Posted on Apr 15, 2016
America's Military Is in Much Worse Shape Than You’d Think
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RP Members (Active Duty Service Members) do you agree with this article?
America’s military is dangerously weak and unprepared today, and it’s not getting better. At least that’s what top military leaders told Congress recently. Unfortunately, the testimony of these top generals and admirals did not get the attention it deserved.
For the last 15 years, the United States military has not prepared for conflict with a near peer competitor like Russia or China. General Mark Milley, chief of staff of the Army, shared his worries with Congress, explaining that the Army would be able to handle a serious conflict but “not at a level that is appropriate for what the American people would expect to defend them.”
In other words, because soldiers are not adequately prepared, the U.S. Army would either be late to arrive to a conflict (due to more time for training) or they would send soldiers into harm’s way unprepared.
These are not issues isolated to the Army. The Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Robert Neller, when commenting on the ability to meet requirements in a major conflict, said the Marine Corps “would be able to do that but probably not within a timeframe that current plans call for [them] to arrive to participate in that conflict.”
Read the rest of the article at the link above!
America’s military is dangerously weak and unprepared today, and it’s not getting better. At least that’s what top military leaders told Congress recently. Unfortunately, the testimony of these top generals and admirals did not get the attention it deserved.
For the last 15 years, the United States military has not prepared for conflict with a near peer competitor like Russia or China. General Mark Milley, chief of staff of the Army, shared his worries with Congress, explaining that the Army would be able to handle a serious conflict but “not at a level that is appropriate for what the American people would expect to defend them.”
In other words, because soldiers are not adequately prepared, the U.S. Army would either be late to arrive to a conflict (due to more time for training) or they would send soldiers into harm’s way unprepared.
These are not issues isolated to the Army. The Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Robert Neller, when commenting on the ability to meet requirements in a major conflict, said the Marine Corps “would be able to do that but probably not within a timeframe that current plans call for [them] to arrive to participate in that conflict.”
Read the rest of the article at the link above!
America's Military Is in Much Worse Shape Than You’d Think
Posted from dailysignal.com
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Edited 8 y ago
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 21
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That may be true COL Mikel J. Burroughs; but, I doubt it.
The political leaders of this country may have their heads partially in the sand; but the service men and women of this nation will do what they have always done. Do more than is expected with less than is required all the time.
The political leaders of this country may have their heads partially in the sand; but the service men and women of this nation will do what they have always done. Do more than is expected with less than is required all the time.
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LTC Stephen F.
CSM Charles Hayden - I said service men and women will "Do more than is expected with less than is required all the time." They will certainly need guidance on the what, when and where.
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Flag officers have a long tradition of bemoaning their lack of adequate resources. It isn't just limited to Americans either. Currently, I am on the sixth of an eight-volume biography of Winston Churchill and have been wondering how he kept his sanity as he pushed generals and admirals to engage the enemy while they hesitated until they had adequate resources. I often wondered the same while studying about Lincoln while McClellan commanded the Army of the Potomac. Ultimately, the question I would ask (if I were a member of Congress): Which military force would you rather have, theirs or ours?
That being said, the true issue is that America is in deep trouble. It faces two issues that seriously impact its defense preparedness: (1) The lack of a sound economy. We may have great men and machines of war but lack the wherewithal to deploy them effectively. (2) We lack political will and competent political leadership. America is a great body without a head.
That being said, the true issue is that America is in deep trouble. It faces two issues that seriously impact its defense preparedness: (1) The lack of a sound economy. We may have great men and machines of war but lack the wherewithal to deploy them effectively. (2) We lack political will and competent political leadership. America is a great body without a head.
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Capt Seid Waddell
CPT Jack Durish, we are currently hollowed out and having to resort to cannibalizing aircraft for parts to keep other aircraft operational. Some units have less than 25% of their aircraft mission capable.
This happened under Carter too, but the world wasn't as dangerous then.
Elections have consequences.
This happened under Carter too, but the world wasn't as dangerous then.
Elections have consequences.
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CPT John Sheridan
Back in the 1980's, we had appropriate paperwork to complete to ensure that our cannibalizing wasn't called cannibalizing.
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SSgt W. Aaron Gregory
Cannibalizing is a fancy word for reduce, reuse, and recycle. It just wasn't as welcome in the maintenance realm as it was on the outside. In my short career in the USMC's data communications and maintenance world, cannibalization was alive and well. It wasn't necessarily a 4-letter word. We had established (undocumented) protocols used to hide it, though. I liken it to the organ donor program.
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On the unit level, I don't see the issues as documented in the article. However, overall I agree with the article regarding the state of the US Military. The biggest issue that I see is constant deployments with limited manpower. Folks are being worn out.
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