Прогрессоры, млин (англочитающим)

"...Я был прогрессором всего три года, я нес добро, только добро, ничего, кроме добра, и, господи, как же они ненавидели меня, эти люди! И они были в своем праве. Потому что боги пришли, не спрашивая разрешения. Никто их не звал, а он вперлись и принялись творить добро. То самое добро, которое всегда добро... "

А. и Б. Стругацкие "Волны гасят ветер"


Originally posted on TankNet

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Well, my girlfriend just got back after 6 months in Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Djibouti and it's not been an easy reunion. She's highly stressed, admits to still being "half over there" and really hated her time in Kuwait. Keep in mind that she's a sergeant with over ten years experience in the army reserves who saw some intense things during Desert Storm. She's been extremely tightly wound since her return and attributes much of this to the stress of the past 6 months, during which time she was frequently separated from her unit and sent to forward areas, and to the absolute certainty that she's soon going back for another lengthy stint (although nothing's official yet).
States she felt her life was in danger every day she was in Kuwait. The vehicle transporting her off base was several times surrounded by multiple vehicles (front, sides and rear) which attempted to run them off the road with the result being weapons were drawn and fired to get out of the situations. These were largely not reported in the press. The little Kuwaiti kids going by in Mercedes and BMW's would always pretend to shoot the Americans. The Kuwaitis she met and worked with were, in general, spoiled, arrogant, and treated all the Americans (men and women alike) as, at best, hired help except for a handful of professional types she did get along with. She was highly critical of security there and strongly prefers to be posted in Afghanistan again when she goes back as she felt much safer when able to carry her own M16 while surrounded by similarly armed and vigilant combat soldiers. One of the cardiologists she worked with had never been to Kuwait and went downtown to see the capital. He made the mistake of speaking to a Kuwaiti woman who's husband saw this and immediately shot this American Army cardiologist dead in the middle of the market. There were no charges filed and no investigation by the Kuwaitis. He went home to his family in a box. Tough luck buddy-- just a cultural misunderstanding.

The incident on Failaka Island in which Marines were attacked during a training exercise by two Kuwaiti Al Quaeda came as no surprise to her. She took part in the attempts to save the marine who died and blames communications screw ups and poor planning for an inexcusably lengthy delay in getting him evac'd to medical care. The poor guy was alive and screaming on arrival at the medical facility but, despite desperate surgical intervention and transfusing 14 units of blood, it was too late to save him (it may never have been possible to, but the delays removed any hope).

She was totally overstressed caring for hundreds of marines and special forces in Djibouti, where she saw casualties from hostile fire that never made the news, and was infuratiated at being totally overextended due to a lack of support while physicians there lounged around a hotel pool. She had to literally scream at one doc to come help one soldier who needed assistance after the female doc initially deferred (she had, I kid you not, an appointment for a manicure that conflicted). Docs from one service refused to treat injuries to personnel from another service despite the lack of physicians on site and the dire need for medical care for the grunts in the field. Dealing with crap like that had her spitting nails when she came back. And don't even get her started about the "cooperation" they got from the French on scene.

So, after her time over there, she hates the Kuwaitis, hates the Middle East, and is fed up with what she felt was lackadaisical security which made her feel safer carrying her own weapon while experiencing live fire in Afghanistan, and the lack of concern many mid level officers (this is in the medical corps now) showed for their troops. She is NOT simply a malcontent. She received a promotion and was decorated while over there. She's just the type who sets high standards for herself and those under her, doesn't easily suffer selfish and/or incompetent commanding officers who don't make the welfare of their troops a top priority, or who are simply lazy, and wants to see things run right. Sounded kind of like pre-Kasserine pass military leadership, if you know what I mean. Many of these problems were being ironed out as our presence geared up though, and she hopes it will be a much better operation when she goes back. But she's been a tightly wound spring since her return-- I make sure the news doesn't come on when she's around, but she still seems totally distracted and unable to relax. New Year's Eve we went to Boston for "First Night" and she continually scanned the crowd for potential threats. She's going to get some help, thank god, as she clearly has some post traumatic stress. Still, she wants to go back "and get it over with." I now know that I won't really have her back until the war is over.

Культурный шок, однако. Мдя, Лоуренс Аравийский из нее не выйдет

В двух словах, Лоуренс - это кто?

О нем читать тут:

CTAPOCTA

Восток, - это ведь дело тонкое...
А в прогрессоры, вдобавок, не только готовили, но ещё и - тщательно отбирали... И в подавляющем большинстве - не даммм...

Tico>О нем читать тут:
Tico>http://www.peoples.ru/military/scout/lawrence/

Это тот самый, который Lawrence of Arabia?

>Это тот самый, который Lawrence of Arabia?
yes