whiterock said:
RMF5630 said:
Oldbear83 said:
Bulls-eye.
What sets the US apart is training doctrine.
Plan, train, review and adapt.
Then repeat.
That kind of training is difficult and expensive, and a lot of people see no value in it, especially places like China and Russia where image is far more important than actual ability.
Large nations seldom believe they face real threats. China today is a lot like the US in say, 1935. They look good on paper but are nowhere near ready for a war against a determined opponent.
Between 1970 and 1985, the US rebuilt its military to be ready for actual threats, and it showed in several wars since then. China - speaking bluntly - has stolen much of the technology they used to build their military, which means they have trouble adapting it to specific needs, and in understanding its limits.
Meanwhile, Taiwan has slowly built a defense which can cause China a lot of pain while providing time for the US to send help.
Knowing this, China has used its influence to affect US foreign policy. If you want to know who has been the focus of China's efforts to drive US policy, look for the members of the House and Senate who say the US cannot beat China, or that defending Taiwan would lead to a bad loss for the US.
And yes, the 'woke' policies of Biden's DOD will decay our ability to fight and win. They are already damaging our ability to recruit able soldiers, sailors and airmen.
Have to maintain training and logistics capabilities. The US Military on the wall is the ONLY thing keeping us free.
One thing I am a bit disappointed in is the focus and escalation of special operations. Necessary, best trained, but the Armor, Infantry, Artillery, Surface Warships, Sub Service, Marine Expeditionary, and the Air Force is just as important. Making it seem if you are not a SEAL you are not really a serving or if you are a logistics/support/Engineering you are a REMF. That kills morale and in a near peer war, those non-glorified jobs are what is going to win. Media pisses me off with that *****..
That was a problem late WOT. Starting under Trump and continuing under Biden, that is changing. Planners spotted the transition to near-peer conflicts and we are pivoting to big fires in the Army, and Marines ditching tanks & doing seaborne assault, etc....
3 years ago, son hopped on an Osprey full of whoop-ass in Hawaii, flew to Guam, landed and assaulted some notional enemy position, then loaded back up on the Osprey & flew back to Hawaii.
not saying we're ready, but the changes are underway
You hit the nail on the head. The WOT shifted the pendulum too far for a while to the anit-terror mission. There were some that thought we would never have to fight a Ukraine again. Desert Storm was believed to be the last hurrah of the Armored Corps. SF and SEAL used to be re-enlistment options, not off the street recruitments. They wanted you to go Ranger first and re-up SF. AF always did a good job of developing a "pipeline" for the Combat Controllers and PJs off the street. It looks like we are getting a more realistic shift to a force make-up for the 21st Century.
I am envious. What a time to be getting Commissioned. So many opportunities and different areas to be in the first wave. Think about it, if you are going Space Force, AI/Cyber, or even FONA or working with new Nations, you can be in the first generation development and do the development, set the rules, and have a real say. Not since the Space Program in the 50's has there been this type of opportunity to think and play an active role in determining mission, tactics and even doctrine. Even at the Ops level, missions are being made up for new parameters never done where decisions have to be made in the field on how to do it, not the 2 millionth patrol of the DMZ. Alot of opportunities...