I am in an argument on another forum. This person says that because 17,000 marine reservists were sent over to Iraq, we are less able to defend ourself, should terrorist attacks start happening in major cities.
Obviously, this is ridiculous. Sheer manpower can never protect a country from guerilla/terrorist type attacks. But since that is obviously beyond someone this dim, I’m going at it from the angle of “17,000 is nothing compared to what we have LEFT defending us…(insert really high number)”.
So how many people are involved in defending the US in a physical capacity total? I can come up with these jobs:
-Policemen
-US military reservists
-Us military active duty currently stationed in the US
-Total number of US citizens involved in militias
fromthis fbi site I think it says that there are 428,365 fulltime law enforcement officers…but I might be reading the table wrong (that seems a bit low to me)?
Could someone help me come up with the other numbers, and any other jobs dedicated to the defense of the US that I might’ve missed? How many total?
I can’t believe I’m going to answer a question put forth by a “commie”
As far as manpower for the military, you can always find generic numbers in any almanac. Current numbers would obviously be protected, since they reflect the actual readiness of the US Military. From the DoD Almanac, you can get an understanding of some numbers if you click under “People”. On 30 April 02, there were approximately 1.4 Million active duty military members, with another 667k civilian members. Total Individual Ready Reserve/National Guard would add another 1.35 Million to the ranks.
As far as police, fire, medical, and FEMA folk, you’d have to look that up.
So you seel that 17,000 is actually a drop in the hat compared to some 3.4 million folks.
Tripler
But it doesn’t really matter, cause as Denis Leary says, "We’ve got the bomb!"
Thanks for the DOD link! I wish I could find the number of active troops stationed within the us, but finding the number of troops is really hard, probably due to protection as you say.
Does anyone know the numbers for Americans registered as militia men? I have no reason to beleive a militia would be slower to respond than a marine reservist…and obviously, both of their response times would be so slow as to be totally useless.
(BTW, I’m not a commie, I just have a perverted fascination with communism and Ford Taurus SHO police vehicles…I probably should’ve thought of another name!)
The “militia” is not a part of the United States Armed Forces. I’m thinking the “militia” of what you’re thinking about is organized and ‘manned’ as private organizations/entities who have goals directed at either “protecting” the United States or something similar. Why so many quotes? Because a majority of “militia” groups tend to lean towards terrorist-like activities and political goas, such as the overthrow of the United States Government.
As far as I’m concerned, whatever “militia” exists, they should not be counted as reliable defenders of the government of the United States, nor the states in which they exist.
Current theory (and I do call it theory, lest we get into a 2nd Amendment debate) is that the “militia” of Revolutionary War era has evolved into the current-day National Guard.
But as far as mobilization, I wouldn’t even consider the “milita” even reliable to mobilize. While the Montana Freemen or Michigan Milita were falling over themselves ass over handhold to get something even remotely organized, the National Guard would be called up and on the scene within 12 hours.
The “militia” of which you speak doesn’t exist as a ‘mover and shaker’. They’re just citizens with guns. Their intent and hearts may be in it, but as far as reliable military forces, you’d be better off calling the Boy Scouts.
Tripler
And for the record, yes I was a Boy Scout [sub]an Eagle Scout to be precise[/sub].
You make a common mistake here but in doing so you do a great diservice to the true State Militia which exist. Although there are many quasi military private militias, over half the states still maintain a separate and official state militia. They are analogous to the National Guard but on a state level. They are generally under the direct command of the Governor. So, when you hear in a movie “Call out the militia” it may actually make sense.
Here is a link to an umbrella organization for the official militias:
I thank you for the link. But I have to admit, in any SORTS report I’ve ever come across, I will lay a cold, carbonated beverage of your choice on the fact that the federal government does not rely on these “militias” as reporting in any chain of command, and I’ll put yet another one that any governor, while happy to have them and their allegiance, would most likely call up the National Guard before the militias.
I’m not trying to turn this into a debate. Really. I think a big part of the “official recognition” bit has something to do with the fact the Nat’l Guard gets a lot of federal dollars, while these militia groups don’t.
But I’m just trying to give the OP cold, hard, recognized numbers. If he wants to add in the militias, that’s his choice.
Tripler
But if you can provide me a link to any law or legal reference acknowledging their existence or to whom they report, I’ll send you a beer.
While I think this is true, it doesn’t change the fact that the militia exists as a fighting force. And who knows? It may have certain advantages that make it better than the National Guard for some situations. Block patrols in cities, for example. Militias generally stay at home, and can be used for neighborhood defense or foot patrols for defense against terrorists. For one thing, they’re a lot cheaper, and they can stay mobilized for an indefinite period of time. And by working in their own communities, they would be better at spotting abnormal activities.
I think so too. I emailed the SGAUS people, hopefully they have an answer.
Unfortunately when I approached the person with a 2million+ estimate of just reservists and policemen, he sunk down to ad hominem attacks about how I thought the war wasn’t about oil and how the army had brainwashed me (I was physically training for the army for a couple months but changed my mind).
Too bad people can’t respond to factual data intelligently and have to sink so low.
