Pick one option and do it well

While Carter is right...

Carter: Gulf Allies Need Better Special Operators, Ground Forces More Than ‘Fancy’ Jets

...projecting the, 'do what I say, not what I do,' attitude isn't helpful.

Also, special forces don't live in a vacuum. Let us look in a mirror. For example, the training overhead for SEALS is high.

Less so with Green Berets.

Even less so with Rangers. Even less so with Paratroops. Even less so with Marine recon platoons that get a lot of bang for the buck.

You get your seed corn for the Marine Recon, for the Army Airborne, for your Army Rangers, by having  healthy and large amounts of regular Army and Marines.

So, back to Carter. All our allies see is us downsizing land units. Hard to blame them if the see us as an example to follow.

And by example, they are buying big dollar weapon systems (like jets) of dubious worth.

With today's tiny U.S. Army, the rule of thirds where a unit is working up for deployment, another is on deployment, another is back for rest and reorganisation, is a joke.

Or, just stop signing up for every stupid Operation:USELESS DIRT.

Pick one or the other. And by the way, we are trillions in debt and have a DOD that is consuming in dollars 3 times what it is worth in bang-for-the-buck.

Below is what the U.S. Army used to have. As always, it comes back to priorities. Today, that is nothing more than the military congressional industrial complex bilking the taxpayer. Since no one thinks that defeating terrorism is at the same level of worth as defeating the Soviets, then, status quo will prevail.


---Via Global Security. U.S. Army 1990.

Unit	Type	Location	Maneuver Brigade 90/91
1st Armored Division	Armored	Germany	3/3
1st Cavalry Division	Armored	Fort Hood, Texas	2/2
1st Infantry Division	Mechanized	Fort Riley, Kansas	3/2 *
2d Armored Division	Armored	Fort Hood, Texas	3/0 **
2d Infantry Division	Infantry	Korea	3/3
3d Armored Division	Armored	Germany	3/3
3d Infantry Division	Mechanized	Germany	3/3
4th Infantry Division	Mechanized	Fort Carson, Colorado	3/2
5th Infantry Division	Mechanized	Fort Polk, Louisiana	2/2
6th Infantry Division	Light	Fort Richardson, Arkansas	2/2
7th Infantry Division	Light	Fort Ord, California	3/3
8th Infantry Division	Mechanized	Germany	3/3
9th Infantry Division	Motorized	Fort Lewis, Washington	2/0 ***
10th Infantry Division	Light	Fort Drum, New York	2/2
24th Infantry Division	Mechanized	Fort Stewart, Georgia	2/3
25th Infantry Division	Light	Hawaii	3/3
82d Airborne Division	Airborne	Fort Bragg, North Carolina	3/3
101st Airborne Division	Air Assault	Fort Campbell, Kentucky	3/3

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FY 90 ACTIVE COMPONENT (AC) DIVISIONS WITH RESERVE COMPONENT (RC) ROUNDOUT BRIGADES
AC Unit	RC Roundout Unit	Location
1st Cavalry Division (Armored)	155th Armored Brigade	Mississippi
	3 (Mech)/141 Infantry	Texas
5th Infantry Division (Mechanized)	256th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized)	Louisiana
6th Infantry Division (Light)	205th Infantry Brigade	Minnesota
9th Infantry Division (Motorized)	81st Infantry Brigade (Motorized)	Washington
10th Infantry Division (Light)	27th Infantry Brigade	New York
24th Infantry Division (Mechanized)	48th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized)	Georgia
25th Infantry Division (Light)	29th Infantry Brigade	Hawaii

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RESERVE COMPONENT (NATIONAL GUARD) DIVISIONS
Unit	Type	Location
49th Armored Division	Armored	Texas
50th Armored Division	Armored	New Jersey/ Vermont/Texas
26th Infantry Division	Infantry	Massachusetts/ Connecticut/ Rhode Island
28th Infantry Division	Infantry	Pennsylvania
29th Infantry Division	Light Infantry	Virginia/Maryland
35th Infantry Division	Mechanized Infantry	Nebraska/Kansas/ Kentucky
38th Infantry Division	Infantry	Indiana/Michigan
40th Infantry Division	Mechanized Infantry	California
42d Infantry Division	Infantry	New York
47th Infantry Division*	Infantry	Minnesota/ Illinois/Iowa

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