I too find that only 6% trust the government less than I do.  Ironic since I work for that government. :-

Not necessarily, I get the impression that I am one of the more Libertarian types in uniform.  I dont serve because of whoever is currently in power.  I am one of those idealists that thinks the principals this country was founded on (as I perceieve them) are worth defending.  As was pointed out on another thread, I swore an oath to the constitution, not a person.  That actually makes the US military unique among militaries, most include a personal oath of some sort to a person be it a president, prime minister, or king.

... makes the US military unique among militaries, most include a personal oath of some sort to a person be it a president, prime minister, or king.

Why our military is the best as well.

One of the things, there are many other qualities that our military has that many others don't.  A very long list indeed, and one that would tend to get technical at times.

Indeed and much the bad guys shouldn't even imagine, much less, hear about.  8)

Unfortunately, with the way the world sees things these days and the way our government is caving in to world pressure, more is exposed than hidden. I am an Army veteran and I work at a US Army base in the directorate of training where training is done from basic skills all the way up to senior level officer training. One of the big things is that a LOT of international students are included in the training. Now, while I understand the concept of working together with other nations, I still do not agree with it's application. Call me old school...So, they not only know what we are training but how we apply it. Anyway... don't want to veer OT, but I believe this ties hand in hand with our government. I could go on a long tirade, but let's just say that my confidence over the years continues to dwindle exponentially.

I don't have a problem working with allies.  They are necessary and they do fight alongside of us, if perhaps not in the numbers we would wish.  Most partner nation militaries I have worked with have nothing but admiration for the US military and want to learn as much as possible so that they can have as good an army as we have.  Mostly what I think they dont get are the intangibles.  They are very good at putting the material things in place but don't do soldier development as well as we do.

This is what I mean, without violating OPSEC.  Soldier development is the intangible piece.  It is taking a young kid straight out of high school and making him not only a trigger puller but someone who can think as well as pull the trigger.  Any idiot can pull the trigger and kill people, it takes smarts and training to get someone to pull the trigger at the right time and kill the right people.  That is what the American army is very good at doing.War is no longer ?take that hill? and has not been for a very long time.  That does not even begin to touch on the intelligence required just to learn how to operate the equipment a modern soldier is equipped with.  I would hazard to guess that the average private today is at least as intelligent and cerebral as Company Commander had to be in WWII.  Our soldiers are expected to think on the battlefield, they are not mindless automatons as those on the left would have us believe.Some of our allied armies approach the American level of professionalism and the rest are running hard to get there.  We are arguably the best at what we do and everybody except the American left will acknowledge that, and even they probably do so behind closed doors.Despite the stories in the press, we do discriminate targets.  I saw a good piece on the front page of Stars and Stripes this morning that pointed out how the Taliban has killed about 3 times as many civilians as the US military but the military killings get all the press.

Wally:Excellent!WillyD