This is not a comment on any wars, or a political bombast on the military,but some observations I have accidentally run across and a couple of my own thoughts.
If you have read any of my past posts I have alluded to my frustration with being underemployed because of the recession, however, in my role I speak to a good chunk of military personnel or military people.A very large portion of the time these are very short conversations and are only about the business at hand.I have spoken to enough of them to realize a couple of points.
First with all the budget talk in Washington Congress can actually cut some budget with the military and it will not affect our ability to defend our country in the least, in fact, it might increase because some budget cutting might produce more effective management.I know most Congress people would be hard pressed to make cuts on any military project not because of pressure from the Pentagon, but pressure from local voters because of the economic benefit of having military operations for the local economy. And especially now since any jobs cut only puts more downward pressure on the economy. And I have spoken about need to go to Congress to put pressure for them to make better decisions.So saying cutting military budget might seem contradiction to some of my previous thoughts, but in reality we all need some budget help and wasteful spending is hurting us almost as much as lack of jobs.
Now the Pentagon would be lobbying Congress not to cut budget mainly to preserve what they have, however,there are some sharp individuals at the Pentagon who really know there is ways to preserve programs and save money and not affect our true ability to defend our country. Problem is these individuals would have a hard time making headway in today's world with all competing factions to get the government to spend money on defense.
So where does all this go from here. One example from the recent past that might get the least potential to do something was closing bases.This caused quite a stir last decade and now would cause even bigger push back. Yet you don't have to close bases to reduce costs. Just like the federal government there is much duplicity in military operations that can be consolidated.Make bases more specialized and yes I know the Pentagon will say we already have specialization, but just talking to people you hear that certain trainings are being wasted, people are creating jobs to keep them busy, duplication of efforts abound, some posts aren't even staffed properly, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that anything as large as our military could use some bureaucratic shape up. I hate posting this because I am not out for a witch hunt on military spending,but we really need to look at our whole government spending to help balance the budget.
People seem to be afraid to say something about cutting military costs and even I am walking lightly, but we need to step up and ask what is a strong military, and how much does it truly cost. And again even the Pentagon in an honest moment knows there can be some effective cost cutting that doesn't affect our ability to be the best military on the planet.And one quick comment I am not talking about the infamous over priced toilet seats.
Another point and this story has been well documented in the past, but I want to put my two cents on it. We have done a severe disservice to Vietnam vets. With all the return to people respecting military personnel for the Iraq and Afghanistan vets even if they didn't support the war it only aggravates the Vietnam vets more.They may not say it directly, but there has been an injustice served to the people who served at that time.Especially for those whose only military experience was the one or two tours they did in Vietnam. And I know that there has been some soul searching by people who took out their protest for the Vietnam conflict on the Vets that came home, but as a country it would really help if we looked to do more for them. Many are coming upon retirement age with nothing. They came back to unhappiness, depression, low paying jobs, no help acclimating back into society, and now they are retiring with no savings, no support, and watching current Vets being treated with respect even by people who don't support the current campaigns.So as a society we seemed to have learned the lesson that the soldier isn't the problem, but for the Vietnam Vet they are still in the shadow of us having learned that lesson.
So next time you run across someone who served remember to thank them for their service.Show them that we respect what they did fighting for our country as called, it is up to us as citizens to elect leaders that make better decisions on what conflicts we enter, but not to blame the soldier for doing his job. And if you want to lobby Congress just remember to put in a word for better disability and help for Vietnam Vets as they retire from the civilian world. There are many organizations out there you can also contribute to that help them. Just some thoughts as I watch bitterness overtake many men that suffered more there and here than they should have.
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