Re: Is today's military stretched too thin to be effective? Depends on how many new fronts get opened up, by us or by others, no?

On the other hand, it'd be difficult to recall (as far as I know of) a nation which is as militarized as America is today... taking ALL police, military reserves & guard, militia, ROTC, security guards, hunters, law enforcement (like ATF, FBI etc.), intel gathering agencies, veteran organizations, customs, border patrol, private eyes, airport screeners, concealed carry permittees and ADDING them to the active duty Marines, Air, Coast Guard, Navy and Army... it makes for quite an enormous at-the-ready force. Push come to shove, and the right leader at that moment in time, my hunch is that we'd have more barrels pointed in the right direction than would truly be necessary... at least here at home.

And, as some have stated elsewhere, if they really need some help, they could just let us old fogey's re-up to handle the behind scenes duty and free up fighters.

Re: Is today's military stretched too thin to be effective? There's something to be said for spreading forces, so long as there is an adequate supply line and the backfilling of deployed forces is maintained. Just as we preposition war-ready materiels in places like Diego Garcia for more rapid reaction, having troops in potential hot spots can, if used wisely in combat mobility mode, act as an enhancement to any quick reaction force. It can allow you to get there "Firstest with the mostest," as NB Forrest noted. And first with the most usually controls the field of battle.

Jake