New Army Brigade Plan is Dangerous

Military.com ^ | 11/5/2003 | David Pyne

[walden]

I recognize the slanting here, but on the specifics, is this correct? Comments please.

[StAthanasiustheGreat]

We are cutting divisions? Shouldn't we be expanding the Active Duty Army size?

[hchutch]

FYI ping.

Note the author.

[walden]

Well, yesterday Rumsfield said on one of the morning shows that we're increasing units from 33 to 43 (sorry, I'm not too knowledgable about the military and I don't know what size units those were), so I'm just confused and looking for what the real plan is.

[verity]

What are Pyne's credentials?

[sauropod]

I'm sorry, but I don't think getting rid of tanks and other "heavy" weapons systems is very far-sighted. Pyne is right.

[walden]

What do military folks think?

[reluctantwarrior]

The plan to eliminate the tanks is half the story...by 2025 the Future Combat System will replace the "eliminated" tanks. This guy is selling snake oil to the uninformed. I agree that keeping lethal systems is essential but by 2025 the M1 will be 50 years old, maybe we should eliminate it if there is a better system.

[rightazrain]

"Following his unprecedented and premature retirement of 47 U.S. Army generals . . . "

I'd bet this rant represents the sentiments of those whose ox got "gored."

There was a cabal of officers who insisted in going in to Iraq with overwhelming force ala the First Gulf War. Rummy, in his second stint as SecDef, knew the military had to get more efficient, capable of rapid response.

Rummy is in the process of carrying that out, much to the chagrin of the old-liners.

[sauropod]

Let's just say that I need to be made a believer.

Am not all that familiar w/ FCS, but we'll see if the service remains committed to a new "common chassis" program or not.

They should not have cancelled Crusader.

[optimistically_conservative]

http://www.americasvoices.org/bios/PyneD/PyneD_bio.htm

http://www.american-partisan.com/bios/pyne.htm

I think the "no win" war comment toward Iraq is pretty telling.

On the specifics, he is an ex-armor officer against transformation to lighter, more tech heavy than armor heavy, forces.

Nope, no bias there.

[verity]

Forget my last question. I read his bio and I am not impressed.

[optimistically_conservative]

[SevenDaysInMay]

Pre 2005 draft reorganization.

We must have a force structure not only to fight "small" wars, but win the next major one, likely with fascist China dead set on super-power dominance within this generation already born.

Pearl Harbor II is in countdown.

9/11 was only a wakeup call.

Spain's politics has now proven that El Cid is dead. Busy Wahhabbees are awakening Mo'ham's sleepers embedded in Spain's 1,100 new mosques paid for by the House of Saud during the 1990's.

Germany has awaked to islamists, long welcomed as their guest workers living in self-imposed ghettos, like in Parisian 'burbs. Islamokazis are losed upon pre-Eurabia.

Old Europe's socialism promises peace in our time, but islamonazis are on the march and innocent men, women, and children will be maimed and killed now because islam's conquest failed some 500 years ago, defeated by far better men and women than dwell in Old Europe today. This islam teaches because it is true.

Can flyover America provide deployed strength to defeat islamists against the will of utopians controlling our East and Left coasts? No. Never, so long as civilized peoples fail to realize that as infedels, islam commands their submission or death, commands in 'Mein Koran' to be followed to the letter.

Pakistan alone graduates over 250,000 jihadies every year, paid for by the House of Saud. Islam is about to erupt and our fellow infedels shall be murdered and maimed in Mo'ham's name for allah.

We face total war. Perhaps the new draft can be better put into theater of operations in these new force structures. IMO, our own cities and towns will be in the new theater of operations.

America's borders can be defended by these new unit configurations, IFF we have the political will to survive. Old Europe shows no signs so we may fight this war on our own, and China too.

Good luck, Grunts.

[sauropod]

We'll see if they stick with it this time. Last major vehicles were developed quite some time ago (Early/Mid 80s.).

[Citizen Tom Paine]

The problem is that any mistakes made now will be corrected with blood.

IMHO there are several countries which presently are evaluating the military strength of this country. When it gets below a certain level, watch out. You can do anything with a bayonet, but sit on it.

[reluctantwarrior]

Crusader was very old technology, the ARMSCOR G8 and Rhino are much better systems. I personnaly dont like the FCS but the author of the article is fear mongering and needs to shut up or tell the whole story.

[Bad Dog2]

Spot on!

[Wisard]

We got plenty NEW TROOPS coming in from South of the Border. They get to be Citizens and can't speak the language. Now the Sargent's and Officers need to speak Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, German, and even french(English optional) in Combat. Think about the confusion coming in the Next War. Not only are we making the Military Citizens, we are training Illegals in Military tactics. I am scared were America's Military is headed.

[hchutch]

He used to post here as rightwing2 before he left ffor some reason...

I admit, I do have objections to the Stryker platform - primarily on the basis that it would have been cheaper and quicker to just buy more LAV-25s and to re-start the XM8 Buford AGS than it would be to develop a "common chassis" system.

I also think we ought to hedge our bets and stick with some heavy armor. At the same time, Rumsfeld's a very sharp person, and I think he'd got some good ideas. I just tend to believe in hedging the bets to a large extent.