War Song

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"The Pentagon's Wasting Assets", by Andrew F. Krepinevich, Jr., An Article Review

INTRODUCTION

I found this to be an interesting piece of writing in which the author posed arguments with which I tend to agree. In his article Andrew Krepinevich illuminates how the United States’ failure to address its aging and antiquated strategies, equipment, and tactics has had a negative impact on our ability to effectively engage in the conflicts of the twenty-first century. Mr. Krepinevich discusses the effects of western technologies, eastern stratagems, power projection, irregular forces, virtual forces and the imperative to adapt to illustrate his point. By reviving an old Cold War term, “wasting asset”, he demonstrates how it is irresponsible to “remain reluctant to engage in the hard thinking necessary for anticipatory transformation” or to prepare “for emerging challenges by identifying new capabilities to offset or replace those that are progressively wasting.” In my opinion, Mr. Krepinevich does an excellent job of emphasizing how failure to adapt could result in the United States’ ineffectively addressing the enemies of the future.

ARTICLE SUMMARY

The author states that, “Just as it took over half a decade of effort to address the United States’ loss of its nuclear monopoly, a strategy to address the United States’ current wasting assets will not be crafted overnight.” And when developing this strategy he believes the United States should focus on several areas, such as cyberspace, guerilla warfare, and specifically Iran and China, which pose formidable challenges for us. The global spread and availability of a wide variety of technological assets, and increasingly adaptive thinking in a swiftly changing geopolitical environment are “rapidly eroding the advantages the U.S. military has long enjoyed.” Simply put, much of our current equipment and strategies, designed for Cold War linear conflicts, is inappropriate for the types of engagements we are facing today, and further, for those in the future. He offers several solutions to this dilemma: 1) the U.S. should conserve the majority of its assets for direct combat operations and should provide small, highly equipped, highly skilled forces to advise foreign, indigenous militaries, 2) lessons learned by engaging irregular forces must be institutionalized, 3) resources should be allocated for the development of better “hunter-killer” unmanned aircraft; and, 4) the U.S. should continue to engage its partners in the Middle East to reassure them that it is our intention to maintain a stable balance in the region and not to “generate a threat.”

SO WHAT?

Mr. Krepinevich’s arguments have implications for all five civil affairs core tasks, but perhaps most significantly Nation Assistance (NA). The goal of NA is to promote long-term regional stability. NA, Security Assistance (SA) and Foreign Internal Defense (FID), two sub-components of NA, are dependent upon our ability to develop agreements with host nation governments. Our ability to achieve these goals is firmly vetted in our ability to think adaptively and divest ourselves from antiquated equipment, technology, and to abandon military strategies that are no longer applicable in an environment of asymmetric combat. If we cannot achieve stability, the agreements we foster will never achieve their desired long lasting effects.

LINK TO SELF

Since the beginning of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, I have deployed twice as a reservist. Now I’m on the docket to deploy a third time. When I return from this third deployment, should I keep my duffle bags mentally packed and by the front door? Are we stuck? Did we forget the lessons of Vietnam? What is the way ahead? The short answer as posed by Mr. Krepinevich and one I agree with is the “lessons learned by the U.S. military and the capabilities developed in waging irregular warfare” must be institutionalized if we expect to not repeat the mistakes of the past.

Krepinevich, Jr., Andrew F. “The Pentagon’s Wasting Assets, The Eroding Foundations of American Power.” Foreign Affairs 88.4 (2009) 18-33.

McChrystal's Afghan Report

"Failure to provide adequate resources ... risks a longer conflict, greater casualties, higher overall costs and, ultimately, a critical loss of political support," he wrote in the 66-page document. "Any of these risks, in turn, are likely to result in mission failure."

Read the unclassified version of LTG Stanley McChrystal's full Afghanistan report.

Civil Affairs

I'm currently attending the Civil Affairs Qualification Course at Ft. Bragg. Here's a little bit about what Civil Affairs does in a theater of operations -- Civil Affairs.

And here's a little bit about the history of Civil Affairs -- History of Civil Affairs.

This is my unit, the 431st Civil Affairs Battalion.

Op-Ed: Obama's Strategic Blind Spot

How many troops here; what anti-terror tactics to employ there -- those questions miss the point.

By Andrew J. Bacevich
July 6, 2009

"Are there not other alternatives than sending our armies to chew barbed wire in Flanders?" During the bitter winter of 1914-15, the first lord of the Admiralty posed this urgent question to Britain's prime minister.The eighth anniversary of 9/11, now fast approaching, invites attention to a similar question: Are there not other alternatives than sending our armies to choke on the dust of Iraq and Afghanistan? Read more.

Op-Ed: Six Years Later, An Economics Lessons from U.S. Invasion of Iraq

Written by Linda Bilmes and Joseph Stiglitz
Friday, 03 July 2009 06:44

Going forward, the debacle hopefully has taught us to set aside money for our veterans, crack down on fraud and be honest about the costs of war.

July 2, 2009 - Tuesday, the U.S. "stood down" in Iraq, finalizing the pullout of 140,000 troops from Iraqi cities and towns -- the first step on the long path home. After more than six years, most Americans are war-weary, even though a smaller percentage of us have been involved in the actual fighting than in any major conflict in U.S. history. We have relegated the car and suicide bombings to the inside pages of newspapers, accepting at face value that the "surge" has calmed things down enough so we can finally leave the whole sorry Iraq adventure behind us. Read more.

Violence in Iran - The Next "OIF"?

"Supporters of Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi fight running battles with riot police on Saturday, June 20, in Tehran. Several thousand defied an ultimatum from Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling for an end to protests over last week's disputed presidential election results."
Source: www.msnbc.com and Getty Images

Extremeism, Conspiracy Theories, Mental Illness, Toxic Leaders.... What Shapes Current Events?

• Recruiting Station Shooting In Little Rock
At 1049, June 1, 2009, two Army Soldiers (H-RAP – Hometown Recruiter Augmentation Personnel) were hit by gunfire from a drive-by shooter operating a black SUV while standing outside an Army-Navy recruiting.

• Holocaust Museum Shooting June 10 Washington, DC
A lone gunman, age 88, entered through the front doors of the museum and began shooting a 22 Cal. Long Rifle. One security guard was killed and one was injured. The Gunman has affiliations with White Supremacist Groups and a Federal Conviction for entering the Federal Reserve and attempting to take hostages.

Memorial Day

Flags lowered to half staff for the Memorial Day ceremony at our courthouse.

Tolerance

Laws alone can not secure freedom of expression; in order that every man present his views without penalty there must be spirit of tolerance in the entire population.
- Albert Einstein

HMMWV Egress Assistance Trainer (HEAT)

The HEAT teaches Soldiers how to get out of a vehicle after a rollover, either in water or on dry land. It is not as easy as it looks, especially with the extra weight of your gear and with equipment flying around in the vehicle. Oh, and there is that little part where you are trapped upside down by your seat belt. Do not try this at home!

Honor and Remember

Join others to champion the adoption of a new flag honoring fallen and disabled troops. Visit Honor and Remember to join the cause, sign the petition and make a donation.

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, is directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated"
- George Washington

Symposium on Mental Healthcare Delivery to the Reserve Component

The Defense Education Forum of the Reserve Officers Association is sponsoring a one day seminar on mental healthcare delivery to the Reserve Components. The program will be equally divided into two sessions. The program will focus on traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the morning and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the afternoon.

Both sessions will start with a general overview of these two areas and be followed by presentations on current research and clinical findings on TBI and PTSD.

The faculty will be composed of speakers who have attained national renown for their work in these areas. (E.g. BG Loree Sutton and BG Rhonda Cornum.) Keynote speakers will include Hon. Tom Hall, LTG Eric B. Schoomaker and Reserve Component leaders.

When:
23 March 0745 - 1630 hours

Where:
ROA Headquarters Building
One Constitution Ave, NE
Washington, DC 20002 (due East and across from the U.S. Capitol)

Directions to ROA Parking available at Union Station. Metro access is available either from Union Station (Red line) or Capitol South (Blue and Orange lines).

A continental breakfast will be available at 0745 and the program will begin at 0830. Registrations will be limited, be sure to register no later than 20 March. There is no registration fee.

For further information, contact:

Bob Feidler at rfeidler@roa.org or 202-646-7717
James Freeman at jfreeman@roa.org or 202-646-7714

If you'd like to attend this event you can RSVP online.

Deployments and Suicide, You Decide.

The Army released frightening new suicide statistics Thursday, but suggested the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have little to do with this alarming trend. Is the recent increase in suicides within Army ranks related to deployments, or multiple deployments? You decide.

U.S. Army Suicide Data

The Army released its 2008 data on suicides today and highlighted its efforts to reduce suicides in the force.

The U.S. Army recently reported that for the month of January in 2009, the number of soldiers who committed suicide surpassed the number of soldiers who were killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.