Posted on 08/01/2006 3:46:21 PM PDT by toddlintown
WASHINGTON - More than two-thirds of the Army National Guard's 34 brigades are not combat ready, mostly because of equipment shortages that will cost up to $21 billion to correct, the top National Guard general said Tuesday.
Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum spoke to a group defense reporters after Army officials, analysts and members of Congress disclosed that two-thirds of the active Army's brigades are not ready for war.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
So what else is new? NG units tend to be short on equipment in to begin with unless they are earmarked for 'enhanced' readiness. Wars just make the situation worse.
Not surprised in the least.
We were always short on equipment, mainly because unless the Guard unit you were in was scheduled to be a rapid reaction force or if you were scheduled for an upcoming deployment, you were on the ass-end of the supply train.
Mike, I take your word for it and I can recall supply problems just about all the time when I was stationed in West Germany (75-78). Somehow, though, with everything going on now with Lebanon, Iran, NK, Iraq....it doesn't sit well.
We are thin, but there's just about nothing that can be done about it.
However, if the time comes, we'll have the tools to get the job done.
And Iraq has NO supply problems at this time.
My friends transportation unit had all of it's PLS trucks transferred to an incoming unit when they left Iraq. When they first got home they had no equipment at all. Now they have some vehicles but haven't been properly re-equipped.
had to send it all to Iraq!!
'Probably' normal.
Units go through a "cycle". They are not always running balls to the wall. It would not work anyway. At any point in time a certain number of units are returning and recovering from deployment, some are deployed, and some are getting ready to deploy. Those that return often need repair and replacement of major end and pacer items. When a unit redeploys it often goes into a short shut down where nothing gets done. They have to do this or else no one would ever get any time off even after a deployment. So the unit deliberately shuts down for 30 – 45 days.
I would be cautious rushing to any conclusions. The MSM is typically full of BS MOST of the time with these sort of stories. They take things out of context, over sensationalize, and and and. I am very skeptical with any news from Iraq or on defense. Since these topics are highly politicized they are also highly politically spun by the media pundit who “usually” is liberal.
"end and pacer items"?
It's time to bring back the draft and get on a real war footing. We gotta deal with Iran, North Korea, Iraq, and Venezuela. It's gonna take a large army with a large footprint, not boutique brigades. It won't be long before all these pissant Hezzies will be crawling all over our dead carcus asses.
"not boutique brigades"
I tend to agree.
Once back, many soldiers either leave the Army or move to other posts, forcing leaders to train others to replace them. This is distortion.
What people also don't realize is that while deployed, your unit is actually becoming untrained as odd as this sounds. Why? Even though you might be in a combat zone you're not training the broad spectrum of skills required. The unit is becoming "Untrained" while deployed. For example: I trained for NBC, first aid/CPR, and shot my rifle for training zero times while in Iraq. I did no Bradley gunnery tables, no call for fire practice nor many other things that are essential. A unit may be doing many many cordon and searches, Traffic Control Points and mounted/dismounted patrols while in Iraq, but does the Bradley crew member really practice firing that TOW? No, yet it's important and when he returns the unit needs to be brought up to speed. Most units returning fall into this category. Simple basic skills as collective tasks are not trained which are nonetheless important, hence the classification.
The rating system is a little artificial. I was in a unit in Vietnam which was rated "not combat ready" because we were slightly short of officers-- and yet we earned a Presidential Unit Commendation at that same time.
Stevie Blum ought to be used to it - we were always short of supplies and equipment (except for his "favorite" units) when he was in the Maryland National Guard. Guardsmen tend to be a little older and more experienced than their active duty counterparts, but are often short of training time on the newest tactics and equipment as well as being the last to get the new stuff.
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