closer by the way) find repeatedly surprising. No wonder is surprises the hell out of our enemies.)

We seldom hear any harsh word, and from 5 AM onwards the camp chores are performed in beautiful order and always with excellent spirit. A passing American helicopter stops near a stranded vehicle just to check that everything is alright; an American combat team will rush to support ours before even knowing how dangerous the mission is - from what we have been given to witness, the American soldier is a beautiful and worthy heir to those who liberated France and Europe.

To those who bestow us with the honor of sharing their combat outposts and who everyday give proof of their military excellence, to those who pay the daily tribute of America's army's deployment on Afghan soil, to those we owned this article, ourselves hoping that we will always remain worthy of them and to always continue hearing them say that we are all the same band of brothers".

Awesome article

American exceptionalism is alive and well

My thanks to all tha serve

Mr P

This might also say something about the readiness of some of our more socialist leaning allies.

Nice article. Thanks for sharing it.

Did this make the rounds back in 2014 when it was published? I missed it if it did.

Really cool perspective, thanks for sharing.

I can assure you they feel the discomfort of the gear, the long watches...and gripe as well. It is nice to know the efforts are noticed.

I did some training with the Legion, they were pretty good and very motivated. Also...not French.

Germans were very professional, I'm sure good soldiers, but not allowed to leave base.

Canadian infantry seemed solid, lots of contact with the enemy in Helmand province, their "MREs" were really good.

I may have teared up a bit.

quote:

Originally posted by KMitch200:
Did this make the rounds back in 2014 when it was published? I missed it if it did.

This has been making the rounds for about a decade now.

It apparently originated as a blog post written by a French soldier in 2008: http://web.archive.org/web/200...rticle-22935665.html

Since then, it has been forwarded and reposted quite a bit, and sometimes changed to add other stuff that's not in the original, or attributed to various slightly different sources.

quote:

Canadian infantry seemed solid, lots of contact with the enemy in Helmand province, their "MREs" were really good.

wonder if the MRE' still had Jenkin's Turkey?

more fat and jelly than real turkey...not worth carrying around - takes up weight and space

I read that back around the time of its original publication


It never gets old

Excellent article. Thanks for sharing.

Great thread, good to have the frenchies on outside.

sent it to my former-Marine son (2 tours Gulf War I).....his response was to the effect: 'served with French units--the best I can report is they had a good dinner kit'.......

quote:

Originally posted by signewt:
sent it to my former-Marine son (2 tours Gulf War I).....his response was to the effect: 'served with French units--the best I can report is they had a good dinner kit'.......

Gulf 1 was likely the legion.

quote:

Originally posted by Kevbo:
I read that back around the time of its original publication

During the first American Civil War.

old stuff

was it ever true vs. fake news? propaganda works both ways

American soldiers aren't supermen. just well-trained and well-equipped with a generally solid mission-oriented nature and a desire to succeed. i think our strength has always been junior leaders empowered to accomplish the mission with minimal guidance and the resources at hand.

I lol'd at this: "We seldom hear any harsh word, and from 5 AM onwards the camp chores are performed in beautiful order and always with excellent spirit."

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We’ve got the best military might in the world and that’s why the Chinese, Russians, North Korea hate us....let’s not start with the Middle East

quote:

Originally posted by FenderBender:

quote:

Originally posted by signewt:
sent it to my former-Marine son (2 tours Gulf War I).....his response was to the effect: 'served with French units--the best I can report is they had a good dinner kit'.......

Gulf 1 was likely the legion.

Not just them:

quote:

The French ground forces contribution was the provisional Division Daguet, which was drawn mostly from units of the 6th Light Armoured Division (6 DLB), with additional units like the 4th Regiment of Dragoons from the 2nd Armoured Division, and units from the French Foreign Legion. Division Daguet split its forces into two tactical groups for the actual ground war: Group West (Groupement ouest) and Group East (Groupement est). Initially, the French operated independently under national command and control, but coordinated closely with the Americans, Saudis and CENTCOM. In January, the Division was placed under the tactical control of the US XVIII Airborne Corps and reinforced for the ground war with the following units from the US Army: 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, 18th Field Artillery Brigade and 27th Engineer Battalion.

The role of the 6th French Light Armoured Division and the US XVIII Airborne Corps was to protect the theatre left flank and perhaps draw off Iraqi tactical and operational reserves.

The landing platform ship Foudre was sent to Kuwait to increase the force's medical capabilities.

Opération Daguet was the codename for French operations during the 1991 Gulf War.

Great read. On that "fat" comment, I found it interesting that Germans, despite looking like fitness buffs, would be ground into the dirt by us heavy looking Americans on joint missions. That's with us carrying most of their shit too so they could better try and keep up. Always.

I have a hard time believing that was written by a French guy. Reads like a chain email.

Be fair....the article is that old....but I’m not!

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:

quote:

Originally posted by Kevbo:
I read that back around the time of its original publication

During the first American Civil War.