Reserves and lifespans in time of war

World War C-the second edition of trust-how we lost the war with China, should come out in print next week.

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Tom Boersig and I used to sit around after a long day together, sipping scotch, which was too sophisticated for me.  His dog would sit at my feet and Tom would smoke cigarettes which would eventually catch up with him.

He had gone back to school so he was older than I was, but he was one of those rare men who can hold onto their youth while developing their maturity. 

Rarely, he would share his time in the military and on one such occasion, he told me of his platoon. Their job was to reload the missiles in an attack helicopter in the event of an all out land war with the Soviet Union.  His description of the process is lost to time. What remained was that his group had a survival window of 15 minutes in war, enough time to reload the Helicopters at full speed a single time.  Their job was to slow down the enemy.  After that it would be up to the reserves.

In any history of World War II, the description of the experience of the German army in Africa is that they were not out fought, but that they were buried with the immense material strength of the American manufacturing might.

Even in 2001 it was obvious that our manufacturing might which made up the arsenal of democracy in World Wars I and II was being delivered wholesale to our enemies, and in particular to China.

I miss Tom and I miss having a country with a middle class built on manufacturing and development, because with manufacturing so goes manufacturing expertise and innovation.  We stand at the cross roads.  In one direction is the prior greatness of this country, in the other direction is the path of Egypt and Ethiopia, once great countries laid low by retreating into the greatness of the past, their failure to have a clear view of the future.  A triumph of immediate vs long term intelligence.

I hope this book will wake up the country before it is too late.  I hope it will prevent a shooting war with China by keeping us strong enough to prevent it.  I hope it will get rid of the corruption that plagues congress.  I hope that it will inspire the country to find a consistent moral compass which allows minority views while having a strong majority view tied to long term and medium term intelligence.

I live on a hill with  cats which seem to congregate in a yard that attracts birds and squirrels and a dog bred to hunt lions in Africa.