An interesting mingling of martial cultures

I enjoyed an article in the Independent, London, about the reactions of the US Marines when they took over a sector of Afghanistan from the British Army. Here are a few excerpts:

Two months ago, 4,000 US Marines descended upon the Afghan village of Garmsir in southern Afghanistan and managed to take the territory over which the British had battled over for three years. Go big, go strong, go fast, their Brigadier General, Lawrence Nicholson, had ordered – and they did.

Yet yesterday there was a notable absence of arrogance among the new inhabitants of the British military's most southerly and often most lethal front. The Marines speak with nothing but respect for those who held this ground in far fewer numbers – the British servicemen who passed, as some might say, this poisoned chalice on to them. If anything, there is muted admiration for how they coped with less equipment, particularly with their vehicles.

. . .

The British Jackal vehicle could reach more sections of this inhospitable territory than the Americans' larger, heavier MRAP (Mine Resistance Ambush Protected) – which serves to point out the long-held argument that manoeuvrability is as important as protection. But the young Marines were in no hurry to swap places with the British.

"The biggest thing I noticed was the vehicles they drive. Your guys are friggin' gutsy. I wouldn't get shot at in one of those," said Corporal Aaron Helvig, 21, from Arizona.

Lance Corporal Sean Simmonds, 22, from Connecticut, was one of the first to arrive for a hand-over with the Light Dragoons battle group. "They know how to drive, that's for sure," he said of the British troops.

"They just go as fast as they can, they are not worried about being blown up. It is hard to find drivers like that. And their medics were awesome. I wouldn't mind working with them again at all."

. . .

For some of the younger Marines involved, the hand-over was the first time they had ever met a Brit and, one conceded, he had rather feared they would be somewhat stuck up.

Instead the clean shaven, fastidiously polite Marines landed in Delhi to be greeted by the sight of a bunch of "bad ass" troops in shorts and flip flops, long adapted to this searingly hot, harsh environment.

"They were easy to talk to. I didn't expect that," said Sergeant Andre Livsey, 22, from Massachusetts. "We always think the British have higher standards, would think of us as a little immature. But we found out they are just like us."

Lance Corporal Antwuan Browne, 24, from Maryland, noted that "they swore a lot", explaining: "We don't swear when there are women and officers around."

Once they got over the "incomprehensible" accents, the Marines said, they began trading in time-honoured tradition; Marines gleefully swapping Light Dragoon or Mercian Regiment T-shirts and badges for their own, or their ration packs for a British one.

"You guys have got cool ass MREs [ration packs]. That tropical drink mix, tell them they need to ship that to America," said L/Cpl Browne who confessed to a new-found love for Scotch eggs.

Most of all, they stood in wide-eyed jealousy of the fact that the British, unlike the US Marines, allow women attachments to frontline units.

"I thought it was weird how the women interacted but pretty cool and they knew just as much as the guys," said L/Cpl Simmonds.

A stunned sounding Cpl Helvig recalled:"The first day a British female soldier just walked up to the shower in a towel in front of us, took a shower and walks away."

There's more at the link. Interesting reading.

It's always interesting interacting with soldiers from other armies and nations, particularly in a combat zone. One gets very used to one's own way of doing things. Sometimes it takes such contact to learn that there are other - sometimes better - ways of achieving the same end.

I share L/Cpl Browne's taste for Scotch eggs. Very yummy! As for female soldiers taking a shower with the men . . . sadly, that never did form part of my military experience. I feel deprived! (Or should that be 'depraved'?)



Peter