Bash me all you want, but I believe in giving credit where it's due. The following article was sent by an American officer serving in Afghanistan back to his local paper.

I can't vouch for the veracity of this particular article, but I've heard similar comments from several people I know & trust.

For about two months now I have been working side by side with the French OMLT. I remember when I first showed up to take charge of the combat outpost my unit was located at and I found out it would not just be American forces there but also a small section of French. Being the typical American I was making jokes in my head about the French. These last two months have truly been enlightening for me and corrected a grave misconception of the French Army.

Let me say this first: I am not envious of their job. Being responsible for training and mentoring the Afghan National Army (ANA) is a job that can only be described as herding cats. Having only worked with the ANA on a couple of missions I have come to realize that the OMLT must have the patience of a Saint. I seriously doubt that I would have the patience to do the job they are doing and I don’t think I could do it nearly as well. Their patience was also displayed almost every night while dealing with me and my soldiers. Due to the rough living conditions some of the OMLT were living in a tent that also housed our television. Although we would try and remain quiet and respect the fact they were sleeping it didn’t always work that way. Too many times while watching a close football game we would begin screaming and yelling over the game. Somehow each night they never yelled at us and never complained. Their patience in dealing with us alone can be considered amazing.

The French willingness to help is amazing. No matter where we, as the American Army, would go the French Commander located at my base would always try to arrange support from his OMLTs and the ANA they were training. Their willingness to support our guys made my job a lot easier and gave me a better feeling knowing that the French OMLT and ANA were watching our back. On more then one occasion we would respond to a situation and when we reached the location the French would already be there and would give me the current situation on the ground.

The French have a handicap; they do not have the training, resources, money, and assets in their military the same as Americans. They have been forced to make due with less and they have still managed to outperform us in some ways. The French military is a force that commands respect and I can’t imagine what they would look like, and how truly incredible a force they could be, if they had the same training, resources, and assets (that we have).

These past few months have truly opened my eyes and corrected a few misconceptions I’ve had about the French. Although they are not as big as us and sound funny when they talk, I am truly grateful to have had this opportunity, and I am honored to call these men my comrades.

The French soldier today is a volunteer, and must volunteer in order to serve outside France. One thing I learned as a junior officer a long time ago is, "There are no bad soldiers; just bad leaders."

Read the article carefully. VERY carefully. Ask yourself after reading it if the author is a native English speaker.

The grammar and spelling mistakes are common for people for whom English is a second language.

This article was not by an American or Brit.

How pathetic, that a stinkie would pretend to be an American to make their sorry troops look good.

ChampionGoats wrote:

Read the article carefully. VERY carefully. Ask yourself after reading it if the author is a native English speaker.

The grammar and spelling mistakes are common for people for whom English is a second language.

This article was not by an American or Brit.

How pathetic, that a stinkie would pretend to be an American to make their sorry troops look good.

There is no need to even read the article, check out the picture at the top of the thread. The French soldiers are wearing red fucking berets. That is no sign of military professionalism in either training or war. Some foolish and idiotic frogs with no military background will certainly croak about their bravado. It is to the contrary evidence of poor training and being poorly equipped. The armed French combat patrol did not have ample crew served weaponry after all, when it was easily ambushed in August in Afghanistan.

"she wore a rasberry beret,,,, the kind ya find in a second hand store.."

Prince


nuf' said

I reread the article and came to the conclusion that it was indeed written by an American. Trust me. I live in New Hampshire and a lot of people here of French Canadian background have people in their families who still speak French. My background is French Canadian also. I studied French for three years in high school, parallel with my study of Latin. So, grammar and understanding it is second nature to me. I know the kinds of constructions that don't translate well into English.

Remember, if there are awkward sentences in this essay (and there are)it could just be the deficiencies of our own educational system showing through.

But, yeah, the red berets look kind of stupid in that environment. They don't exactly work well in camouflage gear. Too easy to spot.

My wife's cousin is a U.S. Army captain who came back from Afghanistan in April. His job also was training Afghan Army soldiers in logistics and how to set up fire bases (he's an engineer). Yeah, training those guys really is like herding cats. Very different culture over there.

frederick wrote:

But, yeah, the red berets look kind of stupid in that environment. They don't exactly work well in camouflage gear. Too easy to spot.

It's a training session, no danger to wear a red beret here. It's one of our old (and stupid) rule, we have to wear our beret and regiment's insigna during training

One French's view of Americans in Afghanistan:

“We have shared our daily life with two US units for quite a while - they are the first and fourth companies of a prestigious infantry battalion whose name I will withhold for the sake of military secrecy. To the common man it is a unit just like any other. But we live with them and got to know them, and we henceforth know that we have the honor to live with one of the most renowned units of the US Army - one that the movies brought to the public as series showing “ordinary soldiers thrust into extraordinary events”. Who are they, those soldiers from abroad, how is their daily life, and what support do they bring to the men of our OMLT every day ? Few of them belong to the Easy Company, the one the TV series focuses on. This one nowadays is named Echo Company, and it has become the support company.

They have a terribly strong American accent - from our point of view the language they speak is not even English. How many times did I have to write down what I wanted to say rather than waste precious minutes trying various pronunciations of a seemingly common word? Whatever state they are from, no two accents are alike and they even admit that in some crisis situations they have difficulties understanding each other.

Heavily built, fed at the earliest age with Gatorade, proteins and creatine - they are all heads and shoulders taller than us and their muscles remind us of Rambo. Our frames are amusingly skinny to them - we are wimps, even the strongest of us - and because of that they often mistake us for Afghans.

Here we discover America as it is often depicted : their values are taken to their paroxysm, often amplified by promiscuity and the loneliness of this outpost in the middle of that Afghan valley. Honor, motherland - everything here reminds of that : the American flag floating in the wind above the outpost, just like the one on the post parcels. Even if recruits often originate from the hearth of American cities and gang territory, no one here has any goal other than to hold high and proud the star spangled banner. Each man knows he can count on the support of a whole people who provides them through the mail all that an American could miss in such a remote front-line location : books, chewing gums, razorblades, Gatorade, toothpaste etc. in such way that every man is aware of how much the American people backs him in his difficult mission. And that is a first shock to our preconceptions : the American soldier is no individualist. The team, the group, the combat team are the focus of all his attention.

And they are impressive warriors ! We have not come across bad ones, as strange at it may seem to you when you know how critical French people can be. Even if some of them are a bit on the heavy side, all of them provide us everyday with lessons in infantry know-how. Beyond the wearing of a combat kit that never seem to discomfort them (helmet strap, helmet, combat goggles, rifles etc.) the long hours of watch at the outpost never seem to annoy them in the slightest. On the one square meter wooden tower above the perimeter wall they stand the five consecutive hours in full battle rattle and night vision goggles on top, their sight unmoving in the directions of likely danger. No distractions, no pauses, they are like statues nights and days. At night, all movements are performed in the dark - only a handful of subdued red lights indicate the occasional presence of a soldier on the move. Same with the vehicles whose lights are covered - everything happens in pitch dark even filling the fuel tanks with the Japy pump.

And combat ? If you have seen Rambo you have seen it all - always coming to the rescue when one of our teams gets in trouble, and always in the shortest delay. That is one of their tricks : they switch from T-shirt and sandals to combat ready in three minutes. Arriving in contact with the ennemy, the way they fight is simple and disconcerting : they just charge ! They disembark and assault in stride, they bomb first and ask questions later - which cuts any pussyfooting short.

We seldom hear any harsh word, and from 5 AM onwards the camp chores are performed in beautiful order and always with excellent spirit. A passing American helicopter stops near a stranded vehicle just to check that everything is alright; an American combat team will rush to support ours before even knowing how dangerous the mission is - from what we have been given to witness, the American soldier is a beautiful and worthy heir to those who liberated France and Europe.

To those who bestow us with the honor of sharing their combat outposts and who everyday give proof of their military excellence, to those who pay the daily tribute of America’s army’s deployment on Afghan soil, to those we owned this article, ourselves hoping that we will always remain worthy of them and to always continue hearing them say that we are all the same band of brothers”.

serendipity.ruwenzori.net . . .

These talks, like the ones posted by naturalizedtexan, confirm what Orwell said in the 1930's: "One of the most horrible features of war is that all the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.”

There is no need to even read the article, check out the picture at the top of the thread. The French soldiers are wearing red fucking berets. That is no sign of military professionalism in either training or war. Some foolish and idiotic frogs with no military background will certainly croak about their bravado. It is to the contrary evidence of poor training and being poorly equipped. The armed French combat patrol did not have ample crew served weaponry after all, when it was easily ambushed in August in Afghanistan.

Funny statement coming from the Star Prick of this website but anyway back to his fuckface some nice and proper counterbashing stuff

The problems with the Humvee are well illustrated in Iraq, where U.S. soldiers have been killed and maimed by roadside explosives.

Because the Army didn’t buy enough armored vehicles needed in a war like the one in Iraq, that very lack of combat survivability put soldiers in jeopardy in another way. Troops began adding homemade armor, sandbags and other ballistic protection that could degrade the performance of vehicles never built to carry that kind of weight, rendering them more prone to accidents.

Don't be worry OuiOui. Our buddy batrouille will never go to Iraq or A-Stan. He's well known as a web warrior.

The main risk for him, is to contaminate the computers of his barracks with viruses.

malbarre wrote:

Don't be worry OuiOui. Our buddy batrouille will never go to Iraq or A-Stan. He's well known as a web warrior.

The main risk for him, is to contaminate the computers of his barracks with viruses.

indeed my friend, no doubt he is wearing a heavy helmet while fighting hard the evil-doers on internet...

un bon chatiment....au poste pilote le buste dehors....avec l'hydraulique branché dans la tourelle....chop!chop!

Hey looks like the Americans had someone to do their laundry! And the bitches kept quite while our soilders watched football!

BigDaddyCruz wrote:

Hey looks like the Americans had someone to do their laundry! And the bitches kept quite while our soilders watched football!

This isn't your job?

BigDaddyCruz wrote:

Hey looks like the Americans had someone to do their laundry! And the bitches kept quite while our soilders watched football!

oh really...as if there were not enough beaners in the US army for doing it....

fregar...limpiar...planchar...fregar...limpiar..chupar..planchar.....

Que tal el curro Speedy Gonzalez???

ChampionGoats wrote:

Read the article carefully. VERY carefully. Ask yourself after reading it if the author is a native English speaker.

The grammar and spelling mistakes are common for people for whom English is a second language.

This article was not by an American or Brit..

That's a poor defense you get here.

naturalizedtexan wrote:


OMLT must have the patience of a Saint. ..... Their patience was also displayed almost every night while dealing with me and my soldiers. Although we would try and remain quiet and respect the fact they were sleeping it didn’t always work that way. Too many times while watching a close football game we would begin screaming and yelling over the game. Somehow each night they never yelled at us and never complained. Their patience in dealing with us alone can be considered amazing.

submissive behavior is not a sign of valor but of cowards

The French willingness to help is amazing. Their willingness to support our guys made my job a lot easier

The French soldier today is a volunteer, and must volunteer in order to serve outside France. One thing I learned as a junior officer a long time ago is, "There are no bad soldiers; just bad leaders."

I have read similar reports from SS leaders written during the time of occupation.

Nothing new here lead from behind , do what your current master says typical frog army!

Thank you naturalized texan for your honesty.
See? there's a wide gap between the myth and the reality.

A lesson for the worst bashers...

I will admit being there, in the middle of the shit, is half the battle.

The grammar and spelling mistakes are common for people for whom English is a second language.

Read it quickly, and beside a "then" instead of a "than" didn't see many spelling mistakes. I've seen much worse here.

I mean, Prophet writes as if English was his third or fourth language...

I did a little fact-checking after I posted the thread. The article was written by an American and published in his local newspaper (Melbourne, Florida). It was picked up by a Belgian newspaper and translated to French, then translated back into English. This is the version I found and pasted here.

Three of the American soldiers whom I trained/mentored have served in Afghanistan and had some contact with the French forces there. Two are officers, one is a senior NCO. One is infantry, two are MI (Military Intelligence), and all three are involved in special operations or psychological operations. They all three said roughly the same thing regarding French participation in the 'Stan.

1. All three are grateful for French participation, but have reservations about French effectiveness. (For my French colleagues, this is not an anti-French feeling, it's just an appraisal of the French lacking serious combat experience; all three believe that IF the French will listen and learn from the Americans and UK/Australian/Canadian contingents, they will become an effective fighting force.)

For example, the French tend to patrol on foot more than the Americans. This is both a pro and a con. It limits their range, limits the amount of weaponry and firepower available to the patrols, and makes them more vulnerable in combat action. However, it makes the French better prepared and more aware of their surroundings than the US trooops.

BTW, this is not because of a desire by the French to patrol on foot, but because the French lack the heavy vehicles available to Americans.

2. All of my informants feel the French stand down too long between operations. The time they take to critique, refit, and repair is not acceptable by American standards. Admittedly, they are thorough, but slow and not as flexible as Americans.

3. French equipment, particularly personal equipment, is of lower quality than that used by US troops. All three of my respondents were unanimous in condemning "le clarion" (the FAMAS assault rifle used by the French). Their LBE is outdated, heavy, and not user friendly when compared to the US-designed MOLLE and assault gear. The French boots ("Rangers") are heavy, noisy, and not as weatherproof as US boots. The colors of the French camouflage uniforms are not suited to the terrain and the uniforms themselves are heavy and constricting; also pockets are hard to access while wearing armored vests.

4. The French attitude is hard for some Americans to understand. For example, the Master Sergeant was quite ticked about how the French treat rations. The US troops store combat rations in a tent which is open to all; walk in and take whatever ration you need for an operation. The unwritten rule is to take only what you need and and consume or dispose of the entire ration before grabbing another. The French ration, considered superior to the US MRE by ALL of the soldiers I've talked with, is kept in French tents for their exclusive use - while the French take US rations, pick out what they want to supplement their own, and discard the rest.

5. French intelligence work is better in the sense that the French disseminate intel much more quickly than the US. However, their follow-up is lacking and the sytematic categorization of intel according to source & reliability seems to be a concept that has escaped the French.

6. All the soldier say that if properly lead, properly trained, and properly equipped, the French could be an effective fighting force. Their biggest problems seems to be a reluctance to learn from their US and UK-Commonwealth comrades.

The French troops who were ambushed on August 18th lacked enough ammunition and heavy weapons, were unfamiliar with the terrain and the combat techniques of their opponents, and lacked experience on how to react in combat. IMHO, everything they needed to avoid this tragedy was available from the Americans and British.

french soldiers out of afghanistan, NOW !.Ricains (asian métèque, messican métèque, youpin métèques..etc....), clean the shit you created with your ex friend ben laden, the cia , and the pakistanese secret service..... alone

naturalizedtexan wrote:

The French troops who were ambushed on August 18th lacked enough ammunition and heavy weapons, were unfamiliar with the terrain and the combat techniques of their opponents, and lacked experience on how to react in combat. IMHO, everything they needed to avoid this tragedy was available from the Americans and British.

That has been my assessment from day 1 and here is another picture showing French forces without training and lacking equipment. I have dozens of pics of French soldiers lackadaisically loafing on patrol in supposedly hostile areas and I shall show them on a rotating basis. In the above picture of the slovenly French soldiers, the pant legs are not tucked into the boots either. You better not let a sergeant major catch soldier not in the proper uniform in the US ARMY in person and, if it was caught on film, then there would be hell to pay. The French military could probably benefit from such professional standards, but I obviously do not expect any French posters to know about such things.

Okay, Thx, NT. This said, British lost 37 soldiers this last 6 months in A-Stan and US lost 9 men in an attack of their position in July. This is just a counter point to your last point about casualties.

But indeed, French haven't heavy fire support in A-Stan and are still 'soaked' with the paratroopers precepts of the war of Algeria: "light, supple and feline" (léger, souple et félin). They forget that during the war of Algeria, the work they did was the one of a commando group of hunting. While today they make a work of covering.

During the War of Algeria, these paratroopers (my father was officer in a REP) were free to fight "light" and very fastly. Because they had a very strong aeromobility with numerous choppers, Sikorsky S.58, with a 20mm gun settled at the side door, called "pirate" and Piasecki H-21C nicknamed "Banane volante" (flying banana ) and ... because 500.000 other soldiers covered the whole country!

This is not the case today in A-Stan! We're 70.000 only in a country of 31 millions inhabitants against 8 in Algeria yesterday!

JeanValette wrote:

[q=naturalizedtexan]The French troops who were ambushed on August 18th lacked enough ammunition and heavy weapons, were unfamiliar with the terrain and the combat techniques of their opponents, and lacked experience on how to react in combat. IMHO, everything they needed to avoid this tragedy was available from the Americans and British.

That has been my assessment from day 1 and here is another picture showing French forces without training and lacking equipment. I have dozens of pics of French soldiers lackadaisically loafing on patrol in supposedly hostile areas and I shall show them on a rotating basis. In the above picture of the slovenly French soldiers, the pant legs are not tucked into the boots either. You better not let a sergeant major catch soldier not in the proper uniform in the US ARMY in person and, if it was caught on film, then there would be hell to pay. The French military could probably benefit from such professional standards, but I obviously do not expect any French posters to know about such things.[/q]

Mais ferme ta gueule gros con !!! Quand on aura besoin de tes lumières sur le combat tactique, on te fera signe ! Pour l'instant, le meilleur de toi à coulé de la fente gluante de ta mère et a fini en tache marron dégueulasse sur le matelas !

About the FAMAS, NT, its main problem is... the NATO cartridge. During the 90's we ceased to produce the particular "Mle F1" cartridge (the factory was near Clermont-Ferrand) designed for its very particular rifling and change for the NATO standard. It was a very acurate assault riffle, very sophisticated. But now... With the NATO cartridge... Its a pop gun!

Thank you to Mister shitraq and the "peace dividends"!

philip3 wrote:

french soldiers out of afghanistan, NOW

This is the voice truly representative of the overwhelming majority of the people in France. The generals in France talk about their unprofessional military with its lack of training and poor equipment. The politicians from all sides of the political spectrum in France know, that their military is subpar and inadequate for anything except for propagating African genocide. What is the big deal? The French people know their true strengths such as mime training and attempting to keep pace in wine production with much better quality products from California, Virginia, and Australia. In military matters The French without a doubt cannot run with the big dogs such as the UK, Australia, Italy, Canada, and the USA, so the poodle needs to stay on the porch.