Source: World Wide Web
Screenshot of a report on the website of foreign policy magazine
【Global Network Report】Comprehensive "Russia Today" (RT) and the US "Foreign Policy" magazine reported on the 26th that the Pentagon has been saying for many years that the US military is ready to "fight tonight." But an internal investigation showed that not every U.S. Army personnel was so convinced, especially those infantrymen who were likely to participate in most of the fighting and die.
Screenshot of the RT report
The U.S. Army conducted an investigation of 5,400 soldiers and civilians of varying ranks between July and August 2020. 14% of respondents said their troops were ready to be deployed immediately anywhere in the world, fight and win. About 13 percent of respondents said they need more time to get ready to do so.
Foreign Policy magazine said the survey data was "much more staggering" by rank. Less than 20 percent of warrant officers, highly professional U.S. servicemen deployed to Afghanistan and other theaters after 9/11, said they were confident their troops "could win today." Fewer generals took part in the survey, and only about 40 percent believed they could deploy immediately and achieve victory.
U.S. Army spokesman Terrance Kelly argued in a statement that senior Army leaders remain convinced the military is "ready to fight and win, both today and last summer." Kelly also said that the survey was conducted in 2020, when the COVID-19 situation was very serious. Today, the U.S. Army has resumed normal training and has vaccinated 93 percent of its active duty personnel.
However, Army data cited by the Heritage Foundation, a think tank, in its annual assessment of U.S. military power released last week showed that the Army's combat readiness has not improved. 58 percent of brigade-level combat teams are at the highest level of tactical readiness, which is 8 percent below the U.S. Army's goal and 16 percent below 2020.
"If there's a war today, I think the Army will be in a difficult position," said retired Lt. Gen. Thomas Spoll, who runs the Heritage Foundation's defense program, "and some brigade-level combat teams are well-trained, but there are also quite a few soldiers who are not." ”
Foreign Policy magazine said the U.S. Department of Defense's combat readiness problems are not limited to U.S. Army forces.
According to RT, the situation in other branches of the US military is "not much better." According to a November 2020 report by the U.S. Congressional Accountability Agency, only three of the 46 aircraft equipped by the U.S. military in the past 10 fiscal years met the "mission capability ratio." Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy conducted an investigation into the USS Good Guy Richard's amphibious assault ship that caught fire last year and found that no one on board at the time knew how to find or press the fire button, and the ship eventually had to be scrapped.