Posted on 08/03/2015 8:33:51 AM PDT by huldah1776
Last month, Gen. Ray Odierno, outgoing Army chief of staff, and Gen. Mark Milley, his successor, testified to the difficulties faced by the Army. I’d like to make the same points by telling a story.
**********snip************
The Obama administration just announced a 40,000 reduction in the Army’s ranks. But the numbers don’t begin to tell the tale. Soldiers stay in the Army because they love to go into the field and train; Defense Secretary Ash Carter recently said that the Army will not have enough money for most soldiers to train above the squad level this year. Soldiers need to fight with new weapons; in the past four years, the Army has canceled 20 major programs, postponed 125 and restructured 124. The Army will not replace its Reagan-era tanks, infantry carriers, artillery and aircraft for at least a generation. Soldiers stay in the ranks because they serve in a unit ready for combat; fewer than a third of the Army’s combat brigades are combat-ready.
And this initial 40,000-soldier reduction is just a start. Most estimates from Congress anticipate that without lifting the budget sequestration that is driving this across-the-board decline, another 40,000 troops will be gone in about two years.
But it’s soldiers who tell the story. After 13 years of war, young leaders are voting with their feet again. As sergeants and young officers depart, the institution is breaking for a third time in my lifetime. The personal tragedies that attended the collapse of a soldier’s spirit in past wars are with us again. Suicide, family abuse, alcohol and drug abuse are becoming increasingly more common.
(Excerpt) Read more at stripes.com ...
As a former Marine Mom, you can have a unit of say 1000 men, but there are 3000 men behind them doing all kinds of stuff. Luv them all. Best bet would be to search for articles on number of infantry, mechanized, and air force. Don’t ever forget our beloved special ops. :)
money going into the F-35.
I got thrown out of the office during one of my wife's reenlistment ceremonies at Ft Hood in the 90's when I pointed out the Catch 22 of "Defending the Constitution" and "Obeying the orders of the President (Clinton)"
I can only imagine hoe demoralized today's troops are.
Western civilization announced to the world that we were giving up military supremacy for domestic spending when Britain no longer had an operational aircraft carrier.
What else would you expect with a Communist In Chief?
wow. Under, under estimated.
Demoralized. Absolutely. Suicide rates overboard. They feel like we do and their lives depend on it.
We are so screwed. China and Russia are going to team up and are going to start kicking somebody’s butt, and there is not a damn thing we’ll be able to do about it.
What should one expect from an enemy islamist CIC and an islamist facilitating Congress?
I once put in a suggestion that the Air Force Uniform Board be prohibited from meeting more than once every 5 years. Never did hear back. Still got my Mr Rogers sweater from when that was the latest push for indoor winter wear. Sucked then, sucks now.
I did one hitch in the Navy and cruised the Med on the Saratoga. When I first heard that women were going to be put on ships with men I said that the smart ones would come back to port wealthy and the dumb ones would come back pregnant. From what I have been told that is about what happened. As far as sending out of the closet queers to serve on ships with straight men it is absurd, give them a ship of their own if they cannot be kept out of the Navy.
Oh man...sore subject.
Went and bought a new pair of ABU’s (AF utility fatigues) from the local Main Exchange last year...paid close to $100 for a set.
Within a couple of weeks the buttons on the fly were falling off and the shirt fared no better. Garbage quality.
I can recall my USAF issue OD’s in the early ‘80s being about $20 for a set and of much higher quality...
And don’t get me started on the USN fatigues...whoever thought that camoflauging sailors with a pattern that would make them practically invisible if they were in the water was a good idea should be keel hauled.
shirts could at least have a reflective orange back on the inside. Turn it inside out when in the water if the enemy isn’t around to shoot ya.
Seems like Marx has done the damage already. Our own fault making capitalism our god.
Bookmark
Yup, SHARP posters are plastered on every exposed wall on the bases.
It’s so the squids will feel like they are part of the military. Camos are cool looking though.
“Heard the DOD has NEVER been audited.”
That would be news to my father. He worked alongside plenty of civilian auditors when he was stationed at the Pentagon in the ‘60s. If you couldn’t account for the funds that went through your office you could end up in jail. And he knew of some who did.
guess you can’t believe every extreme you read on free republic. If I find something that sticks with me, my radar should have checked it out. Thanks for the correction. There definitely wasn’t enough auditing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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