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From the forums

LT. TRAINING NIXED

I’m a bit nervous with how my class is going to be received when we get to our units. They nixed hand grenades and Basic Rifle Marksmanship at Leadership Development and Assessment Course, things I think are basic soldier skills. A bit concerning, especially since Basic Officer Leadership Course II is also being eliminated. I’ve heard BOLC II is all but a joke from second lieutenants who have been there, but I’m a bit concerned about being under-prepared for leading my soldiers.

— GOARMY06

STAY-AT-HOME MOM

I, too, am a single-military parent with two kids and six sisters, who all said, “Sure I will help, no problem we will be here for you.” But when the time came, all of a sudden it was just not a good time. I did eventually get care, but it was difficult. Give the girl a break — she notified someone in her command and asked for just a little more time to get the care for her child that he deserves, but was denied. He doesn’t deserve to be thrown into foster care so his mom can deploy, because if that’s what is being asked of us now on top of all our other sacrifices, I don’t want a part of it. We give enough.

— ArmyChick22

OBAMA’S AFGHANISTAN SPEECH

As much as I disagree with [Sen. John] McCain on a multitude of issues, he did nail one important point: Timetables [should not be] arbitrarily set; victory and success are what determine timetables. So with no goals expressed for Afghanistan, coupled with an erroneous timetable, I do not see how this plan is any better (or different for that matter) than the Iraq invasion in 2003. The only difference is the timetable, which I believe will eventually be cast aside.

— Variable Wind

I thought the speech was very good. I know a lot of people are hung up on the July 2011 issue, but he said that is a target date to begin pulling out. The additional 30,000 was conditioned on the situation and could be phased over an extended period of time. The president has a nuanced understanding of the situation. Obama also did a good job of explaining and reminding us why we are in Afghanistan by discussing [the] Sept. 11 [attacks], that the Taliban was harboring al-Qaida and that Operation Enduring Freedom has NATO Article 5 and United Nations Security Council approval (i.e. international legitimacy).

— Nickymaz