Lawrence Of Afghanistan.

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survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 29, 2015 - 09:08am PT
This is the tortured story of Green Beret Major Jim Gant.
He was the real thing for sure.

I've recently done some looking at Jonathan Idema, who appears to me to have been a huge poser in Afghanistan.
He was a big talker who appears to have spent most of his time in Kabul.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/30/world/asia/jonathan-idema-con-man-and-afghan-bounty-hunter-dies-at-55.html?_r=0


On the other hand Major Jim Gant is a much different story. You have to see this whole video to grasp his story.

Petraeus praises this guy. I see no such high level praise for Idema. In this video you also see individual Green Berets going to bat for Gant. I have not found this for Idema. The two characters are a fascinating contrast at the very least.


[Click to View YouTube Video]
WBraun

climber
Jan 29, 2015 - 09:38am PT
Thanks Bruce.

This is simultaneously truly beautiful and heartbreaking.

Jim Gant a true real warrior and human being incarnation .....
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2015 - 09:45am PT
You're welcome Werner.

It's an incredible tale isn't it? I love the way his guys talk about him.
He won a damn Silver Star in Iraq!
Petraeus admires him, and a n00b 2nd Lt. brings him down.
So typical that we would destroy one of our best.



Fritz

Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
Jan 29, 2015 - 09:48am PT
Here's part of a review of his wife's book on him. More at this link:

http://warontherocks.com/2014/04/the-rise-and-fall-of-major-jim-gant/
The Rise and Fall of Major Jim Gant

Joseph Collins

Ann Scott Tyson, American Spartan: the Promise, the Mission, and the Betrayal of Special Forces Major Jim Gant (NY: William Morrow, 2014)



Whether you are interested in an unusual love story or in how the United States fights protracted wars, Ann Scott Tyson’s American Spartan is an important book.. It artfully tells the story of the author and her now-husband, Major Jim Gant, a tough warrior-hero-thinker, who not only was one of the authors of the theory of Village Stability Operations in Afghanistan but became a pioneer practitioner, living among the Afghans in Konar Province for nearly two years. In the end, the Taliban tried very hard to kill him, and none other than Osama bin Laden identified Gant and his 2009 article, “One Tribe at a Time,” as a threat to the global jihad, at least according to the author. In the estimation of General David Petraeus and others, Major Jim Gant was the “perfect counterinsurgent.”

Major Gant, however, was also a psychologically wounded warrior and not fit for combat. A multi-tour combat veteran, he had severe and apparently untreated PTSD before his final deployment, the result of too much close combat on previous tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. How long can one ride on the hood of a Humvee, drawing sniper fire and scouting for and finding IEDs? He was well into drug and alcohol dependence before he deployed. His condition became worse as his tour progressed. Indeed, he increasingly became the centerpiece of battles against his twin demons: the Taliban and his superior officers. His attitude about war and warfare went off the deep end, and he imagined himself a reincarnated Spartan. He told his often mystified soldiers:
WBraun

climber
Jan 29, 2015 - 09:53am PT
I was supposed to go to Afghanistan into the war zone during the Russian occupation for ABC Nightline.

I didn't want to go for one reason because I can barley hear.

There was to be a lot of night time movements.

At night time I can't see body language and lip read so it would have been suicide for me.

Walt Shipley took my place after I refused to go for the above reasons.

In my heart I still really wanted to go but figured I probably could end up being a dangerous liability to the crew .....
climbski2

Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
Jan 29, 2015 - 10:50am PT
The only way to win is to love.

Love is what makes a great warrior.
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2015 - 10:50am PT
In my heart I still really wanted to go

I believe you.

You probably would've been fine, but very difficult to tell on the front end eh?

















Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Jan 29, 2015 - 11:24am PT
I went to Karachi, Pakistan, duiring the Russian occupation of Afganistan, and intended to get up to Islamabad with the intent of acquiring fully-automatic, authentic Russian AK-47s from the Afgan war zone. I had a worry-free way of smuggling them back into the USA.

Alas, never made it out of Karachi because of political issues, but I did get really bad diarrhea, and traded a fifth of whiskey for a few gorgeous wool and silk rugs worth almost $1,000.
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2015 - 08:52pm PT
Ward Trotter

Trad climber
Jan 29, 2015 - 09:23pm PT
The story of a great warrior undercut and betrayed by policy changes from on high---descending all the way down from the Commander In Chief .

My deepest respects for the incredible courage of this extraordinary man and his wife, who could not be allowed to succeed at one of the world's most dangerous jobs.

That this man, Jim Gant,could obtain the undying respect of these tribesman ravaged by decades of war and destruction should be reason to elevate him to near theatre command status. Instead he is languishing in Seattle with no purpose --in tears over the dishonor and ingratitude that was meted out to him.
What does this say about our current political leadership in Washington?
Don Paul

Big Wall climber
Denver, Colorado
Jan 30, 2015 - 08:32am PT
The only way to win is to love.

+1. The Afghans are the toughest people in the world, because of how hard life is there. It was only a question of time before they threw the latest occupiers out - they are very nationalistic and never give up. I was there in 2003, with no gun or protection of any kind, and made friends everywhere. A spokesman for the us army at the bagram base told me to beware Afghan civilians because they are so untrustworthy. I had the exact opposite experience. Good riddance to these murderers who have no empathy at all for the Afghan people.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 30, 2015 - 09:03am PT
Excellent 13 minutes. The generals busted him for showing them up. That
pencil-pushing first louie who wrote him up should have been sh!t-canned,
but he'll probably make general. Major Gant was the latest in a proud line
of Green Berets that have proven how 'going native' works just like they
did in 'Nam with Operation Phoenix.
Levy

Big Wall climber
So Cal
Jan 30, 2015 - 09:34am PT
That's really an amazing story, yet not really surprising given the rigidity of military thinking. He is a true hero and I hope his wife's book brings attention to his cause. We need more people like him in our military and not cogs in a mindless machine, unlike the fresh from West Point lieutenant who ratted him out.
Manny

Social climber
tempe
Jan 30, 2015 - 09:47am PT
If you were in the military you will understand how he was treated by his superior officers (Obama? Really?). They do not tolerate folks that operate out of the box. They may enjoy the results but the word uniform extends to behavior also.

I applaud his success and mourn his loss. Unfortunately, drugs and alcohol plus bringing your mistress to a fire base are putting your career on the line.

Too bad.
WBraun

climber
Jan 30, 2015 - 10:02am PT
It's a tactic that has been around for a long long long time.

Yes everyone uses it and is defacto standard operating proceedure.

Except me ....

I just call everyone stooopid ....... :-)
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2015 - 10:07am PT
I applaud his success and mourn his loss. Unfortunately, drugs and alcohol plus bringing your mistress to a fire base are putting your career on the line.


Agreed. I read elsewhere that he had untreated PTSD from Colombia and Iraq, and that he was self medicating before he even started in Afghanistan. He still managed to have that much success!

But the military has little tolerance for drugs and mistresses at the front. Booze and hookers on R&R is different.

The chief, actually I didn't find any stories of SF guys going local as far as he did. Growing a beard and wearing a ghutra around your neck is not nearly the level this guy took it to. Very complicated story I'm sure.

Yes, there are many great SF guys. Many. But I think this guy could've been sent to the states and given treatment instead of being drummed out. He threw a lot of rules in their face though....tough situation.
Bullwinkle

Boulder climber
Jan 30, 2015 - 10:25am PT
Hearts and Minds? Oh yea that works really well. . . .its amazing that people believe that sh#t, even to this day. . .

Edit; It would seem that Herseys Chocolate has had a huge impact on both the cheif and Reilly, both of them think their farts smell like candy. . .
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 30, 2015 - 10:42am PT
Bullwinkle, if you did some honest open-minded research you would find
that 'winning hearts and minds' has, as The Chief noted, worked well for a
very long time. Operation Phoenix worked extremely well in Nam and the
Green Berets have achieved a lot in Afghanistan that has not been so well
publicized. The trouble is it is tough to accomplish on a broad scale,
but it can with commitment, and therein lies the rub.
rottingjohnny

Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
Jan 30, 2015 - 11:28am PT
Appears Gant didn't win the hearts and minds of his bosses and was taken down by the petty jealousy of a ROTC wanker..?
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2015 - 11:33am PT
Infantry, 1st Lt., West Point grad, I think I read....



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