Are There Any Us-army-reports Of Hand To Hand Combat In Iraq Or Afghanistan

Why are there still American troops stationed in Afghanistan?

United States is the greatest military power, it maintains its dominance by deploying troops and setting up military bases around the globe.US lacks a definitive goal in Afghanistan. On one hand it decides to deploy more troops into Afghanistan, on the other hand it keeps on sending aid money to Pakistan which trains & backs the Taliban.This is a map from January 2017 and the Taliban had gained more grounds since then.Its been more than 16 years that America started the war against terrorism in Afghanistan. It is difficult to digest the fact that the most advanced army & airforce fought a battle with some ill equip, non-technical bandits for 16 years and still couldn't win it.In Iraq, the Islamist groups had acquired oil fields to fund their fight. The Taliban doesn't hold any oil fields and it is not possible to run a terrorist organization by cultivating & selling Opium poppy. Moreover, the Afghan Opium moves out of the country to the rest of the world, so if the US wishes it can curtail the supply chain.In an interview, an Afghan soldier said that the Taliban militants gets twice the salary of an Afghan army. So, the question is where is all the money coming from?Another question that surfaces is that, America had spent billions of dollars in rebuilding the nation. Where has the money gone? The country is still in rubbles.The answer is, 20% of the aid money goes into the hands of the radical Islamists and that’s how they run their organization. US has a two-faced policy in Afghanistan, its main motive is to have its presence for as long as it can. Afghanistan shares border with Iran, so by maintaining its presence in Afghanistan the US wants to intimidate Iran. Simply the existance of US army in Afghanistan enough to poses a threat to Iran.Supporting links:Report Reveals U.S. Aid Funds Taliban in AfghanistanThe Iran Factor in Afghanistan

In the U.S Navy do you receive any sort of combat training?

Unfortunately Sailors do not receive any combat training as that is not the mission of the Naval service. We get qualified to operate and carry some small arms, such as the 9mm and the M-16, as the Quarterdeck duties onboard a ship would require. Some Sailors also get training on the 25mm chain gun, .50cal but unless you are a Gunner’s Mate this training is also reserved. Once the “ship goes down”, it’s a good bet that so did your armory besides moreover than not, once a gun is wet so is the powder and therefore useless. After that you better hope that you kept a tactical knife to ward off sharks.However, there are many special missions that Sailors do receive special arms training. Those in the SEALs, Special Boat Operators (SBO), and Seabees do get further combat training because of the unique nature of their missions. SEALs and SBO’s are part of the Special Warfare command and since the nature of their missions align similarly they need to know how to use the weapons they would both encounter in that environment as well, and have some sort of personal defensive measures (karate, ju-jitsu) in case their weapons are rendered useless and need to kick some butt.Seabees work in all sorts of environments that would fall into the land battle scenario. I refer you to read about the men who fought on Wake Island who were primarily Navy Seabees in that engagement, but also any of the islands in the “Island Hopping campaign” of World War II. But also they are know to operate on Antarctica and the Aleutian Islands, as well as in Iraq/Afghanistan, their “combat training” is built around the environment they are going to be working in.Although my duties at NAS Keflavik, Iceland were to be career counseling, I also volunteered to be on the base auxiliary security forcem(ASF). The platoon of Marines on the base acted as the primary ground defense but a platoon is a small force and the ASF was also needed supplement the cadre. We received limited instructions on how to work with the Marines and the weapons they used from the cadre and joined their base defense drills.

How often did hand to hand fights occur in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Hand to hand combat still occurred during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, such events appear to have been extremely rare. Rare enough to generally warrant special attention from the media and the rest of the military.For example, the following account describes how CSM Robert Prosser subdued an Iraqi insurgent during combat operations in Mosul, in 2005:Gates of FireTL;DR: Prosser’s M4 carbine went dry, so he grappled the insurgent facing him and essentially punched him into submission.CSM Robert Prosser standing above the Iraqi insurgent he engaged in hand to hand combat (the insurgent was captured alive).CSM Robert Prosser was awarded the Silver Star for his manly fisticuffs with the enemy.Pictured below is SSG David Bellavia, who was awarded the Silver Star during the Second Battle of Fallujah, following an engagement during which he killed several Iraqi insurgents, including one in hand to hand combat using one of his ballistic plates and a tool knife:He later wrote a book detailing his experience in Iraq: Amazon.com: House to House: An Epic Memoir of War (9781416596608): Sgt. David Bellavia, John Bruning: BooksSome events involving hand to hand combat also occurred during the War in Afghanistan, although they seem to have been rarer than in Iraq. I assume this is due to the difference in the average combat range between Iraq and Afghanistan (close-quarters urban warfare seemed to have been a lot more prevalent in Iraq than it was in Afghanistan).As an example, I could cite the story of Cpl. Clifford Wooldridge, who engaged Taliban fighters in hand to hand combat, killing several enemy fighters, including one in hand to hand combat by grabbing the enemy’s weapon and bashing his skull with it. He was awarded the Navy Cross.The Crazy Story Of A Marine Locked In Hand-To-Hand Combat As The Taliban Fighter Reached For A GrenadeI have to stress once again that the events I’ve listed above were extremely rare. Hand to hand combat still happens however. There’s a reason why armed forces across the world still teach hand to hand combat to their recruits.