Since the Vietnam War, America has had very few more successful interventions. That war created a crisis of legitimacy in the ranks of the armed forces. Many young people in the United States dodged conscription or took advantage of various deferrals, but conscription still provided the army with recruits. In Vietnam, the military suffered from drugs, racial conflict, and fragging (killing unpopular commanders during combat). Operation Desert Storm, 1991, can be described as a model of successful large-scale intervention in the post-Vietnam War period. Then the international coalition, led by the United States, dropped several bombs, and then went on the offensive, having complete superiority in the ground forces. Saddam quickly surrendered, and Lee Greenwood presented his patriotic soundtrack. If you ignore such little thingsas the fate of the Iraqi Kurds, whom the war prompted an uprising, and the negative reaction to the deployment of American troops in Saudi Arabia, the first war in the Persian Gulf can be considered quite successful.
The United States is far worse off when our goals become more ambitious and the enemy refuses to surrender. When an army of volunteers gets stuck in the quagmire of an unpopular war, protesters do not take to the streets as they did in 1969, and soldiers do not secretly crack down on their commanders. People just stop joining the army. Attempts to fill the resulting gap were the subject of an investigation by English journalist Matt Kennard. In his book, he notes a series of troubling trends in the military environment. This is a decline in criteria and standards, inadequate treatment of mental disorders and drug addiction, as well as the admission of white supremacists, Nazis and gang members into the military.
The Irregular Army begins by examining the question of unwanted elements, which in the past have found it very difficult to get into the army and even more difficult to stay there. In particular, these are racists and Nazi skinheads. Extremists of this kind have entered the armed forces before. I served briefly in 1986 in the Marine Corps, and we had people who called themselves racists and skinheads. But Kennard talks about how the military today turns a blind eye to it, just to staff their ranks. He interviewed a neo-Nazi with tattoos (Celtic cross and Nordic warrior) that recruits are required to report. Forrest Fogarty's story is somewhat inconsistent with Kennard's thesis, as he joined the military before the war on terror began. Fogarty is like a celebrity todaybecause he is the leader of the skinhead music group Attack. In 2004 he took a leave of absence to perform two concerts in the German city of Dresden. A former girlfriend, who was angry with him, informed the military about Fogarty's inclinations and passions by sending them pictures of a neo-Nazi event with his participation. However, the woman failed to destroy his military career. Since the neo-Nazi retired from service, the Southern Poverty Law Center has taken a number of steps to secure his dismissal from his job at a private contractor with the military.sending them pictures of a neo-Nazi event with his participation. However, the woman failed to destroy his military career. Since the neo-Nazi retired from service, the Southern Poverty Law Center has taken a number of steps to secure his dismissal from his job at a private contractor with the military.sending them pictures of a neo-Nazi event with his participation. However, the woman failed to destroy his military career. Since the neo-Nazi retired from service, the Southern Poverty Law Center has taken a number of steps to secure his dismissal from his job at a private contractor with the military.
Kennard's confusion of time frames indicates that the problem of extremist infiltration into the military began before the Iraqi war, and now it is creating an even more difficult situation. The figures that the journalist managed to get from the Ministry of Defense show that at the peak of the occupation of Iraq, the military practically stopped their practice of refusing to renew military service contracts to undesirable elements. If in 1994 there were 4000 such refusals, then by 2006 their number dropped to 81.
Along with neo-Nazis, members of African-American and Latin American gangs also get into the army. This graphically, frightening and very unpleasant made itself felt in 2005, when soldiers, former members of the Chicago criminal gang and serving in Germany, beat a sergeant to death during an initiation ceremony that ended so badly. Tracking gang members in the army is difficult because there is no formal and specific ban on such membership. According to Kennard, "The FBI is unable to determine the extent of the problem with the presence of criminals in combat units and units because the military refuses to report their activities." Murder is the most troubling problem posed by gangs and Kennard writes about it in his book. There he presented many photographs of drawings and inscriptions of graffiti in Iraq,as well as military personnel with gang symbols, indicating that the 2005 incident in Germany was not an accident or an exception.
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An unsettling similarity between gang members and neo-Nazis is that they view military service as a training stage, giving them the opportunity to prepare well for their own wars. Kennard quotes National Guard veteran Dennis Mahon with links to various extremist organizations. He states: “Soldiers learn from the unconventional war in Iraq, realizing that they can use the methods of this kind of war in America. And it’s impossible to stop it.” Mahon is currently serving a sentence for a terrorist attack in Arizona. In addition, Kennard quotes an anonymous FBI agent as speculating that the bandits may use the military for training and education. This agent notesthat they "undergo excellent firepower training … gain access to a variety of weapons and knowledge about them, and then have the opportunity to use this knowledge."
While the idea that the state itself teaches violent extremists and criminal gangsters in the art of war is alarming, it is only one consequence of the personnel crisis the military has been experiencing in recent years. The tragic story of technician Travis Virgadamo reveals another problem. Arriving in 2007 on vacation from Iraq, Virgadamo began to show worrying symptoms. He thought about unauthorized absence, but returned to service in his unit.
But the command apparently understood that something was wrong with him, and began to monitor him so that the soldier did not commit suicide. Virgadamo had the bolt removed from the machine so that he could not use it. He was assigned to a boring job as a clerk, so that the soldier put things in order in his head. But in some inexplicable way, a month later, he was allowed to take part in the hostilities and in the evening of August 30, 2007 the bolt was returned. Three hours later, Virgadamo left the barracks and shot himself in the head.
Suicides among military personnel and retirees in the later years of the war on terror turned into a veritable epidemic. Virgadamo was one of 115 military personnel who committed suicide in 2007. In 2009, that figure rose to 245. Kennard tells several stories in his book of soldiers who had to be urgently sent for treatment, and they were instead sent into battle, prescribed Prozac or some other antidepressant. The problem has become so serious that it would be wrong to talk about isolated cases of mental disorders. No, they are becoming massive. Killing is not the only problem when the military is under enormous stress and cannot bear the strain; they also commit crimes at home and all kinds of atrocities and atrocities abroad.
If the army did not experience such an acute shortage of personnel, it would certainly reject the soldier who has caused it and the government a huge headache over the past few years. Bradley Manning had a hard time joining the military. As Kennard writes, Manning "suffered from such severe mental disorders prior to shipment that he urinated under him, threw furniture, yelled at his commanding officer, and was regularly reviewed by psychiatrists." But he still qualified, despite his troubles, Kennard writes, citing Chase Madar of the American Conservative. The point is that the ground forces "experienced a desperate shortage of people with computer knowledge and analytical skills during a period of record shortages."
“Desperate” is the keyword, and Kennard cites many other examples of this desperation leading the military to lower recruiting criteria. Obese, poorly educated, and old recruits are less dangerous than the Nazis, but they also pose problems. Perhaps the most disturbing large-scale change concerns the increase in the age limit.
Young people are better suited for military service because they have physical stamina and are more adaptable than older people. But in 2006, the Pentagon lowered the age limit for recruits from 35 to 40, and soon to 42. Kennard quotes one soldier as saying, "The training we go through is very one-sided and is designed primarily for 18-20 year old recruits." In response, the army is reducing the physical requirements for older recruits. However, as Kennard observes, war makes no distinction, and "older soldiers are much more at risk of their lives and more at risk of injury." In June 2010, it was reported that the death toll in the War on Terror among members of the armed forces over the age of 35 was 566, or 12.1 per cent of the total. In proportion, this is much more than the number of military personnel in this age category.
Kennard analyzes attempts to resolve the recruitment crisis, including opening a “patriotic academy” based on the National Guard to train and award future soldiers who lack points for higher education. Shortly before the outbreak of the war on terror in the United States, the No Child Left Behind Act was passed, aimed at raising the level of education in the country. It has been a real boon for new recruits by giving them access to contact information for high school graduates receiving assistance under this law.
The recruiting crisis has subsided in recent years due to a weakening economy and the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, but the military is still unable to meet its needs without the now necessary help from mercenaries, who have recently been veiledly called "private army contractors." Kennard notes that one cannot do without them, for "a broken army cannot stand on two legs for long."
Kennard, in his book, cites the finest details of the desperate plight of the US military, especially the Army and Marine Corps.
It is safe to say that today the US Army is the strongest on the planet. The state, which does not have a potential enemy near its borders, was able to build powerful armed forces with the most modern weapons.
The American army occupies a leading position on the planet in terms of the level of funds spent on it. Thus, the 2016 military budget provided for spending more than $ 607 billion on the needs of the army, which amounted to more than 34% of global military spending. According to independent sources, this is three times more than China's defense spending and seven times more than Russia's.
The US Army was founded in June 1775 by a decision of the Congress, it was intended to defend the young independent state. The modern armed forces of America include independent types of the armed forces:
*Ground troops;
*Air Force;
* Naval forces;
* Marine Corps (KMP);
* Coast Guard.
Moreover, everything, except the coast guard, is directly subordinate to the minister of defense, the latter in peacetime is subordinate to the national security agency, but during the period of martial law it is also subordinated to the minister of defense.
The US Constitution provides for the appointment of the President of the State by the Commander in Chief of the American Army. He, in turn, in peacetime controls the national Armed Forces, directing the civilian minister of defense, in whose subordination are the heads of the Armed Forces. The heads of the ministries deal with issues of recruiting, equipping, organizing and supplying the army, and also control the combat training of personnel. The high military command of the branches of the Armed Forces are members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The chairman of this committee decides the issues of coordinating the activities of everything related to the state's military command and control bodies.
The operational subordination of the American Armed Forces has now been reduced to nine joint commands, five of which are formed on the basis of a geographical principle.
Five Joint Commands:
* North American;
* South and Central American;
* European;
* Middle Eastern and Asian;
* Pacific.
Manning the American Army
The American army is recruited on a voluntary basis and is based on a contract basis. American citizens or permanent residents of the United States of America with a residence permit and at least secondary education are accepted into the service. The minimum candidate age for military service is 18 years. However, if you get parental approval, then you can go to serve at the age of seventeen.
The age limit for active duty is determined for each type of wax in the US Army. So, for example, the age limit can be:
Air Force and Coast Guard - 27 years;
Marine Corps - 28;
Naval Forces - 34 years;
Ground Forces - 42 years old.
Each contractor signs a contract for service for a period of four to eight years.
The United States of America is a multinational state. The national composition of the country is represented, in addition to Europeans, by African Americans, Asians and Hispanics. The same picture is reflected in the formation of the American army.
For 2017, the payroll of the army amounted to 476,000 in the regular army, 343,000 in the national guard, 1,018,000 general military, 330,000 civilian personnel, 4,836 aircraft and 200,000 people in the military reserve of the armed forces.
Ethnicity of the American Army: White Americans 63%, African Americans 15%, Hispanics 10%, Asians and Pacific Islanders 4%, Indians and Alaska Natives 2%, Mixed Races 2%, Unknowns 4%, according to other data from the Stockholm Peace Institute (SIPRI) at the beginning of 2004, the racial composition of the US army was white Americans - 58.7%, African Americans - 26.4%, Hispanics - 8.1%, others - 6.8%, in including up to 20 thousand Muslims. 4% were undecided about their race or nationality.
It should be noted that the latter group includes those who do not have American citizenship, but have the right to permanently reside in the United States. Most of them go to serve in the army, as this greatly simplifies obtaining American citizenship.
