The withdrawal of American troops and the resurgence of the Taliban has the world watching the middle east once again.

“It’s sad, it’s tragic and the worst part is it was preventable,” said Retired U.S.A., Neal Currey, who founded Ready Gunner in Orem. Currey, a retired Army Ranger, served five tours in the middle east from 2004-2009 including one in Afghanistan. “I mean this is a complete, complete failure from our U.S. Officials, our chain of command from President Biden down to the Generals that could have been prevented.”

On a day where more than a dozen U.S. troops lost their lives during attacks outside of the Kabul International Airport, those who served to secure the country during the last two decades are questioning the process taken by the Department of Defense to evacuate Americans and allies in Afghanistan.

“’Leave no man behind’, ‘I will not fail my comrade,’ which was in ranger creed, all these things we have abandoned who made up who we are today as a country and it’s very tragic, I mean the decisions that are made today in this event will come to haunt us for years to come,” said Currey, who is having a tough time consuming social media with images of Afghanistan flooding timelines. “The department of defense we have the most powerful military in the world we have the needs and capability to go and retrieve our personnel.”

Vincent Vargas, who began his military service in 2003, has served numerous tours in the middle east including two in Afghanistan.

“I think there should have been Americans come out first right, I think first and foremost we should take care of our people, take care of our allies in some kind of approach,” said Vargas, who served along side Currey on the 2^nd Ranger Battalion. “It’s something I think we’re going to be paying for, for a very long time.”

Both Neal and Vincent mention the culture and the positive experiences they had while serving in Afghanistan, many of which involves American allies and families they met along the way.

“The children and women of Afghanistan, there is a lot of good people in that country, a lot of good people who helped us and now we are leaving them abandoned and stranded to essentially be tortured and then be killed by the Taliban,” said Currey.