Quote Originally Posted by Rob Thornton View Post
but she can cook.", is a euphemism that comes to mind. Artillery units, and other specialties have proven up to the task of doing both - as have many other specialized units and MOSs. There are consequences, and they may not be optimized in education, MTO&E, etc. - but they are doing it. The enabler has been leadership at all levels, it has proven the lever by which FA units (and others) have reorganized for stability related tasks.
We accept all missions. We do not have the luxury of saying "no, that is not my job". You hit on some key points regarding utilizing any unit outside thier normal specialty. 1) Training - Do they have the training (and the doctrine) to be able to competentaly accomplish the mission. 2) MTOE - do they come to the fight with the right equipment for the job. Did they have that equipment to train-up with prior to getting into theater.

Full Spectrum operations requires specialized training and equipment. We are learning on the fly. I think to simply say "don't worry, you guys are good, you can handle it" is denying the problem.

We will get through this because we have to. But if we don't recognize the problem and make the appropriate changes to our training, MTOEs, and Doctrine, then we will just repeat this mistake agian in the future.