NO REGRETS ~ An American Adventure in Afghanistan Read Online Free PDF Page B

you knew it. Which brings us to Chief Warrant Officer (CW2) Lansing. I had a love/hate relationship with this guy from the moment that I met him. When Rob introduced me to him, I immediately thought to myself, “Fuck! It’s Fire Marshall Bill!” The guy resembled and sort of acted a bit like the insane character portrayed by Jim Carrey in the ‘90s TV series In Living Color . He looked like he was on the far side of seventy years old but he was probably in his mid-forties. He was a pain in the ass, and he didn’t particularly like the idea of turning over his operation to a bunch of “greedy fuckin’ contractors.”
    Lansing’s crew consisted of five of those California National Guard guys. None of whom were exemplary soldiers. They were all bitter about their deployment to Afghanistan and like many a National Guard soldier, they were ill-trained and out of shape. They wanted nothing more than to be home in the States, and for this nightmare deployment to be over. That attitude showed in their work ethic, their customer service, and the general organization of the office. The place was a bloody mess. Afghanistan is dusty. Everything and everyone gets dirty despite your best efforts. That said, have a little pride. The office was a cave when I arrived. There was no real filing system. Documents and equipment were stuffed in any hole that was open. Finding anything was a challenge. If I asked for documentation, it took hours for them to locate it. After a few days of working in their lackadaisical lunacy, I screamed, “Fuck, dudes. This place is a pig sty!” That didn’t go towards making me popular with “the team.”
    4 British SAS—Special Air Service—is the equivalent to U.S. Special Forces.
    5 U.S. Army Pathfinders are specialists in navigating foreign terrain and establishing safe landing zones for U.S. military personnel.
    6 ISAF—International Security Assistance Force—is led by NATO and provides security for the whole of Afghanistan.
    7 Department of the Army—formerly War Department—is a military department within the U.S. Defense Department. The U.S. Army falls under the Department of the Army.

Operation Enduring Freedom
    November–December 2003
    On September 11, 2001, a group of Muslim extremists hiding out in the mountains of Central Asia reportedly launched an attack on the United States by hijacking four commercial airliners. These extremists were supposedly guests of the Taliban, the erstwhile leaders of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Following these attacks, President George W. Bush demanded the Taliban hand over al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, who was considered the mastermind behind 9/11. The Taliban refused. In November 2001, the CIA and Special Forces (SF) teams linked up with Rashid Dostum and other commanders of the Northern Alliance who had been fighting against the Taliban since 1996.
    The first American combatives into Afghanistan were Navy Seals, Army Special Forces, Air Force Combat Control (Air Force Special Ops), and CIA Special Operations commandos who carried in millions in cash. They also brought laser guidance systems that were used to guide smart bombs and missiles at Taliban targets. What most of the U.S. public doesn’t know is that many Taliban commanders were bribed into deserting. While the air campaign bombed Taliban units out of existence or into submission, U.S. and Afghan operatives enticed the enemy to switch sides with offers of cash and immunity. Many Taliban commanders decided that they’d rather take the money and live than continue to be bombed into oblivion. Afghan warlords have always been quick to abandon a losing cause. After being targeted by massive bombing runs by U.S. military, the Taliban fell back swiftly. They were not willing to fight against aircraft from which they had no defenses. The last stand of the Taliban occurred in a building on a U.S. base in Qandahar. That building is fittingly named “TLS” for the “Taliban’s