Word: commandingly
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Afghanistan, Australian special forces were something of a novelty to their US commanders. On one map in the main US command center in Afghanistan, they were denoted by a cut-out picture of Australian celebrity crocodile hunter, Steve Irwin. "It was pretty disheartening, says one trooper. "The way they did use us was very inappropriate...
...take kindly to our probing of that area - despite the fact it was an excellent ground recon effort.'' The Australians sought involvement in Anaconda but were given a lowly role as a blocking force. That perceived waste of their talent prompted a heated clash with one of the US commanders. A near shouting match erupted between a US special forces Major called Jimmy, who was acting second in command of the American special forces effort, and another Australian SAS officer over the issue...
...During a gunfight many believe was the longest engagement by an SAS unit since the Vietnam war, the patrol's six members showed undoubted heroism. But their actions - which led to the deaths of those Afghan men - won no bravery awards. Instead they brought recriminations, investigations, and claims of command failures, insubordination, the killing of civilians, and the souveniring of trophies from the dead. Some troopers were disciplined, and the patrol leader resigned in disgust over what he believes was a cover...
...front of them. Khan told the patrol members he would deal with them when they returned to Australia, but the leader said, "'That's not acceptable,' " he recalls. "People forget things in four months." Because "the allegations against me were serious," he reported the incident to the SAS regimental commander. The trooper who had taken the camera on patrol and looted the body was charged with a minor offense, received a permanent administrative warning and was required to write a "show cause" letter setting out why he should be allowed to remain in the Army. The patrol leader's second...
...enough to attract students if the adventure still means combat in Iraq. The Army had "disappointing" results when it tried out its 15-month enlistment option in a pilot program over the past two years in 10 cities, said Major General Michael Rochelle, head of the Army Recruiting Command. He insists it was because the program wasn't advertised broadly. But even an aggressive marketing campaign by no means guarantees compensating for the shortfall of 6,600 enlistees so far this year, with next year looking not much better. Rochelle says the military is facing "the most challenging conditions...