In his last speech to West Point Cadets as Secretary of Defense on Friday, Robert Gates warned the future Army officers of ever fighting a ground war like the two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He went on to say that any future defense secretary that thinks fighting any other ground wars is a good idea, "should have his head examined." Gates also told the cadets they should get ready for the Army to lose a lot of funding from the government, as the future of any other conflicts would rest on the shoulders of the Air Force and the Navy, with air assaults and naval assaults being the primary forms of engagement that the military should use. The role of the Army and the Marines would change to responding to counterterrorism and rapid response missions, as well as to disaster relief around the world, Gates said. But all of this may not be as bad of news for the Army and the Marines as some might think. In an informal survey of other Army families, their overwhelming response to this news was "good." While the Army has continued to shoulder 12-month deployments with only a year's dwell time in between, the rest of the military has had their deployments scaled back. So losing some funding for armored vehicles wasn't a concern. The only main concern that these Army families had, and the only part of the news that has caught their attention, is that the Air force and the Navy would be taking over a bigger role in any future conflicts. To put it simply, these families want a break for themselves, and mostly for their soldiers who are on their third, fourth, or even fifth deployments.
So, yes, like Gates said, the prime of many soldiers careers might be very well spent in an office, but we Army wives don't have one bit of a problem with that, and our husbands who have missed the birth of their children, birthdays, anniversaries, and much of their young children's lives over the years, would, I'm sure, be happy to give up the life of a soldier deployed overseas to be able to come home to their families every night at 6 like the rest of America gets to.
The only funding that the majority of military families would be concerned about losing, is the funding for the recreation programs, funding for the Tricare health system, and funding for our bases. But, like I said before, if it means that our spouses get to stay home and get a break from fighting two wars, then who cares about one more armored truck. The only problem would come if they continue to send the Army to fight ground wars without the proper equipment and funding.
