HORSES AND BAYONETS

Troops DO need horses and bayonet's

Last night without Romney even mentioning horses or bayonet's, the pres mocked Romy's complaint about the size of the Navy fleet by comparing ship numbers to horses and bayonets.

The Presidents mocking comment threw the spotlight on fighting techniques-because both bayonets and horses have remained important parts of U.S. Military right up to the present day.

Bayonets are still an integral item of military equipment.  Bayonet instruction remains part of basic training for Marines and was part of Army training till 2010.  At which point the Army now calls Correct use of a knife, but does not disuse the fixing of bayonets.

The military is equipped for a knife fight and when on the ground, in buildings and in close combat. It is important and saves lives. 

Four years ago, a British soldier won the Military Cross after using his bayonet to kill a Taliban militant, having ordered his platoon to affix bayonets. 

Horses are less important to modern methods of fighting, but have not been phased out.

In 2001 the first U.S. troops to enter Afghanistan did so by riding into the country alongside America's allies in the Northern Alliance. 

For many members of the special operations teams the remote desert landscape did not allow them to use more common methods of transport. 

All you have to do is read the books our soldiers have written, the accounts of battles, and you'll visit first hand how important these to items in our inventory truly are. 

Despite what might have been suggested through mocking, both are still used as tools of battle and allow our troops to survive, fight and live to this day so they can come home to their families.

wel3