China and our force structure

M1A1 Abrams heavy tanks with Abrams Integrated Management System and the new Tank Urban Survivability Kit in Iraq.

The Challenge From China

Mark Helprin in the Wall Street Journal:

As we content ourselves with the fallacy that never again shall we have to fight large, technological opponents, China is transforming its forces into a full-spectrum military capable of major operations and remote power projection. Eventually the twain shall meet.

Obviously, today's war requires us to transform our military into one capable of fighting and winning low-intensity campaigns against low-tech enemies and then following up with a long period of stability operations. But while we need to do this, we need to be careful not to over-compensate.

One thing I've been thinking about is the idea that maybe the National Guard combat units remained focused almost exclusively on traditional army-on-army tactics and equipped with the heavies to fight and win such wars while the active duty Army is morphed over time to face current situations.

This would allow more stable training and equipping of the Guard, hopefully making them better able to be used quickly in the event things go south. The active Army, while retaining a good portion of its big war capability, could be tweaked as things change. Full-time troops could more easily train for new missions and equipment than Guard troops, and they could do so with the assurance that sufficient heavy divisions are available if needed.

This would have the added effect of removing many Guard units from the rotation of deployments to the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, but I think in the long run that's a benefit. You'd probably have to grow the active Army a bit more, but, again, that's long overdue in any event.

Thoughts?

Whew! He dodged a bullet, I guess
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Zoomie to Leatherneck
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House to House (of Representatives)
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Props
U.S. Commander Wants New Prop Planes in Iraq The armed reconnaissance aircraft is part of a bold plan conceived by Col. Gary Crowder, commander of the Middle East-based Combined Air and Space Operations Center,to upgrade the Air Force’s theater control system, which the service uses for air-to-ground integration ... “What...[READ]

'We, the Sadrists, are in a predicament'
Could be HUGE news: Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish Parties Close Ranks Against Al-Sadr's Movement in Iraq Iraq's major Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish parties have closed ranks to force anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to disband his Mahdi Army militia or leave politics, lawmakers and officials involved in the effort said Sunday....[READ]

Blackwater: Renewed
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Warm-up for the Million Mookie March
The big Baghdad protest Moqtada al-Sadr is calling for is next Wednesday. I hope the military has some choppers up getting photos of the actual size of the crowd....[READ]

A Tragic Misreading
Email from a Colonel in Iraq to Instapundit: The unclassified, open-source, bottom line is this: The insurgent attacks did not happen "in spite of" the surge. Insurgents attacked in Basrah where foreign military influence is fanning the flames of discontent over the lack of essential services. People in Basrah are...[READ]

Austin Bay on Darth Sadr
Whittling Away at Sadr The Iraqi government's strategy has been to bring former insurgents into the political process. Since interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi articulated that goal in mid-2004, the central government's complex array of enemies has sought to thwart that program. Saddam's old cohorts managed to convince themselves...[READ]

Next: Sadr T-Shirts
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Numbers
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MN Protest
MichaelMoore.com featured this on their front page a couple of days ago: Mission Accomplished! Hundreds of Minnesota students rally, shut down military recruitment stations, 16 arrested It eventually links to this story in the MInnesota Daily: More than 200 students rally on campus against Iraq War, Sixteen people were...[READ]

Darth Sadr still undefeated
Al-Sadr orders fighters to stop attacks Can he be stopped? Looking around and reading comments, it's apparently a Major Victory for Sadr. Of course it's a big win for Sadr. Just look at history: When he went on the offensive he won. When he agreed to a cease-fire he won....[READ]

'An onslaught of attack'
Court: Michael Moore did not defame Iraq vet A federal appeals court has ruled filmmaker Michael Moore did not defame an Iraq war veteran when Moore used a clip from a television interview without his permission in the anti-war documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11.” Moore says he makes "movies that point out...[READ]

March 23: Two Holidays for the Price of One this year
Rachel Lucas, whose boyfriend is leaving to deploy to Iraq: I hereby declare March 23 as Punch A Hippie In The Nuts Day. All you have to do to celebrate it is find a hippie, ask him how he feels about the military, and if he says anything other than...[READ]

Not just McCain
Barack Obama's military adviser said this about our presence in the Middle East: We’ll be there a century, hopefully. If it works right. A century. Hopefully. If it works. Writes Captain Ed: This should raise some eyebrows on the Obama campaign’s willful deception on this point. But it won't....[READ]

Iraqi troops and 3rd Armored Cav
Mar. 17, 2008 - Iraqi army soldiers from 2nd Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Military Iraqi and U.S. Army soldiers react to small arms fire during a joint battlefield circulation patrol March 17, 2008, in Mosul, Iraq. The U.S. Soldiers are assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division...[READ]

Don't vote for defeatists
"Yes, sir, the pause that refreshes." General George Patton raises the level of the Rhine a tad.March 24, 1944 Jeff Jacoby's Patton and the 2008 vote: "Americans love a winner," Patton growled, "and will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win - all the time. I...[READ]

The Key Statistic
Got this note in my inbox from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA): This week marks the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq, but you might not have seen much about it on TV recently. Just 3% of the news in February was dedicated to the war...[READ]