The CIC is going to have to do some full scale shake ups first in the Pentagon from the top down. This is the same General Franks I believe who gave us the explanation for the COLE bombing. The bungled communications fiasco? Battle readiness and fitness of the troops is a leadership problem from the Generals down to the Sgts who are now scared stiff to offend anyone due to persicution and prosicution. It's the military not a social club for political correctness. More tradition methods of training must be brought back or we are going to be in deep trouble. We can't afford wasting time for a study on the matter either as it's common sense.
The work horse foot soldier trained in basic combat skills is a must. It's been nearly 7 months since 9/11. Even recruits coming in from that time should be about ready and seasoned troops should be training in the western mountains at high altitudes.
What we are seeing is the negliance of military readiness for the past 13 years coming home to roost. The military either must be standing ready and battle conditioned or it is useless. We should be going through a military strenght build up in equipment and troops. We have yet to see that happen either. We should not be falling back on our National Guard and Reserves as Battle Ready Units. This has been the case since the Gulf War. It is not a workable solution to continue in this manner. Troops and equipment are over extended, over worked, and over deployed which accounts also for lack of training time and down time for repairs. The cost in lives and money will be great if the current problems are not quickly resolved.
It is very disturbing to realize that we cannot even piss on Afghanistan without calling up the Reserves and National Guard. I may be wrong, but I don’t recall any Reserve UNITS being called up for Vietnam – only some Reserve individuals. The American Military sure has come a long way …. (baby)!