Bigger Army necessary

[unhappycamper]

Bigger Army necessary
Editorial
Posted : Sunday Jan 17, 2010 8:51:00 EST

The Army on three occasions over the past five years has increased active-duty end-strength to meet ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lesson learned: The Army was too small to simultaneously fight on two fronts. That took an incredible toll on troops and their families, who endured multiple war tours of up to 15 months at a stretch. Others paid for it by being forced to serve on “stop-loss” beyond their terms of obligated service. Meanwhile, getting the Army closer to the right size cost billions and took years.

The addition of a total of 65,000 soldiers resulted in today’s authorized end-strength of 547,400 in uniform. In July, Congress has authorized yet another temporary increase, of 22,000 troops.

Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey, concerned about an “era of persistent” conflict projected to continue to 2028, if not longer, is considering whether to seek to make the 22,000 permanent.

Given the grim outlook and the stress on today’s force, he should ask Congress for the increase — and lawmakers should oblige.

Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/army_casey_011710w/



unhappycamper comment: Get a grip guys. We are already spending over 50% of the discretionary budget on the Department of War.

[Fumesucker]

1. Meh, they've already *got* a grip, aka: stranglehold n/t

Using cannons to discourage mosquitoes is remarkably inefficient.

[caraher]

2. Well, both can be true...

that we're spending too much AND that the Army is too small. How much of what we spend is corporate welfare for the arms industry? We saw in Iraq that while we spend billions on being ready to defeat the Soviet Union (yes, I know...) a million little things like adequate body armor fell by the wayside.

That said, I'd much prefer that we stop fighting wars we shouldn't start in the first place to expanding the Army...

[FreakinDJ]

3. Their budget is plaqued with Contractors

$175K contractor standing next to a $20K Marine doing the exact same job

[ThomWV]

4. No - in fact the Army is far too large, by about a factor of 10 I'd say.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. concerned about an “era of persistent” conflict , eh?

That's like the CIA being part of the drug trade, then asking for money to fight the War on Drugs.
ohhhhh.....never mind......:evilgrin: