Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

America's Four-Star Problem
The American Conservative ^ | October 29, 2022 | Douglas Macgregor, Joshua Whitehouse

Posted on 09/30/2022 7:25:42 PM PDT by AndyJackson

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-53 last
To: FLT-bird
The military’s job is to kill people and break things.

That’s an old saying, but true. What’s not part of that is a lot of stuff the military has been doing for years, like being a social experiment, nation building, peace keeping for others, humanitarian aid, and world cop.

Our nation and it’s people would benefit from some major league focus. Doing singular things with excellence. That is good for people at work. It’s good for schools. It’s good for government. Like, why in the hell does the federal government have over a dozen intelligence agencies? I know the reason, it’s to spy on and control American citizens and has zero to do with our nation’s defense.

Quite honestly, no one in Washington really cares about our nation’s defense and safety. We are protecting Ukraines border but doing nothing to protect our own while there is an invasion that kills 100,000+ Americans each year.

41 posted on 10/01/2022 6:16:17 AM PDT by ConservativeInPA ( Scratch a leftist and you'll find a fascist in )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: Sequoyah101

It would seem to me that the war in Ukraine demands a completely new appraisal of modern warfare. Tanks seem an easy target. Low cost drones can be used effectively against infantry, artillery and tracked vehicles. Counter-artillery fire leaves first-fire artillery at risk. Ships at sea are prey to missiles fired from distant shores. Jets are still being brought down by hand-fired missiles. It seems silly now, but the massive loss of life points to a new warfare, that will have to be undertaken by robots in the same way that airwar is being fought by drones.


42 posted on 10/01/2022 6:37:55 AM PDT by Bookshelf
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: FLT-bird
” The military’s job is to kill people and break things.”

Real wars tend to clarify this. We had real enemies in the Vietnam War that never suffered death and whose things remained unbroken. This was a betrayal of our troops who died in the conflict.

43 posted on 10/01/2022 11:07:30 AM PDT by William Tell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: cuz1961

in some ways yes, I would start with his

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=victor+davis+hanson+generals


44 posted on 10/01/2022 1:02:52 PM PDT by Chickensoup ( Leftists totalitarian fascists are eradicating conservatives. Leftists are genocidal. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: AndyJackson
Seems like a RIF is overdue.

A RIF for a REMF.

I like the alliteration.

5.56mm

45 posted on 10/01/2022 1:12:28 PM PDT by M Kehoe (Quid Pro Joe and the Ho got to go.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kiryandil; All

How many of the JCS resigned after the Afghanistan withdrawal fiasco?

If the means & methods of the withdrawal were WH orders. They should have threatened mass resignation? Never heard a peep about about any push back saying “ That’s a terrible plan WH! You do this we resign in protest!!”.

I don’t remember anything to that effect!

That should tell you everything about our current top brass!


46 posted on 10/01/2022 1:29:52 PM PDT by Reily
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: M Kehoe

We are all REMFs


47 posted on 10/01/2022 1:56:21 PM PDT by AndyJackson
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: markomalley; DYngbld; TADSLOS; xsrdx; big'ol_freeper; Mark17; mikefive; JDoutrider; ...

Ping.


48 posted on 10/01/2022 2:19:11 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: AndyJackson

If the riot was truly put down, there would have been antifa and blm bodies stacked shoulder high along the streets.

Instead the antifa/blm terrorists were allowed to melt back into the shadows unscathed.


49 posted on 10/01/2022 2:54:49 PM PDT by 2CAVTrooper (One Nation, Under Fraud Completely Visible, With Spying and Lying To All.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: the OlLine Rebel

“Pentagon (not meant to be so) implies lots of “brass”. Have to have plenty to justify a building that big.”

At the beginning of WW2, the War Department was spread out in numerous buildings across Washington, D.C., as well as Maryland and Virginia.

Back when it was built, they needed the size for all of the clerk-typists that made up the secretarial pool who typed all the memos, orders, field manuals, etc, etc.

With the advent of computers, the secretarial pool was cut in half. Unfortunately the void was filled with additional brass that popped up like mushrooms in a dung pile.


50 posted on 10/01/2022 4:02:03 PM PDT by 2CAVTrooper (One Nation, Under Fraud Completely Visible, With Spying and Lying To All.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: AndyJackson

True.

Until one day you ain’t.

Pray that day doesn’t come.

5.56mm


51 posted on 10/02/2022 10:28:03 AM PDT by M Kehoe (Quid Pro Joe and the Ho got to go.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: Bookshelf

“Counter-artillery fire leaves first-fire artillery at risk.”

Yes and no.

If it’s towed artillery such as the Msta-B, D-30, M198, or M777 you’re pretty much screwed because of the slower displacement times involved.

If you’re on something like the Pzh2000, Paladin, HIMARS or MLRS you can fire multiple rounds and be on the move before the first round even hits the target.

Russian counter-battery fire isn’t as fast as ours, even our ancient AN/TPQ-37 could plot locations before enemy rounds reached their apogee, and the info sent to our firing batteries before impact.


52 posted on 10/03/2022 5:09:31 AM PDT by 2CAVTrooper (One Nation, Under Fraud Completely Visible, With Spying and Lying To All.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: 2CAVTrooper

I was thinking of artillery used in combination with drones used as spotters. Which brings me to another thought. Much work will have to be done in the next decade to combat the influence of drones, while drones themselves become smaller and deadlier. Next, in thirty years the infantryman will be obsolete, his task taken over by robots. Finally, as we can see by Black Sea incidents some thinking will have to take place regarding ships at sea. Now, they seem to be nothing more than moving foxholes, dreadnaughts if you will, that attract attention.


53 posted on 10/03/2022 5:28:23 AM PDT by Bookshelf
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-53 last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson