The 10/1/21 dispatch.

Oct 01, 2021

∙ Paid

Hope everyone has had a great week!

I thought I’d start this post off with my almost obsession with drones and robots, and how they will change the future of warfare.

Take a look at this baby below.

An Army autonomous weapons system known as “Origin” maneuvers through desert terrain as weapons testing commences during Project Convergence 20 at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, August 25, 2020.

The Army calls it an autonomous weapons system known as “Origin.” And even with someone so knew and so quickly thrown together in a test environment, you can see that this is a serious threat to any enemy.

Medium machine gun. Anti-tank weapon. Fairly maneuverable platform that would go through (and over) most terrain.

You can read about it below, but clearly no lightly-armed force would do well against a bunch of these. (There’s even a good chance that no heavily-armed tank force would do well, either.)

I’m assuming some support members would have to be nearby to reload the antitank weapons, but I’d still rather this thing crest a hill and fire than have to do so myself. And that’s what these systems will help do: reduce casualties. (Especially when you add in supporting drones from above, artillery and mortar support, etc.) Read more below:

U.S. Army @USArmy

Planning a large-scale Army exercise requires teamwork and collaboration. The @usarmy_devcom is part of a team of teams working together to plan #ProjectConvergence 2022. ➡️ go.usa.gov/xM5Tz #Modernization | #ArmyFutures

In other matters, moving back to Afghanistan, David Ignatius writes this:

David Ignatius @IgnatiusPost

The CIA got more than 20,000 of it Afghan agents and families out of the country. It wasn’t a triumph—nothing in Afghanistan is—but it kept faith with people who had helped America.

washingtonpost.comOpinion | Inside the CIA’s desperate effort to rescue its Afghan alliesThe agency’s officers and local partners were among the last out of Kabul, working undercover to evacuate as many Americans and Afghans as possible.

From the column:

“The Afghanistan war was a painful failure for the United States, as our military commanders told Congress this week. The CIA’s role bookended that drama, at the dawn and sunset: The agency was first into Afghanistan after 9/11, working with tribal allies to topple the Taliban. And its officers and Afghan agents were among the last out, working undercover to evacuate as many Americans and Afghans as possible.

“The CIA made its own terrible mistakes in the war on terror. The worst was torturing al-Qaeda prisoners, but two decades of drone attacks and other counterterrorism operations were corrosive and shocked consciences, at home and abroad. But among former officers, the rescue of so many Afghan allies has generated a quiet buzz of satisfaction. Two former officers who served in Afghanistan told me the agency had rescued more than 20,000 Afghan partners and their families. The agency refused to comment on numbers.”

Ignatius wrote in his column that the CIA helped defend Kabul airport and worked outside the airport on covert missions, “sometimes posing as taxi drivers, to rescue Americans who were stranded or too frightened to make their way to the airport.”

Moving along, in the bad news department, there’s this:

CNN @CNN

The suicide rate among active duty service members in the US military increased by 41.4% in the five years from 2015 to 2020, according to data provided in an annual report from the Department of Defense on suicide in the military

cnn.itSuicide rate among active duty service members increased by 41% between 2015 and 2020The suicide rate among active duty service members in the US military increased by 41.4% in the five years from 2015 to 2020, according to data provided in the annual report from the Department of Defense on suicide in the military.

This is beyond horrific, obviously, but I have no idea what to do about it. In a bit of a coincidence, I recently listened to a podcast about a daughter whose father had taken his own life. In this case, the man was a long-time cop.

I’m not sure why the suicide rate is so high among military, first responders, etc, but if you know any, reach out to them, show them as much love as you can.

Moving to lighter matters, in the crazy department, I had to share this (for those who haven’t seen it):

KP @kerethp

This Florida Man has won the internet for the Month of September

Two final quick things.

First, something funny. The Marine Corps posted the following tweet somewhat innocently a couple of days back:

II MEF @iimefmarines

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Donald Walkerparks, a transmissions system operator with 1st Battalion, 10th Marines Regiment, @2dMarDiv, and a Washington, D.C. native, leads a series of stretching exercises with Afghan children on @MCB_Quantico, Virginia. #OperationAlliesWelcome @USMC

And it was immediately followed by this amazing comment!

Matthew Sampson @AllegedKurd

>Marines get sent to take care of refugee kids >Immediately begin PTing them

II MEF @iimefmarines

Okay, that should’ve made you laugh.

Moving on to the second thing, let’s end with some motivation:

Inspired Motivation Quotes @IMQuotes_Videos

Don't let excuses and self-doubts hold you back from achieving your goals. #Motivation

That’s it for this post. Stay safe and be kind. As always, please share this post if you enjoyed it.

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Every Tuesday and Friday, I write about conflicts and military matters that are happening throughout the world. Such as what’s happening in Afghanistan or Iraq. How we’re aligning ourselves to counter China’s growing influence. Updates on new military technology that we’re fielding.

I also post some motivation, as well as veteran interviews, when I can schedule them. (Veterans NEVER want to talk about themselves or what they’ve done. If you know a veteran, please reach out to me at stan@stanrmitchell.com. I would love to feature them on my site.)

As long-time readers know, I do all of this from a moderate perspective that focuses on unity in our country. I also don’t believe in clickbait, over-the-top headlines, or other tactics created to increase fear or panic, all in the hope of adding to web traffic. You will always get the sober, mature view, with a slight bit of my optimism peering through.

Feel free to leave a comment below. I love having conversations on here! You can also simply reply to the email you received and I will receive that communication, as well. I always appreciate each and every email that I receive.

Semper Fidelis,

Stan R. Mitchell

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The View from the Front Podcast. By Stan R. Mitchell.

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