Do the Taiwan Ends Justify The Means (OSINT Bonus Roundup #6)

Today I'm answering a few questions from Andrew of Pine Lake Prep:

Is the US Military funded for the future?
How important is the military to global security?
How soon is a conflict possible?
What adversaries will the US encounter?
Will an invasion of Taiwan occur?
Will increased funding help recruitment?

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Watch all of my long form videos:

Twitter:
@ryanmcbeth

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Ryan McBeth Productions LLC
8705 Colesville Rd.
Suite 249
Silver Spring, MD 20910
USA

[RyanMcBethProgramming]

Today I'm answering a few questions from Andrew of Pine Lake Prep:

Is the US Military funded for the future?
How important is the military to global security?
How soon is a conflict possible?
What adversaries will the US encounter?
Will an invasion of Taiwan occur?
Will increased funding help recruitment?

For uncensored video, check out my substack at:

Like my shirts? Get your own at:

Watch all of my long form videos:

Twitter:
@ryanmcbeth

Join the conversation:

Want to send me something?
Ryan McBeth Productions LLC
8705 Colesville Rd.
Suite 249
Silver Spring, MD 20910
USA

[Malacar]

I like how you basically described the US Military Global Strength like a Franchised Chain Restaurant. We don't own all the stores, but we train them, supply them, and guide them.

[joebeldin]

As an american currently living in Taiwan, i can confirm that in many ways this would be a godawful place to fight.

[danieldkland]

As a Dane I can confidently say that beards give +5 attack and +10 if you have Viking lineage. For real though, a beard can be a simple thing for someone to be proud of or something that they feel makes them more manly or tough or better looking. Whatever it is, it's probably gonna be good for morale and in the end make people fight better.

[juansalvadorhernandez]

I'm a 42 year old Mexican. I've lived all my life in Tijuana. Culturally I fell more leaning towards the American side since growing up we overwhelmingly had US media until a few decades ago. It's true that Mexico is far from perfect. Corruption and cartel are truly a big problem, but it's also far from a failed state. The average person is hard working and has good values. Although far from perfect, we have come a far way with our democracy and institutions. Don't forget that cartels are made in response to insane US drug demand. Deployment of US armed forces in Mexico would feel to Mexicans like Russia invading Ukraine. This would also push Mexico towards Russia and China. Rather than an armed conflict, the US should seek more cooperation with Mexico.

[KennethReeves-eo]

I love your ending promo and statement, ‘Regardless of politics, we are all Americans!’ This is the message our country needs most! (longtime watcher, first time commenter).

[knoxduder]

As an American, a CPO in the USN, a dog lover, and a patriot, I appreciate this content and your channel.

[ilajoie]

Another possible thing to help with retention is more public transportation on base. This would help with those young lower enlisted before they buy a 15 year old car with outrageous interest. When I was in Camp Casey Korea there was a bus that you could ride from the front gate all the way to Tokori gate without having to pay. On the other hand while at Campbell and Lewis there wasn't transportation to be seen unless it was for the WTU. That caused some of the better soldiers I knew to spend their off duty hours in the barracks and become disillusioned with the military because of it.

[TravelsoftheCat]

When I was approached for USMC OCS, I looked at the salary for a 2LT and the $30k pay just couldn't compete with $60k-$70k starting salaries companies were paying at graduation. Yes I understand people join for reasons other than money and remains my biggest regret, but it would have gone a long way to know I would have more income to take care of family.

[frankhinkle]

My brother-in-law was an 8-year Marine and an NCO. The breaking point came to him when he brought his squad out of the field to the mess hall as they were packing up the leftovers and wouldn't serve his Marines. Had they served his Marines he would probably have reenlisted, but they didn't' and he didn't. It's the little things that become the breaking point when it comes to retention and it doesn't cost the service anything to allow beards or cornrows or tattoos.

[tolson]

On Recruiting and retention, I think early in the video when talking about the Navy you hit on the biggest way to improve retention is the decrease op tempo by having sufficient resources to meet operational commitments without yearlong deployments. I would also point out that improving retention, improves recruitment. When that Navy E4 bails out of the Navy after 4 years and goes back to their hometown any tells everyone who will listen how bad the Navy sucked, that kills recruitment. Regardless of whether that sailor got out, they are still a sailor and they still love to bitch.

[scunit]

For the Navy, we're funding and deploying several brand new sub types. Those are far more important to counter the PLAN than surface ship, the PLAN has thousands of anti-ship missiles, but doesn't really have an answer for subs.

[HydroMaester]

I see the funding issues as more of a poor allocation of funds rather than a lack of funding. 1: If its not sexy and flashy congress does not want to fund it. 2: Contractors are costing tax payers 50-75% more to do the same job that can be/is being done by DoD civilians. There is a place for contracting, but it is not the answer to all problems.

[supercoolguy]

So, I'm a prior conscript in Taiwan who made the jump to the US military a couple years back and I gotta say the training leaves a lot to be desired. To say that "every male knows how to use a rifle" is a bit of a stretch. Some of the best soldiers and NCOs I've ever met in both militaries are in the TW regulars, but some of the worst shitbags I've ever met also exist in the conscript force, so we'll see how that goes if China decides to try their luck.

I can count the number of range days we've had on one hand and still have 4 fingers left over. Even then, there are a ton of kids that try to avoid service through alternative service or just staying out of the country.

While you made a good point about the mountainous terrain, that's not exactly the full picture. An environment conducive to guerilla warfare is all well and good, but the general attitude here is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. There's currently a huge backlash for increasing the service period to 1 year instead of the 4 months we have now because everyone just sees the military as a waste of time at best and a waste of life at worst.

[roydane]

One change that I think might help retention is to do away with mandatory ranks to reenlist. When I was in the Army Reserve, I overheard the following conversation:
SSgt: " Sir, do you remember Specialist Smith. The guy from my platoon who ETS'd last month?"
Captain: "Yes. What about him ? Damn shame he didn't re-up. "
SSgt: "Yes Sir. It is a shame. He loved the job and the unit. He just didn't want to get promoted to Sargent. He's wondering if he can enlist as a PFC."
Captain: "No. Sorry. The regs say that he would come back as a Specialist and he would have to go to BNOC and get a promotion to Sargent to stay in."
The Brits have career Privates ( or at least they did) who are good at what they do. Why not us ? If a soldier is good at their job and don't want the hassle of a promotion, why force them ?

[neversinkmakes]

You mustn’t forget the impact of a Taiwan invasion on the availability of computer chips. Taiwan accounts for a disproportionately huge share of world wide chip production.

[m.i]

I served as a green beret in my country and we actually had a 24h gym and 24h chow hall with okay-ish food. Some protein bars, water, multi vitamins . Almost EVERYONE was going to the gym . You would see guys at 2Am after their watch going to the gym cause they didn't manage to train all day. It was an unofficial thing for the gym and the chow but it worked (maybe cause we were like 14people in the outpost but it worked). We used to sneak in the gym when it was closed and get punished for it) after leaving it open for some mounths our commander was actually impressed from the gains we got, all of a sudden everyone could pull off 20km runs easy, 1-2km swimming in sea, muscle ups and the list goes

[billmckee]

Formal combat aircrewman here. I love how you break it down for people to understand how logistics and different operations work. I can never find the words so my civilian friends understand. As for the beards we worked for the operators in Afghanistan and were given "no shave chits" for a whole year. I boosted moral by 100% lol. Keep up the great work man!!!

[tolson]

Ryan, your insights to the state of the Navy are spot on. I think the Navy leadership clearly sees what is necessary, they just don't have the money to achieve it. As the grandson a US Army Light and Sound Corp, sergeant, a UK Army Intel sergeant, the son of a US Navy CPO, a US Navy CPO myself and the father of a US Marine, where was I going with this... oh yeah, I truly appreciate the work you are doing. I think you have found a true calling here.

[heinzxzxzxzxzx]

I think the only way funding could improve recruitment numbers would be by improving the living conditions of soldiers.(this comes from across the pond tho some issues are shared)
The 24h DFAC and gym you mentioned are something you every soldier in every army wishes for, the better healthy nutrition that includes all ways of living are something that was brought up as a big issue in the German armed forces (which I am part of) and I think the conditions of barracks rooms are another thing that'd really improve recruitment. I've had shitty old barracks and I had amazing new barracks and then there are barracks I'd dream about having that are basically like a hotel room. And those don't even get close to some of the issues brought up by US servicemembers like the moldy rooms or undrinkable water. I think stuff like that scares away new recruits and cuts down on retention.