[Glenn Bartley]

who are our soldiers, sailors, marines and airforce combat types. They are worth a lot to me because they make sure that people like you and me will be able to wake up tomorrow within our own beds after a comfortable night's sleep. They assure the sovereignty of our nation. They secure our interests around the world, They protect the freedom of Americans and of other nations. I have been in contact a few times via emails at http://www.calegionaux.org/ContactOurTroops.htm. I don't know who gets the emails I send, but hopefully they help a bit. I have donated money too because I think the troops are worth it. One web site I know of http://www.kimdutoit.com/dr/weblog.php has a special fund set up to purchase gear for a sniper team in Iraq. I may donate to that fund also in the near future.

Of course there are others who have a different view of our fighting men and women as evidenced by the following quote:

the fact IS, dumbasses, guys MISS with thousands of rds for each SOLID torso or head hit that they get, and wt-bulk-expense advantages of the 223 mean MORE than the RARE instance whne a more powerful caliber than 223 means anything. We have to airlift BILLIONS of rds into a combat zone, mostly for NO tactical advantage at ALL (strictly morale) Infantry are nothing more than cannon fodder. The insurance payment for a dead soldier is STILL but $10,000, last I knew. SAME as it was over 30 years ago, while everything ELSE has quadrupled in price. that ought to TELL you something about what everyone REALLY thinks about the "worth' of a soldier's life. It means nothing, and his killing or wounding or capturined scores of enemy infantry mean nothing, either, cause infantry mean nothing, period.

Killing the other guys, lots more of them than us, probably means we are winning. Our guys getting killed is truly a bad thing as I see, but hopefully anyone who has lost their life has done so in a just cause. I believe it is a just cause. Generals and politicians may realize that to some extent our fighting men and women are expendable - this is a fact of warfare. Yet, I don't believe there currently are any who put no value to their lives or who think their efforts mean absolutely nothing. Nor would they think that just because someone is in the infantry that person is cannon fodder.

As far as insurance payments go, that does not necessarily equate to the worth of a soldier's life. Benefits and pay of military personnel has increased pretty darned much since 30 years ago, as has the respect shown to the military in general. If soldiers lives were truly worth nothing, then why bother to equip them with the gear with which they are equipped. A truly worthless soldier would not need a ballistic helmet or body armor. He would not need a high tech rifle or a sidearm but could do with any piece of junk available.


Now as to the marksmanship abilities of our troops over in foreign conflicts; they shoot better than the quoted would have you believe. Could you imagine that each soldier in a firefight wherein 30 enemy soldiers are killed fires as many rounds as Andy would have you believe they would need to fire to get kill shots - well head or torso shots. What did he say, let me quote him again:

guys MISS with thousands of rds for each SOLID torso or head hit that they get

So if 30 guys were killed that would likely have required more than 30,000 rounds by his logic. If there was a contingent of 100 Marines or soldiers fighting the enemy, that would mean that in a battle in which 30 of the enemy was killed, each of our troops would have to be carrying MORE TAHN 300 rounds. Of course if that was dropped to 50 of our guys killing 30 of the enemy then it would be MORE THAN 600 rounds. If it had been 30 of our guys killing that many of the enemy then it would mean each guy had to have MORE THAN 1,000 rounds. That is at the minimum as per Andy's apparent figuring. He did say thousands of shots are fired before a torso or head shot, so lets now figure it that way at 2,000 rounds (the smallest plural of one thousand isn't it) fired by each of our guys or gals before a solid head or torso shot. Double the figures I gave above. Sure they can be re-supplied in some instances, but not all. Sometimes those pitched battles take place in only a short time, and our fighting men and women are dependent upon what they brought with them. Can you imagine carrying even that much .223 into battle. Nope neither can I. What I do figure is that many of our troops do a damn good job of shooting the enemy. So maybe Andy's estimate is off by a bit, quite a bit, as to how many rounds need to be fired before a good hit is obtained. Maybe some of the troops have more balls than I think he has (even the ladies) and aim at the guy at whom they are shooting.

I tell you, when I see what I believe are disrespectful postings about our military, and that are disrespectful about the supposed way we all feel about our military, like I believe is the quote from Andy, well it makes me want to projectile power puke right in the quoted person's face. Better yet, it makes me want to see him say that to a real Marine, or real Soldier, or Real Sailor, or real Airman or better yet to all four at once - and then sit back and enjoy as they do justice.

All the best,
Glenn B

 

[Aslan]

Good post Glenn.

BTW, I doubt anyone here pays much attention to any statistics that GK posts. It has been demonstrated and verified using math, that he doesn't understand probability or statistics.

He puts the fine men and women of the military down, because his own military career was pretty much a failure. You'll notice he spends a lot of time attacking anything and anyone he is jealous of.

:devil: