Quote Originally Posted by sullygoarmy View Post
...Personally, I think about 100,000 spirits were crushed yesterday along with an unknown number of families already asked to sacrifice so much. Will the Army continue to perform like it always has...yes. Will our soldiers take the fight to the enemy as hard as they possibly can...yes. Does it suck to be an active duty soldier or family member...yes. I believe that as we look back on this decision a few years from now, that this will be the straw that breaks the camel's back....
I strongly agree. Especially when you look at the fact that, other than recent inductees into uniform, very few serving don't have at least one tour in theater. And there is a large chunk of the active force that already has multiple tours under their belt - some types of units and MOSs have been hit harder than others. This is hitting them and their families hard - and, as you stated, this will finally make up the minds of quite a few to leave (if they can).

Going back to your WWII reference, it is not only "the nation is not at war" that affects this issue. Something of very serious import, that we refer to often but don't quite acknowledge, is that a far greater number of soldiers (proportionately) in the Army today are married and have families than there were during the '40s. This is especially true when you look at the junior ranks - both enlisted and officer. Repeated long deployments take a heavier toll mentally on your average family-man, as opposed to single guys (Yes, this is a General Statement, with plenty of exceptions in both directions).

Sure, the wonderful communications revolution certainly helps with much more regular phone contact, 'net comms, etc. (not that long ago I recall getting one "morale call" per month on a scratchy line where both of us had to shout and we usually ended up getting cut off before the time limit was reached) However, it ain't helping that much, because instances of both spousal abuse and divorce are skyrocketing. The numbers of suicides and attempts in-theater are kept quiet. Chaplains are busy helping, but many leaders are too overwhelmed with either planning, execution or recovery to notice the warning signs. There are those who are thriving on it, but in general its a tough time all around - and its getting tougher.