SMSgt (Ret) Jonathan Palsma

GCV Thanks You

, and 8 others

Feb 17, 2025

(GCV Editor’s Note: This article will likely trigger those suffering from PTSD. I try to remember to put this warning in all of my personal articles, but sometimes I forget.)

When I returned home from Afghanistan, I knew the war would end, and my career would disappear along with it. A few days after returning, I wrote my first article for

The Bulwark

Do Not Forget Afghanistan

I left Afghanistan for the last time a little over a month ago—on Memorial Day. After six deployments of more than four cumulative years in Iraq and Afghanistan, servin…

4 years ago · 3 likes · Will Selber

A few days after publishing that article, I assumed command of the 451st Intelligence Squadron at Fort Eisenhower (formerly known as Fort Gordon).

451st Change of Command - all three officers have since retired - sense a trend? (480ISRG/Jeffrey Adams)

By the time I assumed command, I was bone tired. I was juggling reintegration, command, fatherhood, and being a husband. The last few months in Afghanistan were booze-filled nights with sources trying to lay the groundwork for the eventual collapse that I knew would follow.

Yet from the beginning, my command tour, like nearly all command tours, was trying and almost broke me in every possible way.

Bautista

While I was still in Afghanistan, watching America’s betrayal of its Afghan allies unfold before my eyes, an Airman in the 451IS died in a tragic car accident. My excellent predecessor informed me that Dylan Bautista, a young first-term airman, died in a tragic car accident.

So, a few days after I assumed command, we said our final goodbye to Airman Bautista, the first Reaper to die, but there would be more in year two.

A1C Bautista’s Mom would pin her son’s name tape on our heritage wall (USAF)

Thanks for reading Grumpy Combat Veteran! This post is public so feel free to share it.

COVID in the Intelligence Community

A few days after burying my first Airman, I re-enlisted Senior Master Sergeant Jonathan Palsma, a career signals intelligence analyst. It was during COVID, and we followed the orders of those appointed over us, even when we thought they were dumb—and they were dumb quite often.

GCV Reenlists His Senior Enlisted Leader (SEL)

Jonathan and I come from different faiths. But if there was ever a mensch, it is Jonathan Palsma and his entire beautiful family. Without him by my side during my first squadron command year, I would’ve failed spectacularly. Behind every moderately successful commander, there is a group of SNCOs praying he doesn’t screw it up for the rest of them.

We were working inside one of America’s premier intelligence services. What my Airmen did behind closed doors is what spy novels are made of. I didn’t even know some of the missions they were doing—and honestly, I didn’t want to know.

I was blessed, however, to have this man by my side. I knew nothing of Air Force intelligence, and by then, after ~1500 days in Iraq and Afghanistan, it was too late to make me into a traditional Air Force intelligence officer.

I was a career human intelligence officer who worked alongside some of America’s most elite tactical, operational, and strategic units/teams/etc. I’ve been shot at enough times not to take it personally. But I knew nothing of his world, and all I could do was lead our Airmen the best way I knew how—with my heart.

Things Fall Apart

When I started getting my feet underneath me, I started watching the world crumble before my eyes. As Afghanistan fell apart, everything that I had fought and killed for disintegrated while I was supposed to command 300+ Airmen who were providing intelligence support to our despicable and cowardly retreat ordered by President Joe Biden.

Sometime after 15 August, I pulled SMSgt Jonathan Palsma into my office. I told him I was being By-Name-Requested (BNR’d) to return to DC to help lead some of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s contacts inside Hamid Karzai International Airport.

Before I accepted that request, I looked myself in the mirror. I knew what I was doing. I had prepared for this eventuality, and many of my contacts were already in pre-positioned locations. Nevertheless, I had to tell Jonathan I would leave him with a brand-new but highly capable Major to run the show for the next three weeks.1

Jonathan, the true definition of a selfless servant, took it in stride but said, “Sir, go save lives, but we will need our commander back eventually.”

The Long Fight

Even after the last planes flew out of Kabul, I pledged to continue fighting for my Afghan brothers and sisters. So, from 0600 to 1630, I was Lt Col Will Selber, the 451IS CC. After 1630, I was Will, a guy who knew a guy who could pull some strings.

For the next year of my life, as Jonathan and I helped lay the foundation for the 451 IS, I helped “rescue” thousands of Afghans. I don’t know how many. It doesn’t matter. There are so many that I cannot even begin to remember all of them. So many that by the time I die, I will be responsible for tens of thousands of Afghan Americans, inshallah.

Fear The Reapers

Command is a crucible. You don’t make it out alive without the help of many SNCOs and Company Grade Officers. We all helped lay the foundation for our squadron to succeed. More importantly, we always tried our hardest to put our Airmen first.

SMSgt (ret) Thompson - Ol Sarge - He like the Volunteers. Nobody is perfect!

Congrats, Senior Palsma & Family

There are many types of SNCOs. There are many types of commanders and officers. Sometimes, when you serve, the G*ds are kind to you, and you get great SNCOs. I was fortunate to have incredible Airmen, NCOs, Os, and SNCOs throughout my twenty-year career.

Nevertheless, Jonathan was in a league of his own. Jonathan Palsma was sent by G*d to be my SEL. You may not believe it, and that’s fine. But I know it to be true.

The team at

Grumpy Combat Veteran

would never have saved as many Afghans without the selfless leadership of SMSgt (retired) Jonathan Palsma. Because of his selfless service, not only did he ably lead 300+ Airmen conducting top-secret intel ops, but he also watched my six so I could work in the shadows, off the books, and away from prying eyes.

To SMSgt Palsma’s beautiful family: Thank you. Thank you on behalf of a grateful nation. We are better as a country because of Jonathan’s service. Because of his leadership, thousands of Afghans will become Americans. We are forever indebted to you and every member of your family.