Criminals With Guns?
Typical of so many.... An article about the Army and a picture of a Marine DI. Our armed forces are sooo far beneath the elitists in this country. Basic uniform recognition is just too much trouble. Hence the universal “troops.”
I know if I, or most of the men with whom I served, were referred to as “troops,” there would have been immediate corrective action.
Posted by armadefoc
02/20/2007 at 01:05 PM
The fastest way to drop the rate of moral waivers would be for the Army to rebuild its recently tarnished reputation among less problematic young Americans.
What bullshit. Maybe if the TerrorTimes quits vomiting lies every day and concentrates on facts, their circulation might actually rise.
Many a judge has told a troubled boy..."jail or the military”. I went through basic training and tech school with one of my best friends. Bill was told by the judge, either enlist in the military or your going to jail. Bill enlisted and spent the next 20 years of his life faithfully serving this nation. He retired as a Master Sergeant and at one time was named USAFE NCO of the Quarter.
The article also talks of involuntarly entended tours but it doesn’t say why. Here’s the why:
From the Air Force Association:
The difficulty began in March 1993, when the first Clinton budget proposal cut defense spending--without calculating the effect--by roughly double the amount previously planned. Secretary of Defense Les Aspin found himself scrambling to devise a strategy to fit the budget promise. Midway through his Bottom-Up Review, Mr. Aspin floated a trial balloon for a hybrid strategy called “Win-Hold-Win,” but that was shot down within weeks....By the end of this year(1994), the Air Force will have fewer than 1,000 fighters in the active-duty fleet. It is projected to have only 107 operational bombers for the long-range attack mission in 1995. Airlift, crucial to deployment of a force based primarily in the United States, is uncertain.
And, from Discoverthenetworks.org
Clinton’s loathing of the American military led to his failure in his primary responsibility: the protection of the American people. His actions with regard to military preparedness speak for themselves. In less than three years, deployments increased while manpower decreased from 2.1 million to 1.6 million. That decrease was the foundation upon which stood Al Gore’s purported “reinvention” of government. Of the 305,000 employees removed from the federal payroll, 286,000 (or 90%) were military cuts....The statistics for America’s defense during the Clinton years reveal the deep-seated animosity of the administration toward those who served in the military. The Army was cut from 18 divisions to 12. The Navy was reduced from 546 ships to 380. Air Force flight squadrons were cut from 76 to 50.
While the U.S. military was used as a ‘meals on wheels’ service by the Clinton administration in its nation building adventures, the military had its own humanitarian crises at home on its own bases. The pay freeze instituted by Clinton was imposed on a military in which 80 percent of all troops earned $30,000 per year or less. Food stamp applications soared and re-enlistment rates dropped.
That’s why the military is in the shape its in. We hadn’t even begun to recover from Clinton’ decimation of the military when we were attacked on 9/11. Rumsfeld said it would take a decade to undo what Clinton did to the armed forces. When Rumsfeld told that soldier who tried to embarrass him about armor, “you go to war with the Army you have, not the one you want”, he literally meant we had to go to war with the Army Bill Clinton left us.
Bob, No truer words were ever spoken. Clinton literally raped the military during his eight years of hell. It was best summed up for me by an old Sr. M/Sgt who had 22 years in. I was working on a contract for the USAF with him in 1995. He and the other NCO’s were grousing and having a bitch session at the base cafeteria with some of us contractors sitting with them.
This old Sgt. listened to everyone else bitch and sat there quietly. During a lull in the conversation he leaned forward and said, “Ya know, when I enlisted in this chicken-shit outfit it was forbidden to be queer, now they’re telling me it’s optional. I’m gettin’ out before they make it mandatory.”
Needless to say, the table exploded in laughter. Six months later he (and most of the NCO’s at the table) were working for us as government contractors making three times what they had made in Bill CLinton’s Flying Company.
I worked with way too many Airmen who had to collect food stamps each month to get by. We bought them lunch and dinner whenever we could. Under guvmint rules, it was probably against the rules to do so but none of us gave a shit. They were just kids - in the military at the wrong time.
Yep, I like Heinlein’s idea too. It would ct down on the number of idjits who are allowed to vote nowadays - and who usually vote for the party which pays them the most - Democrats.
When you graduate from high school you have a choice: (1) enlist in any of the armed services for four years, or (2) sign up for service in the Peace Corps for four years.
Skipper, you forgot Americorps…
Was that on purpose?
I second Heinlein’s idea. All in favor say ‘Aye’.
(I haven’t read Starship Troopers since high school. Gotta go back and reread that. BTW, the movie sucked.)
Cristopher, that’s because it came out of leftywood. And of course few know how to actually use their minds, if any.
I have no problem with a choice of Peace Corps, Americorps, or the military for four years. I’d have done my own 20 if I wasn’t a cardiac kid. Between the indulged who think they deserve to have a loft condo, new car, cell phone, plasma tv and high power job seconds after being given a high school diploma or the entitled who after dropping out of 9th grade with a 3rd grade education and spawning a few kids, and resting in their government provided apartment, with their government provided food and income and medical care and both groups expecting more and more while contributing less and less.
Society, countries and humanity doesn’t successfully work that way for very long.
Yes to Skipper and all (except the Times). The disconnect that occurred between civilian society and our military as a result of the all volunteer force needs to be closed. I especially like the thought of following Heinlein’s idea of making a serious service to society a prerequisite of full citizenship. Additionally, the education that would then become universally available and/or the seed money would give a boost to our economy the likes of which haven’t been seen since the G.I Bill of WWII.
Oh yeah, a note to the NY Times - before opening mouth, be sure brain is engaged.
