Comments on: The Military Is Broken

By: Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 05:10:10 +0000

The military used to be a good option for people who weren’t sure what they wanted to do with their lives. They could leave home, get in shape, earn some money, try some new things, and test the waters of higher education through on-base college courses.

They learned to live on their own and had some structure in their lives.

There were good and solid reasons for recommending people join the military.

No more. All they want is cannon fodder. Rumsfeld views people like paper plates – use them and discard them when they can no longer serve his purpose. He has no regard for the experience, training, intelligence, or options of uniformed personnel. He literally wants robots, not people.

The draft requires experienced people to train the new recruits, and the people who can do the job are leaving in droves. The E-5 & E-6 non-commissioned officers, and the O-3 & O-4 officers are bailing out after 8 years, the total Reserve commitment.

It’s a disaster. We would need a volunteer militia to defend the country if we were to be attacked.

By: Steve Bates

Steve Bates — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 04:40:34 +0000

Do you really want to know? Kay Bailey Hutchison gets a D+, while John Cornyn gets a D-. I know IAVA did it by the numbers, but that’s too kind, if you ask me.

This is folly. Bryan, few people have entered the military, as you did, primarily for principled reasons; there have to be other motivations. Since the start of the all-volunteer military, life opportunities (benefits, college tuition, medical care, etc.) have driven many economically disadvantaged people to pursue a military career. One can argue whether that’s fair, but it appears to be true. Where will the career military people come from, if those benefits are taken away? Here comes the draft again, and we all know how wonderful unwilling, under-trained soldiers are…

By: Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 02:14:37 +0000

Governors and the Guard are not going to volunteer, and without a change in the law they can’t be required to go.

It’s a sad thing to see happen again. You would have thought that no one would be stupid enough to do it after Vietnam, but here we are again, and it will be a long time before people view the military as a good career.

Bill Nelson (D) got an A- and Martinez (R) got a D.

By: andante

andante — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 01:04:20 +0000

The senators who claim to represent me and thousands of troops at Ft. Bragg, Camp Lejeune, Seymour Johnson AFB, Cherry Point, and Pope AFB received a D- (Dole) and an F (Burr). Maybe the Bushies are thinking of hiring the Irish army; they didn't do such a bad job in Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan.