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A new greatest generation is emerging ? in Afghanistan, in Iraq and on the other, less-publicized battlegrounds of the war on terror. Focused on the U.S. political cycle, America's media elite are missing the extraordinary story of the 19- through 35-year-olds who are winning this war. The detailed history of this new cohort of American and free world leaders ? the people who will shape the 21st century ? is being written by themselves, chiefly on the Internet, via e-mail or Web logs. This is a battle-honed bunch with exceptional talent and motivation, young people with a mature balance of idealism and realism, youthful cool and professional competence. I saw this on every patrol and convoy I made this past summer in Iraq. I had the privilege of working with these "kids," inevitably chastising myself for referring to such able young adults as kids. Their comeback was always "It's OK, sir. We know colonels are old." Sam, a U.S. Army private first class from Milwaukee, is an example of young soldiers who are both "boots and geeks" ? troops who can handle digital technology and rifles. The nonclassified laptop is on the blink. Sam taps out a half-dozen commands, and the machine functions smoothly. Need to run the eight kilo-meters of iffy freeway between Baghdad International Airport and downtown? Sam pulls up in an SUV, his M-16 propped so he can drive and shoot. Sam goes through the pretrip procedures calmly, carefully. If we "meet trouble" and can't drive through the ambush ? and Sam is very good at high-speed swerves; I'm talking NASCAR level ? he'll take the best firing position available and try to suppress the attackers. Cool? He does this every day.
Forgot to add a comment. The World War ll generation has always been known as the greatest generation of heroes. Could this GWOT change that? Only history will tell.
Afghanistan NBC threat at the brink !! http://militarytimes.com/blogs/battle-rattle/2011/08/23/for-marines-in-afghanistan-be-careful-where-you-fart/ Fading
into Nothing But Crap ... 😉Forgot to add a comment. The World War ll generation has always been known as the greatest generation of heroes. Could this GWOT change that? Only history will tell.
Several years ago I did an oral history project with a retired 3-star admiral. I specifically documented his experience prior to World War II as a Navy enlisted man, his entry into the enlisted flight training program, his subsequent commissioning as an ensign and his 1944 war tour on the USS ESSEX flying SB2Cs and F6Fs.That's neither here nor there in relation to this thread -- but at one point I asked him about the type of young man it took to fly fighters and dive bombers off a carrier in 1944 and the type of young men flying F-18s off of carriers supporting operations in Iraq. His reply was something along the lines of: "They called us the greatest generation, but I don't agree when I look at what these young service members are doing today. We were, arguably, the greatest part of our generation, and these young men and women are arguably the greatest part of their generation."Personally, I can't think of a better way to express it.
