Military Budget Cuts
My name is Ronnie Baker and I’m a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. I am not a Democrat nor am I Republican. I consider myself a Libertarian. I think this is important to state so you know that this letter I’m writing is not an attack on any specific party, it is a letter expressing my disdain for both of the parties. I just wanted to write you and let you know about some of these cuts that are happening to the military so you could research and share this through your outlets which can spread the word more than I can. Now don't get me wrong, I don’t want you to think my letter is a letter talking about how drastic it would be to make any cuts to the military, I think the military needs to make a number of cuts but the ones being made aren't the ones we need.
My old squadron, a pilot training squadron, while I was still active duty used millions and millions of dollars to train pilots with live explosive ordnance on multiple weapons detachments a year. We would often have pilots all caught up on their training and still be flying training missions with high explosive ordnance instead of the inert ordnance that drops identically to the live ordnance just because our squadron practiced the philosophy of “if we don’t use it we lose it.” It was not even required in the training syllabus that we train the pilots with live ordnance. We could have saved millions and millions on less expensive inert ordnance that drop identically to the live ordnance. We were just one of many squadrons that practiced this technique. This to me would be a smarter way to cut military spending. We could also have less military spending by stopping this imperialistic movement our federal government seems to love. Hope and change? I sincerely had hoped that when President Obama was elected he would change all the spending President Bush did in all of this foreign occupation. Instead we just got another leader who has no intention on actually getting us out of all these foreign conflicts that are bankrupting our country. There are also tons of other ways to reduce military spending besides the ways I’m about to share with you that the current administration is reducing them.
The cuts they are asking the Marines I use to work with are absolutely ridiculous. They are already asking squadrons to use port-a-potties outside of work spaces instead of the perfectly fine toilets located in the squadrons. They are cutting chow halls meals down from 3 meals a day to 2 (this has already started in Afghanistan). Barracks Marines do not have power from 0800-1500 (8am-3pm). If every Marine worked during the day I would have no problem with this. Many Marines, specifically on the air wing side, work at night to perform maintenance on aircraft so they are mission ready during the day. Work centers are having power shut off on them for up to 5 hours a day.
Politicians complain about our veterans, like me, not being competitive in the job market but then they went and cut tuition assistance to the Marines on active duty. These budget cuts toss out an entire meal a day for these Marines. Go ahead, I would encourage you to skip one meal every day for the rest of your life and tell me how you feel. Now wake up at 4 am, run a few miles, go to the gym, work twelve hours and then cut a meal out of your day... doesn't seem fair does it? The bottom line is these budget cuts are absurd and not a smart way to do this. They pay their dues, the last thing we need is to be spit on them for it.
The real kicker is Congress will get paid and get their bonuses. The Senate and House of Representatives will still load up on pay checks while they vote for these budget cuts and President Obama will still rack up millions by taking a military aircraft to his private vacation home and campaigning all across the country. God forbid my fellow Marines can take a dump indoors after their only two meals of the day.
Military budget cuts don't stop bombs from being purchased or bullets from being made like I'm sure most think. They don't stop Generals from receiving their pay checks or stop the operational tempo of units. They do, however, stop the troops from being able to use the bathrooms indoors after their only two meals they receive.
I’m not some politician who created an account to get some letter viral on the internet, nor do I work for one. I am, however, a 24 year old veteran currently attending Miami University Ohio who thinks we are going about this the wrong way. When people voted for President Obama because we all wanted less military spending to come as a result of ending our foreign wars, a troop missing dinner or using the bathroom inside weren’t the ways we had envisioned to do these cuts. I’m writing you because I want you to research this, verify that what I am saying is true, and report about it. The President is campaigning all the time, “taking the issues to the people,” and I just want you to help me, fellow veterans, and more importantly the active duty military, take this issue to the people. After all, UCLA spent a $681,387 Air Force grant to conclude that guys holding guns and knives were "studlier" than guys holding power tools. This is our tax money. The people. We should spend our defense money wisely instead of punishing the men and women who are currently fighting for us. If you could do that and help out, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you,
Ronnie Baker
My old squadron, a pilot training squadron, while I was still active duty used millions and millions of dollars to train pilots with live explosive ordnance on multiple weapons detachments a year. We would often have pilots all caught up on their training and still be flying training missions with high explosive ordnance instead of the inert ordnance that drops identically to the live ordnance just because our squadron practiced the philosophy of “if we don’t use it we lose it.” It was not even required in the training syllabus that we train the pilots with live ordnance. We could have saved millions and millions on less expensive inert ordnance that drop identically to the live ordnance. We were just one of many squadrons that practiced this technique. This to me would be a smarter way to cut military spending. We could also have less military spending by stopping this imperialistic movement our federal government seems to love. Hope and change? I sincerely had hoped that when President Obama was elected he would change all the spending President Bush did in all of this foreign occupation. Instead we just got another leader who has no intention on actually getting us out of all these foreign conflicts that are bankrupting our country. There are also tons of other ways to reduce military spending besides the ways I’m about to share with you that the current administration is reducing them.
The cuts they are asking the Marines I use to work with are absolutely ridiculous. They are already asking squadrons to use port-a-potties outside of work spaces instead of the perfectly fine toilets located in the squadrons. They are cutting chow halls meals down from 3 meals a day to 2 (this has already started in Afghanistan). Barracks Marines do not have power from 0800-1500 (8am-3pm). If every Marine worked during the day I would have no problem with this. Many Marines, specifically on the air wing side, work at night to perform maintenance on aircraft so they are mission ready during the day. Work centers are having power shut off on them for up to 5 hours a day.
Politicians complain about our veterans, like me, not being competitive in the job market but then they went and cut tuition assistance to the Marines on active duty. These budget cuts toss out an entire meal a day for these Marines. Go ahead, I would encourage you to skip one meal every day for the rest of your life and tell me how you feel. Now wake up at 4 am, run a few miles, go to the gym, work twelve hours and then cut a meal out of your day... doesn't seem fair does it? The bottom line is these budget cuts are absurd and not a smart way to do this. They pay their dues, the last thing we need is to be spit on them for it.
The real kicker is Congress will get paid and get their bonuses. The Senate and House of Representatives will still load up on pay checks while they vote for these budget cuts and President Obama will still rack up millions by taking a military aircraft to his private vacation home and campaigning all across the country. God forbid my fellow Marines can take a dump indoors after their only two meals of the day.
Military budget cuts don't stop bombs from being purchased or bullets from being made like I'm sure most think. They don't stop Generals from receiving their pay checks or stop the operational tempo of units. They do, however, stop the troops from being able to use the bathrooms indoors after their only two meals they receive.
I’m not some politician who created an account to get some letter viral on the internet, nor do I work for one. I am, however, a 24 year old veteran currently attending Miami University Ohio who thinks we are going about this the wrong way. When people voted for President Obama because we all wanted less military spending to come as a result of ending our foreign wars, a troop missing dinner or using the bathroom inside weren’t the ways we had envisioned to do these cuts. I’m writing you because I want you to research this, verify that what I am saying is true, and report about it. The President is campaigning all the time, “taking the issues to the people,” and I just want you to help me, fellow veterans, and more importantly the active duty military, take this issue to the people. After all, UCLA spent a $681,387 Air Force grant to conclude that guys holding guns and knives were "studlier" than guys holding power tools. This is our tax money. The people. We should spend our defense money wisely instead of punishing the men and women who are currently fighting for us. If you could do that and help out, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you,
Ronnie Baker
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