The Power of the Reserves

Zerohedge reports:  Greek Reserve Special Forces soldiers have issued 15 demands of the government, including the resignation of the President.

We're guessing these citizen soldiers are tired of seeing their fellow citizens digging through dumpsters for food.  They are no doubt angry that there is no upside to the country's self-inflicted problems in the coming years.

Here are a three demands that caught our eye:

6. Suspension further tax for family income up to 25,000 Euros;
12.  Control assets of those involved in economic positions of government, prosecute illicit enrichment and efficiency to the state;
15.  Remove Illegal Immigrants...

We have no idea the power these guys have, or if they have the will to act.  Nor do we know the capabilities of the government to defend against a force determined to establish a new government.

Let Comrade Karl, a former Army Reservist, tell you a little story about the significance of the Reserves here in the states, albeit a bit off topic from the Greece story above:

The Army had to reorganize after the Vietnam War.  It had to downsize, but other modernizations were necessary to such as the transition to an all-volunteer Army.  This task fell to Army Chief of Staff, General Abrams.

In 1970 nearly half of all incoming soldiers were drafted.  Drugs were a big problem in the Army, as were criminals who chose service over jail.  It was ok then to enlist without a high school diploma too.

Add to these problems in the Army to the many problems here in the states.  The support for the war was strong until 1968, but anti-US liberals were able to pull that support down in the war's later years with a false, coordinated show of a majority.  It wasn't just the Berkeley crowd of human trash either.  Others did their part to help the Communists in North Vietnam.

There were many changes General Abrams had to consider.  We just found a good source for the background to this story here.

Allow us to focus on just one aspect.  General Abrams reconfigured the US Army so that another Vietnam War would be impossible.

The Vietnam War was fought by active duty soldiers.  Active duty soldiers are 'out of sight, out of mind.'  Unless you have a family member who is an active duty soldier, you are likely unaware of who these people are, what they are doing, or what dangers they are facing.

This fact alone allowed Kennedy, and more-so Johnson, to wage a war outside the view of the general population.  And since we didn't declare war, Congress had no role in the war.

This could work if the entire chain of command is engaged and in sync with a clear and achievable mission.  But, in case you didn't know, the Democrat Party ruled in DC.  And in the end, the founding fathers' intentions behind the declaration of war proved correct.

Kennedy, and more-so Johnson, lacked the competence to lead (See Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis).  Sec Def McNamara experimented with statistics and systems analysis as Americans died. And, a problem for all Democrats: they lacked the moral clarity to fight Communists and win.

General Abrams moved nearly all Combat Support and Combat Service Support roles into the Reserves.  The Army cannot function without these support units which include Signal, Supply, Intelligence and other support functions.

Now, when a President wants to deploy his military beyond a month or two, he has to mobilize the Reserves.  And when the Reserves are activated, communities across America are activated as well.  Teachers, police officers and co-workers are Reservists, and just disappear.  Companies, churches and neighborhoods feel the activation, or just the possibility of activation.  And when communities feel this, so do their representatives in Congress.  This new organizational model brings everyone together in a way that wasn't possible during the Vietnam War.

This is General Creighton Williams Abrams Jr's legacy, and we should all thank him for it.

As for the legacy of Democrats in Congress and in the Executive branch in the late 60's and early 70's: over one million slaughtered innocents in South Vietnam.

It was Democrats who stopped funding the war in Congress, thus forcing President Ford to pull the troops out.  This is what happens to America when Democrats are in charge:

It was the Democrats in Congress who then told President Ford "no" when he asked to respond with bombing runs to the subsequent Communist invasion of the South.  That was the vote to kill one million South Vietnamese and plunge their country into a Communist state.

Vietnam was the last time we went Weapons Hot with the Communists.  It was a just war, intended to contain the Communists who were expanding everywhere.

You'll recall we had to wait another decade before we had a president who reversed the Communist expansion.  Like Karl, he was an Army Reservist Captain out of California.

Killing Communists was is a noble pursuit, and we salute our Vietnam Vets.