Staying Nauseated.

I continue to deconstruct this piece of the US (or rather 404) military propaganda by these US Army colonels who have no clue, as is expected. Ask oneself, what is the litmus test for US military complex of inferiority? Easy--ask any US servicemen, especially officers, what's so bad about Russian Armed Forces and they immediately expose their sheer ignorance--like this:

I addressed it before, I will address it again--all this "but US Army has best NCOs in the world" talk is a complete nonsense. Nothing but propaganda. Obviously these US Army Colonels who were writing this amateurish drivel don't know that Russian Army which fights in former 404 is a CONTRACT Army, for the warmup. In other words--it is a professional army with combat experience US Army simply doesn't have and, obviously, is unable to process. Yes, this new Tank manual by the US Army Daniel Davis and I touched upon in our todays podcast met with a lot of laughter from the Russian side. But that's just one of many examples. But back to Contracts and NCOs. Here is Russia's Defense Minister in December 2024 at the Defense Ministry Collegium:

To this end, systematic work on staffing the Armed Forces continues jointly with the regions. This year alone, more than 427 thousand servicemen have already been signed. On average, more than twelve hundred people sign contracts daily. It is important not to lose the momentum of this process. I would like to note that an integral part of troop staffing is the combat training of new contract soldiers. It is necessary to introduce new methods of action and techniques into it that have shown high efficiency in the special operation. Also, synchronize troop training activities with the delivery of the latest means of armed struggle. Undoubtedly, special attention must be paid to the provision of reserve regiments – with instructors, weapons, equipment, and ammunition.

So, these are CONTRACT servicemen who are professional soldiers who upon signing the contract go through intense training. Many, if not all, of those combat troops down to a single grunt know about the war more than any US Army NCO. But then, of course, comes this institute of Soviet/Russian Praporschiks and Michmans (warrant officers). These guys ARE better than any NCO anywhere in the US Armed Forces because they vary in their initial study for this rank from a year to three years in special Training Centers or attached to Russia's military academies institutions. They are entirely capable to handle a platoon or even company, plus many are technical specialists who are deeply involved with the use of the weapon systems and training lower rank personnel to operate them, which also implies a command of their units under the overall officer command. 

Here is an example of one of those: 183rd Learning Center of Russian Defense Ministry in Rostov-on-Don. This one does this: 

The training center trains warrant officers under secondary vocational education programs in the following specialties:

"Technical operation of aircraft and engines" - specialists in the operation of aircraft (helicopters) and aircraft engines;

"Special machines and devices" - specialists in the operation of aviation weapons;

"Technical operation of electrified and flight-navigation complexes" - specialists in the operation of aviation equipment;

"Technical operation of transport radio-electronic equipment (by type of transport)" specialists in the operation of radio-electronic equipment

How long? Two years and ten months--34 months. I had several warrant officers under my command when I served. A whole of Russian Navy is professional today too. But you cannot explain this to these Colonels who compiled this "compendium". Russians laugh today (totally justifiably) that NATO (US) decided to fight with the country which is one huge military academy attached to the huge military industrial plant, ah yes--gas station too. Compilers of this "compendium" (of utter BS) should then learn that their statements below: 

... about "personal judgement and experience" (based on what--shooting Afghan civilians and calling on CAS?) are debunked by none other ... than US Army officers who recognized that it is 2025 not 1950. 

How about these Colonels look at the US Army instead:

Since the 1980s, America’s world ranking in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has declined, placing our once unquestioned supremacy in technological innovation and application on par with or behind those of our economic and military adversaries. A recent warning from the Office of the Secretary of Defense Acquisition and Sustainment Industrial Policy declared the paucity of STEM-educated Americans may lead to a “permanent national security deficit.” The lack of STEM education extends to Army officers. In 2018, the Army Strategy assessed the strategic environment to include partners, allies, and adversaries leveraging “advanced capabilities” such as cyber, counter space, electronic warfare, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI). T his assessment has proven true in the Russia-Ukraine War, an artilleryheavy war interwoven with the burgeoning development and implementation of new and evolving technologies that demand innovative thinking, alliances, and strategy informed by STEM+Management (STEM+M)

In general, the US officer corps, forget about NCOs, which comes today through ROTC and OCS programs lags even behind Russian Armed Forces warrant officers in STEM, most of US NCOs will have difficulty operating in Russian Army beyond the basic tactical skills common to all armies. Many forget that ALL US military academies, from USMA at West Point, before it degenerated into academic basket case, USNA, USAF Academy, Coast Guard Academy ARE ALL  engineering schools. At least this is how they have been conceived. 

I remind you how authors describe this graph, which is terrifying:

Here is the quote:

The consequences of this backslide are significant. Figure 2 (below) shows the percentage of officers, by rank, who possessed a STEM+M-related degree in 2020. Fewer than 14 percent of field grade officers and fewer than 16 percent of senior grade officers possess graduate-level STEM+M education. At these levels, 55 percent of Army battalions and nearly 15 percent of brigades are unlikely to have any staff officers possessing advanced STEM+M degrees. This shortage will become more important as the use of disruptive technologies increases during military operations where critical decisions are under accelerated time lines.

Just think about it--having some Division CO who was rushed through ROTC only to get some "instructions" in Leadership or have a degree in ... journalism and business from University of Phoenix, like former Chief of Naval Operation Lisa Franchetti? One can teach monkey to push buttons and follow some routines, but military was science, is science and will increasingly be science based in hi-tech, which requires extremely heavy STEM background even on the level of warrant officers, not to mention officers who must understand complexities of modern battlefield not just on "gut feeling" but understand what drives the battle in human and technological terms. After all, the author of the article teaches at the USMA at West Point, has Ph.D in economics and was an intel officer in the US Army. I guess he knows a thing or two about the US military and there is reason he is sounding the alarm. And here is a point, quoting beaten into fucking bloody pulp Sun Tzu's dictum about knowing thy enemy must start with the second part of it--to know thyself. That would be a good learning start to these Colonels, instead of creating all kinds of "compendiums". There is a reason some in Russia laughed at this, I, after "reviewing" it, feel nauseous.