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the folks I talk to, the ones still active, with the 1st CAV and the 4th ID, a few at Campbell, the ones who finally got out and are attending the community college that I’m the VA manager of, all pretty much say that they’re tired of all the deployments- the so called “dwell time” is bullshit...after a month of recovery, they were right back in the field, ramping up for the next trip...speaking only for myself, and my experiences, adventure went out the window with first contact...I’m not trying to pick a fight, but I do grieve over this young man and his family...I’ll hold one up for him at the VFW Saturday...

“pretty much say that they’re tired of all the deployments- the so called “dwell time” is bullshit...after a month of recovery, they were right back in the field, ramping up for the next trip...speaking only for myself, and my experiences, adventure went out the window with first contact...”

Bottom line is we don’t have the troop levels for a sustained combat environment in two theaters. That is why troops are being put through the mill. The effort, mission, and purpose is entirely worth it in my opinion and I acknowledge that that is up for debate with others, but Afghanistan cannot be allowed to fall, i.e. NATO pulling out. Too much catastrophic risk with Pakistan. Soooo, where do we go from here? A larger standing army, shorter tours, longer periods of down time. When you look at the big picture, and whether people want to acknowledge this or not, but our nation has NOT been placed on a war time footing: We don’t have a draft, we have not taken out Tehran, and we don’t strike AQ in Pakistan, and we could be more functional in Iraq by letting Iraqis go out on patrols and get their asses blown up for their country and we provide air and spec op support. I’ll step down now.

Yeah, that’s what I’m hearing from my niece, an Army CWO presently on her second long tour in Iraq. At this point, she says she is going to get out, even though she will be just a few years away from retirement when she gets back next year. She has a number of reasons for wanting to leave (like wanting to start a family) but mainly, she is sick and tired of all the deployments, including (as you point out) the stateside continuous training cycles (which is essentially another deployment in-between the combat ones). Oh, and remember that your overseas tour control date becomes mature while you are with the stateside combat divisions and you can be sent to Korea or Germany or some other place far away from home when you finally do manage to safely end your PCS tour with them.

I agree with you about the adventure part too. After the first time it is kill or be killed, it’s just very damn serious business that you want to be over as soon as possible and for all the suffering experienced along the way to mean something important when it is finally over.

You’re right nicko. The grind gets to every soldier eventually and the adventure wears off. My deployment to Iraq (15 months) was particularly difficult for me (I have 2 toddlers at home). My wife barely made it. I’m a Major in the National Guard and your point about dwell time is an accurate one. People forget the massive train-up you go through before a deployment. You spend many months away from your family before you even officially depart for the sand box.

Here’s the big issue I have. I get sick and tired of hearing that we’re an all-volunteer force, and we signed up for this and have to deploy without complaining. Fine. My comlaint is that more people don’t volunteer. The percentage of citizens protecting this nation is tiny. The few who step up to the plate and serve end up getting pushed to the brink. I want more people to put their money where their mouth is.

I actually get tired of people coming up and thanking me. It’s a friendly gesture and all that, but I wonder “why don’t you serve too? Why don’t you sign up to defend this nation?” I’m tired of the lip service.