Thursday, February 22, 2007
This is what Jack Murtha wants to stop
The NY Times has this article on the effects of Our Dear Embattled Leader's troop surge on the National Guard. In addition to returning 2-3 years earlier than they normally would, the are facing training and equipment shortfalls.
Changing the reservists’ schedules means abandoning previous promises that they would get several years between deployments. And the acceleration means that soldiers who usually drill just once a month and for a few weeks in the summer will have to begin intensive preparations right away.Despite all the usual right wing howling, this is what Jack Murtha's legislation is trying to stop. The idea of sending troops to war with less than they need is criminal. In a country owned by the richest corporations in the world, they should have everything they need. Including a president that knows what he is doing.
“We’re behind the power curve, and we can’t piddle around,” Maj. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt III, commander of the Oklahoma National Guard, said in an interview. He added that one-third of his soldiers lacked the M-4 rifles preferred by active-duty soldiers and that there were also shortfalls in night vision goggles and other equipment. If his unit is going to be sent to Iraq next year, he said, “We expect the Army to resource the Guard at the same level as active-duty units.”...
...Capt. Christopher Heathscott, a spokesman for the Arkansas National Guard, said the state’s 39th Brigade Combat Team was 600 rifles short for its 3,500 soldiers and also lacked its full arsenal of mortars and howitzers.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
Post a Comment