King Talk: LCpl. Kevin Daly smokes while LCpl. Thomas Welch talks on a radio during a military operation near Doghaka village in Musa Qala district #Helmand Province #Afghanistan on November 7, 2010. S, the young Afghan interpreter who monitors the radio that scans for enemy chatter, catches someone calling for back-up. The man speaks loud and fast. He hears an enemy fighter reply, “I can see all of them. I can shoot. I am waiting for permission.” S, now nervous, tells Welsh what he hears: “He says he can shoot them very easy. Be careful, he is going to engage with you guys.” - I’ve often heard such radio chatter during previous embeds. I remember the first time I spent a week on top of a ridgeline with Marine Battalion Executive Officer Major Ansel near the Pakistani border back in 2004, he constantly monitored the enemy’s radio traffic, and I was terrified knowing just how close they were, their eagerness to get permission to engage - permission they did not always receive, but when they did, they would fire at our unit from a great distance, engaging for a few minutes at a time. After the report from S, Welsh relays the message to 2nd Lt. Carothers, the ambush team leader, that the enemy has requested permission to engage. Wait, says S, who quickly interrupts to correct Welsh. “They already got permission to engage.” - We hear more radio chatter: “Just pray for us. We are going to start fighting.” Within seconds, firefight breaks out and we hear the Taliban commander shouting on the radio, encouraging his men to keep fighting. Photo by Balazs Gardi (@balazsgardi) for #basetrack #USMC #OEF #TIMEVets #VETSrising #VETSday2014 #VeteransDay2014 #everydayUSAvets by everydayusa