Dutch Troops say 'Bang Bang' in ammo shortage

Wow ... thats bad when they cant even afford bullets to train with ....... guess time to go back to using swords and spears ....... though funny how the politicians can always afford new mansions and mercedes benzes for their mistresses .......

It is amazing how other nation's military forces do things. One of the better books I read about the 1991 war had a chapter about Saudi ground forces ..or semi-professional bullet stoppers, as they might be more properly called there.

What stands out the most was the description of their live fire exercises. Apparently the American officers were just standing in utter disbelief. It wasn't the Chinese fire drill things appeared to have been, or the fact they take little breaks to ease their efforts during a warm day (golly..I hope ISIS does the same..lol). What stuck out the most was the fact the Saudi Officers were brutal about policing up the brass, or collecting every empty shell casing they had ejected into the sand during the exercise. This..from a nation that, back then anyway, could (and did) throw billions in pure entertainment of the Royal family members without a second thought. They were so CHEAP about their armed forces (or so distrustful..which may be more accurate) they gimped them to the point of being little more than kids with guns for training levels.

Then again..I think of the Sequester (WHICH IS STILL IN EFFECT...not that anyone even notices anymore) and the lack of training to our Navy, Air Force for certain, and likely ground forces as well ..and wonder... are we really still that superior? Men are only as good as their training, and if experience in our military has hit the door to leave the building? Well..how many cycles of people would it take to fall into something other nations laugh at us for? Not near as many as some think, I fear.

I keep hearing this 'drones are the future' thing....but then turn the page to find more headlines about drones.....crashing, failing, hitting the wrong things, or being captured in ways that "are totally impossible!".

If troops are to be replaced by drones in the West? We would do better to surrender our positions now, so we have all our fighting men alive and intact to regroup and retake what was lost. fighting with drones as our front line may be the worst military disaster since the Battle of Dunkirk.

Time will tell....

messageforall,

You're right there, and I shouldn't be so quick to look at military drones as the part time shooters flying them out of Creech, Nevada or from a trailer on a Qatar airfield. Those are the amateurs and walk-in hires put into a seat and told to kill what the computer or chart tells them needs killing from half a world away.

Perhaps...and I'm serious in considering this here...that is actually a deliberate impression we're supposed to take? I mean, they use those guys up and throw them away, as evidenced by how they gleefully shared confirmed kill numbers with one ..and basically broke him right there, in some ways, by learning it.

I suppose it is quite possible, if not likely, that we have far more advanced drones, far more skilled crews, and far better operation centers than what the public has ever seen, or the 'button pushers' are trained for or ever shown to be aware of?

Perhaps not...but perhaps you are right in some of that being how it actually exists out there.