Trained to fight in Europe but we went to Asia. Trained to fight Soviets; we got Iraqis. Where will we fight next & how should we train?

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 12 May 2016 10:46:57 -0400

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 12 at 2016 10:50 AM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 12 May 2016 10:50:46 -0400

I don't know but I bet the Army will spend another few billion developing new camo for that one too.

Response by PO3 Steven Sherrill made May 12 at 2016 10:54 AM

PO3 Steven Sherrill — Thu, 12 May 2016 10:54:40 -0400

Problem with Modern warfare MSG Private RallyPoint Member. It is evolving so quickly that you don't know where the next hot spot will be, or who the enemy will be. Odds are good that it will not be a conventional war with a conventional battlefield, and that is what our modern military needs to be prepared for. That is why Special Operations are going to be the big warfighters for the near future.

Response by Cpl Justin Goolsby made May 12 at 2016 10:58 AM

Cpl Justin Goolsby — Thu, 12 May 2016 10:58:02 -0400

Honestly, I think our next conflict will be in Korea Round 2. I don't think we'll really need to be trained for it as we've been at war for more than a decade. But I do think that self-appointed leader is going to force our hand.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made May 12 at 2016 12:50 PM

SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth — Thu, 12 May 2016 12:50:49 -0400

Sounds like the training I had, the areas we trained in were like the European Theater. Now at one place they can train like they are in Iraq, or Iran. Lots and lots of sand.

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made May 12 at 2016 1:02 PM

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 12 May 2016 13:02:08 -0400

This may sound grim...but I think we are in a one-eighty degree shift from pre-Vietnam. When we went into action there, we had ground forces trained to confront large armored assaults and tactical nuclear warfare. Our tactical aircraft were designed for shooting down long range bombers with missiles...and didn't have guns. Our logistics, comms and strategy were not prepared for an insurgent war. Now, we are "experts" at fighting insurgency.

I wonder if we can still fight a true maneuver war.

From my own experiences, and those recounted to be my others in more recent actions...we are beginning to sound a lot like the British in 1913, or the French in 1815.

Of equal importance is our ability to fight a defensive campaign: It has been a long time since we had to defend "home plate".

Response by SSG Leo Bell made May 12 at 2016 3:40 PM

SSG Leo Bell — Thu, 12 May 2016 15:40:39 -0400

We should continue to train to fight no matter where we go, our military will always do there best and win no matter what. We went into Vietnam not know they way the enemy would fight but we took it to them anyway with WWII tactics.

Response by SGT Dana Williams made May 12 at 2016 4:25 PM

SGT Dana Williams — Thu, 12 May 2016 16:25:25 -0400

We need a balanced force trained to fight more than one potential enemy. We are capable of doing more than one thing at once.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made May 12 at 2016 7:29 PM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 12 May 2016 19:29:15 -0400

Train anywhere and everywhere the budgets will allow us to go, we always talk about readiness needing to be priority, well lets do just that then so if anything kicks off it makes no difference where it is.

Response by MSgt Darren VanDerwilt made May 28 at 2016 5:31 PM

MSgt Darren VanDerwilt — Sat, 28 May 2016 17:31:45 -0400

Armchair generals talk tactics, real generals think logistics. The first step is to make sure American Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airman have the best equipment and training. Here's where the U.S. usually miss-guesses. We have a tendency to practice the last war. Vietnam was fought using a WWII and Korea mindset. For a decade after the 91 Persian Gulf war we still exercised SCUD missile attacks. How about, instead of attempting to estimate what the next conflict will resemble, or where it will take place, ensure we have high quality equipment with superior training in its application. Besides, the next war may take place mostly in cyberspace.

Response by SSgt Harvey "Skip" Porter made Nov 28 at 2017 11:30 PM

SSgt Harvey "Skip" Porter — Tue, 28 Nov 2017 23:30:11 -0500

A really good question and analogy!