Discontent in the Officer Corps

Via Blue Girl, Red State we find this article in the Armed Forces Journal. Now I'm not an expert in military affairs, but I'm also not entirely ignorant. The fact that this article is being written is a very serious issue that needs to be addressed. This degree of dissatisfaction in the field grade officer corps is a definite problem. There is always some disaffection in the ranks but the degree of unhappiness being expressed these days is exceptional. Lt. Col. Paul Yingling describes a number of problems which are plaguing the military now.

Two of the things he discusses have particular salience to questions of politics outside the military. Lt. Col. Yingling states "War is not a military activity conducted by soldiers, but rather a social activity that involves entire nations." This is at the heart of the current political disconnect. Our current political leadership is taking exactly the opposite position. They have left the whole weight of fighting in Iraq on the sholders of the military. They have failed to provide the national support that the military needs. This failure dates back to the lead up to the war. For a nation to successfully prosecute a war requires a great deal more than a bare 51% support of the population. Especially if that 51% is achieved via fraud and deceit. Yet our political leadership accepted this a sufficient to take the nation to war. There needs to be broad popular support for the sacrifices our military need to make if we are to engage in a long war. This Administration has failed to provide that support.

Another issue that the article raises is a growing disconnect in the army between the Generals and the lower ranks. The Generals have chosen to ingratiate themselves with the political leadership rather than fulfill their obligations to accurately inform the political leadership as to what was needed for this war. This disconnect between those in management and those who actually need to make things happen is a broader problem in society, see here for more on this.

Army recruiting

The Army has fallen some 7,000 recruits short of their goals this year. This is the worst recruiting year, both absolutely and as a percentage, since 1979. But consider that in 1979 there was no active military operations ongoing, certainly nothing on the scale of the operation in Iraq. To have such a huge shortfall during wartime is striking. Given the Republican party's unwillingness to show leadership in calling for greater enlistment, this shortfall can hardly be considered surprising. Apparently, the political cost to anyone who would call for greater enlistment and make a national issue of it is considered more important by the Republican party than any harm that would come to the country due to these shortfalls.

This is yet another example of the Servile Society I have referred to before. The military needs some 7,000 more men and women to enlist than have done so, and the brave war supporters continue to avoid recruitment in droves. This segment of society, conservative, well-to-do, Republican will demand protection and aid, but feel that someone else is obligated to provide that aid be it manpower or money.

Rumsfeld and the army you've got

I just have to add a bit on Rumsfeld's comment that "You have to go to war with the army you've got, not the one you want", and why it makes me so angry. All the reasons people have already given are part of it. but in addition it is flatly and demonstrably untrue, and the smug claim by Rumsfeld that it is true, shows up his laziness and incompetence. This country was attacked in December of 1941. By June of 1944 we were well prepared to invade northern Europe and take out the Wehrmacht. We were not restricted to use "the army we had", instead, under circumstances much more difficult than Rumsfeld faces as Sec. Def., we built and equipped the army we wanted and needed in 31 months.

Even if we grant that this administration did not start thinking about invading Iraq until September of 2001, it has now been 39 months (8 months longer!!) and Rumsfeld is testy that people think he should have been able to get a few thousand armored Humvees produced in the same time that this country had earlier raised and equipped some 90 divisions. That degree of laziness and incompetence is astounding.