To keep referring to the next generation military equipment as "toys" makes me wonder whether you really do agree with me. Vast technological superiority IS the deterrence I was speaking about. It's not total troops (China and North Korea trounce us), it is the huge gap between US military technology and everyone else.
As for the soldiers pay, it is really a separate issue. Ask the soldier on the front line if he would give up hellfire missile support for an extra $50 in his paycheck.
Yes, paying soldiers more is a noble goal that I support, but not at the cost of technological superiority that helps the US keep those soldiers alive both on the battlefield and by keeping them off the battlefield all together through deterrence.
These aren't "toys".
well in reference to your next gen tech,most of it is just toys.
for example the m4's they are replacing m16's with have no standard while the m16 has to be built to a specific pattern,all m16's fire the same,but m4's vary wildly depending on who built them,varying in accuracy,trigger pull,wieght distribution etc.
another is our matv trucks,almost everyone i know in line units hates them with a passion,they are trucks that cant carry any cargo,troop carriers that can barely hold troops,and armored patrol vehicles with windows so small patrols become difficult.the only people ive seen like them were fobbits.oh and they tend to break down more often than they run.
another is the maxppro mrap,its an armored troop carrier,but has no way to secure gear,short of making your own mans,which then uses room to carry troops.it also is horrible offroad and super easy to flip,its like the person who designed it believed all combat zones woukld occur on pavement and that ied's would never be used to flip them,basically self defeating.
last example,the acu uniform,it uses velcro which is great at alerting enemy forces,its camo patter worked ok in iraq in light colored sand,but failed horribly everywhere else except urban environments outside the middle east.the pattern was so bad that literally every fob had gravel matching to it put in so it blended into something.the army research facility even admitted it was selected without trials,despite evidence showing it was among the worst possible candidates,while at the same time multicam rated very high because its ability to atleast perform decent in all environment,even though sspecialized camo was better to a specific environment.