Great Cthulhu, they're sending Black Horse to Iraq

[elfs]

technoshaman knows what this means. They're sending the 11th Armored Calvary Regiment, known for years as OPFOR, to Iraq. These are the people who for the past ten years have specialized in training soldiers for combat duty; they're the "opposing force" every infantry and tank team has had to train against.

Is the army really so desperate for bodies that it would dismantle the most competent training force in the world to send it to Iraq? Philip Carter says this is the army "eating its own seed corn," and I agree. OPFOR duties will be taken over by National Guardsmen. No offense, but a National Guard unit has neither the institutional memory nor the long-term experience needed to play OPFOR duties as comprehensively as 11 ACR Black Horse.

The army's OPFOR experience will be diminished by this, and the result will be a less-competent deployment force. Is this any way to run a war?

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It's time everyone sat back and admitted this: it's no longer about swing voters. It isn't. There are no swing voters. It's all over; after the debates, the supposed "undecideds" made up their minds-- those that were hoping to fire Bush but needed reassurance regarding Kerry either found it or didn't; those that wanted to elect Bush either found their reasons or they didn't. But let's not pretend: those that didn't find what they wanted from the debates and the post-debate analysis are no longer "undecided"; on election day, they're staying home.

And that's entirely what the next two weeks of electioneering is going to be about: weakening the conviction of the other guy's "likely voters" enough to make winning feasible. Because the race is so close and the media involvement so insanely intense, the decision of who to vote for has all but been made: there is nothing left for the campaigns to do but tear down the other side and convince enough of their followers that their man isn't worth the time to go to the polls.

Comments

Re: GOOD

[flying-pegasus.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah those civilian contractors that got capture because their Guard wasn't doing his dam fuck job in guarding them. Those families will have Justus as well....

Do I need to remind you...they got be headed, just trying to help the actual people that need those civilian to rebuild.

I say let the Calvary kick their asses...if that is why they’re there for some real combat demolition.