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The mother of all reviews

By Philip Ewing Thursday, April 14th, 2011 1:19 pm
Posted in Policy

President Obama was calling for an altogether new review on Wednesday in saying he, Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen would search for places to cut the Pentagon’s budget over the long term — or so DoD understands. When’s it going to start? Who’s going to run it? There aren’t many details, and the White House apparently hasn’t issued instructions for what’s going to happen next, but this much we do know: Obama wasn’t referring to a Quadrennial Defense Review or any of the other regularly scheduled reviews, said Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan.

For many people inside the Beltway, life is review whack-a-mole. A general wants a study on what to do about a program. Members of Congress want reviews about why DoD should buy the widget produced in their districts. The budget is coming up. Or there’s a big one like the QDR, the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review, the Quadrennial Missile Defense Review, and so on. Often these reports appear with great fanfare and have absolutely no effect. Every once in awhile, a review will uncover something the brass doesn’t want to see the light of day, and so the report never materializes.

But a big, unscheduled “fundamental review of America’s missions, capabilities, and our role in a changing world,” as Obama called for Wednesday, is definitely unusual. This is bigger than whether DoD should buy 41 more F/A-18s. This could raise long-simmering questions about whether the services should be funded unequally — we’re never going to fight another big land war, right? (The argument goes.) So cut the Army and Marines and grow the Navy and Air Force. Or could it mean fewer troops forward deployed in Europe and Asia? Could it mean the U.S. scales back its nuclear umbrella?

So not only will DoD be forced into a major review to define its future, it will force Washington to confront some unpleasant realities about the future of American power.

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	Old Loggie April 14th, 2011 at 2:23 pm Yet another “fundamental review of America’s missions, capabilities, and our role in a changing world”? Such grand ’”reviews” have been going on ever since Les Aspin launched the Bottom-Up Review in 1993 for God’s sake — and none of them have ever led to any substantive change in the way the DOD has been used — and abused– by political leaders (of both political stripes) over the last 20 years. The DOD is doing fine in terms of providing natioanl security, and if DOD leaders are smart, they will simply ignore this latest political blather from the President and press on with the overhead reduction efforts that have already been launched.
	BOOMER April 14th, 2011 at 2:42 pm I have an ideal — go to a 10% flat tax on all incomes and profits with no deductions or rebates and give us taxpayers a form and a book with codes to select where and how much of our tax dollars we want to contribute like we do for CFC donations and such and we recieve a monthly statement back of what we paid to these organizations. If I want to give 40% to the military, 20% to public education, 20% to police & FF, 10% to medical research, and 10% to infrastructure, then that is where my tax dollars go and no place else (not to social programs — foreign aid — calfornia field mouse or freshwater carfish breeding habits, nowhere else period). I bet this kind of control of the government would give them a rude awakening.
	VItesse et Puissance April 14th, 2011 at 2:44 pm This is all about finding money to cut as part of the President’s counter to the Ryan budget. Simple math; $400 billion divided by twelve years equals a $33 1/3 billion reduction per year. As much as this would impact real people and real capabilities — it hardly rises to the level of changing America’s role and strategy in the world. Where does the rhetoric come from, then ? Elsewhere, that is where.
	J "AJ" Donnley April 14th, 2011 at 2:56 pm Chopping Block, shopping list: JSF, F-22, Next Gen Bomber. These three platforms alone would pay off the National Debit in Savings. This is not hard.
	Byron Skinner April 14th, 2011 at 3:36 pm Good Afternoon Folks, A rather odd post. Based on Editor Ewing’s logic the US Army should still be in the horse Calvary business and the USN should be fighting for more battleships. Fighting wars is a dynamic human activity and is an accelerator on innovations on how to kill a fellow human being. Currently major weapons platforms and systems are taking decades if not a generation to develop by the time are ready for the show they are obsolete. The current crop of “future” manned combat aircraft are good example of this. The idea that all services should have equal funding is of course absurd. Currently the costs of land warfare is prohibitive to all countries but the United States. Meanwhile the seas have become the battle ground of necessity and or choice where inexpensive ships can find large lucrative targets. The Air Force who depends on foreign bases to keep it near the areas of conflict is being pushed back to CONUS. A recent example on this site, a home for US African Command. It’s down right silly for an area commands not to be based in the area where it is operational but Central Command, Pacific Command and Southern Command with Africa Command will are/will be just that. Here is a though with all these commands based in the US why no consolidate them just into World Command, add Space and do even better and call it Universal Command. If the Air Force no longer requires the resources to support overseas bases, it doesn’t need as many aircraft, in that if based in CONUS the theater they are dispatched to makes no difference. The Air Force would need far less money the say the Navy who has to support deployed ships and maintain a supply and communications between CONUS and deployed groups and individual ships. The ground forces which also act as occupiers of foreign land after the US takes over an area will require far less personal as the US gives up it’s colonial assets around the world. As for foreign threats, as usual Admiral Atlantic and Admiral Pacific has the US covered. ALLONS, Byron Skinner
	OEF_Veteran April 14th, 2011 at 4:48 pm I think we certainly need a review…but I am afraid it will miss many of the small things that could add up to bug $$$. What we need is a shift in mindset about spending and what is actually important…oh yeah. I would throw more of our force into the Reserves as well…do we really need such a large active-duty force?
	@E_L_P April 14th, 2011 at 4:58 pm Operation:USELESS DIRT at $2-3B per week. There is your “savings”.
	@7thwave April 14th, 2011 at 5:12 pm Another review.…I see a return to the hollow army of the 80’s and 90’s…where NCOs run around not paying attention to their troops readiness, readiness levels slip under the guise that “air power” wins all, and over all defense is gutted, and left in a stalemate with soldiers lives on the line when the next war does break out. And believe me, it will. It always does.
	@7thwave April 14th, 2011 at 5:19 pm Current national policy has to change if America wants to gut its defensive posture around the world. We need to stop policing up every Libya by sending bombers at other nations request. We need to focus on inside of our borders and keep the threats along the Mexican border in check. We need to stop rescuing every damsel in distress…because the DoD is NOT the local rescue group…it is a war fighting machine with a single mission, and that is to close with and destroy the enemy. In a nut shell for you congressmen and senators…change American foreign policy…we are not the worlds police men! Gutting national defense in a time of uncertainty and prolonged conflict is wrong. It creates a hollow force. Fully incapable of fighting today s wars, let alone tomorrows.
	sferrin April 14th, 2011 at 5:39 pm Ah, another one who thinks airframes have infinite life times. Either of those or altogether are chump change compared to entitlements. THOSE are the things that need to go.
	sferrin April 14th, 2011 at 5:41 pm Something we agree on. Pull everybody back from Iraq and Afghanistan pronto. Do the same in Europe (they’re plenty capable of dealing with their own problems).
	@Earlydawn April 14th, 2011 at 5:50 pm This argument only works when you think of the Air Force as a Tac Air provider and nothing else. Like it or not, the Air Force will control the entirety of U.S. Strategic Bombers, the majority of the space force, and the lion’s share of airborne ISR assets. If anything, the Air Force should get away from Tac Air and specialize in strategic air power.
	J "AJ" Donnley April 14th, 2011 at 5:54 pm Chopping Block, shopping list: JSF, F-22, Next Gen Bomber. These three platforms alone would pay off the National Debit in Savings. Fire, Admrial Mullins, and his damn Stealth Boat This is not hard.
	sw614 April 14th, 2011 at 7:15 pm Oh good lord, more overstated BS. F-22 — mostly paid for JSF — thn what will replace aging airframes already being retired? NGB — again need to replace aging airframes. Bombers currently offer the ONLY platform that can deliver conventional weapons basing from CONUS. All current airframes are performing stellar work in all three areas of ongoing operations. Considering national debt is $14.2 TRILLION, I doubt these 3 programs with a total cost of around $600 BILLION would pay off the national debt.
	sw614 April 14th, 2011 at 7:24 pm The number of acft required is not based on number of overseas bases, but requirements set forth by national policy. The USAF has closed many overseas bases in the last 20 years and the ones left (with an exception or two) allow us to maintain a forward presence in potential areas of concern. ALL US forces operating outside CONUS need bases somewhere in the theater of operation, does not matter if USN, USA, or USMC. Combining commands on a scale you envision will create nothing but an overweight elephant. Keep in mind land forces can control an area or region, but it is ships and acft that can influence events across continents and oceans.
	William C. April 14th, 2011 at 7:44 pm There is no reasoning with that guy, he keeps spamming the same things over and over.
	Bob April 14th, 2011 at 8:12 pm I agree.… do we really need to be in Iraq and Afghanistan ? do really need all these bases worldwide? 12 nuclear carriers.… really? how about a larger fleet of nuclear subs instead.… harder to find, efficient and less vulnerable. Do we really need another 1.2 billion dollar bomber? so we can crash them 3000 JSFs.… really the story going on and on.. 6000 Abrams who are we going to fight that warrants all of this .… Iran.… Venezuela who? just got to keep the DOD and their defense contractor buddies happy so sad
	William C. April 14th, 2011 at 9:42 pm I’ll agree that we shouldn’t be providing the defense of other countries, yet gutting our forces like that simply isn’t smart. The Navy including those nuclear carriers and the USAF’s strategic bombers become all the more important without all of those base. There is no reason to scrap perfectly good Abrams either.
	IronV April 14th, 2011 at 11:11 pm You’d have a hard time refuting the proposition that the Army the US fielded in the first Persian Gulf War wasn’t the finest we’ve ever had. All Volunteer, coupled with the crack 7th Corps from Europe and a US Air Force and Navy built to kick the hell out of the Soviets. The best.
	J "AJ" Donnley April 15th, 2011 at 6:16 am JSF Manufacturing: You need Help with your Math. $150,000,000.00 times 2600 Plus equals? F-22 Sustainment Cost 240,000,000.00 per year, NGB, God Only knows.…if it is close to the Unstalth B-2 I would say 1.5 Billion Each times 80 plus sustainment cost over the next 40 years. Not in the Government Hey??? Good Luck with Lockheed.…
	J "AJ" Donnley April 15th, 2011 at 6:17 am William, You are way off base.
	Vitesse et Puissance April 15th, 2011 at 6:47 am How many tanks do you think nthe Regular Army can put into the field today ? The number isn’t even close to 6000.
	Vitesse et Puissance April 15th, 2011 at 6:59 am Time was, when the active army was 16 divisions. Our motto back then was “Fight outnumbered and win”. Well, Reagan pushed it up to 18 incomplete divisions, and before yuou knew it, the Cold War ended, and Bush the Elder took the force down to 12 divisions, just after Desert Storm. Then Bill Clinton became president, Army end strength was settled at about half of Cold War levels and we had 10 divisions. That was the “peace dividend”. Pacificist organizations like Foreign Policy in Focus wanted to take it down even more and turn the army into a police force, not really capable of fighting a real war. The Reserves are perpetually unready, it takes way to long to get National Guard units out of hock. Why does the US Army have to live perpetually under the curse of fighting outnumbered to win ? That is a pretty arrogant strategic stance.
	Vitesse et Puissance April 15th, 2011 at 7:05 am There is nothing wrong with the United States defending other countries where that is in our national interest. That is what alliances are for. I fear this administration is gradually pulling away from the idea of the United States acting as a stabilizing force in the world. Why ? Weakness and cowardice mostly, combined with a certain degree of self-loathing that began with the Vietnam war. The budgetary argument is just an excuse.
	James April 15th, 2011 at 7:29 am True. The budget argumen is just the method for Barry to gut US defenses. His GD america pastor is proud of his little man child.
	BOOMER April 15th, 2011 at 10:34 am Depends on where that field is and time constraints to get them there — but they are all in good shape and ready to go, I should know considering we have one of the worlds largest inventories that we maintain where I work and the ammo close by to load them up and personnel to man them.
	BOOMER April 15th, 2011 at 10:37 am Right on the nose with that one, with those bases being closed foward deployed carrier battle groups and MEU’s will be our main deterrence to conventioal wars meaning they will need to be put to sea more often and for longer periods in greater numbers or we will fall from grace as the worlds super power.
	freefallingbomb April 15th, 2011 at 1:12 pm Part 1 / 2 Just one “tiny” suggestion in relation to all your countless Army, Airforce and Navy bases abroad: Why don’t the U.S.A. 1) just bring home every single soldier (and his family) from their foreign bases, except for a) some permanent sentries, b) advanced air / missile defense, c) large, well-protected stocks of forward based military supplies (vehicles, weapons, spare parts, ammunition, fuel, etc.), but 2) keep renting these bases… EMPTY , just in case one day the U.S.A. might need them again? (Continued)
	freefallingbomb April 15th, 2011 at 1:13 pm Part 2 / 2 At the slightest sign of trouble in any spot of the World, you return to all the nearest bases. As soon as the problems subside, you come home again. Like a vacant house: It’s empty, but it’s yours, to visit it as often and whenever you want. And it would certainly put a much friendlier face on the U.S.A. worldwide – take my word for it. After the Falkland War, Great Britain reduced its forces on these sheep-inhabitated islands again to about 1 % (or less) of the wartime strength and left NO heavy equipment behind either. Apparently it didn’t do them any harm!
	BOOMER April 15th, 2011 at 1:22 pm Why would we want to leave anything behind and continue to pay other countries billions every year to rent bases we dont need? the ideal is to save money and let the rest of the world figure out how to pay their debts without help from us while we tend to our own.
	William C. April 15th, 2011 at 1:44 pm I would say the Army was at it’s peak during much of the 80s.
	BOOMER April 15th, 2011 at 3:52 pm We are looking to close the over seas bases to save funds and mind our own business. Plus if other countries would stop coming to us begging for our envolvement (like the french with lybia) we would gladly stay out of a lot of frays because we are tired of you getting us into fights and running away and talking bad about us when you get back home. Now that france has figured out their AF is insufficient they are trying and sqealing for us to get back into the lybia fight (where is your arogance and we are a superior to you super power feelings now????????).
	Champ April 15th, 2011 at 4:01 pm Cutting the number of meetings, power point charts, program meetings, overseeing defense contractors who have been deveopling, designing, building and fielding weapons systems for decades now will not harm the defense posture and programs. It is time to cut the tail down to size.
	pfcem April 15th, 2011 at 7:58 pm BS. Cutting those three programs (never mind the reality of how VITAL they are) would not even “solve” the DOD budget problems much less the entire US Government budget problems. It really is not that difficult, ‘simply’ compare recent US budgets to say 25 years ago & see where the out of control spending is…
	pfcem April 15th, 2011 at 8:01 pm The JSF isn’t going to cost $150 million each once production ramps up. Closer to HALF that much during full rate production.
	pfcem April 15th, 2011 at 8:09 pm I will tell you why NOT. Because that is the isolationist thinking which lead to WWI & WWII and the inability of the US to respond to them in a timely fashion.
	BB-63 April 16th, 2011 at 12:37 am absolutely all our armed forces were top notch by late 80’s. M-1, Bradley, F-117,B-1B, F-15E, M-X, Trident, BB61-64, V Corps, VII Corps, 24 Mech, All designed/upgraded to put warheads on Soviet foreheads. Had to slap down Saddam instead. Our future armed forces… Looks like a return to the hollow military of the mid to late 1970’s.
	arthur April 16th, 2011 at 6:31 pm in his quest to reduce US “superiority” Pres. Obama is wearing down and reducing to US military. He is taking steps to “internationalize” US foreign policy. i.e. Libya. He has the anti Nuke pact with Russia reducing our capability while allowing their modernization. Combat capability and research should not be curtailed or compromised. Should there be future problems we respond with what we have.
	arthur April 16th, 2011 at 6:39 pm air fields and bases once closed do not remain as such they become civilian development areas, new housing industrial parks etc They are NOT available for future need. Forward based equipment MUST be protected by US forces especially in sensitive areas, who knows where someonelses’ military will be in time of upheaval. US policy is still based on oil access and route protection, including sea lanes and pipe lines
	J "AJ" Donnley April 18th, 2011 at 11:25 pm Eliminate the Following: B-2 (Air-Condition Wonder of the World), NGB, JSF and F-22. Stealth is Dead (See information below) and there is simply no reason to have a manned aircraft flying over any target anywhere in the World under any circumstances. We have Stand-Off Strike Weapons as well as Unmanned Strikers that can eliminate any Target including Grass Huts and Camel Factories. The S-400 better known as the SA-21 Triumf has the following characteristics for all you home gamers: The S-400 SA-21 is capable of destroying stealth aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles with an effective range of up to 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) and a speed of up to 4.8 kilometers (3 miles) per second. Did you really think after we lost the F-117 in 1999 that our enemies would not exploit this data and find a WAY TO DEFETE STEALTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where have you people Been. WE are flogging a DEAD Horse and SPENDING Billions and TRILLION on outdated Technology… e.g. JSF, B-2, and NGB. For what??? Grass Huts and Camel Farms
	seaAdamwest April 20th, 2011 at 6:59 pm It’s time our politicians in DC stop worrying about our country being the “King” of the world and start worrying about our own country. We don’t need to give funds to people who oppose their government ie., Libya and Syria, that is an internal problem and should be resolved by the people in their own country. Currently we spend in excess of $500 billion in Defense while the next highest figure is from China which is less than 100 billion. Additionally as the world’s largest arms dealer, we sell to poor countries who either end up attacking or being attacked by other countries. I also believe it’s time to stop pay raises in DC Government and eliminate their retirement pay. Though they are paid by our taxdollar, there main concern is how much can they siphon off from doing favors!
	Emanuel Paese April 20th, 2011 at 7:38 pm The first thing thay want to do is CUT Veterans Health Benifits. Get real boys Start by cutting THE BIG BOYS AT THE TOP. Us Vets are tired of getting our stuff cut. We put our LIVES ON THE LINE for you. Show some respect and give us our Medical bennifits that we need. I don’t think that is too much to ask for when we volintered to fight for YOUR FREEDOM.
	Old Warrant April 20th, 2011 at 7:55 pm Not much more than a “Do It Yourself” Colonoscopy.
	Joseph Russo April 20th, 2011 at 7:57 pm Obama is another Democrat prez that wants to gut the military. We are losing all our allies overseas and he want to end any NATO/ SEATO obligations to justify his domestic spending. He has already gutted the Nuclear Shield in Europe to appease the Russians. He will love the Middle East to death just to show that he wants peace in a world that has been at war for 2000+ years. He worships the Muslim world and bows to their royalty but insults our allies. He needs be impeached out of office.
	John in Jacksonville April 20th, 2011 at 7:59 pm There’ll be huge breast-beating over cutting Defense, but at this point America has to cut everything, period, or face an eventual collapse. What’s most amazing is how many Americans still feel drastically unsafe despite our spending more than the rest of the world combined on our military. This is an unrealistic fear yet it rules our national politics and keeps the Defense as our top sacred cow. “Nothing to fear but fear itself” indeed — the bugaboo fears of the Right will lead to America’s economic collapse, then you guys can go hide in your bunkers. It doesn’t have to end that way.
	@C4SysGreyBeard April 20th, 2011 at 8:45 pm It the old “Apples&Oranges” trick when you compare how much we spend versus what another country spends on their military. What are the average wages in China, I’ll bet you it’s less than a tenth of what somebody earns here. How large is their military? How many people, how many divisions, commands, whatever they call them? How many of what weapons do they have? I wager, again, since their population is over 6 Billion, their military is quite large, again, how much do they each earn, before taxes. We, here in America, have a population of less than 400 million, and with less than 1Million in the our military. Even using loose math, and keeping the ratio high at 1:400 (for military to total population) and using that same ratio, but using the lower population of 6Billion, I think (fast math) that make their military strength at about 15Million. That’s a whole hell of a lot larger than ours is.
	@C4SysGreyBeard April 20th, 2011 at 8:45 pm Part two: And China is pushing into production an aircraft almost identical to our F-22 Fighter/Bomber. The same plane we pushed ourselves away from because it was way too expensive. After all, our current fleet of 30–40-50–60 year old aircraft are working just fine. If you think we don’t have any 60 year old technology aircraft, think, ask yourself: “When was the B-52 first designed?” Not built, designed. It was heavily used in Vietnam. All of our newer aircraft are being scrapped in their FIRST run. Why?
	Paul April 20th, 2011 at 8:53 pm China is trying to ‘democratize’—We owe China a boat load of cash—many Chinese live in the US Solution to Federal Debt — Pick fight with China, use their nationals living in the US as shields, then lose the war. Since they want to ‘be’ like us, they can then PAY us for the restoration of our National economy AND THEY can become the World’s greatest nation with all the burden that entails. Next we infringe on their patents, copyrights & military/scientific secrets. In essence China & the US trade places in world domination.
	Paul April 20th, 2011 at 8:56 pm When I was in the Service a command memo came through asking all Members if they would be willing to take a pay cut. My reply: When Congress takes a cut, then I will. Barring that absurdity I suggested they fire a few Admirals/Generals. Odd, I never again was promoted.
	2-5 cav April 20th, 2011 at 9:38 pm What does Ryan’s plan have to do with the Presidents, when Ryan can’t even get Republicans to go along with his plan. He is getting pressure, but not From the Wall Street lovers(GOP). Don’t forget to send in your happy birth day card to your commander in chief, and if you are still in the Military, to your boss.
	David Lewis April 20th, 2011 at 10:30 pm Tax the rich more, they can afford it, eliminate all loop hole deductions, tax religion (it is a business), tax lobbyist 100%, terminate all congressional privileges of retirement (unless they served 20+ years government), introduce term limits so these spineless ******** will pass legislation beneficial to the welfare of our country.
	William C. April 20th, 2011 at 10:54 pm I’d rather not see the local curches in my community be burdened by taxes. The 1st Amendment still applies here BTW.
	JCitizen April 20th, 2011 at 11:16 pm Never going to happen — reason? Tax lawyers would be out of a job! Who makes the tax laws? Tax lawyers!
	JCitizen April 20th, 2011 at 11:31 pm The standing armed forces have always feared the shift to reserves. That is why they have always treated them like a red headed step child, until they need them, and sometimes even then. The reserves would be better trained if they simply activated entire units on a regular and timely bases. This way there would always be a certain ready reserve already active and training when the shit hit the fan. I’ve seen a lot of useless red tape pushed off on both of them, that degrades training and readiness the most. I’ve never been with a unit that didn’t want to be activated as often as possible!
	Joshua Sweet April 20th, 2011 at 11:35 pm ” The review could revive long-simmering questions about whether the services should be funded unequally“ It sounds more like which branch of the services will get the money while another does with out, not just individual programs. I sounds more in keeping with the Marxist ideology to cut the service as a whole making us weaker than a third world nation
	Abe April 20th, 2011 at 11:58 pm (I just prepared a lengthy reply, but lost it before I could submit it.) I can’t remember word for word, but it wasn’t very good for Obamie. Years ago, USSR and a Moslem country said they (both, but not at the same time) would destroy us from within. Well, well, well.…. just lookey what we got in the White House. “Can you say spy, boys and girls?” That was slick! How the hell did he ever get nominated? Snuck right in!! Am I living in a continuous nightmare?
	Glenn April 21st, 2011 at 12:06 am if you have not learned by now i will refresh your mind bryon, who ever controls the air space usually are the ones that keep enimies off the land forces backside. part 1 i agree with a flat rate tax of 10% period. and if the govt can not or will not try to operate with that budget put their arses back out to work as the american works , hunt for jobs etc as the average american does, Washington has over grown its boundries for years , go back to gold and silver standard ‚toss all the reserve notes away.. start clean. stop meddeling in the musilums wars as to whos gonna be in control.
	Glenn April 21st, 2011 at 12:08 am part 2 if a civil war springs up keep our butts out of the arena. damn we bomb the hell out of lybia’s armor tanks aircraft and its a civil war„ while we set on our ass’s while syria jordan yamen bahrahn, arab republic etc ..all musilum islamic nations that feel we are all hell bent for hell and need to be killed off.. stop that damn crazed Indoneasian whom some call president from using American Military Force where it is not in our vital interest. i believe on the TV News , the govt official stated that Lybia had no vital interest to the Americans.. well why in the hell are we killing innocent people we do not know for the rebells..?
	Glenn April 21st, 2011 at 12:10 am part 3 chit we have always stood at the forfront and once we boot that idiot out of office, gather back our resouorces and be at the forfrant again, God meant the United States to be a great Power looked up to„now we are the laughing stock of the entire world just as we came out of Vietnam..losers „win every battle but losers and losers that our govt didnt want to see, nor the American Public. treated like chit and tossed to the wolves. we have not forgotten our treatment.. and Now our troops come home and we the prior vietnam veterans make damn sure the Americans dont forget them as they did us..
	glenn April 21st, 2011 at 12:11 am part 4 Quite PAYING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS each year to our enemies. damn what a stupid move… Obamass sees the world while our generalls ask for more man power. 2 months that asshole (in my opinion) sight sees while the world waits.. then comes home for a few days and sends the troops… what was he waiting for ? trying to decide what kinda musilum he is.. an Islamic Assinine Crazed man who cares nothing for this nation or its people. he answers questions with a question or a turned head silence„ damn what a disaster„ he sets while we die. and for what? so we can boolster the price of oil for the sand N______ers ..(you can fill in the blank)„, and by no means am i against any American. race creed color or what ever.but this man named obama isnt trying to help no one..he has a black flunky he uses to bolster the black votoers and they cant even see he has done nothing to help them other than talk big high wordings„ with all the billions he and this Nation for years even before him has given our enemies is unrealistic. think…
	glenn April 21st, 2011 at 12:13 am part 5 Iraq 52billion, a year,( for and i laugh of our ignorance) for humanitarium purposes) (what another joke)… think 52 billion to Iraq, billions to Syria, YeMan Bhahran egypt, just about every islamic nation in the mideast draws this cash ..to feed and cloth its peoples „ while we pass thru the asss for gas.) obamass speaks about sarah palin as being dumb using words improperly and i find no problems understanding what she says i find my problem in understanding what obamass says.… he could care less if America stayed strong or not .. helllhe can always run home to indoneasia…where he keeps the rest of his family poor scrambling for food, like beggars„ if this man cares very little for his own family what can he care for America… now he want all the DOD dept folks to come in to cut our military budjet.. once he has dwindled our military might guess what happens then.. yep… some group of nations that hate us will attack us here on the front porches of Americans..
	Abe April 21st, 2011 at 12:13 am Why?
	Glenn April 21st, 2011 at 12:14 am part 6 i know this is lenghty and most wont read it all..but the few that do will have their eyes opened.. if we are fighting in any country that has oil„ we should be sucking oil out of that ground as fast as we can while we are there to pay the what they referr to as a war debt„, chit they wanted somewhere to test their military toys.. so here it is in a nut shell.. sorry for the caps that follow but it will draw attention..
	dpf1971 April 21st, 2011 at 12:14 am I think one thing that needs looking at is the procurement process to begin with. Companies such as Lockheed and Boeing have more pull when it comes to how the DoD’s budget is used than the people that actually know how best to use it. Lets also be honest about the upper brass in the DoD — they are more politicans than anything. Only the truely blind would call them impartial or unbiased. There is no honest view of actual need when it comes to procurement. When looking at actual threats and that of the near future (because lets be honest, we do not have the money to project that far forward in time) the large defence contractors, their lackies at the Pentagon and the politcians who can use defence spending in their districts care little to nothing about the men in women in the fight and more about the economics of the war itself.
	dpf1971 April 21st, 2011 at 12:15 am Continued … See the lack of advanced body armor or effective helmets, the continued purchase of the 5.56 chambered M4 (used in a rifleman’s war) the drawn out process of development and deployment of light and medium armor, or the devolopement of cost effective frigates or corvettes when one of the greatest threats to our navy is rogue nations’ use of subs, ect. Other people have already mentioned the gross neglect already present. What we ultimately have to realize is the government and those that own them stopped caring about doing the right thing long ago.
	glenn April 21st, 2011 at 12:16 am part 7 WE PAY BILLIONS TO OUR ENEMIES, WE ATTACK LYBIA TO HELP REBELLS BUT WE LET SYRIA KILL THE HELLL OUT OF ITS CITIZENS AND DO NOTHING, OBAMASS INCREASED THE SIZE OF THE AMERICAN GOVT. BY HIRING WHAT IS REFERRED TO AS CYZARS.. THAT HAVE POWERS GIVEN BY OBAMASS TO BASICALY RUN THE GOVT AS THEY SEE FIT. HE BORROWS FROM RED CHINA TO PAY THE ISLAMIC NATIONS OF IRAQ, SYRIA, BAHRAN, AND MANY MORE, HE ATTACKS LYBIA, AND LETS SYRIA GET AWAY WILL MASS KILLINGS ON THE SAME LATITUDE AS LYBIA, HE WONT TAKE OIL, THAT IS THERE TO PAY OUR WAR COST, HE SIGHT SEE’S WHILE OUR GROUND FORCE GENERALS ASK FOR HELP, HE IS A ISLAMIC MUSILUM AND THERE ARE BASICALY TWO SECTS, THE SUNNIES AND THE SHIETITES, AND MAKES HIS DISCISION BASED UPON WHATEVER SECT IS NOT OF HIS OWN, HE IS BOUND AND DETERMINED TO ELIMINATE AMERICANS MILITARY STRENGTH, QUESTION?? WHY BORROW FROM RED CHINA, TO PAY ISLAMICS, WHOM ALSO HATE AMERICANS?
	glenn April 21st, 2011 at 12:17 am part 8 WHY INFLATE OUR GOVT. TO WATCHDOG OUR GOVT? WHY ALL THE SIGHT SEEING VACATIONS? WHY DOES HE HAVE ALMOST IF NOT MORE THAN A “BILLION DOLLARS” TO FIGHT FOR RE-ELECTION? WHERE DID THIS CASH COME FROM? THINK AND SEE IF YOU DONT HAVE SOME QUESTIONS LIKE MYSELF AND ALL AMERICANS.. LORD JESUS HAVE MERCY UPON OUR LEADERS AND IF THEY WONT KEEP US STRONG, REMOVE THEM AND LET OUR FEDEARAL GOVT DO AS WAS INTENDED, FEED ITS PEOPLE, HOUSE THEM, GIVE THEM DIGNITY IF THEY WANT IT,GET AMERICA OUT OF CIVIL WARS THAT HAVE NO CONCERN TO US, IF THE ISLAMIC NATIONS WANT TO PUSH OIL PRICES UP, THEN RIGHT NOW LET US THE AMERICA YOU HAVE BLESSED, STOP PAYING THEM BILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR FOR HUMANTARIUM NEEDS. WHEN THEY TIRE OF EATING SAND AND INSECTS PERHAPS THEY WILL REALIZE WE MEAN BUSINESS TO PROTECT OUR OWN PEOPLES AND IN GODS NAME.AMEN
	Abe April 21st, 2011 at 12:18 am I’m not fussy.…. I’ll take the same health care plan that the BIG BOYS AT THE TOP have.
	Abe April 21st, 2011 at 12:24 am Good for you.…. Well said.…… You are very perceptive.….… Thank you for writing that. P.S. Are we really gonna do “The Egypt”?.….. (when?).
	Abe April 21st, 2011 at 12:26 am I love it !!
	William C. April 21st, 2011 at 12:27 am Lack of advanced body armor and helmets? Don’t know where you are getting this. In recent years the Army and Marines have made huge strides in this area. The M4 is a decent weapon also, not as good as we could or should have, but it works. Trying to get military leadership to switch calibers is next to impossible these days.
	Glenn April 21st, 2011 at 12:30 am I’m sure i will get swamped with all who do not agree but thats my opinions and now they are of my chest,..Americans were born to be free„i did my tour in helll and saw more than a person should see.. if yer upset over the length, i am sorry for that but had no way to express what should have been said in Congress.. more slight thought„ why pay everyone in congress, the same pay after they were voted out of said offices„ also the constitution says the leaders and all congrees shall live by same laws set forth..they are to live as we the American John Doe does. health care is a farce and congress lives above it„ not same as Americans… this was not so from our begining. someone somewhere someday will rise up and i fear another civil war on our soil.. I sincerely hope not.. have a great evening to all Americans.. not african american, or chinese american „But Americans all Americans…no matter what creed race color of skin or speech if born American or did what was needed to become American. i say Good night Americans
	St.Lou April 21st, 2011 at 12:39 am we have lost our way-the rest of the world knows it-our people know it,yet we simply have not hit bottom yet.When we no longer resemble the beacon of freedom and hope that our founding fathers established in blood,we must repent and turn to our Christian beginnings.Look up David Barton and educate yourself upon how prevalent the Lord Jesus Christ was in the lives of ALL who came to our shores,and why.We were created,in the image of a supernatural,all-powerful,just holy and righteous God,our Father in heaven-He changes not-we however cannot hold it together for another generation without Him.Look Him up,then be the man you were designed to be.Who better than the manufacturer,could tell you all about the equipment?Go now,and seek whom your soul thirsts for.No greater love has any man than this:that he lay his life down for another.
	steve April 21st, 2011 at 1:10 am Are you NUTS? If not, why do you sound NUTS??? with this stupid article you wrote???
	steve April 21st, 2011 at 1:50 am Nothin but a foolish formality, that has long lived any usefulness. It is a total waste of valuable time and moreso, money that seems to be spent, like water over a dam??? If Congres does NOT cut its waste, they should not be allowed to cut anywhere else to save their face?
	SSG Gibb April 21st, 2011 at 6:19 am Because the guy in the oval office has NO IDEA WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A VETERAN, Or have served.
	Eddie Daniels April 21st, 2011 at 6:59 am Boomer, I think it’s a great idea but like JCitizen I concur that it won’t happen due to a “Flat Tax” would essentially eliminate a lot of jobs (most of IRS), etc. Also, remember a lot of people /corportations pay no tax because of loop holes, etc. A flat tax on every person’s income would eliminate the need for all other taxes peorid! Mike Huckabee was running on this at th last Presidental Election, he didn’t even get nominated as their are too many jobs at stake. I am a registered Republican and contributed too his campaign. However, if he’d not nominated this time I probably won’t contribute to the party.
	Guest April 21st, 2011 at 9:41 am Yeah, just remember that YOU volunteered. YOU chose that profession. You should have volunteered for something else. Nobody owes you anything.
	Vitesse et Puissance April 21st, 2011 at 10:45 am I’ve served in both active and reserve components. At company level and below, most reserve units are pretty solid. Once you go above that level, the leaders get older and more out of touch. What you end up with is people who either sacrifice their civilian careers for the reserves, or who have less stressful jobs — teachers and college professors generally have summers open — and can do the little extra things that get them up the line. I don’t like the way the active army deploys “advisors” with no command responsibility to oversee the reserves — that is a waste of officers. AGR would be better if it were reintegrated back into the regular army. Basically, I would like to see regular army officers be assigned to command reserve units. No doubt the local politicians would scream, but one does see regular army officers retire at colonel, and take up general officer slots in the National Guard.
	Vitesse et Puissance April 21st, 2011 at 10:50 am Then why the dickens is G-8 complaining about a shortage in major end items drivoing down material readiness rates ? This really does not add up at all.
	JimF April 21st, 2011 at 11:04 am Eliminate 15% of all the Flag Officers including Generals and Admirals across all the services effective immediately.
	Ironhorse April 21st, 2011 at 11:06 am Boomer should learn a bit more about history.
	Greg Anderson April 21st, 2011 at 12:26 pm Prepare for the mother of all defense budget cuts.….again.
	J "AJ" Donnley April 21st, 2011 at 1:22 pm Let the Greatest Marine Corps in the World have the capability needed. If we scrap 10 JSF’s we could purchase 30 V-22’s, or 30 F/A-18E/F or 15 EA-18G’s, 32 F-16CJ or Block 60’s or 20 F-15C/D or E’s, 60 A-10’s, 41 AC-130’s or 330 JASSM-ER’s or 600 TACTOM’ or 800 ALCM’s or 110, 000,000 M-16’s.
	Bob April 21st, 2011 at 2:40 pm Regarding Iraq and Afganistan and Libya: If you want to oust a dictator, or in Afganistans case punish the gov. in general, pound the crap out of them with air dropped bombs, and go home. If something worse develops, pound them again. Not very nice, but economical.
	Retireed NCO April 21st, 2011 at 2:46 pm Thank God for “volunteers”; and what do you think would happen if we had not volunteered? Can you spell “D-R-A-F-T”? You could hold the targets while basic trainees zero their weapons.
	Perry April 21st, 2011 at 3:46 pm Here’s a thought, let’s take away our government’s access to the checkbook. The issue is not the military’s budget (though certainly there are always ways to better invest our money from a defense standpoint) it is our government’s inability to solve the real problem, which is this country’s growing entitlement mindset — that, and a complete lack of leadership.
	JCitizen April 21st, 2011 at 4:58 pm I tend to lump the Guard and Reserves together — my experience is with the Active Guard and Reserve. At all units I visited and served under, we were way competitive, and were chomping at the bit to participate in any Reforger or any action that would activate us for any reason. We were well trained, and at one unit, the 1st Sergeant was picked to teach at the War College. Many units are known to have been in competition with regular and Canadian units and won accolades for their performance. I guess I’ve mostly been associated with combat units, so I have a different view. The ironic thing was my division supply unit was never activated in desert storm even though the rest of the 49th Armor was. By then we were being buried in totally asinine paper work that did nothing to further the unit towards readiness. I was glad to punch out at that point. They were trying to reduce manpower anyway after that action. I think my idea of forced recirculation is similar to your idea of reintegration, accept I feel the cost would actually be better if units went into part time training mode like the Guard, except on a schedule that would rotate them every two years, or whatever model is deemed superior. At any given time a large Guard reserve would be partially active, while some of them would be deployed full time. Volunteers could stay activated through the whole period if manpower requirements would let them. I did this voluntarily for a while, as my logistics skills were in demand, but other troops had to activate by leaving the unit entirely and joining or attaching with a regular full time unit.
	GARY April 22nd, 2011 at 8:39 am Here is list that I think that would help all of us if it happen to them like it does to us all the time. No matter where you stand on the political issues, this makes sense for our country. The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971…before computers, before e-mail, before cell phones, etc. Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land…all because of public pressure. I’m asking you to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on your address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.
	GARY April 22nd, 2011 at 8:42 am And the rest of it In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around. Congressional Reform Act of 2011 1. Term Limits. 12 years only, one of the possible options below. A. Two Six-year Senate terms B. Six Two-year House terms C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms 2. No Tenure / No Pension. Congressman collects a SMALL salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office. Very limited expense accounts. No receiving money from Lobbyests or corporations. 3. Congress, President and Courts (past, present & future) participates in Social Security, medicare All funds in the Presidential, Congressional and Court retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and President, Congress and Courts participates with the American people.
	GARY April 22nd, 2011 at 8:45 am AND more 4. The President, Congress and Courts can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do. 5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3% after approval by a vote of American Voters. 6. President, Congress and Courts loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system available to the American people. 7. President, Congress and Courts must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people. 8. All contracts with past and present President, Congressmen and Courts are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make the current contract with members of Congress. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.
	GARY April 22nd, 2011 at 8:46 am STILL MORE Serving as President or in Congress or the Courts is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, Presidents and Judges, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work. If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive the message. Send a copy to the Senator and Congressperson demanding that they begin the Amendment Process MUCH OF WHAT WE FACE IN TERMS OF PRIVILEGE AND SELFISHNESS IN THIS COUNTRY MIGHT BEST BE CHANGED STARTING FROM THE TOP DOWN.
	PolicyWonk April 22nd, 2011 at 1:12 pm The first thing the Obama administration did was INCREASE veterans benefits. I advise you read Paul Rickoff’s editorials w/r/t veterans affairs on military.com. While the previous administration made a lot of noise about supporting the military, they spent a huge amount of time trying to remove and/or reduce benefits to the warfighter and vets.
	edree1 April 22nd, 2011 at 1:32 pm If you want to strengthen the security of the US, the first thing that should be cut is the white house staff of advisors, then the white house advisee.
	Geral Sosbee May 12th, 2011 at 11:34 am DOD Criminal Participation In The Torture Of This Combat Vet http://sosbeevfbi.ning.com/forum/topics/abuse-of-…

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