Boots II. [End]

This is coolbert:

"Commando? What kind of word is that, Commando?" - - from the movie "Breaker Morant"

"Give us this day - - our daily Afrikaner!" - - Bert.

General Casey, the U.S. Army Chief of Staff [CoS], is being questioned several weeks ago by a Congressional committee. The ability of the U.S. Army to continue operations in Iraq AND fulfill other obligations is being questioned.

The army has REACHED A BREAKING POINT??

NOT enough boots on the ground, stretched too thin, insufficient dwell time, inadequate troops available for contingencies, etc.

[dwell time is a period of rest between continued deployments to a combat zone. During the Vietnam era, a career man was allowed twenty-five months between further deployments to the war zone!]

A real dilemma. Quality of the military force is going down. And still not enough troops can be trained in time and deployed, even when an astronomically high enlistment bonus is being offered?

What to do?

Recruit and form an American Ghurkha Legion for one thing. This has been the subject of a previous blog entry. Touchy subject, hiring mercenaries to fight American wars. Has now become a necessity?

Here too is another ethnic group that is worthy to be formed into an American Foreign Legion?

The Afrikaans speaking people of South Africa. An American Afrikaner Legion? [Afrikaner is the accepted nationality. Afrikaans is the language spoken by same!]

About 8,000 South Africans have already served in Iraq. Mostly of the Afrikaner nationality? Private independent contractors primarily performing duties such as mine-clearing and sentry duty. Accomplished their tasks quite well from what I understand. Most have now returned to their homeland.

Recruit these folks, perhaps several brigade size contingents [5,000 men/brigade], almost exclusively devoted to combat arms skills [infantry, armor, artillery, air defense, aviation].

At your disposal you ALREADY HAVE A LARGE GROUP OF TRAINED AND EXPERIENCED INDIVIDUALS TO CHOOSE FROM!! NOT RAW RECRUITS! Persons bilingual, able to speak excellent English in addition to their native tongue [Afrikaans]. Superior personnel both mentally and physically! Can be officered at the lower echelons of command [platoon, company] by Afrikaners who possess military command experience and ability!

An American Afrikaner Legion equipped with Stryker or Buffalo vehicles and Panhard ERC 90 Sagaie (Engin de Reconnaissance à Canon de 90 mm) armored cars. Provide a modern variation of the Boer Commando. Hard-hitting and fast moving military units capable of waging unconventional warfare if necessary. Light infantry toops of the highest quality, deployable to any point in the world at a moments' notice!

[harness old traditions to create outstanding esprit' among Afrikaner troops!]

Innovative incentives can be offered prospective recruits.

* Serve four years, automatic U.S. citizenship.

* Serve six years, citizenship, and guaranteed tax free lot and new home in small town USA.

* Serve ten years, citizenship, guaranteed lot and home, and large parcel of land that can be farmed.

[again, the old traditions of the Afrikaner can be harnessed. Boer means FARMER!]

I also realize that in some circles, within Congress and American society, this idea of recruiting Afrikaners for a distinct American Legion unit will be met with skepticism and downright hostility.

As I have said before, "if it works, so what!!" Go for it!

coolbert.

AFL.

This is coolbert: One current refrain heard over and over from the "experts" is that the U.S. Army is stretched too thin. Commitments all over the world and at home have created a situation where "there are just not enough boots on the ground". Meaning not a sufficient force [particularly with regard to combat arms] to accomplish all the missions. NOT even counting contingencies and future developments that may occur.

Troops and their equipment are said to not only be THIN, but exhausted as well. Too much duty and too much strain on men and equipment has created a precarious situation.

To the problem of just not having enough troops [ground forces], a variety of solutions has been suggested.

Among these solutions are [but not limited to]:

* One is to re-institute the draft. [this invariably seems to be the first idea that comes to the minds of people.]

* Another is to increase enlistments by recruiting foreign nationals with the reward of American citizenship.

None of the proposed solutions, however, seem to offer either a short or long term amelioration of the problem.

A dearth of "boots on the ground" will seemingly exist for a long time into the future.

Is there a solution that will work? And will provide a fix that is both short and long term?

Perhaps so!!

An American Foreign Legion!

Even more specifically - - an American GHURKHA Legion.

The Ghurkhas. Described as "little men that have long stood tall" in the British Army. Nepalese hill tribesmen long recruited for the British Army. Formed into a Ghurkha Regiment at the command of the British Crown. Officered by British officers.

[officers serving in the Ghurkha Regiment were chosen from career serving officers that were impecunious [poverty stricken]. These officers [William Slim was one of them in the years prior to World War Two] were often the most able and ambitious officers in the British Army, the fit being very good between the highly motivated British officers and the highly motivated Ghurkha enlisted. Good officers and good enlisted make for a formidable unit.]

The Ghurkhas have long been recognized as ranking among the elite fighting forces of the world. Ghurkha men, while being of short stature, are physically quite robust, with exceptionally strong legs. Make very capable, loyal, dedicated soldiers. Men for whom hard physical dangerous soldiering is almost second nature.

Battalions and regiments of these Ghurkha troops existed in considerable numbers during the time of the British Empire. However, with the end Empire, the need for the Ghurkha troops diminished considerably. Became almost non-existent. Ghurkha troops still exist as units in the British Army but in much reduced numbers [fought and are fighting both in the Falklands and in Iraq].

With the permission of the Nepalese King, American recruiters could pick and choose the most fit, motivated, and robust of the hill tribesmen to serve in the American Ghurkha Legion. Given the extreme poverty of the region, in all likelihood you would have A LOT more potential recruits than you would need. Having an abundance of good raw material available, just finding men to serve in the Ghurkha Legion would not be difficult!!

I see a need for a Legion consisting of three brigades, each brigade about 5,000 men strong, a grand total of about 15,000 Ghurkhas needed total.

These three brigades would consist of:

One brigade Stryker vehicle equipped and organized.

One brigade airmobile, utilizing beefed up refurbished UH-1 ["Huey"], and Blackhawk helicopters for transport, with also refurbished, beefed up Huey Cobra gunships and refurbished, re-equipped OV-10 ["Bronco"] for close air support.

One brigade of conventional light infantry [very light infantry at that]. This brigade would be primarily for the peace-keeping, peace-making missions that U.S. forces quite often nowadays find themselves tasked with.

Keep in mind that the Ghurkha troops of these brigades would be almost exclusively combat arms. When brigades or sub-elements are fielded, augmentation with combat, combat support, and combat service support units would be task tailored as needed.

The Ghurkha brigades would be commanded by American officers.

From within the ranks of the American Army Special Forces [SF] can be found a cadre of trained, experienced combat arms soldiers. Soldiers accustomed to working with "foreign nationals". Such SF troops that volunteer will make for excellent officers to command Ghurkha Legion units.

A SF A team commander [a Captain] can be expected to become a battalion commander.

A SF A team executive officer [a warrant officer] can be expected to be a company commander.

SF team enlisted can expect to become platoon leaders.

This should be a workable solution to officership of the Ghurkha Legion.

I am sure a whole lot of folks will object to this entire concept.

To those that say, "you will have foreigners do our fighting for us!, I would say, "if it works, great, so what!!"

To those that say, "it is bigotry to have only American nationals commanding the little Asian men!!", I would say, "if it works, great, so what!!"

The American Ghurkha Legion, a concept whose time is NOW!!





coolbert.