It'll no doubt shock the American taxpayer to learn that about 11 percent, or 235,000, of the 2.1 million personnel serving on active duty, in the reserves, or in the National Guard are currently non-deployable (cite). Stated otherwise, as of the date of this entry, one out of every ten Servicemembers is unable to meet the enemy on the battlefield, be it on land, in the air, on the seas. And Defense Secretary Jim Mattis--"Chaos" himself--has had enough.
He depicts the matter as one of fairness. “You’re either deployable, or you need to find something else to do. I’m not going have some people deploying constantly and then other people, who seem to not pay that price, in the U.S. military,” Mattis told reporters Feb. 17 in his first comments on the issue since the new policy was formally introduced. "If you can’t go overseas [and] carry a combat load, then obviously someone else has got to go. I want this spread fairly and expertly across the force.”
The goal of the policy is to further reduce the number of non-deployable service members and improve personnel readiness across the force. For as CHAOS says: "Make no mistake, our enemies are watching. We must remain focused on improving warfighter readiness. That is our first line of effort — building a more lethal joint force that is capable of operating anywhere in the world.”
The Order of the JAGWAR hears you, sir; members pride themselves on embodying the spirit of that sentiment in body, mind, and soul. And in their use of Oxford commas.
*Heavy sigh.....* Isn't Secretary Mattis just absolutely dreamy? Beyond his practical insistence on common sense, this warrior in the twilight of an illustrious career nonetheless inspires through his tear-jerking empathy, prophetic wisdom, notorious fearlessness, and reserved humility.
In off-the-cuff remarks in the weeks after the heart-wrenching (and fatal) discord in Charlottesville--the beating heart of the Army JAG Corps--Secretary Mattis asked troops in Jordan to "hold the line until our country gets back to understanding and respecting each other."
More recently, he's mused about the advent of artificial intelligence in war, revealing that he's questioning the "fundamental nature of combat" as he's understood it throughout his decades-long career and the millennia of military history which precedes it.
And, um, here's some "beast mode" for the fans......
It really is an honor to serve you in your civilian capacity, General Mattis. JAGWARriors are working hard every day to exceed your expectations and meet the needs of our Nation. In fact, you say it best:
Indeed, sir. Steady as she goes....