Five Reasons America's Army Won't Be Ready For The Next War -- Loren Thompson, Forbes
Every October the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) holds its annual meeting and exposition at Washington’s convention center. It’s a huge event executed with military precision, highlighted this year by the unveiling of a new Army Operating Concept that will guide the development of the future force. But the AUSA meeting only lasts a few days, and when it is over soldiers will return to the task of managing their institution’s decline. The service is shrinking by 20,000 active-duty soldiers per year, its readiness for combat is eroding, and its plans for maintaining a technological edge over potential adversaries have largely collapsed.
The Army has seen bigger declines in the past. Ten years after the Union Army enrolled a million soldiers during the closing days of the Civil War, it had shrunk to a mere 25,000 men. The number of active-duty soldiers was reduced by over 90% after both world wars. So the possibility that the Army’s active-duty roster will contract from 570,000 personnel to 420,000 between the beginning and the end of the current decade isn’t earth-shattering by historical standards. What’s different today is that the wars aren’t over, and new challenges requiring “boots on the ground” are multiplying. From the Western Pacific to the Middle East to North Africa to Eastern Europe, the likelihood of U.S. involvement in new conflicts is growing.
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My Comment: I always remember what former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said on the onset of the Afghanistan campaign after 9/11 and then the Iraq invasion when he was questioned on the preparedness of the U.S. military .... "You go to war with what you have". Unfortunately .... in today's world with the U.S. military being in the shape that it is (and will be in the years to come), going to war will mean sky-high casualties, and spending far more money when you play "catch-up".
1 comment:
Us was not ready on WW2 but after alot of money and casuality we know how it ended
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