July 10 - CSAT

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such as “Not a Good Day to Die.” Some General officers have seen combat first hand. Many have not. I have heard about the officers who ride a plane into a.
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CSAT, LLC JULY 2010 INFORMATION LETTER/UPDATE: MAJOR CALENDAR CHANGES: Added 24-28 JAN 2011

Advanced Hostage Rescue Nacogdoches, TX

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GENERAL INFORMATION: Recently I conducted a Special Skills class in Nacogdoches and then travelled to Kentucky to conduct an Advanced Hostage Rescue course. Both went well and it is starting to get hot. The heat followed me to Lexington. MONTHLY INSPIRITATION On June 20th, 2010 Sgt. Greg Washam of the Shreveport Police Department passed away. Greg was a good friend, student and fellow trainer. He is survived by a great wife and kids. MONTHLY PERSPECTIVE… A few readers have asked me to weigh in on General McCrystal’s resignation. During my service I was able to meet and work with a few generals. Some had already made the rank, some were to make it in the future. Here are my thoughts. I have never seen a written down selection process for general. It appeared to me that if a junior officer knew a three-star General or higher, they had a good chance of being pulled up the chain and making General themselves. I personally believe that officers who did not “know” someone of that rank did not have much of a chance of promotion to General. I have witnessed senior officers pulled into the General ranks not because they were good or on their own merits, but rather who their father was (general) or who they knew or served with. Some of these individuals were quality officers, others were duds. It was daddy or an outside force that helped them attain their rank.

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.. .. .. .. Within General ranks, there are generally two-types, combat and non-combat .general the officers who have climbed the ladder. You can read about them in books

such as “Not a Good Day to Die.” Some General officers have seen combat first hand. Many have not. I have heard about the officers who ride a plane into a combat theatre, hands a bag of mail off, get back on the plane and fly home all to get a Combat Patch on their uniform and check the block in their personnel file. A combat patch means a great deal when it comes to promotions. As in any organization, an officer’s view of personal success and status is determined by how high they climbed in the officer rank structure. A personal view of success should be how well they did the job along the way and how they took care of their soldiers. Many officers lose sight of this during their climb for perceived “success.” I have seen many sell their souls and compromise their ethics to gain the next position. I have seen some compromise the safety of their troops by making poor decisions to employ them in no-win situations. These generals have the ability to say no or voice their concerns, but many do not. Ethics and the ability to weigh a decision right or wrong, good or bad is important and it should be free of influencers. In the officer world, the pressure of making the next rank is incredible. Some, their individual ego’s weigh heavily on many of their decisions. Many use the excuse of “I was given my marching orders” as a way not to voice their opinions and to “go with the flow.” This is an excuse used not to work a little harder finding a better solution or as easy way to go with the flow because of a weak character. Many Germans in WWII used this excuse when they were murdering the Jews, unarmed civilians, POW’s, etc. It does not wash with me. I have observed established generals wave the carrot of promotion to many a fine officer to gain compliance. In the end, only the individual officer knows if they compromised their ethics or sold their soul. As for awards, I have heard officer who later made four-stars and Chief of Staff of the Army say that awards were tools. He suggested that awards were tools of the officer corps to either lure soldiers to gain compliance, influence decisions or even divert attention. I am answering the question of General McCrystal in a long-winded way. If I remember correctly, he had a great deal to do with the cover up of Pat Tillman’s death. Pat Tillman was the football player who gave up a sports career to serve the in the Army, more specifically the Rangers. After reading many accounts of the incident and after having served in combat with them, it is my opinion there was a cover up at several levels. In the end, General McCrystal was in charge during this cover up. The Silver Star medal was awarded to Tillman and this in my opinion was one of those “political tools” an officer uses to appease the family and divert attention. Last I checked, getting killed by friendly fire does not rate the Silver Star. Maybe times have changed.

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.. .. .. .. Finally, will address making decisions and “falling on your sword.” In the .military,Iwe used to talk about standing up for what you believe in and in the end,

“falling on your sword” or taking the criticism or consequences for this belief. Many talk about it, few do it. Were I McCrystal and we were not prosecuting the war to the best of our ability, I would voice my concerns to my boss, the President. If I knew in my heart soldiers were being put in harm’s way or dying for our lack of vision, aggressiveness or decisiveness, I would make demands to change and if it did not take place, I would resign. I owe that to the troops. The day after my retirement, I would do an exclusive interview with Fox news and let America know the rest of the story. As for making the right decision for a General, it is easy. They have a monthly retirement that is more than most Americans will make working two well paying full time jobs. Retired Generals can write books and make gobs of money consulting. If you don’t think they will get immediately hired in defense industry making gobs of money, you are naïve. There are organizations out there that exclusively retired generals. Their financial path is well paved. In the end, the only thing they lack is integrity and character… By the way Mr. President, the oil in the gulf is still flowing and it happened on your watch, not President Bush’s. You no longer need to add oil to shrimp to fry them…. COURSE UPDATE(S): None noted….. TRAINING: RANGE UPDATE: Eric has been busy on a dozer pushing a road around the back of the property which will allow us to access it with a truck or tractor. I will keep you posted on what we find. It is too thick and no one to my knowledge has been back there. Should an agency or group wish to rent the facility, feel free to contact us for rates. This includes the ranges, new property, classroom and bunkhouse. CLASSROOM/ LODGE: The new AC units in the classroom are doing well and they also cool the bay area. We have run several classes and they work like a charm.

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.. .. .. .. in the Pro Shop, we will be stocking common use items like electronic ears, Also, . Wipe-Out bore cleaner and a few other products that we use and recommend. Eric has begun filling the shelves. EQUIPMENT: Federal Tactical .223 62 Grain Bonded Ammunition The photo directly below shows secondary frag from glass and the primary entrance hole when using bonded ammo (left eye through glasses). The target was placed in the rear seat of the vehicle and engaged through the front windshield with a 16” Larue .223 rifle at a distance of 31 yards. Bonded ammo is manufactured to stay together when passing through intermediate barriers to include laminate windshield glass. Bonded bullets “bond” the jacket to the core to keep them intact. Secondary frag comes from glass and sometimes bullet fragments/jacket.

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The car center of the photo was engaged from the front of the bus, using the rear view mirror support as a rest. HUNTING UPDATE:

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.. .. .. .. night bacon on the move…. Late .

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.. .. .. .. did a bit of calling a couple of days this month. Too many predators, too We . little time… READING/MISC. INFORMATION None at this time. I do have books stacking up… CLASS PAYMENTS In the future I will request payment in full by either check or Credit Card for classes as I am doing double accounting when I take deposits. IN CLOSING Thanks and we look forward to seeing you all soon. Paul R. Howe

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