Obama confiscates National Guard helicopters from all 50 states

The Federal government did not purchase billions of rounds of ammo. They made contracts that would allow them to purchase UP TO 2 billion rounds of ammo over a period of time greater than 1 decade.

 

They purchased that ammo. Being an anti-gun Leftist I know you haven't been to a gun store over the last year, but the shelves have been empty because most of the ammo manufactured were being sold to the government. Now that Republicans have made an official inquiry, the federal government's strangle hold on the ammo industry has loosened. BTW, none of you Leftists can answer this simple question: Why does the US Postal Service need to buy so much ammo?

 

This shows you that the National Guard is NOT a state militia, but an arm of the Reserves operated at state expense.

 

Ever try to deliver mail in Detroit, East St. Louis, Memphis, or the South Side of Chicongo?

 

Bull(*)(*)(*)(*). There isn't any ammo because idiots thought that Obama was going to illegalize all guns so they started buying all of it up.

Ammo is more available now because ammo manufacturers have increased production.

 

Yep. Fear is one the Right's most utilized political tactics.

 

Yep, exactly what I said earlier. You can't defeat ingrained paranoia with facts, common-sense and a simple Google search though.

 

Nope, the gun stores' shelves are routinely emptied by paranoiacs every time a story like this emerges...

 

Wait since I took the 49 seconds required to look this up can I get a cookie?

 

What's the matter, don't you recognize a good conspiracy theory when you see one.

I bet you don't believe in FEMA concentration camps either!

And what about how the Common Core is brainwashing your kids, and your smart meter is brainwashing you!

Quick, we must liberate ourselves from such tyranny so we can live in an American where anyone can buy an incandescent light bulb!!!!!!!!!

 

The Army is divesting it's fleet of OH-58 helicopters, and will use the newly acquired AH-64s for its reconnaissance and scouting needs. Meanwhile the National Guard will be given UH-60s. I'm actually in favor of the decision, because the UH-60 is much more versatile and is a better asset for disaster relief.

 

Maybe you should re-read the orginal post, the choppers are going to the US Army and it saves the Nation money. The fact is the NG does not need them if they are performing their duties within the US and just a clue if the government was going to go after political dissenters it would be the NG they would use so that should make you feel better they do not have the more armed version.

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Glad to see everyone here does not see something evil in everything the government does, anyone with a least bit of military experience would say this is a good thing all the way around.

 

You haven't been to a gun store lately. I'm not an ammo hoarder (in fact I haven't bought ammo in years), but the shelves are still kind of bare in terms of most ammo. Not as bad as a few years ago, but instead of the ten or twenty boxes of a caliber they used to have (10 yrs ago), they might have two or three.

 

Because demand from paranoid idiots is still through the roof.

 

This is a result of the sequester which slash's the defense budget. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has worn out a lot of equipment, especially helicopters, and quite simply the Army is replacing aircraft that no longer can be kept operational. Congress won't let the military cut the extra engine for the Joint Strike fighter, which the military does not want, simply because too much pork flows to certain congressional districts (the Speaker's among them). If they cut the development of that engine, there would be more than enough money for the Army to order new Apache's to replace the ones that are no longer operational.

 

If I recall correctly the Granddaddy of the Blackhawk was this which was the primary helicopter used in Vietnam. A very formidable weapon. The Apache is designed to take out hard targets like tanks and hardened defensive positions. It is likely being moved to active duty because it can do the same job as this known as the warthog. The Warthog is being retired due to budget cuts inflicted by the sequester.

 

When it is used by the state, i.e. in natural disasters. The state pays the costs. When under federal service the Federal government pays..

 

The motive is not to "confiscate" the Apache helicopters to weaken the National Guard. On further investigation, it appears the Army is trading Blackhawk helicopters for the Apache helicopters. The author of the article goes on a rampage about the National Debt, martial law, and dismantling American freedoms without caring about the motive behind the helicopter switch.

Some people enjoy finding conspiracies everywhere.

 

If memory serves, the FEMA concentration camps were your guys conspiracy theory during the Bush years. I remember the leftoid panic about that on the forum I was on at the time! Hilarious!

But on the other hand, what comes around goes around. Now you guys are in charge and people on the right are buying into conspiracy nonsense, as this thread demonstrates.

 

The A-10 is also old as hell and half the fleet has already been cannibalized to keep the other half flying.

 

Yeah, the A-10 is 40 years old. Damn great plane, I hope they put one in the Smithsonian, probably the most effective ground support airplane ever built, in a class by itself. I have seen them flying occasionally out of Dover Air Force Base, they are ugly, they can fly well under 100 mph, and are magnificent weapons of war.

 

Eh, the Il-2 Sturmovik probably has hands down the best record as close support aircraft.

Really, since the Cold War ended, the A-10 has been a plane without a mission. We don't have to worry about the 8th Shock Army pouring through the Fulda Gap. For counter insurgency work, the A-10 is overkill. What we need is a suped-up OV-10 Bronco for today's wars.

Even if we had to take out tanks, Maverick missiles and Sensor-Fused Munition cluster bombs work more effectively than 30mm rounds, especially against modern reactive armor.

 

The AH-64 was removed from the NG to make it easier for the Army to overrun the peasants.

 

Since I was on said forum at that time too, I can most definitely call BS on your claim. It was Butchies, Iceman and that ilk.

 

Seems to me the forum hasn't done anything more to restrict speech since 2012. Profanity filters and the such have been around since the beginning. So I'm not quite sure what you mean.

What people post is pretty irrelevant. If you don't like it go to a different thread.

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As for these helicopters, both sides make good points, but I think the opponents take the cake. The OP and other proponents make a good point about the gradual movement from decentralized to centralized power (although this isn't really the best example). The opponents however are correct that this is pretty routine and extrapolating a Federal suspension of the constitution from this is a stretch.

Maybe that idea is justified on the whole - since 1900 the US has become rabidly fascist and centralized, but moving some apaches away from the national guard is pretty irrelevant. Against the US military a few apaches is literally nothing.