Photo: Army chief of staff, Gen. George CaseyFrom DoD Buzz:
The Army chief of staff, Gen. George Casey, said the Army, stretched by eight years of war in two distant theaters, would find it difficult to cope with another conflict such as Korea.
Casey said in remarks at the Brookings Institution today that the Army would have to “freeze” forces in Iraq should fighting break out in another theater and could manage an “80 percent solution” to such a threat. He said that would rise to about 90 percent “when Iraq draws down.”
Casey also said he is “a little disappointed” that some lessons learned in Iraq are not being speedily implemented in the Afghan theater.
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My Comment: I am sure that if another war breaks out .... the US will be able to effectively respond by drawing down their forces in Iraq (and Afghanistan) in a quick and timely matter. Of course .... if Iraq and Afghanistan should then break out into all out warfare while this is happening .... US forces will be stretched.
I guess Gen. Casey is obligated to say these things in order to follow follow along with the current PC atmosphere in Washington.
ReplyDeleteBut the fact remains that there are three Army Divisions in South Korea. There are another 2 Marine Divisions in Japan. Plus a carrier group and significant Air Force Assets dispersed all over the region.
Yes the cash outlay would be gross, but the hard assets are there. Ready.
RTLM
Possibly RTLM meant to say brigade equivalents? The Army only has 10 divisions, with only a part of a division in Korea (2+ brigades); the Marines have only 2 divisions and neither is based in Japan, there is a presence based in Okinawa but it is not two divisions. They serve as good trip wires, but to oppose a large (albeit poorly trained and eqipped) North Korean Army with these forces is at best tenuous....
ReplyDeleteThank you RTLM and Tankace272 for your comments.
ReplyDeleteI concur that there are only 2+ brigades in South Korea. The total number of US forces in South Korea is around 32,000. Half of the US forces in Japan are based in Okinawa. The US Navy has a lot of assets in the region, and the Air Force can bring up a good number of fighters into the region very quickly. But overall, they will only be effective to a point .... most of the fighting will be between South and North Korean forces.
While the focus is on North Korea, there are other countries where a war/conflict involving the US can easily break out. My list includes Venezuela, Iran, Yemen, and the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea).
Thank you both for the school/fact check(s).
ReplyDelete/passions got the better...
RTLM