Shut off their Air Conditioning for the Military

[Duncan]

Cost of air conditioning for U.S. troops in MidEast more than NASA budget | The Raw Story

Oh boy will I catch it here ... shut it off .
Save the money .
Dad went without while training in the Mojave Desert for the bounce to Europe .
I've worked on the farm and went to school and lived in home without as a kid with out it .
Many others have too .
Save the money . They can do what people use to do in Arizona before AC .
When you go to bed at night ... wet down a sheet and put it over you .
OK ... I'll give a little ... let them have Swamp Coolers they are cheaper .
If things get bad enough maybe they will just say I want out or I quit .
That would be one way to end the war that ain't .

Side note , If we still had a draft I believe that this war would all ready be over .
If you FORCED people to go men and WOMEN . This war - sorry military conflict , would not sustain the desire of the public .
Bring home a NON VOLUNTEER in a casket and watch how families react .
I think that would have been interesting to see.
Bring home some dead women ... ( mothers ) and see just how bad this country wants this war that ain't.

As long as it " Ain't my Janie dying in a war " ... it's OK enough not to complain , be concerned or call my congressman .
As long as the tax rate does not go up to pay for the cost of this conflict ... it's Ok because it don't affect me .
As long as I don't suffer there is no conflict .. at least from a day to day existence .

Duncan

Addendum : 7-5-11
I could not believe the amount of hits this thing got .
Around 24 hrs it was at about 1000 .
I expected to get some screaming and criticism from my basic statement of
shut off the AC ...
But this amount of traffic and conversation in general ... and I have not read say 15 or 20 ... I don't have the time .
I understand some people wanting to shoot the messenger here .. ME .
Is this subject really worth all this attention ?
I guess I'm just slow ... I don't understand a bunch of you guys .
Well if I set the stage to entertain some of you ... so much the better .
Thanks
Duncan

 

[superjoe76]

Or, end all of these endless wars and save a ton of money, not to mention priceless lives.

 

[Kutnupe14]

Let them keep their AC. $20 Million to keep all the troops cool, no issue. Money well spent. You can't compare the standards used during WW2 to those used now, especially considering the training you dad did was prior to his deployment to Europe. Subpar living conditions, when considering a standard, lead to subpar soldiers.

The price of one F15.... $29 million

 

[j706]

Cost of air conditioning for U.S. troops in MidEast more than NASA budget | The Raw Story

Oh boy will I catch it here ... shut it off .
Save the money .
Dad went without while training in the Mojave Desert for the bounce to Europe .
I've worked on the farm and went to school and lived in home without as a kid with out it .
Many others have too .
Save the money . They can do what people use to do in Arizona before AC .
When you go to bed at night ... wet down a sheet and put it over you .
OK ... I'll give a little ... let them have Swamp Coolers they are cheaper .
If things get bad enough maybe they will just say I want out or I quit .
That would be one way to end the war that ain't .

Side note , If we still had a draft I believe that this war would all ready be over .
If you FORCED people to go men and WOMEN . This war - sorry military conflict , would not sustain the desire of the public .
Bring home a NON VOLUNTEER in a casket and watch how families react .
I think that would have been interesting to see.
Bring home some dead women ... ( mothers ) and see just how bad this country wants this war that ain't.

As long as it " Ain't my Janie dying in a war " ... it's OK enough not to complain , be concerned or call my congressman .
As long as the tax rate does not go up to pay for the cost of this conflict ... it's Ok because it don't affect me .
As long as I don't suffer there is no conflict .. at least from a day to day existence .

Duncan

Forget dad, where did you take your training?

 

[Fletch]

End the wars, put the already desert-trained troops on the Mexican border, solve two problems at once. Arizona is a shorter supply chain than Afghanistan.

 

[badwolf.usmc]

Ducan:

Forced or volunteer has nothing to do with it. In WWII, ~2/3 of those who fought were drafted while in Vietnam it was ~1/3, do a google search and look it up.

The article cites 20 billion as the cost per year to deliver fuel to the troops, and part of that fuel is used to power AC. The military has been looking for alternatives,
http://kitup.military.com/2010/12/solar-tents-charging-into-the-army.html , but the fact of modern war is that it requires alot of fuel.

 

[iChokePeople]

If things get bad enough maybe they will just say I want out or I quit .
That would be one way to end the war that ain't .

Wow. Seriously not with you on anything in this post, but particularly the point above. Almost wondering whether you meant it purple, and hoping you did. How about this, instead -- we shut off AC to the White House and all government offices and let the troops keep theirs...? Why not put the discomfort and the pain of the decisions on someone who can actually influence them? I probably should stop before I go off on a rant about the original suggestion.

 

[cordex]

Let them keep their AC. $20 Million to keep all the troops cool, no issue. Money well spent. You can't compare the standards used during WW2 to those used now, especially considering the training you dad did was prior to his deployment to Europe. Subpar living conditions, when considering a standard, lead to subpar soldiers.

The price of one F15.... $29 million

I think you missed three zeros, Kutnupe.

 

[Dave Doehrman]

Wow. Seriously not with you on anything in this post, but particularly the point above.

Sorry guys, but I have to agree with the OP on shutting down the A/C. Not to speed up the end of the war, but for the safety and welfare of our troops. Warriors need to be acclimated to the conditions they are fighting in. You can't expect our troops to sleep and relax in air conditioned barracks and then engage in combat in 100 degree conditions. Heat stroke and fatigue will set in rendering our troops helpless.

I trained in southern California in the summer and then served in Viet Nam. I can't tell you how many times we watched the FNGs drop from heat stroke and heat exhaustion on their first few patrols. It took 3-4 weeks for someone to get used to the heat and humidity. The last I heard, we weren't fighting in air conditioned combat zones.

 

[Kutnupe14]

I think you missed three zeros, Kutnupe.

oops, I did.. it is billion. Still, that doesnt change my opinion. But hell, that's not the actual cost of running the units, that's the entire infrastructure. Surely there's tons of overlap.

 

[M88A1]

Duncan,

Please tell me when and where you were deployed? I so want to flame you right now but I'm holding back...If you have been there and done it I think you can have an opinion....We will disagree but at least you were there. The Raw Story and NPR if you get anymore left your going to fall over...

M88A1

DS/DS 90-91 NO AC
OIF 03-04 Captured AC run off Iraqi grid power
OIF 07-08 1st time AC in vehicle/FOB

 

[CombatVet]

Yeah we had some AC when I was over seas, and while I really enjoyed it, it wasn't needed. I could see putting AC in some of the Medic units for obvious reasons, but as long as you had shade, things weren't so bad. It was a dry heat at least.

I think the argument for AC is that with AC you can have windowless units that allow for light at night, which in turn allows for easier light discipline. Not that I agree with it.

 

[iChokePeople]

Sorry guys, but I have to agree with the OP on shutting down the A/C. Not to speed up the end of the war, but for the safety and welfare of our troops. Warriors need to be acclimated to the conditions they are fighting in. You can't expect our troops to sleep and relax in air conditioned barracks and then engage in combat in 100 degree conditions. Heat stroke and fatigue will set in rendering our troops helpless.

I trained in southern California in the summer and then served in Viet Nam. I can't tell you how many times we watched the FNGs drop from heat stroke and heat exhaustion on their first few patrols. It took 3-4 weeks for someone to get used to the heat and humidity. The last I heard, we weren't fighting in air conditioned combat zones.

For some units, and some missions, I agree with you. But most of our troops are not involved in anything vaguely resembling the suck that you faced in Viet Nam, brother. In any case, if the military establishment came to that conclusion and decided to give it a try, I'd keep my mouth shut, but when proposing it for the reason the OP did, or if the Senate came out with the idea that they were going to cut it (or any other comfort) for our troops while they (our elected 'leadership') keep their limos and perks... Grrr.

 

[ATOMonkey]

I would think that if the cause was just, the conditions wouldn't matter.

I'm a bit of a dreamer though.

 

[ATOMonkey]

I will say though, AC is required in some instances, such as hospitals, and computer rooms.

 

[iChokePeople]

I would think that if the cause was just, the conditions wouldn't matter.

I'm a bit of a dreamer though.

Our warriors would survive and continue the mission in any conditions, but that's not really the point here... the point is taking away what meager comforts our service men and women are allowed, for completely the wrong reason. Another item that should come aay before this on the "let's save money" list is taking away all comforts in the prison system.

 

[ATOMonkey]

Most prisons are privately run now.

 

[ATOMonkey]

I agree that cuts should be made elsewhere as well, but there's only so much money to go around.

 

[E5RANGER375]

soldiers of the past (yes even WWII) didnt fight anywhere near the amount of days our soldiers fight today nor have the amount of gear ect and that is a fact!. I thin k our boys have earned air conditioning. the govts hand is already so far up our bums we wouldnt even feel the change of the savings. its like putting a bandaid on a bullet wound. before we start punishing the selfless and brave american soldier why dont we go after and start punishing the greedy and criminal polititians? there is some savings for ya!

 

[iChokePeople]

Also, to be more clear, this isn't about air conditioning, for me. You could substitute in phrases like "Free snowcones", or "bouncy rooms", or "cotton candy" -- the issue, for me, is when we start taking ANYTHING from our service members to save money when our elected 'leaders' are enjoying the luxuries they enjoy, or when people make a statement like the OP that we should take away a comfort so that our soldiers will be miserable and quit and the war will end... REALLY?! Back in... Oh, I'd guess 1991 or 1992, I had to try to explain to soldiers why congress had given them a miniscule annual adjustment because they thought soldiers make enough in the same year that they voted their own salaries to increase from (numbers might be a little off, I'm old...) about $98k to about $125k. But that's a whole different rant, and I'll stop before I get all worked up.