| The Pentagon may command
the most powerful military machine
on earth, but it still has insufficient troops to comfortably carry
out all of the missions assigned
to it. It's combat power, fighting units, that matter and it's these
that are in short supply. Of the thirty one combat brigades in the
US army, some eighteen are currently deployed,
preparing for deployment, or have just returned from active duty
overseas.
Bear in mind the US military is also undergoing a period of profound
transformation. Some units are adapting to new roles and new equipment
and the strains become self evident.
Many soldiers and their families in what is still an all volunteer
army are unhappy and the latest efforts by the Pentagon to maintain
unit cohesion by preventing troops from leaving the service while
their units are deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan will only add
to the pressures. That's why cash inducements
are being offered to get troops to re-enlist.
Of course it was never supposed to be like this. Military transformation,
which in some ways has only just begun, was intended to provide
a lean US military that could fight
and win quickly against almost any opponent. That part worked
in Iraq. But the hope was that peace keeping or security duties
could then be handed over to other countries. Instead, the US
has had to shoulder the bulk of the burden.
This means extending tours of duty,
drawing more on reserves and getting the marine corps into the
peace keeping business.
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military machine: the well-controlled
system or organization of the country's armed forces
assigned: given
deployed: positioned ready for
immediate action
profound: great, intense
self evident: so obvious that there
is no use for proof or explanation
cash inducements: money given in
order to persuade somebody to do a particular thing
lean: fit, strong, with no wastage
shoulder theĦ burden: accept the responsibility
tours of duty: a period of time
which a soldier spends working in a foreign country
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