Army begins training for next war – may be much different, bigger: Selective Service reignites registration campaign

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Utopia: the Collapse

October 2015 – WASHINGTON – Are they ready to start thinking about the next war — maybe even The Big One? You hope it wouldn’t be World War III, but you have to prepare for the worst,” said Lt. Gen. Robert B. Brown, commanding General of the Army’s Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth. “We need to be ready to play against the pro teams, not just the amateurs.” By that he means a nation such as North Korea, even Russia. A ‘pro team’ could even be a band of radicals with the means to acquire nation-like resources in a hurry — such as those fighters who call themselves the Islamic State, recruiting through the global reach of the Web. In Army-speak, the training needed to fight that brand of enemy is shifting away from ‘mission-specific’ toward ‘decisive action.’ And that requires the reacquainting of soldiers with epic battle plans featuring tanks, surface-to-air missiles, Apache choppers and military precision exercised over a broad and rugged terrain.

“That skill set has perished,” said Timothy D. Livsey, Fort Riley’s deputy garrison commander. “It’s a paradigm shift for the Army,” Livsey said. “With Iraq and Afghanistan, it was all about COIN — counterinsurgency. We still need to train for that. But we also have to get back to bread-and-butter skills such as precise artillery, precise gunnery. Fort Riley officials say decisive-action training blends yesterday’s emphasis on battlefield prowess with the people skills required of troops more recently focused on counterinsurgency. At a time when U.S. military action has become defined by targeted airstrikes, ships jockeying in the South China Sea and a reluctance to place boots on the ground, the Army is seeking to reassert itself on the strategic stage, experts say. –Military

Sign of the times: About a week ago, Selective Service pamphlets began showing up again in U.S. Post Offices across the country. With conflicts on the rise across the globe, the U.S. program has once again shifted into high gear to register all eligible U.S. males, legal and illegal, between the ages of 18-25 in the event a U.S. military draft becomes necessary. The timing of the move is sure to raise questions about what may be shortly coming down the pipe in terms of an “inevitable” global conflict. –Utopia

Register now: You are not officially registered until your registration information is entered into Selective Service registration file and you have been assigned a Selective Service registration number. Then, you will receive in the mail a registration acknowledgment letter with your card showing the information recorded in your file, your Selective Service registration number, and a change of information form.

If any of the information on your registration acknowledgment card is incorrect, it is important that you correct it and mail the change of information form back to Selective Service. This registration acknowledgment card is your proof of registration with the Selective Service System. Keep this important document in your permanent files for future reference. –U.S. Selective Service