Army, Marine Corps To Ask for More Troops

[maddezmom]

The Army and Marine Corps are planning to ask incoming Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Congress to approve permanent increases in personnel, as senior officials in both services assert that the nation's global military strategy has outstripped their resources.

In addition, the Army will press hard for "full access" to the 346,000-strong Army National Guard and the 196,000-strong Army Reserves by asking Gates to take the politically sensitive step of easing the Pentagon restrictions on the frequency and duration of involuntary call-ups for reservists, according to two senior Army officials.


The push for more ground troops comes as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have sharply decreased the readiness of Army and Marine Corps units rotating back to the United States, compromising the ability of U.S. ground forces to respond to other potential conflicts around the world.

"The Army has configured itself to sustain the effort in Iraq and, to a lesser degree, in Afghanistan. Beyond that, you've got some problems," said one of the senior Army officials. "Right now, the strategy exceeds the capability of the Army and Marines." This official and others interviewed for this report spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about the matter.

more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/12/AR2006121201697.html?nav=hcmodule

same thing going on in the UK:
Warning on military staffing levels
Dec 13 2006

Undermanning in the armed forces is creating a "clear danger" that the military will be unable to maintain its commitments in the medium term, an influential committee of MPs has warned.

With major deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans and forces working in a total of 28 countries, the services are operating "in insufficient numbers and without all the equipment they need", said the House of Commons Defence Committee.

In a report, the committee stopped short of branding the armed forces "overstretched", but warned that the level of commitments was impacting on morale, training and readiness to deploy on new missions.

The Chief of General Staff, General Sir Richard Dannatt, was "reflecting a view widely held in the armed services" when he said that the military covenant between service personnel and the Government could be undermined if current levels of commitment were maintained.

more: http://iccroydon.icnetwork.co.uk/advertiser/uk/tm_headline=warning-on-military-staffing-levels&method=full&objectid=18253892&siteid=106484-name_page.html

[Earth_First]

1. Hold onto your butts...

It's time to dog out the military (again).

[aquart]

2. What does "dog out" mean?

[wellst0nev0ter]

3. Army STRAWWWNG! (n/t)

[rodeodance]

4. asking for control over the Nat. guard. NOT good

[Dover]

7. Bingo.

[Joe Bacon]

5. So when is George P Bush gonna sign up?

I guess when the polar ice caps melt, OOPS...

[elehhhhna]

6. NO NO NO NO NO.

[Tom Joad]

21. I would be even more emphatic than elehhhhna.

[gratuitous]

8. Well, that didn't take long

For years we've been assured by the corrupt Bush administration that they had all the troops they needed to prosecute two elective wars. No need to talk of a draft; the little Risk pieces could just be used over and over again. Recruitment quotas missed? No problem, just lower the quotas, and we'll hit our targets. Still having trouble? How about lowering those pesky standards? I mean, does some grunt really need a high school diploma to learn how to point a weapon and push a button? And why be so picky about some youthful indiscretions that might have attracted the attention of the local constabulary? We need a few bad boys in the ranks, too -- for diversity, like the liberals are always on about.

Anyone remember candidate George W. Bush yammering on about combat units having to report "Not ready for duty, sir"? Me neither.

[saigon68]

9. Recruit a few more PSYCHOPATHS

[pcboss49]

10. GWB tells Iraq Generals to ask him for more troops - makes it look more plausible to the media....

who is pulling whose strings here?

[maddezmom]

12. Generals in Afghanistan have been asking for 20,000 for a while

and still haven't gotten them, because there are no troops.

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

24. Why aren't there any more troops?

Army/Marines are supposedly making above quota:

http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=42140

[Nordmadr]

11. This will continue the drop off of people willing to sign up

for the Reserves and Guard. They sign up for the Reserves and Guard for a reason. They don't want to be Active Duty. Sure, go ahead and change the scope of obligation for people that have already signed up under a different set of rules. Seems kind of drafty to me. How is it you can't modify that contract you sign your name to, but the government can change it without your permission?

"Yes, Sgt. I know we told you wouldn't have to serve that much time on Active Duty, but hey, shit happens". Now get on that plane"!

Perhaps they should scale back their missions until they can expand the Armed Forces if necessary, and not screw over these folks already in. Wait, I forget, you get into optional wars with the Army you have, not the one you wish you had... :sarcasm:

Olafr
Veteran (Army National Guard (90-91), United States Navy (91-95))

[FreeStateDemocrat]

13. Going to follow the Viet Nam script right to the bitter end and keep stacking bodies.

[sabra]

14. according to Rummy this request will embolden the terrorists...

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/sabra/3496

[Nickster]

15. Oh shit.......oh shit..............oh shit....................n/t

[Captain Hilts]

16. The ones we have already are exhausted. nt

[Posteritatis]

17. The army doesn't have access to its own reserves?

How's that work?

[kineneb]

18. "and its one, two, three, what are we fightin' for...

don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
next stop is (Iraq-nam, Afghanistan, fill in blank)..."

the military is broken and "broke", so throw more bodies from the reserves in there...

this is becoming a tragic opera before our very eyes... (IdoiotBoy and Generals sing arias, audience makes body count on stage at end of performance)

[Javaman]

19. When living in bizarro times, everything that once was held true

is now the opposite.

So the Iraqi Study Group says to cut the troops and now we are going to increase them.

Are any of us really surprised by this?

[lebkuchen]

20. Stripes says the army/marines are over 100% in making recruitment goals

Just another WTF moment from the Bush administration~

All active branches met or surpassed November recruiting goals


Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, December 13, 2006

ARLINGTON, Va. — All active branches of the service met or surpassed their November recruiting goals, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.

The Army topped the list with 6,485 new recruits, or 105 percent of its recruiting goal, a Defense Department news release says. Of the other services: The Marine Corps achieved 104 percent of its goal with 2,095 recruits; the Navy met 100 percent of its goal with 2,887 recruits; and the Air Force hit 100 percent of its goal with 1,877 recruits.

[Tom Joad]

22. Get the troops the hell out of Iraq. Now. Problem solved.

[qwlauren35]

23. I just figured it out!!!!

THIS IS THE ANSWER!!!

To all of the unemployment in the US from manufacturing jobs going overseas!

Somehow, I just didn't see it before.

Now, the next thing I expect is for the Armed Forces to loosen restrictions on ex-felons in the military.

Watch those US unemployment stats drop like hot potatoes!!!! And just think, whenever the soldiers get killed, it opens up NEW JOBS!!!

How do I import that sarcasm icon???


:sarcasm: