I was watching “13 Hours” again a few nights ago, and recalled when Delta showed up at the airport in Tripoli, and when asked where Delta was, one of them said, “We’re it, brother.”  There were two of them.

Now, I won’t rehearse the air power assets that could have been brought to bear from Sigonella, the lies that surrounded the event from the administration, the pre-planned execution of the attack (which involved combined arms, known coordinates, fighter assets in position, etc.).  Nor will I rehearse what my own readers pointed out about these things, nor the fact that General Ham went quietly into the night without saying so much as a word (probably because of an NDA).

But I will observe something I didn’t know about Delta that night at the airport (and their actions in Benghazi).  First, they were there for document destruction, and they did that to the best of their abilities.  But they also assisted the fighting, and did so heroically as did the other men in that engagement.

But did you know this?  One of the Delta operators was a Marine.

Jolly, who declined a request for an interview, would ultimately be awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism there. The soldier with him, Master Sgt. David Halbruner, received the Army’s Distinguished Service Cross. The valor awards are exceeded only by the Medal of Honor.

Little has been known about the Jolly’s actions in Benghazi. There was no public ceremony when he received his valor award and, until recently, his name has not been publicly tied to the mission in media reports.

His hometown paper in North Carolina, the Wilkes Journal-Patriot, recently reported that the 36-year-old who’d graduated from high school about 90 miles north of Charlotte was the Marine who’d gone above and beyond to save other Americans. Jolly recently retired as a master sergeant.

According to testimony, public documents and the person familiar with his actions, Jolly was calm in the face of deadly chaos. He and Halbruner are credited with saving numerous lives that day.

With a rifle strapped to his back amid an onslaught of mortars and machine-gun fire, Jolly tended to the wounded, at one point throwing a man onto his back and shuffling him down a ladder amid a barrage of enemy fire. He helped some get back into the fight and provided vital care to others with life-threatening injuries.

Here’s how then-Gunnery Sgt. Jolly helped get other Americans to safety during a situation that caused a years-long political firestorm thousands of miles away in Washington, DC.

Jolly, an infantry assault Marine, was assigned to a Delta Force detachment in Libya at the time of the Benghazi attack. It’s rare, though not unheard of, for Marines to join the elite Army special-operations teams.

The Marine had deployed to Iraq twice before joining the secretive counterterrorism force, spending about five years carrying out clandestine missions before the Benghazi attack and another five after, according to information about his career obtained by Military.com.

He racked up more than a dozen total deployments with Delta Force.

The Navy Cross Jolly received for his actions in Benghazi was his fourth valor award. He has two Bronze Stars with combat “V” devices – one of which he earned for undisclosed reasons during his time with Delta Force, and a second from a 2004-2005 deployment to Ramadi, Iraq.

Jolly also earned a Navy Commendation Medal with combat distinguishing device and a Purple Heart for injuries sustained during that deployment.

On the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Jolly was about 600 miles away from Benghazi in Tripoli – roughly the same distance between Chicago and Washington, DC. Since Jolly and Halbruner were some of the only troops in-country, the operation was coordinated not by US Africa Command, but the CIA.

Team Tripoli, made up of Jolly, Halbruner and five others, arrived in Benghazi at about 1:30 a.m. That was about four hours after the attack began and two since Ambassador Christopher J. Stevens had last been seen alive.

The team was led by Glen Doherty, a Global Response Staff (GRS) security officer and former Navy SEAL, who was later killed. He was Team Tripoli’s medic.

The plan, according to the person familiar with the mission, was to leave the airport and head to the hospital, where they believed Stevens was being treated. When they found out Stevens had died, the first ambassador to be killed in the line of duty since 1979, the team headed to the consulate to bolster the diplomatic security personnel and GRS, a group of private military contractors who were fending off the attackers.

“It could’ve gone really, really bad,” said the source familiar with the mission. “It could’ve become 30 American hostages in North Africa. There were seven shooters going in to protect people who don’t shoot for a living.”

By the time they arrived, Sean Smith, a State Department foreign service officer, had also died. It was still dark, just after 5 a.m., according to a congressional timeline of the attack. Within minutes, the first mortar hit.

The attacks continued, with one witness estimating there were as many as 100 insurgents spotted surrounding their location in 20- or 30-man groups. It was a skilled enemy, one of the troops there later told members of Congress.

“It’s not easy … to shoot inside the city and get something on the target within two shots – that’s difficult,” the witness testified. “I would say they were definitely a trained mortar team or had been trained to do something similar to that.”

“I was kind of surprised,” the service member added. “… It was unusual.”

They were there a matter of hours, but at times witnesses said the team feared they wouldn’t make it out alive. It began to “rain down on us,” one of them told lawmakers.

”I really believe that this attack was planned,” the witness said. “The accuracy with which the mortars hit us was too good for any regular revolutionaries.”

In total, six 81-millimeter mortars assaulted the annex within a minute and 13 seconds, a congressional report on the attack states. Doherty and Tyrone Woods, another former SEAL with the GRS, didn’t survive.

[ … ]

Jolly and Halbruner were determined to save them. Amid the fight, they were tying tourniquets to the men’s bodies.

Ubben is alive because Jolly helped move him from the rooftop to a building where diplomatic personnel were hunkered down. Gregory Hicks, who became the acting chief of mission after Stevens died, later described how the gunny did it during a congressional hearing.

“One guy … full of combat gear climbed up [to the roof], strapped David Ubben, who is a large man, to his back and carried him down the ladder, saved him,” Hicks said.

Jolly and Halbruner also went back out to the rooftop to recover the bodies of the fallen.

“They didn’t know whether any more mortars were going to come in. The accuracy was terribly precise,” Hicks said. “… They climbed up on the roof, and they carried Glen’s body and Tyrone’s body down.”

It was for Jolly’s “valorous actions, dedication to duty and willingness to place himself in harm’s way” to save numerous unarmed Americans’ lives that he earned the Navy Cross, according to his citation.

I’m not so sure about that last part.  In the movie there’s a lot made of the fact that the “D boys” threw the bodies off the roof because there wasn’t time to do it any other way and the enemy was still shooting.

Anyway, We Are The Mighty has coverage as well, as does Wilkes Journal-Patriot and Military.com.

In addition to Tate Jolly, David Halbruner was there for Delta.  I can’t find any information on him.

I feel that there’s a whole lot of information I still don’t know about this engagement, and it would be good one day to interview participants in the event, as well as construct a detailed time line of everything that happened.

One thing is for sure.  We’ll never hear the full truth from FedGov.

Small Wars Journal, The Afghans That Fought.

The Commandos were built by the U.S. Army Special Forces, commonly known as the Green Berets, and designed as an elite light infantry force similar to U.S. Army Rangers.  While selection of Commando candidates did not differ significantly from that of the average Afghan National Army soldier, each had an additional twelve weeks of training and were regularly partnered with small elements of Special Forces advisors.  In practice the Commandos were frequently used as shock troops, shuttled from key battle to key battle, rather than used as special operations forces.  While they were partnered with American elements, especially Special Forces teams, the Commandos usually fought and performed capably.  The presence of critical U.S. enablers, such as air support, medical evacuation, and intelligence that went along with being partnered with Americans often stiffened the resolve of the Commandos to the point that they were generally a dependable partner.

They could fight at night, conduct limited internal sustainment, and hold their own against the Taliban.  Through airframes and ground vehicles within the Afghan National Army Special Operations Command, the Commandos could provide emergency resupply for their forces that enabled them to operate in combat for up to 72 hours.  Some even could call in their own air support and conduct intelligence driven operations.  Commandos suffered far more casualties than American forces, and their headquarters element even set up a wounded warrior program to allow injured fighters to be able to continue to serve in non-combat roles within the organization.  A set of Special Forces officers and sergeants even attempted make the force capable of operating with minimal internal logistic support that was prepositioned at each of the Commando bases, such as “chuck wagon” style mobile feeding and mortars for fire support rather than aircraft.  Unfortunately, senior leaders decided instead that the Commandos should operate inside a functional Afghan military logistics system for any operation that lasted more than 72 hours.  That fatal flaw, building a force in our image logistically, proved to be the Commandos’ Achilles heel.  American Army units are designed to function in a resource intensive logistics system which can provide just in time delivery of critical supply needs.  Yet when faced with Afghanistan’s infrastructure challenges of few roads and vast distances, even our logistics system strained.

As the security situation in Afghanistan deteriorated and province after province fell, many Commando units continued fighting.  Around Kandahar City, Commandos and other security forces battled the Taliban for more than a month.  When the U.S. contracted logistics withdrew and the Afghan supply system collapsed, the Commandos were not able to perform as they were designed: supported by a heavy logistics footprint that could resupply them on demand.  Commando elements began to run out of ammunition, food, and water.  Some surrendered after extended sieges or battles, putting themselves at the mercy of the Taliban.  At least one Commando unit was summarily executed, likely a warning by the Taliban to those who would similarly resist.  Even after the fall of Kabul, several Commando units refused to give in and began the slow march to the Panjshir, where a nascent resistance to the Taliban was building.  Other units moved to Hamid Karzai International airport and helped secure the outer perimeter during the U.S. led evacuation.

Amateurs talk tactics.  Professionals talk logistics.

So the notion that the Afghan army was filled with cowards and ne’er-do-wells is just not accurate.  Oh, to be sure, some of the regulars were that and much less, but there were some well-trained fighters.

They were built in our own image, relying on a heavy logistics footprint, and when we withdrew leaving them no means of fulfilling that footprint, the entire schema collapsed because it was built on a foundation of first world fighting doctrine, not Afghanistan.

And because rather than kill the Taliban, we wanted to play armed social worker and try out fancy COIN doctrine with ROE that disillusioned and disemboweled the American fighting man.  I still have record over this blog of folks in the Helmand Province literally begging the Marines to go after and kill the Taliban rather than stick around and try to “win hearts and minds” and build the society.  So in addition to leaving them with a doctrinal understanding more suited to American warfare, we left them with an enemy that had not been substantially weakened.

Because we had idiots in charge – idiots that killed the sons of America with their malfeasance.

I think this is what Lt. Col. Stu Scheller has been saying all along.  Michael Yon also has thoughts.

Finally, an answer to Fred’s question.

Discussion at Outdoor Life.

I’ve seen in-field tests.  These things have limited capability, and are no replacement for having a parka or being able to start fire (which underlines my constant attention to redundant means of fire start).

If anyone has an experience with survival blankets, please indicate in the comments.

Yes.

Epoch Times.

Navy SEALs have been informed by superiors that they won’t be deployed if they refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine, even if they’re granted a religious or medical exemption, according to lawyers representing the elite special operations troops and a document seen by The Epoch Times.

“What they’ve been told is if they apply for a religious accommodation, they will no longer be deployable,” R. Davis Younts, who is representing seven SEALs and is in talks to take on approximately 20 others, told The Epoch Times.

Timothy Parlatore, whose firm represents a number of SEALs and other service members concerned about the vaccines, said his clients have also been given a similar ultimatum.

Some SEALs have even been sent home mid-deployment for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine, one of his clients told him.

A document presented to the SEALs says that any special operations personnel, including Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen, “who refuse to receive the COVID-19 vaccine based solely on personal or religious beliefs will be disqualified from [special operations] duty.” It was signed by Capt. Liam Hulin.

“This will affect deployment and special pays,” the document also states. “This provision does not pertain to medical contraindications or allergies to vaccine administration.”

The reasons the SEALs don’t want a shot are the same as many unvaccinated Americans. They believe they have so-called natural immunity, or protection against reinfection after getting COVID-19 and recovering. And a subset are Christians who don’t want any medicines that are developed using cells from aborted fetuses.

“These guys are not anti-vax, they just—given the extraordinarily low risk of COVID to them and the substantial risk of unknown long-term effects of the vaccine—they aren’t comfortable with it right now,” Parlatore told The Epoch Times.

The exact number of SEALs considering not getting a vaccine isn’t known, but both Parlatore and a pastor who is advising some of them say it’s in the hundreds. The loss of that many SEALs could devastate the elite force, which has 2,450 active-duty members. So far, lawyers have not been successful in attempts to convince military leaders to alter the harsh mandate.

From one of the comments, “I would love to have the unvaccinated SEALS stay in the United States.  We are going to need them.”

I’m not sure how those who refuse the jab will look at this, whether they will go silently into the night and be quiet like the FedGov wants them to and accept potentially not being able to vote, purchase a firearm, and having to accept a bad conduct discharge (if it comes to that).  My bet would be against that.

However, it disappoints me that any SEALs accepted the jab.  But that’s up to them.

I knew this information anyway several weeks ago.  I know someone who is connected to the SEAL community and he told me this information, and informs me that “morale is very low in the SEAL community at the moment.”

Yea, I don’t doubt it.

As we discussed before, in addition to vitamins D3, C, Zinc, Aspirin (to prevent clotting), Ivermectin, Z-Pac, Zyrtec, Claritin, and nasal washing and gargling with sodium bicarbonate water, there is something else that may be handy.

David Codrea links a piece seemingly written by someone who understands the disease, and he strongly recommends antioxidants (although the ones listed are unfamiliar to me).  Perhaps a medical professional could explain.  For what it’s worth, his connection of intubation with rapid oxidative stresses makes sense, and I recalled from early in 2020 when Dr. Cameron Kyle-Sidell explained that this disease isn’t ARDS and that treating it as such would kill patients.  It seems that doctors all over America doing critical care haven’t learned a thing.

In the mean time, Quercetin is an effective antioxidant.  We have it sitting on our shelves for just such a purpose.

News from Colorado.

When police in Idaho Springs, Colo., saw a vehicle roll through a stop sign on a September evening in 2019, they followed it into a laundromat’s parking lot and turned on their flashing lights.

The driver, Brady Mistic, parked his car and stepped out of the vehicle.

He later said he did not understand what was happening, or even that he was being pulled over — Mistic is deaf and communicates primarily through American Sign Language.

In the confusion, the situation escalated. According to a new lawsuit filed by Mistic, the officers threw him to the ground, stunned him with a Taser and put him in handcuffs. Unable to fully communicate, he tried to use some of the few words he is able to speak: “No ears.” It seemed to make no difference.

After the encounter, Mistic was charged with resisting arrest and assault on a police officer. He was jailed for four months, during which time he said he continued to struggle to communicate the misunderstanding. The charges were later dropped.

Two years after the incident, Mistic has filed the lawsuit against the city of Idaho Springs and the two officers involved, alleging excessive force, unlawful arrest, malicious prosecution and discrimination against a person with a disability. The suit also accuses Clear Creek County of failing to properly accommodate his disability in jail.

“This is a civil rights action seeking justice for the shocking use of unnecessary police force and wrongful incarceration of a deaf man whom the Defendant officers rashly attacked after failing to recognize his disability and misinterpreting his non-threatening attempts to see and comunicate as challenges to police authority,” the lawsuit states.

In a statement, the Idaho Springs Police Department said the two officers, Nicholas Hanning and Ellie Summers, did not know Mistic was deaf. The department said the police chief had reviewed the incident and found the officers acted appropriately in the situation.

Of course the chief found that they acted appropriately.  They’re geniuses, one and all.  Top IQ, cops are.  Top boys and girls.

All of their procedures are perfect, the cops are smart, and it’s customary to slam people around.

Some folks, like this chief, still tell fairy tales like little children are listening.  And others love to hear them, like for example, if you vote for Mitt Romney, or write at the National Review and consider yourself a “law and order” type.

Ron Spomer does the 6.5 Grendel.

I’ve done the AR-10 scene and didn’t like it.  An AR-10 is heavy, unwieldy, and stiff recoiling – everything the AR-15 isn’t, negating the very advantages of the AR-15 platform.  I wasn’t all that pleased or impressed and sold what I had.

On the other hand, a 123 grain bullet travelling this fast in an AR-15 size package is very appealing.  Folks like Pat Hines may say “I told you so.”

Also, if you can make it past the two idiots to get to the knowledge of Ryan Muckenhirn, this is a good video on the virtues of the Grendel round, including out of a bolt action rifle.  Posted eight months ago.

We’ve discussed vitamins D3, C, Zinc, Aspirin (to prevent clotting), Ivermectin and Z-Pac.  Early, not late.  Seems to me to be fairly simple stuff.  Yet this may get even simpler (via WRSA).

Zyrtec, Claritin, and nasal washing and gargling with sodium bicarbonate water (half a glass of warm water with half a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate).

In other words, dry it up to prevent it from dripping down into your lungs, and wash it out before it gets a chance to multiply.

It sounds better than Myocarditis and massive hematoma, yes?

There’s also this disturbing report from a Brigade Surgeon for the 1st Aviation Brigade Ft. Rucker, Alabama.  Read it all.  The courage she exemplifies is stellar.