Over 10 years ago (during Occupy) it was noted that large urban metropolitan police forces were recruiting the sociopathy-leaning members of the MPs in the armed forces. It's not a bug, it's a feature.
Over 10 years ago (during Occupy) it was noted that large urban metropolitan police forces were recruiting the sociopathy-leaning members of the MPs in the armed forces. It's not a bug, it's a feature.
I watched TIN STAR and I was like "Haha, the whole premise of this show is preposterous. It is a ridiculous fiction."
Then I actually did some (extremely shallow) research and learned that Canada is so desperate for cops that you don't even have to be a Canadian citizen to be a Canadian cop. Permanent resident status is all you need to get into the Mounties.
There's lots of that going around. It's so bad that some soldiers in the US Army are technically not entitled to hear the orders they are following. They can't have clearances because they are noncitizens. They'll get that citizenship as a reward for serving a portion of their enlistment. It's actually the fastest way to get US citizenship I am aware of.
Luckily, at a tactical level, the rules are rarely followed.
I would say that the foreign born soldiers are at least as good and patriotic as the native-born, though that "must speak English" part is more aspirational than real. Most of the foreign born soldiers in the Army are from Hispanic countries and speak Spanish of some dialect as their mother tongue. Bilingual NCOs find themselves in demand. The idea of 5% of the Army being composed of people like that doesn't scare me as much as Blackwater.
The whole fear of mercenaries is that they aren't devoted to your cause when things look ugly. It's a worry with the foreign born, but an even bigger worry with the more formal mercenaries, the Blackwater-class people. I had experience with Triple Canopy, a Blackwater competitor, in Iraq. They supplied 5 former US special operators and 150 Ugandans. The Ugandans were pleasant and professional. That said, would they have turned their guns on us if the situation made that a condition of their survival? Maybe.
I've been a SETA (System Engineering/Technical Assistance) contractor my whole career working with the Army, though now technically I am more like a system integrator type. Anyway, bottom line is that people like me, along with the Rand and MITRE types, are just a class of US citizen who the government cannot attract either into uniform or within the existing appointed GS system due to relatively low salaries and bad work conditions, but need for their operations. They pay more for me than they would pay for 2 SES (special executive service, civilian equivalent to a general officer). Am I a loyalty risk? I dunno, I have the same clearance anyone else working in my field would have, i've been background investigated same as any soldier, and I love my country and have no foreign contacts of significance.
Did I worry about those Triple Canopy former US operators? No. They were loyal citizens. We did have a shitload of mercenaries over in Iraq though, and not all were like "Squirrel" and "Rooster", to name the handles a couple of those Triple Canopy folks rolled under.
It's a complicated situation, but the answer to your question is a qualified "yes". Maybe in the next war.
Also: most soldiers have no fucking idea how to run a computer. Seriously.
The technical MOS is mostly 25s and 17s in the Army. You won't find a 17 anywhere below a division. The 25s show up at brigade and battalion headquarters, though any 25 at a battalion HQ is going to be a 25U, which is a radio operator, mostly.
A 25B, which is the 'I theoretically know how to run computers' MOS, shows up at brigade HQ first, and there are only 7 soldiers in the S-6 (the commo section) at brigade.
Occasionally there is a smart enlisted in a unit; they are mostly identified when they take their ASVAB on intake and shoved into a high score MOS like intelligence or IT, but sometimes they are hiding in plain sight and you can use them to improve your IT.
Interestingly enough, one of the highest ASVAB requirements is for the 25S, which is a satellite operator. You have to do a little trig maybe to figure out look angles to the bird, though the DoD has systems that figure that shit out for you, and you carry a special kind of compass that does it also.
As someone pointed out on here once (sorta-kinda), it makes more sense to have trigger pullers than broom pushers. That said, soldiers still mow the officers' lawns and such, so that hasn't been abandoned.
Over 10 years ago (during Occupy) it was noted that large urban metropolitan police forces were recruiting the sociopathy-leaning members of the MPs in the armed forces. It's not a bug, it's a feature.
I watched TIN STAR and I was like "Haha, the whole premise of this show is preposterous. It is a ridiculous fiction."
Then I actually did some (extremely shallow) research and learned that Canada is so desperate for cops that you don't even have to be a Canadian citizen to be a Canadian cop. Permanent resident status is all you need to get into the Mounties.
There's lots of that going around. It's so bad that some soldiers in the US Army are technically not entitled to hear the orders they are following. They can't have clearances because they are noncitizens. They'll get that citizenship as a reward for serving a portion of their enlistment. It's actually the fastest way to get US citizenship I am aware of.
Luckily, at a tactical level, the rules are rarely followed.
https://immigrationforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/VNA-Fact-Sheet.pdf
Just read your fact sheet. Is it now possible to imagine a primarily mercenary U.S. Army sooner, rather than later?
I would say that the foreign born soldiers are at least as good and patriotic as the native-born, though that "must speak English" part is more aspirational than real. Most of the foreign born soldiers in the Army are from Hispanic countries and speak Spanish of some dialect as their mother tongue. Bilingual NCOs find themselves in demand. The idea of 5% of the Army being composed of people like that doesn't scare me as much as Blackwater.
The whole fear of mercenaries is that they aren't devoted to your cause when things look ugly. It's a worry with the foreign born, but an even bigger worry with the more formal mercenaries, the Blackwater-class people. I had experience with Triple Canopy, a Blackwater competitor, in Iraq. They supplied 5 former US special operators and 150 Ugandans. The Ugandans were pleasant and professional. That said, would they have turned their guns on us if the situation made that a condition of their survival? Maybe.
I've been a SETA (System Engineering/Technical Assistance) contractor my whole career working with the Army, though now technically I am more like a system integrator type. Anyway, bottom line is that people like me, along with the Rand and MITRE types, are just a class of US citizen who the government cannot attract either into uniform or within the existing appointed GS system due to relatively low salaries and bad work conditions, but need for their operations. They pay more for me than they would pay for 2 SES (special executive service, civilian equivalent to a general officer). Am I a loyalty risk? I dunno, I have the same clearance anyone else working in my field would have, i've been background investigated same as any soldier, and I love my country and have no foreign contacts of significance.
Did I worry about those Triple Canopy former US operators? No. They were loyal citizens. We did have a shitload of mercenaries over in Iraq though, and not all were like "Squirrel" and "Rooster", to name the handles a couple of those Triple Canopy folks rolled under.
It's a complicated situation, but the answer to your question is a qualified "yes". Maybe in the next war.
"Is it now possible to imagine a primarily mercenary U.S. Army sooner, rather than later?"
We already have it. Since the AVF, it's been a mercenary force-slash-New Deal style -obs program.
Used to be that, as a G.I., you pushed a broom.
Scut work is now privately contracted out at the expense of you, the taxpayer. G.I.s no longer push brooms. They stare at screens.
Also: most soldiers have no fucking idea how to run a computer. Seriously.
The technical MOS is mostly 25s and 17s in the Army. You won't find a 17 anywhere below a division. The 25s show up at brigade and battalion headquarters, though any 25 at a battalion HQ is going to be a 25U, which is a radio operator, mostly.
A 25B, which is the 'I theoretically know how to run computers' MOS, shows up at brigade HQ first, and there are only 7 soldiers in the S-6 (the commo section) at brigade.
Occasionally there is a smart enlisted in a unit; they are mostly identified when they take their ASVAB on intake and shoved into a high score MOS like intelligence or IT, but sometimes they are hiding in plain sight and you can use them to improve your IT.
Interestingly enough, one of the highest ASVAB requirements is for the 25S, which is a satellite operator. You have to do a little trig maybe to figure out look angles to the bird, though the DoD has systems that figure that shit out for you, and you carry a special kind of compass that does it also.
As someone pointed out on here once (sorta-kinda), it makes more sense to have trigger pullers than broom pushers. That said, soldiers still mow the officers' lawns and such, so that hasn't been abandoned.
*jobs* program
...and perhaps an excellent signpost for the end of this empire?