Iraq, Experience & Reenlistment

Random Thoughts from Outside The Wire:

More of the grunts are reenlisting than I expected. A lot of the guys are ready to do their four and hit the door, but there are more sticking around than I expected at this point.

The Army sure does have a lot of Sergeants and Staff Sergeants--way more than the Marines.

The infantrymen are universally amazing. Even the few who have decided the work is not for them and hate Iraq and the military still do the job well and have not slacked off.

This current crop of Company and Battalion commanders could be one of the best ever. Nearly every company commander in theater has already been a platoon commander in combat. Most of the Battalion commanders have been here previously on a Battalion or Regimental staff.

I ask the officers: "When you joined, did you ever think you would be--acting as a city manager, provincial governor, village sheriff, mediator between tribes, spending so much time talking with the locals?"

They all say no.

They're all doing yeoman's work out there for us.

And as I quoted Tom Donnelly last week, JD Johannes also sounds like Thomas P.M. Barnett when discussing the need for military transformation. Maybe he read The Pentagon's New Map.