Quote Originally Posted by Steve Blair View Post
It's also important to remember the differences between many of the Bonus Marchers and the Regulars led by MacArthur. If memory serves, most of the Bonus Marchers were United States troops...short-term volunteers who had been promised bonus money (not unlike the mechanism used to enlist Volunteers at the state level during the Civil War). The Regulars, especially the officers, were longer service types who viewed themselves as professionals. It would have been easy for MacArthur to view them as something less than veteran soldiers.
It is that "difference" that worries me. Listening to the Army arguing to congress that we have to maintain our modernization programs and troop strength of 490K somehow reminded me of this period. The current leadership has a different set of priorities from those that left active duty. They see the potential for large scale conventional warfare as being just around the corner. And they are willing to sacrifice pay and benefits if it means they get to keep their end strength.

Another “difference” that is closer to your “short-term volunteer” observation is the Army’s disdain for relying on Guard and Reserve forces. They insist that they must have 34 BCTs ready to go at a moment’s notice even though there is no conceivable way we could get them into theater with the appropriate logistical tail in less than, say, nine months (my own SWAG) - More than enough time to mobilize Reserve and Guard units.

I guess I am seeing a parallel that offers a cautionary conclusion: Those charged with the responsibility of the defense of our nation today will be willing to trample on those who have defended our nation in the past if they see it as necessary. I could very well be wrong – the comparison could be specious – but that rarely stops me from speaking my mind (and causing hate and discontent ).