Strained, Army Looks for Relief From the Guard

[cal04]

Strains on the Army from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have become so severe that Army officials say they may be forced to make greater use of the National Guard to provide enough troops for overseas deployments.

Senior Army officers have discussed that analysis — and described the possible need to use more members of the National Guard — with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld’s senior adviser on personnel, David S. C. Chu, according to Pentagon officials.

While no decision has been made to mobilize more Guard forces, and may not need to be before midterm elections, the prospect presents the Bush administration with a politically vexing problem: how, without expanding the Army, to balance the pressing need for troops in the field against promises to limit overseas deployments for the Guard.

The National Guard has a goal of allowing five years at home between foreign deployments so as not to disrupt the family life and careers of its citizen soldiers. But instead it has been sending units every three to four years, according to Guard officials.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/22/world/22army.html?hp&ex=1158897600&en=1a49460872ce0b7c&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[babylonsister]

1. How much longer will they get away with this? nt

[VegasWolf]

2. Strained, Guard Looks for Relief From the Army. Vicious circle. nt

[TomInTib]

3. This is not good at all.

When the Army pulls in Guard troops, it will be able to reassign Guardsmen to rates outside of their specialties.

In other words, turn them into infantry grunts and even worse.

[happyslug]

25. When my old Artillery Unit went over it was used as MPs.

I have been out of it since 1990, but I read about it when I see it mentioned in the News, but that is how my old Artillery Unit was used in Iraq, and I suspect is how any unit that is not already leg infantry will be used in Iraq.

[rodeodance]

4. "and may not need to be before midterm elections, "--holy hell wil break

out after the elections.

[rodeodance]

5. 'demand for troops...has greatly exceeded past projections'

......That disclosure comes amid many signs of mounting strain on active Army units. So many are deployed or only recently returned from combat duty that only two or three combat brigades — perhaps 7,000 to 10,000 troops — are fully ready to respond in case of unexpected crises, according to a senior Army general.

An internal Army document that was provided to The New York Times notes that the demand for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan has greatly exceeded past projections that predicted earlier troop reductions. According to the document, the Army needs $66.1 billion to make up for all of its equipment shortfalls. Referring to the units that are to deploy next to Iraq and Afghanistan, or are in training, the document shows a large question mark to indicate their limited readiness.

The Army had to offer generous new enlistment bonuses of up to $40,000 to attract recruits into such dangerous jobs as operating convoys in Iraq. It was able to meet its active-duty enlistment goals this year with the addition of 1,000 new recruiters.

Enmeshed in negotiations with Bush administration officials over its spending request for next year, neither Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army Chief of Staff, nor any of his top Pentagon aides would agree to be interviewed about the personnel stresses they are confronting. But Army officials have shared their concerns with retired Army officers and members of Congress, and quietly distributed budget tallies, including the internal document on troop and equipment demands, to their supporters. Military officers and civilian Pentagon officials interviewed for this article would discuss the issues only on condition of anonymity.

[woodsprite]

6. They're gonna take them away so they won't be here when

they use the microwave weapons on crowds.

[BrotherBuzz]

7. But, but 'Army Ends Best Recruit Year Since 1997'

Army Ends Best Recruit Year Since 1997


By ROBERT BURNS
The Associated Press
Thursday, September 21, 2006; 6:46 PM

WASHINGTON -- The Army is ending its best recruiting year since 1997 and expecting similar success in 2007, despite the weight of grim war news from Iraq, Army Secretary Francis Harvey said Thursday.

In an Associated Press interview, Harvey said the Army will enlist its 80,000th soldier on Friday, reaching its goal for the year with eight days to spare. That is a considerable turnaround from last year when the Army missed its target for the first time since 1999 and by the widest margin in more than two decades.

At the start of this recruiting year, which began Oct. 1, 2005, many questioned whether the Army would reach 80,000, given the many alternative career options available to young people and the growing unpopularity of the Iraq war. But a package of new financial incentives, new recruiting approaches and a bigger recruiting corps did the trick.

Army recruiters are making more use of the Internet to attract young prospects, and the Army this year began allowing people as old as 42 to enter the service; the maximum age previously was 35.

The Army also has accepted a larger number of recruits whose score on a standardized aptitude test is at the lower end of the acceptable range, and it has granted waivers to permit the enlistment of people with criminal records that otherwise would disqualify them. The Army says it does not grant waivers if there is a pattern of criminal misconduct or for convictions of drug trafficking or any sexually violent crimes

<more>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/21/AR200609210123

[Stella_Artois]

26. More to that story than meets the eye

They've lowered the entry requirements. They have lowered the intelligence requirement.

The military is mostly right wing anyway. They got their war. Best of luck to them.

[BrotherBuzz]

27. They lowered the requirments nominally

The Army allows no more than 4 percent of recruits to have scored in the lowest category (category 4) of the ASVAB test. For many years the Army had a self-imposed 2-percent limit, but raised it to 4 percent in 2005. The congressional ceiling has been set at 20 percent since fiscal 1983. In the late 1970s, as many as 45 percent of Army recruits could be drawn from category 4. Second World War saw entire divisions made up from Category 4 and 5 soldiers - one element of the 93rd division repeated basic training three times!

This dumb draftee (who had less then sterling dealings with recruiters) believes recruiters can and do tweak test numbers to reach their quotas, so the numbers may exceed the 4 percent ceiling.

I would like to see a study that says "The military is mostly right wing anyway". My observation of the military rank and file is that the military is a true representative cross-section of the public, and does not lean mostly to the right. Command may be another subject, entirely.

[Az_lefty]

8. Guards still broken fellas...

don't be lookin here. Basically it's the same problem the active Army is having, come back from deployment and your shit doesn't get fixed. 2/3's of the combat brigades are not combat ready and that applies to the Guard too.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

11. my son's NG brigade is not ready.... last training session was cut

short by 3 days because they didn't have the equipment avail. to train on. Luckily, most of his group is non-deployable - my son because he needs dental work done (and knows they can't ship him out unless he remembers those pesky dental appointments. smart kid) or because they have not been able to fully train because the equip is all over in the ME.

[cliss]

9. Hm..interesting.

I have always said that something would have to stop the Neo Con's from their plans for world domination.

They have SO many plans for us, so many wars beyond Iraq and Afghanistan. That was just Bus Stop #2 on their plans.

The ONLY thing that would stop them would be to run out of money to fund their wars, just like it stopped many out-of-control warring countries in the past.

It was just that simple - they would stop their warfare when they ran out of money. And of course, we are broke. But here, it looks like we may run out of people....

[sabra]

10. kick

:kick:

[YankeyMCC]

12. "...how, without expanding the Army,

to balance the pressing need for troops in the field against promises to limit overseas deployments for the Guard."

I know what he and his cohorts would Like to use...Mercenaries you know those "Security Companies" they're so fond of and are beyond all those pesky things like treaties and laws and traditions of duty and honor relating to military service.

[formercia]

13. They would like to use the contractors on us

The Bushes learned 20 years ago about trusting the military and civilian government employees with black bag jobs. Too many people questioned the legality, so they went with private contractors, most of whom were the same people who did the work previously for one fourth the price. Money solves everything. Everyone has their price.

The Military and civilian government agencies simply provide a vetting process for potential contactor employees. It's a dirty little secret everyone on the inside knows.

[AnneD]

14. As a former Reservist....

I can tell you-if they start pulling this shit...you can kiss the Guard and Reserve good by. Folks won't put up with this. Small business men have lost business' over these extended tours. Hospitals and practices have lost money due to absences of Docs and Nurses. My company years ago were good to let me go for Reserves duty for two weeks in the summer-but they would think twice now about hiring someone that could be gone overseas for a year.


Oh and this asshole David Chu, he was one of these folks that advised on the torture memo. Has no concept of what the Constitution is so how dare they screw the troop trying to get us to 'defend' it.


Please read this to understand Chu. It is an excellent eye opening article......

http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/tsegel/2005/ts_0215p.shtml

[mopinko]

15. where the fuck did all our tax dollars go, i want to know

all those trillions in the last few decades. all just sucked away into some crooks pockets. a couple of generations of randy cunninghams. a lot of worthless junk, and not enough fucking soldiers. or body armor, or even enough fucking bullets. the federal government is nothing but a bfee cookie jar any more.

[seafan]

16. Rummy: 'Noooooo, we can do it with a *small, streamlined force.'*

What an utter catastrophe for our military members, their families and our nation's security.

It's beyond time to send in law enforcement to remove these criminals from power.



From the NY Times article of September 22, 2006: Strained, Army Looks to Guard for More Relief

The question of how to sustain the high level of forces abroad became more acute this week as General John P. Abizaid, the senior American commander in the Middle East, said that the number of troops in Iraq, currently at more than 140,000, could not be expected to drop until next spring at the very earliest.

That disclosure comes amid many signs of mounting strain on active Army units. So many are deployed or only recently returned from combat duty that only two or three combat brigades — perhaps 7,000 to 10,000 troops — are fully ready to respond in case of unexpected crises, according to a senior Army general.

An internal Army document that was provided to The New York Times notes that the demand for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan has greatly exceeded past projections that predicted earlier troop reductions. According to the document, the Army needs $66.1 billion to make up for all of its equipment shortfalls. Referring to the units that are to deploy next to Iraq and Afghanistan, or are in training, the document shows a large question mark to indicate their limited readiness.

snip

Mr. Rumsfeld has not favored substantially expanding the Army, concluding that such a step would draw money from programs he favors to overhaul the military and calculating that the high level of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan will prove temporary. Congress, however, has mandated a temporary 30,000-soldier increase for the Army.

[shrike]

17. I told this old f*ck last weekend to send his grandkids

One of those classic Bush kool-aid drinkers who thinks it'd be a great idea to go after Iran. His wife gave me this appalled look and said, "It is a volunteer army!" I basically said that if the cause is just, she should be encouraging their grandkids to enlist.

ARRRGGGHHH.

[saigon68]

18. Their kids won't enlist

Like Cheney they have other things going

Plus its TOO DANGEROUS.

[AnneD]

19. That's the problem...

you can't have a war without sacrifice. We have not had to sacrifice and the volunteer are not stepping up, even with the extra bonus. Glad you threw a little reality on 'em. Always quick to send someone else. Chicken shit chicken hawks. I volunteered once and I will never do it again or encourage anyone until Bush is out of office-if ever.

[barb162]

23. good response

Of course, the war-mongers rarely have their own families involved

[warrens]

20. Oh, yeah, the guard has LOTS of extra people

Hey, Army, why not dragoon that dickhead Rummy?

[classysassy]

21. New blood for bush

bring back the draft,get some rich kids into the mix,no cushy jobs this time,on to the front line,let them defend liberty and the other bs bush wants.

[file83]

22. GO GUARD!

http://www.1800goguard.com/home.html

Yikes.

[susanna]

24. Seriously?

The Guard has been sending its best since the beginning.

This is actually a non-news story in my world. Most Guard folks have been rotated Iraq-side in my neck of the woods...