Military pay raises are minimal, high profile overstuffed
general officers and admirals are bad for morale (revolving door and pensions
higher than career pay). What is the mix of technology and manpower required to
fight today’s wars?
How do we acquire, train and retain what we need? Reserves
and National Guard involve long term multiple deployments with no assurance of a future for those who return?
The following are 3 perspectives from experts:
Can YOU answer the Citizen's Question at the end?
PERSPECTIVE
1 – From a Military Man
Mark Seip a senior Navy fellow at the Atlantic Council
recently noted the cultural and conception gap that exists between America and
it volunteer armed forces:
“From the military
side, many of us feel that we are unique to our generation in our calling; that
we rose above the self-absorbed stereotype often associated with both Gen Xers
and Millennials to protect our nation. We accept significant time away from our
families, often subpar working conditions compared to our civilian
counterparts, and average pay in relation to the skills we possess in order to
wear the uniform. Moreover, as our nation’s warrior corps we assume a level of
risk since time immemorial, that our occupation entails a distinct possibility
of loss of life. Our service therefore requires a level of confidence and
self-assurance to do our jobs and take the risks required.
Second, the widening
gap is a function of exposure, both in numbers and in proximity. As Fallows
points out, 2.5 million served in either Iraq or Afghanistan. To provide
context, according to an NPR study 8.7 million served
in some capacity in Vietnam. Furthermore, during Vietnam the majority of the
generation at that time had fathers and mothers who served in some capacity
either in WWII, Korea or both. Today, however, the
actual number and/or the tangential family tie to the military is lower,
reinforcing the distance between those in service and the rest of the nation.”
PERSPECTIVE 2 - From a Military Contractor
Eric Prince, the former CEO of Black Water
continues to insist that private security employees working for the U.S.
government in warzones should be tried under the Uniform Code of Military
Justice, instead of the civilian criminal justice system.
"It’s quite different for a jury that is 7,000 miles away
from the warzone, looking at a split-second decision made seven years earlier
in a warzone, minutes after a large car bomb goes off." Prince said he
hopes the guards' convictions can be successfully appealed. "The last
chapter is not written yet."
Although he quit the business, Prince still sees a future for the private security business.
Although he quit the business, Prince still sees a future for the private security business.
"The world is a much
more dangerous place, there is more radicalism, more countries that are melting
down or approaching that state." At the
same time, the Pentagon is under growing pressure to cut spending and the cost
of the all-volunteer force keeps rising, Prince said.
"The
U.S. military has mastered the most expensive way to wage war, with a heavy
expensive footprint." Over the long run, the military might have to rely
more on contractors, as it will become tougher to recruit service members.
Prince cited recent statistics that 70 percent of the eligible population of
prospective troops is unsuitable to serve in the military for various reasons
such as obesity, lack of a high school education, drug use, criminal records or
even excessive tattoos. In some cases, Prince said, it might make more sense to
hire contractors.”
PERSPECTIVE
3 – From a Military Analyst
“The film “American Sniper” about legendary Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle broke box office records this holiday season when the picture earned a million dollars in five days on only a handful of screens. It is time we grappled with America’s actual wars and their real-time, life and death consequences, once again with as much dedication as we line up to watch them play out on the big screen.
The military may be fighting a war. Or wars. But we, as a country, are not. In USA Today’s list of its most read articles of 2014, neither the war in Afghanistan nor the simmering fight in Iraq – to which U.S. troops were headed back – cleared the top 10. The same is true for Yahoo’s list of its most searched stories. No Iraq or Afghanistan in sight.
It is nearly inconceivable but somehow true that in the 2013 government shutdown, death benefits for the families of those killed in action fighting for the United States also shut off.”
The Movies Vs. Real War
Citizen's question: Could or should we
reinstate the draft?
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