Op-Ed Article by DonBendell

OUR MILITARY MUST ENDONEUPSMANSHIP!

            WhenI teach martial arts, my main concern is teaching my students how to protectthemselves from attack, rape, kidnapping, or abuse, so consequently I teachvery functional self-defense techniques, but I also believe they should become“martial artists” and not just “partial artists.” So,in that regard, when teaching aesthetic things such as kata(forms), I employ traditional forms which have been passed down from generation-to-generationwith very little change. This balance of martial arts instruction is amicrocosm of what also works in the real world.

Forbalance, we must have tradition in our lives, but we must also have afunctional lifestyle. By that same regard, but on an even much higher plain, sodoes our military. The USmilitary is full of great, rich tradition, but it is also the toughest mostfunctional fighting force in the history of the world.  That however may soon end, if wecontinue to eat our own young, and then we will not suffer defeat from anexternal enemy, but simply implode from within. What I propose transcendspolitical parties, and it is neither conservative or liberal,republican or democratic. It is simply common sense, practical, and pro-American.

            Politicianstalk smack, but few, if any, have the actual courage and fortitude to say outloud what many of us will say privately, and what some of us think but do notverbalize. Right now our military tradition is far outweighing the functionalityof our armed forces, which costs us billions, but more importantly it makes ourmilitary less efficient and consequently less powerful. By making the toughdecisions to actually change, like so many politicians like to talk about butnever really do; we can make a more cohesive, less costly, and much morefunctional fighting force than the world has ever seen, but without tossing ourhallowed, rich, military tradition out the window. We simply need to overcomeour own fear of change. With an upcoming Presidential and congressionalelection looming, I think it is time to present this very controversial butcost-saving and efficiency-producing solution to our military, which may makesome people angry at me, but hopefully it will make some leaders think.

            Thegeneral overview I suggest will shock and outrage some, but it is what willwork. In the very broad look, here is my proposal in a nutshell:

1.  The US Army should be the one militaryfighting force that is in charge                          ofand solely responsible for fighting on land.

2.    The US Navy should be the one military fightingforce that is in charge of and solely responsible for fighting on water.

3.    The US Air Force should be the one military fightingforce that is in charge of and solely responsible for fighting in the air.

Thatis the simple general solution, but let me get into more specifics beforeloading your firearm, donning your cammies, and looking for my house onMapquest.

Oneof the main reasons I have been so proud that two of my sons followed myfootsteps into the US Army Special Forces (the Green Berets) was because Inaively thought that our military leadership had actually grown bylessons-learned from the Vietnam War, but we have not. We still make someerrors in command.

Wespend billions of dollars to train company grade officers (lieutenants andcaptains) and senior NCOs (Sergeants) how to properly deploy and protect troopsin battle and accomplish unit missions, and then in the Global War On Terrorism,instead of trusting that small unit commander with “boots on theground” and who knows the situation, we have “Chairborne-Rangers”sitting in air-conditioned offices and briefing rooms in places like MacDillAFB, the Pentagon, Qatar, Fort Bragg, Eglin AFB, and many higher headquartersall over the world micro-managing the war. That has previously been proven timeand again to be a surefire formula for disaster in war, but nobody has the gutsto tell flag officers, “Back off, General (or Admiral). Give a captain ora sergeant a job, and then do NOT tell them how to do it, especially when they,or their men and women, are the ones risking earning the Purple Heart (givenfor wounds or death), and they know the enemy situation on the ground.”  

Now,with a Navy Admiral at the helm of the US Special Operations Command, the newbig thing is MARSOC, the Marine Special Operations Command. After 50 years ofthe US Army Special Forces (Green Berets) learning more than any other fightingforce about how to successfully conduct Unconventional Warfare, they now wantthe Marines to take over and do the same thing. This is after five decades ofsuccess by USA Special Forces, which has had its operators (Green Berets) learnto speak virtually every language in the world, the customs of every country,and of its indigenous citizens thereof. Befriending folks in remote villagesall over the globe, learning how to infiltrate behind enemy lines and interact,co-exist, and actually train and equip those indigenous forces to fight theirown battles, so United States troops do not have to be needlessly sacrificedfighting for those countries, Green Berets have become synonymous withsuccessful Unconventional Warfare. Now, after 50 years of that great experienceby the elite Special Forces, the US Marine Corps are being transformed to tryto duplicate what Special Forces has done so successfully for decades. Howridiculous, arrogant, and short-sighted! I cannot believe the Pentagon has evenallowed it to be a discussion let alone a reality.

SemperFidelis! The US Marine Corps, I personally believe, has not only thecoolest-looking dress uniforms of any of our armed forces, but also by far andaway the very best esprit de corps.Marines have always been hard-charging, fire-breathing, butt-kicking, mission-accomplishingwarriors, who distinguished themselves with a legacy of courage and honor inmany wars at places like Tarawa, Bougainville, Iwo Jima,and beachheads all over the west and east. Do not think I want to do away withthe Marine Corps. However, I suggest that we no longer attack on beaches withNavy ducks or other amphibious craft. That was in the distant past, and this isnow. So what is the solution? I think the US Marine Corps is the finestinfantry force in the world, but the US Navy, in my opinion, has zero businesspossessing their own army. The solution is very simple: The US Marine Corpsstays the same but simply becomes a branch of the US Army. However, MARSOC, Ipropose, would be changed to what it actually should be for function: The onlySpecial Operations mission the USMC should ever have is Direct Action, such asForce Recon or Sniper teams, but not UW, unconventional warfare.

Yes,I said it and many, many of us have whispered it for years, because it isefficient and common sense.

Solet’s say we have made the USMC part of the Army, now what happens to theUSArmy Rangers? That is simple: It becomes a reinforcing direct action force forthe US Army Special Forces, and the 1^st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta(Delta Force), which it is already doing effectively now. Ranger Schoolcan also specialize in Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) training andexecution, which is what happened with the original Roger’s Rangers. Nounits will have LRRP members who have not first earned a Ranger tab.

Okay,Swabbies, I know. To be fair, the army has to lose something, right? Well,it’s not going to actually lose them, in my proposal, but just like theNavy, the US Army, US Navy, and US Marine Corps will turn over all of itsaircraft to the US Air Force. Well, in actuality, all helicopter pilots onnaval ships and with the US Army, including the USMC branch, will be part ofand trained exclusively by the US Air Force, and then will be attached to Armyor Navy units. No more naval and marine aviators or army chopper jockeys. Theywill all be US Air Force pilots, with both rotary and fixed wings. As mentionedearlier, the US Air Force will be in charge of the skies and any craft thatgoes into them. Naval aircraft mechanics will still be responsible formaintenance of craft and all flight deck operations, because they do operate ona ship. Likewise, helicopter and fixed wing army mechanics will maintainaircraft on the ground unless a USAF airbase is within close proximity, but allpilots and all aircraft will be USAF, attached to army and navy units.

So,now we might ask what about Navy Seals. Again, I believe that US Navy SEALshave indeed proven their worth and have a legacy of valor. But like the Marinesand Rangers, they should only be used for direct action missions, but theirmissions should only be adjacent to or on the waterways of the world. They willstill do the shore-launched sabotage missions, submarine lockout, manyunderwater missions. Like now, they will be like UDT (Underwater DemolitionTeams) on steroids in a sense. The BUDS training qualification for SEALs shouldstill be there to challenge young sailors to the maximum. Navy SEALs however,in my opinion,  have no businessfighting in the mountains of Afghanistanor sand-blown cities of Iraq,unless they are carrying out a mission on a seaport or coastline. The US ArmySpecial Forces and 1^st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta(Delta Force) would still use SCUBA and HALO-SCUBA infiltration methodology inlakes and rivers and on oceans only where a SEAL mission would not beapplicable. In other words, if it is a UW mission that should only be performedby USASF or Delta Force, such as a hostage rescue on a cruise ship, then aSCUBA infiltration could be used where apropos.

Now,I have suggested taking from the Navy a bit herein, so what about adding tothem? Fine, that is simple and common sense. Since it is dealing with oceans,seas, and other large waterways, it will also be efficient, and cost-effectivefor the US Coast Guard to become a branch of the US Navy. They are their ownlittle Navy already, but would become part of the real deal, but their missionwill not change.

Finally,to go into even more detail, the primary unit in the US Army Special Forces (theGreen Berets) is the ODA, or 12-man Operational Detachment-A, often called “A-Teams.”It is commanded by a Captain, with a Warrant Officer as Executive Officer, orsecond-in-command, who come from SF NCOs who attend Warrant Officer school.This is good in that the XO has experience as a team non-com; however it hurtsthe US Army Special Forces significantly. One of the reasons I left the army asa young Captain was because my entire commissioned time as a SpecialForces-qualified Infantry officer was spent serving in 4 Special Forces Groups,including the 5^th Group in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969. I used towrite suggestions and pass them up the chain of command and one suggestion,which many others wrote as well, was to make a new branch of the army calledthe Unconventional Warfare branch or Special Forces branch. Then it couldattract young officers, like I was, who loved and believed in the role of SpecialForces with a deep and abiding passion and could develop an entire career in thatelite unit. In those days, with 4 SF Groups under my belt, my career wasessentially ruined. I had become a “guerilla leader” in the mindsof the brass; “too unconventional” was the term often used. Like inmy day, and still to this day, conventional military commanders do not understandthe US Army Special Forces, or there is professional jealousy, or both. We wereand are the soldiers who were and are taught and encouraged to think outsidethe box and color outside the lines. When you get right down to brass tacks, conventionalgenerals and admirals cannot easily control such men, so they want to destroyand develop something else that they can control. Brilliant! The same type ofthinking had lines of British soldiers marching to drums towards ourindependent-minded fledgling continental army, which they killed by thethousands until we started thinking outside the box and actually won theRevolutionary War by shooting from ambush, firing from behind rocks and trees,and using hit and run tactics. The British commanders simply wanted to keepmarching, halting, aiming, and firing on command. That, the protection of God, andour American fighting spirit were the primary reasons that the British sailedhome, heads- hanging, and we became the United States of America.  

Afew years after I left the army, somebody actually thought and acted outsidethe bounds of military-thinking, and the branch like some of my contemporariesand superiors and I had proposed, the Unconventional Warfare Branch, was indeedcreated, but unfortunately we still have not learned, and it is now only astop-off point for many young career captains. No longer are First LieutenantsODA XO’s (Executive Officers) and Second Lieutenants ODA XO’sin-training. The USA Special Forces does not have 2^nd or 1^stLieutenants anymore, none. You must be a captain to even try to qualify forSpecial Forces, but then after qualifying many captains try to do just one touron an ODA. Not wanting to get stuck in staff jobs, they move on to other unitssuch as the Rangers or airborne infantry outfits so they can still commandtroops and see action. Most of the good lieutenants who want to go to SF whenthey are promoted are simply kept with the conventional units where they haveserved. Worse yet, many young qualified men, like my sons, have no desire to goto Officers Candidate School (OCS) and become officers, because they cannoteven get into Special Forces until they reach Captain, if they are even then allowedto go to Selection (SF qualification).

SFWarrant Officers can only become Chief Warrant Officers and can only make moremoney, but they can never become Captains or higher. They can never commandODA’s or go on to become majors, colonels, and so on. Utilizing the sametheory as the SF warrant program, I strongly suggest changing the process, andexperienced Special Forces NCOs can apply for a direct commission to FirstLieutenant if they are a Sergeant First Class(SFC E7) or higher, and they becomean ODA XO, eventually making captain and becoming an ODA commander.Additionally, experienced Special Forces Staff Sergeants (SSG E6) can apply tobecome second lieutenants. Or already commissioned second lieutenants can gothrough Special Forces qualification and continuous training like I did, to getthem ready to become an A-team XO and eventually CO. This gives young leaders actualincentive. Higher pay is not an incentive to them; Having an opportunity toadvance and take on greater challenge is. This will attract many more youngofficers to make a career out of Special Forces and not pursue command time inother units. It will also, like the current Warrant Officer program, affordSpecial Forces NCOs who wish greater advancement but actually keep beingpromoted to higher rank. Upon direct commission, the new officer will attend ashort UW branch officers course. Current Special Forces Warrant Officers canalso apply for commission to lieutenant and will be given priority.

Ata higher command level, when I was in Special Forces, one problem was that seniorSF officers had to deal with being the lowest rank there in command structurein theater during war. For example the head Green Beret in Vietnam, the  5^th Special Forces Groupcommander, in charge of all A-Camps, special projects, and B and C teamheadquarters all over Vietnamwas only a full colonel, while affiliated military divisions were beingcommanded by brigadier and major generals. I could not believe that still hasnot changed after all these years. I suggest that Special Forces Group commandstructure should change the TO and E (Tables of Organization and Equipment) sothat Group commanding officers will be brigadier generals. Since a SpecialForces battalion is much different than a conventional battalion, SF battalioncommanders, under my proposal, will be full colonels, unlike the rank of lieutenantcolonel now.

Weare most definitely winning the Global War on Terrorism, and “the surge”has positively shown it is working much better than ever expected. We have thefinest and toughest fighting force in the world, but the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have also shown us our weakareas where we can and should significantly improve. If US militarycommand truly wants to improve, and if congress truly wants to cut costs, Ihope someone will actually read this editorial and give it some thought. Theseare suggestions, not cast in concrete, but written in pencil so they can be revisedand improved upon.

Theproblem with my proposal and what faces us, is two-fold: will professionaljealousy, Pentagon politics, and competition between military brancheseventually destroy us from within, or will we become smarter than that and learnit is also okay to shoot from behind trees and rocks, use hit and run tactics,and even let some of our elite troops color outside the lines.? The second questionis: Aside from General Petraeus, do we still have any flag officers with theguts to think and act against the grain, or have so many of our senior leadersonly developed the courage to speak out against their own chain of command onnational politics because of a promised political position after retirement, thenwonder why their own troops will not even follow them to the mess hall letalone to hell and back?

Tome, a true warrior is willing to grow and innovate. The American fightingspirit and initiative that created Roger’s Rangers, defeated a muchstronger, more highly-trained, and much larger army and navy that could onlythink and act the way it had previously performed . . . for centuries. It wasnot just our fighting spirit and valor, but by actually thinking and actingoutside convention, that we became the United States of America and not South Canada,a proud but subservient British possession.

Don Bendell, 61, is an author of 25 books including anumber of military thrillers with over 1,500,00 copies in print worldwide and isa popular editorialist who has appeared on FOX NEWS LIVE, manynational radio shows, and his editorials have been published all over theworld. A 1995 inductee into the International Karate Hall of Fame, he and hiswife also own karate schools in southern Colorado.A 60% disabled vet, Don served as an officer in 4 Special Forces Groups,including a 1968-1969 tour on an A-team in Vietnam as well as in the Top SecretPhoenix Program and has offspring serving in Special Forces now. He lives in Florence, Colorado.Write him at don@donbendell.com .