Why American veterans are dropping everything to train Ukrainians
| LVIV, Ukraine
The former U.S. Army combat medic watched the war unfold from the safety of his Maryland home, his admiration growing for Ukrainians鈥� courage in the face of an overwhelming Russian invasion force.
For him, previous foreign conflicts had been no more than news headlines: Russia鈥檚 annexation of Ukraine鈥檚 Crimean Peninsula in 2014, for example, or Moscow鈥檚 role propping up the Assad regime in Syria by hammering rebel strongholds to rubble.
But this Ukraine war 鈥渂urned in me鈥� from the start, says Jason, who asked that his surname not be used. It prompted him to drop his life at home and become one of hundreds 鈥� if not thousands 鈥� of former American service members and other military volunteers from around the world to answer Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy鈥檚 call for help.
Why We Wrote This
What moves people from passive sympathy to active participation? American military veterans who got off their couches to help in this war cite Ukrainian resolve and the conflict鈥檚 moral clarity.
鈥淲hat made me know I was coming here immediately was just the sheer determination and motivation of Ukrainians,鈥� says the veteran, who wears a hat and a hoodie with a medical green cross shoulder patch.
鈥淚鈥檝e seen shopkeepers, 17-year-old girls who are students, and farmers 鈥� people who have never held rifles in their lives. ... It鈥檚 inspiring,鈥� Jason says in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, where he has joined the nonprofit Sons of Liberty International (SOLI) to help train Ukrainians for the battlefield. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e doing it with nothing; they鈥檙e giving it their all.鈥�
Also inspiring to Jason, as Russia launched its invasion in February, was President Zelenskyy鈥檚 now famous reply to a U.S. offer to help evacuate him to safety: 鈥淭he fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.鈥�
鈥淔or that man to stay here, it just motivated me to the point where I went to the Ukrainian Embassy,鈥� says Jason. 鈥淚 thought my wife would be upset, but she said, 鈥業 knew you were going from the moment this happened.鈥� We emptied out our savings account ... but she was all right with that.鈥�
鈥淎 very clear conflict鈥�
The war in Ukraine has attracted U.S. military veterans and Western legionnaires like no foreign battlefield in recent memory. But what motivates midcareer professionals 鈥� often now married, with children, and with their former military lives receding into memory 鈥� to drop everything and step into the trenches of another nation鈥檚 fight?
Some are impressed by Ukrainian pluck and resolve, by surviving 11 weeks of the Russian onslaught, when analysts predicted they would be routed in three days. Others see a historic battle between good and evil, with a high-stakes clarity between right and wrong not seen for decades.
鈥淚n the past, we didn鈥檛 get involved in Ukraine because, when it was just involving Donbas, there was no way to have an effect on the outcome of the conflict. Now there is,鈥� says Matthew VanDyke, who founded SOLI in 2014. The former documentary filmmaker was motivated at the time by his own experiences being held captive for five months in Libya while fighting with Libyan revolutionary forces in 2011.
鈥淚t鈥檚 also just a very clear conflict, with a democracy being invaded by essentially an authoritarian state, and a land grab,鈥� says Mr. VanDyke, who wears a beard, hair combed back, and tactical military clothes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a no-brainer as far as right and wrong in this.鈥�
Foreign fighters have played key roles on both sides of the conflict. Russia has deployed a shadowy force of guns for hire called the Wagner Group, which has close Kremlin ties and has been active聽from Syria to Mali and now in Ukraine. Russia has also sought recruitment of pro-Russian Syrians to fight in Ukraine.
Likewise, Mr. Zelenskyy announced in early March the formation of an International Legion to fight on behalf of Ukraine, and said 20,000 volunteers had already shown an interest. Yet so far those efforts appear ad hoc, at best.
Training the trainers
The SOLI military trainers, who aim to make a 鈥渢angible difference鈥� on the Ukrainian battlefield, have completed one two-week session for trainers from Ukraine鈥檚 territorial defense service and are now working with the National Guard in Kyiv. Their pedigree, from the Philippines to Burma to parts of Africa, includes training 鈥� and fighting alongside 鈥� 海角大神 forces in northern Iraq as they battled against the Islamic State.
In Ukraine, SOLI will use the model of training Ukrainian trainers as a force multiplier, especially for volunteer units that have little previous experience. A team of 10 to 12 will be here 鈥渦ntil the war is over,鈥� says Mr. VanDyke. 鈥淭here are thousands that need training, and they are not going to get it if we don鈥檛 provide it,鈥� he says.
Already providing key parts of the curriculum, albeit remotely, is former U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Cameron Albin, a veteran of three tours in Iraq, including the battle of Fallujah in November 2004.
Since leaving active service, Mr. Albin has nearly completed his Ph.D. in military history and started a nonprofit called the American Odysseus Sailing Foundation, which works to benefit veterans鈥� mental health through sailing. On their tick list is the around-the-world Ocean Globe Race with a crew of veterans, starting next year.
Married and with a 3-year-old, Mr. Albin has little spare time. But his years in the Marine Corps infantry school, his experience training Iraqis, and the historical parallels he sees with Ukraine today prompted him to find some.
鈥淚 have a lot of commitment where I am 鈥� I can鈥檛 just run off and join a hunter-killer team and start hunting Russian T-72 tanks, although that did look like a really cool prospect to a younger version of me,鈥� says Mr. Albin, speaking from Fort Worth, Texas.
He is now tailoring the curriculum he once used to train Iraqis to the Ukraine fight.
鈥淭hese are butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers, so they鈥檙e going from zero to hero in a very short amount of time,鈥� says Mr. Albin. 鈥淎t least it鈥檚 the one small thing that I can do, and still be a good husband and a good dad. ... It鈥檚 not sitting back and saying, 鈥榃ell, that鈥檚 [bad],鈥� and being a voyeur on CNN or YouTube.鈥�
鈥淯krainians have not given up鈥�
Mr. Albin鈥檚 motivation stems in part from his reading of the past, and the risks of inaction.
鈥淭his is imperial aggression, 1914-to-1938-style,鈥� says Mr. Albin. 鈥淭he excuses that [Russian President Vladimir Putin] is using 鈥� 鈥楨thnic minorities are being mistreated, so I have to go in and annex this territory鈥� 鈥� all we have to do is take 鈥楥rimea鈥� and replace that with 鈥楽udetenland鈥�, and we are back in 1938.鈥�
Clarity over Ukraine is also what prompted Erik Inbody, a veteran infantryman who spent five years in the Marine Corps, to leave his job as a welder and metal fabricator in Texas 鈥� and his 4-year-old daughter 鈥撀燼nd join SOLI in Ukraine.
鈥淚 try to live my life by a moral compass, to do the right thing. ... There was no question in my mind if I needed to be here or not,鈥� says Mr. Inbody, who wears a Ukrainian flag patch on his baseball cap in Lviv.
Last summer, when the United States pulled out of Afghanistan, he had planned to link up with a group going there.
鈥淏ut when I looked at the Afghan people, they weren鈥檛 fighting back,鈥� says Mr. Inbody. 鈥淎nyone willing to stand up and fight for their own freedom, I will stand with you. ... And the Ukrainians have not given up. They continue to fight; that inspired me.鈥�
Leaving his daughter has not been easy, he says. 鈥淏ut I cannot teach her how to do the right thing, if I am not willing to do it myself.
鈥淚 had a good job; I left it. I had a small savings account that鈥檚 now empty,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut I believe in what we are doing here. I believe in the fight. And these are normal people 鈥� normal, everyday people. They鈥檝e asked for help with minimal expectation.鈥�
More help has now started to come, and quickly. The U.S. House of Representatives, in an overwhelming bipartisan vote on Tuesday, approved a new $40 billion aid package to Ukraine, on top of the $13.6 billion already authorized. The Senate is expected to follow suit.
But that broad political support for Ukraine 鈥� and the strong motivations voiced by U.S. veterans aiding the country 鈥� has ironically not translated into sizable donations for American trainer groups like SOLI, which relies on individual donors.
鈥淚 look for thinkers, not trigger pullers, so I really lucked out鈥� with the current Ukraine team, says Mr. VanDyke.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a misconception that it takes $100 million budgets to affect wars,鈥� he says. 鈥淪mall things can have a big difference, and that goes for training, supplying, and advising these types of conflicts.
鈥淧eople who are donating can see that there are tangible impacts,鈥� he adds. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 do anything just for show; it鈥檚 either having a tangible impact, or it鈥檚 not worth my time.鈥�
