Stability vs. strain: Troop relocation plan raises issues for military fam

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=23911


Quality of life for servicemembers could suffer if the Pentagon does not plan properly as it embarks on its plan to redeploy troops from Europe and Asia to stateside bases, one expert said.

Most public schools surrounding military bases in the States already are at or near capacity, with budgets that won’t be able to accommodate an influx of students, said Joyce Raezer, director of government relations for the National Military Family Association.

“It happens with and it’s going to happen with reposturing. They’re going to have the students coming back, mostly from Germany, to various installations, and a lot of the schools already are at capacity.”

“There are so many, so many issues,” she said. Raezer wondered whether the military will have enough medical providers to treat the influx of servicemembers and their families, and will the surge cripple the already-delayed access retirees suffer in getting treatment.

[Zech Marquis]

1. Darth Rummy doesn't care

he's only concerned with missile defense and UAVs, why should he sweat what happens to military families wo will be shipped back stateside to overcrowded schools?

He doesn't, and he won't.

[jackieforthedems]

2. Really Think About It

http://www.buzzflash.com/farrell/04/04/far04011.html

[fearnobush]

3. Correct me if I'm wrong, but did I see Shwartzcroft on Tweety saying

that this was a bad plan, and backing Kerry's stance?

[RamboLiberal]

4. Yes you did - he was not happy about Korea

And at end he refused to say who he is voting for - might the General have seen the light?

MATTHEWS: What do you think of the civilian leadership of the Defense Department that‘s making these decisions, especially Feith, the undersecretary? Tommy Franks wasn‘t too complimentary to him in his recent book. Is your sense that the civilians in the Defense Department now are smart about military tactics, or they‘re hopelessly ideological?

SCHWARZKOPF: Well, I think they have a predetermined concept of exactly what it should be and the roles that they should be playing therein, and sometimes those roles, you know, overlap a little bit, and sometimes they‘re playing soldier when they really shouldn‘t be playing soldier at all. That‘s nothing new. As I said, I‘ve been in the Pentagon...

MATTHEWS: Well, but are these guys particularly un-street smart?

SCHWARZKOPF: Well, I think that, you know, this—the questions you raise about Korea, what‘s it say to North Korea when we pull the troops out of there after—you know, and what‘s it say to the South Koreans—those sort of sensitivities I don‘t think were really considered, or may have been considered and just ignored in coming up with the final plan of what - - you know, the final plan has yet to see what exactly is going to happen and how it‘s going to transpire.

MATTHEWS: Yes.

SCHWARZKOPF: Saying it‘s going to happen is one thing, but making it happen is something entirely different.

If you read the transcript he was not complimentary at all about Rummy and Feith.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5745696/