A Little Perspective

So, a quick history lesson on the region is probably in order to explain the existence of USMTM, and, by extension, my capacity as its Finance Flunky.

BTW, I’ve always sucked at history and ultimately found a way to dumb down such things to a level that, by comparison, would make ‘An Idiot’s Guide’ seem convoluted and haughty by comparison.  It’s easy really, just strip away any political understanding and ignore the need to maintain continuity where social and economic development (or lack thereof) is important in conveying present circumstances.  My teachers would be so proud...

Okay, so the Arab peninsula’s southern edge was a huge part of a trade route (almonds, dates, frankincense, myrrh) linking India with civilizations North and West of the peninsula since Abraham’s time (Father, not Lincoln).  The terrain, mostly uninhabitable desert-scapes, prevented any worry of attack from most powers throughout history (Rome, Persia, Greece, etc.).  Anyway, some dude in a cave had a vision and decided to start the religion of Islam around 610 AD.  The religion gained popularity in the region and eventually the tribes were brought together under said religion to form the first Saudi state in the 18th Century.  After going back-and-forth with the pesky Ottoman Empire, the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was formed over the first quarter of the 20th Century.  Since then, the royal family lineage has done much to modernize the region, develop and improve infrastructure, build school systems, develop security forces, etc.

The US first entered into a partnership with the Kingdom during WWII.  Simple logic really - we noticed the strategic importance of the location given our foreign affairs at the time, and the KSA (Kingdom of S.A.) liked that we would build an airbase that they could use for commerce and military purposes in the future (not to mention the protection of a superpower).  Well, we never really left and, eventually, Schwarzkopf staged our forces for ODShield/Storm in the KSA and basically ran the war from Eskan Village. 

The United States Military Training Mission for KSA (USMTM), a joint force of less than 300, is a group of US military advisors and their support personnel that seek to advise, train and assist comparable components of the Saudi Arabian military forces.  And, of course, we use the opportunity to sell them US military equipment that would aid in that venture (an important element of the mission recently bolstered by the Saudi’s swift victory over rebels along the border of Yemen where Chinese and Russian equipment proved inferior while US equipment performed as advertised). Yay, us.

Advisors for the US military have a tough job here.  If it were not for T.E. Lawrence’s 27 Articles published in 1916, it would have been a longer and tougher road to hoe.  Google them to better understand what someone outside of the muslim culture must appreciate to earn the necessary relationship to accomplish what we seek to accomplish.  Or, just rent Lawrence of Arabia.  Same Lawrence, same Arabia.

Even armed with that priceless knowledge, the mission and goals remain difficult.  When you have a royal family that places ‘a royal’ as the head of every defense and governmental ministry, regardless of capability, the relationship between the royal family and the other government officials / military leaders becomes tenuous at best.  Simple things like the king, who is the supreme commander of Saudi forces, seeking only the established royal’s perspective on his organization, regardless of understanding, makes interoperability and concerted efforts across components nearly impossible.  As a leader in the US military (and I would assume in the civilian sector as well), you learn early-on that authority does not equal competence.  The KSA has to be delicately and indirectly (so as not to embarrass - huge cultural no-no) reminded of this...um...often.

Dangers of working here in general?  There were many terrorist attacks on westerners in Riyadh in 2003 and 2004.  The last terrorist action against Americans on the peninsula was at the US embassy in Yemen in 2008.  So while this is a relatively safe country (not currently a combat zone), vigilance is a strict necessity.  While most should understand that we are not at war with the Muslim community as a whole, there is no escaping the fact that certain elements of that community, with roots in the Middle East, to include the KSA, perceive Americans as the highest priority for targeting of violence.  “We are political capital in a wide-ranging global struggle between those who seek a path of societal moderation and those who are bent on a path of societal extremism.” (Unknown author)

My job?  Make sure all military personnel have no pay issues, that proper entitlements are received, develop relationship with local bank, provide commercial vendor services, and in any way support the Office of the Comptroller as the ranking Finance dude in uniform.  I’ll get into more details when I actually start the job (still waiting on my bags).

So here’s how I remember all that...

USC Gamecocks (KSA) wants to protect themselves from the Clemson Tigers (any adversary).  So, they call on the superpower that is the Florida Gators (US) and take on their chief advisor, Steve Spurrier (USMTM) to teach offensive tactics.  Spurrier tries to explain that Florida talent (US equipment) is better than SC talent (Chinese and Russian equipment)....

The analogy kinda breaks down from there.  Clear as mud?  Cool.