The Coming Downfall of the United States Armed Forces

[Perun]

http://www.worldfascistnews.org/page2.html


KAIGUN - The Coming Downfall of the United States Armed Forces

The military of the United States is dying by degrees. It is not being killed by a foreign enemy, but by "Victory Syndrome".

Since the final end of the Vietnam War in 1975, the US military has been on a roll. The officers of the time fully understood the reasons for the ultimate disaster in Vietnam, where the military won (mostly) on the battlefield but ultimately lost the political/public relations war...and set out to fix the problems.

They did this in a number of ways: by ending the Draft and increasing enlistment standards, increasing research and development on new weapons systems, re-focusing the bulk of the Army on fighting a "major-war" opponent while retaining most of the "special operations" lessons of Vietnam. It was expensive - and got far more so when the National Training Center(NTC) at Fort Irwin, CA(and the later "Low-Intensity" facility at Fort Polk, LA) came online - but it worked. Similar programs were pursued by the other military services.

It worked so well, that for more than 25 years, the United States never suffered a significant defeat on the battlefield - the problems occurring in several operations, like the invasions of Grenada and Panama - were swept under the rug as "teething troubles". Then came Operation Gothic Serpent.

Popularized by the book and subsequent movie "Blackhawk Down", Gothic Serpent elicited a warning that all might not be well in the Army. Careful study of the operation revealed serious mistakes at most command levels above that of the squad. Gothic Serpent was written off as well, however, as an aberration.

Fast forward to March, 2003. Under a cloud of international suspicion - and occasionally outrage - the United States led a tiny coalition into battle to topple Saddam Hussien from his throne. Militarily, the outcome was never in serious doubt.

But things did not go as smoothly as expected:
*Despite a quarter-century of preparation and limited opposition, "Dunkirk Drag"(the pause caused by assault units out-running their logistical train) turned out not to have been solved after all.

*A battalion of 36 Apache attack helicopters - operating according to well-established, 20 year-old doctrines - was so badly shot apart by the "incompetent Iraqi Republican Guard" that the battalion was rendered "combat-ineffective" for over a month; only the Apache's robust design saved more crews from being shot down and killed or captured.

*The port of Umm Qasr remained blocked for far longer than necessary, due to a lack of port-operations units in the USMC units deployed there. These units previously existed(the author served in one), but they have long been broken up, and their component pieces 'farmed' out to other units.

*In the aftermath of the -military- collapse of the Hussein regime, looting and rioting ravaged the country; neither provisions nor plans were made for how to control the civilian population in the aftermath of Hussien's defeat.

*Rather than assemble a coalition of local leaders to form a government after the Ba'ath Party's evisceration, US authorities imported Iraqi exiles in what local Iraqi's have described "coming in on the back's of American tanks."

*Ultimately damning, the reasons repeated vigorously for going to war proved to be - at best - criminally-incompetent mistakes...and at worst, out-right lies. And these are just the most salient points.

However, at the 'boots-in-the-dirt' level, American troops proved to be reasonably competent, far more so than in all of our previous wars, at least at the beginning; tactical platoon-, company- and
battalion-level operations against "military/paramilitary forces" were conducted to near-perfection.

But, when it was a simple matter of protests, there was no change in style -- operations were still conducted as if (mostly) unarmed protestors were armed-and-fighting. Predictable results ensued: as vastly greater force was applied than the situations warranted, guerilla's were handed propaganda ammunition of the highest caliber.

Then, in April of 2004 - as had been predicted as early as December of 2003 - the Iraqi city of Fallujah exploded in the aftermath of the savage ambush and murder of four American "security contractors", and the display of their charred corpses from the girders of one of the city's bridges.

Now, "Dirty Little Secret's"© started coming out. Taken from a popular series of non-fiction books by author, combat simulations creator and strategic consultant James F. Dunnigan from the 1980's and -90's, "DLS" are not so much classified information, as information that is "in the public domain", but is not generally well-known.

In Iraq, contractors of all sorts were having a field day: security consultants (mercenaries) were guarding anything and everything - usually oil-related - and were making 'stupid' amounts of money doing so; other contractors were being given large-dollar contracts to do everything from rebuilding infrastructure to training the new Iraqi Army.

Then came the news that the Army had to contract out such basic support services as cargo-hauling through a war zone and providing meals other than MRE's ("Meals, Ready-to-Eat"), among other things. Part of the Army's problems during the "April Surprise" turned out to be that many of the foreign contractors were refusing to haul loads into battle-zones, and the Army was having trouble taking up the slack.

Then came the manning and equipment issues. The Army was so short-handed and infantry-poor, that its armored/tank crews had to conduct dismounted patrols on their own...and, because of a lack of rifles in the inventory (according to the Pentagon), their troops were using Iraqi AK-47's, as all they had was one M-16 rifle and four M-9 Beretta pistol's per tank.

As employment by guerilla's of "Improvised Explosive Devices" (IED's) became more and more frequent, it was revealed that Army "Hummer's"(the vehicle that replaced the Jeep) were failing at a staggering weight, as the up-armoring kits being sent to Iraq were being fitted to the vehicles without the manufacturer-recommended upgrades to the suspension being performed.

The Hummer's were also the only vehicle available for convoy escorts...something that the Army had apparently forgotten in the years since Vietnam. This would not have been so terrible a problem, but for the fact that it was not corrected immediately.

And again, these are merely the most salient points.
So.
What does all of this have to do with the title of this article, and what exactly does the title refer to?

"Kaigun" is the most common term in English used to refer to the WW2-era Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN).

The IJN, at the beginning of WW2, was a navy without peer. Until the American industrial-base shifted into high gear, the IJN was capable of hammering any fleet that challenged it into scrap metal. Despite the popular perception, the IJN rebounded effectively from its defeats in the Coral Sea and at Midway - the United States simply out-produced Japanese industry in turning out ships, planes and men. The US Navy - by its own admission - opted for a lot of 'good' pilots and crews over a much smaller number of exceptional pilots and crews (as the IJN did).

The result was the ultimate (and rapid) destruction of the IJN, as they were increasingly unable to recoup their losses fast enough, coupled to an inability to grasp the distances of the Pacific Ocean, resulting in a terrific over-extension of resources.

To sum up, the IJN in WW2 can be described in four words: "Tactically Supreme - Strategically Incompetent".

As of this writing (late-March, 2005 C.E.) the US military is, by its own words, badly over-extended; it's equipment is being attrited by wear at a frightening rate; it's troops are dispirited, disheartened and abused by the so-called "healthcare system" that is supposed to care for them after their injury in service; their so-called "Commander-In-Chief"("-Thief"?) maintains a policy of not attending _any_ military funerals and rarely visits military hospitals to view the consequences of his decisions.

With recruitment down (who wants to risk their life in a war they don't see ending?), there are increasing rumblings from inside The Beltway that a reinstatement of the Draft may be inevitable.

But still, there are no real changes in sight.

Tactically, the US Army and Marine Corps are virtually unchallenged when it comes to "bayonet-to-bayonet" combat, but there is little knowledge of how to "win the peace" after defeating an enemy in the field; the US Navy and Air Force - also virtually unchallenged in their respective arena's - can only bring to bear winning combat force by cutting other potential theaters to the bone…

...Meanwhile, the "leaders" who started this mess are not seeking resolution, but continue to "Wag The Dog"© - threatening war with numerous countries - all while taking no time to fix effectively the problems that are increasingly hindering combat operations...and while the vultures circle.

All it will take is a nudge in the right place - two or more countries starting a war with the US (or, vice-versa) - and the US will be bargaining for the safe return of most of its military forces, as the supply system will collapse.

And when that happens -- Europe is next.

[Strengthandhonour]

I wonder if the US would really be dumb enough to bring back the draft. It is most likely to happen if the situation in the middle east dosn't get any better and the rate of recruits dosn't go up. It would be a very stupid move.

[etoile noir]

Originally Posted by Strengthandhonour

I wonder if the US would really be dumb enough to bring back the draft. It is most likely to happen if the situation in the middle east dosn't get any better and the rate of recruits dosn't go up. It would be a very stupid move.

without going into the merits and de-merits of the USAF, why do you say "dumb enough to bring back the draft"?

you are italian, but you don't state your age. have you done your time with the italian forces?

my step brother, who is italian, was dreading it, and tried everything to avoid going, but in the end he had to go. and quite frankly he entered the army as a proper italian mammone, and came out a man. it did him a world of good. he is now grown up, disciplined and independent.

i just wish we had the same thing here in malta, maybe my son would get some of that military discipline. what are your thoughts on the laws regulating draft in italy? and please don't say that you don't want to cut your hair [yes, i've just seen your pics in the "classify me" thread ]

[Perun]

I support universal military service. Either through conscription or a militia-style system like the Swiss have. I often reference to Machiavelli's Art of War when concerning the relationship between military service and proper citizenship.

[Strengthandhonour]

Originally Posted by etoile noir

without going into the merits and de-merits of the USAF, why do you say "dumb enough to bring back the draft"?

you are italian, but you don't state your age. have you done your time with the italian forces?

my step brother, who is italian, was dreading it, and tried everything to avoid going, but in the end he had to go. and quite frankly he entered the army as a proper italian mammone, and came out a man. it did him a world of good. he is now grown up, disciplined and independent.

i just wish we had the same thing here in malta, maybe my son would get some of that military discipline. what are your thoughts on the laws regulating draft in italy? and please don't say that you don't want to cut your hair [yes, i've just seen your pics in the "classify me" thread ]

I am 17 years old, 18 in a little bit. If it was up to me, I would serve in the armed forced for the right cause, Such as foreign invasion but if I was asked to do so, I would. I would cut my hair, it is not a big deal, I have cut it several times before. I just don't believe that the US should bring the draft for the several reasons:
1. A big portion of the population dosn't back up the war
2.This war isn't really for the united states but for the jews
It is none of my business what the United states does. I just don't really see a reason for the Americans to have to bring back the draft. It's not that I think the draft is stupid and I am a peace hippie,etc. I just don't see for a proper cause for the Americans to bring it back. Without leaving out that the ones who truly benefit out of this draft if it was to happen would be the jewish people. It woudln't surprise me if the ultimate goal was to eliminate most goverments in the middle east and set them up with puppet pro-Israel goverments.