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Message
Budget Cuts Leave 101st Airborne Crippled
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:26 pm
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:26 pm
quote:
One month into the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, the U.S. military conducted the longest combat air assault in history, with roughly 4,000 soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division going deep into enemy territory at night in Mosul. Three years later, the division would carry out its last brigade-size air assault in combat during Operation Swarmer, also in Iraq.
Today, many are questioning whether operations of that magnitude could be conducted after budget cuts have stripped the nation’s premier air assault division of its helicopters.
Fox News traveled to Kentucky’s Fort Campbell, home to the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, for exclusive interviews and to see first-hand how cuts have hurt military readiness. Officials described how the storied division is painfully overstretched.
“We used to have two aviation brigades here, over 200 aircraft, and now we are down to just one aviation brigade and slightly over 100 aircraft,” said Col. Craig Alia, commander of the division’s combat aviation brigade and a veteran of three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Asked if he could quickly deploy and conduct a brigade-sized air assault similar to the ones in Iraq, Alia admitted, “We could not. We don’t have the crews to do it.”
LINK
Looks like the navy has it's own problems as well...
Two-thirds of Navy strike fighter jets can't fly
And...
Generals Worry Army, Marines Unready For A New War
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:29 pm to Darth_Vader
from what I've read, Trump is getting ready to do a Ronald Reagan type re-build up of our military
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:31 pm to Darth_Vader
I mean really how often do we make brigade jumps of 1000 paratroopers? I'm a vet and the 101st isn't needed like it used to be
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:31 pm to Darth_Vader
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:31 pm to Darth_Vader
Not saying there aren't problems but this propagandistic bullshite to get a bigger money grab
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:32 pm to Darth_Vader
It's such a shame too. If anything the army has been known to be efficient spenders of tax payer money.
we need to give them a few more billion
we need to give them a few more billion
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:34 pm to Darth_Vader
Good. Keep the cuts coming.
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:35 pm to Broke
quote:
'm a vet and the 101st isn't needed like it used to be
Until it is again.
Also, Rakkasan, "Let Valor Not Fail"
This post was edited on 3/9/17 at 12:36 pm
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:37 pm to upgrayedd
quote:
Is this a bad thing?
I'd rather not find out.
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:38 pm to Darth_Vader
Airborne units aren't used the same way they were back then and were never a quick reaction force. I'm fine with the 101st not being able to mobilize and deploy at a moment's notice.
The article you linked about Navy strike fighters is more of an indicative to the problems going on right now. Lots of units don't have sufficient aircraft to rotate to maintain combat ready status. It's far worse for the reserve units who are still flying legacy hornets. Luckily the 35s are coming and every new batch gets a little quicker. When the 35s come on-line they can hand off the Rhinos to reserve status.
I don't know specifics on Army and Marines combat readiness but I know that the army keeps a lot of their reserve assets ready and the Marines have good readiness with their Marine Expeditionary Units.
I think it's a far cry from the combat readiness of the Cold War across the board for our military but that type of readiness isn't necessary in today's current climate. No military in the world besides NK and SK have their fingers on the trigger at any time. With such vast surveillance worldwide, the intelligence community would be able to give leadership sufficient time to mobilize and deploy forces in anticipation of the outbreak of combat.
The article you linked about Navy strike fighters is more of an indicative to the problems going on right now. Lots of units don't have sufficient aircraft to rotate to maintain combat ready status. It's far worse for the reserve units who are still flying legacy hornets. Luckily the 35s are coming and every new batch gets a little quicker. When the 35s come on-line they can hand off the Rhinos to reserve status.
I don't know specifics on Army and Marines combat readiness but I know that the army keeps a lot of their reserve assets ready and the Marines have good readiness with their Marine Expeditionary Units.
I think it's a far cry from the combat readiness of the Cold War across the board for our military but that type of readiness isn't necessary in today's current climate. No military in the world besides NK and SK have their fingers on the trigger at any time. With such vast surveillance worldwide, the intelligence community would be able to give leadership sufficient time to mobilize and deploy forces in anticipation of the outbreak of combat.
This post was edited on 3/9/17 at 12:40 pm
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:41 pm to Darth_Vader
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:41 pm to upgrayedd
quote:
Is this a bad thing?
Remember the old saying from Teddy Roosevelt "Walk softly and carry a big stick"?
Do you understand what he meant?
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:42 pm to Darth_Vader
The LAST thing I'd do is give those wasteful SOBs any more money. Between the military budget and VA, we spend over 60% of our discretionary income.
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:43 pm to Darth_Vader
quote:
Remember the old saying from Teddy Roosevelt "Walk softly and carry a big stick"?
Do you understand what he meant?
We've still got the biggest sticks in the world.
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:48 pm to upgrayedd
quote:
We've still got the biggest sticks in the world.
Sure we spend more money than everyone else. But what are we getting with that money? Where is it going? I can spend $50,000 restoring a classic car but if I leave it with a locked up engine I'm left with a 5,000 lb paperweight.
While our main rivals are modernizing and updating their sticks, ours appears to be rotting.
The benifit of a strong military is it makes waging war against the US unthinkable and thus the likelihood we get drug into a war is lowered.
The real danger of the US being drug into a war comes when a war against the US doesn't look unthinkable.
And as the dad of a 15 year old son, I want war to be as unthinkable as possible.
This post was edited on 3/9/17 at 12:50 pm
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:49 pm to Darth_Vader
Trump in process of curing all of this.
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:51 pm to Darth_Vader
Sounds like they got their wings clipped
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:51 pm to Darth_Vader
The US Navy is the largest deterrent to war. Roosevelt was a proponent of naval dominance/power projection and that doctrine still lives today. No nation will be able to challenge our navy within the next 50 or more years.
Posted on 3/9/17 at 12:52 pm to Darth_Vader
How are Airbornes 1-100 doing?
This post was edited on 3/9/17 at 12:53 pm
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