The military is failing our troops in the most fundamental way possible: by not providing adequate training.

When you hear a general or politician declare that our current armed forces are the best trained, best equipped, and smartest ever fielded, it's probably true.  Undoubtedly today's military is the best equipped, staffed by the brightest people ever.  That's the good news.

It's also probably true that they're the best trained.  And that's the bad news, because basic combat skills have always been marginal.  If in fact today's training is the best ever, that's a savage indictment of the past, including “the greatest generation” that fought WW II.

Until recently, only the combat arms needed basic competence with their weapons.  Infantry, Airborne, Marines, and others who are paid to shoot received the most comprehensive small arms training because they were the ones who needed it.  No more.  In Iraq, home of the 360-degree war, everybody who ventures outside the wire is liable to get involved in a firefight.  It's happened time and again, most notably in 2003 when Jessica Lynch's transportation company was ambushed with dire results.

In 2005 and 2006 I researched my book, What We Need: Extravagance and Shortages in America's Military.  It was an eye-opener.  In conducting or observing military training, it became all too obvious that we are sending people to war who literally cannot shoot to save their lives.  I met active duty, Guardsmen and Reservists who had not fired a weapon in up to eight years.  I saw a young lady who did not know how to load cartridges in her M16 magazine.  Then I watched a five-stripe sergeant load his pistol magazine to capacity — bullets to the rear.

I watched ten soldiers shoot M16s from a solid rest, engaging full-sized silhouettes from 100 meters.  Seven missed.

I met snipers who had never done anything but fire prone off the bipod.  Some of them had never been allowed to load more than one round at a time, for range safety reasons.

There are troops who qualify on an indoor electronic simulator and honestly believe they're ready to shoot it out with al Qaeda veterans.  They believe it because that's what they're told.

Others know they're unprepared for combat but can't do much about it.  In 2005 some National Guard aircrews headed for Afghanistan had no pistol ammunition.  Nor did they have .50 caliber or 40mm grenade launcher ammo.  Said one pilot, "We ran around with our Berettas like Sergeant Rock, yelling 'bang-bang.'  For the vehicle mounted weapons we went 'budda-budda' and 'ka-boom, ka-boom.'  It was laughable."

Another outfit cycling through Fort Sill ran out of daylight owing to a backlog on the rifle range.  With darkness falling, the soldiers were unable to sight in their rifles, and had to be satisfied with function testing them.

Fortunately, help is available on a limited basis.  Civilian shooting schools are running full time with military units and individuals seeking worthwhile training.  Hundreds of NRA instructors provide pro-bono training for troops deploying to Afghanistan and Iraq, and their help is gratefully received.  But it's not enough.

The Department of Defense should be ashamed of a deplorable situation that has existed far too long.  But, being shame-proof, DoD and the service chiefs continue spending their huge budgets on gadgets that we do not need because we do not use them.  Stealth aircraft and next-generation submarines soak up vast portions of military funding, leaving the warfighters short of ammo, instructors, and training facilities.

It's an outrage.

Write your congressman.  And tell him what we need.