Posted on 07/19/2002 4:06:10 PM PDT by ATOMIC_PUNK
| Alabama Activates Tank Unit Columbus Ledger-Enquirer July 18, 2002 |
| A day after President Bush's release of a homeland defense strategy calling for the possible domestic use of U.S. military forces, Alabama activated a 300-soldier Army National Guard tank battalion as part of a homeland defense force. In a statement released Wednesday, Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman said the Ozark, Ala.-based 1st Battalion, 131st Armor "is equipped with modern battle tanks, the " and "will serve in the homeland defense role within the United States." |
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Siegelman, commander-in-chief of the state's national guard, did not say what role the tank battalion would serve in homeland defense. In addition to the tank battalion, 200 guardsmen from Special Forces units based in Auburn and Huntsville were activated and "will conduct post-mobilization training and then deploy to undisclosed locations in support of the war on terrorism," Siegelman said. Siegelman's office forwarded questions about Wednesday's activation to the Alabama National Guard. Asked if the armored battalion was deploying with its tanks and, if so, what role they would play in a domestic role, Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Robert Horton said: "That can't be discussed. It all will depend on the mission." Though he said he could not provide specifics, Horton said the activation was not linked to Bush's quest for use of U.S. military forces on the home front. The deployment will last one to two years, Horton said.
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Unless Tennessee has declared war on Alabama I would guess the activation is for a deployment work up. These guys are no where near ready for Kuwait. But why isn't POTUS, Congress and the Pentagon building up our active duty front line defenses? Especially greatly increasing the number of permenant active duty billets? The reserve system won't survive much more of these annual call ups we've been seeing since Bush 1. This is especially true in Air nation Guard units as well like takers.
The private sector will grow tired of the disruptions it causes. Even the most patriotic employer can only afford so much. It's getting to be the rule rather than exception to rely on NG's and reserves for foreign deployments. It's bad policy all the way around.
Just wait a few more months for the jobs to become scarce and kids will be begging to get in. I tried to get back in during the 1982 recession & couldn't. I also was recommended for retention & served honorably so my service record wasn't an issue. Just two years prior I was in a critical rating and offered $15K to re-enlist that was roughly 2 years pay for an E-4. One problem for years and still is now is the military pay scale. It stinks! A worker or warrior is worthy of their wages.
Another problem is over extensions or over deployments. Soldiers and sailors are human also and need time home with their families. A six month cruse is excepted as a way of life. But when you come home you expect some down time meaning a stand down or maintenance period where you work from 7 am-3;30 pm plus in my day stood onboard 24 hour duty one out of six of those days. It can be done.
I don't think a draft is needed to accomplish this but I do think an upgrade or substancial increase in active duty personel, substancial increase in pay and equipment should be first priority. Money for funding? Plenty out there are not needed nor a function of government. Cut unneeded civilian programs if needed. Restore the origional G.I. Bill as well. I was one of the last to qualify & it saved my hide during the recession. I went back to school.
Have enough active duty people to leave the reservist alone for the most part. Have sufficent means to make needed deployments, and maintain mandatory scheduled down times. We did it from 1940-1989 nearly 50 years. That system worked well for the most part. We lost our edge in the time frame from 1989 - the Gulf War. We lost it that quick. During peace time the draft was not needed. During war times when it was the Navy and Air Force were manned mostly by volunteers.
I was a citizen military type, Korean thingy. Enlisted peasents were screwed over every day of the week, but that was a part of the military class system. The draft insured fresh bodies of "volunteers" for the Air Force and Navy. Risked my neck for a few bucks a month, and a daily screwing over, but that was all in the game for the military at that time.
With a professional military, I suspicion that many of the people in charge are still trying to retain people with the same mindset of old.
Junior officers are also easy prey, screw them over when you dont need them and RIF them out into the streets. I saw that happen at end of the Korean war and after Vietnam, I was in position to have pilots come to me for help in finding jobs. Booted out before they could qualify for pension. All of this is the old line military thinking.
It happened at the end of the Gulf War also. I also saw morale conditions bad enough under Carter the lifers left before 20 just to get out. Several things burnt me. One was a lack of schooling. I had several what was called R-11 schools requested and approved. That was a school on Centrifical Chillers and set up by York or Carrier. I never saw the first day. They waited till I was a short timer who had done decided enough was enough to dangle it under my nose as incentive to re-enlist. By then I had my share of empty promises. Without those school codes my next assignment would have likely been the Main Machinery Room on another carrier. I had done been medically kicked out of one. But I could work on the auxillary equipment like refrigeration & air-conditioning units.
My sea to shore roataion was 6 & 2 meaning for every 6 years I did of sea duty {assigned to ships company} two years of shore duty was allowed afterward. In my four years we made two six month deployments, a trip to South America, two/ three month yard periods and part of another, and a one year long overhaul yard period that was due the ship after 5 years. During my last 6 months I was working long hours even in the yards qualifing others and signing off for repairs the yards had made. Each and every single switch they touched had to be tested and signed for by the Navy. Ironically I was offered a job there as well. If I had taken it the job would have lasted through the Reagan years. But I didn't want to work in Portsmouth, Virginia. Even with the one year yard period I spent well over two years actually at sea meaning away from my home port.
I'm afraid we've fallen into the never ending trap of when we're not at war letting the military detiorate to deplorable conditions then playing catch up when war breaks out. Problem is we are now at war and nobodies making plans to build up the military. It's quite the opposite in fact. Will it be too late? Will be able to pull it off like we did in WW1 & WW2? Time will not be our friend. Between those wars and up till the early 1990's the industrial structure was still in place to do it. Now most of those trades lack trained and experienced persons to build on mass production scale the massive military assets we once had. Not to mention they are hell bent on destroying anything we had left over as fast as they can.
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