Corners cut in rush to add troops (S.F. Chronicle)

[Eugene]

Corners cut in rush to add troops
Shorter training time, lack of equipment hurt readiness, experts say

Anna Badkhen, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Soldiers of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division had so little time between deployments
to Iraq they had to cram more than a year's worth of training into four months.

Some had only a few days to learn how to fire their new rifles before they deployed
to Iraq -- for the third time -- last month. They had no access to the heavily armored
vehicles they will be using in Iraq, so they trained on a handful of old military trucks
instead. And some soldiers were assigned to the brigade so late that they had no time
to train in the United States at all. Instead of the yearlong training recommended
prior to deployment, they prepared for war during the two weeks they spent in Kuwait,
en route to Anbar, Iraq's deadliest province.

As the Pentagon prepares to boost troop levels in Iraq by 21,500 people, such logistical
and training hurdles are emblematic of the struggles besieging a military strained by
unexpectedly long and grueling commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

-snip-

Lawmakers consider the situation so serious that they plan to question Defense Secretary
Robert Gates and Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about troop
readiness on Wednesday, when the officials are scheduled to testify before the House
Armed Services Committee, said a spokeswoman for one of its influential members, Rep.
Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas.

-snip-

"A typical soldier shows up in Iraq without the knowledge of the language, without the
knowledge of the people," said Loren Thompson, defense analyst at the Lexington Institute,
a centrist think tank in Arlington, Va. "If he also isn't experienced with his unit or
with his weapon, that maximizes the potential for disaster."

-snip-

Full article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/02/04/MNG9ONUKVT1.DTL

[crickets]

1. It's CRIMINAL

I hope the House Armed Services Committee rakes Gates and Pace over the coals again and again. CSPAN had better carry that session; I want to see their feet held to the fire big time. This meatgrinder war has got to stop. :grr: