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?

It seems to me that the Army is wishing away our limitations, and the necessity for proper training required to accomplish the tasks it will ask of us in the event we must go to War in the north, similar to the viewpoint of General Dean in the initial US involvement in the War that the nK forces would just surrender upon the sight of US soldiers, and certainly not be better than us because that would be impossible. As Lieutenant Cortes discusses and lays out quite clearly, we are not properly trained for any of the tasks that the United States Army, 8th Army, and the 2nd Infantry Division expects us to be. It seems as though we hold the belief that because we talk about the things we plan to do, that we will magically become experts at them. While that doesn’t mean we need to spend 10,000 hours on the tasks we need to train, we at least need the time on those weapons systems (M4, M249, M240, etc.) as well as time to train maneuver of our BFVs in sections. As infantrymen we understand that the Army expects us and needs us to be a swiss army knife, a jack of all trades, but it seems as though we are expecting to become experts without putting in the work to get there. Instead of putting the time in to become proficient in one or two tasks, we have become “familiar” with many. I think the US Army is wishing away the limitations we have as a unit not just in training, but also in it’s support of us, most importantly in the aspect of the very real chemical threat the nK Army holds.

The threat of a chemical attack in the North is a very serious one, as evident with our continuous training in MOPP gear and our wearing of gas masks every week. However, the Army is incapable of producing the necessary equipment for us to function in a chemical environment. In addition to not having the proper equipment to even hydrate ourselves, there is no doubt in my mind that over 90% of our formation has any faith in the systems and organizations responsible for properly treating them in the possible scenario they become contaminated. While there are several examples I could point to, these are two things that I personally see at my level that the Army seems to be wishing away the most. Regardless of what we or I feel we need to be “properly” trained, we are still far more capable of an organization than when we originally came to the peninsula and I believe we will be successful in whatever task that may be asked of us.