US army consists of about 500.000 soldiers. It is divided into 10 active fighting divisions.

Each division is around 15.000 soldiers.

15.000 * 10 = 150.000 soldiers

WTF are the other 350.000 doing?

Support personal???

Clerical, logistics, communications, any number of things....

Keep in mind though...ALL of them still go through basic training, and retraining. Just a quick example, I have a friend in the reserves who does payroll clerking, yet she had to just get recertified in the M16, hehe....

depending on the unit...the number of support to combat troops is around 6-8 to 1.........that ain't alot of trained combat troops to spread around.......

oh my god...

so on average the 7th soldier is a combat soldier....dear lord...that sucks

And I thought you yankees were effective

It's better than it was. During the VN war the "teeth-to-tail" ratio was about 20-1

The Army's mentality is every soldier is a combat soldier, just that they are specialized in certain roles. This is because they're are no longer "front lines like in Korea or WWII, but support troops are just as likely to be attacked.
Even support troops get a fair ammount of weapons training. Each platoon still will have 1-2 people certified on either the M-60 or M-249 S.A.W. Also at least once a year every soldier has to recertify on the M-16.

Originally posted by Kim78
oh my god...

so on average the 7th soldier is a combat soldier....dear lord...that sucks

And I thought you yankees were effective

We are. If you look past the knee jerk reaction, you may realize that we are THE BEST SUPPLIED army in the world, and it is because of all those support troops. What the hell good is a combat soldier if he has no fuel for his vehicle, no ammo, no food, no pay, no religion, no medical help, no mechanics, no water, no mail, ect., ect., ect.

Many countries claim to have better trained soldiers but this does them no good if they cant afford to give that soldier a weapon and food, or get him his mail and religious service to keep up the morale. And what the hell good is the "best tank in the world" if it has no fuel or mechanic to keep it fighting? North Korean troops have to rob China's banks just to eat.


Efficient no.
Effective yes.

And somebody has to take all the beer and fast food outlets to their rear areas for their R&R.Still can`t get that image out of my head of combat troops near the front line cueing to get pizza`s from a pizza hut trailer

Even the Navy has examples of this. A aircraft carrier has a crew of about 5000 with perhaps a 100+ pilots. That whole crew has to work just to keep a small number of planes up in the air.

I think most countries will have a ratio somewhat like this. Its just the way modern militaries work.

this reminds me of the book starship troopers and the Mobile Infantry.

In the book it says unlike the armies of the 20th century, everyone in the mobile infantry fights from the cook to the chaplain to the deskjob man. Everyone drops, everyone works and everyone fights.

Every other job is given to civilians to supply the military.

quite an interesting read and a great book, highly recommended.

thanks,
drfunk

[edit on 11-9-2004 by drfunk]

I think everyone in a GS position for the US military needs to be fired and put a military person in their spot....... GS employees are spoiled get too many breaks and are waaaayyyyyy overpaid (if you wonder where your tax dollars go look there)

Originally posted by ShadowXIX
Even the Navy has examples of this. A aircraft carrier has a crew of about 5000 with perhaps a 100+ pilots. That whole crew has to work just to keep a small number of planes up in the air.

I think most countries will have a ratio somewhat like this. Its just the way modern militaries work.

Western armies are very A$$ heavy, gotta be able to supply the beer and cigarettes to the man on the line. Just look at Vietnam.

500.000 that's not a lot of ground troops I the army. Does anyone know how many reserves we have just incase they are needed? And the remaining 350 are cooks and the people who supply all of the essential supplies.

USA combined sections of the military military.


For the year 2005


1,566,300 Active personnel
456,800 Guard
680,466 Civilian
404,100 Reserves

Total 3,107,666 personnel in total. 205,000 Are Army Reserves.350,000 National Guard.

[edit on 12-9-2004 by weirdo]

Originally posted by weirdo
USA combined sections of the military military.


For the year 2005


1,566,300 Active personnel
456,800 Guard
680,466 Civilian
404,100 Reserves

Total 3,107,666 personnel in total. 205,000 Are Army Reserves.350,000 National Guard.

heh Compare that to china


1000000000000000 Soldiers
1000000000000000 Farmers
1000000000000000 Civilian workers
1000000000000000 Rice Fields



Does a soldier really need good rations? Just look at the asian countries their armies feed off of purely rice, Why can't the american soldiers fight off of Hamburgers or Hot Dogs? Some thing american you know?

Originally posted by SpockO_o

Originally posted by weirdo
USA combined sections of the military military.


For the year 2005


1,566,300 Active personnel
456,800 Guard
680,466 Civilian
404,100 Reserves

Total 3,107,666 personnel in total. 205,000 Are Army Reserves.350,000 National Guard.

heh Compare that to china


1000000000000000 Soldiers
1000000000000000 Farmers
1000000000000000 Civilian workers
1000000000000000 Rice Fields



Does a soldier really need good rations? Just look at the asian countries their armies feed off of purely rice, Why can't the american soldiers fight off of Hamburgers or Hot Dogs? Some thing american you know?

Nothing a few nukes coudn`t sort out