Tag Archives: SNCO

Choose Your Own Tactical Adventure

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1st Squad Leader: “I don’t think anyone will be fighting tonight, especially me. Looks like a birthday party at the chief’s house to me. Let’s get back home and get some chow of our own.”

This seems to me to be great opportunity to exploit. The last thing I want to do is let our police friends have any clue about my real intentions at this point. One slip of information can destroy our advantage. Moving away from the police and grabbing the radio, I contact my 1st Fire Team leader: “1st Team, take a few quick photos of the place, but do not be seen or act in a threatening way. Return to my position ASAP.”

Here is how I see it. Tonight the surly gang will likely return from town for lamb stew at the chief’s house, and then depart on a mission unknown. We have until after dinner to nail them. I do not want to arouse even the slightest suspicion of my true intent. There are few roads, and I want anyone who sees us to think we are returning to base. I will make a particularly blatant effort to pass through town and wave goodbye to everyone, as we obviously head to base for the night.    There is no way we can successfully interdict them before they get back to the mountain house from town. They are unarmed now. Any of our assets left near or on the way to the house will be spotted. To fight now at the chief’s house could find us outnumbered and unable to seal all egress routes.

On the way back, I grab the encrypted radio: “Platoon base, let me speak with 6 Actual.   

“Lieutenant, I believe that a team of bad guys is in town resupplying and will be returning to the chief’s home for dinner. We saw more than a dozen suspects in town and dinner preparations for a large group at the house. There was an unfamiliar pickup and van at the house. I am returning to base immediately and have not informed the police or my men of my intentions. We have taken no actions that would arouse bad guy suspicions.

“I recommend that we keep the element of surprise we now have and prepare to raid the chief’s house during dinner. I fear that any later may allow them to depart. As I observed the objective, I recommend that we assemble all possible assets for this operation. There may well have been another dozen men in the van and pickup now at the house that we did not observe. My men will be ready to turn around at your command.”

I am hoping that the lieutenant can rally the platoon, the combined antiarmor team, and heavier high-level assets to implement a strong raid on the chief’s place. We will have the advantage of dark and, if we do it right, surprise. It will be a surprise dessert for the bad guys tonight.

This my friends, is a submitted solution to TDG-11-2….At The Marine Corps Gazette’s Tactical Decision Game

To play click here, and battle wits with the best small platoon and company level field officers in the world……

The Last US Army Draftee is still on Active Service After 37 years

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When you think of an American conscript draftee, you think of the citizen soldiers who answered the call during the Civil War (where only 2% of soldiers were drafted), the two World Wars, Korea, and finally Vietnam. In the tail-end days of the Vietnam conflict the draft was discontinued in December 1972 with the last draftees reporting for service June 1973. It has often been portrayed in the media that conscripted men taken into service during the latter part of the Vietnam conflict were either those too dumb or poor or both to get out of it. This image is sharply contrasted by draftee Jeffery Mellinger. Mellinger drafted April 18, 1972, served his required two years.

Then he re-enlisted voluntarily-and has continued to do so for the following 37-years.

He is now the Command Sergeant Major for the US Army’s Material Command. CSM Mellinger has made over 3700 military parachute jumps, served around the world, and spent no less than 33-months in Iraq. During his Iraq time the Sergeant Major walked away from 27 roadside bombs and was declared ‘a national asset’ by General David Petraeus. Before going to Iraq he had spent years in the Rangers, was a drill sergeant at Ft Gordon, an ROTC instructor at the University of Alaska and an instructor to the US Special Forces (“Green Berets”).

CSM Mellinger, besides his Legion of Merit and Bronze Star has gained another honor….that of the last US draftee on active duty.