Posted on 08/18/2015 10:25:56 AM PDT by NRx
...Sadly, the Army that stayed cohesive in Iraq and Afghanistan even after losing 5,000 dead is now being broken again by an ungrateful, ahistorical and strategically tone-deaf leadership in Washington.
The Obama administration just announced a 40,000 reduction in the Armys ranks. But the numbers dont begin to tell the tale. Soldiers stay in the Army because they love to go into the field and train; Defense Secretary Ashton Carter recently said that the Army will not have enough money for most soldiers to train above the squad level this year. Soldiers need to fight with new weapons; in the past four years, the Army has canceled 20 major programs, postponed 125 and restructured 124. The Army will not replace its Reagan-era tanks, infantry carriers, artillery and aircraft for at least a generation. Soldiers stay in the ranks because they serve in a unit ready for combat; fewer than a third of the Armys combat brigades are combat ready. And this initial 40,000 soldier reduction is just a start. Most estimates from Congress anticipate that without lifting the budget sequestration that is driving this across-the-board decline, another 40,000 troops will be gone in about two years.
But its soldiers who tell the story. After 13 years of war, young leaders are voting with their feet again. As sergeants and young officers depart, the institution is breaking for a third time in my lifetime. The personal tragedies that attended the collapse of a soldiers spirit in past wars are with us again. Suicide, family abuse, alcohol and drug abuse are becoming increasingly more common.
(Excerpt) Read more at sandiegouniontribune.com ...
One of the benefits of 14 years of war is a U.S. military—from regular ranks to reserves—that is the most combat experienced in the world. That’s a quality that can’t be purchased.
But it has been purchased... with a great deal of blood.
It all makes me so sick. Everything is twisted these days, and upside-down. I don’t believe that these two weren’t given special dispensation (e.g. half the pull-ups or whatever).
[But it has been purchased... with a great deal of blood.]
So true. I should have said it can’t be purchased with dollars.
Yes here we go again. Enlisted at 17 out of High School in 1971. Served as an officer in the Reagan years (the best!). Now working for an engineering firm developing new capabilities for the USAF so I work with the active duty regularly. I see many of the situations brought up in this article.
Normally it is better for the military with a republican commander-in-chief. The Marine NROTC will give your son a spot. I had told my son years before he enlisted if he was going into the military I wanted him to have the best training and to be a Marine.
As a grunt he had good training before going to Afghanistan, but now their training has been cut, and their supplies are being cut. Be prepared to buy his boots, etc. Let me know how he does. Join RecruitParents and MarineMomsOnline...tons of support and wonderful advice.
Thanks for the info!
I will check it out.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.