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49 thoughts on “Read ‘Em and Weep”

  1. Let’s not forget the Navy. It has the lowest number of ships in decades.

      1. Only a few are undergoing refueling, a couple carriers and no subs.

        However, budget constraints have tied a lot of other ships to the pier. Money for fuel has shrunk so badly that unless it’s in direct support of an Exercise or Operation it’s damn hard to get a ship out to sea in home port (gotta save that money for deployments). Many other ships and subs aren’t at full capacity because we have to cannibalize parts to support ships on deployment. Same with the air wings. The list of reasons go on, but our effective fighting ship strength is significantly lower than it appears on paper.

        1. Maybe if the Navy wasn’t forced to pay for “green fuel” that costs thirty times the regular fuel, they might have a few spare bucks in the piggy bank. Biut what is national security when this administration has to funnel money to their donors and cronies?

      2. This is not a good thing, Bubblehead. Subs are the first line of coastal defense. Something is off-kilter here.

        2. Damned if I know any more, Poetrooper, but there USED to be subs off the coast. However, I do recall that someone spotted a Russian sub a year or so ago off the coast of Texas, and picked up something on shortwave radio. So I don’t know what it is, any more.

      3. Last I heard there were 4 carriers tied up, they said they couldn’t afford to fuel them? Make obozo foot the bill!!

  3. “In addition to those on active duty, the Army has 548,024 soldiers in reserve…”
    Anyone have an idea how they’re arriving at that number, seems a tad over inflated. The total numbers don’t worry me as much as the lack of Combat Arms, or more importantly, the lack of training for those Combat Arms troops.
    Let’s keep this ostrich-style policy up as I’m sure it’ll pay some great fucking dividends.

  5. While I’m not opposed to giving President Obama his fair share of grief for Personnel Reduction, let’s not forget President Reagan…25k troops. gave them the weekend to decide..so there is that little gem. Like the song goes, “Ah yes, I remember it well.”

    1. The first thing Carter did was take away our bullets and our Huey’s…
      We were closer to a nuclear war under Carter than we ever were under Reagan.
      If the Rooskies had come across the Fulda Gap our tanks were in such bad repair along with the rest of the fighting forces equipment he would have had no choice but to use tactical nukes which no doubt would have led to strategic nuclear war and the end of civilization on planet Earth for several hundred years…

  7. How may of us KNOW our allies and enemies are watching these numbers with more care than the American public?

    1. Sparks: The American Public has their collective faces buried in the newest smart phone, at the mall, or watching the soaps. Most are so out of tune with what is happening to this country, they may not know we have a Navy. (Sarc) And, unfortunately, some don’t care. They believe all must be well. After all, the MSM would inform us of a problem on the evening news if there was a problem. Wouldn’t they? (Sarc off)

  8. IMHO, the numbers are dropping and will continue to drop as long as there is the potential for:(only highly hypothetically, of course)

    Either LTC Robert “Master” Bateman, the most non-Infantry Infantry Officer in the universe, or CPT Lars “the Infallible” Taylor can be recalled to active duty and eventually could become the Chief of Staff of the Army.

    or:

    Sergeant Major Angelia “Carrot Top, Do as I Say, Not as I Do” Flournoy or PV8 Katrina “Where’s my next ARCOM coming from” Moerk both could conceivably be the next Sergeant Major of the Army.

    Just give those scenarios some thought. Would you want to serve in an Army where those Dumbasses are in charge?

    Yeah, me neither.

    1. Lighten up, Claw!

      How quickly can dumbasses be replaced those who are not dumbasses?

      1. How quickly, or at all? If Shrillary, the Liar of the Senate, has her way, the only military we have will be hidden on Guam, until it tips over.

    2. You just can not understand that we are fighting a war on several fronts. The war against Social Media Misconduct is just as big a threat to this nation as ISL.

      If we do not stop the stereotype that there is a whore in every barracks, women will never have the equal opportunity to prove themselves in combat.

      Being more conscience of safety and proper military protocol makes our military more efficient. Implementing the PT Belt program has saved countless lives and injuries. They provide, through color codes, the ability for leaders to offer instant on the spot corrections to subordinates and identify instantly who is the responsible person of any group.

      I am sorry you can not see the value in proper leadership in today’s military. “Safety before Misson” is the code today.

      1. All right, then. I guess even old farts like me who haven’t donned a uniform in almost 25 years can still learn something new every day.

        I didn’t know that the PT Belt Program had a built-in rank structure through color coding.

        Thanks for the info. I will attempt to use it wisely./smile

        I have heard, however, that the call-back to Attention in formations nowadays is “Management by Example”. Any truth to that?

        1. Large formations are discouraged. They tend to thwart individual participation in unit decisions.

          Group activities provide more feedback to command leadership through work flow channels. Antiquated “Chain of Command” concepts are burdensome and restrictive.

          Gender neutrality initiatives have created “Open Door” and “Two Witness” policies.

          Yes, color coding on PT Belts have been proven efficient. Many Commands have now started requiring rank and unit to be properly displayed on them as well.

      2. Thank you, ARCOM. I deeply appreciate the enlightenment. I realize that I come from that old-fashioned age when the military was here to defend the US, instead of just being a flotilla of pretty toys.

        1. I witness it go from what you saw to what it is today. I was among a shrinking number of “old guard” service members who tried to fight it but to no avail. Consequently, old school leadership is accused of “creating a hostile working environment”, and the military has to cater to the young whipper snappers instead of weeding them out by requiring them to adjust to the military instead.

    3. It seems to me that the dumbasses have been in charge of the Army forever. During times of peace the dumbasses float to the top thru politics of just plain longevity. Once the shit hits the fan real leaders emerge and the dumbasses are shoved aside in most cases. Of course if the man at the top is a dumbass it sometimes takes a little longer. Think Westmorland and Alexander Haig. Basically they were political sycophants that floated to the top. Westmoreland was MacArthur’s boy and Haig was a product of the Nixon white house. So long as loyalty to the boss is more important than military competence we will always get dumbasses.

      1. Roger, you need a history refresher course. It was Haig who was on MacArthur’s staff, not Westmoreland. And both were exemplary combat leaders before they “floated to the top” as you put it. Westmoreland was a full bird in WWII before he was 30 years old. Haig was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross as an infantry battalion commander in Vietnam and if you read the citation, you’ll see that he earned it with solid combat leadership and extreme courage.

        Yes, Haig did spend a lot of time in staff positions but that was because his superiors recognized his considerable intellect and wanted to take advantage of it. Ditto the Republican administrations who saw him as a very capable addition who had combat experience.

        Westmoreland was a soldier’s soldier and a very effective commander before he got caught in the political squeeze of Vietnam. Like all the rest of us in that war, he was fighting a determined enemy over there and a determined enemy over here in the form of the leftist student political protests and the leftist media, both of which were thoroughly exploited by Soviet propagandists.

        I served under Westmoreland twice-in Vietnam of course, but also when he commanded the 101st at Fort Campbell. He was the most popular among his troops of any of the many division commanders I served. I agree he allowed himself to get sucked into the devious politics of Washington but Vietnam was a very political war from the outset. The looming presence of Communist China and our government’s fear of provoking them into a ground war on the Asian land mass put severe restrictions on our military’s ability to conduct the war.

        I think you’re being unfair to both of them.

        1. You fail to mention the valor and skillful leadership of Robert McNamara. He out ranked both of them.

          The war of attrition was crafted by his military intelligence. (was that a Juxtaposition?)

          1. Yeah, he was one of the true villains in my mind. And the son of a bitch had the nerve to ask us to forgive him for lying to us after throwing away all those lives.

            As to your question, no, Dave. Doggie and missionary are juxtapositions you are likely to be more familiar with.

            And lastly, I knew the old gunny’s eye would catch that Semper I.

            1. Gotcha, so I should carry on as usual then. I would hate to waste one of these pills by missing out on something.

              Semper Fi

        2. Haig was once described by Time magazine as someone who ‘got his ticket punched at every level’ to get the position of Nixon’s Secretary of State. But it was Haig who stopped Nixon from declaring martial law when protests were getting out of hand.

          1. GEN Haig was Secy of State under Reagan. He served as chief of staff for both Nixon & Ford. Some dude named Kissinger was Secy of State for Nixon (also Ford).

        3. Perhaps I am, but Westmorland gave us war by body count and Haig was around for vietnamization. Taking ground and leaving with jacked up body counts was a waste of an army. Sorry i confused the two, but my assessment of them is based on my opinion of the war they both ran the war.

  9. Wait a minute here. These numbers do not reflect the massive increase in Americans that can now fight the war in the comfort of their own home through the use of drones.

    Work at home programs have been on the increase for years and out military is keeping up with the trend. The “Warriors in Residence” programs offer new opportunities in a gender neutral environment.

    Military members who participate may still take part in many programs offered to traditional less efficient “ground troops”. Special Medals and Awards as well as retention incentives are available.

    Even the VA has extended benefits such as lifetime payments for Carpal tunnel syndrome and even PTSD if they are traumatized.

  10. Well things were great in 1940….so…what could possibly go wrong?

    Something seems awfully amiss though, if we are at the lowest numbers in 76 years where’s that peace dividend those lazy hippie fucks are always talking about??

  11. I thought the military was for defense, not parades. I must be living in Norkiland, and didn’t realize it until now.

    Emmentaler, anyone?

    1. No combat ready unit ever passed inspection. No inspection ready unit ever passed combat.

      David Hackworth, IIRC

  12. Little Nork with 25 million population has a 1.1 million man army and an 8 million man reserve. Their active component is larger than both our active and reserve force. And we wonder why every tinhorn dictator in the world is showing us his ass and giving us the raspberry.

    1. It’s obvious that B. Hussein 0bama & Company consider the US Military and us Vets to be a waste of money. They’re too busy handing all they can as fast as they can to illegal aliens, welfare flunkies and muzzie “Refugees’ that want to come here and trash the USA like they have done to Europe.

    2. {yawn} Yeah, and 99% of them are suffering from malnutrition. In fact, it’s easy to tell Norks from the southerners because the latter have a 3″-5″ height advantage.

      Not to mention most of those men are barely trained, and are more used to helping with the (rare) harvests than actually fighting.

      The main reason the Korean War went so well for the Communists was that they had literally hundreds of thousands of veteran troops after fighting the Japanese and Chinese Nationalists.

      Someone recently mentioned Iraq’s “fourth largest army in the world” myth going around just before the fight. This is at the same level.

  13. The repeal of DADT was supposed to take care of all the dwindling numbers. What the fuck happened to that plan?

    1. All of the LGBT etc. crowd that cared enough to serve were already serving, albeit quietly, the ones that raised a stink about DADT never had any thought of actually serving. It’s about the struggle, don’t you get it?

      /SARC OFF/?

  14. If shit gets real in the next 10-20 years, the United States Militia might end up being more important than anyone every intended…

  15. I hate to be the materialistic weasel of the group, but did anyone actually read the linked article?

    Because the second graf mentions that the March 2016 force level was precisely 154 fewer than the 1999 level.

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