Shocking admission on Army preparedness: No training the last 6 months

By Andrew Malcolm
Posted 09:33 AM ET

While the president of the United States pitched his crumbling healthcare program like a late-night infomercial barker, the Army's chief of staff made a shocking admission about national defense.

Gen. Ray Odierno told a Washington conference Monday that the U.S. Army had not conducted any training in the last six months of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

And, he said, there currently are only two Army brigades rated combat-ready. That's a total of between 7,000 to 10,000 troops and less than one-third what the combat veteran regards as necessary for proper national security.

"Right now," Odierno said, "we have in the Army two brigades that are trained. That's it. Two."

Odierno also revealed that troops shipping out to Afghanistan now are prepared only to train and assist Afghan troops, not to conduct combat operations themselves. But, of course, there's no guarantee the Americans won't find themselves in combat while accompanying Afghan soldiers.

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