2015 Bamako Hotel attack and Delta

Posted that in the media side for non mil a while back. Be warned, Ryan is not joking with the warning at the beginning. Dude has a hard time staying on track. But it’s a great podcast.
 
chiefjason said:
Posted that in the media side for non mil a while back. Be warned, Ryan is not joking with the warning at the beginning. Dude has a hard time staying on track. But it’s a great podcast.
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Yeah, almost like he had some PTSD, his mind was all over the place.

Interesting comments about the MARSOC team onsite. Not surprised, just... interesting.

This guy reminds me of that SAS guy who almost single-handed cleared that mall in Africa.

He was also quite humble about what worked and didn't, and how he was learning as he was going along.
 
Chuckman said:
Yeah, almost like he had some PTSD, his mind was all over the place.

Interesting comments about the MARSOC team onsite. Not surprised, just... interesting.

This guy reminds me of that SAS guy who almost single-handed cleared that mall in Africa.

He was also quite humble about what worked and didn't, and how he was learning as he was going along.
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did you watch the video? he dodged gunfire and a few grenades alone in a stairwell and when his backup finally got there, one shot another in the helmet. I've never done that sort of work, so i can't begin imagine the stress he was under, doing 4 or 5 hours of cqb gunfighting and then finishing out the rest of his 12hr day with room clearing to make sure it was over. meanwhile, he lost a bunch of teeth early on, and kept fighting, trying to command under-trained people who couldn't understand him.
I guess he got a distinguished service cross for what he did. Not sure how it didn't rank just a little higher, but i'm sure he wasn't even thinking of which medal he'd get for volunteering to stop the attack.
 
DrScaryGuy said:
did you watch the video? he dodged gunfire and a few grenades alone in a stairwell and when his backup finally got there, one shot another in the helmet. I've never done that sort of work, so i can't begin imagine the stress he was under, doing 4 or 5 hours of cqb gunfighting and then finishing out the rest of his 12hr day with room clearing to make sure it was over. meanwhile, he lost a bunch of teeth early on, and kept fighting, trying to command under-trained people who couldn't understand him.
I guess he got a distinguished service cross for what he did. Not sure how it didn't rank just a little higher, but i'm sure he wasn't even thinking of which medal he'd get for volunteering to stop the attack.
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The DSC is #2 in the army behind the Medal of Honor.

To do it with your team is one thing; to do it independently, then as part of an ad hoc French team, takes something special. And to be in that environment for 12 hours.

Amazing.
 
the "just a little higher" was sarcasm. I'm wondering if, since it was a volunteer mission to fight what was not technically a war, there's some requirement in there about that. Or maybe there have been so few details about it, nobody has made a nomination yet. Or maybe he messed up a planned op under a democrat admin...
 
Chuckman said:
Yeah, almost like he had some PTSD, his mind was all over the place.

Interesting comments about the MARSOC team onsite. Not surprised, just... interesting.

This guy reminds me of that SAS guy who almost single-handed cleared that mall in Africa.

He was also quite humble about what worked and didn't, and how he was learning as he was going along.
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Yeah, he was also 44 days out of retirement when they recorded. Guy was not even wound down and turned "off" yet. Like I said, amazing story and worth the listen. You just have to deal with it being a bit disjointed at times,

IIRC he never talked tactics but said that event changed some of their tactics. Gotta be flexible to put your training to work, realize it's not working like you thought, then go back and organizationally change the training to fix the tactic. The big green machine could learn a thing or three from that mindset.
 
chiefjason said:
Yeah, he was also 44 days out of retirement when they recorded. Guy was not even wound down and turned "off" yet. Like I said, amazing story and worth the listen. You just have to deal with it being a bit disjointed at times,

IIRC he never talked tactics but said that event changed some of their tactics. Gotta be flexible to put your training to work, realize it's not working like you thought, then go back and organizationally change the training to fix the tactic. The big green machine could learn a thing or three from that mindset.
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The Marines, too. The way we did CQB changed drastically over the years, especially after Nasiriyah and Fallujah. It has to be evolutionary, and a unit like Delta can do that much faster than Big Green or the Corps.
 
Chuckman said:
The Marines, too. The way we did CQB changed drastically over the years, especially after Nasiriyah and Fallujah. It has to be evolutionary, and a unit like Delta can do that much faster than Big Green or the Corps.
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Jocko talks about that with SEAL TRADET. The guys coming back that rotated in started changing the tactics pretty quick. Vietnam didn't work in Iraq. In some cases they would change tactics mid deployment or when they turned over in country. It's easier for a smaller organization. The growth in SEALs is probably the root of some of the problems too. A bloated organization changes slowly. Too many mid managers to convince. But the guys on the ground pay for that in blood unless they learn to bend some of the rules.
 
chiefjason said:
Jocko talks about that with SEAL TRADET. The guys coming back that rotated in started changing the tactics pretty quick. Vietnam didn't work in Iraq. In some cases they would change tactics mid deployment or when they turned over in country. It's easier for a smaller organization. The growth in SEALs is probably the root of some of the problems too. A bloated organization changes slowly. Too many mid managers to convince. But the guys on the ground pay for that in blood unless they learn to bend some of the rules.
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We had that in Recon, too. The small units can write the manuals as you go, but you are right, large, bureaucratic, cumbersome organizations have to chop it through how many committees and groups before something gets 'validated' and pushed back down to the schools and units to teach. The speed was faster with GWOT, but small units with a lot of autonomy (recon, NSW, Delta) can do it in a matter of days.

I think Delta (or CAG or whatever they are called these days) and ST6/DEVGRU are masters in being able to push out changes super fast because they are small and nimble.
 
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