Troops to American Legion: ‘Mission exhaustion’
The U.S. military does its job and it does the job well, according to more than 240 years of American history. Yet, the most common message that American Legion National Commander Dale Barnett and American Legion Auxiliary National President Sharon Conatser is asked to deliver to officials in Washington during their visit to military units is that they need more help.
That theme continued as Barnett and Conatser led a delegation that included members of the Department of France during a tour of Ramstein Air Base in Germany May 31.
Barnett was given candid answers to his very direct questions during briefings by officials with the U.S. Air Forces in Europe - U.S. Air Forces Africa and the 86th Airlift Wing. Pointing out that national defense is one of the four founding pillars of The American Legion, Barnett asked U.S. Air Force briefers how they are able to accomplish their mission with 75 percent fewer active-duty personnel in the region than during the early 1990s, which was prior to the Global War on Terrorism.
“Exhaustion due to the mission itself,” Commander Chief Master Sgt. James E. Davis said. “We know that we’re shrinking. We know that we don’t have the manpower. But we accomplish the mission and there is a cost to our people and our families.”
“If we did not have the guard and Reserves, we could not do what we do,” added Lt. Col. Michael Andrews, USAFE-AFAFRICA public affairs officer.
“There is a breaking point,” Barnett said during the meetings. “The American Legion is your partner. You’re why we are here. And we need to take your message to Congress and the White House.”
Despite the cuts, Brig. Gen. Jon “Ty” Thomas briefed Barnett and Conatser on one of their most successful recent missions – the evacuation of 750 military family members, including 250 school-aged children, from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey due to threats from ISIS.
“The world has changed in Europe,” Thomas said. “The threat of attack on our assets is real.”
“The resiliency of the families cannot be overstated,” added Command Chief Master Sgt. Phillip L. Easton.
While Col. Dave Pollmiller reported that USAFE-AAFRICA is meeting the demands that are put before it, he added, “We could not do it without a robust total force. It’s easy to pick on quality of life programs because they don’t seem to affect the mission, but we all know that they do.”
Conatser reminded military personnel that the Auxiliary not only supports veterans, but family members of active military as well.
“The briefings with the Ramstein leadership heightened my concern for the quality of life for our military and also confirmed our mission to keep the promise for our veterans,” Conatser said. “Our military is still very much a need.”