NDM doesn't like My Comments...

For a while I've tried to post comments over at National Defense Magazine with no luck.  I think I've been blocked for a while. 

Well, on their blog they had an article about retired Major General Robert Scales' concerns that the US Military isn't as 'dominate' on land then it is in the Air on at Sea.  My comments (rants) are a such...

The reason that our ground forces aren't as 'dominant' as the AF and Navy is because of the old, tired 'superior firepower' BS we've heard since Vietnam.  The difference is they call it the 'Revolution in Military Affairs' now (new packaging, new electronics, same failed philosophy).  We simply don't give small ground combat units the mobility and firepower to be dominant. 

M8 AGS was canceled 15 years ago.  Instead teh Army decided to rely on the TOW-armed armored Humvee for direct firepower for light units.  It lacks the mobile and protection of the M8 and the TOW missile both costs more per round, has a slower rate of fire and the gunner is exposed both when firing the weapon and when reloading it. 

The Army and Marines don't deploy a pair of self-propelled 120mm to each company.  The AR-15 family of weapons not only haven't been replaces with more reliable weapons (such as the HK 416), they are still mass produced (100,000 M4s bought in FY2010).  The Army has never deployed the EFOGM, but instead obsesses with the ultra-expensive NLOS-LS, which likely never see service because of it's huge costs.  The Army is reluctant to give it's squads more firepower by buying them weapons like the M32 6-shot Grenade Launcher.  But they do waste money on weapons like the XM307 25mm Auto Grenade Launcher (that can also be turned into a .50cal).  The Army and Marines REFUSE to understand that these weapons are totally impractical except when mounted on a vehicle.  It doesn't matter how light you make the weapon, the AMMO is the weightily PROBLEM.

Almost all of the things the could increase the fighting power of small units, the M8, the HK416, the M32 and numerous other things all have one thing in common.  They either started or completely developed by the industry.  And if anything the top-heavy, from-the-top-down orientated DoD absolutely hates is wasn't-invented-here innovations.  They rather have nothing then something that was someone else's idea.  And that's why the US isn't as 'dominant' on land as it is at sea and in the air.