Article

2003-07-11 Iraq

Christian Science Monitor: Troop morale in Iraq hits ârock bottomâ

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Posted by Anonymous 2003-07-11 12:43:31 AM|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 It looks like Mike in Tokyo, but it could be his wife too. Or should that be "wife"?

Posted by Rafael 2003-7-11 12:56:42 AM|| 2003-7-11 12:56:42 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 What is needed here is to send in National Guard personnel to relieve regular troops. Army troops are not trained to carry out police duties, which is basically what is needed in Iraq right now. And if a long term presence in Iraq is where things seem to be heading, then a fair and orderly personnel rotation needs to be set up.

Posted by Bomb-a-rama 2003-7-11 1:06:29 AM|| 2003-7-11 1:06:29 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 You all want to make omelettes without breaking eggs. I do hope you succeed! If you do, I want the recepie!

Posted by Uschi 2003-7-11 1:43:44 AM|| 2003-7-11 1:43:44 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Troop morale in Iraq hits ârock bottomâ

It's in the nature of soldiers to complain. But these guys actually have it easy compared to most of the major conflicts we fought in the 20th century WWII (with the exception of Desert Storm). Vietnam War draftees had to deal with a 12-month tour of duty, during which an average of 30 KIA were sustained every day. Korean War draftees suffered an average KIA rate of 30 a day. WWI and WWII average KIA losses per day were in the hundreds - and WWII losses were mainly of draftees, not professional soldiers. (In many cases, these draftees served till they were killed). Relative to their historical counterparts, the professional troops in Iraq have nothing to complain about - they've been in Iraq for little more than 3 months and the war has been a picnic compared to the other major engagements in in the past century.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2003-7-11 8:56:31 AM|| 2003-7-11 8:56:31 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 Morale indicators are the length of the MP blotter report, # of Article 15's and Article 32 investigations, # of Courts Martial, # of AWOLS and desertions. We're waaaaaay below those numbers compared to those of peacetime mid-70s when the military was suffering true morale issues in the post-Vietnam era.

Posted by Don 2003-7-11 9:13:45 AM|| 2003-7-11 9:13:45 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 Shut up and soldier.

Posted by mojo 2003-7-11 9:35:36 AM|| 2003-7-11 9:35:36 AM|| Front Page Top

#7 I keep on hearing about soldiers regularly getting 4 hours of sleep a day. If that's what their commanders are putting them up to, these higher-ups need to be given a good shaking. No one can function of 4 hours of daily sleep for months on end, even their age bracket is between 18 and 21.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2003-7-11 11:23:44 AM|| 2003-7-11 11:23:44 AM|| Front Page Top

#8 IIUC biggest morale problem was in the third ID, which has been there for about seven months, and had no specified date for rotation out. Now Rummy indicates 3rd will be out by September, with some leaving already (I heard 1st Cav will go in to replace them)

It will certainly help when more allied forces are there.

Posted by liberalhawk 2003-7-11 11:23:52 AM|| 2003-7-11 11:23:52 AM|| Front Page Top

#9 Where are the huge Iraqi estates we were promised? Where are the slaves and dancing girls?

I'm SO dissappointed...

Posted by mojo 2003-7-11 11:40:45 AM|| 2003-7-11 11:40:45 AM|| Front Page Top

#10 Zhang Fei, hate to burst your bubble, but I operated on about 4 hours of sleep (sometimes none)for months at a time each time I deployed aboard ship. The last cruise, I was in my 40s. It isn't optimal, but it can be and is regularly done by our folks in the Armed Services.

Posted by Bill 2003-7-11 11:54:33 AM|| 2003-7-11 11:54:33 AM|| Front Page Top

#11 read further -- and consider what these 200 folks will be doing....
"engaged in protecting humanitarian aid, construction work and check-point duties."

I'm thinking, these are just the skills that our soldiers are mostly complaining about, obviously because this is not their training.

Releases a lot of our guys from those checkpoints... letting some of that 3rd ID go home.

Thanks, guys and gals --

Posted by Me 2003-7-11 1:57:41 PM|| 2003-7-11 1:57:41 PM|| Front Page Top

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