Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Recent U.S. - NATO Exercises Hampered By Customs And Bureaucracy

Bloomberg editorial: NATO Troops Can't Fight If They're Stuck at Customs

A recent exercise showed that soldiers face all sorts of bureaucratic hassles.

The D-Day landings in 1944 were the most complex military operation in history, but at least the GIs didn’t need to get their passports stamped on Omaha Beach. It sounds absurd, but today U.S. and NATO forces have to contend with such formalities, and more besides, as they go about their business of defending Europe.

Obviously, in the event of war, these bureaucratic impediments would be lifted. But so far as possible they should also be lifted for the purpose of preparing for war. Better coordination and compatibility among the allies requires a good hard look at the current arrangements.

Under U.S. leadership, NATO’s military partners recently completed Operation Saber Guardian in Eastern Europe; involving 25,000 troops over 10 days, it was the largest such exercise this year. For militaries that have spent more than a decade focused on fighting terrorists in Afghanistan and the Middle East, it was a vital refresher course in conventional warfare. It also helped assure the Eastern European members that the West has their back.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Customs? Noise bylaws? Load restrictions on bridges? The bureaucracy definitely lives.

2 comments:

Jac said...

bureaucracy is the worst enemy we have....but people likes that. That's suicidal.

Carl said...

Load capacity of bridges is a question of physics, not bureaucracy.