Something doesn't seem right....

First I'd like to express my sincere condolences to the families of the lost....

To the family of Jon Tumilson, a Navy SEAL from Rockford, Iowa, a small town in the middle of Iowa cornfields about an hour's drive from here.  I've been there many times.  I'm sure his death has hit that small community quite hard.  35 years old.

Patrick Hamburger was a 30 year old sergeant from Grand Island, Nebraska serving with his deployed National Guard Unit.  He'd been "in country" somewhere between 2 days and 2 weeks.  Depends on which source you listen to.  He planned to propose marriage to his girlfriend when he returned from Afghanistan.

Michael Strange, Navy SEAL.  25 years old.

John Brown, Air Force paramedic from Arkansas.

Aaron Carson Vaughn from Union City, Tennessee.  30 years old.  Navy SEAL.

Robert James Reeves.  Shreveport, Louisiana.  32 years old.  Navy SEAL.

Jonas Kelsall.  33 years old.  Shreveport, Louisiana.  Navy Seal.

Obviously, there were more who died.  More names and hometowns are being released as time goes on.

They all had families.  They all put Duty and Country first.

That being said, something doesn't smell right.

I've been thinking about this all day....

It surprises me that 22 members of at least two SEAL teams (6 & 7) would be sent in to help cover Army Rangers who were apparently pinned down in a firefight.  That's not a primary mission for SEALs.  Especially SEAL team 6, or DEVGRU. 

Artillery support, close air support, a Ranger stand-by reactionary force or Quick Reaction Force.  Infantry or other combat units that may have been in the area.  These are assets that I would expect to see deployed to give assistance to the Rangers before bringing in SEALs.  Sending in the SEALs on a ground combat mission like this just strikes me as weird and out of place.  Perhaps not.  Who knows?

Sending the SEALs into a hot combat area in one helicopter.  That also seems a bit weird.  I would have expected several smaller aircraft, Blackhawks or OH6s, for several reasons.  One being that the SEALs could be deployed to several areas of the battlefield at the same time, unlike one Chinook deploying the entire unit to one location at one time.  They could have coordinated action in several areas at once.  A Chinook is big and bulky and not nearly as manuverable as the smaller aircraft I've mentioned.  The second reason that it surprises me is that putting all of your assets into one aircraft is asking for disaster if one Taliban with a low tech weapon gets lucky.

I also question the presense of a Nebraska National Guardsman on his first combat deployment with zero combat experience.  There is zero logic in that.  None.

There was also an Army Reserve SPC4 from Missouri on board.  Certainly seems out of place.  Perhaps he was the dog handler?  I would have expected someone from the SPECOPS community.

The SEALs usually use aircraft and highly trained, highly experienced crews from the 160th SOAR for their missions.  Perhaps this aircraft was, in fact, one from the 160th.  Just doesn't seem right.

The thing that surprises me most, as it is the most out of place, is the fact that it's all over the news.  SpecOps people and missions are usually some of the best kept secrets in the military.  Why has this tragedy been released to the media with so much unit detail?  It's contrary to everything they've ever done as well as being a huge boost to the morale of the Taliban.  You never want to let your enemy know which units are where and when.  Never.  Especially SpecOps units.  Incredible.  Some lucky Taliban knocked the people who offed Bin Laden out of the sky and killed them all.

There definitely has to be more to the story but, as Josh says, there is no point in speculating.  I'm certainly far enough removed from my Army days that I don't know shit about today's tactics. 

Let's suppose for a minute....

Suppose that there wasn't a firefight that had the Rangers pinned down 5 miles outside Kabul.

Suppose that these Rangers wanted to get together with their SEAL buddies from the SPECOPS community and drink a few beers.

Now it's starting to make more sense.....

Not the kind of thing that the military would want the world to know about.

A little in country R&R with unintended consequences?

Stranger things have happened.

Absolutely no disrespect intended.

I'm going to leave it to the politicians and the media to sort out. (snark)

As Josh also says, we have big enough problems here in our own back yard to deal with and sort out.  Especially now that we're all domestic terrorists.  :)

Do you find it strange that by simply not supporting the current administration you have become a terrorist?  That's really weird.

Stay safe.