I was just thinking...if these wars end and all of these guys head home..if our unemployment is bad now...what's it going to look like when they all return? Do anyone know any of the numbers?
you have landed on one of the reasons we haven't been that eager to end these wars
Quote from: Garden guy on May 15, 2011, 04:00:38 PM
I was just thinking...if these wars end and all of these guys head home..if our unemployment is bad now...what's it going to look like when they all return? Do anyone know any of the numbers?
If the wars end the military will just be deployed back here, they will not be unemployed unless the size of the military is decreased. What will change is the cost - it costs over $1 million a year to deploy one soldier in Afghanistan.
Source? What do you think it costs for a soldier stationed in CONUS?
I don't think it costs near that much. Not counting salary, which will vary with rank and experience, additional costs per person to house and supply in Afghanistan vs. a CONUS base is probably no greater than double.
The real high end costs is not the soldiers but the air and tech side.
Still just thinking out loud. What does "wars end" mean? No more ground troops? Just advisors? No air support? No military assistance at all? Do you think "the war" will really be over if we just bring all of our military back to CONUS or Europe? Or will we be attacked again? If so, will we have to retake the same ground again?
Thoughts?
In terms of unemployment, i believe its a new venture in terms of a volunteer army. It has been noted as an economical phenomena of "post war depression" after the end of a war. Many historians associated such with the defeat of President Carter, as he suffered from the lag of the vietnam war. Which also defeated Gerald Ford. Is this going to occur again? i dont think so as are armed forces are voluntary and wont be discharged.
What tufsu said, war being over doesn't mean military folks go back home and are unemployed, just means they get moved elsewhere.
I imagine there's also some turnover, people being done with their obligation and leaving, and new folks signing up.
Quote from: NotNow on May 15, 2011, 06:08:40 PM
Source? What do you think it costs for a soldier stationed in CONUS?
I don't think it costs near that much. Not counting salary, which will vary with rank and experience, additional costs per person to house and supply in Afghanistan vs. a CONUS base is probably no greater than double.
The $1million per soldier per year in Afghanistan comes from http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/02/22/am-the-cost-of-a-soldier-deployed-in-afghanistan/
Interesting. They are just taking the total budget and dividing by the numbers of military persons assigned. There is no context for CONUS based personnel, and no context for the political, military aid, and infrastructure work involved. Lies, damn lies, and statistics. While it certainly costs more to field a soldier today than in WW2, that is due to transportation, improved equipment, and better training. (In other words, lasers cost more than iron sights.) Thanks for your reference, but this one doesn't ring true for me.
Quote from: NotNow on May 15, 2011, 09:55:54 PM
Interesting. They are just taking the total budget and dividing by the numbers of military persons assigned. There is no context for CONUS based personnel, and no context for the political, military aid, and infrastructure work involved. Lies, damn lies, and statistics. While it certainly costs more to field a soldier today than in WW2, that is due to transportation, improved equipment, and better training. (In other words, lasers cost more than iron sights.) Thanks for your reference, but this one doesn't ring true for me.
They're taking the total amount listed in the DOD budget as allocated to the overseas actions and dividing it by the number of troops deployed. Which would seem, well, perfectly reasonable. What doesn't ring true about that? How else would you possibly calculate it?
When deciding to pull troops out, I would calculate actual costs of maintaining those troops in theatre. I would not include the cost of maintaining aircraft, drones, etc. I would also not include the political costs such as infrastructure building and such. These things plus the training of locals will continue long after most combat units are redeployed home, so the costs of these on a "per troop" basis means very little.
Quote from: Garden guy on May 15, 2011, 04:00:38 PM
I was just thinking...if these wars end and all of these guys head home..if our unemployment is bad now...what's it going to look like when they all return? Do anyone know any of the numbers?
like 72% ::)
Not all combat sorties start and end in theater. The strategic bomers start in Nebraska and end in Nebraska. Tankers refuel them on the way from some conus and overseas locations.