Statistics

WASHINGTON - The National Guard and Reserves are suffering a strikingly higher share of U.S. casualties in Iraq, their portion of total American military deaths nearly doubling since last year.

[. . .]

At least when I was in, everybody acknowleged the Guard and Reserves were the red-headed stepchildren of the active-duty military. They get hand me down equipment from the regulars and less training. Not taking anything away from them at all.

I remember, a little over 20 years ago, the Air Force ran airfield security excercises for their Security Police and Mobile Aerial Port people. 11th Special Forces (U.S. Army) was the OPFOR (opposing force). I was attached to 59th APS at the time. A bunch of Reservists, 11th had us chasing them for a week, always a step ahead of us. They inflicted quite a bit of 'damage' on our position too. (Mostly our commander's fault in the way he deployed his assets.) Great troops. I'll never say anything bad about part-time soldiers.

But isn't it the time, since we're using them in the same capacity as active duty troops, to give them front-line equipment and training? Whether the Pentagon admits it or not, the Guard and Reserves are still being shortchanged and it's showing up in their increased casualty count.

Were the leadership not so incompetent, disregarding for a minute the fallacy of the war in Iraq to begin with, they would realize active duty troops and part-time soldiers are not interchangable and would not use them as game pieces of equal value. It is one of the underlying fundamental problems with our straetgy in Iraq.

Jo Fish, from whom I stole the link, has more to say on the subject as well.