It may be old hat, but it picks up steam

[NewGuy]

http://www.newsday.com/news/politic...54,print.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

Lawmakers: Reserves Stretched to Limit

By PAULINE JELINEK
Associated Press Writer

July 7, 2004, 8:58 PM EDT

WASHINGTON -- In a bipartisan show of concern that the military is dangerously overworked, lawmakers said Wednesday the Pentagon is stretching troops to their limit and perhaps undermining the nation's future force.

Amid worries the high level of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan could discourage potential new service members, Rep. John McHugh, R-N.Y., said it was not reassuring that most reserve components were falling below their recruiting goals for the year.

As of May 31, the Army National Guard was reported at 88 percent, the Air National Guard at 93 percent and the Air Force Reserve at 91 percent of their goals.

"We're taxing our part-time soldiers, our Guard and Reserves nearly to the breaking point," said Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. "We have to be aware that the families back home are paying a significant price. We don't want to break the force."

Added Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., the committee chairman: "We're also concerned that insufficient force structure and manpower are leading the services to make decisions that I liken to eating the seed corn. That is, in order to make it through today, we do things that mortgage the future."

The Army recently decided to deploy units that have been used to train other soldiers. Hunter also noted that the ratio of reserves to active duty soldiers in Iraq is increasing and he said he was concerned that troops are not getting enough turnaround time back in the states.

Defense Department officials testified at a committee hearing about troop rotations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The session followed last week's announcement that the Army was calling up soldiers who had already served in the Middle East.

Stretched by war needs, the Pentagon already had declared a "stop-loss" to prevent troops from leaving once they have finished their obligation.

Don't miss the rest of the article.

Remember that "draft" legislation?

Remember that not all jobs were gun-toting, but many were "civil service"?

In essence the draft legislation puts all citizens into manditorilly doing military time.

No draft, huh?

 

[NATO AIR]

we've definitely got some issues to work out.. i'm all for increasing the army's size by 150,000-250,000, the marines by 50,000-75,000.

it is no longer an option, its a neccessity. if it means increasing the GI bill to around 60-80,000 dollars, it will be worth it. if it means spending an ungodly amount of money, well, its gotta be done. reagan did it, he cut taxes first then increased them twice after he realized we had to pay for all this mess.

no more screwing around, its time to boost the military.

 

[NATO AIR]

and i do believe there is bipartisan support for it, especially in the senate.

 

[Trinity]

 

[pegwinn]

Originally posted by NATO AIR
we've definitely got some issues to work out.. i'm all for increasing the army's size by 150,000-250,000, the marines by 50,000-75,000.

it is no longer an option, its a neccessity. if it means increasing the GI bill to around 60-80,000 dollars, it will be worth it. if it means spending an ungodly amount of money, well, its gotta be done. reagan did it, he cut taxes first then increased them twice after he realized we had to pay for all this mess.

no more screwing around, its time to boost the military.

That much of an increase is going to flat kill the quality of leadership. If they do this, they will need to recall the retirees who are still physically fit to fill the leadership gap until the young'uns get wetted down. Just checked, my address is current. OohRah.

 

[Avatar4321]

I dont see a draft happening soon. I see a reorganization of the military by the administration but as long as Kerry is not president in janurary i dont see a draft of anything short of china invading the USA.

I say we only need to worry if Kerry gets into office because

1)Secretary Rumsfeld has been clear he doesnt want the draft and whats to organize the existing military aparatus better.

2)One of the top nominees for a possible Secretary of State under Kerry is Senator Biden, one of the men pushing the draft in the Senate.

Im not too worried about the "bipartisan" support for the draft. As far as ive seen the support consists of 1 "moderate" Republican and about 7 Democrats, of which atleast 2 arent even running for reelection this year and wont be around in january to really affect the debate.