NPR

For Next U.S. Commander In Afghanistan, 'This Is About Protecting U.S. Citizens'

"I can't guarantee you a timeline or an end date" for the war, Lt. Gen. Austin "Scott" Miller, President Trump's pick to lead U.S. forces in Afghanistan, told a Senate panel on Tuesday.
Lt. Gen. Austin S. "Scott" Miller, shown here in 2015, a 57-year-old West Point graduate, has spent much of his career with Special Operators, working in the shadows on battlefields that include Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. He most recently was commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, which includes Delta Force and SEAL Team 6.

Just as darkness fell, Capt. Austin S. "Scott" Miller was hunkered down in a building in Mogadishu, Somalia, together with his soldiers from the U.S. Army's elite Delta Force.

It was Oct. 3, 1993, and a Black Hawk helicopter had just been downed by local militants in the battle of Mogadishu, what would become the core of the book and movie Black Hawk Down. Miller was awarded a Bronze Star with a valor device for the nearly day-long battle that left 18 Americans dead and 73 wounded — including Miller.

"What you have to figure out is how to work your way through it," , according "I will tell you, I never thought we would get overrun. I know there were some people there who thought we were close to getting overrun. I never thought that, not with birds coming into the zone putting rockets in 10 or 15 feet away from us."

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR3 min read
Apple Shows Its Steepest Quarterly Decline In IPhone Sales Since Pandemic's Outset
The 10% drop in year-over-year iPhone sales for the January-March period is latest sign of weakness in a product that generates most of Apple's revenue.
NPR1 min readAmerican Government
FTC Bars Former Pioneer CEO In Exxon Mobil Deal, Saying He Colluded With OPEC
Exxon Mobil's $60 billion deal to buy Pioneer Natural Resources received federal clearance, but former Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield was barred from joining the new company's board of directors.
NPR9 min read
Rappers Took The White House. Now What?
A new documentary, Hip-Hop and the White House, considers rap's association with presidential politics — and in so doing, reveals a persistent misunderstanding of how both operate.

Related Books & Audiobooks