'America's Broken Army' NPR Series. Cavguy makes COL Gentile proud ...

[Entropy]

Our training is seriously deficient and the word Warrior is vastly overused. A good soldier should be able to whip a good warrior any day of the week. A warrior is an amateur fighter. He may be experienced but he's an amateur. A soldier by definition is a professional in today's Army and a good pro can whip a gifted amateur any day of the week. Or should be able to. If our performance in today's combat is merely okay and is not superb it is because we have not properly trained

I'm with you on the "warrior" thing. I don't like it at all. Warriors, in my mind, fight for personal or tribal glory. Professional soldiers do not.

I do agree with Col. Jones, however, that a large, standing professional military can grow to threaten Republicanism.

[Ken White]

As the commercial used to say...

I'm with you on the "warrior" thing. I don't like it at all. Warriors, in my mind, fight for personal or tribal glory. Professional soldiers do not.

Does this mean I have to turn in all my ARCOMS???

I do agree with Col. Jones, however, that a large, standing professional military can grow to threaten Republicanism.

I don't disagree with the premise but as I said in the post above, giving actual numbers in that comment and ending with: "Still well less than one half of one percent of the nation serving in the active Army and air arm. I don't think we need to worry about being a garrison state for a while."

IOW, it isn't large. Not by a long shot. Check Bob'sworld's link and graph -- from 1950 until 1990, over a 40 year period we consistently had from 750K to 1M plus in the Army (and the Republic survived...); essentially we're at a half that -- and there's a war on...

I'm sure you also object to a large Air force and Navy as you did say Military and not just Army. I'm equally sure you're aware of the even larger cuts those two services have sustained in the last 20 years.

I'll also point out that the increase of the Army from 475K in 2001 to 546K (or whatever it is this week) while welcomed by AUSA and some in the Army was resisted by others in the Army, objected to by me and will be the first thing to be cut when Afghanistan and Iraq are history -- and they will become that sooner rather than later.

[Entropy]

Ken,

I don't disagree with your last comment at all, just simply pointing out the danger that might come through creeping normalcy and the passage of time, as well as the need for some amount of vigilance.

[Ken White]

Ken,

I don't disagree with your last comment at all, just simply pointing out the danger that might come through creeping normalcy and the passage of time, as well as the need for some amount of vigilance.

Code Pink is vigilant! So is our great media crowd. Representative Waxman. Many others who 'support the troops' but not the war and wouldn't let their sons and daughters near a uniform...

Not a worry to me; we had forty years of a much bigger Army and Jimmy Carter in that time frame; ideal coup conditions and not a glimmer...

And Burt Lancaster has expired...

Seriously, after 45 years of the fabled 24/7 involvement, that is not even a teensy fear to me. I'm firmly convinced that too many in uniform would not stand for any foolishness on the part of one of their own or a politician or group of pols.