The Change Mariner

Cracks In U.S. War Machine

Times Picayune:

Since toppling Saddam Hussein last year, a number of cracks have developed in the U.S. war machine:

-- The Iraq invasion caught the Pentagon so short of military cargo planes that it had to hire Russian aircraft to ferry tanks and other materiel.

-- The Army wore out some 9,000 heavy weapons and vehicles that need fixing and renovating -- "a huge task" for which "we do not have the funds," Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker recently told Congress.

-- The Navy is so short of money it's requiring pilots to fly simulators rather than real jets to practice carrier landings, according to Vice Adm. Charles Moore Jr., deputy chief of naval operations for fleet readiness.

-- Adjusted for inflation, the cost of military personnel, pushed by tripling health care expenses, rose 16 percent during the past decade.

-- To handle new missions, the Army is recruiting 30,000 soldiers and hiring 20,000 civilians to free up troops for combat jobs. Still, it is short of infantrymen. Specialists in high demand for the war on terrorism, infantrymen make up only 4 percent of military personnel.

Posted by Timothy Fredel at March 14, 2004 07:19 PM | TrackBack
Related Categories: Quadrant - Political | Theme - 'Military Transformation' | Theme - 'Response to Terrorism'

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