The Last Gray Line: Senior Citizens at War in Afghanistan 2013-2014

By Tom Depperschmidt

Afghanistan is quiet at the end of 2012. The United States is furnishing a skeleton crew of about 20,000 troops to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the military coalition overseeing Afghanistan's reconstruction. The strategy underlying the wind-down of the ISAF force in Afghanistan rests on three beliefs: pacification of the country has been realized; the Taliban insurgents arguably are subdued if not defeated; the Afghanistan National Army's strength has risen sufficiently to defend its country against the remainder of the Taliban insurgency. The counter-strategy of the Taliban is an out-of-character massing of its forces for attacks on ISAF lines. With little heavy equipment support and no warning, the Taliban unleashes devastating assaults against the remaining United States military and its allies. Taliban forces quickly re-capture the city of Marjah in Helmand province, a prize that had been obtained after a concerted, well publicized drive by U.S. Marines in early 2010. In short order, they reassert their hegemony in Kandahar province and the city of Kandahar, the spiritual home of the Taliban.The Afghanistan National Army (ANA), expensively groomed by ISAF trainers as a planned-for, free-standing counterweight to the Taliban, crumbles quickly under the pressure. Most serious is the Taliban threat to Kandahar Air Field, about 10 miles south and east of the city, the major supply lifeline of U.S.-led coalition forces in southern Afghanistan. The United States faces a critical political and military decision. It does not have sufficient forces ready to staff its far-flung responsibilities around the world and re-engage significantly on the ground in Afghanistan. Its leadership has to choose between abandoning, finally, its military adventure in the Middle East or doubling down on its previous investment of manpower, resources, and treasure there. It chooses the latter and re-institutes the draft. Mindful of the tumultuous last years of the previous draft in the Vietnam War, with widespread draft evasion poisoning the political discourse already sickened by the questionable justification for that war in the Tonkin Gulf incident, the 113th Congress is determined to write a draft law correcting the Vietnam shortcomings .It offers a carrot permitting substitutes for draftees to soften the compulsory impact of the draft. The main features of the new draft apply to all males 18-32, married or unmarried, in school or out, for 2 years of service. The mandatory military service retirement age, for officers and enlisted men alike, is raised to age 65. There are no stated restrictions on a substitute's age in the draft law other than the mandatory retirement age of 65. Upon passage and Presidential signing of the act on February 2, 2013, a totally unexpected development ensues. Two men show up on February 3 at a draft board. They tell the Board that each is willing to substitute for a draftee who is a relative. They offer photos and notarized documents signed by themselves and their proteges. Their proteges are grandsons. Both volunteers are 59 years old! The Army high command announces, after public give and take on the issue, that it will accept the older volunteers. Moreover, all substitutes, if found to be physically and mentally fit, must agree to serve in a combat zone immediately after basic training, specifically in Afghanistan. Thus, the substitutes understand from the outset the seriousness of their obligation. Draftees may be placed in an immediate life-threatening situation. By volunteering, the substitutes agree to meet all the requirements of military service being imposed on younger draftees. The Last Gray Line recounts the service of a Squad of 12 senior volunteers substituting for younger relatives or friends defending Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, in 2013-2014

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1503165450
• ISBN13: 9781503165458
• Release Date: November 2014
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 318 Pages
• Weight: 1.21 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.7" x 6.0"