No ARMY Money ?

[Chuck Beach]

I am not defending him but I don't think it is right to trash talk Schumacher just because he has gotten an Army deal. Same thing with Ryan Newman or Mark Martin (once sponsered by the Army). All of the millionaire pros (except Jim Head) get money from some company or organization. I am not saying that it is right for the Army to spend tax payer money on sponsoring race cars but I if they are going to do it (spend advertising $$), better here in motor sports than maybe some where else.

Joe, tell your son we are proud of him defending our country.

[Curt Rees]

I am going to chime in on this one also, since I have a son that has served in both Iraq and Afghanistan with the National Guard. I asked him if the auto and fishing sponsorships were a plus for recruiting.

He said yes, because the thinking is if the young men/women are intelligent enough to have an interest in building/maintaining and racing automobiles or taking an interest in the fishing industry, they are a good prospect to serve well in the military. Beats the hell out of recruiting the bums standing on a street corner smoking dope!

If you want to go after somebody, go after the politicians for causing all these messes. We are going to be in another one in Libya soon, because of OIL! If we would start developing our own resources, they could swim and drown in it, and I could care less!

#5457

Curt Rees

[Julie Jordan]

If I was a Congressperson the question I would be asking is how does the dollars spent on motorsports correlate with recruitments? All departments of the military have recruiting budgets. They have recruitment fairs all over, buy billboards, tv ads, etc. If sponsoring motosports is a successful means of advertising for them then I say it's ok to continue. I've seen the Army "compound" in manufacturers row, it's very impressive and staffed with military members. I suspect it's a good program for them.

I fully support our troops and believe they should be fully staffed. However, I think that issue and army sponsorships are two different subjects.

[Ed Fernandez]

I fully agree with what Alan and Julie have to say.
On the issue of equipment if true,it's a shame these young men and women aren't sent out with everything they need,to do their job and to protect themselves
On a historical note the American military,for the most part during the Revolusionary War,War of 1812 and to a smaller extent the Civil War,supplied a lot of their own
equipment.Some even had their own private firearms.
Thanks to all those who defend the freedoms we're blessed with in our country.