Reserves' copters lag in shielding from attack, Army says

[SaintLouisBlues]

Phil Dine
Washington Bureau2003, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
11/08/2003

WASHINGTON - Some Chinook helicopters belonging to active-duty units in Iraq are equipped with newer protective gear than helicopters used by National Guard units, including the one that was shot down last week, the Army acknowledges.

At least two active-duty Chinook units in Iraq, and possibly others, have the ALE-47, a new infrared missile countermeasure system, said an Army official, who spoke on behalf of the Army but on condition of anonymity.

(snip)

The controversy over alleged disparate treatment of reserve components may intensify in light of the planned troop rotation Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced Thursday - which has reserve forces increasing in both numbers and proportion as overall forces decline.

At present, the United States has 102,000 active-duty troops and 28,000 reserve troops in Iraq. By spring, that is expected to shift to 66,000 active forces and 39,000 reservists.

http://tinyurl.com/u8ak

More military bungling by the neocons. The Pentagon is too busy
spending money on missile defense and first-class airline tickets
to properly arm and protect soldiers in the field.

[politicat]

1. Not *just* the Pentagon, unfortunately.

"More military bungling by the neocons. The Pentagon is too busy
spending money on missile defense and first-class airline tickets
to properly arm and protect soldiers in the field."

While it would be great if we could just blame this on the Pentagon, the rank and file supply command has to take some of the credit/blame for the lack of functional equipment that non-regulars have to deal with. The fact is that supply distribution comes from the local command, not from the Pentagon. And like any organization that has to supply both themselves and a "competitor", it doesn't take a genius to see where the best stuff is going to go.

My father was a Navy officer, so I grew up on bases. I'm married to a now out, National Guardsman that went to Iraq I in 1991. This type of thing was a major problem for Reserve Units and Guard Units all over the country and to my knowledge, continues in all areas of equipage.

In far too many cases, the "weekend warriors" are considered about 2 micrometers above pond scum to the regular forces. Start with the name calling: Weekend Warriors, Boy Scouts with Heavy Artillery, The Retreads (for Reserves)... this list goes on, and on, and on, and I heard thousands of them growing up in an active duty household.

The guard and reserve units get the worst of the equipment; even the Marines, who complain that they do more with less than any other branch don't get stuck with the rotting tents, Surplus reject uniforms (you know they're bad when the surplus stores won't take them!) vehicles sans parts, weapons sans ammunition or non-functional to begin with....

Unfortunately, and I hate having to be fair to the Pentagon and the neocons, this is a pervasive issue that is throughout the chain of command. And try as I might, I can't think of a way to fix it.

Politicat

[DUreader]

2. What about the privatized aspects of the supply chain?

where do they fit in?

[SaintLouisBlues]

4. I giving zero tolerance to the military decision makers

You seem to know your military supply chain, but less well-equipped
Guard and Reserves shouldn't be doing hostile occupation duty in
the first place. And with the billion dollar a day military budget,
there should be no excuses.

[truthisfreedom]

3. doin' it on the cheap... sending american guardsmen in flying vw buses...

sounds like some of those trillions have been spent on the wrong stuff by the military. no accounting for it either...