I got today a letter from Jackie, an 🇺🇸 Military Veteran, who is now in Donbas as a Soldier/Instructor in 🇺🇦 army. We met last July in Kyiv. He has been participating in combat against Russian aggression in the regions of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Donbas since 2022. Been wounded twice.
He saw the ugliest hell in Avdiivka & how many brave Ukraine soldiers died - because of delayed Aid! He asked to SHARE his letter to ALL 🇺🇸 Fellas - as this week, our ammunition has effectively stopped.
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I am originally from Orange County, California. I served in the U.S. military for 8 years, stationed in Colorado, South Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait.
I also worked as a contractor at the JFK Special Warfare Center in North Carolina, helping prepare our future special operators. As an American Soldier I have always been interested in our national security and global interests.
I am currently an assault instructor serving in the 3rd Assault Brigade, an elite unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This week we came to the rescue of Ukrainian Forces who had been enduring the Russian attack on the town of Avdiivka. Our fighters quickly destroyed two Russian brigades and kept a corridor open for Ukrainians in Avdiivka to retreat from the town. Our soldiers are true professionals, not disturbed by the massive Russian firepower being flung at them and fighting hard to gain and maintain the corridor.
One thing I teach my students is to conduct “shaping-operations”. Essentially to take steps by using alternative means such as artillery, airpower (drones in our case) or
electronic warfare to prepare the battlefield for the success of our infantry to capture their final positions. My students are very excited to employ these techniques, they train on them and use them in battle frequently. Ukrainian Soldiers are highly motivated to fight efficiently and reduce casualties as they are making their transition from Soviet to NATO doctrinal warfare.
Our Brigade is leading this transition and using shaping operations at every level possible, even down to the squad. We make plans, we do reconnaissance, we task support assets and we review our actions after battle to learn what we did well and what we need to change. We admit our successes and failures and we improve and grow ourselves as professionals. Because of this, in battle, we are confident and unrelenting.
On the ground in Avdiivka, we felt the results of current American politics with full force. We are accustomed to fighting with less artillery than the Russians. We have already developed clever ways of using precision fire to counter Russian artillery. Our artillery soldiers use their American-provided weapons efficiently and effectively to batter the second-largest military in the world so that our assaulters have cover while they pierce like needles to rapidly cut the Russian Force’s critical arteries.
This week, our ammunition has effectively stopped. Our precision scalpel cannot cut.
We are used to fighting understrength. We are intelligently adapted and trained to push ourselves to the highest level of combat performance. But we cannot deliver miracles. We have already delivered many miracles in this war, and I am sure we will continue to do so, but hoping for miracles is not a reliable way to win a war.
I am extremely disappointed in a super-minority decision to block military aid to Ukraine in our American Congress. More than that, I need to go pray and say goodbye to more of my students and friends.
These soldiers, these men and women, they are incredible people. It takes weeks to teach American Soldiers what Ukrainians are able to learn in hours. Their standards
and self-expectations are high. They usually accomplish complex team-based tasks correctly on their first attempt. Every time they fail in training, they get angry with themselves and repeat the task until it is right. I have never had to ask them to stay later or work harder. They hardly sleep, they don’t complain and most of them have families. Besides not getting to spend time with their families, these soldiers know that this fight is for their future and their safety.
We are fighting hard. Against impossible odds. All you need to do is help from a distance, and that is a good thing for Americans. You do not want to come here. The Ukrainians are dying and it is not out of some ignorance or accident. They are dedicated to their liberation from Soviet values and Russian oppression. They are spilling oceans of blood to join the free democracies of the world.
Ukrainian people, who enjoy an average income of something like $5000 a year, are the largest public donors to the war. Ukrainian soldiers purchase most of their professional equipment with their own income. This economy was already struggling before the invasion and there is still not enough resources to fight and equip everyone. Ukrainians are doing everything and giving everything they have for this, and they will not stop.
Thanks to American aid, a new free nation is being born in the world. Ukraine is not giving up. Americans, we cannot give up either.
There is so much more that could be said. About how Ukrainians avoid targeting Russian civilians with long-range strikes. How Russians deliberately target Ukrainian civilians and civil infrastructure. How often Russian soldiers wear Ukrainian uniforms and attempt to infiltrate or use other underhanded tactics despite having military and economic advantages.
I am still an American Soldier. I am still a warrior and a member of a team. I can tell you that here in Avdiivkda, we felt the result of Congress’ actions to defund Ukraine. Our Ukrainian partners are not complaining. They are humble and doing everything they can to survive. I am here and I can see what is happening. I am complaining. What happened in Congress over this winter was wrong. Many Ukrainian Soldiers wear the American Flag into battle out of respect and admiration. Ukrainians who look up to America and our values. Many of whom are now dead.
The damage and destruction the Russians are causing is something ISIS couldn’t imagine in their wildest dreams. We must support Ukraine. America and Ukraine’s goals and futures have suddenly collided towards the same ends. We need only to give Ukrainians the tools they are asking for. Give Ukrainians the weapons they need, and they will succeed.
He saw the ugliest hell in Avdiivka & how many brave Ukraine soldiers died - because of delayed Aid! He asked to SHARE his letter to ALL 🇺🇸 Fellas - as this week, our ammunition has effectively stopped.
---------
I am originally from Orange County, California. I served in the U.S. military for 8 years, stationed in Colorado, South Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait.
I also worked as a contractor at the JFK Special Warfare Center in North Carolina, helping prepare our future special operators. As an American Soldier I have always been interested in our national security and global interests.
I am currently an assault instructor serving in the 3rd Assault Brigade, an elite unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This week we came to the rescue of Ukrainian Forces who had been enduring the Russian attack on the town of Avdiivka. Our fighters quickly destroyed two Russian brigades and kept a corridor open for Ukrainians in Avdiivka to retreat from the town. Our soldiers are true professionals, not disturbed by the massive Russian firepower being flung at them and fighting hard to gain and maintain the corridor.
One thing I teach my students is to conduct “shaping-operations”. Essentially to take steps by using alternative means such as artillery, airpower (drones in our case) or
electronic warfare to prepare the battlefield for the success of our infantry to capture their final positions. My students are very excited to employ these techniques, they train on them and use them in battle frequently. Ukrainian Soldiers are highly motivated to fight efficiently and reduce casualties as they are making their transition from Soviet to NATO doctrinal warfare.
Our Brigade is leading this transition and using shaping operations at every level possible, even down to the squad. We make plans, we do reconnaissance, we task support assets and we review our actions after battle to learn what we did well and what we need to change. We admit our successes and failures and we improve and grow ourselves as professionals. Because of this, in battle, we are confident and unrelenting.
On the ground in Avdiivka, we felt the results of current American politics with full force. We are accustomed to fighting with less artillery than the Russians. We have already developed clever ways of using precision fire to counter Russian artillery. Our artillery soldiers use their American-provided weapons efficiently and effectively to batter the second-largest military in the world so that our assaulters have cover while they pierce like needles to rapidly cut the Russian Force’s critical arteries.
This week, our ammunition has effectively stopped. Our precision scalpel cannot cut.
We are used to fighting understrength. We are intelligently adapted and trained to push ourselves to the highest level of combat performance. But we cannot deliver miracles. We have already delivered many miracles in this war, and I am sure we will continue to do so, but hoping for miracles is not a reliable way to win a war.
I am extremely disappointed in a super-minority decision to block military aid to Ukraine in our American Congress. More than that, I need to go pray and say goodbye to more of my students and friends.
These soldiers, these men and women, they are incredible people. It takes weeks to teach American Soldiers what Ukrainians are able to learn in hours. Their standards
and self-expectations are high. They usually accomplish complex team-based tasks correctly on their first attempt. Every time they fail in training, they get angry with themselves and repeat the task until it is right. I have never had to ask them to stay later or work harder. They hardly sleep, they don’t complain and most of them have families. Besides not getting to spend time with their families, these soldiers know that this fight is for their future and their safety.
We are fighting hard. Against impossible odds. All you need to do is help from a distance, and that is a good thing for Americans. You do not want to come here. The Ukrainians are dying and it is not out of some ignorance or accident. They are dedicated to their liberation from Soviet values and Russian oppression. They are spilling oceans of blood to join the free democracies of the world.
Ukrainian people, who enjoy an average income of something like $5000 a year, are the largest public donors to the war. Ukrainian soldiers purchase most of their professional equipment with their own income. This economy was already struggling before the invasion and there is still not enough resources to fight and equip everyone. Ukrainians are doing everything and giving everything they have for this, and they will not stop.
Thanks to American aid, a new free nation is being born in the world. Ukraine is not giving up. Americans, we cannot give up either.
There is so much more that could be said. About how Ukrainians avoid targeting Russian civilians with long-range strikes. How Russians deliberately target Ukrainian civilians and civil infrastructure. How often Russian soldiers wear Ukrainian uniforms and attempt to infiltrate or use other underhanded tactics despite having military and economic advantages.
I am still an American Soldier. I am still a warrior and a member of a team. I can tell you that here in Avdiivkda, we felt the result of Congress’ actions to defund Ukraine. Our Ukrainian partners are not complaining. They are humble and doing everything they can to survive. I am here and I can see what is happening. I am complaining. What happened in Congress over this winter was wrong. Many Ukrainian Soldiers wear the American Flag into battle out of respect and admiration. Ukrainians who look up to America and our values. Many of whom are now dead.
The damage and destruction the Russians are causing is something ISIS couldn’t imagine in their wildest dreams. We must support Ukraine. America and Ukraine’s goals and futures have suddenly collided towards the same ends. We need only to give Ukrainians the tools they are asking for. Give Ukrainians the weapons they need, and they will succeed.
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