Administration proposes military cutback

[p kirkes]

Sec Def proposes Army draw down to pre WW2 levels.
Past and current republican politicians denounce proposal.

As for me I agree with it on several grounds. One, we don't need this large of a standing army unless we want to involve ourselves in more military interventions (Gulf 2, Afghanis an).

The notion that it will leave us defenseless or vulnerable is fear mongering. Again, unless we want to involve ourselves in foreign military interventions.

Our Navy and Air Forces can also use some slimming down, Aircraft carriers for one and
B-1 bomber for another.

Technology has evolved that fill in for boots on the ground. Intervening just because we can has to stop. We are spending more than one trillion dollars for an F-35 joint strike fighter that fails to pass it's tests.

The present concept of buy before you fly is back wards. Corporations that win bids on military systems should be made to guarantee/warranty their products.

I could go on and on but you get the picture.

Let's stop this out of control spending.

Please don't insult me. I've served my country, voted in every election, pay my taxes, volunteer in community help projects and am a registered "no party" citizen.

Maybe this time my voice will be heard with all the others that share this view.

 

[American Horse]

Note this is all on the backs of the troops while it maintains the legacy military industrial platform in place.

The A-10 Warthog is gone with these cuts, the most versatile of all military aircraft, completely reliable, maneuverable, and cost effective. All they have to do is maintain them and train pilots.

The military services as related to manpower is unexcelled in providing an avenue into the middle class and a first serious job for millions as the nation's largest employer. It takes 15-20 years to fully train and prepare a battalion or regimental commander or a platoon sergeant.

Another telling feature of these cuts is the elimination of the commissaries where the lowest ranks can buy not only food but anything else at an unparalleled discount. Food stamps cannot come close to rivaling that benefit, and how is a recruit to regard military service knowing that it entails becoming a charity case?

Cuts in these areas make no sense to me.

 

[American Horse]

If, god forbid, we have an action in the ME again we will have to pull troops out of S Korea, and the North would move immediately into the vacuum.

Right now, as it stands, we only have one fully equipped and prepared brigade. High tech is no replacement for boots on the ground, and drone kills are an augmentation to boots not a replacement. Drones like those being used in Afghanistan, as an example, are a complement to troops not a replacement.

This proposal is an invitation to military instability. Weakness is a provocation.