The common everyday U.S. citizen will likely never be able to make sense of this weekend’s devastating loss of some of America’s finest military warfighters in Afghanistan. Words cannot describe the magnitude of this tragedy. Many would like the “why” answered but answering such will not bring back these brave warriors. We must instead focus on the “how.” How can we ensure our military members remain as safe as possible while they are deployed fighting our enemies?
Since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, approximately ten years ago, the United States has done very little to improve, modify, and or update our military industrial complex. Our nation has been consumed with military surges and withdrawal debates, economic debacles, and an emotional high over the death of Osama Bin Laden. Very few have maintained vigilance over our ever depleting military surplus.
Some tools have been drafted and implemented in this asymmetric fight like Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s), Mine resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicles, and even the IAV Stryker. These tools are new for our warfighters and their incorporations have been relatively successful. Needless to say, these tools are specialized and used for specific purposes. The more common tools like CH-47 Chinook helicopters, the same aerial vehicle which crashed in eastern Afghanistan on August 5th, are old and outdated.
Military helicopter incidents in Afghanistan are more common than many would like to believe. The United States alone has lost at least 75 helicopters since the start of our military operations in Afghanistan back in 2001. Of all the helicopters, the CH-47 Chinook has the majority of losses. The Chinook far exceeds others doubling in incidents–a helicopter built in the 1970’s with very little upgrades. It was the CH-47 Chinook that our special operatives were flying on this past weekend.
A good reason behind these incidents lies not because of enemy activity rather mechanical failure–an issue easily resolved if our military industrial complex were maintained appropriately. With significant budget cuts forecasted within the DOD in an attempt to resolve a national economic crisis, it is unlikely enhancements within our military industrial complex will entail–something desperately needed to prevent future tragedies involving our American heroes.
Kerry Patton is the Co-Founder of the National Security Leadership Foundation, a non-profit organization pending 501c (3) status. He has worked in South America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, focusing on intelligence and security interviewing current and former terrorists, including members of the Taliban. He is the author of “Sociocultural Intelligence: The New Discipline of Intelligence Studies” and the children’s book “American Patriotism.” You can follow him on Facebook
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