By Claudette Roulo, AFPS, WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2012 - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff [an appointee of Obama] says the military must undergo three transitions in the coming years, with each dependent on finding the best way forward in lean economic times. [WOTN Editor comments in bold & brackets.]
During a town hall Thursday in Rosemount, Minn., Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey told Minnesota National Guardsmen determining the best way to transform the military isn't just about what's best for the armed forces, but "really about figuring out what's best for the country" in the years ahead. [Translation: Obama is going to cut Troops, Pay, Benefits, & Equipment.]
"What does the nation need in 2020?" Dempsey asked. "How do we build that capability? ... How do we deliver in a way that's affordable for the nation?" [To be capable of defeating Terrorists, as well as foreign militaries and pirates of the High Seas.]
"We're all citizens first," he said. "Therefore, I think we've got to figure out how to help the country through that economic challenge while preserving the military that it needs." [Translation: bend over, this is going to hurt.]
Dempsey highlighted his three transitions. First, he said, is to move from a military that is generally focused on deploying for combat into one that can perform missions besides counterinsurgency. [It takes more Troops and better equipment to defeat foreign militaries, than it does a numerically inferior band of misfits.]
Service members of his generation were criticized as being "stuck in [a] Cold War mentality," Dempsey said. [Now he is stuck in a partisan attempt to cut the Military.]
"It was a challenge, I will admit to you," he said, "for us to change the way we looked at problems from that Cold War paradigm into the counterinsurgency paradigm."
"I would submit to you that those of you that have done nothing but [counterinsurgency] are going to have exactly the same challenge going back to looking at other kinds of warfare," he said. [That doesn't mean shiny boots and short haircuts. It means counter-ambush live fires and Infantry patrols.]
But that's exactly what service members must do, Dempsey said. "Not because we think it's on ... the horizon, but it could be someday and you can't wait until it's there to get ready for it." [There are multiple potential conventional wars on the horizon, not least of which are North Korea, Iran, and even China.]
The second transition is economic, he said, and involves managing a shift from the "largely unconstrained budgets of the last ten years -- 'if you needed it you got it' -- to something that is going to be more constrained." [Translation: In the future, you'll have to buy your own gear or go without. Veterans of the 90's remember those days.]
That might make service members uncomfortable, the chairman said, but the military has an obligation to become more affordable to the country. "Why? Because national power ... is actually the aggregate of three things, not just the military," Dempsey said. "It is the military, but it's also economic well-being and it's also diplomatic influence."
The last transition is the drawdown of military members. Over the next five to six years, the Army and Marines will reduce in size by about 120,000 people in total, he continued. [While the Obama Admin is busy hiring more unionized bureacrats, Dempsey is endorsing the Admin plan to cut Troops, while telling Troops to prepare for a Conventional War.]
"We owe it to those young men and women who have served so honorably and so well to make sure we take care of them," Dempsey said. [This is why he has endorsed the Obama plan to increase charges to Retirees for their own Health Care, and to decrease the pay of the remainder who have to do more, for less.]
"In all of that we've got to keep faith with our military family," he said, adding that family includes veterans, wounded warriors and the parents and spouses of service members killed in action. [His prescription plan means they will pay up to $60/prescription.]
One way to keep faith as the Defense Department draws down is to guarantee that resources continue to be dedicated to family support programs, Dempsey said.
"The challenge of course, is we've got 1,000 flowers blooming out there," he said. "We've got to make sure that we can identify the ones that are most important and ensure we continue to resource those."
"The second way we keep faith is by pay, compensation, healthcare and retirement," the chairman added. [That's why the Obama Admin has requested National Guard drill pay be cut in half.]
Finally, he said, keeping faith with the military family means providing the toughest training possible. "I'm not keeping faith with you if I resource all that other stuff and I don't train you," he explained, "because then I send you off to war and you're not ready for it." [That's why he wants annual training to be increased from two weeks a year to nearly two months.]
"Change is always uncomfortable," Dempsey said, "but often if we're agile enough, the change can actually make things better for us and improve relationships, not disrupt them." [Agility in this case may be in finding the exit, before he finds the exit only door. Fortunately for Dempsey, his retirement check will increase by an amount greater than his new Obama taxes will.]
Replies
Obama wants to hurt our troops.
Deb. The military Cut's thru this decade will seriously hurt whole military.. I listen to the men // women coming home ~We've totally afraid for our life, I'm trying to serve this country for What..?? Who made this current ``Plan..?? You know the answer..!! Stay Strong , keep the care packages flowing..!! <My Job..
OBAMA DOES NOT WANT TO HURT OUR TROOPS, HE WANTS THEM DEAD.
Dempsey, the troops think your a troll and Barry's dream of a demoralized, gutted homosexual military is being accomplished on your watch. Then there are the treasonous security breaches and leaks by the de-facto CNC? It's called treason and sedition Marty boy, your nothing but a political hack and a lap dog for Barry! Remember the acronym OPSEC.......their blowing the cover off the muslim in chief's loose lips! We'll be cutting your pay and seeing that your retirement is spent in Leavenworth for aiding and abetting treason against the Constitution and violation of your oath of office!
The good news is: with these kind of actions against our military, they will be 'hard pressed' to find anyone willing to back them up in the coming uprising. Of course, I don't think they ever were going to get much of a following from our military 'sons and daughters'.
Were we a nation governed by the rule of law rather than by the rule of men Dempsey and all of his ilk would be in Leavenworth replacing all those that they have falsely imprisoned. Unfortunately, as a nation we have a very poor record of holding individuals such as Dempsey accountable for their offenses against the nation. If obozo looses the election you can almost bet that Dempsey will be seeking retirement the next day. Can you imagine this scum bucket writing a letter accepting full and complete responsibility for the failure of D Day (had it failed) as Eisenhower did? Loyalty, integrity, discretion, moral character are qualities with are sadly missing in the senior leadership of both our military and civilian leaders.
The thing that jumped off the page at me was his statement, "The challenge of course, is we've got 1,000 flowers blooming out there,", what is he doing, promoting the LGBT? What has a statement like that got to do with our military? I was around in the early 90's and it wasn't pretty at all. Yes, the administration will demand more and more of our troops as the numbers go down. What I saw back then was a reduction in the numbers that coincided with a reduction in quality of personnel. I had sailors that could barely read or do basic math, on a submarine no less. Submarine school required that we learn all the basic operations of every system on board and I often wondered how these folks got through it. The most difficult school that I attended by far, of course I wasn't in the nuclear power field.