Jeff A. Taylor calls up America's unready reserves.
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|10.4.04 @ 9:09PM|#
Nice image of the string of Wild West forts with their soldiers at the ready. But it breaks down in one very important respect -- The horse cavalry didn't actively recruit and train thousands of "good guy" Indians to take the fight to the "bad guy" Indians, as the U.S. infantry is doing in Iraq, thereby eventually winding down their own involvement in policing the country. Maybe the "enduring (and eventually disappearing) bases" plan isn't all that bad.
|10.4.04 @ 10:33PM|#
Or the shorter rotation is a troop retention policy based on the idea that shorter tours are easier on the troops. Check out "How To Make War" there is a blurb on short Iraq tours there.
And I just skimmed the article, anything on the IRR not reporting can be explained that though one is required to register changes of addresses with DoD, just as I am required to update my drivers license when I move, that doesn't always happen. The failure to report simply means Bob never received his call up, because he moved and didn't inform anyone. This is the first time in decades that the IRR has been used. It's been pretty much a joke for many.
|10.4.04 @ 10:53PM|#
"But it breaks down in one very important respect -- The horse cavalry didn't actively recruit and train thousands of "good guy" Indians to take the fight to the "bad guy" Indians"
Yes they did. Europeans and Americans almost always had Indian allies that fought with them during the Indian wars.