Posted on 04/27/2016 8:02:55 AM PDT by Thistooshallpass9
The United States Marine Corps aviation wing is suffering from the burden of 15-years’ worth of fighting and budget cuts. Fox News ran an exclusive story about this predicament on April 17. The article reported that the vast majority of U.S. strike fighter aircraft are not airworthy. But it wasn’t just F-18s grounded due to a lack of parts, maintenance or other complications. “Only 42 of 147 heavy-lift CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters are airworthy,” Fox reported.
Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have taken their toll on combat aircraft. For more than a decade, the Marine Corps has been called upon to provide close air support, strategic bombing and air supremacy sorties beyond the recommended flight-hour expectation per aircraft.
Exacerbating the problem, budget cuts and sequestration have reduced anticipated budgets for repairs and maintenance to an inadequate level. Fox reported that “U.S. military spending has dropped from $691 billion in 2010 to $560 billion in 2015.” That is a 19 percent decrease in five years. Adjusted for inflation, it’s nearly 21 percent. (Other sources say the 2015 estimate is closer to $596 billion.)
Adding even more fuel to the fire is the replacement pipeline to meet the mission requirements heaped upon the corps. The Super Stallion helicopters (CH-53 E) are to be replaced with upgraded “K” models. The MV-22B Osprey was to be the solution for the rotary-wing aircraft used by the corps. Yet the Osprey has failed to live up to expectations, and several accidents have degraded confidence in this “upgrade.” The F-18 Hornets were to be replaced with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter—but as the Trumpet has reported, known flaws, significant budget overruns, and delays in deployment have delayed the F-35’s release.
According to the Fiscal Times, “The time line for launching the long-troubled F-35 Joint Strike Fighter just moved to the right. Again. The program, already years behind schedule, won’t be ready for operational testing until mid-2018, a year later than expected, Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon’s chief weapons tester, told a House Armed Services Committee subpanel on Wednesday.”
The Marine Corps claims to be the first to arrive to a combat role. Yet while it is ordered to be most ready when the nation is least ready, it is being asked to do so with less equipment and fewer marines. Current budget allocation from the Department of Defense falls short of meeting the growing maintenance needs for its aircraft. The Fox News exclusive elaborated on another consequence of fewer operational aircraft: diminished time in the air:
The aircraft shortage means pilots spend less time in the air. “This last 30 days, our average flight time per pilot was just over four hours,” said [Lt. Col. Harry] Thomas.
Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornets are supposed to have a shelf life of 6,000 hours, but they are being refurbished to extend the life to 8,000. There is talk that some aircraft might be pushed to 10,000 hours while the Marine Corps waits for the 5th-generation Joint Strike Fighter, which is slated to replace the F-18, but has been plagued by cost overruns.
Pilots are being asked to remain operational ready with aircraft that are well beyond their engineered limits. Not only has time spent refining their skills in the air been reduced, but pilots are now limited by aging aircraft that could pose safety risks outside of combat roles.
If the U.S. can’t afford to maintain what it has and the Marines are asked to wait for new equipment, how can they maintain morale while potential enemies flex their muscles? Just within the past month, the U.S. military has faced harassment with combat-simulated flybys, shadowing of reconnaissance aircraft, and other highly provocative actions. If American forces aren’t equipped with reliable equipment, how can they respond effectively?
The U.S. military is replacing hardware with flawed, poorly engineered and expensive hardware. As the United States (and other English-speaking nations, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Israel) suffers under God’s curse for our failed morals and rebellion against His law, watch the “pride of our power” break even further (Leviticus 26:19). Without a political will to fight with appropriate financial backing, our combatants will only suffer more ignominious defeat and embarrassment as provocative engagements multiply.
Today, the engagements merely illuminate our weaknesses. But soon, those provocative “attacks” will give way to the real thing. Helpless to respond, America will face a reality foreign to it: It is no longer the dominant power. The U.S. no longer has the best equipment and most highly trained forces on the planet. Those days have given way to budget realities and broken will. America is becoming a paper tiger—and our enemies are becoming increasingly aware of it.
This just another example of the “successful” transformation of the USA by Clown Prince nobama, the Malignant One.
Plenty of money for illegals and muslim “refugees...”
Don’t forget that the Republicans joined in on the “sequester” so they could loot more money and tax breaks for domestic special interests.
Modifying the criteria of infantry officers so that women can qualify will, no doubt, solve this problem.
The never-ending quest by Navy brass for the latest, greatest, and most expensive toys which are neat on paper but worthless in practicality has cost the Marines and the regular Navy dearly. It is not all 0bama’s fault. The rest of the military is not much better off.
It is all going according to plan. Obama will destroy this country from within. Prayers for all in our brave Military.
Don’t forget the commissars who will ensure pure political thought, that is the most important thing now in the Marines.
If you all would remember we had these problems after the Viet Nam War. The democraps gutted everything military, & gave the monies to their favorite social blackhole program [sucks in everything with NO result/s] It was only with the election of President Regan that things started to turn around. And unfourently I do NOT see another Reagan in this election cycle! None of these people are NOT worthy of holding the office of the President of the United States.
This will be an election of the lesser of 2 evils, and that is still voting for evil!
You presume Trump is a lying gasbag Trojan horse. If Trump actually gets any of his top few proposals done then he will go down as the most efficacious conservative of the 20th and 21st centuries. He has to cut departments and the size of the federal government. I’m sorry, what did Reagan do? He doubled the size of the federal government. And Reagan held pretty much all liberal views before coming to the realization that he was a conservative running for President. Trump says he will build up the military and he will certainly be more respected in the Near East and communist sphere’s than any other. Oh well he is just a tv star douchebag... kinda the much beloved Reagan who really wasn’t that conservative upon analysis. Trump needs to ditch Keynesian economics that Reagan embraced and actually dump the many of the CFR/ TC globalist “free trade” internationalists that Reagan said he would and them kept every one of them from Carter’s administration.
The leadership of the Corps has focused on toys and face time and not enough on encroachment of missions by SOCOM or on readiness for the next arenas of warfare after Iraq and Afghanistan.
It's what happens when you have a promotion system that favors tall guys who don't make waves, never get in trouble.
But you forgot that he had g.h.w. bush as his vp, & he was the very essence of an “inside/establishment” person. Trump has changed parties after EVERY election & has stated on NUMEROUS occasions that he has more in common with liberal democraps than he has with conservatives. He has only fed the public what they want to hear. His actions [to me] speak louder than his words & thus he does NOT have my trust. This man has give more monies to democratic causes than conservative ones. When was the last time he stood up for conservatives or their causes. He is a narcissistic, sociopath, who also has said that he would use a first strike nuke attack in places that are troublesome. If he dose that, it would be the end of every life here on the planet.
And I was in the Marine Corps [Feb 1980-Feb 1986 (active & reserve) ] and saw first hand what happened before & after this. I even served with Marines who were drafted vs. those who volunteered [like me] to serve.
I didn’t forget. Trump will likely take on a few establishment CFR types and everyone will say what does one expect - everyone qualified person is establishment with insider CFR globalist ties. A person can only hope for the best. Somebody needs to actually get tough and make some heads roll and Trump is the best positioned to do so. He’s the only one able to act in a politically incorrect manner - which is an unbelievably pathetic badge of shame as to how far gone the USA already is. I would like to think his off the cuff remarks about nukes is merely posturing so as to recover some of the lost ground due to the collectivistic political class that folds their cards before the first hand is played at every turn. It isn’t an accident when America’s best interests are put last at every turn for decades. Absolutely intentional but then who defines what is best and what is treason versus progress. Trump says he wants to put America first ... we’ll have to just see what that really means.
I thank God everyday my son got out when he did. He saw this coming for along time. When he reported discrepancies he got chewed out. His words to me were “ Mom, I didn’t leave the US Marines, they left me” He was raised to follow the rules and do the best you can always. When he got the message that they really didn’t care, he just lost heart and got out. So very sad! 14 years for nothing.
He will NOT be able to fire anyone. They are ALL protected by a federal employment contract/s [via their union/s]. So unless he is ready to pull a Reagan [firing all the Air Traffic Controllers] & shuttering the federal gov.’t he will not get anything done. And his history shows he can not operate in an environment like the federal gov.’t.
Not to worry. The priority is women serving in Infantry units.
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