I was going to write an op-ed piece about the whole Gen. Vaught vs. Adm McRaven deal, because honestly I think it's been a long time coming, but then I read this one (see below) and thought...why bother writing my own? He said everything that needs to be said. Now, it could be argued that no one in NSW or anywhere else in USSOCOM should take the word of an action figure (or a pair of action figures), but that doesn't make what we say any less correct. We've known and worked with representatives of most every sort of SOF units. Not on missions, we're not claiming that we've been out kicking doors with JTF Snake-Eater anywhere. Just saying we've seen and gotten to know quite a few. Our read on it is this: there has been an increasing commingling of METLs in various SOF units because of the war. Some because it was necessary, some because it was convenient, some apparently just because., but this mission-mix, mission creep, whatever you want to call it, is a contributing factor (just imho) to some of the publicity issues. Having said that, there's neither reason nor need to compare and contrast the relative studliness of SEALs vs. Green Berets, or DEVGRU vs. the Unit (or any of the other guys like PJs and Force guys and whatnot). They're all pretty studly. However, I'd be lying if it didn't seem like NSW guys were at least somewhat more likely to say "Dig it wenches, we're SEALs" than the SF guys saying "Slip us some sugar baby, we're Green Berets." This isn't a criticism, as long as things don't go too far out of reasonable arcs of fire, but there's a reason some of those boys are called "The Quiet Professionals."

The whole thing is probably exacerbated by the way the media handles things, POTUS handles things and the way the citizenry loves SOF-porn (note: not SOFT porn, which is the knowing and willful misuse of a good wank). For a long time it seemed like everything in the media was about Recon guys and Scout-Snipers. It's probably at least somewhat cyclical, though I think we should all do our part to let the rampant publicity die down a bit. As for the new movie, I really don't see the problem with it. If it helps with the budget, helps get youngsters to enlist and helps renew interest in the military, then go for it. (Though the poor bastards it persuades to enlist don't realize actually be scraping birdshit off a mizzenmast or whatever on a frigate in the Sea of Japan, not kicking doors.) Anyway, if I was a SEAL I'd not only be taller, I'd be damn proud of it. If my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle though, so I can only offer 1:6 scale commentary.

However, I digress. I am prone to pontificate once in a while, which is actually good for you since you're obviously smart enough to read what  have to say.

Without further tangential expostulation (grunts: expostulation) I give you: WEAPONSMAN

(If you don't read his blog, you should: http://weaponsman.com/

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Lt. Gen. Jim Vaught (USA, Ret.) thinks that today's joint special operations forces spend too much time basking in the sunlight of the media, and exhorts his successor, ADM Bill McRaven, to get back into the shadows.

The story, by ABC News's Huma Khan, is disorganized and full of errors (no, Vaught was not the commander of "Delta Force," he was the commander of the joint task force (the commander of Delta was COL Charles A. Beckwith); and while McRaven is a SEAL, his current command, the United States Special Operations Command (USSOC), is a joint, not SEAL, command, to name just two of her howlers). Still, she presumably quoted Vaught correctly.

Vaught took the microphone to question McRaven after McRaven's keynote speech at the SO/LIC (Special Operations/ Low Intensity Combat) symposium.

A retired general today assailed the commander of the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden for drawing too much media attention to operations that he argued should be kept under wraps.

Special Operations Commander Adm. Bill McRaven was confronted by retired Lt. Gen. James Vaught, who said he didn't understand why the recent raids by the Navy SEALs, such as the one to kill Osama bin Laden or to rescue U.S. hostage Jessica Buchanan, were all over the media.

via Navy SEAL Commander Advised to 'Get the Hell Out of the Media' - Yahoo! News.

Again, McRaven wasn't "commander of the Navy SEAL raid," but then again, you can't expect much from a media that thinks the President deserves all the credit for this.  A much clearer version of Vaught and McRaven's exchange is available at the blog of the National Defense Insustrial Association, a defense-contractor lobbying group, at whose Special Operations / Low Intensity Combat seminar the discussion took place.

McRaven made two points in response to Vaught's cry to "Get the hell out of the media." Essentially, those are (1) it's impossible to keep every detail of operations secret, and (2) media sunlight on unsuccessful operations forces the military to face up to them and improve its tactics, techniques, technology and procedures.

While in retirement General Vaught has focused on special operations, serving on a Pentagon advisory panel, his career was in the conventional forces, except for his overall command of the 1979 Iranian-hostage rescue attempt. He distinguished himself in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

He compared the SEALs' alleged publicity-hounding to the discretion that Army special operations forces used during the capture of Saddam Hussein: "[W]e didn't say one damn word about it.We turned him over to the local commander and told him to claim that his forces drug him out of the hole, and he did so. And we just faded away and kept our mouth shut." While he's being beaten up for saying "we" when he was retired for decades at the time, it's clear from context he meant "we, the Army" as opposed to "those Hollywood Navy guys." (Vaught's story about the SOF in Hussein's capture is confirmed in the book by the conventional commander in question).

McRaven also defended the use of serving SEALS in the coming action film, Act of Valor. The SEALs who participated were volunteers who willingly allowed their faces to be shown. Seven of them remain on active duty, presumably on the Teams.

Anyway, if you're only going to read one version, skip the wrap of Khan, and go to Stew Magnusson's at the NDIA Blog.

Swingin' Dick Clear!

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