When is the last time we ever used artillary and tanks? We keep building them and then send them off to remote, dry, desert storage locations.
Tanks were used extensively in the W invasion of Iraq. Arty - not so much.
We used tanks so extensively in Iraq that many are worn out and sitting in depot awaiting refurbishment. Field Artillery was present and used extensively in Afghanistan. As one battery commander told me, they moved the dirt out from under the Taliban.
We keep building them and then send them off to remote, dry, desert storage locations.
Where would you get an idea like that?
Artillery is still in use by US forces in Afghanistan: https://www.army.mil/article/212751/dropping_steel_rain_artillerymen_deter_enemy_rockets_in_afghanistan
February 2018. The Russians/Syrians used them. We didn’t. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/world/middleeast/american-commandos-russian-mercenaries-syria.html
We slaughtered a bunch of Russians in Syria with arty in the last year or so.
L
I attended a tank familiarization course for National Guard troops about two months ago, which included live main gun fire and driving. As a former enlisted Armor MOS graduate, class of 1966, I was offered [but declined] to man the gunner's seat for an entire Table 8 gunnery qualification, but was honored.
We've got some really good young tankers and some pretty decent equipment; there are shortcomings. And having prepositioned vehicles makes more sense than losing them in air delivery, and lets their fighter escort augment that of the crew transport. Lose a tank [or arty] crewman with 5 years experience, and it takes 5 years to replace him. I hate thinking about losing a battalion's worth in one plane.