The army you were in 30 years ago had a morale level lower than whale crap....
You; child, are a tool. No, let me expand on that... you are a clueless media tool. .
You expect the morale of the nations Army to be good when their lives are being squandered as barganing chips? Do you think the morale on Omaha Beach was good when the troops were pinned in the sand and surf? Morale has toejam to to with unit pride, loyalty and duty, boy. The 'war' in Vietnam would have been over in months if we were allowed to fight it as a WAR.
and was a source of national embarrassment.
Item...the Army I served in was neither a national embarrasement nor imcompetent. The leaders we served.. the POLITICAL leaders we served were the freakin incompetent embarassment.
Our military has always had a very high sense of pride.. it was and IS the best military on the face of this planet, man for man. The sense of pride in itself as a nation may have been restored by the Gulf conflict, the pride in the military has never been in doubt. Confidence in our political leaders is always in doubt.
Todays troops are more educated and politically savy than ever.
What? Surely you need to recheck you airsupply. An 18 year old infantry man in 1969 ain't one bit smarter than an 18 year old infantryman in 2003. Both can reason, evaluate a press release and compare it with conditions present in front of his nose. Speaking of which, thats you lower intestine if front of yours, re-read the first sentance in this paragraph.
No need to treat them like mindless neanderthals. That style of leadership should have been thrown out after the 'old' army lost 2 wars. Theres also no reason to berate someone over something minor, especially in a non-combat zone.
Ah the crux.. listen up, puppy. The military is not a debating society, our military has not lost a war yet, and berating a pinhead E-2 that does not correctly comply with proccedure is the LEAST the E-5 could have done and kept HIS stripes.
Tell yer pal to get the hell outta my military. I don't want rutabagas guarding my nation.