[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Roger Rambo

It won't matter. The Norks won't have the intricate command and control network the ROK will have through Boxer and his Command and control platoon. Numbers are for naught when they don't have Boxers micro.

I propose that the ROK Army introduce soldiers solely armed with powered armour and concussion high-pressure propelled grenades against NK armour.

Originally Posted by Roger Rambo

I wouldn't be so sure of that if shit hit the fan. With thousands of Nork special forces troops trying to infiltrate into the south through tunnels and boats, you could have fighting going on behind the frontlines.

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

They would do so over here, since only human waves can start the march north.

Basically the NK commando units are trained to create a "second front", much like the Ranger/Royal Marine battalions in NATO. Infiltrate into the back lines, and cause as much damage as possible through guerrilla tactics and asymmetric warfare.

Though I wonder if they really have any effect since their doctrine is less on self-preservation and more of "fight to death". The more effective commando tactics are often "live to fight another day" rather than "die and take some with me".

Therefore, they wouldn't send recruits to the frontlines since it will take an entire platoon of know-nothings to defeat a single commando. Or at least they won't do so without giving them COIN training (which would take up to 6 months).

There is another factor to consider against these "second front" commandos : the internal security special forces units, namely the SWAT and the higher echelon of the local police. Give them a little more training in basic tracking and they can perform their duties without drawing soldiers from the front.

Actually, IMHO, given how the 707th have performed in the Vietnam War, I have some confidence in the ROK Army's COIN measures. Though I demand that they are given cloaking units, ramjet rifles and ocular implants.

And some news....

North Korea "readies missiles"

(Reuters) - North Korea has placed surface-to-surface missiles on launch pads in the Yellow Sea, Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday, as the United States and South Korea began military exercises and China said it would try to ensure peace.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak told a visiting Chinese delegation that Beijing, North Korea's only major ally which is traditionally reluctant to criticize the reclusive regime, should do more to help.

China, which agreed with South Korea that the situation was "worrisome," would try to stop it deteriorating, the delegation responded, the presidential Blue House and Chinese media said.

Yonhap also said North Korea had moved surface-to-air missiles to frontline areas, days after it shelled a tiny South Korean island killing four people. The North's official KCNA news agency warned of retaliatory action if its territory is violated.

The Defense Ministry told journalists to leave the island, Yeonpyeong, because the situation was "bad." Many residents evacuated earlier said they did not want to return.

"We will deliver a brutal military blow on any provocation which violates our territorial waters," KCNA said.

Officials from South Korea's Defense Ministry and the joint chiefs said they could not comment on the Yonhap report. "It is impossible to confirm the report as it is classified as military secret," an official said.

The exercises, in waters far south of the disputed maritime boundary, are being held in the face of opposition by China and threats of all-out war from North Korea.

PRESSURE ON CHINA

The chairman of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly will visit China from Tuesday, the official Xinhua news agency said. Lee told Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo, who outranks Foreign Minister Yang Jiechie, that Beijing, with its growing international influence, should do more to help ensure peace.

China has not taken sides in the conflict and declined to blame North Korea, unlike the United States, for the sinking of a South Korean naval vessel in March.

"We ask that China make a contribution to peace on the Korean peninsula by taking a more fair and responsible position on South-North Korea ties," the presidential Blue House quoted Lee as telling Dai.

"The Chinese side conveyed the message of condolences for the South Korean victims of the Yeonpyeong incident and said it would make efforts to prevent the situation from deteriorating for the sake of peace between the South and North," Lee's spokesman said.

Lee said the attack on civilians, coming after the revelation of the North's highly uranium enrichment program, was a grave change in the situation.

"Lee asked that China play a role in North-South ties to match its growing international stature at a time when the Cold War is over and we should be pursuing coexistence and peace in the 21st century," Lee's spokesman, Hong Sang-pyo, said.

Washington says the drill is intended as a deterrent after the worst assault on South Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

Life went on as normal in the sunny and cold capital, Seoul. In the chic shopping district of Myeondong, tens of thousands jammed the streets looking for bargains and drinking coffee at cafes. There has been no disruption of air and shipping routes.

The nuclear-powered carrier USS George Washington, which carries 75 warplanes and has a crew of over 6,000, has joined the exercises and will be accompanied by at least four other U.S. warships, an official from U.S. Forces Korea (USKF) told Reuters.

South Korea has deployed three destroyers, frigates and anti-submarine aircraft, Yonhap news agency reported, adding the exercises were being held far south of the disputed area where the artillery firing took place on Tuesday.

South Korea's marine commander on Saturday vowed "thousand-fold" revenge for the North Korean attack that killed two servicemen and two civilians.

North Korea said that if there had been civilian deaths, they were "very regrettable," but that South Korea should be blamed for using a human shield.

It also said the United States should be blamed for "orchestrating" the whole sequence of events to justify sending an aircraft carrier to join the maritime maneuvers.

And some good news for us between 20-30......

Generation Y: the new depression generation?

Spoiler for Long:

(Reuters) - In college, Matthew Bergh was ahead of the curve, working part-time at a local Starbucks and setting aside a few thousand dollars a year to do what his parents taught him to do -- invest.

In 2008 the markets crashed and the recession interrupted his financial dreams. "As of right now, I can't invest," Bergh said. "I'm saving."

Eighteen- to 30-year olds, known as "Generation Y," have taken a more conservative approach to managing their money -- stashing it in a savings account or under the proverbial mattress.

This generation of investors came of age during a succession of economic earthquakes. They witnessed the dot-com implosion of 2000 and the more recent onslaught of plunging housing prices, the credit crisis, recession, double-digit unemployment and an annihilation of investor wealth.

"The younger generation has not seen a good stock market over their adulthood," said Gordon Fowler, chief executive of Glenmede, a Philadelphia-based wealth manager for rich people. "That had to have some impact on the psychology of younger investors."

Bergh, 22, started looking for a job in January, and sent out more than 200 applications. After graduating in May, he did what thousands of young Americans have been forced to do: he moved back in with his parents and took an internship with Microsoft Corp. His job search continues.

Among his other ways to conserve cash, he has postponed his investments.

Leslie Barrie, a 26-year-old journalist in New York, followed a similar path. After graduating from college in California, she moved in with her parents and pursued low-paying internships before she went to graduate school.

"I try to save as much as possible," Barrie said. She wants to invest for her retirement, but the markets have discouraged her from doing anything other than keeping a savings account.

Even those who work in capital markets are leery.

One 28-year-old man who declined to be named because he is a hedge fund vice president said five years ago he kept about 10 percent of his finances in cash. Now, he keeps 70 percent.

LEARNING GRANDPARENTS' LESSONS

Generation Y's views on money echo that of another generation -- their grandparents. Many of those people learned the value of saving and frugality because they grew up in the wake of the 1929 market crash and the Great Depression.

By contrast, their parents -- the Baby Boomers -- were buoyed by several major bull markets, soaring home values and the proliferation of easy consumer credit.

"Our parents lived it up on debt and then many of them saw their houses get foreclosed, and that was kind of a shock to us," said Robert Eubank, a 20-year-old senior finance major and equity portfolio manager at a student-run investment group at Towson University in Maryland.

"It put that notion of being prepared for a downturn in their heads."

The impact did not spare those with large financial cushions.

A recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey found that 52 percent of young, affluent investors seek lower risks when choosing investment strategies, far outpacing all age groups but one. Among those aged 65 and older, 55 percent said they had low risk tolerance with investments.

The scars from the financial crisis may not heal, either.

Younger investors not only are highly vulnerable to market shocks, but "depression babies" carry the memory of volatile times throughout their lives, said Ulrike Malmandier, a professor of finance at the University of California, Berkeley, who analyzed consumer finance surveys from 1960 to 2007.

The post-crisis generation commonly shied away from higher-risk investments, such as stocks.

"Even 20 years after the financial crisis, the effect will be significant," Malmandier said.

MESSAGE 'NOT GETTING THROUGH'

The job market is adding to young people's problems.

The largest age group at more than 92 million Americans is heavily dependent on their parents' money -- and underemployed. A recent Pew Research study found that a third get financial support from families and only four in 10 work full-time jobs.

As a result, the only investing for many younger adults involves retirement saving plans, such as 401(k)s, often automatically created by employers.

Even with those, Generation Y is the least likely of all age groups to invest in stocks or bond funds, according to a Vanguard Group Inc study of its retirement investors.

"There is a very important message that's not getting through," said Christine Fahlund, retirement planning expert at mutual fund giant T. Rowe Price.

"The biggest challenge is how do we get people to stop being affected by complete paralysis and despondency."

The good news for wealth managers is that Generation Y is ready to listen.

"They do actually want to learn; they just don't know how to start the process," said Todd Romer, founder of financial education initiative Young Money.

Romer visited 25 college campuses this fall, encouraging students to invest. PNC Bank, General Motors and others sponsored the tour, according to website.

Bergh, who is finishing an internship in his home town of Fargo, North Dakota, wants to get back to his E*Trade brokerage account and resume investing. For now, however, his optimism is muted.

"I've been trying to figure out, where do I have to cut down on my quality of life, and thinking, is it my fault or part of the macro environment?"

His answer? It isn't really his fault.

Less younger investors now = less winners to share the winner's pie = larger profits for those with winning trades.