Military people: Where are all the troops? Aren't there supposed to be about 480,000

[sinkingfeeling]

active soldiers in the world? If there are at least 25,000 wounded, and about 100,000 in Korea, why do the same 120,000 keep getting redeployed to Iraq? I read some are on their 3rd. tour of duty there. And there's been 60,000 or so National Guardsmen called up and sent to Iraq. Where are the others and what keeps them from being sent to the Middle East?

[Monkeyman]

1. They are leaving by the 1000s

[itsrobert]

2. Let's see

1. Some are training instructors. The troops need training, Professional Military Education, Basic Training, Skills Training, etc.

2. Some are medical personnel. Troops and their families have a right to medical care. Especially if they comeback from a war zone.

3. Some are officers. Officers do not always lead from the front. A lot of their duties are desk jobs, pushing paperwork.

4. Recruiters: It takes a lot of manpower to recruit people.

5. Chemical and Nuclear Security: There is only a short list of personnel to guard these arsenal, they have to be security and medical/mentally cleared for these job. Like in Iraq, you don't leave your munitions depot unguarded. (At least smart commanders don't)

6. Personnel to maintain the tanks, weapons systems, vehicles in the Army Inventory.

7. Some are not physically or medically fit to deploy.

There are many more reasons, this is just at the top of my head.

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. Consider that we have @700 military bases world wide -

if there are @ 1000 stationed at each base, that makes 700,000 military personnnel, across all the branches.

Besides the front lines there are thousands maintaining the bases in Europe and Asia, on deployment in Colombia and Kosovo, the rear echelons in Kuwait and Bahrain.

We are trying to be everywhere at once, maintaining a system that was developed when there was a draft that could station 2.5 million troops worldwide - but now we can't let go of those bases, though our total military is half that size.

So what do you expect?

[Roland99]

4. Anyone have a list of ALL countries and bases? Do we need to be in every corner of Earth?

Isn't it time to reign in The Beast and curtail American imperialism?