Dispelling any Myths about Marines Uniqueness!

Not withstanding the Marine Corps PR machine’s great job (with a lot of help from the news media) of brainwashing the American public, any objective study of US military excursions since World War II will confirm that the Maine Corps has become just another, abet smaller, ground army and their performance has been identical to that of regular Army Infantry units in every conflict. In his definitive account of the Korean War, The Forgotten War, the author Clay Blair proves this beyond any doubt for Korea and for all the hype, the 8th Air Force alone in WWII sustained more killed (27,000) than the entire Marine Corps (24,500).

In the over 8 years we’ve been in Iraq, losses (Mar 03-1 Jun 11 from all causes there and in the surrounding region) has totaled 4446: 3263 Soldiers, 1022 Marines, 103 Sailors, 57 Airmen and 1 Coast Guardsmen. In the almost 10 years we’ve been in Afghanistan, we’ve had 1583 military killed (Oct 2001-31 Ju1 11 from all causes there and in the surrounding region): 1162 Soldiers, 348 Marines, 84 Airmen and 70 Sailors.

There are 33 combat battalions in Afghanistan, 25 are Army Battalions while 8 are Marine Corps. If you do the math you will notice that the losses are proportional to the engaged combat forces and the performance of Army and Marine units has been almost identical.

With the emphasis on “jointness,” Marines routinely attend Army schools and all Marine officers get their Artillery and Armor (as well as several other specialties) training from the Army. Marine ground units for the most part even use major equipment developed by the Army (e.g. M1A1 Abrams Tanks, SP 155 and 8” Howitzers, etc.). The major difference is Marines do have their own integrated “Air Force” but even there the lines have become blurred with Navy, Marine and Air Force air support pooled and responding where needed, not just dedicated to a particular unit or service.

In Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Desert Shield/Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as several other minor incursions, Marine and Army units have been totally integrated as a ground force with no distinction in deployment, tactics or missions and under a unified command structure.

Politically I recognize there is no combining the Army and Marine Corps into a single service nor am I advocating it but I do believe there could be a lot more integration and savings. In these times of diminishing Defense budgets we need to be looking for ways to economize and a greater integration of the Army and Marine Corps into a “Joint Ground Force” needs to be explored.

Dep Sec Def Lynn Says Future Wars Deadlier - I (and History) Disagree!

It was reported in an article in the 9 Jun 2011, Washington Times (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jun/8/future-wars-seen-as-longer-deadlier/?page=all#pagebreak ) that Speaking on 8 Jun 2011 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn III identified what he called “three strategic trends” that are shaping “our future national security environment: lethality, duration and asymmetry.” He opined that “the wars of the future will be longer, deadlier and waged against a more diverse variety of enemies than ever before …. “

I would contend that only a guy who has never spent a single solitary day in Uniform could come to his conclusion that future conflicts will be deadlier. While I might tend to agree future enemies may be more diverse and conflicts longer, there is absolutely no rationale for concluding they will be deadlier! As a matter of fact, recent experience indicates otherwise and regardless, I doubt the American public has the stomach anymore for combat losses of even the magnitude of Vietnam so it may be a moot point.

Understand as a Vietnam combat Vet who spent 30 years in the Army (and was in Afghanistan as a civilian last year), I consider every service member’s life precious and I don’t wish to diminish the death of a single one but I wanted to put our present US Military Operations into a little perspective and refute our Deputy Secretary’s contention that future conflicts will be deadlier! I base my conclusions on my following analysis of the major US deployments since 1941.

Although theoretically the Vietnam War lasted10 years, 51,585 of the total 58,220 killed occurred during the real 5 years (1966-70) of the war when we were heavily engaged. At the height of the war in 1968 we were losing 50 a day killed!

The Korean War lasted 3 years and one month (Jun 1950 – Jul 53) and total US Killed was 36,516. That averages ~32+ killed a day

By comparison, in the almost 10 years we’ve been in Afghanistan (Oct 2001-present), as of the beginning of this month (Jun) we’ve had 1583 military killed from all causes in country and the surrounding regions (1106 Soldiers, 325 Marines, 83 Airmen and 69 Sailors). That averages less than ½ person lost per day but this year is shaping up to be the deadliest of the conflict. So far in 2011 we’ve lost 167 killed in 189 days or less than one per day.

In Iraq and the surrounding region we’ve been there for over 8 years (Mar 03-Present) and lost 4446 total to all causes (3263 Soldiers, 1022 Marines, 103 Sailors, 57 Airmen and 1 Coast Guardsmen). That’s less then 1½ lost a day. In the 210 day First Gulf War (1990-91) US losses were 148 Combat and 145 Non-combat for a total of 293 killed.

Now if you want to talk about deadly, the US lost almost half a million men in World War II. The Battle of the Bulge alone lasted 40 days (16 Dec 44 – 25 Jan 45) with almost 90,000 U.S. casualties; 19,000 killed, 47,500 wounded, and 23,000 captured or missing. The 36-day Iwo Jima assault resulted in more than 26,000 American casualties, including 6,800 dead while the 82-day Battle for Okinawa lasted from early April until mid-June 1945 and U.S. (5 Army and 2 Marine Corps Divisions) casualties were over 62,000 with over 12,000 killed.

Like I said earlier, every service member’s life is precious and I don’t wish to diminish the death of a single one but I want to put our present US Military Operations into a little perspective and challenge our Deputy Secretary’s contention that future conflicts will be deadlier! Hopefully, the trend will continue to be just to opposite, each conflict will be less deadly than the one before.

Santorun Is NOT a Friend of Soldiers!

Below I wrote a rather lengthy piece on why I feel of the 2012 Presidential contenders, Rick Santorum is the most dangerous for the military. Here is a short synopsis of why I feel that way but scroll down a few articles to see a fuller explanation of what Rick did to earn my ire.

In 1998 he (and Ted Kennedy) tried to screw disabled and disadvantaged retired enlisted by hiding an amendment in an unrelated bill requiring the Old Soldiers' Home to almost give away some property to Catholic University (CU). True Kennedy was the senior partner and member of the Armed Services Committee so was "leader" of the "screwing team" but Santorum was his enthusiastic partner in crime.  The Home is where enlisted members with no other options can retire and get care. Funded by a small pay deduction that Congress refused to raise although demand remained steady, the Home had a large budget deficit. They had some undeveloped DC land so it decided to sell some to the highest bidder to raise funds to continue its worthy work. CU wanted the property but didn’t feel like paying market price so got Santorum and Kennedy to sneak in the amendment forcing them to sell to CU for one-third its value. Outraged retired soldiers “outted” Santorum and Kennedy who quickly changed their tactics and gave CU the right of first refusal on any "high" bid which seriously depressed the bidding. In the end, Rick, Ted and CU still screwed the Old Soldiers – just not as bad!

If Rick were elected President, I expect the Military could look forward to routinely getting screwed. This is one Old Soldier that wouldn't look forward to that!

Congressman Anthony Weiner - "The Rest of the Story"

Even Ray Charles could see what Weiner is doing here. It’s his incredibly inept attempt to cover-up his obvious stab at “hooking-up” with women.

The picture was addressed to a 21-year-old Seattle area female student who is one of Weiner’s 54,000+ “Twitter followers.” -- BUT Weiner himself ONLY follows 198 Twitter users, most of them young, attractive women including stripper and porn actress Ginger Lee. The Co-ed, Gennette Cordova, speculated that "Her name is Ginger, he (Weiner) might have mixed us up." A plausible explanation but raises the question, why is Weiner “following” Porn Stars?

When asked if he had contacted authorities to launch an investigation into the hacking of his Twitter account, Weiner said that he had not because “The police had more important things to worry about so he was conducting his own investigation …” It’s should be noted that it might also prove perilous for Weiner to call in the FEDs! It’s no crime to lie to the press… it’s no crime to lie to the public… it’s even no crime to lie to your wife, BUT if you lie to the FEDs (even if you’re not under oath) you face 3 to 5 years in the big house as Bubba’s date to the annual Sadie Hawkins Day Dances – and from the looks of Weiner, he could be the Slammer Homecoming Queen. Title 18, U.S.C. 1001, states: “whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully — (1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact; (2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or (3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry; shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than five years.”

At least Congressman Chris Lee (also from New York) had the decency to immediately “fess-up” and resign when he got caught. How long will it take for Weiner to do the same?

This ain’t going away Anthony!

IS GENERAL JAMES E. CARTWRIGHT REALLY QUALIFIED TO BE THE NEXT CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF?

Other than being the most hated and liberal general officer in the entire US Military along with being President Obama’s BFF and consummate “yes man,” I’m not sure Marine Corps General Cartwright has the requisite experience, judgment or qualification to lead our Military. In addition to having the incredibly bad (or good) luck of not being able to squeeze in even one day of combat experience during his 40 years in uniform, he recently underwent a rather ugly Inspector General investigation and is in the midst of what is expected to be a messy divorce that could make the Schwarzenegger separation look like a love fest.

Commissioned in 1971, the General has been on active duty during the Vietnam War; the invasions of Grenada, Panama and Haiti; interventions all over the Balkans; OPERATIONS DESERT SHIELD/STORM/1st Gulf War; and 10+ years of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM and OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM (Afghanistan), yet he has never heard a shot fire in anger. An incredible achievement equaled by few others with even a quarter of his active service.

Not withstanding his obvious talent for avoiding armed conflicts, I believe in these trying times it would be best that our Wartime Chairman have at least a little first hand experience in the art of War. Hence, maybe this is not the right time to OJT a neophyte when we have so many outstanding war tested candidates to choose from already serving in the Four Star ranks. In addition to the Obvious General Petraeus, we have Ray Odierno, Lloyd Austin, Carter Ham, Martin Dempsey, Jim Thurman and several others; all of whom have between 5 and 7 years in Combat. Why not select someone that has paid his dues and already knows a little something about War?

Complicating a Cartwright selection is that pesky IG Report. Despite the New York Times 23 Feb 11 headline declaring: “General Is Cleared of Sex Accusations,” Cartwright, who the Times calls “President Obama’s favorite General,” wasn’t quite “cleared” by the IG. The IG actually recommended disciplinary action only to be overruled by the Secretary of the Navy.

Seems what happened was the General was accused of having an improper physical relationship with a female military aide during a 2009 overseas trip to Tbilisi, Georgia, when the aide, drunk and visibly upset, visited the General’s hotel room alone and either passed out or fell asleep on a bench at the foot of his bed. The Inspector General (IG) investigated the incident and issued a report in March 2010, clearing the General of the most serious allegations but did find he mishandled the incident and questioned his judgment. The IG faulted Cartwright for not insisting the aide leave or be removed and said the Aide felt “licensed” to enter the general’s room late at night and drunk, despite being advised by a security agent not to do so. The IG report also faulted Cartwright for failing to act on an earlier incident in which the woman also apparently drunk had a disagreement with a Secret Service agent guarding President Obama at an elite Alfalfa Club dinner in Washington.

“Gen. Cartwright witnessed questionable conduct in both Tbilisi and at the Alfalfa dinner, but chose not to directly confront or correct [the] behavior,” the report states. “We conclude that Gen. Cartwright did not fulfill his responsibility to impress upon [the subordinate officer] the importance of sobriety and sound judgment.” Hence, the IG questioned General Cartwright’s judgment and command style in dealing with the aide and recommended administrative action for two lesser infractions: failure to discipline a subordinate and fostering an unduly familiar relationship, but Ray Mabus, the Navy secretary, overruled the IG’s recommendations and took no action.

Every officer should learn early in his (or her) career that every time they condone unacceptable behavior they have lowered the standard for discipline. Obviously the General was absent the day the Marine Corps taught that at his Basic Course.

Given the circumstances, maybe it would be best this time for the Nation and all Servicemembers if the President were to let competence and experience trump personal friendship and he were to select someone that was actually qualified. Of course the President would run the risk of having to listen to solid military advice rather then getting what he wanted to hear but that would be a small price to pay for providing the Nation’s Military with superior competent leadership.

Nancy Pelosi’s absurd math on senior citizens losing their meals

For those of you that linked here from my comments on the Washington Post Fact Checker hatchet job: "Newt Gingrich’s Pinocchio-laden debut" -- here is the Nancy Pilosi piece I referenced. Achieving four (4) Pinocchios puts Newt in some pretty elite company, a feat last achieved on 7 April by House Minority Leader Pelosi when the WaPo called her out for her “absurd math on senior citizens losing their meals." Seems Ms. Nancy said: “In one of the bills before us, 6 million seniors are deprived of meals — homebound seniors are deprived of meals." The WaPo pointed out Tons of problems with Pelosi’s statistic not the least of which was only 2.6 million seniors receive meals. Seems the meal program (cost ~$818M/year) is managed by the Administration on Aging (AOA), an arm of Health and Human Services and The House bill only cut $65M from the entire HHS $2.4B agency budget.

When the Washington Post awards a Liberal Democrat Four Pinocchios, they must be a World Class, can’t hide it, stand out in a crowd, No denying it -- LIAR – of the first water! Such must be the case for that “Favorite Son” (I mean daughter) of the great State of California. Read the entire article for yourself here but too bad the WaPo Pinocchio meter pegs out at four because I suspect Ms. Nancy would have gotten five if the scale went that high

How Does Rick Santorum Really Feel About Soldiers?

As an Old Soldier, I always look behind the scenes to see what people do that affects the Military rather than their “public pronouncements” when I want to know their true feelings about us. This is something I intend to do here in my Blog for the 2012 Presidential contenders as they make their announcements and the first one I want to examine is former Pennsylvania Republican Senator Rick Santorum. Rick recently announced his intentions to run for the Republican nomination.

Although Rick has never donned a uniform in defense of his nation, while in both the House and Senate he supported every military intervention that came down the pike which clearly marks him as a consummate “chicken hawk.” Always ready to send your kids into harms way but not himself or anyone related to him.

Probably the best example of Rick looking out for Soldiers happened back in 1998 when he (and Ted Kennedy) tried to screw disabled and disadvantaged retired enlisted service members by trying to sneak a little-noticed amendment into an unrelated bill requiring the Old Soldiers' and Airmen's Home to sell some of its property to the Catholic University of America and only to Catholic University. In other words, there would be no free market bidding. True Kennedy was the senior partner and member of the Armed Services Committee at the time so was "leader" of this "screwing team" but Santorum was his enthusiastic partner in crime.

The Old Soldiers' Home, as it is called, is where enlisted members can retire and get care if they have no other options and it is funded by a small monthly deduction from enlisted pay. The Department of Defense and Congress have refused to raise the deduction amount but the demand has remained steady thus resulting in a large budget deficit.

The Home rests on many undeveloped acres in Washington, DC, so it was decided that it ought to sell some of its property to the highest bidder, in order to raise funds to continue its worthy work. Its Catholic University neighbor had its own designs on the property but did not feel like paying market price so they approached Santorum and Kennedy who eagerly slipped in the amendment forcing the Home to sell to the university at a price about one-third of the appraised value.

Retired soldiers were outraged when they learned what had happened so held a press conference. Once “outted,” neither Santorum nor Kennedy could defended their attempt to screw Old Soldiers to get Catholic University a steal so they were forced to amend the law.

The right result would have been to open the bidding to everyone and to let the Home take the best offer. Instead, Rick forced a bidding process where Catholic University was given the right of first refusal on any "high" bid which seriously depressed the bidding. In the end, Rick, Ted and Catholic University still screwed the Old Soldiers but not nearly as badly as they wanted to!

If Rick were to ever be elected President, which I must admit is highly unlikely; I expect the Military could look forward to this same type of questionable treatment. This is one Old Soldier that hopes that never happens.