Pipeline

In Vietnam, combat was the “end of the pipeline”. An apt phrase that fully describes the feel of combat, where the shit flowed and life really could not get any worse. (You could get killed but in some ways that was a foregone conclusion so it didn't matter much in the daily routine.)

Fast forward three decades. In 2006 the National Guard is at the end of the pipeline as BushCheney feeds the Iraq war. Instead of the one year of combat most Americans served in Vietnam, National Guard serve multiple tours in Iraq. Since the Guard's history and purpose have traditionally involved long term commitment within a community, the impact on guardsmen, their families and communities is difficult.

Now it looks like BushCheney will implement his current Iraq policy, which is no longer "stay the course" but continues to do the same thing, with a steady flow of National Guardsmen. The pipeline is still open.

Next year, the number of Army Guard soldiers providing security in Iraq will surge to more than 6,000 in about 50 companies, compared with 20 companies two years ago, Guard officials said. "We thought we'd see a downturn in operational tempo, but that hasn't happened," said one official.

A more sweeping policy shift is under consideration that would allow the Pentagon to launch a new wave of involuntary mobilizations of the reserves, as a growing proportion of Guard and Reserve soldiers are nearing a 24-month limit on time deployed, they said. Army officials said no decision had been made on the politically sensitive topic but that serious deliberations will unfold in the coming months.

[...]

Stress on soldiers and their families is mounting as active-duty combat brigades now spend only a year to 14 months home between rotations, compared with a goal of two years -- a trend that Army leaders worry is not sustainable in the long term. Reserve and Guard units are staying home on average three years, compared with a goal of four or five, Army officials said. "It goes without question that Guard brigade combat teams are going to have to deploy again to theater in less time than the . . . model originally called for," said retired Air National Guard Brig. Gen. Stephen M. Koper, president of the National Guard Association.

Yet ordering more citizen-soldiers out of their communities and into war zones imposes a special burden, as reservists are older and more likely to have families and civilian jobs, and must also shoulder the task of responding to homeland disasters and other emergencies.

[...]

The Iraq war has also eaten up large quantities of the Guard's equipment. More than 64,000 pieces of equipment have been left behind in Iraq, contributing to a $24 billion equipment shortfall as Guard units have only an estimated one-third of their essential gear on hand, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Same pipeline. Same shit.

[crossposted]