FIRING THE BEST – AT 9:07 A.M. ET:  In the face of threats that grow daily, Obama's America is downsizing our armed forces.  We are literally firing excellent, experienced young officers.  Others, in disgust, are leaving before they get the ax.  There are human stories here, stories of the Obama administration turning its back on America's fighters.  From Fox: 

A U.S. Army captain with more than a dozen years in the service, including multiple tours of duty in combat zones, assumed his job was safe.

The non-commissioned officer-turned-officer knew the service was downsizing after more than a decade of war. But he figured he'd be one of the lucky ones, in part because of his tours in Bosnia, Kosovo and, most recently, Afghanistan. What's more, he had just received orders to move to a new duty station.

So he and his wife, who's newly pregnant with their first child, signed a lease and put a deposit on a home at the family's next location. A few days later, he was called into his post's commanding general's office and informed that, effective almost immediately, he would no longer be in the military.

"I was led to believe that everything was good to go, and next thing you know, Monday morning, you're having to talk to the man," said the captain, who requested anonymity to speak freely about the incident and without professional repercussions. "You never think it's going to happen to you."

The Army last week began notifying about 1,100 captains that they will be purged from the ranks. The same fate is awaiting about 500 majors, who beginning this week will be told their active-duty careers are over. They're among nearly 2,500 officers and NCOs who will be involuntarily separated this year as part of an ongoing drawdown of forces.

After growing in size to 570,000 soldiers in 2008 at the height of the war in Iraq, the Army has less than 520,000 soldiers today and is on pace to shrink to 490,000 soldiers by next year. It's bracing for even further contraction driven by automatic budget cuts known as sequestration.

The Pentagon's proposed budget for fiscal 2015, which begins Oct. 1, calls for the service's headcount to decrease to 440,000 to 450,000 soldiers by fiscal 2017. If sequestration remains in effect, the number may fall to as low as 420,000 soldiers – tens of thousands less than what the Army's top officer, Gen. Raymond Odierno, said is needed to adequately respond to conflicts around the world.

Even officers who escaped the current round of dismissals criticized the move, saying it encourages talented leaders to leave the service.

"It really is disheartening to see the Army engaging in force shaping in the manner that it is," one said. "I've seen many of my fellow company-grade officers decide to get out because of the uncertainty over pay and future promotions. We're losing those who can get jobs, which means the Army is losing the talent it should be retaining."

COMMENT:  Note the deep concern by a government that allowed the Veterans Administration to go right down the drain. 

And note the contrast between the cold dismissal of combat veterans who have served this country and the warm welcome given to illegals flooding across our southern border.  One congresswoman brought lollipops to the border.  No lollipops, I guess, for the children of veterans.

July 7,  2014