Do not make the mistake of thinking that because my conclusion is the same as another person's that my reasoning is the same
Army Will Face Dip in Readiness
4 Divisions Need to Regroup After Iraq
By Vernon Loeb
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 6, 2003; Page A01
Four Army divisions -- 40 percent of the active-duty force -- will not be fully combat-ready for up to six months next year, leaving the nation with relatively few ready troops in the event of a major conflict in North Korea or elsewhere, a senior Army official said yesterday.
The four divisions -- the 82nd Airborne, the 101st Airborne, the 1st Armored and the 4th Infantry -- are to return from Iraq next spring, to be replaced by three others, with a fourth rotating into Afghanistan. That would leave only two active-duty divisions available to fight in other parts of the world.
Briefing reporters at the Pentagon, the official said the four returning divisions will be rated either C-3 or C-4, the Army's two lowest readiness categories, for 120 to 180 days after they return as vehicles and helicopters are overhauled and troops are rested and retrained.
C-3 means a division is capable of performing only some of its combat missions, and C-4 means a division needs additional manpower, training or equipment to fight a major regional war.
A fifth division, the 3rd Infantry, which returned from Iraq in August, is still not fully ready to return to combat, the official said.
Posted by P6 at December 6, 2003 01:33 PM | Trackback URL: http://www.prometheus6.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/2444Hmmm. Now if I was an American enemy that was stupid enough to start some foul shit, I'd read this and say, "Eureka, let's attack now!" Why do we air our weaknesses? A risk, even "a manageable risk" would seem like something that we'd want keep to ourselves. The press does this sort of thing alot, and I've yet to understand it. Is informing the American people more important than not informing people that will want to hurt us?
Key phrase being "stupid enough." Just as we are having problems projecting enough force to close out the resistance in Iraq, any prospective attacker would find it hella difficult to impact us here. Not to mention that this is actually the sort of thing you can figure out just by watching current events. So I'm not seeing a problem here.