National Defense Briefs – May 26, 2014

By W. Thomas Smith Jr.

Sixteenth in the series, National Defense Briefs. Each week we bring to readers of MidlandsBiz.com updates aimed at informing with timely military and homeland-security news briefs, trends, definitions, and short commentaries. Defense issues are inextricably connected to business. In that, we present the “National Defense Briefs” that matter.

• The U.S. Marine Corps has again been rated “the most prestigious” military service by the American people in a Gallup poll released Friday. The smallest branch of the traditional American military forces (the fewest number of personnel) with the smallest budget by far, the Marines have held the top spot since Gallup began polling Americans about their perception of “prestige” among the various branches of the U.S. armed forces in 2001 (months before 9/11).
• The U.S. Army – the largest branch with over 540,000 active-duty soldiers (not including the Army Reserve and National Guard, both of which at 205,000 soldiers and 358,000 Army Guardsmen are substantially larger than the 195,000-member Marine Corps) – was rated “the most important” in the same poll. According to Gallup, “26 percent of adults say the U.S. Army is the most important to national defense, and 47 percent name the Marine Corps as the most prestigious branch of the armed forces.” The Washington Times adds, “Importance does not necessarily equal prestige. The Marine Corps has consistently been considered the nation’s most prestigious military branch, even if not the most important, with nearly half of Americans saying they respect Marines the most. The Air Force was a distant second, with 17 percent saying it was the most prestigious branch, said the poll.”

• Though the Army has been deemed “the most important” since 2004, that post was previously held by the U.S. Air Force. America’s perception of the Army’s “importance” over the Air Force is widely said to be a result of the long, arduous ground campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the Army has played a leading role for the past 10-plus years.
• In terms of “importance,” the Army was ranked first by 26 percent of those polled, the Air Force at 23 percent, the Marine Corps at 19 percent, the Navy at 17 percent, and the Coast Guard, though not a part of the U.S. Defense Dept. was also included in the polling at three percent. [See Gallup poll.]
• Delivering the commencement address at the University of Texas, last week, Adm. William H. McRaven, U.S. Navy SEAL and commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, exhorted the new UT graduates to –

“…start off by making your bed. … If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day.

“…find someone to help you paddle.

“…measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flippers.

“…get over being a sugar cookie, and keep moving forward.

“…don’t be afraid of the circuses.

“…[accept that] sometimes you have to slide down the obstacles head-first.

“…don’t back down from the sharks.

“…be your very best in the darkest moments.

“…start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.

“…don’t ever, ever ring the bell.” Meaning don’t ever quit.

• Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej has endorsed Thailand’s army chief, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, who seized power in a coup last week. According to FOX News, Gen. Prayuth “justified the putsch that was declared last Thursday, saying he had to restore order after seven months of violent confrontations and political turmoil between the now-ousted government and demonstrators who had called repeatedly for the army to intervene.”
• Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, commander-in-chief of the Iranian Armed Forces and Iran’s so-titled “supreme leader,” said Sunday, “Battle and jihad are endless because evil and its front continue to exist. …This battle will only end when the society can get rid of the oppressors’ front with America at the head of it, which has expanded its claws on human mind, body and thought. …This requires a difficult and lengthy struggle and need for great strides.”
• The Daily Caller reports, “[Khamenei] all but said, negotiations over the country’s illicit nuclear program are over and that the Islamic Republic’s ideals include destroying America.”

• Yemen’s defense ministry said, Sunday, that Yemen counterterrorism teams supported by Yemeni army troops – and overhead U.S. unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – attacked and killed Al Qaeda terrorist Saleh al-Tays, one of Yemen’s most-wanted terrorists. The AP is reporting, “The military has targeted Al-Tays with operations and airstrikes before. He had been suspected to have been killed before in targeted attacks, including in U.S. drone [UAV] strikes in 2013, 2008 and 2009.”

– W. Thomas Smith Jr. is a military analyst and partner with NATIONAL DEFENSE CONSULTANTS, LLC. Visit him at http://uswriter.com.