Amber Smith

2x Best Selling Author: Danger Close & Unfit to Fight. Former Senior Pentagon Official. Former Army Helicopter Pilot. Iraq & Astan vet.

[Katie Pavlich Tonight @KatiePavlichNN]

TONIGHT at 10pm | @NewsNation

President Trump calls off planned strikes against Iran as he says a settlement will be signed in the coming days. Plus, a new installment of The Bradley Report and the latest on efforts to bring human traffickers who flourished under Biden's open border to justice, an update on fraud investigations in Minnesota, and more!

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[Amber Smith @AmberSmithUSA]

@SenatorBanks 100%. I'm a big NO on this as the GWOT memorial. We don't need some random modern piece of art, we need something that reflects the service members who served in Iraq and Afghanistan (etc)...and this isn't it.

[Amber Smith @AmberSmithUSA]

@alexplitsas Thank you. This is 1000x better than the weird modern grass art.

[Amber Smith @AmberSmithUSA]

@RobManess GWOT veterans deserve better than this…

[Jason Bartlett @Jason2bartlett]

Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe this is what you call freedom?

I’m a white South African so I don’t know!

[Amber Smith @AmberSmithUSA]

Why the GWOT vets deserve a better memorial 👇

[ControlledPairs @ControlledPairs]

I don't know, man.

I just want a spot that honors the fallen and mourns the tragedy of the GWOT.

I don't know what it looks like, only what it feels like...

It feels like misappropriated blood and treasure, a train wreck in slow motion, a long slow repetitive miserable agonizing grind felt in isolation by a fraction of the population.

Maybe that's it. The GWOT was America's longest war. It was fought entirely by volunteers. Fathers and sons fought on the same battlefields separated by decades. Guys went back over and over and over again. An entire generation of millennials gave their youth to the effort - not because they were made to - but because Uncle Sam asked them to and they obliged.

Whatever. Glad a memorial, however it may ultimately take shape, is making progress.

[Amber Smith @AmberSmithUSA]

I’m a big NO on this as the GWOT Memorial. We don’t need some modern piece of art, we need something that reflects service members who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan (etc) wars…and this isn’t it.

[Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 @JerryDunleavy]

The Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation (@GWOTMF) has released the design concept for the GWOT Memorial which will be built on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

Full announcement video here: https://t.co/kwIjR8l0OD

[Amber Smith @AmberSmithUSA]

@LeighWolf This cannot be our memorial. Awful.

[Amber Smith @AmberSmithUSA]

@WalnutsThielen Yes

[Amber Smith @AmberSmithUSA]

My thoughts on the Apache that was shot down by Iran:

I cannot begin to explain how lucky that Apache crew was that was shot down. Yes, UXOs happen, but that is just part of the luck (especially since it was on fire!).

Apaches have a tandem cockpit, which means the pilots sit one in front of the other, like a fighter jet, rather than side by side like most helicopters.

The fact that the drone hit between the two pilots without actually hitting one of the pilots is just wild…there isn’t that much room for that not to happen.

Then, having to ditch in the Strait of Hormuz after a drone crashes into you and your helicopter is on fire with flames likely filling your line of sight. Sounds like they likely did power-on ditching procedures, but once they jettison the canopy and hit the water things happen fast. Helicopters roll when they hit the water and start to fill up with water. It’s very disorienting and the water is dark. You also still have to worry about the rotor blades.

When train for this. We refer to it as “dunker training.” But in the span of most standard Army pilots careers, they usually only complete the initial training, not the annual follow on training that is preferred.

The pilots were able to get out and find each other and wait in the water for two hours while a drone boat came and rescued them…. Technology that those pilots likely didn’t even know existed until it picked them up.

A lot of things that could have and likely should have gone wrong, didn’t. Things very easily could have ended much differently.

Very grateful those pilots are ok. 🇺🇸🙏

[Amber Smith @AmberSmithUSA]

@guardpilot Definitely a possibility.

[Coalition for Military Excellence @Mil_Excellence]

Former combat pilot @AmberSmithUSA said she has complete confidence in the professionalism, training, and capabilities of the U.S. military.

Recent @CENTCOM operations prove why confidence in the U.S. military is well earned. Our servicemembers remain ready, capable, and committed to every mission.

Full interview: https://t.co/afrHosUkwr

[Amber Smith @AmberSmithUSA]

@misaelergosum @RealDeanCain Hahaha facts

[Amber Smith @AmberSmithUSA]

@LucindaMason @Akajohnssmith He did! 🙏

[Amber Smith @AmberSmithUSA]

@daellingwood @exjon I think I’d rather go back to SERE than have to do dunker again

[Amber Smith @AmberSmithUSA]

@leepd84 💯

[Kite & Key Media @kiteandkeymedia]

Want to make your country really rich? Sell energy to the rest of the world. Want to make your country really powerful? Start withholding that energy.

Our new video looks at how energy shapes national security, from World War I to the Strait of Hormuz.

[Amber Smith @AmberSmithUSA]

@911FAST @exjon The Navy is prob more strict about making their helo pilots do dunker refresh…Army, not so much.

[Amber Smith @AmberSmithUSA]

@ATabarrok It counts as flight training hours. Pilots have minimums they have to meet, so they’d be getting those hours somehow. Mights as well be a morale boost on both sides 🇺🇸

[Amber Smith @AmberSmithUSA]

@OKConserve Um, they are both pilots.