Manning the USN

Hegseth was primarily a commentator on a couch at Fox news. He served in the military like millions before him but that doesn’t make him special or qualified to be Sec. of Defense. Military.com had this to say about him.
Hegseth Could Lead Troops Who'd Face Getting Fired for Actions He's Done in the Past

1 Like

Why not take female sailors off combat ships…cook the books…and transfer them to MSC ?

I’m not on Twitter
Can you link his feed?

Or perhaps provide a synopsis?

1 Like

To begin with, crews on MSC ships are civlians (yes there are some military, but the actual crew is civilian) so that would require forcing these service members out of the military, with a loss of military benefits, and into a civil service job.

Secondly, as to my initial question, how then would we man warships?

The issues in the maritime industry are a different thread.

The issues with Hagseth’s character and drinking are also another thread.

I was hoping for an intelligent discussion on the specific maritime issues here. Sadly it has devolved into one more Trump is the messiah/Trump is the antichrist threads.

I read that at Miltary.com but that, and Hagseth’s qualifications aren’t really the point here.

Hagseth will in all probability be the next SecDef, that’s the reality that exists.

So, with rhat in mind, can we at least try and keep the thread on point.

1 Like

DMT…yes, I was talking off the top of my head. :crazy_face::cocktail: I was in the MSC in the late 70’s.

Apparently there is a huge lack of staffing for MSC. It could be voluntary on TAD for Navy people who have no desire to to 30 years. Shuffle the people and cook the books. Forget the warships…they are helpless without re-supply. Anyway…our USN ships are in great danger in a real conflict. Read Adm Stavridis novel a few years ago. :wheelchair::wheelchair::wheelchair: Every chip/board we have…the Chinese have already compromised.

MSC has a huge manpower issue, so does the military.

I read this as basically land based combat as well.

How so?
He has repeatedly said, as recently as 7 November that there should be no women in any combat billet.

Granted he walked back those statements during his confhearings, but how believable is that?

Even if you’re correct, removing women from in the Army would be an approximate 30% reduction in strength.

But as to the U.S. Navy specifically, the USN currently has ~299 deployable surface warships. Hagseth has said he wants to increase that number, good, but the Navy is struggling to recruit and retain the sailors it has now.

So uf the fleet size is increased, the number of sailors must also be increased.

If women sailors are taken off warships, that goal may be impossible.

It is kind of a fascinating rorschach test seeing how many posters here claim to be able to read Hagseth’s mind and confidently tell us what he’s thinking

2 Likes

How about you wait a few days and just see what he does, then explode? You’re hyperventilating over an impossibility. Nobody can suddenly make such major changes as you are speculating. Nobody has such a magic wand.

LOL
I get it, you worship Trump, and by extrapolation, any if his appointees.
I’m just asking questions.
Frankly I hope your crush on Trump is well placed, but if it’s not, perhaps it might be wise to have a plan B
(at least)

Plan B (your plan) is departing the White House now.

1 Like

Lord Nelson called.
The Admiralty was pretty upset about his scandalous ungentlemanly behavior… taking up with that Emma Hamilton ho with her ankles all hanging out of her dress for anyone to see.
Nelson’s career barely survived.
I see no difference between your pearl-clutching and the Admiralty of the time.
Fainting Couches are on sale at Rooms To Go, friend.

1 Like

North Korea doesn’t seem to have a problem with female soldiers.

1 Like

What do young people say about why they aren’t joining the USN?

Or, alternatively, what would induce them to join the USN?

That’s the only analysis that matters. Young people aren’t going to join just because old men think they should join.

4 Likes

Speaking of the military as a whole not just the USN I’ve had several young men recently decided not to join up as they planned.
Reasons:

  1. Covid Vaccine (No longer an issue)
  2. They don’t want to die for Israel
  3. (Maybe the most important and less controversial) The recent flood of drone videos of individual soldiers being hunted down relentlessly and killed slowly by hunter drones from the Ukraine conflict tends to sap all feelings of excitement and patriotism. Young people watch a lot of this stuff. It’s very dehumanizing and terrifying.

Drones are to the battlefield of 2024 what machine-guns were to the battlefield of 1914. Completely changed the dynamics of ground warfare.

In the context of war in general: in our next war against a major opponent entire campaigns will be won by drones. In the future those drones will act autonomously. But there will be interim of a few decades where drones will still be operated directly by humans.

In that interim, given two equal sized armies or fleets facing off the advantage tends towards the number of drones that can be brought to bear.

In the Iraq war battlefield drones were being operated from air conditioned offices in the USA. People sitting in chairs killing soldiers on the other side of the planet. With nothing more than a brain and opposable thumbs. While drinking ice cold Diet Pepsi.

Think about it.

I talked to a recruiter at the airport a few years ago and asked about the problem finding recruits. He was quite candid. He said the best place to find them was in areas where there were retired military or a family history of military service. But then he said many potential recruits couldn’t qualify due to being out of shape as 70% of his potentials couldn’t pass the physical evaluation recently and many were just not educated enough. Also visible tattoos kept many out as did ADHD drug use in the past 6 months. Kinda sad. I asked him about bringing back the draft and he said that would accomplish nothing except wasting resources rejecting even more fat dumb asses with tattoos on drugs. He said the best thing was military prep classes for those that were serious.He did say that though patriotism came up in conversation most just wanted a steady job and to learn a skill. Nice to know that hasn’t changed.

1 Like

Yes the ladies drill team could outmarch any western force. Precision marching wins wars.

1 Like