ABSTRACT
The Forward Air Controllers (FACs) themselves were highly valued by their fellow-soldiers. They were appreciated because of their skills – "an FAC is a genuine specialist" – and because of their courage. Together with the pilots and the commanders in the field, the FACs held responsible for the collateral damage that occurs. This chapter describes and analyzes the work of Dutch army FACs in Uruzgan, in the period 2006–2010. Dutch aircraft showed up but refused to engage because they could not identify the target. The American militaries, supported by large parts of the population at home, are quite convinced that violence does the trick, the Dutch population and military seem more hesitant in this regard. A main aspect of cooperation refers to the military, in particular, to army hierarchy. Snipers, comparable to FACs, are military soloists engaged in lethal actions; hence their relevance in this connection. Most of the FACs experienced good cooperation from their ground commanders.
