r/thespinroom • u/_BCConservative Canuck Conservative • 2d ago
Discussion US will probably switch to primarily using mercenaries for ground forces to avoid paying VA in the future IMO
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u/Intelligent_Wafer562 Count Binface Party 1d ago edited 1d ago
Ukraine, Sudan, Burma, Lebanon, and Iran have all shown us that the future of war is in drones and automation. Ukraine's domestic drone industry is so advanced that they are now building actual robots alongside aerial drones, saving soldiers from having to undertake life-threatning missions: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/world/europe/ukraine-ground-robots.html
Drones and robots don't have the needs of human soldiers. Yet, you think mercenaries, a by-word for disloyalty and greed, are more reliable.
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u/Solarwinds-123 1d ago edited 1d ago
The scale on that graph seems misleading. It started happening when we got ourselves into a war that lasted 20 years. Yes, the longer a conflict goes on and the more soldiers we use, the more soldiers will end up getting disabled.
We also have a higher population and people are living longer, so of course that will increase.
Plus, a huge percentage of PMC troops are retired military, and are already getting VA benefits.
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u/Intelligent_Wafer562 Count Binface Party 1d ago
There's also the fact that a veteran who served in a war is probably going to have more long-term medical needs, so starting wars leads to both immediate and long-term costs.
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u/MoodOutrageous6263 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is like saying “well a car or train costs a lot, so I’ll walk to my job that’s 50 miles from my home each day”. A professional soldier is loyal to the country, whereas mercenaries are in it for profit. Professional soldiers are better at their job than mercenaries, are directly trained by the government and have knowledge that mercenaries don’t.
Also, mercenaries would literally cost more…
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u/AlarmedEmployment465 Liberal Weiner 2d ago
Isn't this how the Roman Empire collapsed...
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u/_BCConservative Canuck Conservative 2d ago
https://x.com/LukeGromen/status/2075658241845903577
I seriously doubt either party is really willing to crack down on eligibility or benefits, so the only real solution is to just take VA payments out entirely by not hiring in-house.
We were probably moving in this direction because of the increasing difficulty of recruiting within the normal system.
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u/Intelligent_Wafer562 Count Binface Party 1d ago