Never Fight Alone

"In 2006, I helped establish the NATO Special Operations Forces Command in Mons, Belgium. It included commandos from more than 19 nations. Over the course of the next two years, we trained and exercised together, drank together, and spent family time together. In doing so, we learned that our common values were much more important than our national differences. We also developed a bond that only men preparing for combat can appreciate."

"In Iraq, I was blessed to have the British Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS) serving alongside my Rangers, SEALs, and Delta Force operators. The Brits took on one of the toughest missions in our counterterrorism fight: the suicide-bomber network operating in Baghdad. Their work unquestionably saved the lives of American soldiers and our allies. And they paid a high price for standing alongside us."

"In Afghanistan, NATO special-operations soldiers fought with tremendous courage and unwavering loyalty to their American counterparts. That commitment did not come without a cost, either. I stood on the tarmac in Bagram and Kandahar many times paying my final respects to soldiers from the U.K., Canada, Australia, France, Denmark, and Germany. Never have I seen such an outpouring of respect and admiration for their contribution to the fight."

I helped establish the NATO Special Operations Forces Command in Mons, Belgium, in 2006, bringing commandos from more than 19 nations together. Over two years, those forces trained, exercised, socialized, and spent family time together, discovering that common values outweighed national differences and forging a bond unique to men preparing for combat. By 2008, coalition operations continued in Iraq and Afghanistan, with British SAS and SBS operating alongside U.S. Rangers, SEALs, and Delta Force against the Baghdad suicide-bomber network and sustaining losses such as the 2005 C-130 shootdown. NATO special-operations soldiers displayed courage and loyalty, and multiple allied personnel paid the ultimate price in those campaigns.

Read at The Atlantic