wFrom: Nancy Smoyer

wtDate: August 29, 2013

Subject: Faulty Strategy Caused Medal of Honor

In 1993 I was standing with a Marine and our former-enemy guide at Con Thien where the Marine had spent some time. The Vietnamese asked him what the reason was for having an outpost there. After a pause, the Marine said "cannon fodder." The Vietnamese nodded in understanding.

Nancy

wFrom: Joe Ciokon Date:

wtAugust 27, 2013

Subject: Faulty Strategy Caused Medal of Honor

SNAFU

Joe

wFrom: Frank Rogers

wtDate: August 28, 2013

Subject: Faulty Strategy Caused Medal of Honor

To me, the most part of the report is that no one has questioned the stupidity of placing small units in outposts that cannot be defended, or even reinforced or having quick reaction support even over the 12 hours this one was under attack. It is like placing cavalry units in tents deep within American Indian territory back in "the olden days."

FrankR

Faulty Strategy Caused Medal of Honor

August 2013

wFrom: Joe Ciokon

wtDate: August 29, 2013

Subject: Faulty Strategy Caused Medal of Honor

Did you also know "Hamburger Hill" was a diversion to keep those NVA regiments tied up while some SEALs could sneak behind the lines and grab a high value target?

JoeC

"I did not say this. I was never here."

wFrom: Forrest Bandt

wtDate: August 28, 2013

Subject: Faulty Strategy Caused Medal of Honor

And what was the strategy in Vietnam? What I believe I saw consistently in the AO of the BRO was that we put small ndps and fsbs out where attack was invited so that we could apply the overwhelming firepower we possessed no one likes to play the role of bait, but its long been a strategy used by American forces since 1940. Forrest

wFrom: Jordan St. John

wtDated: August 27, 2013

Subject: Faulty Strategy Caused Medal of Honor

[QUOTED MESSAGE] Subject: [AFVN ] Medal of Honor Recipient Joins Pentagon Hall of Heroes

American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2013 -

Army Staff Sgt. Ty M. Carter, who received the nation's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor.

On Oct. 3, 2009, the 53 defenders of Combat Outpost Keating, located in the remote areas of eastern Afghanistan's Nuristan province, woke to some 300 enemy attackers raining down incoming rifle, rocket-propelled grenade, machine-gun and mortar fire from the high ground surrounding the outpost.

Sergeant Carter, assigned that day to support the camp's guard posts, repeatedly braved withering fire, sprinting again and again over open ground to keep defenders supplied with ammunition, and to aid and evacuate a badly wounded friend and fellow soldier.

AFVN Group Conversations

wFrom: Joe Ciokon

wtDate: August 29, 2013

Subject: Faulty Strategy Caused Medal of Honor

What do you think SOCOM is all about today?

wFrom: Jordan St. John

wtDated: August 28, 2013

Subject: Faulty Strategy Caused Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor Recipient Joins Pentagon Hall of Heroes

By Karen Parrish American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2013 - Defense Department leaders turned out here today to honor Army Staff Sgt. Ty M. Carter, who received the nation's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, from President Barack Obama in a White House ceremony yesterday.

Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter led today's induction ceremony, which formally added the staff sergeant's name to the list of Medal of Honor recipients featured at the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes. Army Undersecretary Joseph W. Westphal and Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John F. Campbell also spoke at the ceremony.

On Oct. 3, 2009, the 53 defenders of Combat Outpost Keating, located in the remote areas of eastern Afghanistan's Nuristan province, woke to some 300 enemy attackers raining down incoming rifle, rocket-propelled grenade, machine-gun and mortar fire from the high ground surrounding the outpost.

Sergeant Carter, assigned that day to support the camp's guard posts, repeatedly braved withering fire, sprinting again and again over open ground to keep defenders supplied with ammunition, and to aid and evacuate a badly wounded friend and fellow soldier. "His bold actions that day are emblematic not just of the decisions of fellow soldiers in his unit, but of a generation ... of soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen that have distinguished themselves during 12 hard years of persistent conflict," the deputy defense secretary said.

Deputy Secretary Carter said regardless of whether or how they have served, Americans see their own highest aspirations reflected in actions like the staff sergeant's -- and by firefighters rushing into burning skyscrapers, teachers protecting children from gunfire, or rescue swimmers braving dark waters to aid others in danger.

"His actions are the deeds and spirit, in that sense, of thousands of common men and women capable of uncommon valor in the most extraordinary and unexpected circumstances," he said. "In so many ways, the Medal of Honor Sergeant Carter received represents not just the best of him, but the best of all of us -- all that we hope to be."

The nation will preserve the hard-earned lessons it has learned over a decade of war, he said, and adapt them for a future in which global threats grow less predictable and more dangerous.

"Amidst these challenges, Sergeant Carter's induction as a Medal of Honor recipient is a reminder of the strength and endurance, not just of our fighting men and women, but of our national spirit," Deputy Secretary Carter said. "Ours will always be a country that runs toward the sound of danger, in order to preserve the ideals that we cherish."

The deputy secretary noted that the staff sergeant, who has spoken publicly about his own struggles with post-traumatic stress, now has another chance to serve the nation -- out of combat.

"You're joining a prestigious fellowship of warriors, who have exhibited the utmost courage and bravery in battle," the deputy secretary said to Carter. "With this opportunity comes an opportunity: to continue to inspire not just your brothers and sisters in the military, but the country as a whole."

The nation counted on Sergeant Carter at COP Keating, the deputy secretary said, "and now we count on you to remind Americans of the best that we all can be. ... I have no doubt that your courageous acts in Afghanistan are only the beginning of your service to this country."

wFrom: Forest Brandt

wtDate: August 28, 2013

Subject: Faulty Strategy Caused Medal of Honor

Joe, just as I said, same strategy we've used since the 1940s.

We're a technologically advanced war machine that no one in their right mind wants to confront directly, so the only way to get our technology to work to our benefit is to entice the bad guys into attacking perceived vulnerable units/sites/ndps/fsbs in the hope that those deliberately "soft" targets will draw the enemy into a kill zone.

Is that ethical? Is it effective? Those are questions echelons above my poor powers to add and subtract.

Forrest