Conflict & Iraq War with Travis Marcum
by Nick Martino
1. Kinship
1.1. Family culture
1.2. Marine and military
2. Training/Indoctrination/Enculturation
2.1. Paris Island, SC - Boot Camp
2.1.1. How one learns to be a Marine.
2.1.1.1. Ears, Open, Eyeballs Blink
2.2. killer culture
2.2.1. waxed/smoked/expired
3. 2006 - Iraq Tank Detachment
3.1. Haditha Dam/Syrian Border/Fallujah
3.2. Blackwater Mercenaries killed and hung at "Blackwater" Bridge
3.3. Pacify the city, shelling, clear the entire city
4. Environment
4.1. Euphrates River and its importance military and resource movement
4.2. Resource movement stalled, and mission was delayed (Think of this from a cultural survival)
4.2.1. What happens when resource availability changes?
5. USMC Leadership Organization
5.1. 1st Sgt. and 2nd sgt.
5.1.1. When 1st Sgt dies, 2nd sgt is in charge.
5.2. Ranked Society
5.2.1. Each person has a rank and roll
5.2.1.1. Functionalism, each rank has a roll to fulfill the mission.
6. Norms
6.1. Crying within the Marines overseas, is a norm
6.2. "Inshallah" - It is God's Will, does not exactly translate into Jarhead Jargon ...
6.3. Iraqi commander said these guys won't hurt us, if you guys go home we will be fine. Definitely not true now with ISIS.
7. Relgion
7.1. Chaplain came to see Travis after he lost his tank commander
7.2. Dead versus alive,
7.3. Plays a role when people die? Does it play a roll in living activity within the Marine Corps.
7.4. Sunni and Shiite population in Iraq... Sunnis have found a leader and now they want to fight to get rid of US-backed Shiite
7.5. Using religion as a political tool for power. Hijacking a belief system and marginalizing those who are believers.
8. War and Combat
8.1. Does anyone win?
8.2. You have good days and bad days
8.3. Good guys and bad guys are hard to tell (anywhere)
9. Identity
9.1. military aged males
9.2. al qaeda supporters
9.3. al qaeda sympathizers
9.4. never used the terms "terrorism"
9.5. anti-iraqi forces
10. Iraqi Government
10.1. not as easy to create a Saddam similar government
10.2. Sunni minority who was in power is not under the Shiite
10.3. you put effort into building something, but who is to blame that it fell apart
10.4. In my opinion: NJM: the model was broken to begin with, we did this in Vietnam and did not learn from that mistake. The same way Vietnam fell, Iraq is now falling.
11. Psychological Operations
11.1. Conversations
11.2. explanation
11.3. winning what Junger would call the "human terrain"
11.4. CIA backing
11.5. Sons of Iraq program: local militas began defending Iraq for 'their sons'
12. Technological Warfare
12.1. drones
12.2. predators
12.3. working from home