The plan as announced will have him buried in Plains, GA rather than Arlington, but it's very likely this unit would have been involved -- and may yet be. In any case the horses deserve better treatment than they've been getting at the hands of our Old Guard, another sign of the notable decline even in treasured elements of a once-unmatched military.
Newly Relevant: US Army Equine Funeral Unit Troubled
Carter was Navy, but it's the US Army that runs Arlington, and their horse-drawn funeral unit has been having some serious problems. Somewhat ironically, as you can see from the formal photos, it's blue-cord Infantry from the Third Infantry Regiment that are running this equine operation, not a US Cavalry unit.
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Well that's troubling. Is it really so hard to care for horses so they at least don't die and don't have ill fitted tack as they make it sound?
"And critics contend that even if care of the horses can be improved in the short term, they doubt if the Army can keep the unit from falling apart again down the line. Highly trained horses are expensive to maintain. They, and the novice soldiers assigned to them, require years-long training programs that just a handful of people are capable of offering, experts say. "
They make it sound like you need a fleet of experts to run it. It also seems like if you paid enough for the horses someone already breeding would breed for the program as well, but funding seems to be an issue- a real pity given how we waste money hand over fist in the DoD in other ways.
"They make it sound like you need a fleet of experts to run it."
Yeah, that's right. It's the job. The Infantryman or the Marine lives by his rifle: their whole job is about their relationship with the rifle and the rifle team. They need to know everything about it and to maintain it faithfully at all times. This job is about the relationship between the soldier and the horse.
They don't have to have graduate degrees in horsemanship, but they by God need to be horsemen.
They need to sever this responsibility from Third Infantry and set up a horse detachment. It's categorically different from the rest of what Arlington does. You could easily recruit soldiers whose whole career would be doing nothing but this; some would be cowboys and some would be horse girls, but you could have your pick of thousands if you promised them that all they'd do is work with horses every day for their whole enlistment while bringing honor to those who have served in harder roles.
I believe the US Army had genuine horse cavalry units until 1942. I also seem to recall that until the 1980s the New Mexico Military Institute taught all their cadets military horsemanship and saber skills, but a quick look at their website now doesn't mention it. It's sad that the Army has lost these skills. I think they should either do it right or end it, and Grim's suggestion seems best for how to do it right.
Back when the GWOT produced Green Beret fighters from horseback in Afghanistan and the Philippines, the Army reinvigorated its horse/mule packing course. In those days BLACKFIVE was the top military blog, and milblogs had currency: GWB addressed our conference in 2004. They sent me the field manual for review!
These days the National Parks Service has a better program than the Army. But it can be fixed. The old ways are not dead — not yet — and we still have plenty of young Americans who love horses.
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