USSoldier11B

Yeah, just what we need....and people think the war in Iraq is a waste....

Americans tend to respect those who serve their country. It is an honor and a sacred duty. I swear Denoir, sometimes you remind me Data or Mr. Spock. Germans should respect the soldiers that fought in WWII like the Wermacht. I'm sure the average non-Schutzstaffel grunt only fought because he was told to. Otherwise, no, I would not be proud if I were a German. I resent it very much if you are comparing the U.S. military in any way to the Nazi legions. I also suggest you brush up on your Vietnam conflict history.

All soldiers should know how to fire, maneuver, and close with the enemy. All soldiers should be trained in basic infantry maneuvers such as patroling, ambush, movement to contact, break contact, and react to ambush. This is fundamentally a fault due to insufficient leadership from TRADOC down to the batallion, company, and platoon level echelons. You nailed it my friend. However, I know damned well that the Army can afford to provide every troop in the field with a fully functional, hell, even a brand new rifle, and all the ammo they could possibly use. Especially in a conflict this small, not like it's WWII or anything.I could go into a lenthy discussion about the decay of the U.S. Army officer corps. I guarantee that no Marine support unit would be caught dead in such a situation. Why? Because all Marines are trained as "killers" at the basic level. Every Marine goes through the same crap. REMF's in the Army enjoy easier Basic Combat Training posts and standards. They get passes, treats, and get fudged through the standard tests that they can't hack to keep attrition down. This is not a fault of the individual soldiers. Basically a good leader can make any person be a capable fighter. (Not saying an elite or talented one, just functional.) Anyway, the Jessica Lynch hype is crap. They are making a casualty a hero, she is no hero and she admits that. It's a slap in the face to those who really hung their asses on the line in combat that she gets all this attention because she is: 1. a young female 2. reasonable to look at Her horrible experiece is not her fault. She's a damned greenhorn REMF private who was a victim of piss poor leadership.

Ok, so I am taking a comparative politics course at my university this semester and I'd like some insider insight and opinions on the political systems of your nations. Particularly Germany, France, and Russia, since those are the countries to be discussed on my next exam. Thanks!

Wouldn't this also be due to the fact that Blair has little experience in economic policy? Ha, from what I gather he's a member of the Green Party with a mild case of turettes. Whoa now, you are giving me the creeps.

This explains nearly everything about your behavioral anomaly.

22 years old. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado USA. (about 50 miles North of Denver. Student a Colorado State University studying sociology with a criminal justuce concentration. I aspire to work for a federal law enforcement or intelligence agency. After that I want to run for a government office. Member, Delta Chi fraternity. (Involves meeting lots of women and getting very drunk, philanthropy...etc) Basically an American elitist/secret society system which aids later in a political or government career. Specialist in the Colorado Army National Guard, MID 5th Batallion 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne). I serve as an intelligence analyst and have an airborne infantry background. I also work a civilian job now and then to suppliment my college funds.

Concerning the UK, I got the impression that economics has been a continuing dilemma for every party in power during the 20th century. I got the impression from my text that the best word to describe the British economy is stagnant a best. The Thatcher administration sought to take importance away from the consensus and sort of do her own thing in more of a trustee style of of government. Eventually leading to her losing popular support and forcing her to resign. Also that the market, and not the govenment shoud make major decisions concerning economics. Her sucessor John Major was unable to stabilize the pound and was plagued by controversial personal behavior within the Conservative Party. I got the impression that the monarchy does little more than confirm executive and Parliamentary decisions. These processes are merely for looks and that the monarchy has essentially no legislative power at all. Isn't this essentially what hurt the economy of Japan as well? Funny, since Marx said that eventually the human population would eventually grow past all possible means of productions. Ironic indeed that it seems our technological advances have made it so our production methods produce more than we can use. Of course in the American tradition, we just adapt and buy more crap than we need to keep the economy pumping and invent new holidays to induce a consumer feeding frenzy. Even the trailer trash here usually owns 2+ cars. (Whether they run or not is another matter.)

Brits feel free to comment as well, I forgot that the UK will also be on the exam.

The first ten amendements are called the Bill of Rights. By historical, political, and sociological traditions they are treated differently than the rest of the amendments. Some might go as far to say that they are sacred and even more important than the Constitution itself since most civil rights and liberties granted to Americans are imbodied within them. The BoR is for all practical purposes untouchable because of strongly held social values. It would take a radical change in how this country is governed for them to be altered. An amendment becomes part of the Constitution when it passes legislation. Thus, it takes on the characteristic notorious to the U.S. Constitution, it is exceedingly hard to change. This would become even more cumbersome concerning the BoR. In over 200 years the U.S. Constitution has only been amended 17 times. (Excluding the BoR) Only once has any Amendment been repealed, that being XVIII (1919) or the Prohibition Act. It was repealed in Amendment XXI in 1933. In this time period other nations have gone through 5 or more constitutions. Do not mistake the Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments or having the same character or value to the politically active of this nation.

I've been to SFAS and I have no idea why the hell anyone would want to simulate a 24 day suck fest. You don't learn anything nor do you get to shoot, or even carry a real weapon. (Candidates tend to be very tired and lose their rifles trying to bust draws during land nav in the Bone's Fork creek area. So they switched to rubber ducks.) SFAS is not a school, it is a "test." All actual SF training takes place at SFQC a.k.a. the "Q" course.

Roger that. Hahaha, roger that as well. Nothing a pair of earplugs, a few Dramamine, and belting you head to the cargo net seat won't remedy. The worst flight I ever had was on a C-130 from Buckley AFB Denver, Colorado to Elemendorf AFB, Alaska. It took like 9 hours. The best flight I've ever had, commercial or military was C-141 back to Colorado from Alaska. It had a real bathroom instead of the Crew Chief's seat, and the zoomies gave us huge boxes of pogie bait and soda. It was also about 3 1/2 hours shorter.

Hmmm, I was under the impression that it was because the overhead was too high. Supersonic flight afterall, requires enormous fuel consumption. Since when do we Americans NOT like enormous, sleek, fast, gas guzzling vehicles?

I agree. If TBA would have said we are going to take Saddam out because he's an asshole,people might actually be ok with this war. I'm not proud of some of the things my government has done, especially during the cold war. That's the whole reason that the middle east if f%^ked up in the first place. We used ruthless men to take other ruthless men out of power. All I am saying is that I think most troops like me are concerned about: 1. Keeping our buddies alive 2. Protecting the innocent to the best of our capacity. Anyway, that's how I would feel. I have compassion for the Iraqi people, and pity those who are fighting us because the coalition, the UN, or whoever decides to help can make Iraq a better place. Those who resist are only prolonging the suffering of their fellow citizens.

I disagree. Martial Art = Art of combat The teach boxing to Rangers and SF here in the U.S. (among other styles) Learning how not to get hit, what it is like to be hit hard, and how to use your entire body when throwing a punch can be quite useful in combat. I also consider Grappeling and even shooting martial arts. If Kendo is the art of the sword wouldn't shooting well also be so? Watching some crack troops clear a building is like poetry in motion.

Killing Fields Damn us imperialist self absorbed pig-headed Americans for smiting this regime from the face of the Earth. [/sarcasm]

Hahahah Yes! (1944) (2003)

Anti-gun lobbies spend a lot of money to make the numbers look like this and vice-versa. Like I said before, guns are tools and if there weren't guns they would kill each other with something else. It's fundamentally a social problem, not a technological one.

No You can hear them for a few miles, but that's quiet a distance from the Airfield to Lipany.

Now take that scenario and imagine being a college educated upper middle class white boy in that neighborhood. The Iraqi's would kill me out of ideology, the thugs in Queens would kill me for my watch or maybe my Subway sandwich stamps.

yeah gotta ring up the gun bunnies and scream at them for dropping the rounds short.

Hahahahahahaha ::snort:: Hahahahahaha Army Heraldry is anal. Everything is scrolls and swords and other miscellaneous mideval/civil war/ revolution type stuff. We take ourselves too seriously. However not as bad as the Marines. They are so anal they don't wear anthing except the fish hook and chicken. Some wear wings but most are legs anyway.

There are more troops than that at Ft. Hood or Ft. Bragg alone. You lost me at the over the top part. I've owned much crazier.

That's not a weapon. Then again I never had to hit anyone over the head with a PRC-120.

I doubt U.S. casualty rates will ever appraoch those of Vietnam in Iraq. The NVA/VC had massive support infrastructure. These Iraqi elements of "resistance" do not. Comparing these wars is a long shot at best. Bush made a mistake by declaring an end to major combat operations, when in fact there is still a war on. People die in war and I'd have to say that casualty wise we have been fortunate if you look at the bloodshed of the 20th century. In WWII losing a platoon was acceptable losses (or maybe even a battalion if you were Russian), in Vietnam losing a squad was acceptable losses, in the squeamish times we are in now 1 casualty is a Earth shattering tragedy. If only 1 U.S. serviceman was killed per month in Iraq it would still get negative attention. Personally I'd feel safer in Baghdad then I would in Jamaica Queens in New York.