via Standard Examiner.
Hagel outlined the broad dimensions of two approaches. One is deeply reducing forces, especially in the Army, while retaining a greater technological capability. The other is delaying weapons advances to maintain the force at levels currently planned.Read the entire article men.
Hagel briefed congressional committee leaders Wednesday on the “Strategic Choices and Management Review,” effectively warning lawmakers they must alleviate cuts or take responsibility for the alternatives.
Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, criticized the review in an e-mailed statement as being “entirely budget-driven, deferring any further consideration of strategy.”
If the Pentagon cuts deeply into forces, Hagel said, the military will be able to protect certain programs such as Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 fighter, a program to build a new long-range bomber and upgrades in submarine cruise missiles.
That approach calls for reducing the Army from a planned 490,000 active-duty personnel to as few as 380,000. The Marines would be reduced from a planned 182,000 to as few as 150,000.
Cuts to the Marine Corps to 150,000! How long have I been beating that drum?
"If the Pentagon cuts deeply into forces, the military will be able to protect certain programs..."
I rest my case.
To all those that gave lip? Kiss my ass.
I was late to the realization that the F-35 was a budget bomb but at least I got there. We could have managed this better, but you want the bad news? Personnel cuts are already baked in. Want to know why? Because all the people that insisted on military pay raises, increased benefits to dependents have all unknowningly conspired to make tech cheaper than troops. We're on a bad piece of ground. On one side we have the techies...those that believe that high tech is the only way to go. On the other side we have the COIN mafia that believes that all future wars can be won by SOCOM alone, and in the middle you have Joe Marine, Soldier, Airman and Sailor that are actually the glue to it all about to get bum rushed out the door.
You heard it here first.
IMHO they're aggressively shrinking the branches of the military on purpose (while saturating it with gays, feminists, aggrieved minorities, citizenship-seekers and liberals) and driving out the traditional-warriors and meat-eaters specifically to spread the armed services so thin via cuts and overdeployment that it cannot effectively defend the the US constitution and resist the inevitable line-in-the-sand moment when a UN-backed DHS unveils its police state on the American people.
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong with citizenship seekers? They're still doing the service, often quite well, and I know at least one who was still deported after his honorable discharge! Anyone who serves is worth ten of the urban thugs, trailer park dipshits and spoiled suburban brats who make up most of the population of citizens merely because they were lucky enough to be born here. The nation would be a lot better place if everyone had to "seek" their citizenship in such a way.
ReplyDeleteyou're right Josh O....my bad...
DeleteThanks, sorry to jump down your throat, another touchy subject...also is hard to get context on the internet sometimes
DeleteWhat's going to happen when you release over 100,000 (many highly trained and combat hardened) troops into today's shitty job market?
ReplyDeleteAnd dollars-to-donuts, cuts will be made at the bottom. Higher echelon desk jockeys (and their support staff) will likely have little to fear.
"What's going to happen when you release over 100,000 (many highly trained and combat hardened) troops into today's shitty job market?"
ReplyDeleteBad things. but the purpose of the military is to fight and win wars, not employ people for the hell of it. The Military is not a welfare program with snazzy outfits.
"And dollars-to-donuts, cuts will be made at the bottom. Higher echelon desk jockeys (and their support staff) will likely have little to fear."
There are going to be cuts everywhere, at all levels. but yes lower ranks (especially for the USMC) will be affected as nearly half their force is E-3 and below, and the with the GWOT over there isn't going to be a need for as many grunt trigger pullers. Same with the Army. 150,000 is too low IMHO but 170,000 would be closer to the pre September 11th USMC. In peace the USMC shrinks, in war it grows. and we are coming out of war, so it was going to shrink, the only question is by how much.
The purpose is also to be Ready to fight and win wars. When I was in the Reserves my unit's job was to travel all over the country training National Guard units that were preparing to go over seas. Their monthly training, basic training and MOS training provided a good place to start but they all required every bit of the year plus of mobilized training and equipping they received before their actual deployment overseas. And that was for relatively low intensity conflicts. What are we supposed to do if we suddenly have to full on fight Korea Part II or any other conflict that requires more than a few divisions on the spot quick fast and in a hurry? Throw the whole Army and Corps in the grinder and just train replacements? Leave our other obligations undermanned? We are so lucky that China or North Korea or Iran never tried anything while the majority of our forces were spread out all over the Mid-East or prepping or recovering for/from the same. The right kind of opportunism or god forbid cooperation could have left us very hard pressed to cover all our interests. If anything we should learn from our recent conflicts is that while new tech and weapons are always good, its still the Men in the fight that count. Why else were/are the enemy able to resist so long? How else can our troops withstand what should be overwhelming numbers of the enemy on several occasions? Again, force multipliers help but THEY DON'T REPLACE THE FORCE. We need to keep our numbers up more than anything.
DeleteNumbers and training I meant to say. A secondary point to consider is that the branches of he military is were we develop our truest citizens.(cue patriotic background music) Not just making hard working motivated and trained individuals but Americans! People who rise above what ever bland or shitty background they were raised in to serve together with people from all sorts of other bland and shitty backgrounds thy would have never interacted with otherwise. It mixes up the melting pot and makes us better than we would be if we never left out small town or block or farm. Colleges try to mix up different kind of people for the same reason but its not the same, with little variation the kids all come from the same economic class and mostly interact with like minded kids. They still sort of live in the same comfort zone they had growing up at home. Not so in the military! You get the bored people escaping their small town, the fool that thought he was only paying for college, the punks that the judge let join up instead of jail, the odd rich kid trying to prove he's worth the lucky break life gave him, the poor broke guys trying to make a better life and even the occasional honest to God patriot and we all have to learn to work together and trust each other and depend on each other for our very lives. We become true Americans, who know how to work together and are willing to work to solve problems and who know that while violence is almost never the Best solution, it is A solution. (stop the music) Oh yeah except for the occasional shitbag. Anyway that all is of course secondary to the military's primary mission of protecting the nation and its interests. While DOD is sequestered have there been cuts to DHS? The military makes and defends citizens, what do DHS and NSA do?
DeleteAnd one more post! To say- Sorry about the long posts! I just got off work and I get bored sometimes and I care about this kind of stuff....
DeleteThe Marine Corps always needs to error on the side of quality. Its that simple. In our men, our mindset and by extension our gear.
DeleteI would rather have a 150K person Marine Corps with top of the line new weapons, than 200,000 using ancient equipment that keeps sucking down money and is always being fixed and never get used with more and more Marines being dedicated to keeping it running, rather than training for war.
thats a faulty premise. if the Marines are cut to 150000 then that would be the smallest its been since Korea.
Deleteadditionally you talk about more Marines being needed to keep ancient gear going but thats also a falsehood.
what you're basically doing is deciding that tech is more important than the Marine. you're wrong.