Actually, it's Moran, not Moron.

Mr KA3B, I would humbly submit that our people are doing their job to the best of their ability as long as they are deployed here, regardless of your belief that they are a 'whining cunt' or not. I don't see it is anyone's right to disregard the fact that they're working as hard as they can, in the face of any other factors, and I don't think anyone should ask any more of them than this. The chap with 18 in is a long-service combat veteran formerly of active duty, with a goodly basis for comparison. If he's saying that he's being treated worse than he was with 3rd AD in 1991 or any other time in his military career, I'm inclined to believe it. He's not the only former Active guy with numerous deployments under his belt that I have either, and all are in agreement.

Now, maybe it's just me, but I would humbly submit that some things are expected to be given to us in return for our work. We have an obligation to the Army, the Army also has an obligation to us. For examples, heaven forbid that they should keep the chow halls open for those of us that don't work business hours, or that we should be allowed to test fire our weapons instead of discovering a malfunction when we're trying to shoot an enemy.
I do not know (and indeed doubt) that our experiences are representative of other units in theater, but they are -our- experiences.

Either way, we are all going to fulfill our obligations. Once that obligation is over, what people do is their own affair. If the Army is willing to endure a mass exodus as soon as stop-loss is over (and I think all  of my E-5s and E-6s are getting out at first chance, even taking into account the fact that a lot of people will stay when they say they won't, I see some of my E-4s in this situation), then let it continue as it is doing.

For the record, I'm 1-185 AR myself right now. Morale and unit pride in this company is fantastic. Opinions on the way we're being run is less so.

NTM

Quoted: For the record, I'm 1-185 AR myself right now. Morale and unit pride in this company is fantastic. Opinions on the way we're being run is less so. NTM

Sorry, It was a type-O, and it is fixx'd


I see that you and I have something in common

Unit Pride and morale have always been pretty good in that unit, but I can tell you of some times in the last 10 years that guys in the field did not get chow, or uniforms, soldiers smokeing pot behind the armory at night , and of admin AGR guys that have no clue what they were doing ect....( Im hopeing that that crusty old bastard Christopherson is gone!) I can tell you of leaving soldiers on guard duty without someone to check on them in the middle of Irwin..., I can tell you what it was like to to ride to L.A.  in the back of a 5-ton with no ammo...I first started out as a Medic and within a year I was the Medic for the Mort. Plt. I can tell you what it was like to not get paid for months because the State was bankrupt, and we were getting I.O.U.'s....The real backdoor history of the unit is fill'd with some crazy stuff, but I ended up going to Wa Guard, and I tell you what, I went throug a time warp!...No more M60 tanks, New M-1's No more 4.2 Mort's now NEW 120's, Uniforms, A-2's and M-9's ( I did like my .45 better) .......But you know what?....Same type of shit, just a different pile, They had just as much crazy behind the scenes going on also....


You know the old saying about Opinions.....Everybody has one

You men are doing a hell of a job!, and If I can get a waivor taken care of, I just may get my chance to get back into My old unit ( I would have been back in in time for your rotation if it were not for a crusty doc at MEP's)...

I know that you guys are getting tired, and want to come home!, You are all on the down hill slide, Dont lose it now! Keep your head up, Watch your back side and watch out for the guy next to you.

If you need anything!  You let me know, and I will do everything possible to see what I can do for you.

Thunderbolts!

Quoted: I got the answer for your liberal friends… When the Democrats in Congress reorganized the US Military structure after Vietnam they did so with the intent to cripple the US’s ability to fight future foreign wars. They made the National Guard a primary part of the standing US Military giving the NG primary and support duties the Army cannot fight large scale actions without. The intent was to disrupt any future presidents ability to make war... John Kerry helped in this. It is that simple.

Actually, the Army chose to organize itself so that call up of reserves would be necessary to fight any major conflict.  They did this following Vietnam because they saw that the administration was able to send the troops to war without ever mobilizing public opinion in support of the effort.  The way that they saw it was that calling up the reserves  would require public support.  The callup would connect the public to the effort.

The Army was quite proud that it designed itself in such a manner and it was the right choice in the post-Vietnam era.  This has handicapped the Army in the post-Cold War era because it was not capable of sustained combat deployments without reserve call ups (with some exceptions).  Secretary Rumsfeld sees the inability to have a "come as you are" fight without reservists as a vulnerability and changing that has been a large part of his agenda of transformation for the Army.  Within the Army, there has been considerable debate on just how much they want to be able to fight without reservists.  Increasing this ability is a must or they will lose funding to other branches, but shift too much to the active side and you may end up in another Vietnam-like conflict where public support in never mobilized until there is too much committed to withdraw.