Gen. David Petraeus discusses the changes that led to the rapid turnaround of American fortunes in Iraq [Transcript | Slideshow]:
"I wanted to talk a bit about the "surge" because the surge was more than what the most prominent element of it in most folk's mind was: the addition of some 30,000 U.S. forces over time, the combat elements of which were five U.S. Army brigade combat teams, two Marine battalions, a Marine expeditionary unit, and then a number of enablers, including a division headquarters, some additional aviation engineers, MP assets, intelligence forces, and others..."
Very much more, as reporters like Noah Shachtman have documented. Petraeus adds other elements as well, while sketching out the challenges ahead as he sees them.
My uncle (dad's brother) enlisted shortly after Pearl and, because he had a college education, was quickly elevated to officer status and became a fighter pilot trainer. He never flew combat missions in Europe or the Pacific, but was killed in 1944 when his trainee made an error and he couldn't recover control. My father was in the navy on a weather station in the Aleutians (on the island of Kodiak). I had two "uncles by marriage" who were pilots in the European theater. The first was a bomber pilot who was shot down and killed during the daylight bombing runs over Germany, and the other flew a fighter and survived to become a Lt. General on Lemay's staff, after also flying a fighter in Korea. He passed away shortly after 9/11, in his 90s.
Unfortunately war hasn't ended, it's just changed. Saw an interesting presentation on that topic on CSPAN recently by Peter Mansoor: Baghdad Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq. You can replay the presentation by going to the link, or wait for it to show again on Dec. 20 and 22nd.
Opps, meant to post that under AL's thread, but the Mansoor link fits into the Petraeus thread anyway.
Yes, it does fit. Thanks!