thanks for the story It seems like the status quo for today's US military. The time has come for a major round of firings(and/or disciplining) of the top leadership. Unfortunately Bush doesn't seem to be the type of guy who can do that. (CIA director Tenet should have been fired after 9-11) Here's a link to more of the same.... click the "NTC Sham test" link http://www.sftt.org/dw08212002.html#2

From my own experience, including some time spent with a US Army formation that some consider "elite", I can say that when I was in, about 15 years ago, rigged wargames and ARTEPS were the norm rather than the exception. I remember one MOUTEX I was involved in where a general was watching, and the thing was virtual choreography. In the year that I spent with this bunch, we never once did an exercise with an aggressive and intelligent OPFOR that allowed for maximum exercise flexibility. It was mainly walk from here to there, and hope your CO doesn't get you lost. I soured heavily on the whole thing quickly. I should say that it appears our ground forces have aqquitted themselves well in the past years, note that this time was before the Gulf War; and all of the standard complaints that troops make about leaders, and leaders about troops, were in vogue: "Training's too soft, the troops aren't trying... Boy, when I was a private...", and the troops thought these dinosaurs couldn't lead anyone to the corner to get the newspapers, much less into combat. It has been said that the US Army is the hardest army to fight against, because we never do as we plan and wind up improvising, hence; it is hard for an opponent to reckon how to fend us off. And, our individualistic culture leads to a lot of good improvisers in the field, which perhaps overcomes some of the training weak spots. One of the most refreshing things about this story is that the officers were willing to stand up, walk out, and call the powers that be on the fakery. That, I feel, would not have happened in any of the situations I experienced. And this has to be a good sign for the Army's leadership.

Yeah, but the point is that the ones that walked out weren't serving officers. They were ex-military civilians with nothing to lose. The time to cheer is when serving officers raise their heads above the parapet instead of going along with farces like this.