Remember my warnings about the General's cutting troops before weapon systems? Well now it begins. Check this out...
The Obama administration will unveil a "more realistic" vision for the military on Thursday, with plans to cut tens of thousands of ground troops and invest more in air and sea power at a time of fiscal restraint, officials familiar with the plans said on Wednesday.We're getting transformation whether we want it or not.
Force structure reductions shouldn't surprise anyone. For FY2012 it looks like the USAF is losing 200 planes and USN looks to end up closer to 200 than 300 ships and betting on them keeping 10 carriers long term is questionable.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty rare in Washington that requirements drive budgets. We've got budget issues and DOD is getting cut and that's a fairly bi partisan mantra at this point.
What would be really useful, however, is a deadly serious review of what we really need. For example should the Corp scale back Marine aviation to keep more ground units? Is the US Army's experiment with mini brigades really a savings in terms of manpower and might large heavy brigades be more cost effective? How many tactical fighters does the nation require as opposed to how many the USN, USMC, and USAF require? Are F-35C's on carriers more useful than F-35A's in terms of basing and might we cut the USAF and maintain or even beef up the USN?
Most of this never gets discussed because it's almost entirely a budget process of Army vs Navy vs Air Force. The result is each service takes some amount of cuts without looking at the total picture.
Finally there's also the political calculation that we're not going to do a major ground war anytime soon given how popular that's turned out politically both domestically and internationally. While this doesn't of course have much to do with our actual requirements it does reflect the national will and, sadly, within these terms it makes sense to cut those forces with the least possibility of being used politically.
I wouldn't put it to doubt that you could see calls for heavy reduction in the Corps if not a call for its end in the next few years.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be rough
It takes a HELL of a lot less time to induct and train a new soldier than it does to graduate new engineers, train them, design a new figher, build it, train the pilots, etc.
ReplyDeleteYOU DON'T ASK SOME ENGINEER SITTING ON HIS ASS IN A NICE COMFORTABLE OFFICE TO CHARGE AN ENEMY POSITION...TO SEE HIS BUDDIES BLOWN TO HELL OR TO ASK THEM TO WALK AWAY AND NOT LOOK BACK ONCE THE COUNTRY DECIDES IT NO LONGER NEEDS HIS SERVICES.
ReplyDeleteThis shouldn't surprise anyone. the U.S has a historical habit of slashing defense more than necessary at the end of wars, then initially getting their ass kicked in wars that politicians hope don't happen but do anyway, and then the shock of the possibility of loosing a war forces us to suddenly make all the right decisions regarding defense. The U.S military went into the War of 1812, Civil War, WWII, and Korean War totally unprepared, having invested either in the wrong capabilities or force structure or both. Now we're slashing the size of the military again when we should be at the bare minimum maintaining our manpower levels while modernizing our aging vehicles and equipment (across all services). This situation is not going to get better until someone in Asia (cough, China) decides to start a war.
ReplyDelete"YOU DON'T ASK SOME ENGINEER SITTING ON HIS ASS IN A NICE COMFORTABLE OFFICE TO CHARGE AN ENEMY POSITION...TO SEE HIS BUDDIES BLOWN TO HELL OR TO ASK THEM TO WALK AWAY AND NOT LOOK BACK ONCE THE COUNTRY DECIDES IT NO LONGER NEEDS HIS SERVICES. "
ReplyDeleteCaps aside, what's your point? None of that changes the fact that it takes a hell of a lot more to sustain air superiority than it does to put boots on the ground. And without air superiority you're going to need a HELL of a lot more boots, as they'll be subject to being on the $hit end of all those youtube videos we see of the other guy getting blown to shit by airpower. If you love your grunts then protect them. A new set of body armor isn't going to do squat to protect him against a laser guided bomb on his ass.