Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Army Plans Four-Year Boost of Forces
Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage
Good news. Relying on the Reserves to the extent that we have been is unfair to them and unfair to the nation. We need to be using professional soldiers in the current conflict, not citizen soldiers who have are highly integrated into the civilian world; they're being away from home for years at a time damages their families, their careers, and possibly their civilian lives in general. While they did swear to defend the nation, we should understand that their commitment as Reservists is different than full-time soldiers.
Temporary reliance on reserves in emergencies is acceptable, but the military needs to be restructured for the long haul in the battle against terror. Since it seems obvious that as the US maintains commitments abroad that the current size of the regular military is inadequate, as the reliance of thousands of Reservists has indicated, the total numbers in the standing military need to be increased. I'm for streamlining the Army, but I think that it can be done while at the same time weaning it off of its over-dependence on the Reserves. Then, when the nation has a dire emergency, there will be plenty of soldiers on hand and waiting in the wings to heed the call.
Good news. Relying on the Reserves to the extent that we have been is unfair to them and unfair to the nation. We need to be using professional soldiers in the current conflict, not citizen soldiers who have are highly integrated into the civilian world; they're being away from home for years at a time damages their families, their careers, and possibly their civilian lives in general. While they did swear to defend the nation, we should understand that their commitment as Reservists is different than full-time soldiers.
Temporary reliance on reserves in emergencies is acceptable, but the military needs to be restructured for the long haul in the battle against terror. Since it seems obvious that as the US maintains commitments abroad that the current size of the regular military is inadequate, as the reliance of thousands of Reservists has indicated, the total numbers in the standing military need to be increased. I'm for streamlining the Army, but I think that it can be done while at the same time weaning it off of its over-dependence on the Reserves. Then, when the nation has a dire emergency, there will be plenty of soldiers on hand and waiting in the wings to heed the call.
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