Please Stop Making Sailor-Soldiers

[rangerrebew]

Please Stop Making Sailor-Soldiers

September 28, 2019 Guest Author   

Notes to the New CNO Topic Week

By Lieutenant Zachary George, USN

Over the last 18 years, the Navy Reserve has served as the nation’s third land army, filling gapped Army billets in the War on Terror in the Middle East and Africa. Through its Expeditionary Combat Readiness Centers (ECRC) in Norfolk and San Diego, it has perfected the art of making Navy Sailors into soldiers. This includes stripping Sailors of their coveralls and giving them a sea bag’s worth of combat helmets, flak jackets, and desert boots, after which, they are sent to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for three weeks of basic soldiering skills. As the Navy actively contests a resurgent Russia and an emerging China, both EUCOM and PACOM are calling for more Naval Reservists to fill sea billets, ensuring special missions and regular warships are fully manned and ready. Unfortunately, the ECRCs are not ready for this shift, being unable to send reserve Sailors back through fleet damage control trainers or even issuing them required firefighting coveralls. While the rest of the fleet is shifting to the high-end fight, it’s time for the CNO to radically change the ways the Navy sources, trains, equips, and sends out reserve Sailors to sea-going mobilizations.

http://cimsec.org/please-stop-making-sailor-soldiers/41803

[sneakypete]

My niece's husband enlisted in the Navy right after they got married almost 20 years ago. He was sent to language school right out of boot camp,and learned one or more of the Shitstainistan languages.

He has worn an army uniform and worked with the army ever since. I honestly don't think he has ever even been assigned to a Navy base or Navy unit.