3 Army Divisions classified as “unfit to fight”
At its sprawling home base — after a long year in Iraq that wreaked havoc with the blades of its helicopters, the sights of its guns and the nerves of its soldiers — the 101st is as far from ready as it has ever been.
What the 101st is going through is a microcosm of what lies ahead for the entire Army. Iraq is its biggest test since Vietnam, and the rigors of fighting a counterinsurgency have demolished much of the Army’s equipment and allowed its soldiers’ skills to atrophy.
For the first time, three Army divisions — more than a third of its combat troops — are classified as unfit to fight.
Yet the Bushies will send them anyway.