Pentagon set to reduce Army to pre-WWII levels

[Balog]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/24/us/politics/pentagon-plans-to-shrink-army-to-pre-world-war-ii-level.html?_r=1

Appears they mean the entire .mil not just the Army but I'm not entirely sure.

If this was accompanied by a commensurate reduction in world policing and starting land wars we don't intend to win and occupations we have no intention of actually finishing I would be for it. I suspect it will merely mean dramatically increased op-tempo, reduction in quality training and maintenance (but not PC BS), and the fleeing of quality personnel.

The article really annoyed me as it makes this unstated assumption that if we spool down now we would not be able to ramp back up for a large war in the future. Demonstrably false.

[TommyGunn]

Let's hope this force reduction doesn't result in some foreign entity getting all trigger happy and starting something truly nasty that initiates WW3.  



   

"Only the dead have seen the end of war."~~  Plato.

[Tallpine]

If this was accompanied by a commensurate reduction in world policing and starting land wars we don't intend to win and occupations we have no intention of actually finishing I would be for it.

A worthy goal in and of itself 

[roo_ster]

Well, as long as we get the openly fruity and women into infantry units while reducing standards, it will be worth it.  Because the .mil was originally created so that a slim minority of cultural marxists could bugger it silly while forcing it to salute the flag.  Great for laughs all around.

[Ned Hamford]

With a reduction in force comes a greater reliance on military contractors.  I do think that is the main purpose. 

[roo_ster]

With a reduction in force comes a greater reliance on military contractors.  I do think that is the main purpose. 

Err, maybe.  No way you are going to replace any of the heavy, SBCT, or infantry units with contractors.  And some of those are slated for destruction.

[French G.]

It's in keeping with that small, agile force BS. Hope they keep the equipment, we will get into another real war eventually, not just Team America stuff. Of course within the budget proposal is to keep the F-35 on track and scrap the A-10s since the former has proven its ground attack prowess and the latter is just an expensive boondoggle. Oh wait....

[SADShooter]

With a reduction in force comes a greater reliance on military contractors.  I do think that is the main purpose. 

As retention and training suffer, will not the base of potential skilled contractors also shrink?

[MechAg94]

So will the Pentagon staffing and the NSA also shrink to pre-WWII levels?

[lupinus]

So will the Pentagon staffing and the NSA also shrink to pre-WWII levels?

I'm going with...no.

This, simply put, stupid in all manner of ways.

Sent via tapatalk

[Gowen]

Look at the CIC, he hates the military, he hates that the US is the lone supper power, he hates our freedoms. No wonder he weakening out power and influence.  Nature abhors a vacuum.  Let's hope whatever fills it, is benevolent.

[Regolith]

It's in keeping with that small, agile force BS. Hope they keep the equipment, we will get into another real war eventually, not just Team America stuff. Of course within the budget proposal is to keep the F-35 on track and scrap the A-10s since the former has proven its ground attack prowess and the latter is just an expensive boondoggle. Oh wait....

Don't they keep trying to scrap the A-10 and then keep bringing it back because they literally don't have anything else that fills the same role?

Seems kinda dumb to me.

[Matthew Carberry]

As I recall my history, at some point this means we will be stenciling "Tank" on the side of Ford pick-ups.

[Fitz]

Don't they keep trying to scrap the A-10 and then keep bringing it back because they literally don't have anything else that fills the same role?

Seems kinda dumb to me.

Difference is, congresscritters dont have a financial interest in that airframe ;-)

It's a scary time to be in the military. They're cutting all the wrong things, IMO. Meanwhile, continued frustration is driving good junior officers and good NCOs from the service, leaving the turds to float to the top.

[French G.]

Difference is, congresscritters dont have a financial interest in that airframe ;-)

Winner, winner. Stuff like the F-35, new destroyers or whatever sells in multiple districts.

[RevDisk]

Difference is, congresscritters dont have a financial interest in that airframe ;-)

It's a scary time to be in the military. They're cutting all the wrong things, IMO. Meanwhile, continued frustration is driving good junior officers and good NCOs from the service, leaving the turds to float to the top.

Ayep. DoD civilian employee budget is exploding, ditto contractors. They're compensating by stripping veteran benefits and cutting combat capacity.

Why they don't gut the paperpusher hierarchy with a chainsaw, I have no idea.

[dogmush]

Because the Paper pushers are the one's deciding who to cut.  Such is the tale of armies throughout history.  The [logistical] tail soon wags the dog.

[roo_ster]

Ayep. DoD civilian employee budget is exploding, ditto contractors. They're compensating by stripping veteran benefits and cutting combat capacity.

Why they don't gut the paperpusher hierarchy with a chainsaw, I have no idea.

In the previous round of cut & reorg, the Army planned for something similar in the combat units, shucking off lots of HHC green-suiters.  Preserved combat power and all systems at the pointy end.  This round looks to gut quite a bit of capability.  It is almost as if their civvie masters were pissed that some smart officers were able to meet the objectives without losing capability.

Heard a rumor that ALL the remaining ABCTs (equipped with Abrams, Bradley, & other mech warfare gear) were to be pushed into NG.  Because the assumption is that we will not meet a heavy threat.  Think on that.  The only active duty heavies would be USMC Abrams.  The only heavies ready for deployment RFN are the tank platoons in the MEUs.  That is four Abrams.  And not even our best Abrams (USMC fields M1A1).

[Tallpine]

Look at the CIC, he hates the military, he hates that the US is the lone supper power, he hates our freedoms. No wonder he weakening out power and influence.  Nature abhors a vacuum.  Let's hope whatever fills it, is benevolent.

So why does He keep trying to start new wars every 15 minutes 

[Balog]

In the previous round of cut & reorg, the Army planned for something similar in the combat units, shucking off lots of HHC green-suiters.  Preserved combat power and all systems at the pointy end.  This round looks to gut quite a bit of capability.  It is almost as if their civvie masters were pissed that some smart officers were able to meet the objectives without losing capability.

Heard a rumor that ALL the remaining ABCTs (equipped with Abrams, Bradley, & other mech warfare gear) were to be pushed into NG.  Because the assumption is that we will not meet a heavy threat.  Think on that.  The only active duty heavies would be USMC Abrams.  The only heavies ready for deployment RFN are the tank platoons in the MEUs.  That is four Abrams.  And not even our best Abrams (USMC fields M1A1).

Similar to the way heavy transport and MP units got shifted to the Guards before Iraq and Afghanistan.

Because the Paper pushers are the one's deciding who to cut.  Such is the tale of armies throughout history.  The [logistical] tail soon wags the dog.

Yep.

[makattak]

In the previous round of cut & reorg, the Army planned for something similar in the combat units, shucking off lots of HHC green-suiters.  Preserved combat power and all systems at the pointy end.  This round looks to gut quite a bit of capability.  It is almost as if their civvie masters were pissed that some smart officers were able to meet the objectives without losing capability.

Heard a rumor that ALL the remaining ABCTs (equipped with Abrams, Bradley, & other mech warfare gear) were to be pushed into NG.  Because the assumption is that we will not meet a heavy threat.  Think on that.  The only active duty heavies would be USMC Abrams.  The only heavies ready for deployment RFN are the tank platoons in the MEUs.  That is four Abrams.  And not even our best Abrams (USMC fields M1A1).

Our elites are CERTAIN we're never fighting another conventional war against a comparable power.

As such, there is no need, whatsoever, to prepare for such a war.

...

What's that? Something about being prepared for it means you'll never have to fight it? Si vis pacem, para bellum?

Ah... who cares what some old white guy said?

[Scout26]

We always prepare to fight the last war.  Along with the entire "not learning from history" in that every time we've cut waaaaaayyyyy back, someone else build waaaaaaayyyyyy up and then gets cocky.

[RevDisk]

In the previous round of cut & reorg, the Army planned for something similar in the combat units, shucking off lots of HHC green-suiters.  Preserved combat power and all systems at the pointy end.  This round looks to gut quite a bit of capability.  It is almost as if their civvie masters were pissed that some smart officers were able to meet the objectives without losing capability.

Heard a rumor that ALL the remaining ABCTs (equipped with Abrams, Bradley, & other mech warfare gear) were to be pushed into NG.  Because the assumption is that we will not meet a heavy threat.  Think on that.  The only active duty heavies would be USMC Abrams.  The only heavies ready for deployment RFN are the tank platoons in the MEUs.  That is four Abrams.  And not even our best Abrams (USMC fields M1A1).

If I'm understanding that correctly... That is insane, to put it mildly. ALL armor brigades going to the NG? I think a lot higher of the NG than a lot of folks, but having ZERO active duty armor brigades is nuts. You'd want some for Korea, at a minimum, and a couple more in case of a smaller power losing their marbles. Between this and the DoD betting damn near everything on the F-35, we're going to be in a very rough patch. The only plus side is the Navy is doing well, we have 10 active carriers and two in reserve. 

We'll be in short straights with virtually no heavy armor and restricted fighter airframes across all of the services. Only plus side is that the US is unlikely to be invaded. Canada and Mexico don't exactly have a lot of offensive military capacity.

[Scout26]

Yeah, I don't think all the AD Armor/Mech is going away.   They just shipped a battalions worth back to Europe after 2CR got their azzes handed to them in a recent NATO exercise.  Seems that Strykers can't go toe-to-toe with heavy armor.   Who knew? 

[tokugawa]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/24/us/politics/pentagon-plans-to-shrink-army-to-pre-world-war-ii-level.html?_r=1

The article really annoyed me as it makes this unstated assumption that if we spool down now we would not be able to ramp back up for a large war in the future. Demonstrably false.

   If we get hit by a heavyweight actor, it is going to be over in days or weeks.  They still know what war is.
 It will be all in. They will blind us, cripple us and kill us. There will no no ramping up time at all.