Rant Time. Cutting defense the Sweetman way.

Think Defence said this...

Sol, hear what you are saying and I have railed against the corrosive inter service bitching that has beset UK defence for far too long.

Unfortunately, it shows no sign of getting any better, at least at the higher echelons.

Looking in from the outside, the US has 5 air forces each operating manned, unmanned, rotary and fixed wing; Army, USAF, USN, USMC and SOCOM. Now I could be dead wrong but that looks like duplication to me which as I have said may be perfectly fine in times a plenty but of you look at all western nations, the budget deficits are crippling and simply have to be tacked with reductions in spending. Different countries will of course see defence as different priorities, that is only natural, but defence will surely form part of a deficit reduction plan so all armed forces and industry had better get used to that fact for the next 10 or 20 years

Lean times are coming

Sorry for picking on my boy Think Defence but he's thinking along the lines of Sweetman.

Time to bury this bone of thought, kick dirt on it and not let its ugly head rise again (this is a no zombie zone)!


First, lets take this to its most outrageous place...

If you get rid of Marine Air because the Navy and Air Force can perform that function then why not get rid of the Marines entirely.

But wait while we're at it, the US Army is always complaining that the US Air Force doesn't provide close air support or enough transport aircraft for its troops and we once had the Army Air Corps so....

LETS PUT THE Air Force back into the Army.

But wait their is more.  Lets kill the Coast Guard, fold its law enforcement functions into Customs, its rescue facilities into the Navy...

More you say????  We got along without a SOCCOM so we'll send all the snake eaters back to their respective services and save money there.

Who needs land based ballistic missiles?  We can put them all on subs and be more survivable that way...

Oh and the Army?  Yes we folded the Marines and Air Force into it but guess what, we need to downsize it so we'll have it maxed out at say 200,000 men.

Wait a second!  We already had that.  So really lets save money and KILL THE ARMY AND THE USAF AND LEAVE THE DEFENSE OF THIS NATION TO OUR SEA SERVICES!

The Marine Corps is 202,000 strong right now, and can certainly take care of any land battles!

So if you really want to save money, don't kill Marine Air...KILL THE ARMY, KILL THE AIR FORCE AND YOU HAVE ALL THE CUT BACKS YOU COULD EVER NEED!