[MaineRepublic]

Parts of the Army have really gone soft.

I blame it on the co-ed integration of Basic Training in the 90's. I don't know who came up with that ridiculous idea.

[cripplecreek]

Part of the problem is that our troops are facing weapons the Iraqis weren't supposed to have as a result of sales from our "allies".

[hushpad]

Rumsfeld had urged the troops - mostly National Guard and Reserve soldiers -


I bet it's mostly Reservists. The Milquetoast, spoiled brats who joined for their two weeks a year and a free education from Uncle Sam. The dredges who complain are not warriors or patriotic or against the war - they are simply SELFISH!

Same goes for National Guardsmen who joined to ride around in a boat patrolling our shores in the sunshine and enjoying a civilian lifestyle, so long as they don't have to go out of their way for the glory they only think they deserve.

Those complaining should be removed and placed in lockup - they are NOT Soldiers.

[kellynla]

Marine Corps solution?
Improvise, adapt, overcome!

Semper Fi,
Kelly

[CheneyChick]

I guess their 1SG forgot to give them the "don't-bitch-and-don't-say-anything-stupid" briefing.

[FairfaxVA]

Didn't sKerry vote against funding which would have provided the troops with additional supplies?

[Tallguy]

I'm reminded of the legendary "field-fixes" instituted by our troops in previous wars. The "hedgerow choppers" that were fabricated & welded to our tanks in Normandy. These allowed our weakly armored M4 Sherman tanks to plow through a hedgerow or berm and bypass the PAK screens waiting to chop them up along the roads.

There was also the 75mm anti-tank gun that was mounted in the nose of the B-25 Mitchell by the aircrews in New Guinea. This made the B-25 into a devastating killer of Japanese shipping. Imagine the results of a 75MM AP round slicing through to the boiler of a thin skinned transport. Catastrophic. The engineers at North American aircraft were asked to build this into subsequent models, but allegedly refused until they saw with their own eyes that it actually worked.

I only bring these up because they are famous examples of troops adapting & overcoming in the field. Those WW2 aircrews bitched. And you can believe that the WW2 Tankers were demoralized at their losses. But they overcame.

It's very difficult for any large complex supply chain to adapt to changing circumstances on the battlefield. There are always units at the point of the spear that, for whatever reason, don't get the goods, even if they are in the pipeline.

[fso301]

The need for armor is largely psychological. 1/4 inch plate welded to the side of a truck may provide a measure of protection against 7.62 x 39 but won't do anything if an IED made from a 155mm shell goes off near the truck. In the case of RPG attacks, the armour skirt may do more harm than good by increasing the target area of the truck.

Furthermore, adding armour reduces the payload rating of the vehicle making additional vehicles necessary to haul the same amount of material. The additional vehicles or additional trips just increase the odds of being hit.

[MJM59]

The problem is that this administration is fighting this war on the cheap. Not enought equipment and not enough boots on the ground in order to get the job done. What this administration knows about warfighting is causing Patton to spin in his grave. but now that he has been reelected, Bush cold care less. The military has become a photo op for him and his staff.

[verity]

"Disgrunted U.S. soldiers..."

Former infantrymen?

[Sprite518]

had to be the Army. You never catch a Marine unit doing this. Even if they are Reservist. No way the Marines do more with less all the time. The tax payer gets their bang for their buck with the Marines since they are only 6% of the Navy's Budget.

[cyncooper]

This article, like the CNN article about this subject, really really edits out a lot of what Rumsfeld said. Both articles are designed to make him sound dismissive.

I have seen clips on Fox and CNN and he expounds much more than is indicated here.

[12 Gauge Mossberg]

This is an AP hit-piece people! Nothing to see here, move along...the AP is trying to stir up the usual crock.

[RobRoy]

When WWII began, there were no B17 G's...

[afz400]

Rumsfeld - "You go to war with the Army you have,"
What an idiotic thing to say. He's lost it IMHO and should be removed by Bush immediately. Only Bush Administration true believers can defend a stupid statement like that. These guys are dying and Rumsfeld can't control his baby boy temper!

[SentSix]

When it comes to supporting our troops vs supporting the administration we see where true loyalities lay.

[KiloLima]

IMO, Rumsfeld is not holy and I get a kick out of SPC Wilson's feistiness.

I've been watching this deployment throughout and I have come to the conclusion that it is not winnable in the current PC environment. The military brass and the Administration are taking the PC route. They both have a serious disconnect with the boots on the ground. Even after Sites sold his video to the networks, the Marine brass defended their policy of embeds. The Admin waited way too long to go into Fallujah.

I'm sick and tired of Rumsfeld's crustiness and grouchiness, as a response to every valid concern raised. He was the one who denied the commanders the manpower they requested at the start of OIF. He lacks communication skills and teamwork ability, among other things.

The Administration PC policy of leaving us unsafe at home makes a foreign deployment for our U.S. soldiers a farce. This is my first time publicly saying, Bring the troops home and have them defend our borders.

OEF is justified by 9/11. Other than that, GWB pledged in his initial inauguration address that he would REDUCE our foreign entanglements/interventions.

Rumsfeld will be announcing his retirement within the coming month.

[Constantine XIII]

*shrug* Soldiers have griped since the beginning of soldiering.

"D@mn it, why does the centurion make us put up these ****ing pallisades EVERY time we stop?"

Plus, you KNOW anything positive that was done will be completely ignored by the press.

[R. Scott]

"Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to uparmor our vehicles?" Wilson asked.

This has been getting a lot of news coverage. Personally I don’t really understand it.
Yes, I understand that the troops don’t want to be killed or wounded, but armor adds weight. If a soldier is part of the supply train the primary job is to haul cargo – and the extra armor cuts into that capability.
When I was in Viet Nam our job during the ’68 Tet festivities was to haul supplies up the Perfume and Cua Viet Rivers to the Marines. We could – in an emergency – carry 200 tons. Any armor would cut into that capability. We often wished for extra protection as our casualties were running about 40% per mission. I can not remember ever seeing any cargo hauler that carried armor. Gun trucks had armor, but not the trucks that carried cargo. Gunboats had armor, but not those that carried cargo.

[Polyxene]

Bunch of whiners! What ever happened to sucking it up and moving on????