Why is It Such A Surprise That One Guy With Wire Cutters
…can ruin your entire day?
…As the air force received 60 percent of the military budget, army training was cut to the bone and the armored corps was significantly reduced.
Reservists forgot what the inside of a main battle tank looked like. Army supplies dwindled way past the danger point as military intelligence dismissed the prospect of a conventional war against Israel.
Over the last two years, the Ground Forces Command has been administering the Digital Army Program, a nearly $1 billion effort to link ground forces assets to ensure situational awareness as well as coordination with the air force and navy.
Today, Israel’s advanced technology has been unable to detect, let alone stop Hizbullah assaults. Military sources said Hizbullah quickly developed methods to penetrate Israel’s C4I [command, control, communications, computers and intelligence] border system, based on advanced sensors and heavy air surveillance.
Hizbullah, the sources said, learned how to disable cameras and exploit blind spots to cut through the border fence and attack Israeli military positions. They said this was how a small Hizbullah force attacked an Israeli border post on July 12 and abducted two soldiers.
In the words of that famous philospher:
“The more they over think the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain.”
-Scottie, Star Trek III
Military Thingies | tree hugging sister | 
July 21, 2006 4:45 pm
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Our military has the same tendency, ever since we were fighting the Viet Cong. There’s this belief among the ignorant that technology wins wars alone, similar to the Mitchelian theory that strategic bombing can defeat Hitler.
The problem is the military tends to be complicit in this because in order to get approval to buy technology, they over sell its importance. Technology is necessary, but nothing beats manpower and discipline.
We shouldn’t be spending any less than 10% of our GDP on our forces. It should be weighted heavily toward the soldiers and thier families.
Families?
What on earth for? Pay for the soldier. Let the soldier pay for his family. There’s entirely too much busy body-ness towards military families already.
And besides, the compensation should be for the job, not the breeding program. There’s no reason why someone should get less compensation merely because they are single. It’s unAmerican.
Families have to pay the bills and continue to function while the soldiers are in theater, (unless you want “Jody’ to snake on in for advantage.
Gunslinger, the troops do need good pay and decent housing, and that is happening. But the biggest chunk of money needs to spend on equipping and training the military.
R&D is essential, and good stuff comes out of it, but we get overwhelmed with someone’s pet project all the time. We need reliable weapons and vehicles, decent ammo, and good logistics. On a steady basis, not when the politicians feel like it.
If you haven’t already, read Arthur C. Clarke’s short story “Superiority”. It was written in the 1950s, but rings true even today. Unfortunately, elements of the IDF never did read it.