War horses are over

We are at a time when Wars dispute with dronesexchange of missiles that impact “Shields” about cities and maritime battles are prepared starring ‘ghosts’. The main one World Military Power He has made an ad, and has nothing to do with technology: the United States army will begin to withdraw his war horses.

Because even if they seem like the past, the US was using horses in the war until relatively recently.

Short. Through a releasethe US Army has announced a reduction in its “Equinos of military work” program, or MWE for its acronym in English. This program involved the use of horses, mules and donkeys in military facilities and, as of this month, equine operations will have an end in Fort Irwin (California), Fort Huachua (Arizona), Fort Riley (Kansas), Fort Sill (Oklahoma) and Fort Hood (Texas).

Horses in special forces. Police forces continue to use horses and it is something that we constantly see in Patrol work or even in riot tasks, but talking about war horses leads us to another era. Perhaps we can think of the United States cavalry by massacrating the Native Americans, but horses have really been used in modern conflicts.

In the American invasion of Afghanistan, the 5th group of special forces He used war horses and mules as a means of transport in the rugged mountain land in the north of the country. Vehicles were unchanged and horses They could easily overcome The terrain.

American soldiers on horseback in Afghanistan

Change of priorities. That was the last documented example of the use of cavalry by US Army And, in the decision to do without these units, several factors enter. On the one hand, we have a change in social sensitivity, where we care more about animal welfarewith sources that point out some difficulties in maintaining optimal care for many horses in military bases. Also Negligence (It also occurs outside the army, as at the Seville Fair).

On the other hand, of course, money enters. We constantly have news about new US weapons and we see that the tendency of the Department of Defense is to focus its resources on advanced capabilities such as Antimile defenses, anti -products or the Hypersonic armament. Maintaining horses is the opposite of direct military efficiency.

A money. The Army itself speaks of this in its statement, stating that this initiative “will save the army two million dollars annually and will allow the funds and soldiers dedicated to the MWE programs to be redirected to more priority preparation and combat.”

Two million dollars within the US defense budgets is A tear in an oceanbut it is true that it is not cheap to keep a horse and that all that staff can now devote themselves to work for which the army receives a greater benefit.

Where will horses go? From the military arm, they have pledged to “guarantee a transfer without stumbling” of those animals. The managers will have a year to transfer, facilitate the adoption or donate the MWE to new owners who will be “investigated according to the federal law”, with veterinarians supervising the process to guarantee both the proper relocation and the well -being of the animals. According to Task & Purpose236 horses, donkeys and mules were still maintained, which are the ones that must find a new home.

They will not disappear at all. However, the MWE program will not die. The Army will maintain some horses for ceremonial acts, such as military parades or funerals, with some units held in The Old Guard, in the Washington Military District, and in the joint base of San Antonio, in Texas.

In the end, the horses had been relegated to mountain missions or extremely inaccessible land, but the military tradition maintained the term of “cavalry units“In some countries, although those units You will no longer ride animalsbut mechanized units.

Now, we are talking about the horses that the army maintained. There are other US armed arms that continue to use horses, such as agents patrolling the border in Texas and other branches of the mounted police and rescue equipment.

Images | Sgt. Chris Spence

In Xataka | For decades horses have been a tourist claim from Malaga. Now they have the days counted