HAMMER: As UN forces marched north, there was evidence of the Chinese joining the conflict. Despite the evidence, General MacArthur and his staff believed “the Chinese would not dare intervene” They assessed that they lacked the Military capability to bring significant forces into the conflict and even if that was possible the US air superiority would make quick work of them. What do you think we are “wishing away”? What are capability or piece of equipment are we putting too much reliance on?

As engineer1-5 said, there are multiple issues we are “wishing away” here on the Korean Peninsula. I agree whole heartedly with the communications argument made in his response. It almost seems at times that we rely on cell phones for all communications. From my perspective, I believe the biggest issue we are “wishing away” is the maintenance of the equipment passed from unit to unit. We have done a tremendous job of turning this issue around for our fleet. However, I believe with the lack of funds and disbelief in an actual fight, units are scrubbing numbers and falsifying the true state of the equipment here in Korea. To jump back to the communications, we have multiple radios that are either being worked on, being coded our, or can’t talk more than a few hundred meters. We currently have no money to train, much less maintain and keep our fleets at a “fight tonight” standard. If actually deployed, I believe the lack of logistical focus will be a huge drawback in our capabilities to fight and sustain a war, but that is a whole different argument in itself. Overall, the biggest “wish” here in Korea would be that we actually have “fight tonight” capabilities, and that is far from true.