The security of our nation has never been more threatened than it is today, under the incompetent leadership of Barack Hussein Obama. The idea that we have one of the most highly trained group of warriors in our US Military paying for their own combat gear is unconscionable. Meanwhile, we are about the spend $50 MILLION or $42,000 per tortoise, to transplant them from a desert in CA to a new environment, where they may or may not survive, is a perfect example of how upside down our nation’s priorities are today…
Breitbart – Congressman Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), a Marine with three combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan on his resume, says Navy SEALs have been telling him they are running short on combat rifles.
The Associated Press reports Hunter describing a “weapons carousel” in which SEALs returning from deployment hand their weapons off to outgoing troops, a practice he described as undermining the “train like you fight” ideal, and disrupting the personal connection special operators develop with their finely-tuned weapons. Hunter stressed the importance of allowing special operators to train with the same weapons they bring into the field.
“As it currently stands, following a deployment, a SEAL will have his weapon taken from him, which has been fine-tuned to certain specifications, and given to a different operator to use. This means that SEALs standing by to deploy are waiting for different teams to come back stateside just so they can use their weapons,” said Hunter.
“They want their rifles. It’s their lifeline. So let them keep their guns until they’re assigned desk jobs at the Pentagon,” the Congressman urged.
According to the Navy Times, some SEALs have been “forced to spend their own money on combat gear. Former active-duty special operator Lt. Cmdr. Sean Matson, visiting Capitol Hill at Hunter’s invitation, said he “had to put up $900 of his own money to buy a high-quality ballistic helmet when the Navy dragged its heels on upgrading his kit.”
Hunter portrayed the SEAL rifle shortage as a consequence of “wasteful spending,” noting that abundant funds for purchasing rifles, which are far less expensive than most of the equipment the military buys, should be available, based on congressional spending authorizations for special ops forces.
Hunter’s chief of staff Joe Kasper told the Navy Times shortages of “optics, night vision, and laser attachments” have also been reported, even as the budget for Navy Special Warfare increased.
“So there are obviously some trade-offs being made, but they’re occurring at the expense of operators and their firepower – and those are the absolute worst trade-offs to make,” said Kasper.
Meanwhile…
Daily Caller – The Marine Corps is getting ready to conduct a massive operation to move hundreds of desert tortoises living on combat training grounds so they won’t be crushed to death by military vehicles.
The operation’s total cost: $50 million to move 1,185 tortoises, or about $42,000 per tortoise.
