[leadpenny]

Moore shows his disdain when the politicians crossed the line by taking a third of his men .....

I think what that scene reflected was the re-organization that had taken place in becoming the 1st Air Cav Division. To go from an Infantry Division to Air Cav meant a sharp reduction in the number of ground fighters (blues). His main complaint was that there had not been enough time to train under the newly developed doctrine of Air Cav, Air Mobile, Air Assault, etc., before deployment.

[HockeyPop]

Before leaving for Vietnam, Mr. Gibson's character remarks that LBJ didn't declare a state of emergency, which means a third of his men wouldn't have their enlistments extended. A third of his men would have to be replaced by unseasoned GIs on the eve of battle

Vietnam was marked by the constant reshuffling of men in and out of fighting units resulting in, among other things, the loss of cohesion. This is what happened when politicians micro managed the war