Posted on 05/27/2004 8:08:22 AM PDT by gcul
By David H. Hackworth
Top military managers insist that our all-volunteer Army isn’t stretched too thin from this country’s heavy and hazardous commitment to hot spots like Iraq and Afghanistan and cooler places in another 131 countries around Planet Earth. They spout positive numbers like carnival hucksters, hyping enlistment and re-enlistment rates they keep insisting are at an all-time high.
“Loyalty, patriotism and seeing the results of successfully accomplishing their missions are the key factors in this success,” said Col. Elton Manske, an Army personnel chief in the Pentagon.
Except that’s exactly 180 degrees out from what hundreds of soldiers have told me during the past few weeks.
It also doesn't square with the fact that the Army is currently extending 44,000 soldiers under stop-loss provisions – which, like a form of the draft, arbitrarily keep a soldier in service beyond the agreed-upon term of enlistment.
"Stop loss is not only a breach of contract, it’s a form of slavery,” railed a Special Forces (SF) senior noncommissioned officer. “There's a tidal wave of folks getting out. ... The number of senior SF NCOs leaving is amazing. Our battalion had three of five sergeant-majors retire, and our sister battalion had two of five. The number of master sergeants was well into double digits. I predict that the exodus will devastate the senior NCO corps at a time when experience and stability are most needed.”
Despite all the accentuate-the-positive spin coming out of the Pentagon, the anecdotal reports I’ve received – especially from Reserve and National Guard folks – agree with the SF sergeant and point to a mass exodus that will reach the hemorrhage point by mid-2005.
“Speaking off the record,” writes a military wife, “my husband was supposed to come home from Iraq this week but has just been extended another 120 days. His old unit, 3rd Infantry Division, is already seeing an exodus of junior officers. Since their return from Iraq, 35 captains have left the Army for greener pastures. Several more – read: another 15-20 – are due to leave, but who knows whether or not they’ll manage to do so before more stop losses and stop moves come down prior to their return to the desert. ... Between separation from family, no guarantee of tour lengths, no clear mission and consistent pay problems, folks are pretty fed up. If they can get out, which is no small feat, they seem to be doing so while the getting is good.”
“Don't use my name,” writes a senior sergeant. “I believe we are going to have a massive attrition problem in the Reserve. I have 24 years in the Army Reserve, and this is my second time in the Gulf. They’re talking about reservists having to deploy once every five years. I doubt our civilian employers and families are going to buy into that. I've got to get out when I redeploy if I want to stay married.”
“We're stretched too thin,” reports a sergeant. “Our CO (commanding officer) admitted this to us during our tour in Afghanistan. He also admitted that morale is down due to the extending of tours. Yet the Pentagon insists there’s no problem with morale. We lost over 75 percent of our unit when we got back. I know other units are having the same problems. If this trend continues, we won’t have enough people to defend this country when the need arises.”
An Apache pilot in Korea says, “It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Army is going to be losing a lot of people as soon as they get the chance to vote with their feet.”
I’m sure the brass have all the paperwork to back up their propaganda campaign. But as far as the old saw that “figures don't lie” goes, I’ve been around long enough to know that liars figure and soldiers know the truth. So I’ll go with the soldiers.
Unless so-called Army short tours in the badlands of Iraq and Afghanistan become manageable based on the number of troops available – right now the Army is trying to do the work of 14 divisions with 10 under-strength, active-duty divisions – we’ll see a mass exodus from the Green Machine and the inevitable return of the draft.
Eilhys England also contributed to this column.
Conyers, Rangle, Hack.
Of course people are going to get out when their time is up, one way or the other. What do you think is going to happen, Hackworth? And their slots will open and eager new recruits will be trained to replace them, as always happens. I've been hearing this sort of gloom and doom for the last 30 years, and somehow the US military stays in operation. Surprise, surprise, surprise.
yes...
two words...
Pat Tillman.
Here are quotes from Hackworth’s January 21, 1991 Newsweek cover story article:
“Casualties won’t be 200 Americans dead a week, as in Vietnam. They will be more than 200 dead an hour in the first round.”
“The aircraft arranged in the Gulf are the wrong mix of aircraft”
“The Iraqis should give a good account of themselves in air attacks.”
“The Abrams M-1A1 tank is a fuel guzzler and a real liability in a roadless terrain”
“For the most part, from rifleman to battalion commander, these dedicated (American) soldiers and Marines have never seen war. And in my judgment they haven’t yet been made hard enough physically and mentally to survive the horror of potential combat with Iraq’s veteran Army.”
When it comes to military predictions, you will do better asking my 13 year old daughter than asking Hackworth. At least my 13 year old daughter will admit to you her predictions are worthless.
That's really convincing!!! Hundreds of soldiers out of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the armed forces say that morale is down, so it must be true.
/sarcasm
RE: Hackworth et al.
In my opinion, it is a bad practice for military men to take as their role models characters from Dr. Strangelove.
Hack is nothing but a lying ahole. A useful fool for the democrap agenda. He's also done major harm to our troops and war effort in iraq with the release of the prison photos to 60 minutes 2 and Seemore Hirsch.
The inability of anecdotal evidence to validate the sort of conclusion the author draws here is why the makers of effective policy don't rely on anecdotal evidence.
Hackworth retired because he was unable to adapt to a post-Vietnam military that was lighter, faster, and more lethal.
Pure agenda driven BS. A division loses 35 captains - whats new? Army Captains are like kittens. You get a litter of 8, you keep one and give the rest away. The Army uses oodles of Captains but not that many Majors. Most Army officers end their careers at CPT by choice or by the elimination. As for Senior NCOs retiring, that's what old guys do. Apologies to the Sergeant Majors here but they are no spring chickens. They have put in their years and are retiring (to play golf, make some money, get the reward they deserve for decades of service and sacrifice) not quitting.
1. SF Soldiers are triple and even quadruple volunteers (army, airborne, SF and ranger). Draftees sure the heck are not going to be drafted and then volunteer 3-4 times for tough schools.
"Stop loss is not only a breach of contract, it’s a form of slavery,” railed a Special Forces (SF) senior noncommissioned officer
This is absolutely correct.
Between separation from family, no guarantee of tour lengths, no clear mission and consistent pay problems, folks are pretty fed up.
About sums it up - and all these problems are fixable...
Hack is a hack.
100s if not thousands leave or retire from the forces every damn day.
ITS NOT A LIFE COMMITTMENT HACK! WHY DID YOU GET OUT?! OH, that's right, you RETIRED!
Because the only reason they are TALKING draft is to start more hand-wringing among the sheople -- "Oh my, the war is going so badly that now they're talking about a draft!!" The talk of the draft is only there to discourage us and the military fighting men and women, and push us towrd failure. (IMHO! LOL!)
You know, Hackworth may be a brave man but where does he get off speaking as an "expert" on all things military??? I love my fellow vets that did one thing very well in the military and are all the sudden "experts" in anything else remotely connected with the military!!! When Enduring Freedom commenced, I remember one of the stations (CNN?) had a "retired Air Force Colonel" discuss the air war in Afghanistan. Well it turns out the Colonel retired after having flown B-24s in WWII!!!! A brave airman, he knew nothing about modern military air tactics. That didn't stop him from "telling it like it is!"
He's got ZERO cred.
If we need a draft, bring it on. National survival may survive it. If it doesn't, anyone left will be Muslim.
I wonder who cut the Army from 14 divisons to 10? You know we keep hearing this streched thin stuff if that is the case why are we in Hati, Kosovo, Germany, Italy, South Korea and Japan? THere are 2 million people in the military and yet the Navy is having a RIF(reduction in forces). Some of Hack's comments are misleading.
Yeah, Hackworth's a hippie-thinking dude. He doesn't make sense, sometimes. But notice where the senior NCO said, "I doubt our civilian employers and families are going to buy into that. I've got to get out when I redeploy if I want to stay married.”
No one wants to talk about that in our military, either. Are we going to get away from no-fault divorce and stop destroying families with whatever feels good? Or will we keep heading for trouble to suit our big government and the divorce industry?
US wives should do their part, too, you know. They shouldn't be exempt from any defense responsibilities. They could keep it in their pants while their men are living miserably and risking their lives for us all.
Prosecutions for adultery shouldn't be limited to our military (UCMJ).
The Roman Legion model won't take us much farther. And the draft--at least for three months OSUT--for our millions of fatherless boys would do them a lot of good, IMO.
It could be advertised and implemented, at first, for three month OSUT (or split ops for those in high school) only.
Increase their pay and benefits and you would see an influx of volunteers. Of course an increase in defense spending would fly in the face of the Dems and it wouldn't give them a straw horse to ride.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.