The Pentagon's Nazgul




They are the best our nation has to offer for military prowess.   And today, a hearty salute is offered to Delta Forces, and all of our Special Forces units. They are the Pentagon's Nazgul.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cdng3h2Kic

I received a text in the middle of the night.  Maduro and his wife had been captured by U.S. military forces.  There were Chinooks in flight.   I took a bit of a step back.  Chinooks?  The lumbering metal bumblebees which I traveled in over the years during our field exercises?  This was going to develop into a great story!  And as I am seated awaiting the press conference at Mar a Lago, my thoughts turn back to my own career.  Veterans are always sentimental about time in service.

I was the Commandant for a field exercise.  I was tasked with checking the flight manifest for the two Chinooks which some of us were boarding to take us to our operational site and the manifests for our overland travel.  Most of the detachment boarded the military buses.  But a few of us - boarded the Chinooks - which were piloted by members of the Singapore military.  This was a joint operation.  And since Singapore had purchased a few of our aircraft, they were invited to ferry us to our LZ (landing zone).  I chatted a bit with our pilots prior to take off.  Their English was impeccable.  After landing on the tarmac, and feeling pretty full of myself, I took note of an approaching aircraft.  Parachutes began billowing above us. "Damn it, Tammy",  I quietly said to myself.  Fleet Hospital Dallas was being upstaged by Delta Force.  They put their boots on the ground.  And albeit our "guests" - I determined fairly quickly that they were really in charge.  I was just the DEI (wink)  Lieutenant Commander put out there for show.

The first evening of our operation, I sat and allowed myself to learn from the expertise of the "Doc". He had landed on the tarmac with a hundred pound pack filled with intravenous fluids, and the usual medical devices. As we talked, I noticed a scar along his jawline. He had been running point in Afghanistan when a bullet traveled through his jaw and took a couple of his teeth with it.  He spit out his teeth and then inserted a nasal trumpet.  Then he requested another individual take point.  I looked at the scar again.  I was in the presence of military greatness.

"I can kill you with a paper clip."  He said it so casually that I knew he was deadly. Of that I was sure.  And then he offered his gifts to me.  "Hey, bring out some of the nurses and we will purchase a few goats.  We will teach you how to slit throats." Errr.  Nurses save the lives of the combatants. We are not combatants.  smile

Listening to the POTUS as I blog.  And now - SecWar Hegseth has taken the podium.

"We can project our will, anywhere, anytime."  Yes, it is about deterrence and dominance.

The debriefing by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was powerful.  This was not General Mark Milley trying to deflect the blame for the loss of eleven U.S. Marines, one Navy "Doc" and one Army soldier in Afghanistan off his desk and his toady chest.   Again:  We are in the presence of deadly greatness.

The Pentagon has witnessed the return of the Nazgul.  They were already there. Awaiting their orders and keeping their oaths. But under our current POTUS and the chain of command which is under the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of War, they are fulfilling their highest duty.  They did it today.  

I consider this tactical exfiltration of the President of Venezuela, his wife (and others?) a more complex and difficult operation than the one to kill Osama bin Laden.

I am immensely proud to be an American, incredibly grateful for the military training which was offered to me by the United States Naval Reserve, and hold in  highest esteem each member from every branch of service who contributed to the support of this mission.  This esteem is especially sent along to the galley cooks who have such fidelity to duty to get up in the middle of the night to prepare breakfast for the troops, to carefully maintain the regulations which keep this food supply safe, and to always serve with a smile on their faces.

Tammy Swofford, R.N. BSN

former LCDR of Fleet Hospital Dallas, Det E with operational designators for Critical Care and PACU



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