And anyway, what is the standard here? Are we saying our military isn't up to this job? Are we saying they will get defeated? Will they win? I think they will and when they do, please take a moment to thank them and admit that they were indeed up to the task.
Look, I like Hack and I like reading what he writes so as to have a balanced look at things, but just as I'm an optimist so is Hack a pessimist. Things will never be the way he figures the military ought to be or how it might've been a long time ago. Hack is stuck in perpetual "In my last unit" mode. If you served, you know what I mean. New guy shows up, fresh from a transfer from some other unit. I'm not talking about a raw recruit straight out of Benning, you know? I'm talking an E-4 to E-6 PCSing to Germany (or somewhere) from a Statesside post. You know before you talk to the guy that he is going to be telling you all about how "it was better at Carson" or Benning or Stewart or Bragg or Cambell.... Their last unit was always the sh!t, their last Platoon SGT was always the meanest, their last platoon was always the craziest. Never fails. This is a coping mechanism. Stressful coming to a new place, having to learn new rules, get to know new people. Having past stories is a way for the new guy to put himself in perspective. Some guys never adjust though. With them, it's always the "Old Army this and the Old Army that" "When I was in the Ranger Batt we did this and this and this..." This is Hackworth.
Here's my own "last unit" story. I had a First Seargent in my last unit. The only man I ever met in the Army that scared me. He was that perfect combination of smart, strong (physically) and psycopathic that makes a great soldier. Voice sounded like he gargled with gravel every morning and he could outrun/outPT anybody in the company. I saw him standing in the gas chamber with CS gas for hours without a gas mask and he looked like he was breathing a pleasant sea breeze. Any way, he lamented to us one day- "Men, I hate this battalion. We are so low speed it depresses me. I've been in some high speed f%^%ing units men and all we ever did was train. This unit is without a doubt the lowest speed unit in the Infantry and all we ever do is deploy". There's a lot to chew on in that statement.
I never was in the Army. I was in the Marine Corps. I didn't spend any time with soldiers.
However, I had a friend who had been an armor officer in Korea. He told me there was a big difference between young Marines and young soldiers. A Marine, he said, when you told him to do something, would say 'aye, aye Sir', and shove off. A soldier would immediately start asking questions. He told me once his battalion was having a briefing and one of his soldiers wandered over to ask the battalion commander when he could get a dental appointment. What kind of socialization would produce that? A young Marine would NEVER approach a lieutenant colonel for anything. He would know to go through his chain of command. That one incident says a lot to me about the two services. Marines are socialized differently than soldiers are. The Marine Corps has a lot of institutional values that they impart to new Marines. I don't think the Army does that. I don't think the Army even has values that are Army wide the way the Marine Corps does. "Every Marine a rifleman" would be an example of that.
Of course one part of that socialization is looking down on the Army and everything it does. :)
Walt
I don't think Hack is saying that. What he IS saying though is that when we do have another full scale war, many soldiers are going to die due to the lack of training standards and the lack of discipline. They are going to die because PC was more important to the brass than ensuring their soldiers train to fight.
You state that Hackworth gets paid to be a pessimist, that no one would buy his material if he was positive (paraphrased). You may be correct. I don't know the man. However, I did have a SGM who served under him in 'Nam that thought he was the greatest soldier since Audie Murphy. I have also read Col. Hackworth's autobiography. His attitude now appears to be no different than the attitude he displayed as an officer on active duty.
I would say that spending several years as an enlisted man fighting Yugoslavian commies in Greece gave him a different perspective than your normal officer. He was also one of the first to arrive in Korea after TF Smith got their asses kicked so bad (due to sending piss-pour trained troops from Japan). He seen firsthand what happens to poorly trained troops.
As a Lt. Col. (or Colonel, I can't remeber which)in 'Nam, he knowingly ruined his career by lambasting the brass and politicians over the politicalization of the war, over not being able to make on-the-spot battlefield decisions (as well as other issues I cannot remember)on live TV. Here was a man who by all accounts was guaranteed a generals rank if he would have kept his mouth shut. Yet he threw it all away because he was tired of seeing his soldiers killed due to the incompetencies and PC of Westmoreland and his gang, who were of course being directed by the administration.
As I stated, you could be correct on your assesment of Hack. Autobiographies are self-serving, and never tell the whole story. One thing is for sure though, Hack was high speed, low drag and teflon coated. I would not take his warnings lightly.
I got out in '96 and even then things had changed. The number of failures in RIP (Ranger Indoctrination Program)had started to increase dramatically. In conversations with black-hat friends in airborne school, they were having the same problems.
Even basic at Benning had changed. When I went through basic, we ran in combat boots. Not anymore. Now they run in tennis shoes. In '95 a drill sergeant at Benning was marching his troops from a range to the chowhall. He was running late, so he had his soldiers double-time so they could eat (distance of about a quarter mile). Well, a Battalion Commander saw this and relieved the drill sergeant on the spot. Outrageous.
The problem is, IMO, that you have brass that care more about their next promotion than they do their troops. They are not soldiers, they are managers. There's huge difference as you well know. You also have rules/regulations being written by DOD civilians and/or politicians who have never served in combat a day in their lives and truly don't give a f**k about soldiers but care only about either staying in office and/or being PC
That's my take on it anyway.
RLTW!
Semper Suo
Right, sure, keep on trying to convince yourself.