U.S. Army Rejects 7 Out Of 10 Potential Army Reservists Because Of Drug Addiction, Tattoos, Being Overweight, And Mental Conditions

Washington Times: Tattoos, prescription drugs, obesity hinder Army Reserves recruitment effort

Physical, moral or cognitive shortcomings eliminate 71 percent of potential military recruits

The majority of potential Army reservists are either hooked on prescription drugs, have too many tattoos, are overweight or have mental conditions that prohibit them from joining the military, recruiters say.

Seven out of 10 applicants — who return to their civilian lives after training, but can be called into active service at any time — fail to meet Army Reserve standards on “mental, moral and physical reasons,” said Capt. Eric Connor, U.S. Army Reserve Command spokesman.

WNU Editor: Michael Walsh at PJ Media is probably right when he says that maybe old Gunny had the right idea (see above video).

The U.S. Army Has A Navy

The Major General Nathanael Greene class large coastal tug USAV Major General Henry Knox (LT-802) assigned to the 467th Transportation Company in Tacoma, Washington. Wikipedia

Gizmodo: The Army's Biggest Tug Boat Can Haul an Entire Aircraft Carrier

WNU Editor: The U.S. Navy has planes on its aircraft carriers, the U.S. Air Force has a Navy .... so why not the U.S. Army having their own fleet of boats .... albeit tugboats.

A Look At Some Of The Weapons Behind The U.S. Army 'Muscle'

Image: Flickr/The 621st Contingency Response Wing/CC by 2.0

The U.S. Army's 5 Most Lethal Weapons of War --Michael Peck, National Interest

The weapons behind the muscle.

When it comes to lethal weapons, the U.S. Army has no shortage. Some may be too expensive, some too complex and others may be desired by politicians and defense contractors, but not the troops on the field.

Nonetheless, today's U.S. Army can generate an astonishing amount of firepower and deliver it in a variety of settings from small-war counterinsurgency to big-war mechanized combat. With that in mind, here are five of the best U.S. Army weapons:

Read more ....

My Comment: Firepower .... it always comes down to firepower.

The U.S. Army Drawdown Continues

Army Cuts Hit Officers Hard, Especially Ones Up From Ranks -- New York Times

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — For all the insecurities of war, Capt. Elder Saintjuste always figured the one thing he could count on from the Army was job security.

A Haitian immigrant who enlisted as a teenager, he deployed three times to Iraq, missing so many birthdays and Christmases that he sometimes felt he barely knew his four children. He hid symptoms of post-traumatic stress so he could stay in the Army, because he loved his job and believed that after 20 years he could retire with a captain’s pension.

Then this summer, on the day Captain Saintjuste reached his 20 years, the Army told him that as part of the postwar downsizing of the force he would have to retire. And adding insult to injury, he would have to retire as a sergeant, earning $1,200 less per month, because he had not been a captain long enough to receive a captain’s pension.

Read more ....

Update: Report: Army officer cuts disproportionately affect prior enlisted -- Stars and Stripes

My Comment: Job security in the military is now becoming a thing of the past.

Will The U.S. Army Be Ready For The Next War?

Photo: Reuters

Five Reasons America's Army Won't Be Ready For The Next War -- Loren Thompson, Forbes

Every October the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) holds its annual meeting and exposition at Washington’s convention center. It’s a huge event executed with military precision, highlighted this year by the unveiling of a new Army Operating Concept that will guide the development of the future force. But the AUSA meeting only lasts a few days, and when it is over soldiers will return to the task of managing their institution’s decline. The service is shrinking by 20,000 active-duty soldiers per year, its readiness for combat is eroding, and its plans for maintaining a technological edge over potential adversaries have largely collapsed.

The Army has seen bigger declines in the past. Ten years after the Union Army enrolled a million soldiers during the closing days of the Civil War, it had shrunk to a mere 25,000 men. The number of active-duty soldiers was reduced by over 90% after both world wars. So the possibility that the Army’s active-duty roster will contract from 570,000 personnel to 420,000 between the beginning and the end of the current decade isn’t earth-shattering by historical standards. What’s different today is that the wars aren’t over, and new challenges requiring “boots on the ground” are multiplying. From the Western Pacific to the Middle East to North Africa to Eastern Europe, the likelihood of U.S. involvement in new conflicts is growing.

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My Comment: I always remember what former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said on the onset of the Afghanistan campaign after 9/11 and then the Iraq invasion when he was questioned on the preparedness of the U.S. military .... "You go to war with what you have". Unfortunately .... in today's world with the U.S. military being in the shape that it is (and will be in the years to come), going to war will mean sky-high casualties, and spending far more money when you play "catch-up".

U.S. Army To Fire 550 Majors

500 Army Majors to Be Axed in Latest Budget Cuts -- Newsmax

Pink slips will start going out next week to about 500 Army majors – including some on duty in Afghanistan – in the latest wave of troop cuts forced by "budget restrictions," the Army announced Friday.

"We don't want to do this," but the Army has no choice under the constraints of the Budget Control Act and the Congressional sequester process, Gen. John Campbell, the vice chief of the Army, said Friday, Military.com reports.

Campbell noted may of the 1,100 captains on a hit list last month were serving in Afghanistan as well, and "the same thing probably will happen with some of these majors," Military.com reports.

Cutting troops is always hard, he said, but axing "the ones that are deployed is certainly the hardest," he said.

Read more ....

Update: Army To Force Out 550 Majors; Some In Afghanistan -- New York Times/AP

My Comment: Jonathan Hendershott's commentary is spot on .... Sending pink slips to a war zone -- New York Post