UPDATE: Yon 'reports': ISAF hits back - with FACTS

UPDATE from BlackFive:

Michael Yon vs. Professional Soldiers - And the winner is...

Posted By Blackfive • [October 27, 2011]

This all begins with Mike Yon's essay about arming medevac birds and removing the red crosses. I'll put the responses from the ISAF PAO (in Afghanistan) after the jump.

Now, pull up a seat and go over to the excellent forum at Professional Soldiers and read the whole thread discussing the article about medevacs. "Team Sergeant" is MSG (ret) Jeff Hinton who has the utmost respect from us here at B5. A lot of the commenters are active duty SF, too. Just do yourself a favor and read the whole thread. The best summary is one of the last comments:

Mike,

I don't know you (aside from some of your writings) and I don't know many of those here on PS for that matter. Although there are some names that I recognize from another website.

When I read your current article (being discussed here) I thought it was rather interesting and while I may have agreed with some of it in principle, everything that you have written here has completely altered what I thought about you previously.

You have essentially called into question the integrity of professional SF personnel who have served more than a lifetime in special operations. You then attempt to deflect another members claims that he had you bounced from his AO by alluding to the fact that someone in his command may have been involved in a murder.

I have to really wonder about your motivations. To me you are no better than the sleazy reporters who make up their own news and facts just to be heard.

In short you pissed off guys here who it seemed were more than willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and then to top it off you insult them and make accusations. I'll reiterate what others have said. Who is more credible here? You or someone who has spent numerous years in special operations doing the deed. Guys that are in leadership positions who have dedicated themselves to their work and this country.

I am pretty sure that you can answer that question yourself without my assistance....

There is MUCH more, and it IS a must read here. Michael Yon is shown - again - for what he is....'Nuff said from me.

*****Original post:

I'm not going to link to Yon again, but take a look at ISAF's latest response to one of Yon's current 'misinformation' bulletins. (Yes, I'm being kind...) I am not even going to add anything here, letting ISAF's facts speak for themselves. For the record:

From My Position...On the way:

That letter Yon didn't want you to see

ISAF response to Michael Yon's Oct 12 Red Air posting (UNCLASSIFIED)

Michael Yon's blog article of October 12, "Red Air: America's Medevac Failure," contains numerous omissions of key information and errors in fact.

For starters, Yon says the Army lacks the political will to configure its MEDEVAC aircraft like the Air Force's Combat Search and Rescue "Pedros" (Pedros are armed and do not have the red cross markings on the side of the aircraft). Yon is comparing apples to oranges. The primary mission of the Pedros is to rescue downed aircrews and other isolated personnel; their secondary mission is to support special operations forces. Both of these missions require them to be armed. If available, Pedros do also perform MEDEVAC missions - again, if available. Pedros can't carry as many litter patients as the Army Dustoffs and there are seven times the numbers of Dustoff helicopters compared to Pedros in Afghanistan. Yon never mentions these critical points.

Yon's point that the Army should arm and remove the red cross from its MEDEVAC aircraft fails to acknowledge larger issues. Doing so would place the US outside its commitment to conducting MEDEVACs under the guidelines of the Geneva Conventions and moral norm for how Western nations identify their aircraft dedicated to medical evacuation.

Furthermore, the Pedro's 7.62 mm or .50 cal. machine gun does provide a level of self-protection but it is not on the level of an accompanying AH-64 Apache carrying 30mm cannon and rockets. The Apache escorts give the MEDEVAC aircraft a much higher level of firepower and protection; something our Soldiers take confidence from when scrambling under fire to evacuate wounded comrades.

As for factual inaccuracies, Yon states that it took 65 minutes to evacuate the Soldier who subsequently died. Not true, the official operational logs show that the mission was wheels down (WD) at the medical treatment facility in 59 minutes; and the MEDEVAC aircraft didn't come from Kandahar, the Dustoff was launched from nearby FOB Pasab and linked up with its armed Apache escort from Kandahar enroute to the Point of Injury (POI). The fact is that despite extended distances and enemy forces in the area, this evacuation was accomplished under the US standard of one hour. Of the 2240 MEDEVAC missions conducted in the RC-S area of operations since 1 Nov 2010 only 1.5% were Out of Standard and 0% of those were assessed to having a clinical impact on the patient.

Yon also states that commanders on the ground have no discretion to call for a Pedro over an Army medevac - an insinuation that they would if given the choice. Yon fails to mention that all requests for air evacuation are called into a central point in each Regional Command called a Patient Evacuation Coordination Cell (PECC). The PECC receives a MEDEVAC request, then determines the quickest way to get the Category A (CAT A) casualty from the Point of Injury (POI) to a Medical Treatment Facility (MTF) that can provide the appropriate level of medical care for the injuries suffered. The ground force commander does not have the capacity to make this call while in the close fight. The system is designed to allow for the most efficient response across the battle space with the assets of not only our MEDEVAC aircraft, but all rotary wing assets. Commanders understand the requirement for rapid evacuation of our wounded Soldiers and every effort is made to execute the MEDEVAC mission safely and effectively. The highest survival rates in the history of armed conflict bears out this fact. In the RC-S area of operations there have been 2240 MEDEVAC missions since 1 Nov 2010 with a 98% survival rate.


Michael Yon's omissions of key information and factual errors have done a disservice to our Soldiers and all those who care about them. These inaccuracies may unnecessarily cause some to doubt the US medical evacuation system in Afghanistan. Further, it could undermine Soldier confidence in what should most certainly be described as the world's finest battlefield evacuation system. [Emphasis mine]

-30-

Dover: If it bleeds it leads

Dover is where our fallen first touch down on American soil on their final journey home. I recently posted pieces from two men more than qualified to have an informed firsthand opinion about the president overturning the long-time ban of the media from Dover; one was my friend Robert Stokely, Gold Star Father, and the other was Old Blue, active duty military, and blogger par excellence.

I have been listening the last few days to the furore over this latest "mistake" of the current White House resident. I am having a hard time deciding if he is just being disingenuous when he declares that it is now up to individual families whether or not to allow the media to photograph the Dover ceremonies; I am trying to figure out if he is merely callous or just plain stupid in the ways of the media machinations.

The debate over Obama's latest slash and burn of all his predecessor's decisions has raged all over the internet. It appears that *some* special interest groups would want the media to document their loved one's return home in a casket, validating the president's assertion that "the true cost of war" should be brought home to the American people. I have always maintained that Gold Star Families' views and decisions should be respected. Of course, I am in the camp that believes that if the media so chose, there are many other ways to show the true cost of war. But we have seen the media has repeatedly chosen to ignore those myriad other ways.

There has been some assertions that this decision to open Dover to the jackels of the msm was Robert Gates' decision, and we really shouldn't blame the president. (Psst! The buck stops at your desk, Mr President.) We have also learned that this decision, which has far reaching consequences, was based on the wishes of a vocal few; the few who have a political point to make using the sacrifice of our fallen as visual aids. Don't believe me? You can find the goods on that one at Blackfive.

Disingenous to think that Obama is unaware of ramifications oif this latest decison? Yes. Obama proved during his election campaign that he knows very well how the media works. During his full speed race to the White House, he showed how expert he is at manipulating the media. His campaign staff proved on a daily basis how the msm can be led like lambs (apologies to lambs here) to massage the message that Obama wanted out there to ensure his proclamation on January 20th. Disingenuous to try and have this latest decision passed off as Robert Gates' decision alone. I am not buying it.

Stupid? Only the most ignorant would really believe that filming of our fallen - as they arrive in Dover - would really be the decision of the individual families. As has been pointed out in various places, a couple of scenarios spring immediately to mind:

1) At the most stressful time for any military family, NOT ONE of them needs to be pressured by msm to give "permission" for said msm to film the return.

2) Just imagine that more than one family is at Dover to welcome their fallen heroes home. Would the media be capable of respecting say, two out of the three families' wishes to NOT have the return filmed? I doubt it. Which brings me to

3) With modern technology, no reporter needs to be in the face of a military family. Long range zoom lenses allow any photographer to take a picture from so far away, the families may not even be aware that their most private grief in those initial moments, is being recorded by the msm. Technology also allows that once a picture is used on even one occasion, on one internet site, the original subject and the original photographer then lose all control over how the imagery is used. Do I really need to rehash how *some* groups have used images of our military to press home their own twisted political agendas? No, I didn't think so.

Which brings me to the "if it bleeds, it leads." It is no secret by now that I am a trained seal (errrrrr journalist.) I remember very well our weekly classes in ethics. As I used to say to the instructor every week as I entered the room for that class: "Here comes another short lesson!" We used to laugh together about that, but historical evidence shows that ethics seem to be in short supply when the media has column inches to fill. I also used to ask - often: "Why can't we report on the GOOD news?" at which point I was reminded of the credo "if it bleeds, it leads. Bad news sells." Do I need to remind you that I will probably never work in any msm 'news' room? No, I didn't think so.

Imagine if you will, a young 'reporter' sent to Dover to cover the return of fallen hero. One of the family members is cognisant enough to disallow any filming of the private proceedings. The reporter calls his/her editor and says there is no story here because... that is where ethics come in. It is well known that the msm is bleeding red ink. As these dinosaurs sink into oblivion, and they struggle for their last gasp of relevance, it is no stretch to imagine/know that individual, and corporate, ethics will be thrown out as they jockey for a 'scoop.' Fact is, as I was taught, any event taking place on public property is 'fair game' for the media. That was drilled into me as part of the legalities of journalism.

Respect? Not so much. I have long held the opinion that the tone of any group or country is set by the people at the top. That holds true from the president, to the managing editor of any media outlet. There are more than a few instances showing the president's lack of respect for our military, going back a few years. There are also many documented instances of the msm disrespecting our military and their families. Do any of us who don't wear the rose coloured glasses really believe that the msm will "change" overnight and suddenly become morally and ethically responsible, respectful, in the way they report? No, I didn't think so. For a far more eloquent smackdown of the media, be sure and read Major Z's piece over at "From My Position..." here.

So is this latest ruling a fait accompli? Are we all supposed to just roll over and allow the media into Dover? No! And this is where all Americans (and friends of America) can make a difference. Claire, over at Knee Deep in the Hooah! has put together a list of contacts which everybody should note and write or call or.....to make our views known:

Alright people, give ‘em hell!

I know that a lot of you feel just as angry as I do about the recent lift on a nearly 18-year old ban that kept the media from photographing or video taping the arrival of fallen soldiers at Dover. I have heard from some Gold Star families I know and they are beside themselves with anger and grief. Suffice it to say that many of us feel outright betrayed. That ban was there for a reason.

If you are just stumbling onto this site and don’t know much about the issue, you can read my opinion HERE.

Also, HERE are a COUPLE of other OPINIONS I truly appreciate.

If you are as ticked off as I am, then get in touch with the following people . I am copying the following contact information I found on From my position… On the way!

If you want to write a letter, but you aren’t sure what to say, you have my permission to use any part of my write up you want. I may try and draft a form letter for people to download. We need to let them know how angry this makes us....

The list is long, but we must make our voices heard. Find the whole list at KDIH here. You may notice I have added Claire's logo to my sidebar. I have added the link to that picture. It leads directly to Claire's list of contacts. That logo will remain on my sidebar until we have accomplished our mission of having President Obama rethink this morally and ethically bankrupt decision. Until he says: "What I ummm...errr...uhhhhh...meant to say was...." and once again rules that no media in Dover.

I always remember the piece "...And then they came for me..."

As McQ in Blackfive says: "It is about Family" and the military is OUR family.

As McQ also says: "Dover is ours." Yes, yes it is! This latest disgraceful debacle cannot - must not - stand. Get on it.

Obama doesn't want me!

Browsing some of my favourite sites, I came across a little "quiz" via From My Position...(Chuck Z - Major to you...lol)...If you haven't been reading his site, get over there SOON. He is here.

What I found today?

Just one more service I offer:

I'm an embarrassment to Barack!


I only scored 17 on the Obama Test

Soooooo of COURSE, me being me, I had to go check it out lol:

I'm an embarrassment to Barack!


I only scored 16 on the Obama Test

Only now do I see that I was ineligible to even take this test. It says on the bottom of the "page":

Note: this test is only open to U.S. citizens, household pets, made-up names, and fictional characters who are registered to vote and to "undocumented workers" who live in areas where they don't check IDs at polling places.

Oooops! But never mind - I am sure nobody will check my credentials, and that the Obama "truth squads" won't discount me......;)