7 days ago
The Army has realized that horses are no longer good for ‘warfighting'
Goodbye horses, the Army's over you.
The Army is drastically scaling back its Military Working Equid program, the Army term for the service's contingent of horses, donkeys and mules. With a few exceptions for ceremonial horse teams, the equine operations will wind down over the next year at five Army bases, with animals being donated or transferred to private owners, the Army announced last week. Why the drawdown? According to the Army, it's 'to align more resources with warfighting capability and readiness.'
'This initiative will save the Army $2 million annually and will allow the funds and soldiers dedicated to [Military Working Equid] programs to be redirected to readiness and warfighting priorities,' according to the Army's release. The 'warfighting priorities' were not specified.
The Department of Defense currently owns 236 horses, mules and donkeys, which are housed and cared for on Army bases, Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ruth Castro told Task & Purpose on Monday.
The one-year reduction will see the closure of MWE programs at bases in California, Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas: Fort Irwin, Fort Huachuca, Fort Riley, Fort Sill and Fort Hood. The Army will keep horse teams at two locations, including the 3rd Infantry Regiment, or 'the Old Guard,' at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, which restarted its caisson services in June after a two-year pause following the death of two horses. That effort saw the Army invest more than $18 million in new real estate and equipment for the horses.
Though the age of the war horse is long gone, horses have not been totally absent from combat use in the modern Army.
Army Special Forces soldiers famously used horses with the Northern Alliance during the initial invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 — those horses were provided by Afghan partners. The last time the Army staged an outright cavalry charge was 83 years ago during World War II. The 26th Cavalry Regiment in the Philippines, made up of American and Filipino fighters, resisted Japanese forces with horseback tactics. On Jan. 16, 1942, Lt. Edward Ramsey led a mounted force into the village of Morong. When the cavalry encountered a larger Japanese infantry force, Ramsey ordered them forward, even yelling 'charge!' The horse-based assault was so sudden and shocking it pushed the Japanese forces back.
According to the Army, equine veterinarian experts will oversee the drawdown of the MWE animals. They will be donated or adopted by outside parties.
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