MoH to be awarded to SOCM Slabinski

I've also seen the Predator footage.

So many things conspired to make this a clusterfuck...bad comm, bad intel, bad decisions, Greg Trebon, SEALs in love with their own hype and jonesing to get into the fight, Nail 22 says no enemy on Takur Ghar; Slabinski judges a man dead by a visual assessment of his lack of chest expansion? I know he was in contact, but that seems a pretty hasty way to count a guy out so you can unass the kill zone.

Chapman is without blame. He fought desperately and alone and deserves every honor he gets.
 
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Is there any particular reason the footage has not been released? I've had discussions with some who have seen the footage and they too said the same thing you all are saying.
 
AWP said:
The more I think about it, the more this seems like a tit for tat award process as a political compromise. This isn’t close to the first time where the MOH was politicized.
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HQMC looked at one of my Marines for the MOH... until they found out he was a two time DUI recipient. He ended up with a Silver Star. Could be a coincidence.
 
Teufel said:
NSW has a history of throwing medals at tragedies.

Meanwhile Rafael Peralta still hasn’t been awarded the Medal of Honor for pulling a grenade to his chest and giving his life to save his squad mates.
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Ed Darack mentioned the same about Red Wings, people didn't like him very much afterward. He talked about interviewing multiple people claiming to have watched UAV video of the event when he claimed there was zero UAV coverage. He also talked about the number of Taliban fighters actually involved, sounded like some numbers were fudged.
 
Teufel said:
NSW has a history of throwing medals at tragedies.

Meanwhile Rafael Peralta still hasn’t been awarded the Medal of Honor for pulling a grenade to his chest and giving his life to save his squad mates.
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I do think it's nice the tribute that is on the Arleigh Burke DDG that bears his name though.
 
Teufel said:
NSW has a history of throwing medals at tragedies.

Meanwhile Rafael Peralta still hasn’t been awarded the Medal of Honor for pulling a grenade to his chest and giving his life to save his squad mates.
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And inflating awards... they hand out BSV’s like candy for stuff that should just be a BSM. Look at the UBL raid- everyone received a SS despite it being a pretty dull mission, all things considered. Chris Kyles SS citation is for his one deployment where he got all his kills. Pretty sure valor awards are supposed to be for individual acts and not a conglomeration of acts over a 6 month deployment. You would know better than I on that front sir so please correct me if I’m wrong.
amlove21 said:
Chappy's family still makes cookies for deployed dudes. I've met Slab and heard his version of events first hand, out on the Island.

That being said- what the fuck man.
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That’s a great family. I would be interested to hear your opinion on the Master Chief- I’m sure he’s a helluva gunfighter, but between the Intercept article (which states he is PNG from the unit, making this whole upgrade seem odd), he did some serious shady shit later in his career. I wouldn’t say this is warranted. Again, would like to hear the opinion of someone far more experienced than myself.
 
DasBoot said:
That’s a great family. I would be interested to hear your opinion on the Master Chief- I’m sure he’s a helluva gunfighter, but between the Intercept article (which states he is PNG from the unit, making this whole upgrade seem odd), he did some serious shady shit later in his career. I wouldn’t say this is warranted. Again, would like to hear the opinion of someone far more experienced than myself.
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Well, just to make sure I am not sounding cooler than I am- he was a guest speaker at the Platoon Leaders Course and gave a 2 (ish) hour AAR of the Takur Ghar battle and some lessons learned. I spoke to him personally for about 10 minutes afterward, but it was your normal "guest speaker/audience goer" fare.

I thought he was transparent, articulate, open and honest about the event and the events leading up to it. I thought he had some true remorse/regret for the way the entire thing went down and obviously there was a lot of emotion involved. I left his talk with a better understanding of the event in total from a different lens, and was happier to do so. I didn't know Chappy or Jason Cunningham personally, but I obviously know their stories (and their families) at this point in my career.

That being said, the strangest inputs happened after the speech. At lunch and later during the day, he was the topic of conversation and not in a good way. The younger dudes (guys on team with less than one "pump" or generally younger SEALs) had good things to say; to a man the older guys did not. I won't go into what was said, because it's not mine to say, but it ranged from the general "I dont like that guy" to some pretty ouotlandish and heinous accusations. I felt outright uncomfortable during one story because it was their dirty laundry and I probably shouldn't have been involved. But that's what 3 or 4 beers and the warm San Diego sunshine will do, I guess.

As far as his status at the unit- no clue. That's Teams business, and I ain't a Team guy, ya dig?
 
I've been sitting on this a bit to see if someone else here would bring it up but haven't seen it posted:
Operators Are Bitterly Infighting Over The Latest Medal Of Honor Announcement

In addition, Sean Naylor just published this:
The Navy SEALs Allegedly Left Behind a Man in Afghanistan. Did They Also Try to Block His Medal of Honor?

Finally followed by this:
Stop Infighting Around SEAL's Medal of Honor, Awards Expert Says

For those familiar with the Battle of Roberts Ridge, which is probably most here, there is likely to be strong opinions. I'll just say this... I certainly don't have any particular insight to the incredible amount of politics that take place throughout the recommendation process but it's important that they remain separate from the men themselves.

I'll also add, the next actions to be addressed from that battle should be those of Cunningham, who is also worthy of an upgrade. He was being reconsidered a few years ago but I don't know the current status of his case.
 
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