Thread: The Tactics of BIG Military

The Tactics of BIG Military

I've got a bone to pick... I've been posting in other threads about this topic for a while now, and realized I felt strongly enough about it to make my second topic out of it.

The U.S. Military is BIG... and when I say big I don't think many people can fully realize what I'm talking about. Saying that there are 130,000 troops in Iraq, while an impressive number, doesn't cause jaws to drop... not over the sheer size anyway... But people should be made aware of the gross abount of what I see to be trimmable fat that has collected on top of what used to be a muscular and trim force, and of just how much that extra fat is slowing us down upon the road to victory.

I don't have facts in front of me, and I really don't have the time on the computer to go about looking them up, but I'm sure that my argument won't be too far off base, in idea, because I see it with my own eyes every day.

There's a base in Iraq called Al Asad. It, TQ, and Camp Fallujah are the main bases for Marines in Iraq. It's HUGE. And when I say huge I'm talking on a scale that would put Alexander the Greats tent cities to shame. On that base, there are tens of thousands of troops... MOST of those troops don't go outside the wire at all. Going outside the wire, as I'm sure most of you bright posters have figured out, entails going out into the actual cities and onto the actual roads of Iraq. MOST troops in IRaq, you'd be surprised to find out, do this rarely if at all.

On Al Asad, one may find a Burger King, a Subway, a Pizza Hut, three different chow halls (now four I think), three different phone centers, one huge PX, two gyms, a movie theatre, an entertainment complex large enough for major bands to play at, a bizaar of several Iraqi National Run stores called hadji shops, a fuel area that dwarfs international airports, an airstrip capable of handling the largest jets in the world, a church, a mosque, several sports fields, volleyball courts, an embroidery shop (yes... sewing), a barber shop run by Iraqi Nationals that offers head massages after haircuts (no I'm not kidding), several different motorpools that stretch as far as the eye can see, and a whole lot more that I'm forgetting. The base takes an entire battalion of MP's to defend. It is comprised of several different camps within the main camp. There is a bus service on this base to get Marines/solderis from one area to another. Many soldeirs/marines stationed there use bikes to get around.

Maybe now you are starting to get the idea of just how gynormous this place is. And compared to some Army FOB's out east and down south, it's within proportion. Now... take what i just told you, and try to figure out how many trucks have to enter this base daily to support it. How much fuel, food, water, ammo, clothing, weaponry, and other essential material' has to get to this base every day to meet requirements? How many parts for vehicles, generators, computers, radios, and weapons have to be sent on a daily basis? And these are just REQUIRED things... THEN lets think about the other stuff... the music CD's, the stereos, the Xbox's, the barbers tools, the sewing machines, the Iraq memorbilia items, the cuban cigars, the blankes, the pillows, the portajohn blue water, the PC games, the gatorade, the soda, the ice machines, the ICE that actually gets shipped, the paper, the AC units, the space heaters... I mean, I'm just naming stuff off the top of my head... it's much more rediculous than that.... Imagine how many soldiers/marines have to risk their lives to get all that stuff here...

What if we stopped sending all that stuff? ALL of it... besides the bare essentials. MRE's, water, fuel, mobile energy, vehicle parts, tools, combat troops, and SMALL SMALL amounts of support troops, that's what gets sent. Of what I just wrote, what can't be flown?

So how much traffic on the roads would that eleminate? Meaning how innefective would it prove IED's? Meaning how many lives would it save?

How many support troops could be replaced with combat troops, troops trained up to go outside the wire and take the fight to the bad guys in their homes... how many more of those guys could we have? I garuntee we could reduce the support compliment by half, double the combat troop count, and STILL drop the number of troops in Iraq by 30,000 at least. Does this sound like a good idea to anybody else? Arguments?

Have you ever taken any of your ideas to your commanders?

There are just some thing the military THINKS you need out there and it'll probably be hard to sway them to change their ways. Once a "requirement" becomes standard issue by any government agency, it's hard to change what's listed as necessary. Every government agency is guilty of waste. I remember there was a whole series on 60 Minutes a few years back and I think there was a book written about it, detailing what is wasted and where.

On Al Asad, one may find a Burger King, a Subway, a Pizza Hut, three different chow halls (now four I think), three different phone centers, one huge PX, two gyms, a movie theatre, an entertainment complex large enough for major bands to play at, a bizaar of several Iraqi National Run stores called hadji shops, a fuel area that dwarfs international airports, an airstrip capable of handling the largest jets in the world, a church, a mosque, several sports fields, volleyball courts, an embroidery shop (yes... sewing), a barber shop run by Iraqi Nationals that offers head massages after haircuts (no I'm not kidding), several different motorpools that stretch as far as the eye can see, and a whole lot more that I'm forgetting. The base takes an entire battalion of MP's to defend. It is comprised of several different camps within the main camp. There is a bus service on this base to get Marines/solderis from one area to another. Many soldeirs/marines stationed there use bikes to get around.

WOW!! And people are fighting to get you guys home? I may want to book my next vacation there!!

http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...aq/al-asad.htm

Buchanan, I' glad you took the time to write that, and that I read that.

My mind blown. Incredible. Simply incredible. :shock:

Buchanan, I'm gonna burn you here; they're haji shops, not hadji. =P

I agree with you, we have WAY too large a military right now.

And everyone's saying we're overstretched =P

Tactics of Big military...carry big boom stick... make big booms...

Hang out in Mickey D's bathroom after a double BigMac greasepacker combo and you'll hear big boom...

:lol:

Taking ideas to commanders is not something an E-3 does... sorry. That's why I'm going to college... Because then I'll get out, and maybe somebody will listen. Maybe... or maybe I'll just be looked at quizically and hidden in Alaska, that's more likely.

Aside from the extra cold Alaska looks wickedly awesome.

My nephew went to Alaska last year, he had a blast. He went to a gold mine. Now that kid is in Hawaii and his parents are in Bermuda... the punks.

[quote= we have WAY too large a military


America has never lost a war because their military was too strong


Pres. Reagan