No gun. No helmet. No action: frustrations of some novice Americans who signed up to fight in Ukrain

[Demovictory9]

Before he decided to buy a one-way plane ticket to Ukraine, Adam worked two jobs, as a security guard and as a cashier at a dollar store. He owned guns and fired them at shooting ranges, but the only fighting he had ever done was in mixed martial arts classes.

That didn’t stop the tall, lanky 24-year-old from Thousand Oaks, a Los Angeles suburb, from flying to this war-torn capital earlier this month. He joined a new international legion set up to fight Russian forces about 15 miles outside the city.

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Adam just wants to get on the battlefield as soon as possible. His first choice, he said, is to be a medic because he took a first aid class in the United States, he said. His second choice?

“A sniper,” he said.

He has no experience at either job.

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He was working odd jobs and getting a degree in automotive technology at a local community college in the San Fernando Valley. “Not much going on at home,” Adam said.


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Each volunteer would receive a salary of roughly $3,000 a month, the same as a soldier, said Yaroslav, a Ukrainian military officer and head organizer of the International Legion in western Ukraine who declined to give his last name for security reasons.

There are already concerns about the international legion. Volunteers complain of delays in contracts, extensive paperwork, not getting weapons or training quickly enough, and days of waiting before getting assigned to battlefield units.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/no-gun-no-helmet-no-action-the-frustrations-of-some-novice-americans-who-signed-up-to-fight-in-ukraine/ar-AAVicf3

[Thomas Hurt]

1. Yeah, I think some of this folks are going to find disillusionment and not much else.

If they didn't do some time in the military and combat, they could be in for a very, very rude awakening. This weekend warrior sh*t may come back to haunt this guy.

[Wounded Bear]

3. War is hell...nt

[eShirl]

4. Maybe he has extensive Playstation or Xbox experience.

[bullwinkle428]

5. He would have done much better to volunteer with a group like World Central Kitchens,

helping to feed the millions of refugees escaping Ukraine.

I listen to John Fugelsang's show on Sirius/XM, and a guy called in talking about his decision to work for WCK in Poland for a week, and it sounded like it was an amazing experience.

[ecstatic]

6. I didn't know planes were still allowed to land in Ukraine

Seems kind of dangerous.

[Midnight Writer]

7. War tourists.

[XanaDUer2]

9. Spot on nt

[MineralMan]

8. The funny thing is that they have to leave their guns at home.

All that weapon collection stuff and they show up in Ukraine with empty hands. Empty brains, too, no doubt.

The only training guys like that have comes from reading gun nut discussion forums, and sitting around talking to friends.

They're useless, really, in an actual shooting war.

[LiberatedUSA]

10. Kind of a radical difference on his choices.

Medic or sniper. He isn’t going to know how to move or accurately gage distance or shoot and hit the target the first trigger pull. Then there is the need for patience and being able to remain still for long durations. A counter sniper would end his tour quickly.

So he either wants to help people or go through the motions of how he has seen snipers work in movies. Someone should tell him Tom Berenger was just playing a roll in a movie.

[MineralMan]

11. Either way, he is useless.

Ukraine doesn't need people like that. They need people with actual military experience. People like him are a liability, not an asset.