A democracy under attack. The United States sees a threat to an ally and to the world order, but it fears that sending troops could spark a nuclear war. So instead, it provides weapons. And a handful of U.S. Special Forces trainers began working quietly with the local military.
That is situation in South Vietnam in 1961, a few years before full-fledged U.S. military involvement, when the U.S. presence was limited to a military “advisory group.”
Such is the situation in Ukraine today. When a bloody conflict erupts, small teams of US Special Forces veterans are training Ukrainian troops near the front lines and, in some cases, helping to plan combat missions. .
However, there is a notable difference. In Vietnam, the trainers are active-duty military personnel under the control of the Pentagon. In Ukraine, where the United States avoids sending any troops, the trainers are civilian volunteers, supported by online donations, and entirely self-sufficient.
Perry Blackburn Jr., a retired Special Forces lieutenant colonel who spent 34 years in uniform in Iraq, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Somalia and Jordan, said: “This is why I became a soldier. into Green Berets. He is currently in Ukraine as a civilian doing what he used to do in the military: local force training against a common enemy.
Mr Blackburn, 60, one of the few Special Forces soldiers, said: “Not using my talents in a time of real need would be a waste. horseback riding to Afghanistan at the start of the invasion of the United States in 2001 and is now funding similar efforts through thousands of small online donations from the public.
“At my age, I’ve seen enough death and I want to try to stop the bloodshed,” he said. “We need to give people the means to defend themselves.”
Whether this new type of crowdfunding military assistance is wise is up for debate. Some experts warn that the presence of U.S. volunteers could lead to some sort of tragic mistake that leaves the United States entangled in a Vietnam-style escalation. Russia says it will treat volunteer fighters as mercenaries and they can be done if caught. The United States discourages Americans from participating in the conflict. It withdrew its 150 military trainers before the war began and now relies on several dozen commandos from other NATO countries to coordinate the flow of weapons within Ukraine.
But the volunteers rejected the idea that they could cause a bigger war. Instead, they say they are working to prevent an attack, by training Ukrainian fighters to be better able to fend off the Russians and prevent further aggression.
Either way, Americans are in Ukraine. An unspecified number is fight on the front line. Others volunteered to be members of the casualty evacuation team, bomb disposal specialists, logistics specialists and trainers. At least 21 Americans have been wounded in combat since the war began, according to a group that volunteered to evacuate them. Two people were killedtwo people were arrested and a person who is missing in action.
Mr. Blackburn and a small group of volunteers work directly with the Ukrainian military, teaching marksmanship, maneuvers, combat first aid and other basic skills while constantly shifting the locations of training camps to Avoid Russian missile attacks.
They say they do it all without any input from the Pentagon.
“We have no contact with the U.S. military, period,” he said in an interview at his home in Tampa, Fla., where he recently returned to resupply before returning to the area. war zone. “It’s a line they don’t want to cross. They will not accept any responsibility for our well-being or actions. “
Better understanding of the Russo-Ukrainian War
Then he laughed and added, “In fact, they’ll probably do the opposite.”
Not all volunteers who want to work with the Ukrainian military have decades of experience. Blackburn and several other veterans in Ukraine say they’ve encountered potential trainers with excessive backgrounds and in some cases no military experience.
In a statement, the Defense Department said it was “not affiliated with any of these groups” and advised “US citizens not to travel to Ukraine or to depart immediately if deemed safe.”
Before the war, the US military regularly deployed trainers in uniform to Ukraine. Immediately after the Russian invasion, the Biden administration withdraw all troops. “We are not going to fight a third world war in Ukraine,” said President Biden.
The President swore that the United States would continue to support Ukraine with weapons and pledged 6.8 billion dollars in security aid. The US military is training Ukrainian forces in Poland and Germany. But Mr. Biden drew a clear line in May, said that the US military would not directly fight the Russians.
However, efforts to prevent direct conflict have left a void as the training needs of the Ukrainian military have skyrocketed. And freelance volunteers are filling it.
“We are doing American foreign policy in a way the military cannot,” said Andrew Milburn, a retired Marine Special Forces colonel who leads a group of veterans volunteers. provide coaching and consulting said.
Speaking by phone from a village about 15 miles from the frontline in eastern Ukraine, Mr. Milburn said his efforts supported American goals while deterring American involvement. “I can rightfully deny it,” he said. “We can work, and the US can say they have nothing to do with us, and that’s absolutely true.”
Immediately after the war began, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, called for international volunteers to join the fight against Russia. Some volunteers said the first Americans to answer his call were often amateur adventurers and military baddies looking for action.
Groups that focus on training tend to be older and more experienced. Many have climbed the ranks of elite Special Operations units and have done similar jobs around the globe.
During his 31-year stint with the Marines, Milburn held leadership positions within the U.S. Army’s Joint Special Operations Command, including as commander of the U.S. Army. Marine Regiment. He originally came to Ukraine as a freelance journalist but said he changed course after seeing the Ukrainian military hand over assault rifles to inexperienced students, shopkeepers and other citizens before sending them off to fight.
“This country has no shortage of storks. They don’t need one anymore,” he said, explaining why he chose not to fight. “But I know if I can train trigger pullers, I can create an exponential effect.”
Mr. Milburn connected with about two dozen other Special Operations veterans in Ukraine, and soon they were calling themselves Mozart’s group – a name chosen to counter a private Russian army Company, Wagner’s group. Through the contacts Mr. Milburn and others had built years earlier with Ukrainian Special Operations troops, the Mozart Group soon set up training camps near the site of the fighting. Milburn said they have trained about 2,500 Ukrainian troops.
The group provides basic military instruction to frontline soldiers and occasionally has classes on the use of American weapons, such as shotguns. Javelin anti-tank missile.
It also provides some guidance and advice specific to Ukrainian commandos.
Mozart would be a natural guide for American military support, he said, but when trying to contact American military officials in Western Europe, through both official communications and feedback channels, he received no response.
“Every time we contacted, we were turned down,” he said. “They are very afraid that something bad will happen and it will look like that is the government’s goal. We are non-grata personalities. “
George Beebe, former head of the CIA’s Russia analysis division and director of Quincy Institutea nonpartisan foreign policy research organization.
He said: “As in Vietnam, the risk is that we accidentally get caught up in deeper and deeper, small steps. “The difference is that the stakes in Ukraine are higher. It would be a lot easier for the United States and Russia to enter a direct conflict that could quickly turn very serious.”
He noted that few ever thought that Vietnam could develop into a major war. U.S. involvement began with a group of 300 soldiers in 1955, who trained South Vietnamese soldiers in response to what some U.S. officials at the time called “”a small civil war. “Over time, the United States has committed more people and more firepower — decisions that, at the time, seemed not only reasonable but necessary,” Mr. Beebe said.
The Americans began accompanying South Vietnamese platoons on missions, then supported them by plane. As the effort increased, so did the US military presence. Finally, a 1964 incident in northern Gulf dragged the United States directly into the war, ultimately killing 58,000 Americans without achieving any strategic goals.
“I’m not saying escalation in Ukraine is automatic,” Mr Beebe said. “But the danger is that we start crossing the red lines before we know where they are.”
Of course, there are stark differences between Southeast Asia in 1961 and Eastern Europe today.
The government in South Vietnam at the time was unpopular, plagued by corruption and facing a communist insurgency in the countryside. The President of Ukraine is highly regarded in a united nation against Russian aggressors.
But just like in Vietnam, Mr. Beebe said, the United States is now forced to choose between options that are only harmful, trying to support an ally without offending a powerful adversary.
Americans on the front lines say Russia is triggering a broader conflict and the United States has no choice but to respond.
Both Mr. Milburn and Mr. Blackburn said the US should respond more aggressively and send more sophisticated, intermediate-range weapons.
Mr Blackburn said he understood US caution but felt it was misplaced because caution would only encourage Russian aggression.
“They are destroying the entire city, killing civilians indiscriminately. If that’s not escalation, what is? ” he say. “I don’t find this too similar to previous years in Vietnam. For me, it was like the years before the Second World War. People will wonder, in retrospect, why we didn’t do more sooner. “
