Thoughts on military budget cuts

[CLARENCE 2015!]

A post in the Fantasy election got me thinking and I wanted to put this into words for you all… I believe that the national defense is the one thing every one in America agree s should be the perview  of the federal govt- which is why I wonder why liberals and libertarians always pop a hard one for cutting it. But the reality is it will be cut and here is what I believe can be cut…

OVERLAP!!! For this discussion I will not include Coast Guard as a branch since it is under DHS not DoD…so we have Navy, Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps. In each branch we have aviators- if budget cuts are extensive only the Air Force should have aviators, both combat and noncombat operators. To give you an idea- the Marine Corps has 9 MOS’s (military occupational specialities) just for aviation alone… Each branch has intelligence- and let me tell you that this causes major issues when branches don’t share information. I propose you give intelligence to one branch- probably Air Force… same thing for HR and Finance and Admin- which if the military is being cut should be handed by civilians in the Pentagon. Ther e are many examples of analogous corps in each branch

I believe the DoD should reaffirm the basic role of each force-
Army- to win our nation’s ground wars
Navy/Marine Corps- force projection
Air Force- dominance in the air and space and on the web

The Army is self explanatory but for the Navy and Marine Corps first- the Marine Corps should remain under the Navy Dept and I think the Commandant should report to the Chief of Naval Ops… my Marine buddies would kill me for saying so but here is why… the Marines CAN NOT become a second Army- their missions are becoming too linked- the Marines are an expeditionary force. They should be the rapid-response arm of the Navy. The Navy can be every where in the world, with Marines on every ship to invade if necessary- but the Marines should be nothing more then the first men in who make way for the Army  to get there, which takes them years it seems. The Marines have this critical role and cant get bogged down being traffic cops in Kabul

The Air Force should be the tech force- any thing web related, electronic intelligence, space, etc should be handled with them. An airman cant fight worth sh**t but he is smart and it is best to have them use their brains… but as with the other branches the Air Force needs special operators- combat pilots and drone operators who can handle aerial warfare

This is very basic bt I believe separating the missions of the branches would go a long way to organization and cost cutting while leaving administrative duties to the 40-hour work week folks at the Pentagon

My 2 cents
clarence

[CLARENCE 2015!]

Patrick1- those are interesting comments... as a Navy veteran I can tell you that there are no better aviators in the world then Navy pilots. My thoughts come from some lectures I have heard and a few articles from after 9/11 where folks were arguing the most successful military model is one where you have separate air,s ea, and ground forces that are distinct and tha to me makes sense
About politicizing the process- this where I think separation helps. I have friends who tell me that in intelligence there is as much competition as between the FBI and CIA...espirit de corps can become a problem if it becomes more then just a sibling rivalry

[CLARENCE 2015!]

One of my dearest friends passed on in December... his favorite quote was from Patton I believe and was to the extent "after the flag was raised at Iwo Jima the Marines will be around for a thousand years"
Nowadays it seems that the USMC isnt fighting for extinction but rather for its identity...it should not be another Army. If anything it is analogous to the Army Rangers...elite infantry but not necessarily special operators. But the Army isknown for bloat while the Marines make much more with much less

Don't get me wrong- I owe my life to the US Army, but we don't need two of them

[CLARENCE 2015!]

Agree that the Marines role is unique- I think you and I agree that it would be a shame to cut anything...and also I would go a step further and there were roles in Iraq no US service member should have been doing... the traffic cop one being my example

[CLARENCE 2015!]

Much smarter and more experienced people than you are working on the problem. 

In a post where most of what you say is part of an interesting debate you as usual have to throw some bullsh**t line in there like this… I don’t think you understand what “my 2 cents” means- I am not claiming to be an expert even though I know a thing or two about the millitary- I am simply putting ideas forward to discuss. There are many many people I have disagreed with here on more divisive issues who have shown respect and the debate has actually made us friends on the board…not so with you.

I looked at your posting to make sure it was you I was thinking of and here are some others examples-

No offense but I would listen to them before I listened to you.

A minute ago you hadn't even heard of the disease and now you are an expert?  Give us a break.

So if you are a Republican do you just not give a flying  about anyone other than white males?

Let us know when you wish to rejoin the rest of us on planet earth.

Get a dictionary and a clue.


And that was in the first page of your postings. Ever heard the phras you can disagree with out being disagreeable? And consider this- no one posting on a web board is going to be an expert I’m guessing…if we are discussing the issues on here and not in the halls of Congress or in the Pentagon or somewhere like that we are not the most knowledgelbe or experienced- so those attacks don’t work because- guess what- neither are you!