A GRUNT'S LIFE | Season 2 Episode 2 Halfisode | VET Tv

Video Overview & Insights

Disclaimer and Context -

This series was written by combat veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They served as infantrymen at the tactical level and experienced the futility and pain of a poorly-executed counterinsurgency campaign first-hand.

This piece of art is a reflection of their thoughts, feelings and true-life experiences during this generational conflict.

Creators’ thoughts on episode 2,

I served in Musa Quala, Helmand Province, Afghanistan in 2012, when green on blue murders were at an all time high. “Green on blue” means an Afghan Army or Police soldier shoots an American Marine/soldier. The Taliban were smart, they infiltrated the Afghan Army and Police, and offered money to anyone who’d shoot an American.

This was a mind f*k like no other, because we (Marines) were in Afghanistan to work side by side with the Afghan Army and Police, train them, establish Afghan army and police bases, root out the Taliban, and establish a new Afghan gov’t that didn’t allow the Taliban in power.

The Afghan Army and Police were the main effort of our mission in Afghanistan.

Achieving a mission like this required immense trust between Americans and Afghans. Unfortunately for all of us, that trust wasn’t possible as long as Americans were being shot in the back by the people we were there to help.

Prior to deploying, we Marines were given hours of classroom instruction, and dozens of hours of training on how to work with the Afghan army and police, to achieve our endstate of giving the country back to them.

All the training in the world couldn’t prepare us for the constant and imminent fear that one of them might open fire on us.

So how did we deal with the fear?

We slept with one eye open, we kept them out of our combat operation centers, we didn’t give them our maps, and we didn’t share specific mission information, like the patrol route, checkpoints, nor objectives.

Finally, the easiest and most common way to deal with the stress of being shot in the back by the people we were there to help, was to joke about it.

While 2nd Lt Murphy attends the Battalion briefing at the Musa Quala District Center, his platoon terrorizes the base in the exact manner you’d expect them to. They’re horny, hungry, lonely, and resentful that they don’t have the amenities that this base has, and they’re going to (shamelessly) let everyone know how they feel.

When grunts come back from the “line” to larger, safer, Forward Operating Bases, they’re like a field trip of 10th graders from the local delinquent high school, coming to one of the nice schools in the district to get a taste of what they’re missing.

Nobody likes them nor wants them there, everyone is mildly afraid of them, and keeps their distance from them.

The delinquents know this, and use this knowledge to terrorize the school and take advantage of every opportunity that comes their way.

I used to love field trips to the Musa Qala District Center. Each trip to the MQDC was a chance to see some of my lieutenant bros, to get some decent chow, get on the internet, and most especially, it was a chance to be in the presence of beautiful women.

No matter how unattractive they might’ve been in America, they were DIME pieces in Afghanistan. I was well aware that there was a 99.9999% chance I would NOT have any interaction with a woman while at the district center, but hope and horniness kept my excitement high. I could smell a woman’s hair from 10 meters away, and half the time I thought I knew what shampoo she was using. I never got confirmation, but I felt better about myself thinking that I knew the shampoo.

While in the Battalion brief 2nd Lt Murphy can’t believe the stupidity he’s witnessing, and accepts his fate. This scene was based on my experiences in battalion briefs at the MQDC, and specifically, a chapter from my book, “The Scent of an Angel.”

One of the things that frustrated me the most about Marine officers was their unwillingness to ask questions in the face of stupidity. These guys had huge egos, they all thought they were God’s gift to the infantry, but they couldn’t ask a question in the middle of a mission briefing that could lead to solutions that save Marines lives…. Their cowardice disgusted me and angered me.

Instead they’d subtly raise their eyebrows as if to say, “wow, these guys are gonna die on this op,” and then give a proud, “kill” at the end of the briefing.

Why? How could they be like this despite all that ego?

I could make assumptions all day, but I wanna hear what you think in the comments.

Love and xoxo,

Donny O’Malley

P.S. - This episode is 26 minutes long, and we only gave you 15 of them.

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