Army Aviation unit that was lost under Army Transformation Research Paper

Army Aviation unit that was lost under Army Transformation - Research Paper Example The U.S. Army goes as far as to state, â€Å"soldiers learn these values in detail during Basic Combat Training (BCT), from then on they live them every day in everything they do — whether they’re on the job or off† (Department of Defense, 2006). Since the formation of our country soldiers, brave men and women; have fought to protect our borders, our rights, our freedoms. There have been many changes, in the way they have fought; from horses and swords, to planes, and guns, but the operating force, the solider, and their values have remained the same. With advances in technology there has arisen a new threat to the soldier’s way of life, job security and possibly even necessity, and that is machine soldiers. Machines, acting in place of soldiers, now patrol our borders, and more recently steps have been made to make them airborne. In fact part of the 2004 Army transformation displaced an entire airborne fleet, the Comanche helicopter division, and entruste d the 6.9 million dollars that was used to fund speed up the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) development. This leaves many to question whether or not a machine can really exude the same values as a solider. After taking a deeper look at the reasons for the 2004 army transformation, the development and purpose of UAV’s and how it is affecting U.S. army units, we may rethink the funding the use of machines over soldiers. 2004 Army Transformation After the attacks in 9/11/2001 the U.S. army entered the first war in close to thirty years. By 2004 it was apparent that this war was going to last longer than expected, so the army began looking at a total transformation. Much of the equipment was in desperate need of advancement and the location and usage of army personnel needed to be altered. US Army Chief of Staff General Peter Schoomaker spoke before congress in December 2006 on the importance of this Army transformation. He said, "Following 9/11, our Army began its most significant reorganization since World War II to ensure that the formations of all components are fully manned, equipped, and trained† (Schoomaker, 2006). Of course one of the primary goals of this transformation was the advancement of technology use in our armed forces. As with most technological changes this brought about much debate, especially over the development of unmanned vehicles. The Development and Purpose of UAV’s One particular unmanned vehicle that was developed was the unmanned aerial vehicle, also known as UAV’s. A UAV is a remotely controlled aerial vehicle that is unmanned by human personal, or crew. These vehicles come in two categories and are used for a variety of purposes. In the past UAV’s were typically more or less drone’s, or remotely piloted aircraft. In this case the pilot, or soldier, would still be in a sense flying the plane and making the decisions but they would doing this from a more secured ground location. Recent advancements, however, have led to the use of autonomous control in the UAV’s. In this situation the aircraft is preset to a particular flight plan, and at times has a particular order to fulfill. In this situation one solider could monitor multiple aircrafts, eliminating many Army positions. This also leaves the job of decision making up to the aircraft, or computer, not to a solider who has been trained in the key value systems listed above. Currently

Economic Issues of KFC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Economic Issues of KFC - Essay Example As the report declares most of the people already face budget constraints due to either decreasing salaries or increasing inflation. The point here is that towards the end of the day, in a recession, people find themselves with less disposable income, they take rational decisions and become thoughtful about ways for spending it. Customers become more and more price conscious and look for low priced products, low priced substitutes or discounts and others. This explains why despite of this brutal recession, low cost retailers like Wal-Mart, Target Corporation, Aldi and Asda have been able to actually pose strong sales growth over the past four years. As mentioned earlier, during recessions, people look for low cost providers since they want more value for their money. Rather than spending on premium versions of the product, people shift to lower prices thus boosting the businesses of low cost providers. This essay stresses that quite understandably, during recessions, people can cut down their purchases of luxury products or purchases, which can be delayed under normal circumstances such as alcohol, clothing, home equipment, automobiles, and others. However, food, grocery, medicine, and drinks do not come in this category. Despite the fact that KFC is serving food but when faced with financial constraints, consumers avoid dine-in at restaurants or cafes and prefer to cook food at home, which can save them money. (Hemerijck, Knapen & Doorne, pp. 230-234, 2010). They throw parities at home rather than celebrating at fast food chains. This attitude of the consumers means that the business of food retailers is more likely to grow and statistics indicate that food and grocery retail business has showed steady growth, but at the same time, revenues of fast food chains like KFC and other restaurants decreases significantly. This pattern has pushed many small restaurant chains at the brink of insolvency (Wit & Meyer, pp. 390-394, 2010). A careful analysis may reveal that during a recession, some of the competitors do not only leave the marketplace due to bankruptcy or insolvency but these economic recessions also present a unique opportunity to upper middle class entrepreneurs who are willing to take the risk. The Bank of England has set the interest rate at 0.5 percent which the record low level in the history of UK