Thursday, February 2, 2006

[1882 - James Joyce, writer, born in Dublin, Ireland]

[1905 - Ayn Rand, social critic, writer, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia]

[1918 - John L Sullivan, heavyweight boxing champion, dies at 59]

[1959 - Vince Lombardi, signs five-year contract as head coach of Green Bay Packers]

No Stretch

Administration spin doctors are trying to convince us that our armed forces are not stretched to the breaking point by continued rotation to the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones. A host of former military officers who ought to know, say otherwise. As concerned citizens we must look carefully at what is going on rather than what is being said about it. The army fell far short of meeting its recruitment goals last year. Even with a downsized post-Cold War military, and even with the large numbers of reserve and National Guard units that have been activated, the all volunteer force concept is faltering. As a sign of how desperate our military personnel managers have become, consider the following:

The Associated Press reported on January 15, 2006, that a 155 year old United States Naval Academy tradition came to an end when four dozen Marines who comprised The Naval Academy Company, Marine Barracks since before the Civil War, were replaced by Navy enlisted personnel. The former sentries will, according to the Associated Press report, bolster U.S. forces stretched thin by deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. These few Marines are worth several hundred ordinary fighting men, nevertheless, we have been able to spare these leathernecks to carry on the Naval Academy tradition during some pretty tough times, including the Civil War, the Spanish-American war, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the first Gulf War. The fact that someone in authority has decided that we can no longer afford the luxury of this handful of men outside the front lines speaks volumes about how stressed our fighting forces truly are.

Dozens of military installations across the nation have turned to civilian security officers in recent years, and the Navy is leaving that option open for the academy. The U.S. Military Academy at West Point brought on a private security firm in 2004. Maybe we have gone too far with the concept of outsourcing our military.

William's Whimsical Words:

I don't know about you, but I would a lot rather see a squared away Marine at the gate of our Naval Academy then I would a civilian rent-a-cop.

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