Politico has a fascinating article on Obama vs. the Generals.
Once you get past the "woe is me" commentary you get to the meat of the subject. The JCS and flag officers in general rolled over and played fetch to the Obama administration and now they're being treated like shit.
Awesome.
They deserve it.
But even more stunning is the fact that at this moment, the US military needs its boosters more than ever but they're no where to be found. Just as the Obama administration has marginalized the JCS, the JCS has marginalized its supporters. The Pentagon has few friends when they need them the most. They say HELP! We're facing a 10 percent budget reduction...the population says..."is that all?" Pain is coming and it will be fun to watch.
The generals look out for themselves. That was most apparent back in 2009 when first General McChrystal reported that the US enemy Taliban were supported by Pakistan, and then three months later at West Point, no less, Obama said the US was partnering with Pakistan. There wasn't a squeek from any general saying it is dead wrong to partner with a country supporting the killing of US troops. Of course the generals didn't have to hump the roads and fields and get their legs and testicles blown off, they had their choppers and personal guard details, so what did they care.
ReplyDeleteSo yeah, "they deserve it" -- and more, for letting Obama off the hook on that one. (I'm talking Army and Marines.) If they can be (and are) weak on the troops they can be (and are) weak on everything, because there is no --- should be no -- higher calling. Pisses me off. Crush 'em, to use an Amosism.
With the shitty accounting and inability to prove where the money goes, plus an inability to reform itself, the Generals do deserve this.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.defensenews.com/article/20131114/DEFREG02/311140019/House-Armed-Services-Member-Blasts-Arrogance-DoD
while I have great respect for those who serve, my trust in the ability and intelligence of the Flag Officers is nearly non-existent. There are too many ticket-punchers, playing it safe, not stepping up to see our troops get the best gear and just going with the flow so they can get promoted.
We haven't had a major shake-up of the military since NSA 47 was passed by the Truman Administration. We need to look at everything we do and ask if we are suitably organized for the future. Do we need a separate Air Force?
Maybe we should go old-school and re-create a Dept. of the Navy and a Dept. of War. Force the services to go REALLY joint by dissolving the Air Force.
Give the Navy the Space mission since it has a culture of operating in a shared environment and give Army everything else. Navy retains SLBMs and Army gets ICBMs. Some of Tac Air, like A-10s, are given to the USMC. Co-manage the tanker and transport fleets.
Gosh, it we didn't have an air force we might not have contracts like this one announced by USAF yesterday:
ReplyDeleteUES Inc, Dayton, Ohio, has been awarded a $46,200,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Molecular Signatures program to develop technologies to discover, characterize, detect, and analyze complex biosignatures in order to provide tools for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and human performance assessment. Multiple sensing modalities will be used to qualitatively and quantitatively measure molecular signatures for increased situational awareness of the operational environment and performance of the human (operator and analyst) in that environment. The program is charged with leading identification and characterization of the molecular attributes present in humans, the environment and pathogen biology for the purposes of developing human-centric ISR solutions. . . .
And how about USAF-procured English language textbooks for Kyrgyz kids?
English Language Textbooks -- Solicitation Number: FA5707-14-R-0002 -- Agency: Department of the Air Force - Oct 25, 2013
This project is a collaborative effort between the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing (AEW) Theater Security Cooperation (TSC) Division, the United States Embassy to the Kyrgyz Republic. . .to procure English language textbooks, workbooks, and teacher manuals for children in the selected grade levels throughout the country of the Kyrgyz Republic. Supplying the country's primary schools with sets of learning materials that have a thorough and consistent methodology will provide a dramatic lift to the effectiveness of English language teaching. (h/t Mark Thompson)
By the way, the Kyrgyzstan government, despite a US $100 million payoff, has kicked the USAF out of Manas AB by July 2014, thus complicating the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
In other news:
Acting Air Force Secretary Eric Fanning said the Fiscal 2015 budget “is going to upset a lot of people,” but sequestration is forcing the Air Force to shrink in order to preserve modernization and readiness. [The FY2014 budget has yet to be completed, Mr. Acting Secretary.]