US Army's top enlisted member says soldiers are under enormous strain.

 

File photo of Sergeant Major of the Army Michael A. Grinston. Army Times/US Army photo. 

The United States Army's top enlisted soldier, Sergeant Major of the Army Michael A. Grinston, says soldiers are under enormous strain. Army Times. Despite the end of the war in Afghanistan, US troops are facing a grueling deployment schedule, compounded by low recruitment. Grinston was quoted as saying "we are as busy as we have ever been". The schedule along with low recruitment numbers are forcing the military to do more with less. Compared to the strength of the US Army, counting reserves and National Guard, the force is projected to be 20% smaller than it was in 2022 for the 2024 fiscal year. Troops are still being deployed to Iraq and Syria while the National Guard is being deployed domestically for things like the border crisis and the Coronavirus pandemic. 

My Comment:

A fairly grim assessment from America's top enlisted man. And it paints a pretty clear picture, the United States is not ready at all if a major war were to break out, which it could at any time. Tensions are very high with both China and Russia and if a war were to happen, there is no guarantee that we would be able to win, even assuming the war doesn't go nuclear. 

Part of this is due to the fact that even after the war with Afghanistan ended (in humiliating fashion I might add), our deployments really haven't tampered back. One would be forgiven for not knowing we still have troops in Iraq and Syria, but they are far from the only places US troops are deployed. Indeed, we have troops in many countries in Africa as well. And this is on top of all the domestic deployments the National Guard is dealing with as well. The force is stretched thin. 

But the real problem is recruitment and that is a problem that isn't going to go away under Joe Biden. Much of the problem is the man himself. Nobody wants to fight for a president that doesn't command respect. And much of the recruiting pool is made up of people that Biden denigrates and insults at every opportunity. Imagine fighting and dying at the whim of a senile old hair sniffer like Joe Biden? Why would anyone sign up for that? 

The concentration on just about anything other than warfighting is hurting the military as well. Not only are these diversity and inclusion efforts hurting recruitment they are driving a lot of people that are in the military out. Who wants to serve in a military that hates you because of the color of your skin or because of what's between your legs? Not to mention the inclusion of transgender soldiers that would make any woman think twice about serving. No woman is going to want to share a barracks with a man in a dress. 

The threat of a major peer v peer conflict has to be driving down recruitment as well. There is a real fear that US Troops will be sent into the meatgrinder that is Ukraine. Who wants that? To fight in World War I conditions under constant artillery fire? For a war that has nothing to do with the United States and its interests? At least a war with China would be about our manufacturing interests but even then, who wants to fight and die for Taiwan, of all things? 

I think the biggest problem is that people simply don't believe in the US military, and the country itself, anymore. People were willing to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan because they still believed that America was a serious country. I don't think that is the case anymore and indeed, it seems our country is more concerned about men in drag and global warming than actually improving the lives of their citizens. If America was deploying their troops to defend the borders I think you would see plenty of volunteers. But instead the military is being used for questionable things.

The real question is what happens if a war does break out? I don't think our current military could handle an actual war with Russia or China, and I don't expect there to be a wave of new recruits to replace combat losses. My guess is that suddenly conscription would have to make a serious comeback. 

If a war doesn't break out though we would have to face the fact that a lot of damage has been done to our military under the Biden administration and through the two decades of war that happened due to Iraq and Afghanistan. Our military needs to rest, recoup and reorganize but who knows if that will happen?