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Message: <blockquote data-quote="GameDaddy" data-source="post: 5597223" data-attributes="member: 80711">No one is dissing the U.S. Army here, facts are facts though. The Guard units were deployed with regular forces during 1968 and 1969 and were then rotated out and replaced with regular Army units after Tet.Not being in the regular chain of command, they adapted more quickly to combat conditions and took less casualties respectively, than the regular U.S. Army units. After Tet though, the Senators opted not to renew the agreements concerning ground forces... Fortunately, command structure  changed significantly over the years. Over 50,000 guardsmen participated  in Desert Storm, and their casualty rates were significantly lower than  the regular Army and Marine units that participated in the attack on  Iraq. With better training, tighter unit integration, and better  communications and planning with the regular U.S. Army units the Guards  served well, taking less casualties than regular Army units despite  finding themselves on the frontline in firefights.DrafteesDraftees vs. volunteers: 25% (648,500) of total forces in country were  draftees.Draftees accounted for 30.4% (17,725) of combat deaths in Vietnam.Notice the disparity in casualties. Having the same training meant that the draftees should have been able to withstand attacks just as well as their volunteer counterparts. Did the VC and NVA specifically target draftees? I doubt it.Did they shoot more at targets in their areas? Much more likely. In conclusion, units with higher ratios of draftees were rotated more often and for longer durations into hotly contested areas and zones. Resulting in proportionally higher casualties. Fifty years of history won't whitewash the facts.Reservists...10,500 were called up to serve in Vietnam (more than the Guard).5,977 KIAEven now, forty years later, these numbers don't seem right. Did the media provide more coverage of Guard and Reserve units? Or did they have extraordinarily higher casualty rates compared with regular army units?On a tactical level, the U.S. Army never lost a sizable (one division or more committed?) battle and inflicted significantly higher casualties than they received. </blockquote>

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