One of the biggest lessons to be relearned from Iraq is that there is no safe place on the battlefield for soft-skinned or poorly-trained troops There were many subtexts to the story of the 343rd Quartermaster Company and its purported refusal to conduct a convoy mission in Iraq. Neela Banerjee and John Kifner reported on one of the most important of these narratives in Saturday's New York Times -- the systemic weaknesses among U.S. Army "rear area" units, which have been systematically exploited by the insurgent enemy in Iraq. The non-contiguous, non-linear, unconventional battlefield has totally destroyed the Army's doctrinal battlefield framework of "deep", "close" and "rear" areas -- and with it, the Army's paradigms for training and equipping units... From those who have been there/are there/have fam there...is this true, or not, in your experience/given what you've heard? Are US troops seriously still employing Tiered Resourcing System kit allocation and, most importantly, training??? Please tell me this guy is wrong!
Isn't this the time tested way we 'fought' the war in Viet Nam? Out in the field during the day back in the rear area for beer at night. I hope we've learnt something..!
Before the start of the conflict, I was with some Army forces in Northern Iraq and these folks had specific training for this type of event....During and after the conflict I was near a lot of National Guard/Reserve forces, probably the highest trained reserves forces in the world other than Israel, but the majority of these folks had only 1-3 months (at most) of training to specifically prepare them for this type of conflict. If I remember correctly, the members of the 343rd were Guard/Reserve forces. There is a definite difference in attitude/mentality of these forces. Speaking first hand..although not for the Army.
the idea of having no "rear area" for our Army is precisely what frightens me the most. rumsfield should b ashamed beyond all measure and stick his head in a toilet bowl and flush.
This how the Spanish fought Napolean in the Peninsular War in 1805. The Short One had to keep 300,000+ troops in Spain in order to provide adequate protection for his lines of communication, and to keep his brother entrenched on the throne.
[baby_talk]Oooh, why does that frighten you, Flash?[/baby_talk] If you took your own advice, you wouldn't be making a fool out of yourself here by authoritatively commenting on topics you have zero knowledge of.
face it,,,,for the most part Iraq is the rear area and Bush is pounding that Rear!! BTW Grunt,I see u have Tikrit under your name,,,u over there?,,got a good budy of mine in Tikrit, he is an E9, Pallister is the last name,,,think he said he was the battalion sergeant major,,,or was stateside not sure what he is doing in Iraq...the emails he send has the Big red 1 on them.
No, I'm not there. I'm in Cali. US Army - FC Tikrit is just my BigSoccer way of showing what "team" really matters to me these days. I love it, but soccer has become relatively inconsequential. Hopefully, it's just a temporary condition. How's your friend doing?
Flash hysterically says Grunt said it, so he must have!! Except I didn't. But feel free to carry on with your theatrics.
for anyone who cares to know anything about the truth (which most profess to do but...), i state clearly that i have flushed my head in the toilet many a time and believe me, each time it not only got cleaner, but a lot better. but i do believe the opposite would be true in rummy's case, hence the hope. there seems to be a snake in the bush. too bad he's crapped himself out and taken a pisser on the fly to boot.
Latest email says he is doing as well as expected, another High school classmate of ours is a Major in the marines somewhere near bagdad,,,they are trying to get together for thanksgiving or xmas...both went over in jan and expect to be home around july or august