Stopped in their tracks: US Army fails to make top 3 in NATO tank challenge

Wonder if there is a direct link between performing well in a competition vs in combat?

Did you know that typically West Point don't win the Sandhurst competition it sponsors every year?
 
Huge difference when all your guys are out fighting, there is no money for the guys back home to buy fuel and ammo and the competition is training on the tank ranges you built..
 
Yawn. These competitions are always meaningless. All they tell us is who "studied for the test" better.
 
What the hell, who cares about studying for a test - why practice it doesn't mean anything. Real professionalism! Go back to sleep and become a professional slouch.

This isn't the first time U.S. Army tankers have found themselves in an embarrassing situation. North Carolina National Guard tankers beat their Regular Army counterparts—and crews from the U.S. Marine Corps and Canadian Army—at the U.S. Army's 2016 Sullivan Cup. A tank crew consisting of an insurance adjustor, Pepsi truck driver, college student, and aspiring police officer beat fifteen other reserve and active duty tank crews to place first.

Do you think the General's looking? nay, he knows we didn't study.

4153-military-5-star-general-looking-through-binoculars-clipart-by-dennis-cox-at-wackystock.jpg






Maybe they will look better than the Georgians. Ah hell who cares.. Go back to sleep..

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwihudXEzenMAhWBCj4KHRQEDOEQqQIIQjAI&url=http://www.rferl.org/media/video/georgia-nato-drills/27743361.html&usg=AFQjCNGmsZmB2a9H2jKnasopcnuS38-gtw&sig2=iSeuJmne21CAMmEb2kGnSA
 
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Just more of the same from the guy who says nothing.

Pass me that popcorn.
 
You don't have study for the test. No popcorn for you. Go back to sleep. The professional way.
 
As much as I enjoy the ridiculous debates that come from a few posters, I have to weigh in on this one... I agree with Scoutpilot on this one. Most of these competitions are BS. Seen it myself. Some units do everything to win, others participate. Been there, done that. Enough said. Focus on this too much and the public opinion condemns you. Focus too little and you are criticized. I guarantee that if this event gets too much public focus, the next competition will be owned by active duty Army. The pendulum swings both ways. The deck can be stacked. Trust me. What really matters is whether the rank and file is capable of doing their job better than the other guy.
 
I look at this as a weakness in our Military Strength as others from other countries do. This weakness has not happened over night and continues to deteriorate(worn out equipment / tired soldiers for a whole host of reasons). To have this guy come out and make an excuse so arrogantly "that they didn't study for the test" shows his true colors. The world is taking note. This is the message that a liberal Obamaite would perpetuate.

I think this guy see's it correctly.

I am not at all surprised. I have been bleating for at least a decade that the organizational skills needed by an army to fight an actual war have atrophied to the point of disappearance in the US Army.

The mass delusion of the COIN cult has done this. The notion that being nice to the natives was all that was needed caused leadership at all levels to think of themselves as half baked versions of the Green Berets. (I am one)

The result could be clearly seen in the GWOT wars in defeats at such places as Wanat in eastern Afghanistan where platoon or half platoon positions were poorly sited, poorly constructed, poorly supplied, poorly provided with fire support from artillery and air. Military officers are like all others in that they listen carefully to learn what the boss upstream wants. In the GWOT wars what was wanted was a belief that even if the villagers want to kill you en masse you are their freinds and protectors, no matter what. Well, pilgrims, that may work for at least some of the 5,000 highly empathic and simultaneously untrusting Green Berets in the world but to chase that rabbit down the hole for the whole army is to invite a developed incompetence in warfighting skills, including those of COIN.

In this contest you see the end result. This was not a contest about tank quality. It was not about equipment quality. It was about unit quality and the US Army failed. Welcome to 5th Generation warfare.
 
To bad you think so but that doesn't surprise anyone. You and the scout buds always put the liberal slant to all post(s).

I think these sentiments tell it.

The purpose of such battle simulations is to prepare for actual combat and the purpose of awarding medals is to give each group incentive to bring their best to the simulation.

I hear the word ATROPHY a bit too much. The lib scout excuse is "Yawn, they did not study for the test". ~~The Obamaite propaganda excuse. And don't listen to that guy = he didn't build that.

The results in both competitions echo recent comments made by Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley and published in last Sunday's New York Times. Milley stated, "Today, a major in the Army knows nothing but fighting terrorists and guerrillas, because he came into the Army after 9/11. But as we get into the higher-end threats, our skills have atrophied over 15 years."
 
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Gen. Milley does not mention Obama.
Half of the 15 years he does mention was a Bush administration.
He does not mention Bush either.
 
EDelahanty said:
You are really flailing here.
Click to expand...

I apologize for quoting myself, but I do so because of the weakness of your arguments, which are jejune or outright babble. It is typical of you to resort to a far-fetched political attack when you are otherwise unable to make a relevant point.

In what way are the failures in the July 2008 battle at Wanat attributable to Obama? Perhaps you think the military should be prioritizing its resources to preparing for a repeat of the Battle of Kursk. What is anyone to make of your blanket condemnation of COIN practice? Perhaps you are suggesting the Mongol approach to dealing with resistance. It was certainly effective in Herat. Or maybe you advocate a more moderate ratio, say, executing 100 civilians selected at random for every American casualty. What unique insight or information do you have regarding the report that Afghan sympathies in the vicinity of Wanat may have been influenced by an alleged accidental deadly helicopter attack on civilians?

You appear to be unaware that your quoting Army Chief of Staff Milley substantially undermines your main points.
 
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Cga82, please stop with the comments regarding liberal agendas and Obamaite comments. It adds zero to the discussion, are inflammatory and just accusations. You and I know nothing of someone's political affiliation unless they say so. The great part of this nation is there are plenty of opinions and we can all have them. Just because you don't like someone's doesn't make your opinion right either. I love a good, intelligent debate, let's keep them that way.
 
EDelahanty said:
....which are jejune or outright babble.
Click to expand...
Really, you are jejunely wrong. You have been acting as a subterfuge of nothing to notice here-when clearly the Military weakness is evermore present. This is right in line with our current administration.

EDelahanty said:
It is typical of you to resort to a far-fetched political attack when you are otherwise unable to make a relevant point.
Click to expand...
I call how I see it. The politics of today certainly are not in favor of our Military Forces. Sorry that you think they are... Actually, disgusted but I understand that many here want a weak America and you are getting it.
EDelahanty said:
I apologize for quoting myself, but I do so because of the weakness of your arguments, which are jejune or outright babble. It is typical of you to resort to a far-fetched political attack when you are otherwise unable to make a relevant point.

In what way are the failures in the July 2008 battle at Wanat attributable to Obama?
Click to expand...

A continuation from the Bush's and a DOUBLE/TRIPLE down effect by Obama. I stated earlier that "it didn't happen over night" and the good General spells it out clearly Atrophy (15 yrs worth).





 
cga82 said:
Really, you are jejunely wrong. You have been acting as a subterfuge of nothing to notice here-when clearly the Military weakness is evermore present. This is right in line with our current administration.


I call how I see it. The politics of today certainly are not in favor of our Military Forces. Sorry that you think they are... Actually, disgusted but I understand that many here want a weak America and you are getting it.


A continuation from the Bush's and a DOUBLE/TRIPLE down effect by Obama. I stated earlier that "it didn't happen over night" and the good General spells it out clearly Atrophy (15 yrs worth).
Click to expand...
15 years ago was 2001...and for 10 of those years, we had more money than we knew what to do with (literally). So where'd all this atrophy come from?
 
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