U.S. Army Reserves/Guard Collapsing from unjust/incompetently waged Iraq War: Army Reserve Chief Helmly tinkers at the margins while the Army Reserve Burns
Helmly proposes we force more people onto active duty by tweaking the parameters (changing the goal posts) in effect creating a back-door draft and destroying whatever remains of trust from the bottom up of the current corrupt U.S. military culture. Details:
www.reocities.com/militaryincompetence/militarismsucks.htm
Thus, adult Soldiers are voting with their "feet".
The real problem is that the war in Iraq is unjust and on the whim of George Bush and the neocons. Next, we have sent the phony U.S. military which drives around in inadequately or non-armored rubber-tired Humvee trucks and spends it time on BS garrison non-sense composed of weak, economic co-dependants ordered around by intolerable, narcissistic egomaniac incompetents into Iraq and we are being currently swept off the non-linear battlefield (NLB) by high explosives (HE). The Army Reserves with a "support" non-warrior, underclass linear war mentality is especially getting clobbered; for years before war in Iraq it took an act of God just to get weapons out of the arms room vault ie; the Army Reserves really don't want to fight and this is now showing up in Iraq as military incompetence that's killing our men/women in Iraq.
www.reocities.com/militaryincompetence/americaniraqwarcasualties.htm
Of our 2, 500 dead in Iraq at least 1,000+ could have been saved if we had been better physically equipped just on the ground...
If Helmly wants to fix the Army Reserves he has to get us out of flimsy trucks and into M113 Gavin armored tracks and make us a COMBAT capable force that if one goes to war one has a chance of survival. If General Blum wants to "lighten up" the Guard these light units need a Delta Weapons company in M113 Gavin multiple armor layered tracks to give HHC, A, B and C company riflemen protected, cross-country mobility or else they are going to continue to get clobbered on foot and in Humvee/FMTV trucks.
If you take a MLRS cab and attach it to the front of a M113 Gavin you get an armored, tracked resupply carrier called the XM1108. Palletized Loading System (PLS) flat racks can be carried in the back loaded/unloaded without any Soldiers leaving the cab which can have a troop with a machine gun ring mount and gunshield on top for firepower/overwatch.
Since on the non-linear battlefield (NLB) the enemy can attack in any direction at any time why doesn't the S&T platoons in the Light, Airborne and Air Assault Divisions and ALL transportation units (including Army Reserves) have XM1108s instead of vulnerable wheeled trucks?
Why are we not running supplies in Iraq with entire transportation units with XM1108s that can take unpaved trails/paths because they are tracked and avoid paved roadside ambushes by cross-country mobility? Where is the fixed-wing observation/attack aircraft air cover?
Guard/Reserve officials should change the current BS reserve one weekend-a-month and egomaniac paradise by a participation system that reveals who the incompetent assholes are BEFORE mobilization and gets rid of them. Details on this web page:
www.reocities.com/paratroop2000/realreadyreserve.htm
The Bottom Line: there is No morality-free lunch
When we stop being arrogant, corrupt and become humble and competent--disasters (9/11, Bush Presidency, Iraq) will stop happening. God is NOT going to allow us to be arrogant and corrupt and have also have a competent military we do not deserve.
www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-te.reserves05jan05,1,551065.story?coll=bal-home-headlines
Army Reserve fast becoming 'broken' force General points to Iraq, 'dysfunctional' policies; Memo details readiness concerns; Potential inability to meet other threats, chief warns
By Tom Bowman
Sun National Staff
Originally published January 5, 2005WASHINGTON - The Army Reserve, a force of 200,000 part-time Soldiers that provides key support in Iraq and Afghanistan with medics, engineers and truck drivers, "is rapidly degenerating into a 'broken' force," its top general told senior Army leaders.
In a blunt memo, Lt. Gen. James R. "Ron" Helmly, chief of the Army Reserve, noted the demands of overseas commitments and the unwillingness of Army and Pentagon officials to change "dysfunctional" policies that hamper the Reserve on issues such as training, extension of service and the mobilization of his Soldiers.
The Dec. 20 memo, which was obtained by The Sun, says "current demands" in Iraq and Afghanistan put his command in "grave danger" of being unable to meet other potential Pentagon missions or help with domestic emergencies, and that the Army Reserve "is rapidly degenerating into a 'broken' force."
"The purpose of this memorandum is to inform you of the Army Reserve's inability ... to meet mission requirements" associated with Iraq and Afghanistan "and to reset and regenerate its forces for follow-on and future missions," Helmly wrote in the eight-page memo sent through channels to the Army chief of staff, Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker.
"I do not wish to sound alarmist," Helmly wrote. "I do wish to send a clear, distinctive signal of deepening concern."
Interviewed yesterday at the Pentagon, Helmly said: "I stand by the memorandum. Is there frustration? Absolutely. Is the frustration beyond control? No."
The memo was designed as a frank exchange with Army leaders in advance of congressional hearings, Helmly said, adding that he plans to press ahead with reforms for the long-term health of the Reserve.
"Loyalty means I share with the chain of command my best professional judgment," he said.
Helmly would not discuss specific officials who declined to support policy changes, but said political pressure from Congress led to a roadblock in one instance.
A senior Army official, who requested anonymity, said yesterday that unexpected troop requirements in Iraq led to the problems Helmly outlined. The active-duty forces needed there grew continually over the past year, requiring more Reserve Soldiers to provide support. In May 2003, before the Iraq insurgency sharply intensified, about 8,000 Army Reserve Soldiers in Iraq were sent home, only to be recalled three months later.
The 150,000 U.S. troops now in the region include about 30,000 Army Reserve Soldiers serving in Iraq and Kuwait.
"We were still able to field the forces we needed" and were reluctant to change policies that would burden soldiers and their families, the senior Army official said. Now, with Iraq expected to tie down a sizable number of U.S. Soldiers for several years, some of those policies will have to be changed, the official said.
"I think some will be changed," said the official, who expected Schoomaker and Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey to discuss the issues with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. "We have to do something or I predict problems."
'Spread too thin'
Helmly's private and unvarnished assessment echoes the concerns of other officers, defense analysts and some members of Congress, who have predicted that the burdens of overseas missions, particularly in Iraq, could begin to fray the all-volunteer U.S. military. The National Guard and Army Reserve are experiencing a recruiting slump, though the active-duty Army is meeting its goals.
"The general consensus is, the Army's spread too thin," said Charles Moskos, a longtime military sociologist at Northwestern University, who has been to Iraq and heard complaints from reservists that included the lack of adequate training and equipment.
"The Reserve and Guard are not treated equally with the other services," said Moskos, who foresees more problems with recruiting and retention.
Moskos said the problems Helmly outlines must be addressed by some type of commission that is independent of the Pentagon.
An active-duty officer, who has served in Iraq and seen how stretched the Army has become, called Helmly a "true hero" for writing the memo and criticized other senior officers for not stepping forward.
"This is a warning flag that the Army is broken," he said. "We all knew it was going to show up in the Reserve and National Guard first."
Helmly served two tours in Vietnam, one with the 101st Airborne Division, and won a Bronze Star for valor. He earned a reputation as a no-nonsense leader during 2 1/2 years as chief of the Army Reserve. But he has annoyed the Pentagon hierarchy over the past year with pessimistic talk about recruiting and retention as the military leadership has tried to be more upbeat.
Three weeks ago, Helmly told The Dallas Morning News that Army Reserve recruiting was in "precipitous decline" and that if it did not turn around could spur national debate over the reinstitution of the draft. The general said the Reserve was running about 10 percent short of recruiting goals and that the Pentagon bureaucracy was "much too sluggish" in implementing new bonuses for those who sign up.
The Reserve's retention rate is holding steady at 103 percent of the goal, but Helmly told the newspaper that he fears those numbers could fall in the months ahead.
Policies criticized
In his memo, Helmly noted the Pentagon requirement that the Army Reserve leave much of its equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan for use by other services and contractors. He also criticized policies that delay training of reservists who have returned home from overseas duty, noting them among a number of "peacetime" personnel policies that need to change.
Helmly wrote that he has tried to alter several personnel policies, including one to extend the mandatory retirement dates for Reserve officers. But officials, including Reginald Brown, the assistant secretary of the Army for reserve affairs, have repeatedly rejected such moves, he wrote.
Helmly said in the interview that he was uncertain why Brown rejected his request.
Helmly faulted the Pentagon for not taking greater advantage of its power to require individuals or units to serve. Instead, he said, the military is relying too much on "volunteers" from the Army Reserve. Such demands "threaten to distort the very nature of service," he wrote, and could make it more difficult in the future to call up reserve units.
Helmly said the "most likely" volunteers will be those who "enjoy lesser responsible positions in civilian life." The current policy of paying these volunteers an extra $1,000 per month will create the expectation of such incentives and confuse the term American Soldier with "mercenary," he wrote.
All told, these matters are "eroding daily our ability to reconstitute into an effective operational force," the memo said.
Those who serve in the active-duty Army or Army Reserve generally must fulfill an eight-year service requirement. National Guard units, by contrast, are controlled by the governor of their state until called to federal duty.
Those in the Army Reserve can serve in the Selected Reserve, in which they join a unit and train at least one weekend a month, or enter the Individual Ready Reserve, whose soldiers are not part of a unit, do not train and are rarely called to duty. Last summer, about 4,600 Soldiers of the Individual Ready Reserve were activated for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Army Reserve lists as its core competencies civil affairs, medical support, military policing and transportation. Last year, it provided 36 percent of the Army's combat service-support capabilities, according to Army Reserve figures.
"There are in fact, capabilities in the Army Reserve, such as medical support and civil affairs, for which there is no alternative," Helmly wrote. "Failure to address these in a balanced, forward thinking, and responsible manner will further damage the Army and Armed Services capabilities now and in the future."
Helmly expressed concern about the number of troops available to meet the Army Reserve's mission, writing that those numbers always change, "almost always downward." In a section titled "What's Left," Helmly lays out the strain on the Army Reserve, with its overseas deployments and the increasing number of Soldiers he is sending to help at Army training bases.
Of the 200,366 Soldiers in the Army Reserve, Helmly wrote, only about 37,515 who are available for missions have not been deployed yet.
Helmly details in his memo personnel issues that he sees as particular problems. He noted that regulations that allow the shifting of Soldiers from the little-used Individual Ready Reserve to selected reserve units are not being used. Helmly said he shifted about 2,000 before Brown told him to stop.
Helmly said some Soldiers in the Ready Reserve complained to members of Congress and that he believes the decision to end the shifts came from senior Defense Department officials.
"I believe there was political pressure brought to bear," he said.
Helmly also wanted to discharge about 16,400 Soldiers who are not meeting their Army Reserve obligations and are costing the government at least $46 million per year for health and other benefits. That proposal, too, was rejected. Helmly said he doesn't know why and won't say by whom, only that he sent the request through Army channels.
The senior Army official who commented on Helmly's criticism predicted that top defense officials would be asked to shed those thousands of Soldiers. Other personnel policies would be reviewed, he said.
"I think we have to look at that policy if we're going to be in sustained combat," said the official, noting the large number of Soldiers in Iraq. "I'm planning on this level of commitment for the next two to three years."
Manpower issues
In a memo, Lt. Gen. James R. Helmly, chief of the Army Reserve, lists these recommendations to ease staffing problems:
· Begin using authority to involuntarily reassign Soldiers from the Individual Ready Reserve to Army Reserve.
· Call to active duty Soldiers called nonparticipants, who fail to meet obligations. Otherwise, discharge such members rather than keep them on the rolls where they paint a false picture of strength.
· Extend mandatory retirement dates for reserve officers.
· Eliminate requirement that Army Reserve officers retire at their 20th year of active service.
· Use volunteer retirees as a first priority to satisfy some staff requirements.
Miami Herald
May 11, 2006General: Here's Why Reenlistment Is Low
The chief of the Army Reserve said the Pentagon has made the mobilization process so unpleasant that it's no wonder many reservists don't reenlist.
By Robert Burns, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - More than three years into the Iraq War, the Pentagon's method of calling up reservists remains ''fraught with friction'' and is a key reason why they decline to reenlist, a senior general said Wednesday.
'There are a lot of people who would have just said, `I'll do anything for my country, but I don't need to torture myself,' and this process has been almost torturous in some cases,'' said Lt. Gen. James R. Helmly, chief of the Army Reserve. He was referring to the process of pulling reservists out of their civilian jobs to serve on active duty.
Helmly, who is winding up a four-year tenure as Army Reserve chief, described the mobilization system as an ''early Industrial Age, monolithic process'' that is too slow and fails to give reservists sufficient advance notice.
In an interview with a small group of reporters, Helmly said the process has taken a toll and needs to get fixed.
He estimated, without citing figures, that more reservists in recent years have refused to renew their enlistments because of frustration with the process of mobilizing for active duty than because of the fact that they got a mobilization order.
He was not asked whether he saw a link between service in Iraq and reservists deciding to get out.
Members of the Army Reserve and the reservists of other services typically sign up for a given period, and they must serve that time. But they then have the option to reenlist for more time after that period has elapsed.
In his role as chief of the Army Reserve, Helmly does not command troops in the field, nor does he make decisions about mobilizing reservists. But one of his key concerns is the training and welfare of his troops. In that context, he said he regrets that the mobilization process has not improved much during his four years in the job.
''It is a fraught-with-friction process,'' he said.
The Army Reserve, which is smaller than the Army National Guard, is a federal force whose main role is providing support to the regular army in medical affairs, public affairs, transportation, maintenance and legal affairs.
Real Ready Reserves Now: go to war every year
A. Problem
Sleep-deprived, brain-dead Army culture and American society
* Half-hearted 2-day drill weekends, then mobilized discover all sorts of problems
* Soldiers not ready, require too much fixing in mob site
* "Bucket full of bad teeth" pulled when reservists meet dentist
* Bad medical conditions discovered, can't delpoy
* Working poor E4s and below don't have medical care, Army using them as deployment "cannon fodder", running reserves into ground as defacto active duty troops
Time wasting driving home after Satuday drill then driving back for half-hearted Sundays playing garrison Army badly, tired Soldiers dying in car accidents
Current 2nd day of drill weekend is a wasted joke--waste of time cleaning up from Saturday, doing admin paperwork replicas of active duty (which has 28 more days of time to unwisely waste), half-hearted classes etc.
When units deploy together the phonies and egomaniac assholes become evident. A nightmare of a negative command environment ensues until the commander is relieved. We cannot afford to ruin the morale and retention of entire units to identify who the narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) egomaniac assholes in our reserve units are. Going to drill one weekend a month is not long enough duty time for these jerks to be identified and eliminated from positions of any authority.
Non-linear Battlefields: no "safe" rear areas, everyone must work and fight
* We have to be ready NOW
* Everyone must work and fight: the Jessica Lynch convoy debacle must never happen again
* CSA Schoomaker has one thing right: everyone must be a rifleman
B. Solution
Broken Soldiers as weapons systems not acceptible, instead we fix once a year during 30 day mob AT not current not-long-enough 2-week AT; IDF sends reservists successfully into COMBAT via 30-day annual training system
Having every guard/reserve unit go to "war" for 1 month every year will force people to reveal their true colors. If nothing else, this "dry run" would allow innocent Soldiers to "vote with their feet" and leave corrruptly-run units to get the message across to the first line of authority that cares that the corrupt leadership must be changed.
Drill will be one DAY, Saturday each month that will be 24-hour, combat realistic, training event
Soldiers will at least have that Sunday to rest after the "Combat-24" operation and be ready for next day's work; no more loss of one weekend a month and day of rest when participating as reservists
New Paradigm = 24 Hours ops, QUALITY not quantity "Combat-24"
Saturday
Roll call: everyone in BDUs, helmet, LBE ruck packed for 3 day FTX
6-mile speed march for time not BS sports attire vanity PT
Cool-down
Weapons Assembly/Dissassembly for time
Innovative Dry Firing drills at silhouettes
Move to FTX/live-fire range or local training area
Night operations use all available NVDs: shooting, driving, commo
Stay overnight; bivouack outside field living skills; indoors watch a war movie, develop friendships/teamwork, primary unit cohesion
EACH reserve/guard unit should be ALWAYS packed and ready to deploy in ISO container "BattleBoxes" to stop this silly and desperation packing before and during residence at the mobilization site. Unit Tents are BS and do not protect our Soldiers from either the environment or the enemy and should be discarded. BattleBoxes can be dug-in and fortified to withstand ALL enemie threats, they are a hard shell we can work with; a tent there is no structure to work with.
Clean-up/AAR
Soldiers released NLT 1200 hours, target is 0800 hours so they have Sunday of sleep before civilian work on Monday
Sunday
LEADERS ONLY stay and get their act together for next month's Combat-24 operation (extra pay but they must WORK for it)
Between Monthly Combat-24s
Self-Study via Internet OF COMBAT SUBJECTS for pay/promotion points (must do work to earn it)
Every Soldier has AKO account now; exploit this
Foreign Language on-line
Military Books list: do 1500 word book report
Everyone does Expert Infantry Badge (EIB) training
30-Day ANNUAL MOBILIZATION
* Everyone packs their bags and forced to face what they need
* enough time to change people, pass a combat-oriented PT test even
* mobilization readiness "treatment" good for 11 months
* health, shots, dental care for 30 days to heal/fix Soldiers
* Qualify on ALL weapons
* Put ALL unit systems into operation and fix if required
* CTT done here not spread out through entire year where its abused and done badly to create a group of mindless, listless take-nothing-seriously lemmings
* All required bureaucratic red tape done
If unit not sent to Iraq or somewhere, culminates in 2-week force-on-force FTX war ideally at a CTC like Fort Polk, LA or better yet 30 days of combat border patrol duties on the southwest U.S.
Deployment Bags kept "packed" to be ready for recall any time in the following 11 months
New Reserve Formula for Success
Combat Realistic All Day Saturday once-a-month + Leaders all day Sunday + everyone self-study between drill days + 30 days of active duty each year = REAL READY RESERVE FOR COMBAT
Non-Linear Battlefield Requires Non-Linear Tracked Combat Vehicles
Reserves/Guard should not blindly accept the gear and vulnerable wheeled trucks the active Army gives them to go to war and be killed/maimed; should cry foul! and insist that things like M113 Gavin light tracks sitting unused be supplied to them so we can fight/win and lead way for rest of Army which is full of its own agendas; reserve units need to see "snap shot" once a year of what they are getting selves into if they went to war as active Army's "summer help", wake-up, act like adults without career weak ego baggage and be positive "salt" influence for rest of Army; blow whistle and stop stupid ideas like the wheeled-with-a-computer-inside-a-truck Army.
If the Chief of Army Reserve and National Guard Bureau lack the balls because they have only 3 stars of rank to say "NO!" to the active duty Army chief when ordered to do stupid things like ride around in HMMWV trucks in Iraq, then its time they be made into 4 star generals and placed on the table with the other Joint Chiefs. Then when the President asks for answers they could compete for budget/missions with alternative ideas than just blindly following acive duty Army stupidity. With many reserve component Soldiers being killed/maimed in Iraq its high time their leaders fight for them before they are blindly sacrificed according to stupid active Army plans. Its a disgrace that two National Guard Brigades are going to Iraq and leaving behind over 235 M113 Gavin type light tracked AFVs perfectly suited for the Non-Linear battlefield fight over there just because the active Army is cheap and lazy and wants everyone to ride around in HMMWV trucks. Details:
www.reocities.com/paratroop2000/armoredstrykershmmwvsfail.htm
Soldiers that know they will be fully protected in up-armored M113 Gavin light tracks will know their leaders care about them and getting the mission done safely and powerfully = more likely to stay in Army Reserves/Guard.
The wheeled truck doesn't belong on the non-linear battlefield.
There is no reason that over half a century after the excellent manuever warfare strategist, B.H. Lidell-Hart wrote of the need to fully mechanize the battlefield with light mechs including supply mechs, that we cannot dispense with inferior wheeled forces altogether except perhaps for garrison and rear area duty. What we need to transform us into a robust 21st century warfighting force is an all-tracked army and that includes our two airborne/air assault divisions. Aside from special forces who need light tracks also, the dismounted and unarmored/motorized light infantry Soldier is all but obsolete on the 21st century battlefield due to his extreme vulnerability to virtually every possible weapon system on the battlefield. Small-arms protected light mech should be the mobility standard for all of our conventional and airborne infantry forces.
Empower Individual Reservists
Reservists are voting with their "feet" as soon as deployments are over, not because of the war time need but because of the way they were mistreated by Army AGR and command staffs which are populated often by lazy, snobby people who use the military to try to fill an inner ego void at the expense of the troops. A simple solution is to each year have every Soldier evaluate every leader and AGR Soldier in his unit and vote whether he/she stays in power. These secret ballots would be turned in to Army Reserve HQs through the mail by individual Soldier's using their social security number only. This way Army Reserve Commands can fire corrupt AGR and egomaniac troop "leaders". This ballot box veto would serve notice to Army leaders that they have to lead---not be tyrants---or else they will get fired.
This concept of having subordinates in the evaluation process is not new---General Schoomaker when he was in the SOF community instituted a "360 degree look" where peers and subordinates get their inputs factored in on who gets promoted and how performance is measured. Why Schoomaker now as Army Chief has not instituted a 360 degree look to not reward narcissistic tyrants is puzzling when clearly a crisis in confidence in Anerica's Army is underway.
Reserve Component Unit Administrator
One of the ways AGR staff hold leaders "hostage" is that they know they can't be fired: no one else knows how to keep the unit running, Soldiers being paid etc. We should change this by every guard/reserve unit having a m-day Soldier going to Unit Administrator (UA) school so there are two UAs in every unit. If the AGR UA or other AGR staff are corrupt and get fired, the reserve UA can step into his/her job until an AGR replacement is found.
Do not allow Egomaniacs into Leadership Positions
One of the things the 30-day annual mobilization will reveal is who are the egomaniacs in the unit just to fill their selfish lusts. But we should do everything possible to prevent egomaniacs from reaching leadership positions by requiring all Soldiers above the rank of E6 to be tested for Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) and other mental illnesses before being promoted or commissioned or placed in ANY leadership positions. Details:
www.reocities.com/paratroop2000/weakcodependantarmy.htm
The 4GW Threat to Homeland America: AVF active Army not enough
Like the Roman Empire we will need to go to conscription/mercenaries to build up our military to adequate size to keep nation-state order in a world coming unglued by 4GW anarchy. Rome had several "9/11" type incidents to wake them up; apparently, America has not had enough 9/11s to wake us up to make the radical reforms needed. The situation on America's souther border where millions are infiltrating unchecked must be stopped at once.
1. We need to improve the QUALITY of our Army occupation forces by giving them armored chariots to ride in (M113 Gavins) so they will stop being attrited by guerrilla attacks. When these forces invade they will fight in tracked, armored motor vehicle phalanxes.
2. We need to task the National Guard/Reserve slackers to secure our southern border with M113 Gavins instead of weekend drills doing an abbreviated form of active duty make-believe and garrison "From Here to Eternity" BS. Every Guard/Reserve unit should be mobilized each year for 30 days to guard our southern border, IDF-style. Plan:
www.reocities.com/paratroop2000/realreadyreserves.htm
3. Every American needs to do 2 years of national service to earn his citizenship (Heinlein's Starship Troopers) and build loyalty and character towards our nation-state. If we don't build character into our hedonistic slacker kids, you can kiss the country goodbye as egomaniac mandarins and weak co-dependants populate our military bringing ruin upon us in foreign wars and refusal to defend our homeland. As John Stuart Mill warned; "we will have cowards doing our thinking and fools doing our fighting".
Even trying to bribe people through the AVF's pay/benefits is simply not yielding the numbers required to do the job. Another example is trying to secure the southern border with more expensive Border Patrol mandarins; it ain't working. Size still matters on planet earth and this cannot be mouse-clicked away with RMA Tofflerian mental gadgetry.
It looks like a certain Democratic Senator from New York is serving as an advocate for our ideas and joining John Kerry in arguing for increasing Army personnel strengh. We agree with her comments about how a volunteer army makes it easier for our policymakers to send troops to die in no-win wars overseas, but disagree with her proposition that higher troop levels are needed in Afghanistan or Iraq: what is needed is better QUALITY via light tracked AFVs since post-Baby Boom America cannot afford preventable casualties caused by riding around in vulnerable wheeled trucks. Could it be that the Democraps have become stronger supporters of and advocates for the Army than the Bush Aircraft firepower obsessed DoD?? The answer to that question is yes...
Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2004 6:21 p.m. ESTHillary: Volunteer Army Is Inadequate
Sen. Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that the U.S.'s all-volunteer Army isn't producing enough recruits to meet current demands in Iraq and Afghanistan, adding that the current system encourages leaders to make reckless troop deployments.
In a speech to the Brookings Institution, the former first lady complained that an all-volunteer force makes it "easy for decision-makers just to try to keep it out of sight and out of mind."
Mrs. Clinton said that the current system for fulfilling troop levels "raises serious questions in a democracy, both [about] how we define ourselves [and] what the real risks politically and militarily of taking action might be," according to quotes picked up by MSNBC.com.
Though the top Democrat never explicitly recommended returning to a military draft, she said something must be done to boost troop levels in both Afghanistan and Iraq because they were inadequate.
Noting that she visited U.S. troops in both theaters last year, Clinton said, "Off the record, they'll tell you they don't have enough and have never had enough."
"We have fewer troops in Afghanistan than we had law enforcement [officers] at the Olympics in Salt Lake City," she complained.
Clinton called for a vigorous election-year debate about the future size and composition of the U.S. armed forces.
The ability to have a large scale All Volunteer armed Force is reaching it's limitation within the current paradigm. Only if we are willing to turn our troops into a multi-ethnic high-tech mercenary army can it continue in it's present form. Of course, this is what the current establishment wishes to keep opposition to their mandarin policies squelched.
We need to go back to a partly conscript army. However, there are certain methods of raising this force would make it different and better than in the past.
1. Historically speaking conscription is not unusual in the Union. What is unusual is the Federalization of conscription. In other words, it was the States which conscripted or made it near impossible to not not vollunteer it's young fighting men.
2. A large single Federal dominated armed force is dangerious to the liberties of a free state and free people, anyway. Consequently minimizing the size of the Federal Armed Forces is paramount. The founding fathers were always suspicious of a large, standing army.
3. A large, part-time armed force would both secure the homeland and keep a large well-trained standing reserve ready for quick mobilization.
4. The maintanance of standards and unified regulations is a Federal authority. By keeping a relatively small but active and well trained permanent cadre, the U.S. can keep it's committments and mobilize a total force in case of emergencies.
5. A thorough training program for the large body of citizens would be a great equalizer and assimilator in the coming years when large numbers of current non-white legally naturally native born 1st generation Americans reach military age.
6. Current programs exist at the education level which can be upgraded to prepare a significant number of military capable males for military duty.
7. A large number of existing bases, forts, and sites both active and non-active exist which if upgraded can be used to induct, train, and produce a large number of males for military duty.
8. The President has authority by the constitution to call upon any number of state militia and state vollunteers for Federal service.
9. By mobilizing a large number of well trained and well regulated State Militia troops for Federal service the Federal government can significantly reduce personnel costs by anywhere from 30-50% resulting in a savings of upwards to 20%-35% in expected federal outlays for defense appropriation.
10. By keeping our Federal regular vollunteer troops low, we ensure that a large well, motivated, and well-disciplined cadre is maintained while eliminating the egomaniac, weak co-dependant chaff of lower quality troops within the Federal forces. This only serves to increase the stature of the Federal force and will increase it's stature thereby continuing to ensure a large pool of volunteers is available for regular federal servce.
11. By rotating the State Militia/NG and Reserve troops through 30 days of federal service each year we can continue to have a large armed force and back it up with a larger reserve force. Having rotated back into Reserve status after regular service, the Militia (National Guard, State Guard, Civilian Air Patrol, Civilian Militia, etc.) will maintain itself as a well regulated, well trained force necessary to the maintainence of our free states and people.
12. The overall effect will restore the balance of state vs. federal power, protect and promote our constitutional liberties, and give a much needed dose of discipline and respect in the body politic. It will restore the sense of duty within our people thereby restoring a sense of duty in would be leaders.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20040121/ts_usatoday/headofarmyreserveplansbigchangesHead of Army Reserve plans big changes
Wed Jan 21, 7:28 AM ET
By Dave Moniz, USA TODAY
The commander of the U.S. Army Reserve said Tuesday that he plans to make sweeping changes to the way that Reserve soldiers are recruited, managed and mobilized for duty.
In a meeting with reporters that was by Pentagon (news - web sites) standards extraordinarily candid, Lt. Gen. James Helmly said the Army Reserve has botched recent troop call-ups, failed to adapt its culture to the post-Sept. 11 world and has sometimes treated its Soldiers with less respect than they deserve.
Helmly, who commands the 205,000-member Army Reserve, talked about how he plans to fix the problems:
Army Reserve recruiters will be candid with civilians they are recruiting and will tell them that if they enlist, they probably will be called up for active duty at least once in a span of four to five years.
Beginning next year, the Army Reserve will close an unspecified number of its 2,091 units because it cannot fill all of them. Helmly said the Army Reserve force structure was designed in an era when having the maximum number of units, even if they couldn't all be fully manned, was accepted policy.
The Army Reserve is crafting a deployment schedule similar to one used by the Air Force to give troops months or even years of advance notice for lengthy call-ups.
Helmly said he has instructed commanders to do whatever it takes to get the right equipment to Soldiers headed overseas. He cited one case of officers who purchased large quantities of sports bras and underwear at a local department store for female troops headed to Iraq (news - web sites).
The changes come as National Guard and Reserve troops - most of whom are part-time Soldiers - face unusual stresses.
This spring, the Pentagon plans to rotate about 39,000 Guard and Reserve troops into Iraq, where part-time troops will make up nearly 40% of the 105,000 U.S. troops there by May.
The total number of Army Reserve and Army National Guard troops on active duty is just more than 163,000, Helmly said.
Together, the Army Guard and Reserve have about 550,000 troops.
Helmly spoke about how Army Reserve commanders failed to give advance notice to thousands of reservists called up for the war in Iraq. About 10,000 Army Reserve troops, he said, were given five days notice before being ordered to active duty.
An additional 8,000, he said, mobilized for active-duty service and never deployed.
By way of explaining how the Army Reserve has not done a good job of making Soldiers feel "wanted and respected," Helmly said he recently discovered that commanders had failed to promote 13,000 privates who were eligible for higher rank.
"We have not applied positive leadership in how we treat people," he said. "We're not going to run this like a doggone flesh farm."
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