Not so fast, David

I read an interesting (if mostly because it was disturbing) entry on Tech Central Station today regarding our number of troops in Iraq. The gist?

It is disappointing that intelligent people who are well versed in military affairs are capable of seeing a forest but fail to recognize that it is composed of trees, with some trees bearing more fruit than others. To put it in less abstract terms, we have enough troops in Iraq, but far too few of them are engaged in hunting down our enemies and training our Iraqi allies. Rather than maximizing the number of soldiers in Iraq, we should be focusing on maximizing the effectiveness of the soldiers who are already there.

Do I think the 'tooth-to-tail' ratio in Iraq is bad? Yep. Do I think the number of troops committed to profoundly silly functions on FOBs (such as "seat belt monitor," "NCO in charge of take-out plates," "NCO in charge of making sure no one has sunglasses on their head in the chow hall..." well, I think you get the picture) is bad news? Yep. I certainly do. Do I think taking these rear-echelon troops and throwing them outside the wire with a few words of wisdom and a hearty "Go get 'em, tiger!" (and there is little in the way of time, resources, or training available for much more in theater) makes any sense? Hell no. Support troops are...support troops. Not infantry. The US military is short on infantrymen...of that there is no doubt. But we are short of trained, skilled infantrymen, not re-flagged, half (or un)-trained pretend infantrymen who have neither the training nor the desire to close with and engage a wily, ever-changing opponent.

Unfortunately, this DOES routinely happens in Iraq - and it does not advance the fight. Generally speaking, these troops are unable to aggressively fire and maneuver, are more likely to engage innocent Iraqis accidentally, and are more likely to be killed or wounded due to their own tactical errors.

In fact, it tends to weaken the American center of gravity - which is our (American) public opinion. These soldiers have very easy access to media sources, very easy access to relatives and political figures, and often very easy access to blogs. Employing them for tasks they are completely unprepared for does NOT make for a good PR campaign. And it probably helps explain Army recruiting problems.

While we certainly need to reevaluate how our resources are used in Iraq, that shift should NEVER include assigning soldiers to tasks for which they are untrained and unsuited.

Tags:

Iraq
Tech Central Station
Military Reform