I'm not going to argue global points on the military being broken because they look pretty sound to me, but let me add something. When folks say the military is "broken," my immediate reaction is that they're wrong, but that's because it's not what I see. I see
- people who say "oh, sh*t" when told it's their turn to deploy, then leave that attitude behind to get their stuff together and go.
- people who routinely get up at 0-dark-30 to get fitness facilities open (at 0430) so people can train to survive heat and physical stress when deployed.
- people who take pride in making omelets and hashbrowns and washing dishes so people are well fed while they repair airplanes
- people who spend their lives reviewing purchase requests and budgets to make sure that our tax dollars are spent legally and ethically, and squeezing every drop of value out of every dollar so money is put first where it can protect people and then where it can educate them and then where it can help de-stress them
- people who spend years of their lives teaching newbies how to be responsible, dedicated and honorable
- people who have to decide that limited funds can't be spent on standard levels of air conditioning for office workers because savings on the electrical bill means runways can be repaired
- people who bang their heads against the walls of policy and self-interest trying to make them understand that the world is changing and they have to let the military change, too (that was a 4-star, btw)
If people worked with the military every day as I do, they'd see that the military itself is doing everything it can, but policymakers and the people who provide funding put restrictions on what the military can have and do - in the name of not burdening their constituents with higher taxes.
Fixing the military means fixing our elected representatives first - and not just the guys at the top.
We, collectively, have the power to fix this by letting our representatives - local and national - know that we don't like what we see.
Broken military?
- people who say "oh, sh*t" when told it's their turn to deploy, then leave that attitude behind to get their stuff together and go.
- people who routinely get up at 0-dark-30 to get fitness facilities open (at 0430) so people can train to survive heat and physical stress when deployed.
- people who take pride in making omelets and hashbrowns and washing dishes so people are well fed while they repair airplanes
- people who spend their lives reviewing purchase requests and budgets to make sure that our tax dollars are spent legally and ethically, and squeezing every drop of value out of every dollar so money is put first where it can protect people and then where it can educate them and then where it can help de-stress them
- people who spend years of their lives teaching newbies how to be responsible, dedicated and honorable
- people who have to decide that limited funds can't be spent on standard levels of air conditioning for office workers because savings on the electrical bill means runways can be repaired
- people who bang their heads against the walls of policy and self-interest trying to make them understand that the world is changing and they have to let the military change, too (that was a 4-star, btw)
If people worked with the military every day as I do, they'd see that the military itself is doing everything it can, but policymakers and the people who provide funding put restrictions on what the military can have and do - in the name of not burdening their constituents with higher taxes.
Fixing the military means fixing our elected representatives first - and not just the guys at the top.
We, collectively, have the power to fix this by letting our representatives - local and national - know that we don't like what we see.