Stretched US pilots may quit military

[Barrett808]

Stretched US pilots may quit military
By Eric Rosenberg in Washington
January 10, 2004

Another US helicopter has crashed in Iraq, killing all nine soldiers on board and fuelling Pentagon fears that some of the military's most experienced pilots might quit after prolonged deployments to dangerous hot spots like Afghanistan and Iraq.

With the first of 118,000 US troops leaving for Iraq in a rotation aimed at replacing war-weary soldiers, analysts said the US military is overstretched by deployments in Iraq and elsewhere. They said this was forcing the Pentagon to keep thousands of soldiers and reservists in uniform long beyond their release dates, with potentially dangerous effects on morale.

"There is no question that the force is stretched too thin," said David Segal, director of the Centre for Research on Military Organisation at the University of Maryland. "We have stopped treating the reserves as a force in reserve. Our volunteer army is closer to being broken today than ever before in its 30-year history."

...

General E. J. Sinclair, commander of the US Army Aviation Centre at Fort Rucker, Alabama, said last week that continuous foreign assignments were "going to cause some problems".

He illustrated his concern by describing the plight of a senior US Army aviator who watched from afar while his newborn daughter grew into her toddler years. The army major has seen his daughter for 12 days in the past two years.

"I can't bring him back in my right mind and tell him after a month or two he has to go to Korea for a year-long assignment without his family. But that's what's happening," General Sinclair said.

(more)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/09/1073437475904.html

[alfredo]

1. Bush has put this country in danger.

we must make sure that in January 2005 there will be a new president, one that respects the military, respects the constitution, and the people of America.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

2. And kids are still joining up to get into this mess. Damn.

My ex's nephew is joining the Air Force to be just like his dad and his grandpa.

I'm writing a letter to tell him that there isn't a legitimate Commander in Chief and he can expect to be asked to commit war crimes and be untreated for his injuries, especially if * gets another four years.

And all for college money...sad.