Remembrance is in the heart of God for us humans, because we so easily forget the good things He has done.
Category Archives: Ground Truth
Mission Objective—Set the Captives Free
In September 2000, Sierra Leone, a force of British SF with 1 Para were flown in on Chinooks to rescue six Royal Irish Regiment lads and their SLA liaison officer, captured by the infamous West Side Boys. Many West Side Boys were killed or captured, however 1 British Soldier sadly died. Sometimes, mission success demands sacrifice, and sadly this is a costly business.
The rescue we need to set us free, cost a life too, but it was a success and all of us can benefit by it—read on to find out why we all need Jesus…
Mission Objective—Capturing the Flag
There is a great scene in the film Divergent, where Tris, the new Dauntless recruit, uses lateral thinking to gain a bigger picture of the battle space. She takes matters into her own hands and splits off from the group. She is followed by one of the instructors and they gain high ground by climbing a defunct ferris wheel. They are then able to make a plan to capture the enemy flag and complete their mission.
The idea of capturing the flag made me think of what Jesus achieved by His death and resurrection. The Easter story shows Jesus taking back the initiative and completing His Mission Objective: to take back the power that sin and death have over us…
Superior Force
We know that it’s essential to have the the superior force when taking an enemy position. To take out a section, you need a platoon, to take out a platoon, a Company and so on; a ratio of 3:1. Add to that, air superiority and mortar or even artillery support and you’ve got total confidence going forward.
I was thinking about this in regard to the mob that came to arrest Jesus prior to His execution…
Force-Multipliers
Force-Multipliers are a way of making something of greater effect through less: “In military science, force multiplication or a force multiplier is a factor or a combination of factors that gives personnel or weapons (or other hardware) the ability to accomplish greater feats than without it (Wikipedia).” Mankind was always meant to be God’s Force-Multipliers (image-bearers) on the earth…
“Hello All Call-Signs—this is Sunray…”
In British military radio speak, we are all familiar with the ‘all call-signs’ call over the net (Charlie Charlie One): the message following is for everyone’s attention…
C. L. A. P. (Clear. Loud. As an order, with Pauses)
In the din of battle, it’s not only the commander who gives orders, because he isn’t always the one who sees the enemy. When a Rifleman sees them, he is duty bound to call out their location using the above acronym. He is to be Clear, loud, deliver it like an order and pause between each piece of information (GRIT – Group, Range, Indication, Target) to ensure it can be understood and acted upon. Nothing new there…
Greater Love Has No One, Except a Friend…
Where can we find peace for our inner struggles?
Friends, peace IS possible; even while wars continue to rage, even while fighting in one yourself – battles come in many forms – because, we can obtain peace on the inside…
Final Bugle Call (Real Hope)
Buglers were used on the battlefields of old before the advent of other means of communication, like the radio, were brought into use. The British Military has a long tradition of their use….
L. O. E. (Limit of Exploitation)
A LOE (Limit of Exploitation) is an essential component in the field of battle. Humans need boundaries and limits placed upon us as we have a tendency to stray off track easily.
Forlorn Hope?
During the Napoleonic Wars, in particular, the Peninsula Wars, whenever storming a breach was necessary, volunteers would be sought to carry out the action as the first wave ‘into the breach’ to take a fortress. This was called the Forlorn Hope – it’s a forlorn Hope, because you weren’t expected to survive.
Op Barma – Valley of the Shadow of Death
“One of the luckiest incidents of the tour (Telic 5) was on a dawn patrol along a prominent road, in Iraq, carrying out regular route clearance and checking for possible Improvised Explosive Device (IED) threats…”
