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September 4, 2007
I did not even know his name when I went on the first mission with Rakene Lee. Yet within half an hour, it was clear that Lee was another example of someone who intuitively understands the basics and basis of counterinsurgency. In Ghosts of Anbar, Part III of IV, the importance of leaders like SSGT Lee is described:
Iraqis in every province I have traveled all respond to strong leadership. It’s a cultural touchstone. A man like SSG Rakene Lee is not someone they would overlook. Physically, the man is amazingly strong. But what is most amazing is the strength of his moral fiber. Whatever the man talked, he walked. After all of al Qaeda’s false promises, the people here have learned a hard lesson about the true value of character.
Leaders such as Rakene Lee, LTC Doug Crissman, LTC Fred Johnson, LTC Erik Kurilla and Colonel Townsend —all of whom have a very strong grasp on how to win this war—are increasingly easy to find because the Army and Marines have morphed to meet this war.
The dispatch excerpted above also contains a brief videoclip showing SSG Lee clearing a culvert where an IED has supposedly been planted. To see more of SSG in action, a longer videoclip, depicting how SSG Lee continued to oversee the incident, watch the clip here:
[Note, the video player may not work well with all browser configurations. The videoclip can also be viewed here.]
