What the French Army says about the US Army
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by Jean-Marc Liotier
American troops in Afghanistan through the eyes of a French OMLT infantryman
"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 very strong American accent - the language they speak
seems to be 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 themselves admit that in some
crisis situations they have difficulties understanding each other.Heavily built, fed at the earliest age with Gatorade, proteins at
places like Waffle House and McDonalds - they are all heads and
shoulders taller than us and their muscles remind us of Rambo. Our
frames are amusingly skinny to them - even the strongest of us - and
because of that they often mistake us for Afghans. -
Here we discover America as it is often depicted: their values are
taken to their paroxysm, often amplified by the loneliness of this
outpost in the middle of that Afghan valley. Honor, motherland -
everything here reminds of that: the American flag floating in the
wind above the outpost, just like the one on the postage parcels. Even
if recruits often originate from the heart 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 their whole people who
provide them through the mail all the things that an American could
miss in such a remote front-line location: books, chewing gums,
razorblades, Gatorade, toothpaste etc. -
All the more why the French hate the English!
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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.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 seems 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 tower above the perimeter wall they stand the
five consecutive hours in full battle rattle and night vision goggles
on top, their sight focused 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.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 -
(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 its 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 it 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 owed 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".--
In God I trustJean-Marc Liotier
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I did not right this, nor did I change any part of the story. This isnt meant to offend anyone. I just thought i might share a really interesting story
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omg. makes me so proud of our soldiers.
beautifully written.
thx for sharing this with us!❤
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That was a very moving piece. Thank you for sharing.
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🇺🇸✊
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I always find it nice that the American people back their Armed forces.
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❤🇺🇸❤
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icemanian wrote:
Did you read it or you just yapping?🚑All the more why the French hate the English!
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Yes I did read it thanks. Very heartwarming and I respect our armed forces ( i'm ex army btw) in the sacrifice that they give so that we (as a nation) can live a normal life!
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θцтsi₫эЂэ฿фж wrote:
BakedBananas wrote:
👍That was a very moving piece. Thank you for sharing.
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Amazing piece, thank you for sharing. Best wishes for our men and women abroad, your friends and family are thinking of you.
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Extraordinary...and all voluntary!!! 🍹Cheers🍹to what keeps the wackos in the world in check...we are lucky!!!
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That's bullshit about British soldiers sit tight a wait while there isn't no presence of command, any army has no choice to fight back if in heavy fire from the enemy. Not sit there and wait for reinforcements lol
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💢❡∅∫✌∂✝♓́💢 wrote:
it's called taking cover while the next high ranking officer makes a call to base,That's bullshit about British soldiers sit tight a wait while there isn't no presence of command, any army has no choice to fight back if in heavy fire from the enemy. Not sit there and wait for reinforcements lol
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__Don_Line__ wrote:
While in a firefight there not going to be out of cover lol unless ambushed.💢❡∅∫✌∂✝♓́💢 wrote:
it's called taking cover while the next high ranking officer makes a call to base,That's bullshit about British soldiers sit tight a wait while there isn't no presence of command, any army has no choice to fight back if in heavy fire from the enemy. Not sit there and wait for reinforcements lol
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💢❡∅∫✌∂✝♓́💢 wrote:
Let's not do this. Everyone does their part__Don_Line__ wrote:
While in a firefight there not going to be out of cover lol unless ambushed.💢❡∅∫✌∂✝♓́💢 wrote:
it's called taking cover while the next high ranking officer makes a call to base,That's bullshit about British soldiers sit tight a wait while there isn't no presence of command, any army has no choice to fight back if in heavy fire from the enemy. Not sit there and wait for reinforcements lol
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Sorry its so long, it took me 15 minuites to post all of it😜
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ⱣλБŁΩ🔫🌊🗻 wrote:
was great. thx again! 👍👍Sorry its so long, it took me 15 minuites to post all of it😜
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saelo2myltlfren wrote:
omg. makes me so proud of our soldiers.
beautifully written.
thx for sharing this with us!❤
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🇺🇸America, FUCK YEAH!!!🇺🇸
That was quite suprising coming from a Frog. -
That was awesome! I was fortunate to get to know some of our French brothers from l'Ecole and St. Cyr in college, some great guys and i have the utmost respect for them as well. Thank you for sharing that!
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saelo2myltlfren wrote:
No problemⱣλБŁΩ🔫🌊🗻 wrote:
was great. thx again! 👍👍Sorry its so long, it took me 15 minuites to post all of it😜
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What the French record for wars lately? Oh yea 0-11
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