Third Way Dispatch

There probably is no political issue that progressives handle more poorly than guns. Our problems begin with some basic misconceptions about who owns guns and why they own them.

So let’s get a few facts on the table:

Today the Associated Press reports on a new study for the Pentagon finding that “the Army has become a ‘thin green line’ that could snap unless relief comes soon.” The new report was written by Dr. Andrew Krepinevich, a retired Army officer who is among the nation’s leading experts on the defense planning and military affairs.

This report echoes many of the findings that Third Way made in a study that we issued in May, Boots on the Ground: Increasing the Size of the Army to Meet the Missions of the 21st Century. There we found that the Army was stretched to the breaking point by Iraq, Afghanistan and other deployments. We found that unless something was done, the Army faces four serious consequences: it might soon be unable to meet future threats; it can’t rotate and train its troops; it is facing huge recruitment and retention problems; and its reliance on Guard and Reserve forces is hurting local communities.

We’ve been working pretty hard. The past two weeks, we’ve had a half-day off each Sunday to do our laundry and get our gear in order for the next week. Otherwise, we’ve been training every day.

Week before last we spent the week in the field working on basic team- and squad-level tactics, culminating in a live-fire, squad-level fire-and-movement exercise. Last week, the machinegunners spent the week at Camp Pendleton, completing a course run by instructors from First Marine Division.

Since our launch in January 2005, we’ve been working hard to develop fresh policy and practical tools to help progressive leaders better connect with moderate voters. In our Projects and Products areas, you will find the reports, issue briefs, polling and other materials that support this primary objective.

Here in Dispatch, you will find updates from our team on the work we’re doing, along with occasional commentary on political developments that impact our work.

In addition, the Dispatch area is home to Third Way in Iraq, our series of posts from Third Way’s own Sean Barney, a Marine Reservists who is currently training for a tour of duty in Iraq.

Thanks for visiting our site. We hope you’ll take some time to explore these pages and return often to review our work.

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Our battalion arrived in California in early January, after a month of training in Massachusetts. During our first three days, we’ve been sitting through briefings all day. So far, we’ve gotten briefings on: the area of Iraq we’re going to be responsible for; Iraqi culture; the laws of war and the rules of engagement; identifying and responding to IEDs; desert survival; basic combat life-saving skills; radio communications protocols; house-to-house room-clearing tactics; strategies for surviving with honor in captivity; and how to handle the media (evidently, we are going to have reporters embedded with us).