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The Army Six Years after 9/11
Sep. 11th, 2007 02:48 pmAt my Rotary meeting today, Lt. Colonel Fredric Kaehler came and gave a nice speech about his experiences in the Army. He is an Army Engineer officer, West Point grad, and was at Fort Polk, LA, when 9/11 happened. Since then, he's made three visits there, including a year combat tour.
I did get to ask two questions, which I will reproduce here with his answers. Please note - these are LCOL Kaehler's opinions, not reflective of the Army or US Government.
Question: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are both highly unstable countries. Saudi Arabia is ruled by a group of 80-year-old men, and Pakistan is a military dictatorship. If we have to go in and "rebuild" these countries, is the Army big enough?
Answer: Probably not. We cut back too much in the 1990s.
Question: You've mentioned in your talk the large number of contractors used in our logistics efforts in Iraq. Are we over-dependent on contractors?
Answer: The number of contractors is enormous. Our amount of contractor-related work is probably why this war is so very expensive.
I did get to ask two questions, which I will reproduce here with his answers. Please note - these are LCOL Kaehler's opinions, not reflective of the Army or US Government.
Question: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are both highly unstable countries. Saudi Arabia is ruled by a group of 80-year-old men, and Pakistan is a military dictatorship. If we have to go in and "rebuild" these countries, is the Army big enough?
Answer: Probably not. We cut back too much in the 1990s.
Question: You've mentioned in your talk the large number of contractors used in our logistics efforts in Iraq. Are we over-dependent on contractors?
Answer: The number of contractors is enormous. Our amount of contractor-related work is probably why this war is so very expensive.
