Does every American soldier need to be able to fight the enemy? Yes. Next question.
I can't read the article (or even cut and paste the free teaser--thanks guys!), but the author (who I respect) clearly believes the answer is "no."
One, did we learn nothing from the 2003 Iraq invasion when our ill-prepared real echelon convoy got lost in enemy territory and was shot up for its troubles?
And two, have we forgotten that since the invasion a lot of support jobs were moved to civilian employees, already addressing the question in the affirmative to some extent, but making it far more important for those left in uniform to be capable of fighting the enemy?
Being capable of fighting enemies doesn't mean being capable of going on A-Team raids, but it damned well should involve defending your own position or fighting through an ambush.
[And yes, you may have seen this already when the scheduled posting function went wobbly and posted it earlier in time the same day before I noticed it. Sometimes that happens.]
About Me
- Brian J. Dunn
- I live and write in Ann Arbor, Michigan. University of Michigan AB and MA from Eastern Michigan University. One term in the Michigan Army National Guard. Former American history instructor and retired nonpartisan research analyst. I write on Blogger and Substack. Various military and private journals have published my occasional articles on military subjects. See "My Published Works" on the TDR web version or under the mobile version drop-down menu for citations and links.
