re: 1990 US Desert Storm armed forces vs 2025 US armed forces: Who wins?

How would you rank 1990’s generals / leadership vs. today’s?

Yes that 1990 unit was great but they really didn’t face a powerful opponent. They made it look easy because it was.

Drone warfare.

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How would you rank 1990’s generals / leadership vs. today’s?

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Well, that’s a tough one. I’m very familiar with the leadership from my time (late 80s to early 90s) and they were outstanding for the the most part. I’m not that familiar with the leadership of today other than talking to my son (he’s a PFC 11B) and what I hear on the media.

Having said that, I think our leadership then was far superior. I say that because back then, promotion was based solely on merit. For starters, only the best officer candidates were allowed in combat arms (armor, infantry, cavalry, engineers, and artillery), while lesser high-speed officer candidates were assigned to combat support roles like supply, MPs, transportation, etc. And even after getting into a Combat Arms slot as an officer, they had to prove their worth. If they proved they couldn’t hack it, they’d be reassigned to battalion or brigade staff with quickness.

Today, politics has clouded everything. First you had political purges by Obama, who fired close to 200 flag grade officers he considered to have “wrong” politics. Those guys were replaced with more politically “reliable” officers. Then Biden had an even bigger purge via the COVID mandate. Add in the fact standards were lowered to allow women officers to serve in Combat Arms, and DEI policies were used in promotions for the past four years, all that together makes me highly suspect of a sizable portion of the leadership in our armed forces. There are a lot of officers in command positions who are not there because they’re the best, but because of their race or gender. That’s a recipe for disaster. I think the issue is being corrected now. But it will take a long time to right the ship.

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1990’s group would move with stealth and purpose towards the enemy,

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A 1990s Armored Task Force with an Armored Cavalry Regiment screen advancing is definitely moving with purpose, but not a whole lot of stealth.



We’re just going to call down artillery on you as we advance, then open up while on the move at about 2,000 meters with our 120s and roll right over whatever is in front of us.

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11B

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This is directed towards your son but the same can be said for you

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1990 US military

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Did those guys even have reflective belts?

He chose boots on the ground, rifle in hand. I respect that decision

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I’m very grateful that we did not. Only the road guards had orange reflective vests. And they only had to wear them when we were running PT before sunrise.

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That's the way it was in the late 90's when I joined. It metastasized like fluorescent cancer around GEN Shinseki's time.

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1990 Armed Forces wouldn't have a reliable counter to drones if I had to guess, and you gotta think the US has the capability to put up some absolutely nasty swarms mixed with other new tech.

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Truth.

And, of course, air superiority that was a given in 1990 would be reversed.

I don't really understand how this is a question. I'm guessing it's just a way of making the human point.