When They Do Come Home

[falcon]

Anyone give any thought about what happens to the US Army and Marines when they do come home from this protracted war. The troops will be worn out. Equipment will be worn out or non-existent. Politicians will be blaming the military if things do not end well. Top that off with the possibility of an ultra-liberal Democrat president who sees no need for a military, except for nation building, and you have a mess.

Military folks who werewounded or sickened and profiledwill be hassled to death by their chains of commands. As late as 1979, i had to sign statements that i would deploy overseas if ordered to do so, despite the fact that i had served three complete tours in Koreasince my disability. Went through this crap for ten years after being rated P-3 in 1969.

After US troops in Viet Nam were sold out by Nixon and Kissinger, the US military was demoralized.Kissinger also sold out the POW/MIA folks. Equipment was worn out and or obsolete.There was not enough money in the budget for meaningful training outside Europe and Korea.

Then along came the peanut farmer from GA. It got much worse. Carter declared all the MIA/POW folks dead. For all of Carter's term in office the military was strapped for everything.The quality of recruits was so bad that one-third of them did not finish their first year in the Army. Theyhad to come upwith a new type of discharge just for Carter's misfits. The commander and the misfit signed a paper and the idiot was gone. Carter and his minions gutted Army aviation.

Sensing that he just might lose the 1980 election, Carter did give the military a pretty good pay raise in 1979. Took my pay raised and retired.
Sometimes wish that i had stayed and served in the Reagan Army.

[Fieldmouse]

I have to disagree on the record again with the term "protracted". It's going to last as long as we need it to to win unless we give up like Veitman. It wasn't Nixon who sold out the troops its was the Dems who left you high and dry.

The equipment will be rebuilt. It's a different time then back in Vietnam. I'm surprise to hear about Jimmy pushing for a raise because I know Reagan gave a huge raise when he took over and I thanked him very much for it.

As far as troops being worn out, that's still remains to be seen. We have another decade to go and I pray we have the nads to stand tough despite the surrender threat by the dems.

[frizzellr]

As far as troops being worn out, that's still remains to be seen.

It is already evident and if you were active duty now you would see it across the board.

[Fieldmouse]

ORIGINAL: frizzellr

It is already evident and if you were active duty now you would see it across the board.

Frizzellr, we still have another decade to go. You better pray that's not the case.

[falcon]

"The equipment will be rebuilt. It's a different time then back in Vietnam."

How do you know that?

[frizzellr]

And truth be told some of the equipment is the same that my dad had in Vietnam.

[Fieldmouse]

I just toured the Battle ship North Carolina, guess what, it looked the same as the ship I was on to.

[bd chambers]

I WILL THANK THEM, PERHAPS WE COULD ALL DO THAT.

[bd chambers]

11.4 % pay raise

navy sub capt

not bad for a peanut farmer

[Strange Biller]

ORIGINAL: falcon

Anyone give any thought about what happens to the US Army and Marines when they do come home from this protracted war. The troops will be worn out. Equipment will be worn out or non-existent. Politicians will be blaming the military if things do not end well. Top that off with the possibility of an ultra-liberal Democrat president who sees no need for a military, except for nation building, and you have a mess.

Not to nitpick, Falcon, but when I was in George HW Bush's army, he made the largest and most sweeping cuts of my lifetime. So I don't think thatthe party of the new president necessarilly tells us much of anything. The last two democratic candidates were both war veterans themselves - I have not seen any evidence that democratic candidates have no use for a military.

Now, I do agree with almost everything else you posted and, unfortunately, it is practically an inevitability is history is any judge. When it happened after WWII, we paid for it severely in the early days of Korea (read up on Task Force Smith to see how well prepared we were for hostilities). We were fortunate after Vietnam to not get into any major conflicts because from all accounts the military couldn't have fought its way out of a paper bag in the late seventies and early eighties.

Even more unfortunately, I don't have a lot of solutions. The problem is that politicians on both sides of the aisle will be falling over themselves to cut the military budget once they can so they can fund their own projects which have been put aside during the war. If I could think of a way to convince the politicians that this is stupid, I would, but I'm not optimistic.