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

To: Valin; 91B; marron; mark502inf; Prodigal Son; BabaOreally; boris; inPhase; liberallarry; winker; ...
Where Are The Divisions?
29 posted on 10/01/2003 3:54:52 PM PDT by Cannoneer No. 4 (It is cruel to tell motorized infantrymen “Damn, that Stryker looks like a BTR-90!”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies ]


To: Cannoneer No. 4
Strategy page took over some of what the Federation of American Scientists used to do. There are a few mistakes on this site-for instance the 30th and 39th Brigades are deploying to Iraq in 2004, not 2005. http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=5079
30 posted on 10/01/2003 4:43:22 PM PDT by 91B (Golly it's hot.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies ]

To: Cannoneer No. 4
Thanks for that link.
31 posted on 10/01/2003 4:56:10 PM PDT by Prodigal Son
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies ]

To: Cannoneer No. 4
The cutting edge of the Army is the 33 brigade or regimental size infantry, armor, and cavalry units in the active component (full-timers versus the Nat Guard & Army Reserve). 16 of those are deployed in combat zones--Iraq or Afghanistan or the Horn of Africa. 2 are in Korea. 4 have just returned from combat in the last month or so. 9 are scheduled to deploy to a combat zone sometime in the next 1-12 months. One does not appear to be apportioned and the other will be going through Stryker transition. That's all 33.

The National Guard is handling the Balkans and the Sinai and will continue to do so plus mobilize and send some more of their enhanced (most ready) brigades to Iraq. The major portions of 2 of them have already gone.

Some keep saying to send the units in Germany. Well, they've either already gone or are on their way. The 2d Infantry Division brigades in Korea are considered operationally deployed; i.e. they are located in their wartime theater and will not be deployed away from there.

Bottom line--the Army is too small. And too many people say we don't have enough money or people to make the Army as big as it needs to be. Well, the Department of the Army has the smallest budget in the DOD. While congress & big corporations love the Air Force and Navy because that is where the pork is, if both those services took a 5% cut in $ & people, the Army could afford 2 more active duty divisions and the net cost to DOD would be zero. Even with those cuts, our Air Force and Navy would both still be by far the biggest in the world. And the U.S. Army would still be 3d or 4th in the world, but much better able to handle its missions.

To win decisively, you must win on the ground, but that is where we are the least strong and there is very clearly an excess of capacity in our Navy and our Air Force. Time to shift the resources to match our strategic needs instead of congress's re-election needs.

33 posted on 10/01/2003 5:23:21 PM PDT by mark502inf
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies ]

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