Gates proposes Defense cuts including troop reductions

Not so sure I am in agreement that cuts, as a whole, will hurt the war effort.

If the cuts are to combat (Infantry, Armor, Artillery, SOF) personnel I would agree. However if the cuts are to the staff and myriad support positions which do little but take up space on FOBs and in formations then I would say cut away. We can use the savings in other places.
 
Not so sure I am in agreement that cuts, as a whole, will hurt the war effort.

If the cuts are to combat (Infantry, Armor, Artillery, SOF) personnel I would agree. However if the cuts are to the staff and myriad support positions which do little but take up space on FOBs and in formations then I would say cut away. We can use the savings in other places.

Yep.

I'd love to see how many deployments a combat arms soldier has had on average since 9/11 vice CS and CSS soldiers. Sure, I know some CS and CSS folks who are on #3 or 4, but I'll bet we have far too many on 0 or 1.

Besides, immoral war profiteers can pick up the slack and to be honest I think we can do a better job in some areas.
 
The F-22 Raptor didn't deploy so we cut the funding is that a good criteria? I am not sure deployment is the criteria to use in cutting budgets. I agree some War profiteers are very effective and can replace overhead billets. My problem lies with where the savings go and who makes the decision. Nuclear submarines didn't shoot a lot in the last two wars does that mean we should do away with them?
I worry because of the decisions I have seen lately. the new mission of NASA is to make Muslims feel better about themselves? Is this where we want the savings spent? Should we cut the contracting officers that made it possible to replace rubberized canvas with light weight dry breathable composite fibers that work so well today? I got it take all the savings and send it to Haiti I hear Baby Doc just came back this week. We have two past presidents stumping to fund that shit. Lets say they take a General officer and down grade the position to Colonel and that is the outfit you work for. Now instead of sending a flag officer to meetings to fight for your budget you are going to send a Col into the arena full of Generals. This is not going to work well for your outfit.
I think cuts should be made but each service should be allowed to retain those dollars and carry them over from year to year just like a business.
Just an old guys thoughts.
Bill
 
I think the DoD needs to make cuts in its budget, but not with troop levels. The overall budget can be cut and drastically cut, if done correctly. Just a few areas I would start with:

Body Armor (combat arms types only) stop giving that shit to FOBITS.
NVG’s same as above.
Optics for weapons, same as above.
Cell phones, we have fucking radios.
Sat phones for FOBITS, give that shit to the Joe’s in the field.
TDY pays for hotels and meals, when they are training right next to a chow hall and barracks.
Civilian flights, when military aircraft is flying in the same place.
Changing the uniforms every 5 years.
Deploying equipment to and from theater, when the unit that’s being replaced has the same shit.
No paper, do everything electronically.
Schools, send people who will pass them.
Promotions cut senior positions by 10-15%
Automatic promotions, some people just need to stay E1’s.
BAH for single people, put them in a barracks (who cares if they are E7 and up).
Cut the enlisted pay grades down to 7 instead of 9, cut the warrant and officer grades too.
Boot people who need to be and don’t take 6 months to do it.
Cut the bonus and education benefits, by 15%.
Go back to 18 month deployments, but give 2-3 year mandatory dwell time.
Cut the GSA use by 25%.
Lower the pay to contractor by 15%
Lower the DoD civilian jobs by 10% and re-staff with reservist, rotating shifts by way of drill’s.
Have reserve units conduct drills in support of active duties mission (loading planes, fueling planes ect)

I can go on and on, it’s something that could be done and should be done. We just need smart people to come up with a plan, maybe get a bunch of E3-E4’s to sit down and write a plan on the back of an MRE box.
 
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