Mike Ritland

with the guys that you haven't vetted yet.

with the guys that you haven't vetted yet.

with the guys that you haven't vetted yet.

How did that go? It went uneventful, we had activity, but nothing significant happened, luckily for us. And we just started building more rapport with them, vetting them, training them, and it improved our situation over time.

How did that go? It went uneventful, we had activity, but nothing significant happened, luckily for us. And we just started building more rapport with them, vetting them, training them, and it improved our situation over time.

How did that go? It went uneventful, we had activity, but nothing significant happened, luckily for us. And we just started building more rapport with them, vetting them, training them, and it improved our situation over time.

No, I will say here's just a little bit of forward history on the guys that I trained. Those same guys that I trained had worked with Special Operations, including Special Missions Unit from the Navy prior to working with us. So there were some good dudes. And when I left that fire base, a guy by the name of Rob Miller ripped into that fire base

No, I will say here's just a little bit of forward history on the guys that I trained. Those same guys that I trained had worked with Special Operations, including Special Missions Unit from the Navy prior to working with us. So there were some good dudes. And when I left that fire base, a guy by the name of Rob Miller ripped into that fire base

No, I will say here's just a little bit of forward history on the guys that I trained. Those same guys that I trained had worked with Special Operations, including Special Missions Unit from the Navy prior to working with us. So there were some good dudes. And when I left that fire base, a guy by the name of Rob Miller ripped into that fire base

and was with those guys as an 18 bravo from third special forces group when he was killed and earned the medal of honor posthumously of course and those men, those Afghans that were with them were the Afghans that I trained, that were trained prior. And so they were squared away. I mean, they had heart, they were disciplined. They wanted it, man. You were impressed with them.

and was with those guys as an 18 bravo from third special forces group when he was killed and earned the medal of honor posthumously of course and those men, those Afghans that were with them were the Afghans that I trained, that were trained prior. And so they were squared away. I mean, they had heart, they were disciplined. They wanted it, man. You were impressed with them.

and was with those guys as an 18 bravo from third special forces group when he was killed and earned the medal of honor posthumously of course and those men, those Afghans that were with them were the Afghans that I trained, that were trained prior. And so they were squared away. I mean, they had heart, they were disciplined. They wanted it, man. You were impressed with them.

Yeah, I was impressed. A good example was they instinctively knew when or if there was a potential significant act going to happen called SIG Act. And they would immediately get to the high ground and they were good about displacing themselves and then talking to the local community because you have to understand that these people lived in that same community.

Yeah, I was impressed. A good example was they instinctively knew when or if there was a potential significant act going to happen called SIG Act. And they would immediately get to the high ground and they were good about displacing themselves and then talking to the local community because you have to understand that these people lived in that same community.

Yeah, I was impressed. A good example was they instinctively knew when or if there was a potential significant act going to happen called SIG Act. And they would immediately get to the high ground and they were good about displacing themselves and then talking to the local community because you have to understand that these people lived in that same community.

So they knew everybody around them and they didn't want to be the guy that failed their mission and got an American killed. So they had buy-in. So yeah, I was impressed with them. We had a lot of work to do, obviously. but they had a good base. And all the guys in Nuristan province that I operated with that were Afghan, in the village of Nure and Asadabad, Barrack out all great great men.

So they knew everybody around them and they didn't want to be the guy that failed their mission and got an American killed. So they had buy-in. So yeah, I was impressed with them. We had a lot of work to do, obviously. but they had a good base. And all the guys in Nuristan province that I operated with that were Afghan, in the village of Nure and Asadabad, Barrack out all great great men.

So they knew everybody around them and they didn't want to be the guy that failed their mission and got an American killed. So they had buy-in. So yeah, I was impressed with them. We had a lot of work to do, obviously. but they had a good base. And all the guys in Nuristan province that I operated with that were Afghan, in the village of Nure and Asadabad, Barrack out all great great men.

What are these guys carrying? Do they have nods to have helmets at this time in the war? No nods. No helmet. We eventually evolved into that but we we were straight ak-47s and flip-flops Man, I mean it was we like our guys didn't even have uniforms. They're rolling around and whatever we can get them I actually

What are these guys carrying? Do they have nods to have helmets at this time in the war? No nods. No helmet. We eventually evolved into that but we we were straight ak-47s and flip-flops Man, I mean it was we like our guys didn't even have uniforms. They're rolling around and whatever we can get them I actually