Yet another gem from the free USA Today, seems that the Army is considering extending overseas tours for soldiers in fun places like Iraq and Afghanistan (and South Korea, which is certainly not as dangerous as the other two...yet) because of well, a manpower shortage. Interesting.
For the first time since the all-volunteer Army began in 1973, significant numbers of U.S. combat soldiers may have to start serving back-to-back overseas tours of up to a year each in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan and South Korea, top Army officers say.
Grappling with large, simultaneous deployments around the world, Army planners are trying to determine how many troops will have to serve extra tours.
...
Army officials are worried that the added tours will lower morale and cause a wave of exits throughout the Army. A key concern is that the deployments will cause an exodus of experienced, mid-career veterans such as sergeants, staff sergeants and captains, who are harder to replace than younger soldiers.
That pretty much nails it, losing the mid-grade NCOs and junior officers is a killer at any time, but now it would be especially devastating.
If we start seeing these kinds of things happen, how long before someone starts talking about conscription to fill out the ranks, especially if the retention rates start to go through the floor in the next 18 to 24 months. The problem of replacing officers that split is somewhat trickier...you can't draft officers, and I doubt that after all these years of having a college-educated officer-corps, the Pentagram Biggies will be thrilled to go back to promoting mid-level NCOs into their midst. Just a thought.
posted by Jo Fish on 08.25.03 at 04:45 PM
Comments:
Hey Jo, big fan of the site. Just thought I'd say so, in case you ever got the feeling you were the only one who felt the way you did. Every now & then I put some political opinions on my online journal -- if you're ever bored, give it a read. I think you'll find our opinions run close together, though I wouldn't say I was as informed as you.
posted by: art on 08.25.03 at 05:03 PM [permalink]
Well said Jo. Its a shame that the chickenhawks don't talk about these issues as well. Wait, unlike us, they can't - no direct knowledge and not the slighest clue where to start. That would be like a fish teaching a buffalo how to fly.
It might be amusing at first, but in the end, someone's going to get hurt.
And didja read the article about putting troops in Israel? If they don't decide to let the UN take over the occupation, eventually even the idiots running things will realise they have to put more troops on the ground in Iraq. You'd think that would send re-enlistment figures plummeting wouldn't you? But with the economy the way it is....
posted by: TrophiesofWar on 08.25.03 at 06:56 PM [permalink]
Jo, I know you and I have covered this before. There will have to be a draft to feed the killing machine, and we all understand that it will be just like before. The privileged sons will escape the draft, and middle, and lower class kids will be sent off to die for Corporate Fascism.
As for officers, what's the big deal? The US Army is waaaay over-officered anyway. holy Green Jebus - they use Major Generals as messengers in the Pentagram!!
As Officer ranks swell towards the 22% achieved by the Italian Army during WWII, efficiency and capability drops dramatically.
'cause you have to have someone to blame...after all, blaming junior officers is quite the spectator sport for 0-5's and above when they screw up...blaming the mid-level NCOs is never good, they have too much saavy and can make even an O-5/O-6's life mizzerable. But a Captain/Lieutenant can be a pretty defenseless creature in the right circumstances...and as such can be made accountable for almost any malfeasance by malicious senior officers.
The best senior officers never resort to this; the worst drive the j.o.'s out of the service like shit thru a goose.
If you want to read why the Army's best are bailing at speed, go read the letter from the CSM of the 160th SOAR to David Hackworth at "www.sftt.org" re:why he's getting out. If the Army loses people like that, it really is all over.
It may just be a preview of what's to come -- enlisment/re-enlistment rates tanking over the next few years, etc., etc., etc. The Army in its inimitable fashion thinks it has solved the problem of losing 0-3s; why just promote the 0-2s quicker!! This will take the Army back to its Vietnam days, when a freshly - minted 2LT knew he would be a Captain two years from the day he was commissioned if he lived that long.
Meanwhile Rummy keeps babbling "lean and mean". With all respect to you Jo (and the other airedales who read your very good blog), only a guy who saw everything from 15000 feet could think lean and mean would work in either the short - or the long - term.
We're going to be finding out that it can't,and it's not going to be pretty.
posted by: fbg46 on 08.25.03 at 09:12 PM [permalink]
