The Destruction of the U.S. Military is Almost Complete
BY Herschel Smith
1 year, 9 months ago
In sad news concerning the U.S. Marine Corps, those in charge have decided to rid themselves of one of their greatest assets.
The Marine Corps is getting rid of one of its most elite and storied jobs — the scout sniper.
Official message traffic leaked to social media last week described a switch from scout sniper platoons to what will only be known only as “scout platoons.”
[ … ]
The Marine Corps’ commandant, Gen. David Berger, has been vocal about wanting infantry Marines to become well-versed in multiple weapons systems — less specialized and more “commando-like.”
That’s a joke. I’ve told them before what it would take to bring them up to par with SOCOM, or thereabouts, so they don’t get hand-me-down weapons and last place in the money pecking order. It’s basically everything they’re not doing.
In unfortunately related news, the greatest close air support aircraft ever invented is finally being phased out because AF pilots want to fly sexy fighter jets, I guess.
- After years of debate, Congress has approved a US Air Force plan to begin retiring A-10 Thunderbolts.
- The A-10 is the only US military aircraft purpose-built to provide close air support to ground forces.
- But training documents raise questions about the Air Force’s focus on that mission going forward.
After repeatedly blocking the US Air Force’s attempts to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II, Congress late last year approved a plan to decommission 21 of the venerable ground-attack aircraft, which is the only US military aircraft purpose-built for close air support.
Those retirements would shrink the Air Force’s A-10 fleet to 260 aircraft, and Air Force leaders plan to continue decommissioning A-10s in the years ahead.
Air Force officials have said they want to replace the A-10, affectionately known as the Warthog, with the F-35 as the service’s primary close-air-support aircraft.
That last statement is as much of a joke as the MC statement I called out above.
The gutting of the U.S. military is almost complete. The perfumed princes have been in charge for too long now to recover it. Is it any wonder they aren’t meeting recruitment goals and won’t in the future?
On March 3, 2023 at 12:32 am, PGF said:
The quality* of the personal from recruits all the way up to flag officer staff is the biggest problem.
*refuses to elaborate further
On March 3, 2023 at 7:48 am, Wes said:
“…replace the A-10, affectionately known as the Warthog, with the F-35 as the service’s primary close-air-support aircraft.”
Stupid is as stupid does. Been coming for awhile for the reasons cited. The F-35 cannot do what the A-10 can, and it really is that simple, because the decision is not about winning on the battlefield.
On March 3, 2023 at 1:11 pm, Ozark Redneck said:
With Reps McSally (Az) and Hartlzer (Mo) retired the A-10’s biggest allies are gone, it is a shame. I know all the guys who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan were big supporters of the ‘warthog’.
On March 3, 2023 at 8:03 pm, T said:
The F-35 is a fancy piece of crap.
On March 4, 2023 at 12:45 am, Georgiaboy61 said:
Regarding the “retirement” of the A-10 Thunderbolt II or “Warhog” in favor of that over-priced piece of junk and missile magnet known as the F-35, it is entirely typical of how the DOD/Pentagon and most of the brass think. As a young and somewhat less-cynical person, I accepted the DOD/Pentagon at face value, i.e., that everyone there was doing the important and vital job of running the armed forces and making sure that our military personnel were the best-equipped, best-trained and best-supported in the world.
Maybe there are people there doing that, in fact I’ve met a few of them myself over the years…. but that’s not the real reason the Five-Sided Puzzle Palace exists.
Its de jure mission may be those tasks mentioned above, but de facto, the DOD/Pentagon exist for the purpose of perpetuating the gravy train of lavish defense appropriations – namely, the river of taxpayer money flowing through that place – and the perks, luxuries and promotions they provide.
If a given weapons system or other item actually helps personnel in the field and at the pointy end of the spear, then fine – but that is entirely incidental. What really matters to the guys inside the E-ring is getting that next bump in salary or that long-overdue promotion, maybe that next star and a seat on the board of a Fortune 500 defense contractor when that particular flag/general officer hangs up the uniform and enters retirement.
See,the thing of it is that even if the weapon or other appropriated good/service is substandard or even awful, a real “Charlie Foxtrot” in the making, as the grunts would say… the movers-and-shakers still get paid, the brass still get promoted and get good fit-reps, and everyone makes out like a bandit… except of course the poor end-user, the Joe/Jane Sixpack who gets stuck with equipment that does not perform and who pays with his/her life as a result.
The F-35 is about as stealthy as a flying ashtray, but billions of misappropriated dollars later, here we are, stuck with it while our probable opponents in the next/current war arm themselves with state-of-the-art weapons, gear and equipment which actually works and does the job for which it was designed.
On March 4, 2023 at 1:22 am, Georgiaboy61 said:
Regarding Commandant Gen. David Berger, he is an over-ranked fool and an incompetent promoted way past his level of expertise. Indeed, he is presiding over the destruction of the very institution he was hired to protect and preserve in the name of the American people. A fiasco and a disgrace in every sense of the word.
Regarding scout-sniper programs, yes, those men are trained for “one shot, one kill” and are in the business of punching the tickets of enemy soldiers, but isn’t that what combat soldiers of all kinds and in all branches do? “Break things and kill people”? As unsavory as some may regard that particular military specialty, the facts speak for themselves regarding their effectiveness in the field and in combat.
By the time of the Vietnam War, it was estimated by intelligence and technical personnel tasked with studying the issue, that on a theater-wide basis, it took an average of some 50,000 rounds expended of small-arms ammunition (rifle and machine gun ammunition, i.e., 5.56x45mm NATO or 7.62x51mm NATO, etc.) to score one confirmed enemy KIA. Whereas snipers in that conflict averaged around 1.5 shots per confirmed enemy KIA.
So, I am compelled to ask in all honesty, does General Berger actually work for the Communist Chinese? Because that’s whom this decision is going to benefit the most. Our peer adversaries, as they say in the national defense community.
On March 4, 2023 at 8:01 am, Latigo Morgan said:
The A-10 just went through a major upgrade/rework to make them more “modern”. Just in time to retire them?
After having seen them up close and live, I’ve always been of the mind that if I knew they were coming to attack my position, that I would not be there to greet them. Videos do not convey the utter destruction those planes are able to deliver.
Damn, follow the money.
On March 4, 2023 at 10:58 am, Milton said:
We get nearly daily flyovers of A-10 in this part of Indiana. If those are to *retire*, do you suppose they will be showing up on E-bay sometime soon?
After all, our pretend-president said we would need them.
On March 4, 2023 at 2:56 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:
@ Milton
Re: “We get nearly daily flyovers of A-10 in this part of Indiana. If those are to *retire*, do you suppose they will be showing up on E-bay sometime soon?
After all, our pretend-president said we would need them.”
Fat chance of that! Slo-Joe will probably give them to our enemies, whether it is the Chinese or someone else.
I have some family in southern Arizona, which has Davis-Monthan AFB, and flyovers and training sorties were a common occurrence on visits down there. Saw a lot of A-10s in my time; they look dangerous even when minding their own business….