Late to the AMA, what effects do you think troop and battle space rotations had on the "winnability" of the Afghan war? What challenges did these rotations present for you as contractors and the continuity brain trusts in your AOs? Do you think the government and/or the military has the ability to internalize the lessons learned from the entirety of the Afghan war? Which INT is the most accurate, timely, and reliable? How would you like to solve the gaps between tactical collectors/analysts, strategic analysts, and decision makers?

“withdrawal out of bagram” = big e4 mindset. Not possible to secure a geo area that large with the force policy makers left the DoD. No contribution from foreign militaries an hour north. HKIA was the only real option.

Holy shit, this actually made me a little emotional. How did he see the kids in the backseat? Did he use FLIR?

Kyle - Only guy I’d call a hero was an airman on board one of our ISR planes. They were setting up a strike on a high value target. Everything was ready. They’d been after this guy for months and wanted him dead. They clear the strike on this dude’s car. Missile goes off the rails time to target is stated. This airman sees one or two kids in the backseat. Calls for a strike cancel and they send the missile to another laser on the side of the mountain. People were pissed bc they didn’t get their guy but he saved two kids lives that day. Absolute hero.

What was the greatest act of humanity that you witnessed?

• Save and invest all your money into conservative share portfolios or EFTS.
• Have another stream of income so you're not solely reliant on stripping.
• Keep it completely to yourself. Keep it completely separate from your real life.
• If you get a boyfriend, lie and tell him you do something else for work. They do not need to know.

hahaha.

How exactly were people supposed to get to Bagram from Kabul?

It's just... So perfect. :')

The owner is definitely holed up in a shack in a corn field in Nebraska. A true contemporary Unabomber.

Like this?

>(What the fuck even is Square Space)

It's a very nice website used to make very shitty websites.

Airbone. 🫡

Nobody wants to be the guy holding the bag when the bottom falls out. Duffel Blog for reference.

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Politicians holding up a bill to help those who helped us sounds about right.

This is Zach. I'm a casual observer in the r/army subreddit. And ol sarmage is a hero and an inspiration.

>though where there is no history of meddling in the affairs of poor countries.

Y'all just got yaselves a new fan.

Are y'all active in r/army ? And also, are y'all familiar with their lord and savior u/CSM_Airbone? If not, please check his comment history.

It costs us $366 a year to make this podcast. So if BlueApron wants to send us $366 dollars we won't stop them from hocking their overpriced meal kit business. (What the fuck even is Square Space)

So to launch off of Zach's comments, what's the team's take on why senior military leaders continued to state that the war was winnable (also see nearly two decades of "turning the corner")?

What does the team make of the holdups with passing the Afghan Adjustment Act?

Oh boy, where to start? The decision to evacuate from Kabul instead of Bagram was heavily criticized, and unfortunately we all learned why. Removing servicemembers from Afghanistan before diplomats was also a poor decision. Acting as if everything was okay up until nothing was okay might have been the worst real-time decision. There were reports of State Department personnel acting as if everything was business as usual while the Taliban marched into Kabul.

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A withdrawal should have started much sooner and been conducted out of Bagram. The Departments of State and Defense should have begun identifying and moving out SIV holders earlier. But that would have required an objective understanding of just how bad things were on the ground.

>There are no ads for square space or blue apron.

This got me good😂. Also don't forget BetterHelp. And DraftKings. And Liquid IV.

I hate to love podcasts.

Wondering about the pull out disaster. Do you have opinions about how it came about? Failure in DC or in the field? Any hindsight about what could have been done differently?

Kyle - Kabuli Pulao

This is Zach. Chopan kabob is an all timer for me.

What’s your favorite Afghan meal?

Kyle - Cherry Garcia is the best ice cream, but chocolate chip cookie dough is second.