Posted on 02/07/2018 6:34:25 AM PST by reaganaut1
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Defense is planning a military parade at the request of President Donald Trump, White House and Pentagon officials said Tuesday.
After observing the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris last year, Mr. Trump said he wanted to hold a similar parade on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, perhaps to celebrate the Fourth of July.
The French parade last July, which also marked the centennial of the U.S. entry into World War I, featured more than 6,000 service members, tanks and planes overhead in an elaborate display of military might. French President Emmanuel Macron invited Mr. Trump to watch the parade beside him.
“It was one of the greatest parades I’ve ever seen,” Mr. Trump said in September at the Lotte New York Palace hotel. “And to a large extent, because of what I witnessed, we may do something like that on July Fourth in Washington, down Pennsylvania Avenue. I don’t know. We’re going to have to try and top it.”
The Washington Post first reported the Mr. Trump had asked the Pentagon to arrange an event in the Bastille Day style. Pentagon officials said late Tuesday that plans were in their infancy.
On Wednesday, the chairman of the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joe Dunford, acknowledged the parade plans while traveling in Asia. “I’m aware of the president’s request and we are in the initial planning stages to meet the president’s direction,” he said during a stop in Bangkok.
The White House said the decision demonstrated Mr. Trump’s support for the military.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
So every so called reason for not having a military parade is because it might cause a little extra effort or an ounce of sweat?
Obviously you belong to the pantywaist division instead of putting yourself out a little for the good of all. Toy soldiers are useless. You are showing your cowardice and fear of the Dems, Antifa, and every other America hating organization with Soros at the head. I have news for you, expressed extremely well by General George S. Patton:
” A pint of sweat saves a gallon of blood.”
I usually came home with skint knees or the sash of my pretty dress in tatters. So what! I feel sorry for kids who can’t play dodge-ball because “somebody might get hurt.” Those afraid of taking a risk used to be limited to Europeans. Too many Americans have joined their thinking to our detriment.
That's fine if you're talking about training. The amount of time and money necessary for producing this show is being taken from the very training time and funds that will save that gallon of blood.
Most of those responding in the negative to this are long-term soldiers. How much time did you spend training in the heat, in the rain, in the snow, to spend your pint of sweat to save a gallon of blood? This isn't a matter of using the local troops in Washington to put on this show; if it were just that, then I don't believe that there would be many objections to it. But you are acting as if none of us opposed to this have had any skin in the game. We've done our time in the Service and have as much, or more, of a right to voice our opinions as to the worthlessness of the mere production of a spectacle at the risk of money and time that could be better utilized for training or recovery time, allowing soldiers who have been deployed and redeployed over and over again to be able to have some down time to spend with their families.
Yeah, because we need to emulate the USSR, Nazi Germany, NoKo, and every banana republic. Even if we just do it like the France we’re emulating France!
There is little enough money for training and equipment as it is. Dog and pony shows just suck that much more out of the budget, not to even consider the time away from important things like training exercises.
I was in during the 80’s. The whole decade, and most of the next. We were the strongest, best trained and most lethal peacetime military ever fielded. We did not accomplish that by marching in parades like a bunch of goose-steppers.
Since George Patton was the acknowledged expert on amphibious landings at the time, you should pay more attention to his advice.
“Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men.”
You’re ignoring the efforts of our government during WWII to BUY WAR BONDS. ADVERTISING our military and the heroics of our servicemen was applauded and supported by the populace. We WON! We have been taking it on the chin ever since Jane Fonda and her commie cohorts sold out America during the Vietnam War and the same tactics continue to this day. I am proud we finally have a president who believes in Winning again.
As am I. However, during WWII or Korea or Vietnam, soldiers weren't pulled out of training or preparing for deployment to do these things. They used local troops, if troops were used at all for these sorts of things.
Soldiers (and I assume Marines, sailors, and airmen) rightly resent being taken out of training, having time taken away from them that could be used for more productive preparation for their primary missions. And I've found that true whatever their MOS or job description, whether they're on the sharp edge of the sword or a REMF.
With the borderline criminal lack of funding for military training and equipment, it is ludicrous to spend what will end up to be hundreds of thousands of man-hours and dollars for something that does not facilitate meeting the necessary training required for the military to perform its mission. If ordered to do so, the military will salute and move out smartly to complete their orders for a parade. But they will do it with a shrug and a roll of the eyes for their peers, knowing that their time and money could be better spent.
You obviously don't know from Shinola about the REAL military. You sweat when you train. (Which is the intent of the quote. "The more you sweat in Peace, the less you bleed in War!") Falling out in "Dress Blues, tennis shoes and a light coat of oil..." does not accomplish the Mission. Sweating in your dress uniform is not the sweat you spend humping the boonies. Slapping a coat of paint on a vehicle, to make it pretty for a one-off parade is NOT training. The cost of the paint, which is ALWAYS the wrong color for the next deployment, is better spent on ammo, shells sent down range, live fire exercises, POL expended, batteries for commex practice.
The people who are being put on display don't even get to enjoy the spectacle! All you see, when you are in a parade, is the back of a man's head. They are neat to watch, and a total waste of time. Those DPRK shows do not impress anyone except the Fat Goof, and, obviously, you.
If The Man says says "Make a Parade...", My Beloved Corps will make a Parade in a squared away, military manner. It's a demonstration of discipline, for people who don't always believe in the worth of soldiering. They will paint rocks, chip paint, police the area, PM the dog poo out of the motor pool. Do not think, however, that a parade is anything more than a show for the civilians.
Being against this great idea in the current political climate begs one to question patriotism.
Good story. I’m out of date — didn’t realize Hawk & Nike-Herc batteries had women crewmembers. Thought they were retired before the feminist onslaught, but what do I know.
Frankly, if you really are living overseas why should I give crap about your opinion on this?
What a crock. They are getting paid. They march. It's for a good cause and great President. Nobody has to like doing it.
Wow!!
You must have really loved it then when the last President ordered these troops .. who were getting paid and didn't have to like it .. to go through transgender appreciation training and all of those diversity-based lectures.
Hey, according to your definition, these mercenaries shouldn't be able to have any opinions: they're getting paid. They just need to do it.
Interesting attitude ...
How about putting some perspective on honoring your country and your President for a couple of hours? I’ll bet the current active duty aren’t such -ussies.
I am all for it. Although hauling all the military hardware would be kind of a pain.
I would sooner see the pomp and ceremony of a fine pass and review of the likes of the Old Guard and the Presidents Own, the Air Force, Calvary, Airborne, Natl Guard, Merchant Marine, Coast Guard, etc.
All those bands and all those troops in the finest would be a thing to be proud of. A unit from each of the militaries finest would make for a good long handsome parade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg7layOxQR0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LPkEaZ43ec
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-DJ2eIyi5g
“Yes, and it will drive the Left absolutely frickin bonkers. “
Isn’t there suppose to be a protest later by the left in DC?
I would make the parade just before or just after to explain why the military is in DC.
Then arrest anyone with their face covered during the protest.
Use the Military for security if we need to.
I hope it scares the left.
I do think we would need the Military in DC when they
arrest Zero and Cankles.
Just before the midterms.
Preparing for a parade does nothing to prepare a man for war. This isn’t the British Army of 1775.
It has nothing to do with being _ussies or wimps or pantywaists. It has to do with not being a hypocrite. Anything .. repeat, anything .. that takes time away from training or money away from equipment necessary for warfighting or training is wasted. And there isn't enough money or time to waste.
You talk about "a couple of hours". You were in the military. You know very well that getting something like this together is more than "a couple of hours". The higher echelon at the Pentagon will take a couple of months to get the mission order together. Then it will filter down through the chain of command, each level taking days or weeks to add their man-hours to fleshing out the order. Then it will get down to the units and they will spend weeks/months training. You know that as well as anyone. Wasted time and money.
Then, as we get closer to the day of the parade, money will be spent to move these troops, house them, feed them in locations that weren't designed to support them. They will be away from home and family .. again, for nothing that meets their mission requirements for training or combat missions .. and, again, you know as well as I, there will be wrenches thrown in the cogs of the parade machine. "Oh, the mess supplies and preparation areas didn't arrive on time" or "By golly, they all need new uniforms so that the colors within the formations all match" or "Son of a gun, I thought we had the billeting all worked out, but I guess these guys can lay on gym floors or surplus cots in a convention center, with no showering areas and minimal latrine facilities".
But, hey, they're getting paid, aren't they? So, for all of this money that could be used for training and equipment, and all of this time that soldiers who have just returned from deployment could be with their families or soldiers who could be using the time to prepare and training for deployment in support of the mission, will just have to grin and bear it.
What a hypocrite you are. Time away from training and money used not for the mission is as badly spent for an ill-conceived parade as it is for time spent in a diversity- or transgender appreciation lecture.
These soldiers honor their country every day that they put on the uniform. They are not required not expected to honor their President. Obey, yes ... honor, no. I didn't honor Carter or Slick Willie when they were President, so I'm not hypocritical enough to believe that they should honor President Trump, although most of them support him.
I am around active duty soldiers all day, every day. I work on post. I live and shop is the same area that they do. These are soldiers of III Corps and 1st Cav Division, of 3rd Cavalry and the Fort Hood Garrison. I don't believe any of them would give up family time or training time for ANY president.
Were you happy when we missed a shoot down of a missile from Hawaii and it was the lead on the Drudge Report? There are some things that we don't need to put out in public. We have had several ships collide with deaths, we have had several plane crashes lately, with bail outs and death. I'm just saying if we hype this thing up and things go south, it will not have the desired effect Trump is seeking. If it goes good, it will not have the effect Trump is seeking. I for one don't want America to look like France or N. Korea. Then the Repubs will seek more funding for the troops and the first thing thrown at them will be this stupid parade.
I bet if you ask the troops, they won't like it. About the time we have 100 tanks rolling down the street on TV, a town in Iraq will get over run and it won't matter if needing tanks would have made a difference, CNN will say it did.
I’m not living overseas. You’re quite presumptuous and obnoxious for a conservative who supposedly likes small government.
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