Gen. Peter Schoomaker the Army Chief of Staff gave testimony to the Commisions on the Role of the Army Reserve and National Guard. It was pretty enlighteneing and heartening. He is not happy with the "Vollunteer" effort with regard to deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan. I might not have labled that program correctly so let me explain. After 9-11 the Military called for Reserve and National Guard vollunteers to deploy with units. So take a transportation unit from XYZ state. Individuals from that unit have the opportunity to vollunteer to deploy with other combat units as long as that individual meets certain requirments of course with respect to combat readiness. Now...that transportation unit has lost some of its members so lets say that at a later date that unit is called up as a whole. Thats unit, not being fully staffed, must now call on soldiers from various other states. This happens quite a bit now a days with the current ops tempo. Some units have had to pull from some 5 or 6 states. This has lead to problems with unit cohesion, and readiness. A Marine comander stated that he could attribute actual casualties and deaths to problems related to cohesion and readiness.
Another topic was the amount of defense spending compared to GDP during wartime. In WWII we spent 45%, Korea was 15%, Vietnam was 6% and we are now at 3% of GDP. I was thinking that it might not be a fare comparison. Apples to Oranges. Gen. Shoomaker said it was far too low and advised that it should increase by 100% to 6% of GDP. So take our GDP nowadays and double Army spending....! WOW. I say its a good thing. At the current tempo and commitment the equipment is suffering. Gen. Shoomaker described it as "building an airplane while its in flight and people are taking parts off the wings.".
Our guard and reserve troops are now doing the same job as regular active duty troops. They are no longer a stratigic option and have become an operational necessity. Take two soldiers as an example. Both soldiers are in combat side by side for the same period of time. One is Army Guard and one is Regular Army. Lets now say that both are killed in action. There is quite a desparity in the benefits that the Guard soldier is entitled to when compared to the those of the regular Army soldier. Less life insurance, lower medical benefits, .........You get the idea.
Its just good to see that congress is looking at the immoral desparity in benefits between the Reserve, Guard, and Regular Army. Lets hope and pray that they DO somthing about it and take care of those folks that NO LONGER just do one weekend a month and two weeks a year. You have friends and family in the Guard and Reserve. Now is the time to take an interest, learn, and take action by writing to those that represent you.
NOTE: These are just my opinions on some of these issues while other points are statements on the record from military commanders. Some of these points do not apply to every individual Army unit. They do apply to the Army as a whole. I am VERY well informed. ( I watch CSPAN baby!!)
Another topic was the amount of defense spending compared to GDP during wartime. In WWII we spent 45%, Korea was 15%, Vietnam was 6% and we are now at 3% of GDP. I was thinking that it might not be a fare comparison. Apples to Oranges. Gen. Shoomaker said it was far too low and advised that it should increase by 100% to 6% of GDP. So take our GDP nowadays and double Army spending....! WOW. I say its a good thing. At the current tempo and commitment the equipment is suffering. Gen. Shoomaker described it as "building an airplane while its in flight and people are taking parts off the wings.".
Our guard and reserve troops are now doing the same job as regular active duty troops. They are no longer a stratigic option and have become an operational necessity. Take two soldiers as an example. Both soldiers are in combat side by side for the same period of time. One is Army Guard and one is Regular Army. Lets now say that both are killed in action. There is quite a desparity in the benefits that the Guard soldier is entitled to when compared to the those of the regular Army soldier. Less life insurance, lower medical benefits, .........You get the idea.
Its just good to see that congress is looking at the immoral desparity in benefits between the Reserve, Guard, and Regular Army. Lets hope and pray that they DO somthing about it and take care of those folks that NO LONGER just do one weekend a month and two weeks a year. You have friends and family in the Guard and Reserve. Now is the time to take an interest, learn, and take action by writing to those that represent you.
NOTE: These are just my opinions on some of these issues while other points are statements on the record from military commanders. Some of these points do not apply to every individual Army unit. They do apply to the Army as a whole. I am VERY well informed. ( I watch CSPAN baby!!)
posted by Adam at 2:32 AM
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