Center for a New American Security

I keep hearing rumors Arnold Punaro is going to be named the next Secretary of the Army. Not that my opinion matters, but I am not cool with that. Why? Well, how about the fact that his current employer is responsible for approximately 50% of the contracts for the Future Combat Systems (FCS) and that Punaro's job responsibilities include lobbying on behalf of that particular weapons system -- which is über-controversial in defense policy circles.

Now I understand that the Washington system means that qualified public servants and good men like Mr. Punaro go back and forth between government service and private enterprise. I get that. But the stakes here are simply too high. Budgetary decisions on FCS are going to be some of the toughest decisions the next Secretary of the Army will have to make, and it's unfair to ask Mr. Punaro to make them.

All of this, of course, strengthens my own case to be the next Secretary of the Army. After all, unlike, Mr. Punaro, I was actually in the Army. (He was in the Marines.) And I can prove my lack of any ties to the defense industry by my, uh, lack of, uh, money. And I could use the benefits, honestly.

Most readers will remember that in May 2007 three US soldiers were captured south of Baghdad in a well-laid ambush, setting off a massive manhunt.* Officials announced the recovery of PFC Joseph Anzack Jr. earlier this year. Today we have word that families have been notified that the other two bodies have been recovered; Army SGT Alex Jimenez and PVT Byron Fouty can now be properly mourned.

Astute readers may remember that these soldiers were deployed as part of the 10th Mountain Division, the 31st Infantry "Polar Bears" led by COL Mike Kershaw. In an email sent last spring, this blog's namesake ran through some telling unit history:

The 31st Infantry ("Polar Bears") was one of the regiments in the "Battling Bastards of Bataan" in WWII and, later, in the Chosin Reservoir disaster. In World War II, the 31st distinguished itself in grand fashion -- they buried their colors on Corregidor, languished in POW camps after giving the Japanese hell in the PI, and recovered the colors three years later when they got out of the camps. In Korea, the regiment's performance was awful. One set of regimental colors sits at Fort Drum. Another was captured by the Chinese and is on display at Red Army Museum, Beijing. Why do I know all this? My first assignment in the Army was as a rifle platoon leader in 4-31 IN, the unit from which these soldiers hail.

There are times when "leave no man behind" and "I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy" sound trite recruiting poster missives. And there are times when you hope to god somebody actually f*cking means it. RIP.

A NY Times' article on the weakest job market for teenagers in half a century provides a crucial test of the all volunteer force in a time of war.

The story's beginning:

Mr. Stallings, 18, says he has been looking for three months, burning gasoline to get to the mall, then filling out applications at stores selling skateboard T-shirts, beach sandals and baseball caps. He likes the idea of working amid the goods he covets. But so far, no offers. “I’m going to go to Iraq and get a job,” he says acidly. “I hear they’ve got cheap gas.” He grins. “I’m just playing. But I’ve been all over, and nobody’s hiring. They just say, ‘We’ll call you tomorrow.’ And no one ever calls back.”

Whether we can get Mr. Stallings and his friends to join up to go to Iraq to serve (and not for cheap gas) will be a testament to whether we have the right recruiting strategy for American youth to grow our Army in a time of war.