what will those in .mil do if/when the money is no good?
Default by .gov at this point is no longer 'if', but 'when...'
Your paycheck, as well as mine, will be worthless.
If it gets bad enough & for those overseas, ie: the sandbox, how wil they get home?
Do the troops ever sit around and discuss these things?
Wil.
This is actually a subject I've put a lot of thought into.
If economic collapse happened to me while I was in Afghanistan my plan was to walk North to Russia, or Southeast to India. India being by far the easier walk. This was assuming that for some reason the government of the United States just ceased to exist. This was my last ditch, no hope for help from anywhere plan. I gave myself about a 2% odds of success. It wasn't a good plan, but with the assets I had available on my own it was all I had.
However, when a .gov collapses normally the .mil is spared the ravages of collapse for a little while. I think it was in "Starship Troopers" where Soldiers fighting for the US Government were just abandoned overseas after a ceasefire was declared. Somehow the veterans made their way home and took over government....
If a large body of disciplined fighting men were unconstrained in the mayhem that they could unleash upon the steppes of Asia, it wouldn't be the first time. From the Mongols, to the Tar Tars, to the Cossacks, a large number of English speaking professionals would immediately form the biggest, baddest tribe around and start flexing muscle to get home.
My odds of getting home as a member of the biggest baddest tribe to move out of central Asia are much better than me doing it alone. And before anyone wants to bring up the British retreat from Kabul, there aren't too many American Commander's that will not secure the high ground to secure passage through a valley. After all, that is the role of scouts, cavalry, light infantry, and snipers.
Still, I would like to think that the collapse wouldn't be so sudden as to catch everyone with their pants down, especially given how much warning we have.
8 comments:
I see. I surely like to think that an American officer would step up and become an American Xenophon. And I have no doubt that a corps of American fighting men in the Central Asian steppes would be the "baddest tribe" around.
Remember the Frozen Chosin...
Recent (well, 2008) novel in which this plays out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Centurion
Not fun, but a fun read.
+1 on John Ringo's book "The Last Centurion" ... describes EXACTLY that scenario. Loved it.
Also check out Rawles' "Survivors" for a similar scenario.
I have thought about this some and will write about it later.
You all are at the end of a very long logistics trail. A supply line which runs on the .gov credit card. When, not if, that credit card is no longer accepted at "fine establishments everywhere". It is going to be a rough ride for all of us. I can 'bug out' to get home from work, for you all it is at it's very worst, as you said a very long walk home. I share the same view as you in that while we are not at the beginning of the end, to borrow a quote we are at "the end of the biginning" of it. I suspect things will muddle along slowly towards that end but once we get to 'when', it will cascade very quickly.
It is almost heartbreaking for me to contemplate this, way back when I served these notions were literally beyond impossible. Now it's a very harsh reality and I often wonder about those overseas, as thier situation is going to be that much tougher than us here.
Wil.
I would expect that the troops here in CONUS might be provided with food and other necessities - perhaps even for their families - for a while longer than a paycheck is available. Even if it is in the form of MREs. I can certainly envision many troops staying out of loyalty to their oaths and the bond of brothers in arms, as well as the realization that they are more protected by staying together than leaving and trying to make it solo.
Add the possibility that some officers - or even non-coms - might decide to commandeer or loot civilian assets in order to keep their commands functional, and it might get messy. I would expect many in the military to join in if that is the only way they could feed their families.
Now, if we could only get them to concentrate on the homes of registered Democrats, SEIU union members, and Lefties who hate the military, it wouldn't be so bad. The downside to that is that the pickings would be very slim, since the collectivists all expected .gov to take care of _them_, too.
So, NSA (or DHS), having tracked those of us who prep, thanks to info gleaned via credit/debit card purchases, Google records of on-line purchases, records from canneries, etc., the Feds know just where to go. Those lists go out to NorthCom, and the troops and/or FEMA with armed FDA "agents", armed IRS agents, armed Dept of Agriculture or Education "agents", pay us a visit, because EO #such-and-so states all assets in the country are theirs, to confiscate and then dispense as they see fit.
That should be even easier than house-to-house searches.
Sounds like paranoia, doesn't it? I certainly hope it is, but I'm not willing to bet on it.
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