GATES: CHAMPION OF OUR TROOPS

NY Post ^ | April 7, 2009 | Ralph Peters

[Scanian]

GOD bless Bob Gates: Our secretary of defense can't be bought, can't be bullied and can't be fooled. And he values our men and women in uniform.

"This is a reform budget," the SecDef stated yesterday as he unveiled the Pentagon's new priorities. He insisted that we must "critically and ruthlessly separate appetites from real requirements."

Translation: We need to give our troops the numbers and gear they need, not the gilded garbage defense-industry cartels foist upon us -- on loan-shark terms.

Gates appears to have made the right call on every single issue. And, instead of beginning with a focus on big-ticket weapons, he started by highlighting the needs of those who serve.

This SecDef wants to stop cutting troops to "save" money, only to funnel the funding to well-connected contractors. The Army and Marines will get their promised end-strength increases, while the Navy and Air Force won't cut more sailors and airmen.

He stressed the criticality of medical research and long-term care for our wounded -- including those suffering psychological trauma.

In a break with the practice of handling soldiers as a nuisance in supplemental spending bills, Gates aims to fund our troops' needs up front. We've never had a more committed defender of our men and women in uniform.

Laying out his overall priorities, the SecDef put flesh-and-blood first, "rebalancing" weapons programs second and acquisition reform third. He wants to protect people; buy only affordable, necessary weapons that actually work -- and stop the legal corruption that rips off the taxpayers and arms our troops with junk.

Here's how each service would fare:

Army: The Army's home-front bureaucrats, sniffing for good retirement jobs, have tried to turn their service into a ground-bound version of the Air Force, elevating elegant technologies above combat realities. Ignoring soldier psychology

[Scanian]

I hope Gates is the man Peters says he is.

[exit82]

I hope Peters is correct. When I read him, I don;t get the feeling of dread I had yesterday after the cuts were announced.

What still troubles me is the F-22. I don;t know which is superior, the F-22 or the F-35. If the F-22 is as fragile and maintenance prone as Peters indicates, it is the right call to focus on the more servoceable F-35, which will have 535 produced over the next five years. IF the opposite is true, we will have the Air Force an NAvy full of a vulnerable fighter.

Freepers in the know, what say you?

[nuconvert]

I’m not a big fan of Gates. That being said.....
I think Gates is being used. They’ll cut all these big ticket items on his recommendations, dump Gates, and then scale back on manpower and revise other projects after he’s gone.

[drbuzzard]

The F-35 is not necessarily any better maintenance wise than the F-22. Both are stealth aircraft which by the nature of the materials involved in getting the desired radar characteristics are somewhat finicky. The current issues of F-22 upkeep are mostly what would be described as teething problems on a new technology. If you go back an look at just about every cutting edge fighter we’ve introduced, they have all had comparable teething problems which get worked out over time.

I have little doubt that the F-35 will have its own problems once it comes online.

However, given that we have significant budget pressures right now, it is probably the case that we can’t afford more F-22s, and the F-35 really is needed (owing to different mission capabilities, a cheaper airframe, and a lot of overseas orders).

Of course the concept of budget pressures on defense when still actively engaged in a war while the administration is prepared to drown us in a sea of red ink on domestic profligate spending is somewhat laughable, but Gates was given his marching orders and is probably doing the best he can.

[Condor51]

Of course, to realize his dream of a reformed acquisition process and a warrior-centered military, Gates needs the support of Congress. And Congress is a greater threat than China. The heroic work of the greatest public servant of our time is now at the mercy of our nation's most-pompous thieves.

Looks like Gates wants Jack Murtha in jail.

[Old Retired Army Guy]

Gates is the man Peters ays he is. The unfortunate part however is that the bureaucrats and contractors feeding at the trough will still be there long after Gates is gone (probably in 2 years). Watch for the Congress to start screaming about programs being cut in their States or Districts.

[neb52]

The F-22 and F-35 are not the same plane, nor would they be used for the same roles. It is like comparing the F-15 to the F-16. Different roles. Granted both have been used in ground support since anything that flies with a wing span can drop JDAMs. F-35 is a program invested in by multiple countries, which is why it is not being cut. The Brits would be hollowing and screaming to high heaven if we cut the F-35 and flushed the billions that they have poured in. Long term I think it would be better if kept the F-22s with drones to fill the role that the F-35 is designed for.

[exit82]

Thank you for your perspectives—very helpful information.

[bitterohiogunclinger]

“And Congress is a greater threat than China. The heroic work of the greatest public servant of our time is now at the mercy of our nation's most-pompous thieves.”
Between the thieves in Congress and NObama, they will cherry pick and cut and paste and undo most of what Gates wants to accomplish. One of the lessons that DemonRATs are incapable of learning is that micro managing the military is a recipe for disaster. I am also convinced that DemonRATs are purposefully working to destroy the nation.

[meowmeow]

I think Gates is being used. They’ll cut all these big ticket items on his recommendations, dump Gates, and then scale back on manpower and revise other projects after he’s gone.

Bingo.

[America always]

Gates is fighting the very thing Eisenhower feared as President - A vast military-industrial complex that has a life and an agenda of its own. Make no mistake, profit, not patriotism, is what motivates companies like Lockheed Martin. Congress lacks the moral courage required to stand up to it and face shortsighted voters at home.

The incredibly long acquisition process drives actual procurement and fielding of new systems so far to the right, that in our ever and more rapidly changing threat environment by the time a system enters service it is most likely designed for a threat that no longer exists. As a result we compensate by trying to build wildly technologically advanced systems in the hopes they'll be useful. Our adversaries, operating under fewer constraints, focus on relatively inexpensive, yet effective (especially in large numbers), anti-access technologies. For example in the maritime environment: Hypersonic anti-ship missiles, now anti-ship ballistic missiles, mines, diesel submarines, etc. All relatively inexpensive, effective, and costly to overcome.

It is a very challenging problem.

[Sandreckoner]

“The greatest Navy in the world was building ships that not only couldn’t do much damage to an enemy, but couldn’t even protect themselves.”

What a load of horsesh*t. Peters is taking individual and dated examples and applying them universally.

The F-22 is not particularly fragile. He does not mention the cutting of TSAT. He does not mention the fact that we are ending procurement of the C-17, despite our dire need for overhauled and expanded strategic lift. This is something that DIRECTLY impacts troops. It’s not a “platinum plated” anything, it’s not a cost overrun anything, it’s not a behind schedule anything. It’s a big ass plane loved by militaries the world over because it moves men and the things men need to do their jobs and survive. Littoral ships? Do we sincerely want skew toward the production of littoral ships in an age when our two most likely future adversaries are embarking on massive blue water navy expansions? What is the justification for paring our carrier fleet down to 10 within several decades, starting now?

Yeah, overhaul the procurement process, but cutting some of these programs at a time when the world is already looking at us and thinking we plummeting off the cliff into oblivion, and when future conventional adversaries are modernizing and expanding their militaries and weapon systems full throttle is idiotic.

[RexBeach]

So now we’re going to make a move from 11 carrier groups to 9?

Doesn’t that mean longer deployments(deployments as they are now are exceedingly long); more wear and tear, therefore, on men and equipment; and fewer carrier groups deployed at any given time?

Comments, Freepers?

[Sandreckoner]

“All relatively inexpensive, effective, and costly to overcome.”

Yes, they’re focusing on those now, as they also focus on expanding into the realm of large sub and major surface combatant fleets. They’re not sitting still with access-denial technologies.

[America always]

I think you are spot on with LCS - it is a target, nothing more than a new Perry class FF’G’, A ship in search of a mission. The Navy would have been served had the money wasted on that program been spent on improving air and missile defense systems for exisiting ships as well as development of a new anti-ship missile to replace HARPOON.

[LibLieSlayer]

He is not the man this article portrays him as. He is a weak sister... led by leftist leanings and he is not the man needed for the job... but he will happily follow orders to decimate our Military... have you seen the draconian cuts hussein has ordered? No Osprey... no F-22’s... cut back on F-35’s... no missile defense... no space based anti-missile defense... cancel all Star Wars... I can go on. Also the loss of jobs related to these cuts will cause more damage to America’s economy. Rome burns... but AMERICAN IDOL COMES ON IN 10 MINUTES!

LLS

[LibLieSlayer]

Thank you for getting it and stating is so eloquently.

LLS

[PurpleMan]

I doubt that Gates is “being used.” This guy RAN the CIA.

Actually, he is using the adminstrattion and the congress to get what is necessary and if they don’t support him, watch — he will resign his position.

[ohioman]

“Gates is fighting the very thing Eisenhower feared as President - A vast military-industrial complex that has a life and an agenda of its own. Make no mistake, profit, not patriotism, is what motivates companies like Lockheed Martin. Congress lacks the moral courage required to stand up to it and face shortsighted voters at home.”

You sound like an F’in hippy. As most in the defense industry are retired military, this industry probably has the most patriotic workforce of any industry. They do work for a profit as we are not communist yet. However, the Defense Industry performs many valuable services to help our soldiers protect our country. Your post is an absolute disappointment to see on FR.

[NCCarrs]

The CIA has been a complete failure and continues to be, along with the FBI and other newly minted Homeland Security “Offices.”

These organizations are what need cutting and / or elimination, as they are nothing more than political turds.

Missed fall of Berlin Wall
Missed Iraq invasion of Kuwait
Missed North Korea altogether
Can’t confirm WMD spread
Missed all terrorist attacks before, including and after 9/11
Missed evidence for Iraq War

So far, the contractors in Iraq have delivered far more than any of above, and if properly accounted, I’d suspect for much less than above. If I failed as much as CIA, I would have been FIRED long ago.

Valerie Plame, Super-secret Shopper for the CIA. We need to nuke Langley and fold the true field ops under the armed services, and use the money saved to fund needed hardware.