Unforgivable Command Negligence. What does it look like? I present to you Lieutenant General Bills, when I knew him he was a COL, and the Commander of 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. 3ACR was in charge of Mosul 2007-2009, and COL Bills was the head dude. I was a SFC Platoon Sergeant with B Co. 1-8 IN 4th Infantry Division. 1-8 IN was supposed to go to Baghdad with the rest of 3rd Brigade, but we got detached as usual, and sent to Mosul because 3ACR was getting tore up. Mosul was an Al Qaeda strong hold in Iraq, and the intelligence knew AQ had said Mosul would be a fight to the death for them, their last stand so to say. We ALL had that intelligence, it was a daily sitrep report for key leaders. COL Bills had decided that Iraq was “not that kind of war anymore”, and refused to allow 3ACR to roll with M2 50 cals, MK 19’s, no 25mm for the Bradley’s, no TOW missiles, no 203 ammo, no grenades, no flash bangs, no door charges, and a strict limit of 3,000 7.62 belt ammo in any truck. When 1-8 IN showed up to Mosul we all did what any good leaders do, and requested combat loads for all our vehicles and men. We were refused anything more than small arms 5.56 and 7.62 ammo, and smoke grenades! Now we were shifted to take the east side of Mosul because 3ACR couldn’t hold it themselves, and were getting hit hard. We said fuck it, we ball, and rolled with what we had. Two weeks in B Co. 1st Platoon gets pinned on a school rooftop, and one of their guys get shot through the wrist. In the CASH, the MND North Commander kicks everyone out of the room to talk to the wounded soldier, and asks him what could have helped. Soldier said 203 rounds. The General walked into the hallway, looked at COL Bills and asked “why don’t my Infantrymen in Iraq North have 203 ammo?” We got 203 ammo the next day, that’s it though, and COL Bills didn’t want to give us that. Then Jan 28, 2008 happened, I lost five men in a deep bury IED initiated complex ambush. The enemy had laid out a perfect ambush, and we were caught fighting in it to recover our men for four and half hours. I wasn’t leaving them, so we stood and fought. We almost went black on ammo before QRF arrived. COL Bills at the ramp ceremony was laughing and joking with his CSM, and asked “how long is this gonna take” while looking at his watch. We got all the ammo we asked for the next day! Tow missiles, MK 19’s, and 50 cals on trucks, AT-4’s, Small D’s, grenades, C-4, DET Cord, 25mm, no more ammo limits! It took the death of Five US Soldiers from another unit for COL Bills to admit we were still very much in “that kind of war”. COL Bills failed his men, he got men killed, and he got promoted for it. That’s the men is kicking out, and those are the men that never should have made it past 1LT. Bills was the epitome of piss poor leadership, and an egomaniac. His CSM wasn’t any better, but I’ll save that for another story. Take care of your men! Keep That PMA!Unforgivable Command Negligence.
— SYSKUSA (@syskusa) August 21, 2026
What does it look like?
I present to you Lieutenant General Bills, when I knew him he was a COL, and the Commander of 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.
3ACR was in charge of Mosul 2007-2009, and COL Bills was the head dude. I was a SFC Platoon… pic.twitter.com/slkmr2ejdg
He wore tanker boots that were cleaner than the Oval office all the time!
