I think I know what's going to happen soon...

[Fred]

President Trump banning transgenders from the military, along with him going ahead and signing off on the budget so that our Military has everything it needs now, might just may be because the U.S. is gearing up for war. Getting the bullish!t out of the way now and beefing up on the bullets and beans for a long haul that's probably unavoidable.

[S.A. Boggs]

From someone who has been there I believe that you are correct. The U.S. has been at odds with an ideology since the early 1990's, 911 was just a "battle" of sorts. Iran is the enemy as they are a mainstay of some of the opposition. Fortunately for US the opposition is opposed to each other as being different sects and physically do not get along.
Sam

[togor]

Long war with who?

[PaFrank]

and if we have no tranny's in the military........ who are we gonna make walk point?

[Major Tom]

and if we have no tranny's in the military........ who are we gonna make walk point?

The ladies can walk point since they always wanna be first! Ya gotta be a gentleman about those things. 8-)

[clintonhater]

President Trump banning transgenders from the military...

That's a LONG way from happening, due to liberal court injunctions that will take years to make it to the Supremes. That's on top of the resistance shown by the military itself--one of the very most PC institutions in the country!

Trump has previously denounced both the Irag & Afghan wars as the greatest wastes of men & money in recent history, which is obviously true, so why would he go out of his way to add to those losses? It would be good, however, to crush Turkey, now waging war against the only true allies we have in the Muslim world, the Kurds.

[JB White]

Seems nobody likes or cares about the Kurds. As far as being our allies, I wouldn't want to bet on that. We've hung them out to dry in a "Bay of Pigs" fashion more than once over the past few decades. They don't forget. They only remember who's buttering their bread today.

[S.A. Boggs]

Long war with who?

Guess!
Sam

[clintonhater]

They don't forget. They only remember who's buttering their bread today.

Well, why should they forget those who promised help but let them down? Nevertheless, they are the most reliable, least radical, of all the Muslims in that area.

[Fred]

I've no knowledge about that or anything. However, it's a fact that the President has been briefed on what the probable and foreseeable political and military scenarios and outcomes are and will be around our planet should we do or not do whatever things that should be done in order to insure that we survive as a country.
That's standard SOP.
For instance, if China perceives we are weak, it might decide to agress against and take Taiwan.
Korea is an imminent threat.
Iran is a terrorist state with ties to Korea.
If anything goes really bad in South or Central America to the point of revolutions taking place, it's a fact that there are and have been contingency plans for our military to seal the entire Southern border. I was part of that planning and training for it years ago so I'm aware of it.
For weeks, there were U.S. choppers of every type that flew training missions along the border. At the Operations Command in Ft. Bliss, they would Hot Refuel 24/7 at the Bag Farm or Refueling Pad that consisted of several 5,000 gallon bags containing Diesel, Mogas and JP4.
Hot refueling is when the chopper lands and refuels with the engine still running, then immediately takes off again.
Anyway, sh!t happens and I feel that we're getting ready for it. Not to react, but to end a threat.

[togor]

Guess!
Sam

I give up. Tell me please.

[Roadkingtrax]

Long war with who?

Wag the Dog.

[Jiminvirginia]

Nah. He is trying to get the military back to pre-Obama standards.

[togor]

Nah. He is trying to get the military back to pre-Obama standards.

Unclear.

One the one hand is the current administration's penchant for bellicose, combative approaches to...everything.

On the other hand, millitary campaigns (successful ones at least) take a lot of advance planning at multiple levels.

Are there any "cakewalks" like Iraq waiting out there for US intervention?

[JB White]

Are there any "cakewalks" like Iraq waiting out there for US intervention?

Certainly! All we need to do is....covertly install another puppet Shah in Iran and let them do the fighting for a while. What could go wrong? ;)

[jon_norstog]

Long war with who?

We're already IN a long war, in the sandbox. It just about broke the all-volunteer army and National Guard. VN, if you survived one tour that was it. Now they just keep sending men and women back.

So the spending is on hardware and upper management. Looks to me like the people pulling Trump's strings want to fight Iran and/or North Korea, which are far different propositions than Afghanistan or an in n' out like Libya. Do that they gonna have to bring back the draft. And there won't be any allies out there either.

They just squeezed out the last of the senior advisers who had any idea of what a military operation involves. The new guys make DIck Cheney look sensible by comparison.

jn

[JB White]

We're already IN a long war, in the sandbox. It just about broke the all-volunteer army and National Guard. VN, if you survived one tour that was it. Now they just keep sending men and women back.

So the spending is on hardware and upper management. Looks to me like the people pulling Trump's strings want to fight Iran and/or North Korea, which are far different propositions than Afghanistan or an in n' out like Libya. Do that they gonna have to bring back the draft. And there won't be any allies out there either.

They just squeezed out the last of the senior advisers who had any idea of what a military operation involves. The new guys make DIck Cheney look sensible by comparison.

jn

They call it the "back door draft". Our current Post Commander did two tours in Iraq as a corpsman. Figured that was enough and he was going home. Once Stateside they offered him a sweet deal. One more hitch with a jump in grade and they would reassign him as a Stateside instructor. No more Iraq. He took the bait. He got the grade and the reassignment....to a unit being deployed to Afghanistan!

[Former Cav]

VN, if you survived one tour that was it. Now they just keep sending men and women back.
NOT true. I know of some folks who got sent BACK and it was NOT because they volunteered.
I KNEW one guy who re-enlisted for 6 years to get a PCS (permanent change of Station). Yeah, well, that lasted ONE year and guess what?
guess where he went? BACK to Nam as a LEG. I wonder if he committed suicide!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I knew of a couple of guys in my unit that "broke" from battle and were assigned to the rear...as a col's jeep driver etc.
I went to tech school with one guy, a combat vet who lost a foot, and when he graduated, the VA CUT OFF his compensation (just like they did to me) and he "hit a bridge abutment" with his car! He told me 6 mo's in advance that would be his "choice method of dying".
Yeah, we "service" our veterans!! har har.... I'm still fighting over service connected combat injuries and in Aug it will be FIFTY years!!
the only way Trump or anyone else will FIX the v.a. is to go to EVERY location and FIRE the top 10 tiers of management.
and the other MYTH of 3 purple hearts and you are out of there is bullchit too! You only got out if the injury was BAD enough, like losing an eye, a leg, an arm, or a limb was broken so bad that you'd need a 1/2 year or more to recover! PS. they did send guys back to combat in vietnam that were in the hospital in Japan!!

[Allen]

Here's a good warm up for the military.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-administration-seeks-close-immigration-loopholes-041713114.html

[togor]

I really hope Trump doesn't start up with Iran. I don't think he'll start anything in Korea. More likely would be that he pulls out of ROK and leaves them to their fate at the hands of Pyongyang, Moscow and Beijing, in exchange for....what exactly?

[S.A. Boggs]

I really hope Trump doesn't start up with Iran. I don't think he'll start anything in Korea. More likely would be that he pulls out of ROK and leaves them to their fate at the hands of Pyongyang, Moscow and Beijing, in exchange for....what exactly?

Don't think badly of ROK troopers, they are not to be messed with. In Nam ROK came into an area and were attacked by VC and lost several men. In return they went out on a search and kill mauling the VC and anyone else who got into their way. From that point forth they were left alone, Charlie had more then enough. They are like Israel or a coiled rattle snake...better to give a wide AO to them. There is an excellent Korean movie about their battle in the war and tells much about them. Personally I am glad they are on our side!
Sam

[togor]

Don't think badly of ROK troopers, they are not to be messed with. In Nam ROK came into an area and were attacked by VC and lost several men. In return they went out on a search and kill mauling the VC and anyone else who got into their way. From that point forth they were left alone, Charlie had more then enough. They are like Israel or a coiled rattle snake...better to give a wide AO to them. There is an excellent Korean movie about their battle in the war and tells much about them. Personally I am glad they are on our side!
Sam

I agree about the fighting qualities of the ROK, but I would expect that South Korean society, which is relatively open, would be subject to an extended period of propaganda attacks intended to foster division among the people. This is the totalitarian playbook for dealing with strong but isolated opponents. In normal circumstances one could expect US leadership in concert with the Japanese to offer a steadying hand to the South Korean government, but these are not normal circumstances, and the US hand in foreign policy at the moment is not particularly steady.

I'd hate to see us waste the sacrifice of the soldiers and marines that fought to keep totalitarianism out of at least part of Korea, only to walk away now for no other reason than disinterest, a loss of will.

Postscript: The following link gives me hope that we wouldn't just turn our back on the ROK.

https://www.trump.com/real-estate-portfolio/seoul/trump-world/

[blackhawknj]

Yes, the trannies can walk point, along with those who are HIV Positive. In WWII on the Atlantic Wall the Germans had units of men with the same ailments-"earache and stomach cramp/white bread " battalions.