Maduro Captured

[BloodStripe]

Looks like he was having difficulty getting a good foothold on the rope.

I agree which is why I said he had a hard time getting the rope. Nerves will cause that. Five plus seconds is a long ass time for the number one man to be on the ship by himself.

 

[Devildoc]

Something I thought about the other day, I wonder how many of the 160th and ground guys on the Maduro mission had prior combat experience?

I only bring it up because we had two decades of war and some very, very limited stuff in the last few years. It stands to reason dudes are hitting CAG without a single combat deployment by now.

Unless things have changed, we may not have many active wars (I mean, there's always Syria) but CAG and even (gulp) DevGru have stayed pretty active. But I agree there are probably guys getting into those units with no combat experience.

 

[Marauder06]

Unless things have changed, we may not have many active wars (I mean, there's always Syria) but CAG and even (gulp) DevGru have stayed pretty active. But I agree there are probably guys getting into those units with no combat experience.

I see a lot of this at West Point now. When I first came here, it was extremely rare for any of the officers or NCOs to not have a combat patch. Now it's becoming the norm, through no fault of the soldiers. There simply aren't as many chances to get into the fight.

 

[AWP]

Unless things have changed, we may not have many active wars (I mean, there's always Syria) but CAG and even (gulp) DevGru have stayed pretty active. But I agree there are probably guys getting into those units with no combat experience.

We had a longtime member here who had to bounce because of his military commitments. He posted once that the 75th (this was...2018, 2019, somewhere in there) had E-5's without a combat deployment. Now we're 6-7 years removed so I don't think it unrealistic to have SF and 75th alumni without trigger time, same as the 160th who are almost certainly seeing aircrews without combat.

And yes, we've seen this before and the units did not suffer as a result, but it is something to consider: the Maduro raid probably had guys without combat time. And that is one more reason only the US could make the raid happen. Experience built a training process so thorough that we don't need a bunch of battle hardened guys to complete a complex and dangerous mission.

 

[Devildoc]

We had a longtime member here who had to bounce because of his military commitments. He posted once that the 75th (this was...2018, 2019, somewhere in there) had E-5's without a combat deployment. Now we're 6-7 years removed so I don't think it unrealistic to have SF and 75th alumni without trigger time, same as the 160th who are almost certainly seeing aircrews without combat.

And yes, we've seen this before and the units did not suffer as a result, but it is something to consider: the Maduro raid probably had guys without combat time. And that is one more reason only the US could make the raid happen. Experience built a training process so thorough that we don't need a bunch of battle hardened guys to complete a complex and dangerous mission.

Guys I know at Bragg and Lejeune now (because of my job) are E5s, E6s with plenty of JCETS but no combat experience. It is what it is. Same as us in the 90s.

Fully agree regarding the training process. We've seen that with Delta before (Modelo Prison in Panama and Mogadishu).

 

[Marauder06]

We had a longtime member here who had to bounce because of his military commitments. He posted once that the 75th (this was...2018, 2019, somewhere in there) had E-5's without a combat deployment. Now we're 6-7 years removed so I don't think it unrealistic to have SF and 75th alumni without trigger time, same as the 160th who are almost certainly seeing aircrews without combat.

And yes, we've seen this before and the units did not suffer as a result, but it is something to consider: the Maduro raid probably had guys without combat time. And that is one more reason only the US could make the raid happen. Experience built a training process so thorough that we don't need a bunch of battle hardened guys to complete a complex and dangerous mission.

Yep. Having been to combat... or not... doesn't mean you're a good guy... or not. We probably all know dirtbags who have deployed, and good people who didn't. Bowe Bergdahl is a combat vet. 'nuff said.

 

[Marauder06]

"Elections matter—but they matter most when coupled with independent institutions, a free press, and a political culture that respects the rules of democratic competition.

Hard lessons from Caracas now echo across global conversations about how to protect democracy before it erodes, reminding us that safeguarding freedom is far easier at the ballot box than trying to reclaim it afterward."

Venezuela Shows the World: "You Can Vote Your Way Into Socialism, But You’ll Have To Shoot Your Way Out" • The Havok Journal | Military & Veteran News, Commentary, Culture

 

[Box]

Venezuela Shows the World: "You Can Vote Your Way Into Socialism, But You’ll Have To Shoot Your Way Out" • The Havok Journal | Military & Veteran News, Commentary, Culture

Yes, but this is only because these other countries keep doing socialism wrong...

This is America - if anybody can do socialism right, it's GOT to be the USA...
...amiright ???

 

[Blizzard]

They're getting a lot of actual boarding experience in 2026...

https://twitter.com/x/status/2009632097858711656

 

[Box]

-the politicians that used to collect "look the other way money" are probably super enraged right now

-the politicians that enjoy insider trading profits based on increased military spending needed to fund this effort, are probably masturbating in their offices over the kickbacks

 

[DA SWO]

They're getting a lot of actual boarding experience in 2026...

https://twitter.com/x/status/2009632097858711656

SOUTHCOM having to do war shit is hilarious.

 

[Blizzard]

SOUTHCOM having to do war shit is hilarious.

No more sitting on beaches with señoritas and margaritas?

 

[Kraut783]

We had a longtime member here who had to bounce because of his military commitments. He posted once that the 75th (this was...2018, 2019, somewhere in there) had E-5's without a combat deployment. Now we're 6-7 years removed so I don't think it unrealistic to have SF and 75th alumni without trigger time, same as the 160th who are almost certainly seeing aircrews without combat.

And yes, we've seen this before and the units did not suffer as a result, but it is something to consider: the Maduro raid probably had guys without combat time. And that is one more reason only the US could make the raid happen. Experience built a training process so thorough that we don't need a bunch of battle hardened guys to complete a complex and dangerous mission.

How about the planning process of an operation like this? I feel that a lot of the planners probably had GWOT experience in operations and can bring real world experience to the planning...the whole This works...to, This sound good, but won't work...etc