Navy sailors train for ground duty in Iraq. Cannibalistic breakdown

[bigtree]

Apr. 24, 2006

Navy sailors take up Army training

The training is an opportunity to blend services -- part of the Pentagon's move toward "jointness," or getting the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps to cooperate and drop duplicative services, officials said.

The Navy is sending thousands of men and women to Iraq and Afghanistan to relieve pressure on Army and Marine ground forces, some of whom have faced repeated deployments to the region.

So far, about 1,200 sailors have gone through the intense two-week course crammed with basics such as learning to fire M-16 rifles, toss hand grenades and conduct house-to-house patrols while weighted down with body armor -- skills not called for aboard ships.

"It's not about being Army or Navy anymore. The name of the game is staying alive," Brown said.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/cctimes/news/nation/14415347.htm?source=rss&channel=cctimes_nation

[Hardrada]

1. The name of the game is: "We're Fucked."

[leeroysphitz]

20. The name of the game is "How do we fight yet another illegal

and ruinously expensive war without initiating a politically suicidal draft." It's a game they can't win and that we'll ALL lose.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

2. How long before we...

...start training US Postal Carriers for ground duty in Iraq?

[Roland99]

10. I say we train the Federal Reserve board members for business in Iraq.

outside the Green Zone!

[shain from kane]

3. I joined the National Guard and they sent me to war.

I joined the Navy and they sent me to a land war.

Let's face it. You are all cannon fodder, the one common denominator.

[htuttle]

16. According to Rumsfeld, people are 'fungible'

RUMSFELD: Oh, come on. People are fungible. You can have them here or there. The fact of the matter is we've made a judgment, and we've announced the judgment.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0404/15/lol.04.html

[blm]

4. The REAL name of the game is: Destroy the military so we can PRIVATIZE it

and run it as a corporation profitting on fear and death.

It's the global FASCISM, baby!

[patrice]

7. Bingo!

Right from the start, that has been a major objective of PNAC and others.

We are not only Wage Slaves, we are War-Wage Slaves.

[Joe Fields]

27. They are destroying the military, but it isn't an intentional, systematic

process designed for just that purpose.

[gordianot]

5. Sounds like the same program the Nazi's used with the Luftwaffe and Navy.

When their backs were to the wall.

[Vincardog]

6. Wait until you can not join one service your contract will be transferal

The NeoCons want to kill off all public :hi: service and replace our military with mercenaries. :puke: :puke: :puke:

[badgerpup]

9. As I understand it...

...the thing about mercenaries is ya gotta PAY 'em.
No pay, no fight. It's inherent in the name...and what makes it REALLY interesting is that mercenaries don't go for that 'no-bid' nonsense. It's the highest bidder who gets their services...
and like I said, they expect to be paid. :evilgrin:

[Vincardog]

14. And the second largest group if people occupying Iraq is? mercenaries

The US companies pay them well and make great profits on them as well.

[Joe Fields]

26. They would never go with mercenaries. They couldn't control them,

like they can control today's volunteer armed forces.

[peace13]

8. Remember before the war

Rummy referred to the soldiers as 'fungible'. He has no regard for life. Peace

[babylonsister]

11. I wonder how many Navy recruiters assured kids they would

not see action in Iraq? :-( You know they did!

[KyndCulture]

12. So basically when Iran lauches an attack on us after we bomb them

The Navy will all be in iraq.

sheesh.

[shain from kane]

13. Just like the National Guard was in Iraq when the hurricanes happened. n/t

[jukes]

15. they're losing, & they CAN'T

institute a draft because it wd be political suicide.

they're desperate.

[cynatnite]

17. They did this in the first Gulf War...

nothing new here.

In fact, blending of the services has been happening for years.

[bigtree]

18. the backdrop is different cynatnite

should I spell it out?

here:

On imperial overstretch: can the USA afford to send its troops here, there and everywhere?

The USA remains the biggest military power in the world, but it is beginning to experience the classic symptoms of imperial fatigue.

At first sight, the suggestion that US forces are overstretched appears startling. In the last three years, the US military has successfully removed from power no less than three governments that, for one reason or another, Washington did not like: in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq. Furthermore, this has been accomplished with a relatively small number of troops and surgical strikes, creating vast destruction to the enemy but leaving US troops more or less unscathed. Even if US reinforcements are now required in Iraq and the country's occupation lasts longer than originally envisaged, the deployment in Southwest Asia will not involve more than a quarter of the USA's total military might.

Twenty-one of the US Army's 33 regular combat brigades are already on active duty in Iraq, Afghanistan, South Korea and the Balkans, amounting to roughly 250,000 fighting men and women. And this does not include a substantial number of US troops regularly stationed in Germany, Britain, Italy and Japan, or smaller contingents now scattered around the world. A traditional calculation assumes that for every soldier deployed on an active mission, two more are required to be kept in reserve, either in order to rotate those in action or to prepare for that rotation. Under this assumption, the USA has already reached its limit today. But, to the frustration of the Pentagon, neither US diplomatic priorities nor the sheer pace of international developments appears to take this into account.

The cost of occupying and rebuilding Iraq now runs at roughly US$4bn a month and is rising. More importantly for US military planners, it also costs, on average, the life of one US soldier a day. Furthermore, Washington has already decided that it will make no further cuts in its presence in Europe and cannot extricate itself from Afghanistan. Given the North Korean situation, no cuts in US troops can be expected in Asia either, notwithstanding the planned redeployment of US forces inside South Korea.

Officially, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld appears unruffled by these developments, yet behind the scenes he is facing an increasingly strident chorus of disapproval from his military commanders.

http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/fr/fr030806_1_n.shtml

add Iran

[cynatnite]

22. they did it in peace time and at war...

there is nothing new here.

I was in the army for four years and have worked and trained with both Air Force and Navy. They even had grunts training with troops from Germany and France as well.

My brother-in-law was in the Navy. He was in Gulf War one and was put in a unit out in the field with soldiers.

This has gone on for a while now.

[bigtree]

23. what's new is the way these forces are being used

yesterday there was the report that Bush is deploying forces away from the battlefield for his 'war on terror'. I don't know how anyone can look at the way Bush has stretched our forces and not look at this move with trepidation, or conclude that this isn't significant, even if it has been 'going on for a while'.

[Texifornia]

19. They were already doing this with the Air Force

Now with the Navy too.

I think they want some unified military force (USDF) which would eventually be a holding company and primary contractor.

*Sigh*

[DemoTex]

21. Anchors Dream On, My Boys.

Stand, Navy, on the sand, Fight our battle cry;
We'll never change our socks, So vicious foe steer shy-y-y-y.
Roll out the TNT, Anchors dream on. March on to victory
And wish their bones to Davy Jones, hooray!


Anchors dream on, my boys, Anchors dream on.
Farewell to college joys, we march at break of day-ay-ay-ay.
Through our last night on leave, drink through the gloam,
Until we meet once more. Here's wishing you a happy trip home.

(My apologies to the great US Navy!)

Coming soon:

Off we go, into the brown sand yonder!

and

Flailing, Flailing, over the bounding sand ..!

[Joe Fields]

24. Who's next, pilots?

[shain from kane]

28. Maybe they'll train them to fly in the air, and not practice take-offs

or landings.

Hold on, that sounds familiar.

[Neil Lisst]

25. The Air Force is getting combat training, now, too.

It's clear the DOD is planning to shift aspects of security in a war zone to Navy and Air Force.