it never ends, my daughter was in the afghan. shes ok I dont mention my baby girl much. I was vietnam. my dad was ww2 my grandfather marine in ww1. every generation gets a war and you dam well better be up to it, ready to fight
I tried to join up and go but alas, They told me I was TOO OLD...
So I joined The Air Force Auxilary-CAP and I'm IN ! Too old My Foot.
Off we go into the wild Blue Yonder....
Rich
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[I]You know you might be facing your doom,when all you get is a click when you're expecting a BOOM!:( [/I]
How many fight's is the US in ATM?
Just curious, because I remember another guy that took on to much at once.....
And NO this is not a stir but your troops must be getting a bit thin on the ground by now
Mostly because our illustrious leaders are trying to have it both ways at once: they're fighting a war with a peacetime army, while trying to keep things business as usual at home.
But if you'll check back to WWII, you'll see that this country can do staggering things in the way of mobilization when it puts its mind to it.
Location: Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C.
Posts: 3,788
The US Armed Forces are not the same size that they were when GW I took place. The US military was still the same size it had been during the Cold War when the Gulf War started. After the Gulf War the Army lost, if I recall correctly, the equivelent of 5 divisions and the Marines lost the equivelent of 1 division. The Navy and Air Force also lost units. The Cold War was over there was no obvious immediate enemies. Therefore there was no need to keep the services at their Cold War sizes.
Since the draw down in the early to mid '90's, the Army has deployed a few new Stryker Brigades, but no where near the amount of troops/units that were deactivated. Remember for every unit that is nation building, peacekeeping, fighting, there are two other units in the mix. One training and preparing to go and one that just got back and has personnel on leave and or transfering in or out of the unit, training courses, receiving new gear, weapons etc.
One indicator of low low we are on ground troops is the fact that the 82nd Airborne Division is now regularly deployed overseas. Since the 1950's the 82nd was designated a "strategic reserve" unit. It was only to be deployed in an extreme situation. During Vietnam it stayed at Ft Bragg. A Brigade was sent to Vietnam for a short time, but a 4th Brigade was created at Ft Bragg to keep the division full strength. The 82nd fulfilled it's "strategic Reserve" function when it deployed to Saudi Arabia in GW I, to be "speed bumps" if Iraq invaded Saudi Arabia. Without the deployment of National Guard infantry units to the Gulf the division stayed in threater. Once again in GW II without calling up Guard units in mass to fight (and therefore face possible public ire if casualities were heavy) and now being short of regular infantry troops, the Military "had" to deploy the 82nd somewhere because of all of the US military's commitments around the globe.
Talking with friends still in the service in the area here, there is a real concern that the US military may be quickly approaching a melt down point. Many troops are on their 3rd and 4th deployments to the sandbox. Marital problems, fatigue, the "I've done my bit" syndrome is taking its toll. They all say either more Guard infantry units need to be called up or Congress needs to authorize the expansion of the services.
ill go but i need some things
1. stool softners, I get constipated
2. some young grunt to carry me around, I tire easy
3. no shooting before 10 am, I need my beauty sleep
4. malox liquid, I get bad heart burn
5. no mres stuff tastes bad
6. a nice warming shower every am
thats just for starters
Chavez want's to act tough? okay, he'll see just what he's made of.
We won't even need to invede his country; just send over a couple B1's the blast the crap out of his infrastructure. that'll show him who's the top dog.
as for the U.N., they don't have an army. as such I won't be concerned with them until they have a standing army of professional soldiers, and not just the crap that third world ****holes volunteer so they can get better equipment.
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[edit] how come ****hole isn't filtered? (Shaun - I have edited the post for you)
