Posted on 09/21/2006 10:30:06 PM PDT by neverdem
WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 — Strains on the Army from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have become so severe that Army officials say they may be forced to make greater use of the National Guard to provide enough troops for overseas deployments.
Senior Army officers have discussed that analysis — and described the possible need to use more members of the National Guard — with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld’s senior adviser on personnel, David S. C. Chu, according to Pentagon officials.
While no decision has been made to mobilize more Guard forces, and may not need to be before midterm elections, the prospect presents the Bush administration with a politically vexing problem: how, without expanding the Army, to balance the pressing need for troops in the field against promises to limit overseas deployments for the Guard.
The National Guard has a goal of allowing five years at home between foreign deployments so as not to disrupt the family life and careers of its citizen soldiers. But instead it has been sending units every three to four years, according to Guard officials.
The question of how to sustain the high level of forces abroad became more acute this week as General John P. Abizaid, the senior American commander in the Middle East, said that...
--snip--
The Army had to offer generous new enlistment bonuses of up to $40,000 to attract recruits into such dangerous jobs as operating convoys in Iraq.
--snip--
It was able to meet its active-duty enlistment goals this year with the addition of 1,000 new recruiters.
--snip--
Mr. Rumsfeld has not favored substantially expanding the Army, concluding that such a step would draw money from programs he favors to overhaul the military and calculating that the high level of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan will prove temporary.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Oh, please. There was another post today that said just the opposite..
Thats the one..
Rummy may be a visionary in that his smaller faster high tech view on war will win out some time later in the 21st century when we are fighting conventional modern armies with high tech weapons.
However, his view on fighting wars with little boots on the ground is worthless when it comes to fighting wars against intrenched guerrilla fighters.
The enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan doesn't combat us directly, but snipes at us with suicide bombs and IEDs and goes where ever we are not and without a sizable number of troops that leaves open alot of space for the enemy. Thus, we get stuck playing wack a mole. And, as long as local forces know US troops will be moving elsewhere in a few weeks they aren't willing to provide intel on the enemy for fear the second the US moves they will be dead.
I meant hate you country Pinch.
That is why they are specifically beefing up the special forces in all branches. Training the best to fight this type of enemy. It takes time to build up these forces. Once they are at full strength, no enemy in any guerilla warfare will be able to match us.
Oh, it's the NYT. Yawn.
One really has nothing to do with the other. The recruiting story is narrowly focused on meeting the goal for the active Army for this FY. The NYT article is not about recruiting.
So many are deployed or only recently returned from combat duty that only two or three combat brigades — perhaps 7,000 to 10,000 troops — are fully ready to respond in case of unexpected crises, according to a senior Army general.
Just that paragraph should give even a casual observer pause.
Whom is the senor Army General they are talking about? Give me specifics not unknown names which they did not. They used their "unnamed sources" crap they use 99% of the time. Why do you think very few people take them seriously? Why do you think their revenues are dropping? If you want to cheerlead for the Slimes, that is your choice. I want to slam them because they NEVER write anything positive about our armed forces or our commander-in-chief.
"It was able to meet its active-duty enlistment goals this year with the addition of 1,000 new recruiters."
The last sentence was included within the excerpt. That's recruiting just to maintain the numbers in the Regular Army.
The point of the article was the probable need to draw on National Guard brigades for more overseas deployments because Rumsfeld refuses to increase the size of the Regular Army.
I don't know. Obviously, the general didn't want to be attributed.
The rest of your rant is loony, rooney.
Wasting bandwidth doesn't help. Try addressing content.
Other than officers working in the Pentagon, who fear early retirement, there are plenty of names. Do you need each sentence? The Regular Army is too small, IMHO. I'm finding recruiting ads for docs to join the National Guard in the Journal of the American Medical Association. I'm pretty sure that's new.
You want me to address issues and answer questions when you will not wooden nickel? Please. You appraoached me with your smartass attitude. I do not need to address anything. Give me a General's name on the record for this story, then I will independently verify it. If you can't, slither back to DU and the Kos playground.
SPECIAL FORCES are being increased in all branches to fight this hidden enemy that will be around for a long time. Congress already approved it and that is why some of the extra recruiters were hired. The overall size of the army is increasing. As far as the army being too small, I agree. Rumsfield can not increase the size of the military on his own. It has to be approved by Congress. It has already been vetted there and all sides agreed on a number.
Because I do not trust the Slimes. I verify myself. Unnamed individuals in any story can be purely fictional. Most Americans are catching on to this, that is why the liberal MSM is in serious decline. There will be a time in the futue that the either the SLimes changes or they sell or they go out of business.
Last time I saw anything, metropolitan circulation is where they are dropping. Revenues are up.
All the News that Didn’t Fit - The New York Times is a capitalist enterprise, although you’d...
I give up.
TANKS,,,I Want A Draft !,, I Want 16 Million Men Under Arms
Just Like 1945,,Wage A War of Annihilation On Those People,
Even That Will Only Knock Them Down For 50yrs. Or So.
I forgot the layoff's of employees now for a few years too. If you are making more money, your earnings go up, so you can pay your stockholders more, not less, and you do not lay off but increase hiring because your product is in demand and not in decline.
LOL;0)
So do I, but I wanted it right after 9-11. Barring another major attack on Americans, I'm afraid it's too late now.
With a screen name like that, I assume you served with draftees?
Sadly,,,There "Will" be another and another,,those people
will not stop .. no matter what ...I Take Them At Their Word,,,,,,
HAHAHAHA,,,,Yes I Did,,,some were good,,some not so good,,
Just like us regulars. I believe many of the draftees I served with made good soldiers, and many didn't know they would be good soldiers until after they had gotten a taste of being a soldier.
It is up to all the people of this country to defend it !
I have friends and kin in Iraq and Afghanistan,,,one is on his second tour, 10th. Mt. Div.,,,His SITREP, "Tuff","Hot".
The Troops need to be rotated more often,,their tired,,,
You Can Only Spend So Much Time In A Hot-Zone,,,
The overall morale of the soldier went down several points when the decision was announced keeping the "Artic Wolves" in Iraq for four more months.
The military I work with are now wondering when the other boot is going to drop on them. One has two tours of a year each in Iraq, three purple hearts and a silver star. He says he has enough awards for a career and I tend to believe him.
You read my mind on that one,,same unit I was thinking of..
Correct about thr number of tours wearing off the "Edge".
Ain't Nobody That Tuff !
Gloom, despair, and agony on me!
What liars the NYT's "journalists" are.
You should check the link that it came from. NRO ripped them a new one.
"Congress, however, has mandated a temporary 30,000-soldier increase for the Army."
For "neverdem" you are cheerleading hard too here for the Slimes. I would say "neverdem" is pretty misleading.
I expected such ad hominems just because the source is the NY Times, as if the Times could never tell the truth. You could check my posting history easily enough. Everyone that follows the Armed Forces knows that Rumsfeld doesn't want to increase permanently active duty personnel.
Besides that, Rumsfeld took a gamble to go into Iraq light. One could argue that it was a reasonable gamble because too many troops could foster the impression of an occupation. After toppling the Taliban in Afghanistan so easily, how could anyone argue? In hindsight, that's quite an underestimation of your enemy when defeat is not acceptable.
SPECIAL FORCES are being increased in all branches to fight this hidden enemy that will be around for a long time.
SPECIAL FORCES A Teams are primarily training cadre. Without hard intel and feasible missions, they are expensive and hard to train to standard.
Congress already approved it and that is why some of the extra recruiters were hired.
Extra recruiters for SPECIAL FORCES makes me curious. Within the Armed Forces or without?
The overall size of the army is increasing. As far as the army being too small, I agree.
We agree.
Rumsfield can not increase the size of the military on his own. It has to be approved by Congress. It has already been vetted there and all sides agreed on a number.
Some dems can't wait. The pubbies thanks to Rumsfield are trying to thwart it.
Young fella I know, Was A HET Driver,,18,500mi. In Combat.
He had enough,,He's out now.The Military cannot keep up
this pace. The people who think they can,Have never been!
Got that rite bout' that lite,,
TET taught ME a lesson of numbers,,More Is Better!
People do not understand,,,
This is for the future of our children,Just Like 1941 !
A HET company from Ft Knox is leaving this week for what I think is their third deployment to Iraq. Rough on the soldiers, but especially hard on those left behind.
So...the extra recruiters were "hired?" Are you even from the United States?
I was in Hawaii seeing my son off for Iraq when that decision was just hitting the news. Most of the 3rd BCT, 25th ID, had already gone, and those left were too busy to notice, but I'm sure they are now fully expecting to spend more than a year in the Kirkuk area.
"Ain't Nobody That Tuff !"
Great line but I'm sure you've already noticed - - we got plenty of 'tough enough' keyboard warriors and armchair generals around here. ;)
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day, Treader, even if it's by accident. I read or heard somewhere that the Army was experimenting with using civilian contractors from the beltway bandit circuit to see how they might do. The "bounty" mentioned was something like $7,000 per, iirc.
Rummy was pathetic as Sec of Def his first tenure and the military as a whole suffered. He was the grand designer of the Hollow Carter Military. He hasn't changed. He is no Weinberger nor event fit to shine that mans shoes.
Translation from NYTimeSpeak:
"Our Side Is Winning!"
I'm currently finishing my 11th month in theater. I'm a senior staff officer in an aviation battalion (National Guard)here in northern Kuwait. We have it better than most, in that we live in Kuwait (safer) but most of our missions are flown in Iraq (not so safe).
Let me tell you in plain English the problem with National Guard deployments. We have to spend 3 to 5 months in mobilization training in the states before we even leave for OIF/OEF. Then we have 12-months of boots-on-the-ground in theater. That's a minimum of 15 months on active duty away from our families and civilian careers. Ask any Guardsman what the worst part of the deployment is and 98% will say mobilization. My particular unit spent 3 month at Ft. Dix NJ, before we left for OIF.
This is an insult. What DOD os saying is that your unit is capable of deploying to a combat theater for a year, but you are not capable of training to do so. All our training at home-station means nothing. Apparently we're retards that don't no how to run weapons ranges, write OPORDs, conduct Air Assualt Operations, etc.
The Active Army says no, no, no...you must complete 3 to 5 months of training conducted by "real" soldiers before you deploy overseas. I can't emphasize enough how much this SUCKS.
Our Guard Aviation Battalion runs circles around the active-duty unit we replaced. Our average flight time for each battalion pilot:1,600 hours. The average for an active duty unit: 700. Our soldiers are older, more mature, and have an immense amount of experience in multiple theaters including Vietnam. We have pilots with over 3,000 hours of combat-time.
On a personal level, I own my own business that has struggled to stay afloat while I've been gone. I can take a year away, it's what I signed up for and comes with the territory. It's the extra 3 to 5 months that kills families and careers.
We've been told that we'll have a mnimum of 3 years at home-station before we're eligible to deploy. The standard is that a Guard unit cannot be deployed more than 2 years out of each 5-year period. You can voluntarily go by signing what called a COTTAD we say "co tee tad". Basically that's a Guard guy acknowledging that they are voluntarily deploying again despite the fact they don't have too. Now many guys do this (single officers mostly, but also enlisted and NCO's that don't have kids).
But in our unit, full of many experienced pilots, most say they will get out if another deployment comes along and we have to do a 3 to 5 month mob. We'll do the year, but it's the insulting "additional training" that will drive people away.
My $.02. Feel free to ask any question you want about the situation over here. I've flown 150 hours of combat time so far. I don't regret getting back into the Guard after a 3-year break in service (I spent 8 years on active duty in the 90's). 9-11 caused me to sign up again.
I will say this:the deployment system is broken in the Guard. If it isn't fixed soon, all the guys that would normally leave active duty after 4 to 10 years and then join a Guard unit to finish their 20 will reconsider. They left active duty for a reason.
What are you flying and how far in-country do you fly?
Also, thank you for serving - - again, and thanks for the run down on what the Guard has to do for deployment.
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