Quote Originally Posted by Gian P Gentile View Post
... if he is correct along with you about a bunch of rhetoric out there as to how Coinized the army has become but in reality it is not even close to that ideal, then I think we are in actually more trouble than less. That is to say we have the worst of both possible worlds here; an army that still can’t do Coin and an Army that in so trying to do Coin has become deficient in its capabilities at the higher end of the fighting spectrum.
That is about 95% right, imo. Were it not for the lackluster training that occurred prior to 9/11, I think that statement would be 100% correct. The only reason that I don't think we've become deficient at the higher end is because we already were. The reality check that occurred on 9/11 (that we might actually have to fight real enemies, rather than OPFOR at NTC), has forced some degree of realism and some relaxation of safety standards in training, both of which could do nothing less than improve the quality of training.