I don't think people realize just how many troops that is. When a battalion deploys, they will usually deploy half or the majority of its troops. This is usually about a few hundred. The entire regiment is made up of multiple batallions so you get a few thousand troops and only a portion of them deploy. 20,000 troops is more than lots of bases have total. That is 50% of all of Camp Pendleton, the biggest Marine base. This is an absolutely insane amount of troops.
I just made a post on it actually. It is an insane amount, yes. The initial invasion of Afghanistan was only 1,000 troops and took us 3 years to get to 20,000 troops.
I don't think people realize just how many troops that is. When a battalion deploys, they will usually deploy half or the majority of its troops. This is usually about a few hundred. The entire regiment is made up of multiple batallions so you get a few thousand troops and only a portion of them deploy. 20,000 troops is more than lots of bases have total. That is 50% of all of Camp Pendleton, the biggest Marine base. This is an absolutely insane amount of troops.
I used to live 30 minutes from Camp Pendleton, this really helps me visualize the scale, and HOLY CRUD that's a lot of troops.
I just made a post on it actually. It is an insane amount, yes. The initial invasion of Afghanistan was only 1,000 troops and took us 3 years to get to 20,000 troops.