Tuesday, March 27, 2012

The miracle of the wounded warrior

Military–industrial complex apologist Daniel Goure, Ph.D. writes: The Army Is Suffering Post-September 11 Traumatic Stress Disorder
One of the great tragedies of the wars of the last decade is the number of people in uniform suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

He then goes on to whine that the contractors who tried to provide weapons that just didn't work weren't given enough money.

My response is: No sir. It is a miracle and a great blessing that we have so many wounder warriors suffering from these conditions who are still with us. In previous conflicts these would be random body parts for the Air Force morgue to misplace.

The United States military has made huge strides in battlefield care since the start of the American Civil War and the result is that we have soldiers who return for tour after tour of duty, long after they have suffered attacks that would have put them in misplaced graves a long time ago otherwise. Hopefully someday we will start to pay just a little bit of attention towards post-battlefield care.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

The F-4 Phantom had a favorable exchange ratio

Is The F-35 Strike Fighter The Military Chevy Volt? - Investor's Business Daily, Feb 27, 2012.
As we learned in past conflicts, relying on one-size-fits-all aircraft can be perilous. Our reliance on the carrier-based F-4 Phantom during Vietnam is a case in point. An aircraft designed to hunt down Soviet bombers during the Cold War, it carried missiles but no guns and was ill-suited for dogfights against MiG fighters designed for a single role — that of air superiority.
What a horrible record, of journalistic malfeasance. The facts are that the F-4 Phantom had a favorable exchange ratio over every type of Soviet fighter during the Vietnam war. And this record got even better, once the United States armed forces started training their pilots to use the technological advantages of the F-4.