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Thread: Dude Where's My Troops? Pentagon Loses Track Of at least 44,000 Soldiers

  1. #1

    Dude Where's My Troops? Pentagon Loses Track Of at least 44,000 Soldiers

    America's "global military presence" is not hyperbole, but a literal fact, as a new Department of Defense study has found that US military personnel are stationed in literally every nation on the earth. The report bluntly confirms that, "The United States has military personnel in nearly every country in the world, ranging from two liaison officers in Fiji to tens of thousands from all of the service branches in Japan and Germany, according to the report."
    But perhaps more important and equally absurd (when one considers the original beginnings of the humble "republic" envisioned by founders like Madison and Jefferson) is the fact that America's world-wide military presence is such that the Pentagon itself can't track how many US service members are deployed where. A new bombshell article in Stars and Stripes military newspaper is non-ironically headlined, "Report: 44,000 ‘unknown’ military personnel stationed around the world".


    The Stripes article opens with a line that would seem straight out of the Onion, yet matter-of-factly states, "The U.S. military has more than 44,000 troops across the globe that the Pentagon claims it cannot track, according to a recent report."
    The Pentagon's system for accounting troop deployment numbers, maintained by the Defense Manpower Data Center under the Office of the Secretary of Defense, lists up to 44,000 troops in a country location category labeled "Unknown".
    The report has come to light after a series of recent Pentagon press briefings on military actions in the Middle East and Africa which left journalists scratching their heads. For example the latest DoD admission that there are "about 2,000 troops in Syria" - four times the previously acknowledged figure - came after a late October Pentagon presser wherein an Army spokesman told reporters that 4,000 troops were deployed to Syria, after which he awkwardly walked back the statement less than 30 seconds later, saying "I'm sorry I mispoke there - there are approximately 500 troops in Syria".
    And when news broke of the October 4 ambush and deaths of four elite Green Beret soldiers in Niger, the immediate reaction voiced among congressional leaders and echoed generally in the media was: "we have troops in Niger?" - after which it came to light that the US has at least 6,000 military personnel spread across the African continent, though few knew of AFRICOM's (US Africa Command) dangerously burgeoning number of undisclosed daily missions.

    Where are they? Image source: US Marine Corps

    “We are not at a point where we can give numbers other than those officially stated,” said Army Col. Rob Manning, quoted in Stripes. Though as Stripes acknowledges it appears that this is due more to the Pentagon simply not knowing where it has stationed thousands of troops rather than the officially stated reasons of "secrecy" and force protection from enemies. The Army spokesman further asserted, “Our commitment is to be as transparent as we can, within the constraints of operation security,” but it's also that case that, "The Pentagon acknowledged in a statement that it has no good way to track how many service members are stationed overseas, where they are and when they were there," according to Stripes.
    A Pentagon statement also ambiguously acknowledged that its troop tracking methods will inevitably miscalculate the locations of its roughly 1.3 million total personnel across all branches, based on the worrisome reasoning that "there is no easy way to track all deployments":
    “There is no one personnel system in the [Defense Department] that tracks the daily location of all DoD personnel. There is no easy way to track all deployments, training exercises, TDY (being attached to another unit for training or specific missions, typically for less than six months) or temporary assignments,” according to the statement. “If you take the total numbers assigned in the United States and assigned overseas, and add the ‘Unknown,’ you get the total force numbers for each service.”





    More at: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-1...44000-soldiers



    Bureaucratic bungling? Or have they built that large of a black-ops/black-budget force and "losing track of them" is just a lie?
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

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  3. #2
    Pentagon should have just told whatever ditzy reporter that made this story that it was none of her business.
    It's all about taking action and not being lazy. So you do the work, whether it's fitness or whatever. It's about getting up, motivating yourself and just doing it.
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  4. #3
    Find the 44,000 in Unknown and...

    Quote Originally Posted by Suzanimal View Post



    and



    and

    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Paul View Post
    The intellectual battle for liberty can appear to be a lonely one at times. However, the numbers are not as important as the principles that we hold. Leonard Read always taught that "it's not a numbers game, but an ideological game." That's why it's important to continue to provide a principled philosophy as to what the role of government ought to be, despite the numbers that stare us in the face.
    Quote Originally Posted by Origanalist View Post
    This intellectually stimulating conversation is the reason I keep coming here.

  5. #4
    A mystery for The Hardy Boys

  6. #5
    I had a friend in the Marines who was told he was going to Japan. He assumed it was soon and quit going to work and awaited orders. The Staff NCOs thought he was gone. So he received pay through direct deposit, ate at the chow hall, lived in the barracks, and basically just partied.

    Even though he was a total goof off, even he got a little worried after a few months and went to admin and asked when he was leaving. They looked at him in shock and told him to go back to work. The Staff NCOs were really shocked as hell when he reappeared.

    I never would have had the balls to pull that off.
    ...

  7. #6

  8. #7
    maybe they're in Russia

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Raginfridus View Post
    maybe they're in Russia
    Maybe are dead and somebody is just collecting their paychecks. 44,000 * $200k = $8.8B plus expenses. Not bad.



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  11. #9
    I think this would be because the Pentagon does not track it . I imagine nearly every First Sgt and Sgt Major knows where 99 percent of his people are at on a weekly basis . My first job was a Forward Observer . It was an Arty job and we were attached to an Arty HQ but we were assigned to various other units within the Division. My unit might be in garrison but I may be deployed with a platoon of Inf somewhere else and some of the guys I drink beer with could be deployed with an Armor unit somewhere entirely different all at the same time .

  12. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by oyarde View Post
    I think this would be because the Pentagon does not track it . I imagine nearly every First Sgt and Sgt Major knows where 99 percent of his people are at on a weekly basis . My first job was a Forward Observer . It was an Arty job and we were attached to an Arty HQ but we were assigned to various other units within the Division. My unit might be in garrison but I may be deployed with a platoon of Inf somewhere else and some of the guys I drink beer with could be deployed with an Armor unit somewhere entirely different all at the same time .
    This doesn't count as an 'unknown' deployment.

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by timosman View Post
    This doesn't count as an 'unknown' deployment.
    I think it might if you were asking the Pentagon where SSG Oyarde is screwing off , I doubt they would have a clue . On the other hand if you asked my Sgt Major , he would say , " well he is on a covert op in such n such country so point to me the nicest hotel bar in that $#@!hole on this map sheet and that is where I would look for him " .

  14. #12
    They could be off World
    deployments.

  15. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by oyarde View Post
    I think it might if you were asking the Pentagon where SSG Oyarde is screwing off , I doubt they would have a clue . On the other hand if you asked my Sgt Major , he would say , " well he is on a covert op in such n such country so point to me the nicest hotel bar in that $#@!hole on this map sheet and that is where I would look for him " .
    They should know what country you are in even if they don't know exactly where in that country you are.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  16. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    They should know what country you are in even if they don't know exactly where in that country you are.
    This is also a long time ago , but in the 60's I know for a fact that the CIA used people in Asia and other places that were still listed on rosters at the Airborne units based stateside .

  17. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    They should know what country you are in even if they don't know exactly where in that country you are.
    I seriously doubt the five years or so I spent as a FO before going to Special Ops and after that anyone above the rank of Captain ( company commander ) of the primary unit I was assigned to ever knew where I was and sometimes they would not.

  18. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by oyarde View Post
    I seriously doubt the five years or so I spent as a FO before going to Special Ops and after that anyone above the rank of Captain ( company commander ) of the primary unit I was assigned to ever knew where I was and sometimes they would not.
    You are known for being especially slippery, though.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Paul View Post
    The intellectual battle for liberty can appear to be a lonely one at times. However, the numbers are not as important as the principles that we hold. Leonard Read always taught that "it's not a numbers game, but an ideological game." That's why it's important to continue to provide a principled philosophy as to what the role of government ought to be, despite the numbers that stare us in the face.
    Quote Originally Posted by Origanalist View Post
    This intellectually stimulating conversation is the reason I keep coming here.



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  20. #17
    Unless things have changed drastically with reporting I imagine the Co First Sgt.'s and Battalion Sgt Majors are the only ones with accurate accounting and I doubt that is sent up to the Pentagon. The Pentagon basically can tell you what percentage of the budget is being used for personnel and what is used otherwise .

  21. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Suzanimal View Post
    You are known for being especially slippery, though.
    That is why I said 99 percent before . Any good First Sgt will know where every soul is but I . There could still be people like me , but doubtful anyone is that good .

  22. #19
    I asked my dad about stuff like this ever happening once, when I was trying to get in and wanted to know everything. The impression I got was military rea;;y has no idea what its doing the further up you go. That's how bureaucracy works. Just listen to your sergeant and do what he tells you basically. You don't need to know more, and the Pentagon doesn't really know what you're doing either.

    Quote Originally Posted by oyarde View Post
    That is why I said 99 percent before . Any good First Sgt will know where every soul is but I . There could still be people like me , but doubtful anyone is that good .
    oyarde even knows where Danke is. (He asks the wind spirits.)
    Last edited by Raginfridus; 12-10-2017 at 08:18 PM.

  23. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Raginfridus View Post
    I asked my dad about stuff like this ever happening once, when I was trying to get in and wanted to know everything. The impression I got was military rea;;y has no idea what its doing the further up you go. That's how bureaucracy works. Just listen to your sergeant and do what he tells you basically. You don't need to know more, and the Pentagon doesn't really know what you're doing either.

    oyarde even knows where Danke is. (He asks the wind spirits.)
    My men were fiercely loyal to me . They knew nobody cared about them like I did and I was the best chance they had to succeed . Tracking Danke , pretty easy , he is like a Bull in a China shop as my Grandma would say .

  24. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Raginfridus View Post
    I asked my dad about stuff like this ever happening once, when I was trying to get in and wanted to know everything. The impression I got was military rea;;y has no idea what its doing the further up you go. That's how bureaucracy works. Just listen to your sergeant and do what he tells you basically. You don't need to know more, and the Pentagon doesn't really know what you're doing either.
    Okay, now I'm picturing the Pentagon like Eddie Izzard describes British movies. @:22

    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Paul View Post
    The intellectual battle for liberty can appear to be a lonely one at times. However, the numbers are not as important as the principles that we hold. Leonard Read always taught that "it's not a numbers game, but an ideological game." That's why it's important to continue to provide a principled philosophy as to what the role of government ought to be, despite the numbers that stare us in the face.
    Quote Originally Posted by Origanalist View Post
    This intellectually stimulating conversation is the reason I keep coming here.

  25. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Suzanimal View Post
    Okay, now I'm picturing the Pentagon like Eddie Izzard describes British movies. @:22

    A bigger budget just to say we don't know... but if you buy this, this, and this boondoggle we'll know we don't know with greater accuracy.

  26. #23
    Now if I could just figure out a way to steal 44k troops away while they are still being pd by the taxpayers , that would be plenty to stage a coup and take my state.

  27. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by oyarde View Post
    Now if I could just figure out a way to steal 44k troops away while they are still being pd by the taxpayers , that would be plenty to stage a coup and take my state.
    I'm leaning towards thinking that someone else may be doing that.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment



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  29. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    I'm leaning towards thinking that someone else may be doing that.
    Well it is a good idea because I thought of it long ago . I am sure I am not the only one .

  30. #26
    It's the new camo,

    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
    It's all about Freedom

  31. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by pcosmar View Post
    It's the new camo,

    Must. Find. Waldo.

    There he is! On the sidewalk beside the moped, to the right of the first second story window of the blue building.

    Maybe I should look for the troops.
    Last edited by Raginfridus; 12-10-2017 at 10:40 PM.

  32. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by pcosmar View Post
    It's the new camo,

    In WWII the Aussies held a field camouflage contest and the winning unit was sent home on leave.

    They never found any of them again.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  33. #29
    Any coincidence that their first audit is happening? Maybe 44,000 people are going through the books and making up fake receipts
    “…let us teach them that all who draw breath are of equal worth, and that those who seek to press heel upon the throat of liberty, will fall to the cry of FREEDOM!!!” – Spartacus, War of the Damned

    BTC: 1AFbCLYU3G1dkbsSJnk3spWeEwpqYVC2Pq

  34. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by kpitcher View Post
    Any coincidence that their first audit is happening? Maybe 44,000 people are going through the books and making up fake receipts
    Or maybe the audit is to try and find them and stop the coup.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

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