Study Says Keeping A Permanently Stationed Brigade in Korea Would Save Money
Even if it is cheaper to permanently station a brigade in South Korea, the reason USFK has been citing for using a rotational brigade is increased readiness of the unit since it trains together, deploys together, and returns to its home station together:
The downsizing of the Army overseas has cost more money than expected because of a reliance on expensive rotational forces when forward-based units can perform the same roles more cheaply, according to a new U.S. Army War College report.
An examination of the costs of troop rotations during the past several years in Europe and South Korea undermines a decade-old Defense Department argument that shuttling units back and forth from the United States is a more efficient way of doing business than basing them overseas, said report author John R. Deni, a War College professor.
There also is evidence that the long rotations are taking a toll on troop morale, with units deployed to Europe and South Korea showing lower re-enlistment rates than their counterparts, the report found.
Deni, whose findings were the subject of a panel discussion Wednesday at the Atlantic Council in Washington, said the Army should base one additional armored brigade in Europe and one in South Korea along with aviation assets and enablers. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but one of the other positives of the rotational brigade is that if the Pentagon wants to reduce troop numbers on the peninsula it is much easier to do so with a rotational unit that is not sent instead of trying to pull a permanently stationed brigade off of the peninsula.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out, You pay the movers many time for rotation forces. I say give the soldiers the option for command sponsorship, where they could take their family, that way the retention will go up.
Rotational was a disaster when the ADA-Patriot BDE did it. Expensive and terribble for troop morale. Doesn’t do much for the army if re-enlistments plummet after a rotation.
The whole idea was terrible from the start.
It’s not about cost or efficiency. It’s about the military dole and fairness. With all the funding the military gets it could’ve long ago become self-reliant but DoD Contract, Acquisition, and Procurement rules mandate you do things in a way that benefits the public, involves the public and is fairer than the dye job on CH’es last Filipino house boy. 😉
USFK-specific example was when all that hub-bub over the re-enforcement of the “5-Year Rule” happened a little while back and people railed against it with cries of wasteful spending and inefficiency. A deputy director @ OPM put out a memo to address the growing crowd of torches and pitchforks that began with (quasi-quote cause I kinda forget what she wrote) “Explicitly this policy exists to foster the relationships with our military spouses and increase fairness in the hiring process. Money is not a consideration in this decision, OPM feels the costs incurred are worth the opportunities it generates for our active duty community and CONUS based civilians who seek employment overseas”. ❓
Oooooo… Filipino house boy… with dyed hair.
Pink Spandex mankini?
We probably need a minimum of 20 active duty divisions with at least 80 brigades just to do what we’re doing. We need at least double the number of fighters and 5x the number of bombers (don’t forget the pilots and crews!!!!!). And we need to ramp up the Navy and Coast Guard significantly (maybe 3x or more ships). And that’s not counting getting into a war with another major country (something much less likely with a Republican in the White House: look at who was at 1600 Penna when we got into WW1, WW2, Korea, and Vietnam).
None of that will, or even can, happen while we have roughly 50 percent of working age Americans sitting around taking government handouts (unemployed, underemployed, and “no longer in the job market”). Our economy is not as healthy as it needs to be. And that was done deliberately by people we elected who quite frankly hate us and our liberty.
Trump is trying to get people back to work. It may be too late; but at least he’s trying. If he succeeds, and the spark of American Exceptionalism is rekindled, the USA might last into the 22nd Century…
Every time I hear “fairness” I think of Wesley Mouch.