Some of the things I hate…

…about what they're doing to my Army, culled from an important piece by William Astore.

Suicides have hit record highs in the Army.

Cases of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression, having reached an alarming 300,000 in 2008, continue to escalate.

Traumatic brain injuries from IEDs and other explosive shocks may already exceed 300,000.

Divorce rates among active duty troops continue to climb.

An epidemic of domestic violence and crime has been linked to returning veterans and to the difficulty of readjusting to "normal" life.

If that's not enough, Astore, a retired USAF Lieutenant Colonel, also looks at declining enlistment standards and the decimation of our corps of commissioned and non-commissioned officers.

They broke my Army, and all the magnetic ribbons in the world can't patch it up.

Yep.

Richard Allen Smith at VetVoice...

Blackwater Xe is not a private security contracting firm. Call them what they are: mercenaries.

Well, that, and a national disgrace. Even with the back door draft and inadequate dwell times, we can't raise and sustain sufficient forces to pursue our so-called "necessary" war without mercs.

Another reason that I hate what they've done to my Army.