Virtual Memories – season 3 episode 29 –
War is a Self-Licking Ice Cream Cone
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | More
“There is a great tradition of very brilliant, outside-the-box, non-traditional, dynamic thinkers in the Marine Corps. . . . At the same time, our totem animal is the bulldog, not an animal known for its finesse.”
Zach Martin recently retired from the U.S. Marine Corps after 16 years in the service. But 25 years ago, he and your host were hyperliterate misfit high-school pals, trading Thomas Pynchon, Thomas Disch and Robert Anton Wilson novels. So how did he end up commanding Marine Recon forces in Iraq and Afghanistan as Maj. Zachary D. Martin?
“We greatly misunderstand the young men who go overseas and fight for us. We make them idols. They’re heroes, but we misunderstand what that means.”
We have a wide-ranging conversation about Zach’s career, the military’s risk-averse culture, the rise (and fall) of counterinsurgency strategy, what it’s like to give a kill order, how it felt to lose troops under his command, what it’s like to clear, hold and build a city in Afghanistan (and how it felt to see it all fall apart), how he fought all his best battles in Afghanistan wearing shorts and t-shirt, and more!
“The police we were training [in Afghanistan] were effective. I mean, they were gangsters, but provided you were willing to overlook their criminal activities, they were certainly maintaining order.”
We also discuss Virginia Postrel’s The Power of Glamour
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | More
Enjoy the conversation! Then check out the archives for more great episodes! Related conversations:
Follow The Virtual Memories Show on iTunes, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and RSS!
About our Guest
Major Zachary D. Martin (ret.) was most recently a member of Afghan National Police Advisor Team, and previously served as the Commanding Officer, Force Reconnaissance Company, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. His most recent deployment in that role was to Afghanistan in command of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines. He keeps a blog about his reading and writing at booksandmovement.net, where you can also find some of the articles he wrote during his career in the Marines.
Credits: This episode’s music is Life During Wartime by Talking Heads. The conversation was recorded at the home of a friend of Maj. Martin on a pair of Blue enCORE 200 microphones
I had the pleasure of serving as a Navy Corpsman with 2nd Battalion 3rd Marines Golf Co. in Afghan under the command of, then, Capt. Zachary Martin. He was by far the best CO I had ever worked for and was loved by all in the company. I wish he didn’t retire and became the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Nonetheless I am honored to have known and serve with him. HOORAH!!
If you ever get Major Martin back on, I’d be interested in knowing his thoughts on the USMC Professional Reading List. It always seemed to me (as an “Army guy”) that was one area that the USMC had in terms of advantage, a built-in program of self-education.
For the list, see:
http://guides.grc.usmcu.edu/usmcreadinglist
…but I liked the Mattis better…
I believe that this is the C.O. of my son Sgt. Simpson, then Cpl. with the 2/3. If that’s the case I want yout to know as of 01/20/2015 Sgt. Simpson is retired from active duty. My thanks for watching over him and keeping him as safe as you could. You and your fellow Marines are always in our thoughts. We will raise a glass this Saturday for the all those who have gone beyond the ordinary to call themselves UNITED STATES MARINES. Semper Fidelis.
Joe Simpson proud Marine Father