Bozman
Posts: 2
Joined: 3/10/2001 From: Queidersbach, Rheinland Pfalz, GE Status: offline
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As an Active Duty US Army officer currently stationed in Germany, I take offense to anecdotal observations about the readiness of American forces in Germany. I spent the last week in the field setting up the Army's last MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) and returned to immediately go on 7 days of emergency surgical call. The Army's strength has been reduced by more than 50% since Desert Storm, yet our operational tempo has continued to increase. We continue to do more with less, and it does show in many ways, including retention, morale, and readiness. But we're still able to project power anywhere on the planet, something German armed forces haven't done in more than 50 years. Regarding the Balkans, my unit spent 6 months in Kosovo treating the carnage which has persisted and is now escalating due to Kosovar Albanian rebel incursions into Macedonia and Serbia. In that time, we performed more than 250 surgeries, including many resuscitative and reconstructive surgeries on Kosovar Serbians injured in retributive attacks. We were and are the ONLY trauma facility in the US sector. As the OIC of the operating room I had access to the surgical log of all surgical cases performed since we hit the ground, and it wasn't pretty. My point is, when you make vague and generalized statements about the state of the US Army and especially USAREUR, you offend people who work their butts off for little reward.
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