I agree

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

The WW2 strategy was to bomb and kill civilians for as long as it took to convince the maniacs to surrender. Bill Clinton used essentially the same strategy in his bombing campaign in Yugoslavia and the media loved it. In the last decade American Troops could face court martial if a civilian was killed in a crossfire. American Troops had to ask permission to fire a shot in anger in Afghanistan.

Not true.

 

[Dayton3]

We probably should have just dropped our smallest nuke on Tora Bora back in 2002, and then walked out.
Actually, I was there in the beginning of 2003 and those jihadis were beat the fuck down..... they didn't have shit left.
We could have declared victory and gone home right then, and it would have gone down as us dishing out an "educational beatdown" to the Afghans for harboring our enemies and it would have been a win for us.

But all the war-profiteers smelled money so we had to do a bunch of "nation-building", and that gave them the time, money, and space they needed to come back at us and eventually grind out a win. We got so tired of punching them we finally tapped out.

How do "war profiteers" make money from "nation building"?

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Yeah I didnt pay much attention to the new system since I was retiring under the old one. Forgive me. Also fuck off.

You are telling me to fuck off because YOU did nor read your own link?

Kiss my ass, you ignorant piece of shit!

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

We probably should have just dropped our smallest nuke on Tora Bora back in 2002, and then walked out.
Actually, I was there in the beginning of 2003 and those jihadis were beat the fuck down..... they didn't have shit left.
We could have declared victory and gone home right then, and it would have gone down as us dishing out an "educational beatdown" to the Afghans for harboring our enemies and it would have been a win for us.

But all the war-profiteers smelled money so we had to do a bunch of "nation-building", and that gave them the time, money, and space they needed to come back at us and eventually grind out a win. We got so tired of punching them we finally tapped out.

Do you know what nukes do in a mountain range? I didn't think so.

 

[freyasman]

You were grandfathered in to the 50% because of your date entered.

My daughter will get 40% and the proceeds of her TSP when she retires in 15 more years.

Cool, thanks for the info.

 

[freyasman]

How do "war profiteers" make money from "nation building"?

A lot of tax money gets thrown at them.

 

[freyasman]

Do you know what nukes do in a mountain range? I didn't think so.

No, but after having spent a lot of time in Afghanistan, I don't doubt it would be an improvement to the place.

Point is, we stomped them flat, and we should have left right then, before they got their shit together.
Sticking around so KBR could keep billing the .gov, was stupid as shit.

 

[whitehall]

Not true.

The two A Bombs weren't aimed at military targets. They were intended to terrorize the Bushido holdouts into surrendering. The firebombing of Dresden was intended to convince the German maniacs to surrender. I'm not criticizing the strategy, I'm merely pointing out the obvious. In the years after the adverse publicity surrounding Vietnam the politicians did an about face and terrorized their own Troops into waging an unaggressive benign pretend war.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

The two A Bombs weren't aimed at military targets. They were intended to terrorize the Bushido holdouts into surrendering. The firebombing of Dresden was intended to convince the German maniacs to surrender. I'm not criticizing the strategy, I'm merely pointing out the obvious. In the years after the adverse publicity surrounding Vietnam the politicians did an about face and terrorized their own Troops into waging an unaggressive benign pretend war.

My apologies. I should have highlighted the part that was untrue. Everything you posted was dead-on accurate except the last sentence.

Your statement: "American Troops had to ask permission to fire a shot in anger in Afghanistan" was not true. They were under very restrictive rules of engagement as the war was conducted, but you statement was false and an exaggeration.

 

[whitehall]

My apologies. I should have highlighted the part that was untrue. Everything you posted was dead-on accurate except the last sentence.

Your statement: "American Troops had to ask permission to fire a shot in anger in Afghanistan" was not true. They were under very restrictive rules of engagement as the war was conducted, but you statement was false and an exaggeration.

Thanks Rock. My intent was to illustrate the hypocrisy in Afghanistan but it was close to the truth that every shot had to be approved by the commanders and for sure the commanders had to consult with the Pentagon. It's a hell of a way to fight a war.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Thanks Rock. My intent was to illustrate the hypocrisy in Afghanistan but it was close to the truth that every shot had to be approved by the commanders and for sure the commanders had to consult with the Pentagon. It's a hell of a way to fight a war.

My son was an infantry sergeant who spent almost a year in Afghanistan. There was a strict ROE but nothing like you describe.

 

[whitehall]

My son was an infantry sergeant who spent almost a year in Afghanistan. There was a strict ROE but nothing like you describe.

ROE?

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

ROE?

Rules of Engagement.

 

[whitehall]

Rules of Engagement.

You obviously have access to inside information so I stand corrected.

 

[DudleySmith]

There was a ceiling a just a few years ago of 29 years for officers, with a few with certain skill sets allowed to stay in a few years longer for full birds and above; two of my brothers got 32 years in, one cousin hit 29 and retired before getting full bird. Many Reserve officers were called up to active duty and then automatically retired just below getting promoted to save money on retirement bennies; they would end up reaching Lt. Colonel getting retirement pay at Msgt. pay instead of going over 29 years and full officer retirement pay.

It's still easy to be a lifer, you just need the right skill sets and good back channel connections. If you can be replaced by a 19 year old with 6 months training, then yes they will probably RIF you out; no need for giving truck drivers and motor pool maintenance crews 20+ years retirement bennies. Before the new 'Volunteer Military' scam drove up trooper costs, the military was a great career, but no more.

We can note the 'private sector' doesn't offer squat any more, either, so the military is merely reflecting the same slide into a Second and Third World economy.

 

[freyasman]

My son was an infantry sergeant who spent almost a year in Afghanistan. There was a strict ROE but nothing like you describe.

I was an infantry sergeant and I spent more time than that there and I sure never asked anyone for permission to shoot a jihadi.
In fact, during our ROE briefing on my first deployment in 03, the legal officer giving the brief got tired of the "What if....." questions and just told us if we thought they needed killing, to go ahead and shoot them.

 

[Mushroom]

Elimination of the 20 year retirement?

I didn't hear about that.

Yes, roughly 4 years ago.

Today, all under 10 years when it went into effect put into a modification of the old "Thrift Savings Plan". The classic "20 year" system was gone, unless you had less than 10 years in when it went into effect. Then you could decide between the old system, or a "blended" system.

Today, it is a choice of the old TSP, or nothing. Which is much like an IRA, but you can roll it over into a traditional 401K type program at a later date.

 

[Mushroom]

Elimination is a poor choice of words. Modification is what truly happened and that was many years ago when I was still on active duty.

No, it is not.

Several years ago, the entire idea of "Serve 20 years and get retirement benefits" was completely eliminated.

Unless you had first joined more than 10 years prior.

At that time, you became "grandfathered", and got the old system. Less than that, and you had to put into essentially a modified TSP program, like a 401K.

But please, feel free to show me how I am wrong. I am still in the Active Reserves, and had to make this very choice myself. Of course, I was at almost 20 at that time, so for me it was a no-brainer. And yes, the TSP existed even before that, it dates to at least the 1990's. But now a modified version is the ONLY retirement plan for those joining now. The traditional "20 years, medical for life and 50% pay" is gone forever. You have to pay in to get out. But please, show me where I am wrong.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

No, it is not.

Several years ago, the entire idea of "Serve 20 years and get retirement benefits" was completely eliminated.

Unless you had first joined more than 10 years prior.

At that time, you became "grandfathered", and got the old system. Less than that, and you had to put into essentially a modified TSP program, like a 401K.

But please, feel free to show me how I am wrong. I am still in the Active Reserves, and had to make this very choice myself. Of course, I was at almost 20 at that time, so for me it was a no-brainer. And yes, the TSP existed even before that, it dates to at least the 1990's. But now a modified version is the ONLY retirement plan for those joining now. The traditional "20 years, medical for life and 50% pay" is gone forever. You have to pay in to get out. But please, show me where I am wrong.

With all due respect, you just agreed with everything I said. One bit of info, I left active duty in 1994 after the blended retirement came effect. I only had 10 years active duty in 1992.

 

[Stryder50]

Our military has some truly great people in it, but almost none of them are lifers.
It's not just Generals who are worthless and actually causing damage, rather than serving our country.

The Conservative Case for Cyberbullying America’s Generals

America deserves better than its current military leadership.

americanmind.org

From the link;
"This is what $693 billion a year buys you: unbridled arrogance from the leaders of a military that can’t win against third world tribesmen armed with small arms and homemade explosives. A significant portion of our military leaders, like General Donahoe, are totally detached from reality. They face no consequences for losing wars or losing troops to preventable suicides. Many of them don’t really command anything at all. They are so ensconced in layers of bureaucrats, staff, operations and logistics shops, briefs, intelligence reports, public affairs officials, and aides that there is usually no danger of the public uncovering their true character, lack of leadership, or empty careers.

Twitter, for all its many flaws, provides a direct line into the thought process and values of the military’s elite class. Too often, the minds of our great and courageous “warriors” are filled with nothing more than anodyne policy statements, automatic deference to other members of the elite expert class, and received wisdom from the mouths of MSNBC hosts. A painful lesson for patriotic citizens, perhaps, but a necessary one.

As these leaders spend their days scrolling twitter in the twilight of their careers, waiting to secure their pensions and post-retirement defense contractor gigs, they deserve to feel some heat from the people they allegedly serve. Getting “ratio’d” is, for many of them, the worst consequence they’ll ever face for overseeing institutional failure. Still, that discomfort isn’t nothing. Feeling some modicum of pain for the lives lost and the money wasted under their command is a good thing.

The American people need to demand more from their leaders. They need these heroic defenders of freedom to account for their lost wars, failed policies, and ideological radicalism. Twitter gives the people the perfect avenue to do so.

Americans are beginning to realize that their military leaders are failing them. Even if politicians fail to demand better of them, we can and should still make our opinion known. Our generals are, far too often, soft, coddled elites and unthinking ideologues. It is time for the American people to start cyberbullying their generals."

Actually, I found the first half of your link more informative and telling ...
EXCERPT:
...
On July 22, Major General Patrick Donahoe, the Commanding General of Fort Benning, reported from his official Twitter account that he was seeing a “surge” in ICU visits among young soldiers due to Covid. He reported that he would mandate the vaccine if he had the power to do so.


I replied, pointing out that the DOD has lost a total of 26 out of over 2 million personnel in the last year and a half to the virus. In the fourth quarter of 2020, there was a 25 percent surge in suicides across all services. In those three months alone, 26 additional servicemembers took their lives compared to the prior year.


The military’s response to the Coronavirus is almost certainly to blame for the rise. I exited the service in May of 2020, having had plenty of time to witness these policies firsthand. Deployed troops returning home were forced to quarantine for weeks at a time. Masks were required in all public spaces on base. Gyms were shut down. Commanding officers dramatically reduced liberty limits to within only a few miles of base. Those, like me, who were stationed in Camp Pendleton, were prohibited from traveling just 30 minutes south to San Diego during our off hours.


In light of these draconian policies, it is no wonder that troops experienced a surge in psychological illness and suicidal ideation. Turning barracks into prisons is a recipe for problems. Nor did the catastrophic “outbreaks” of Covid materialize. Virtually all servicemembers known to be infected with the virus recover. The handful of Covid related deaths are sad, but they never rose to the level of a crisis. On average, nearly a thousand military personnel die because of training accidents, suicide, and illness every year.


General Donahoe accused me of engaging in “false equivalency” and of downplaying the vaccine, arguing that it was the path to “normalcy.” As the return of mask mandates for both the vaccinated and unvaccinated in cities like Los Angeles attest, this is clearly not true. The real path to normalcy is for military leadership to adjust their risk tolerance. Treating healthy people like biohazards over an illness that has killed two dozen personnel in a force of millions is insane. Those preventative policies have consequences, too; the surge in depression and suicide among the young is real.


Preventative measures make matters worse. One need only look at the case of Michigan and Sweden. Both territories have an equal population. Yet, Michigan suffered 50 percent more deaths from Covid despite implementing lockdowns, school closures, and mask mandates while Sweden did not. General Donahoe simply brushed these facts aside, deciding instead to call me a member of the “disinformation tinfoil hat team” for pointing them out.


He also tweeted at the university where I am a student, Hillsdale College, and told them to “come get your boy” for questioning the military’s quarantine and lockdown policies. General Donahoe, apparently, thinks the private sector is just like the military, where criticism can be stopped, and careers ended, with a mere snap of the fingers. As the thread attracted more attention, one commenter asked the General “how many wars he’d won.” The General responded by accusing the questioner of “shilling for Putin.” When I asked if Putin was the reason America had lost in Afghanistan, the General blocked me.


My interaction with the General serves as a microcosm of the American military’s cultural rot. Here we have a two-star General who spends his days on social media hyping a vaccine for an illness that poses minimal risk to his troops. When pressed on why America can’t win wars and why he embraces policies that treat healthy people like biohazards, his first response is to accuse his critics of treachery and then block them from view.
....

The Conservative Case for Cyberbullying America’s Generals

America deserves better than its current military leadership.

americanmind.org