What is happening with the U.S. direction with defense?

1. 86

   tsmogposted 20 months ago

   A May 10th article, 'Milley Reflects on 25th Secretary of Defense' published by Dept of Defense states; "In Washington yesterday, the Special Competitive Studies Project hosted the "Ash Carter Exchange on Innovation and National Security" — a forum where a host of experts discussed ways to advance collaboration in the pursuit of national security."
   
   https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stori … f-defense/
   
   A great read!!
   
   Milley said, "I believe ... that Ash Carter instinctively understood that we are in the middle of the largest fundamental change in the character of war throughout all of human recorded history," Milley said. "And he also understood that the stakes were enormously high. At the end of the day, it was about preventing great power war and preserving the rules-based international order that had maintained the great power peace for the last 80 years."
   
   How do you feel about our Dept of Defense? Are they keeping up with times? Are they a real deterrent on the world stage contrast Russian and China? Is today's technology including AI giving us a jump ahead of them? Is the cooperative military exercises with other nations both creating a supremacy of power and a deterrent to conflict?
   
   Any thoughts?
   
   To know what is happening with the branches of our military take a peek at their latest news
   
   U.S. Army
   https://www.army.mil/
   
   U.S. Air Force
   https://www.af.mil/
   
   U.S. Navy
   https://www.navy.mil/
   
   U.S.Marine Corp
   https://www.marines.mil/News/
   
   U.S. Space Force
   https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/
   
   U.S. Coast Guard
   https://www.uscg.mil/

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   1. 81

      Credence2posted 20 months agoin reply to this

      I was always concerned that our military should be more effective in the reality of the limited, guerilla and brush wars we have today. As we have seen in Vietnam and to an extent in Afghanistan and Iraq a limit to military effectiveness even if materiel and manpower are to your advantage.
      
      We all have to be smart to avoid large confrontations which, in the nuclear age,  could render our planet uninhabitable. In this world, I believe that the threat of military power to be passé. I have always wondered if we make promises to allies that we really are no longer able to keep. Taiwan and Ukraine are cases in point.

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      1. 70

         Ken Burgessposted 20 months agoin reply to this

         This is correct, we can no longer use the military to strong arm other nations.
         
         This was always going to happen.  When we outsourced our manufacturing to China, literally ALL of our manufacturing, this was the eventual outcome... whether it is now or five years or ten years from now, America will no longer be the "super power" on the global stage.
         
         America no longer has anything left but debt.  It has spent its wealth and resources.  Now countries are pulling away from America, they are abandoning the Dollar as the Reserve currency at an alarming rate, far quicker than the "experts" predicted a mere two years ago.
         
         Saudi Arabia shifting to China (BRICS) was a monumental "Canary in the Coal Mine" moment. 
         
         Our military strength is based on our economic might, as our economy declines so to will our military.
         
         The fact that there has been so much effort to "Go Woke" in the military at this time is also a signal that they want a certain type of mindset and political beliefs to be prevalent throughout the military, so that when they get orders to turn on Americans who are "domestic terrorists" they are compliant, if not willing to do so.

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         1. 81

            Credence2posted 20 months agoin reply to this

            Ken, both you and Mike have provided great talking points in this discussion.
            
            Here is what Mike said...
            
            Nobody thought Ukraine would be able to successfully fight back against Russia, but that is what has happened.  The Ukrainians have perfected the utilization of drones to drop bombs, detect the enemy, direct artillery fire and manage battlefield efforts.  Things unheard of when I was a soldier.
            
            The world is moving forward, and I hope our military can keep up with it.
            
            It all comes down to having a desire to defeat your enemy. I think the efforts of the left to raise a generation of kids to hate their country is what needs to be defeated.  The greatest weapon we will have in any future war is the desire of our people to protect our nation.
            --------
            My retort: no one believed that the Vietcong had the staying power to resist and ultimately defeat the most powerful military force on the planet 50 years ago, but it did.
            
            The world is moving forward and a realistic assessment of where we are other to competing military powers is in order. The idea of self appointed exaggeration of our prowess is an illusion, fine for the military basic training function but not what I would expect from the policy wonks and military architects who should be evaluating the big picture. Wishful thinking did not save the Alamo when overwhelmed by Santa Ana and the Mexican Army. So, the mere desire to "defeat the enemy" is not always good enough.
            
            Loving your country, as opposed to Mike's theme that the left hates the country is not using men and women as cannon fodder. We have to avoid Needless saber rattling and imbuing military young recruits with ideas of invincibility as God's army.  A military strategy pitting the will of good guys against the bad guys is simplistic and not keeping up with the reality of the modern world
            
            -----
            
            China may well prove to be the greatest threat to American world dominance. It is all about the money. In the 21st century economic power Trumps military power. Their model works for them and they have brought extortion in the guise of economic development to much of the globe. And they have been doing it without firing a shot. They have no fear of saber rattling from us.
            
            For example, How are we going to take our military power to the other side of the globe to defend Taiwan that is in China's backyard? China is not a banana republic or a rickshaw society any longer, but is a force to be reckoned with.
            
            What I don't want in the military, Ken, are those that are members of white supremacist organizations. There is nothing Woke about recognizing that racism promoted within the ranks is inconsistent with our supposed values and will have an adverse affect on a cohensive, orderly and disciplined military force. Undermining the military as it currently exist does not help to understand the "big picture". If members of the military face these sort of conflicting and disorienting values stateside, what would it be like when deployed?

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            1. 70

               Ken Burgessposted 20 months agoin reply to this

               I don't think you can take a whole lot out of what is going on in Ukraine to mean anything.
               
               Ukraine was trained for this conflict since 2014 by "the West".
               
               Ukraine has MANY soldiers from "the West" doing much of the fighting.
               
               Ukraine has SUPPORT in terms of Funding, Intelligence, Satellite communications, Naval, AIr, etc.  all from "the West".
               
               Ukraine is essentially in Russia's backyard, literally down the road from Moscow.  Russia would have plowed through Ukraine without "the West" doing everything but deploying their own armies to the frontline in this current "conflict".
               
               https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/p … 234665040/
               
               https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-arm … Feb.%2024.
               
               https://www.npr.org/2022/04/29/10956233 … in-ukraine
               
               That's just the US... the Polish, British, Canadians, a whole bunch of well trained soldiers from "the West" are over there fighting.  Whether they are "ex" soldiers is a matter of debate, any American soldier killed over there in battle along the frontlines will of course be disavowed, that's how the game is played.
               
               ----
               
               As for the latter half of your post, regarding "the Woke Military".
               Lesbian
               https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSpHWBzWaN0
               Trans
               https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zsRLwsCvFTs
               Free Sex Change Surgery
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               Ranger
               https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txX2S80Dt8k
               
               yeah... save all that "white supremacy" talk.

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2. 96

   Readmikenowposted 20 months ago

   It is interesting how the military changes with the times.
   
   I hear stories from friends who have kids and grandkids in the military. I wonder if those could endure what he had to deal with when I was an Army officer.  Being cussed out, demeaned or degraded was all part of the experience to make you strong.  That doesn't happen now. 
   
   Weapon systems, technology and methods have all changed over the years to adapt to the current situation in the world.  I was in so long ago that land navigation using a map and compass was an essential part of training, this is no longer the case.  The joke in the Army often told by sergeants used to be...
   
   '"What's more dangerous than nuclear weapons in the Army?"
   "What?"
   "A second lieutenant with a map."
   
   Nobody thought Ukraine would be able to successfully fight back against Russia, but that is what has happened.  The Ukrainians have perfected the utilization of drones to drop bombs, detect the enemy, direct artillery fire and manage battlefield efforts.  Things unheard of when I was a soldier.
   
   The world is moving forward, and I hope our military can keep up with it.
   
   It all comes down to having a desire to defeat your enemy. I think the efforts of the left to raise a generation of kids to hate their country is what needs to be defeated.  The greatest weapon we will have in any future war is the desire of our people to protect our nation.

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   1. 81

      Credence2posted 20 months agoin reply to this

      What is more dangerous than nuclear weapons in the Army?
      What
      "A Second Lieutenant with a map"
      
      Now, that's funny.

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3. 70

   Ken Burgessposted 20 months ago

   Not to kidnap your thread tsmog, but I wonder how the coming Depression is going to impact what is a weak willed and politicized military?
   
   What the idiotic decision to entice Russia into war with Ukraine, rather than getting Zelensky to shut his pie hole and agree to the Minsk accord got us, is a faltering global trade and a debt based economy that is about to collapse.
   
   The only thing trying to isolate Russia, and cutting off Europe (especially Germany which was the economic power house for the EU) from Russia's cheap energy did, was cut "the West's" throat.
   
   The conflict has also decimated Ukraine's production and output to the world as well.
   
   This article explains many of the similarities between today and the 1930s.
   
   https://thecritic.co.uk/the-next-great-depression/
   
   We aren't going to survive Biden's idiocy and arrogance, this nation isn't made up of tough as nails independent hardworking Americans anymore... and it's leadership currently is made up of a bunch of deranged incompetents that have no concern for the lives of Ukrainians or Americans that they destroy.

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   1. 86

      tsmogposted 20 months agoin reply to this

      You introduced me to a new idea - a time of depression possibly ahead, yet I ask how would that affect the military? I don't get the impression our military are weak willed. Maybe the difference is with what one reads. I don't know. Perhaps, it is I am more current with the USMC and Navy than the Army and Air Force. I don't know. I just know since 2010 the Navy has won 8 Army/Navy games and the Army 5.
      
      As said several times before you enlighten me to how our nation as itself fits into world affairs related to each and every butterfly effect that occurs. Your perspectives of the puzzle(s) causes me to poke about. I thank you for that as I become more informed. I do learn.

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      1. 70

         Ken Burgessposted 20 months agoin reply to this

         The military has become the most politicized entity, agency, or corporation in existence in America.
         
         To support my position, go ahead and watch the links in my reply to credence that start after the sentence "As for the latter half of your post, regarding "the Woke Military".".
         
         To further support my position that being politicized weakens a military allow me to add:
         
         This is a copy of the Ranger Handbook.
         https://irp.fas.org/doddir/army/ranger.pdf
         
         What earning a Ranger Tab used to mean is that you were elite, a lean, mean, killing machine, you were trained and tested, ready to accomplish any mission and kill any enemy that comes your way. 
         
         It meant you were THE standard setter, part of a fraternity, you were pushed beyond your limits, beyond what 97% of the other soldiers could handle, and not just survived, but excelled at it.
         
         Now its a joke in comparison to what I went through.  The women who succeeded were coddled, given a pass, they recycled through how ever many phases and how ever many times it took... those of us who earned our tabs in one shot called anyone who had to recycle a phase a gimp, a retread, only the weak had to recycle. And no one... no one... ever got to recycle multiple phases.
         
         Its like when they did away with the Boy Scouts, changing it to Scouts didn't make it better, it was one less thing that boys had for themselves, something that separated them, allowed them to have some unity and cohesiveness.
         
         The Rangers are not a more cohesive fighting force because they allowed a handful of women to get their tabs, it just made them weaker, it made getting the tab less of an ideal, less special... it is no longer a 'man among men' school, it is no longer the Boy Scouts... it is just the Scouts.
         
         Not the elite of the elite... far weaker... weak enough so that some 120 pound girl can achieve it too. 
         
         That politicizing of the Army creates weakness, in so many ways... the job of the Rangers is to excel in the worst possible elements of war imaginable, what you want is highly intelligent, highly capable, tested to the extreme, elite soldiers who want to go out there and practice what they have trained to do... you want killers... not Scouts.
         
         Lastly, let me add a story about a woman who completed getting her tab:
         https://magazine.byu.edu/article/facing-ranger-dangers/
         
         When, on her fifth try, Hodge finally passed Darby, she moved on to the Mountain phase during the winter, feeling confident she would pass. But she recycled again only to find herself in the rainiest and muddiest Mountain class of the year.
         
         The new Rangers it seems allows recycling, over, and over, and over again, until you finally get you participation trophy... I mean, tab.

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4. 81

   Credence2posted 20 months ago

   TSmog, I thought that I would include this article. Is a return to compulsory military service in our future?
   
   https://news.yahoo.com/time-honored-dut … p_catchall

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   1. 86

      tsmogposted 20 months agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the great read, Cred!! I posted sometime back in history an OP on having a two year mandatory service. It had mixed posts.
      
      The reason I posted the OP back then is I have an interest in Sweden and had looked into their national program. They have conscription, but they also have a system called Total Defence System. The following is a quote from an article linked below about it.
      
      "Everyone between the ages of 16 and 70 living in Sweden is part of Sweden's total defence and, if necessary, must help Sweden to prepare for war. This obligation is called total defence service. Here you can read more about total defence service."
      
      Total Defence Service
      https://www.krisinformation.se/en/hazar … ce-service
      
      From your article I do have concerns as the author does about not meeting enlistment goals. At the same time I have mixed feelings as to what is the incentive to enlisting? Of course patriotism is at the top of the list, yet that is becoming a term just tossed about, which to me has less value and respect than it once had. Why, I ask? Or, am I off base?
      
      Then as I watched TV last night I saw a commercial about an event in San Diego by a food bank for enlisted families for this weekend, which is Memorial Day. What? WTF is this, they don't have enough food for their families? There are many charities providing services for military families here in the San Diego area. A lot of Veteran ones too. Maybe it is a cost of living thing as it is high in San Diego.
      
      Of course Naval Base San Diego is homeport to the Pacific Fleet Surface Navy with 56 U.S. Navy ships and two auxiliary vessels including USNS Mercy. Plus, 40 miles north is Camp Pendleton home to the 1st Marine Division and much more. It is the largest base on the West Coast and is 125,000 acres. In other words, there are a ton of military personnel here in San Diego.

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         Credence2posted 20 months agoin reply to this

         One of the problems might be pay. Junior Enlisted members really do not make a great deal of money. Even back in my day, California was expensive. And I have heard more often than I would like that many military families would qualify for public assistance.
         
         I have a fondness for the Navy, a girl in every port. I was Air Force myself. There use to be a large Stretegic Air Command base just South of Riverside, CA, March Air Force Base, where I received my first duty assignment in the mid 1970s.
         
         Patriotism is an incentive, but being able to make a viable living may well be more important,
         
         How do we address the shortfall outside of a compulsory service,
         requirement which today would have to include both men and women?We could offer extended benefits to vets, increase reenlistment bonuses among other things...

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