OT- Happy 248th Birthday US Army
June 14, 1775 the Continental Congress established the Continental Army, giving birth the the US Armed Forces.
On June 14th we also celebrate Flag Day, display Old Glory proudly and properly ya'll.
National Bourbon Day, World Blood Donor Day, National Strawberry Shortcake Day, National Cupcake day and International Bath Day.
They don't look a day over 150, either.
must be something in the water (camp lejeune is a marine base, so its not those toxins)
Happy bday. I wish we weren’t using our army to search for foreign dragons to slay
there's certainly a fine line there.
Whether we like it or not, a newly unified communist block has emerged and are aggressively projecting their strength around the world. Russia, China, North Korea and Iran (sort-of) have put together a "no-limits" alliance. The U.S. and NATO are still significantly more powerful in every way (economically, militarily and technologically) than they are but that could change over time.
WW2 should have taught us that you can't just put your head in the sand and allow the "dragon" to threaten and invade our allies while building up their forces in an attempt to eventually slay us. Germany was a paper tiger in 1935 but nobody wanted to fight them so we allowed them to invade other countries and strengthen themselves - by 1940, they were the strongest military in Europe.
I am the furthest thing from a war-monger but inaction can be dangerous as well. It is a difficult and fine line indeed.
I agree..... If you're walking down the sidewalk and come up on a 16 year old beating the tar out of a 10 year old.... it might not be any of your business, but as a responsible adult you have a moral obligation to step in, IMO.....
As one of the world's superpowers, we're pretty much in that position.
Yup - fully agree. Not to mention, in the case of Taiwan, the global economy would collapse if China were to invade and destroy Taiwan. Very few people understand just how important the Taiwanese semi-conductor industry is to the global economy.
Only in the last 2 years have we even begun to take steps to produce microchips and semi-conductors domestically. We are 5 years away (at an absolute minimum) to gain the economies of scale needed to produce our own chips.
I will go further, if Russia were to have successfully invaded the Ukraine, I believe that China would have followed that up with an invasion of Taiwan. It could still happen but at least they know that the "West" is serious about defending its allies and will need to think twice.
Germany wasn’t communist.
I don't think China or Russia can be described as communist either.
Authoritarian state-run capitalism is more accurate, and recalls (ahem) post-Weimar Germany, not the Soviet Union and client states that NATO was created to counter.
You are right that the underlying economic systems are a bit more nuanced than capitalism vs. communism. They are more like oligarchical kleptocracies.
However, and more importantly, both Russia and China are run by communist dictators (Putin was a lifelong KGB agent and China's governing party is the Communist Party of China) - for me, that supersedes the particulars of economic policy.
Maddow's podcast "Ultra" has a good take on this in relation to the Nazis coming to power in Germany and how many here in the US wanted to avoid them or ignore them.
Similar to Blue in Paradise, definitely not a warmonger but sometimes you have to act.
People forget, but the organization of a unified army was a Big Deal. Previously, each colony was defended by its own militia, and each colony wasn’t terribly interested in joining forces with the other colonies.
It was actually the SECOND Continental Congress which established the Army. The First Continental Congress heard proposals to do it, but were like “nah”. On the eve of war.
The Army disbanded after the war…for the most part. There was a short-lived Legion of the United States (listen, France had a lot going for it back in those days and our founders were definitely still figuring out “are we going to be more like France or more like Britain???”…), and then eventually a US Army.
History is interesting stuff.
Thanks for that contribution!
People forget? So the people that lived through this, forgot?
Never forget.
It’s safe to say that the people who lived through this are not doing their part in spreading the message. I bet none of them are even flying the flag today!
Which is why we fly Old Glory for them....
I proudly fly old glory everyday.
Mel Gibson taught us this in The Patriot
... each colony wasn’t terribly interested in joining forces with the other colonies.
History is slowly in the process of repeating itself. :)
France went from an absolutist monarchy to ideological fanatics to military genius-cum-despot in a span of a decade.
I wouldn’t say France had a lot going for it. I would say that France was working through some things.
Was?
Happy birthday to us!
[EDIT: though I have to admit, I don't ever recall celebrating it while actually IN the Army.]
If you see an Army soldier today, run up to him/her and give them 248 birthday punchies!
This is not recommended if they are Rangers, Delta, Green Berets, JSOC, etc.
Agreed!
Because Rangers, Delta, Green Berets, JSOC, etc. don't have a sense of humor like us ordinary grunts?
A lot of those JSOC guys don't look scary but are lethal with a keyboard.
As a former member of a group mentioned above, I take offense! I'd love 248 punchies.
It seems to me that popular history glorifies the fighting spirit of the Marines over the Army, which is probably due to the success of the 'Devil Dogs' in WW I and the Pacific campaign in WW II. Without taking anything away from the valiant exploits of our Jarheads, It's worth remembering when the big jobs needed to get done (the Meuse-Argonne offensive in WW I and the European Theater of Operations in WW II), it was the Army that won the day. God Bless all Vets of any stripe, but when you need a LOT of boots on the ground against formidable foes, you call on the U.S. Army.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meuse%E2%80%93Argonne_offensive
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Theater_of_Operations,_United_States_Army
The armies of Europe were spent forces by the time the Doughboys came into the trenches in significant numbers to launch offensives. The St.Michael offensive was the last significant German offensive of the war in March 1918. After it’s failure US troops would arrive in large numbers giving the Allie’s fresh hordes to throw at the exhausted Germans.
The Allies not driving into Germany was one of the bigger unforeseen blunders of military history. By surrendering on foreign soil the right wing Germans were able to promote the false idea that they were not defeated(Look! We were still in France. We were winning before the November Criminals stabbed us in the back!”). This myth would be an integral part in the rise of Nazism.
In Europe during WWII the Allies faced 60 German divisions while the Soviets faced 200.
To your last sentence, the Soviets operated in a single theater along interior lines, were subsidized by the allies in all manners of supply, and did not face the majority of the Luftwaffe nor fight a war in the Atlantic.
The Luftwaffe was ground down by the Battle of Britain and initial stages of Barbarossa. The Soviets faced huge numbers of German fighters and light and medium bombers especially at the beginning of the conflict.
By ‘44 the Luftwaffe was a spent force. They were using pilots with little flight time going up against swarms of experienced allied pilots.
True, but the Soviets were also not fighting a multi-front war. The rest of the Allies did the bulk of the fighting in the Pacific as well.
The Luftwaffe incurred losses during the Battle of Britain that would never be made up, true. The Soviets absorbed four air fleets at the beginning of Barbarossa, a huge air expenditure, true. My comments were wider in scale and addressed your point that the Soviets bore the brunt of the fight against the Germans.
This is getting further into OT territory, so I’ll circle back - Happy 248th Army Birthday!
And had the advantage of fighting through a Russian winter - which the Nazi's were not prepared to do.
Active duty Army is nearly 3x the size of the entire Marine Corps. Army National Guard is 2x the size of the Corps.
Each branch trains differently and that training is geared for specfic types of missions. I don't think Army Infantry has any less fighting spirit, or USMC Infantry has any more.
Its fun to trash talk between branches (my youngest is a Marine) but when you put the entire force together.... There's none better. Anyway, it all started with the US Army. You could call us, "The leaders and the best".
Unless your drafted into the Army which I was and served 14 months in Vietnam. My son who's a Michigan grad (paid for by Military), before his graduating he served 4 years and 2 tour in Iraq as a Marine. I can honestly say after our talks his training was much more intense and involved. The fact that people want to sign up make for a better fighting outfit then people who are drafted. Go Army
There is something to be said for an all volunteer military force.
I am somewhat stunned at how inept the Russian military is right now. Years of corruption and lack of morale has made them rotten.
The Army's MP School included Marines. (No Marine MP school, and they sneered at whatever training the Navy Shore Patrol offered.)
As for differences, our officers liked that Marines stood straighter at attention and saluted more smartly than us Army guys. In a new term at the time, they were emphatically strack and we were not.
Otherwise, about the same.
Is this where us Navy guys chime in and wonder why anyone would volunteer to sleep in a hole and have rifles aimed at your head?
Happy Birthday, though! Always a good day to celebrate the Armed Forces, regardless of branch.
We had Marines join us in Ordinance School at Aberdeen Proving Ground as well.... They don't (or didn't in 1988) have a welding/metal working school. They didn't take the full class, our's was 14 or 16 weeks and they were there a little less than 1/2 of that. We even had an E6 USMC instructor, for a couple weeks. The story we were told was that he got drunk and drove his Harley onto the post commanders driveway at 0200 and sat there reving his engine until the MPs showed up.
I was in the 82nd Airborne and 18 Airborne Corps. After my 4 years I also did some independent contractor work. I was able to train and interact with Special Ops, Rangers and Marines and "other forces" throughout these experiences. (I almost joined Special Ops)
My take:
There are definite levels in the Army
Rangers- they are elite and are trained to attack and are generally mean (like Marines)
Special Forces- Green Berets are the most elite physically and mentally- they are low key and smart, not too aggressive, they are trained to think outside of the box
On average, Marines are significantly more disciplined and elite than the average Army soldier. The Ranger Regiments are the Army's Marines with a slightly different manner of arriving to the battle. Both are usually first in. Special Ops are just a completely different animal and often are working with "other forces."
I didn't have too many interactions with mechanized or artillery, but I would say they are generally smarter and perhaps a bit less disciplined than the light infantry.... with Cavalry being the most disciplined and elite on that side
The Military is very diverse, there are very different op tempos and standards in each area... the elite forces are very well trained and funded. Marines are elite.
True. The Army and Marine Corps are organized, trained, and equipped for different missions. The Marines have a lot of assault power but not as much sustainability. The Army doesn't have that first punch but has staying power.
It's rather natural that the smaller assault forces get more attention than the larger sustaining forces because people identify more with the smaller organizations. Neither the Army nor the Marines are better/more elite/braver than the other, but it can't be denied that the US Marines are a lot better at PR.
avatar checking out
That's a lot of candles to fit on a cake.
Donating blood on National Bourbon Day could lead to some challenges.
should flow well, thinned down and everything.
Little known fact... tomorrow is also Vampire Hangover Day.
Just remember, the US Army song, "The Army Goes Rolling Along" was originally written by a Field Artillery lieutenant as the "Caisson Song." Sousa turned it into a march and renamed it, "The Field Artillery Song." The army changed the lyrics for "The Army Goes Rolling Along" to more generic army stuff.
Field Artillery, the King of Battle.
I've been reading 1776 by David McCullough, and it's been really interesting so far (about a third through it, just now getting into the (what will be unsuccessful) defense of NYC). Highly recommend it for anyone looking to learn more about the early days of the Revolution, particularly from a Continental Army-centric standpoint.