Is US Military Readiness Being Compromised? ... J. D. Longstreet

Is US Military Readiness Being Compromised?
Obama's Purge of the US Military
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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More and more Americans are beginning to worry that America's military is in decline.  Veterans of the military forces, especially, worry as they have seen the evidence of a lack of readiness by simply comparing the state of readiness of their branch of the military during their time of service and the state of readiness today in that same branch of the US Military.

It is a topic the government does not want to discuss in public.  That is understandable.  However, it needs attention and it needs attention NOW.

 The House Armed Services Committee chairman, Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., said recently:  "You'd better hope we never have a war again."  It would seem he, too, is concerned over what he perceives as the decline in what the military calls its readiness.

There can be no doubt that recent budget cuts have hurt the US military.  The cuts were made against the warnings of top brass at the Pentagon and by military experts.  More cuts are in the pipeline. 

How bad has readiness suffered?  Well, that's classified.  But we are able to pick up a snippet here and there that allows us to peek behind the curtain for an instant. 

From a report on ABCnews.com we learn:  "... an Air Force official says they've grounded 13 combat fighter/bomber squadrons or about a third of those active duty units. And the Army says only two of its 35 active-duty brigades are fully ready for major combat operations."  SOURCE:   http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/worry-us-military-ready-21046785  

Just for your information -- a brigade is made up (usually) of approximately 3,500 to 5,500 troops.   So the figures above become even more frightening when we realize that we have roughly 160,000 active duty combat troops in those 35 brigades -- BUT -- we only have less than ten thousand active duty combat troops ready to fight -- right now!

Yeah, I know that is JUST the Army and does not include the Reserves, the Marines, and the Navy. Still, it IS eye-opening and frightening.

Budget cuts have curtailed training, especially for the US Army and it is beginning to show.

Consider this:  "U.S. General Ray Odierno, U.S. Army chief of staff, has said that budget cuts and fiscal uncertainty in the United States have led to sharp reductions in army training.

In comments on October 21 at a conference of the Association of the U.S. Army, Odierno said currently only two brigades of troops are fully trained and combat ready.

"We had to stop training, basically, in the last six months of the [fiscal] year," Odierno said.

A combat brigade has between 3,500 and 5,000 troops. The U.S. Army currently has some 570,000 uniformed personnel.

Under current plans approved by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel during the summer, that figure could be reduced as low as 420,000.

Odierno also said budget woes are affecting equipment purchases and the army currently needs a new armored fighting vehicle and new helicopters."  SOURCE:  http://www.rferl.org/content/article/25143880.html

Look. The US military is reeling from $800 billion in defense cuts over the next ten years  and now, we learn, they are faced with $500 billion MORE in budget cuts since sequestration has kicked in.

The Obama administration’s military budget cuts are being made when global tension and instability are spiraling up.  The Middle East is a time bomb set to explode at any moment.  As I write China and Japan are at something of a stand off over disputed ownership of a few small islands claimed by both.  The US is pledged to fight for Japan should this glaring contest suddenly go hot and bullets begin to fly.

How bad is it?  As we said above that is classified, but consider what Retired Adm. James A. Lyons former Commander - in - Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and senior U.S. military representative to the United Nations had to say back in October 2013 in an article published by the Washington Times:  "All this means that we will have the smallest Army since prior to World War II. The Navy, with its anemic shipbuilding program, will most likely be left with the smallest fleet since prior to World War I. The U.S. Air Force will suffer a similar adverse impact. Selected aircraft squadrons from both the Air Force and the Navy have been ordered to stand down and not fly. It will take several months to restore their readiness.
Symbolic of the Navy’s demise are the five aircraft carriers that are currently moored at piers at the Norfolk Naval Base in Virginia for lack of operating and overhaul funds. Clearly, with the escalating civil war in Syria, one carrier battle group should be immediately deployed to the Mediterranean. Such a deployment would dramatically change the strategic equation and counter Russia’s deployment of 11 ships currently there." SOURCE:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/11/restoring-military-readiness-512223544/#ixzz2mEsFm3Ny

The budget cuts have done a number on the US military.  Adding to the military's problems though, is the social engineering the left has forced upon our fighting forces.  Unit cohesion is evaporating with homosexuals serving openly now and, with women in combat roles, sexual assaults are sky rocketing.

Some are wondering if we have entirely to many politician soldiers, parade ground officers, instead of fighting generals in positions of power in the upper echelons of the US military. 

And there are those who suspect Obama is purging the military of generals and admirals who place their oath to protect the Constitution before allegiance to him.  

Consider this:  "Retired Army Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin, who was with Delta Force and later Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence under President George W. Bush, says it is worrying that four-star generals are being retired at the rate that has occurred under Obama.

“Over the past three years, it is unprecedented for the number of four-star generals to be relieved of duty, and not necessarily relieved for cause,” Boykin said.

Boykin went on to say:  “I believe there is a purging of the military,” he said. “The problem is worse than we have ever seen.”

Boykin referred to recent reports that Obama has purged some 197 officers in the past five years."  SOURCE:  http://www.wnd.com/2013/10/top-generals-obama-is-purging-the-military/#zjus8xYFUc2EzwEZ.99

One could argue that Obama is only following his Marxist philosophy and copying Joseph Stalin's purge of the Soviet military in 1941.  That purge by Stalin was to consolidate his power.  One would be hard pressed NOT to think Mr. Obama might be motivated by the same motivating principle as Stalin.  Stalin wanted a military that answered only to him -- and him alone. 

We cannot allow any President to create a Praetorian Guard of our military. 

There has never been an attempted coup by the US military.  How do I know?  Because had there been -- it would have been successful.  They have shown remarkable restraint over the past nearly two-and-half centuries.  But today there is restlessness in the ranks -- both upper and lower.

The US military, the Army, the Navy, Marines, the Air Force, the Coast Guard,  and all the Reserve forces need our help.  The least we can do is contact our Congressperson and demand that they investigate and get to the bottom of Obama's purge of the military and restore the necessary funds to rebuild our military and finally, Congress should repeal, or in some other way, remove homosexuals from serving openly in the US military and remove women from combat roles in all the services.   

The US military has defended America for 250 years, or so.  Don't you think it's about time we Americans came to the defense of our troops?

J. D. Longstreet