America's Dwindling Arsenal Of High-End Munitions Emerges As An Alarming Crisis

Staff Sgt. Trevor Glass and Airman Joseph Boik secure a Joint Direct Attack Munition onto an F-16 fighter at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, on Aug. 16, 2020. (Senior Airman Mya M. Crosby/U.S. Air Force)  

Real Clear Wire: A Shrunken Arsenal: The Alarming Decline of U.S. Munitions 

As fighting rages in the Middle East and Europe and China looms as a threat, America's dwindling arsenal of high-end munitions emerges as an alarming crisis. The United States, once a fortress of military might, now faces the prospect of a munitions deficit in an era brimming with uncertainties. This desperate situation demands the development of a national critical munitions stockpile. 

European weapons makers are overwhelmed and struggling to meet Ukraine's consumption of more than 6,000 artillery rounds each day during peak counteroffensive fighting. Ukraine's ability to stave off defeat and defend itself against the Russian invasion largely depends on an uninterrupted supply of these rounds. Ukrainian forces are conserving their ammunition supply, which might lead to postponements in upcoming counterattacks. Over the coming months, this shortage of ammunition could compel Ukrainian military units to make difficult choices regarding the allocation of resources across various frontlines, focusing on areas where maintaining control is most crucial and potentially allowing minor territorial losses in less critical sectors. 

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WNU Editor: Concerns on America's dwindling arsenal of high-end munitions are being raised everywhere .... The US needs more munitions to deter China (Wilson Beaver and Jim Fein, Defense News). The Pentagon's extensive weapons stockpile in Israel is also under scrutiny .... Gaza war puts US’s extensive weapons stockpile in Israel under scrutiny (The Guardian).

Active-Duty U.S. Troop Numbers Sink To Less Than 1.3 million, The Smallest Military In Over 80 Years

The Army and Navy are facing recruitment challenges  

Daily Mail: U.S. enters 2024 with its smallest military in over 80 years as active-duty troop numbers sink to less than 1.3 million and all branches except Space Force MISS recruiting goals and Pentagon issue 'national call of service' to Gen Z 

* Pentagon officials say recruitment is more difficult than it used to be 

* Military says a 'national call to service' is needed 

* Active-duty numbers have not been so low since 1941 

The United States is set to enter 2024 with its smallest military in more than eight decades and faces one of its 'greatest challenges' as it tries to boost recruiting from Gen Z, Pentagon officials said. 

Under the $886 billion annual defense bill passed by Congress this week total active-duty troop numbers will fall to 1,284,500 next year. 

That is the lowest total since before the U.S. entered the Second World War in 1941 and officials said there should be a 'national call to service'.  

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Active-Duty U.S. Troop Numbers Sink To Less Than 1.3 million  

US Enters 2024 with Smallest Military in 80 Years -- CF  

US enters 2024 with smallest military in over 80 years as China’s army sparks WW3 fears -- Express  

US military now at smallest size in 80 years with enlistment hitting new low -- Mirror

Are U.S. Military Barracks This Bad?

Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Defense  

The Center Square: U.S. troops describe living in military barracks as 'continuous misery' 

Sewage backups and inoperable fire systems are among the safety hazards that U.S. service members living in barracks face, according to a new report on how such conditions undermine quality of life and military readiness. 

A U.S. Government Accountability Office report found that the Pentagon's assessments of conditions at barracks "are unreliable" and "observed barracks that pose potentially serious health and safety risks – such as broken windows and inoperable fire systems – and that do not meet minimum [U.S. Department of Defense] standards for privacy and configuration."  

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WNU Editor: And the Pentagon wonders why they have a recruitment problem.

Is The U.S. Prepared To Fight A Major War?

The Atlantic: Ukraine Isn’t the Reason the U.S. Is Unprepared for War 

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the United States has provided Kyiv with more than $43 billion worth of security assistance. Opponents of aid to Ukraine have argued that the United States is drawing down inventories of systems and ammunition that are already in short supply for its own forces, and which would be needed in any high-intensity conflict. 

Our country could very well lose a large-scale war for lack of weapons and ammunition—but not because of aid to Ukraine. In a major conflict, the U.S. would run out of munitions in a few weeks, and in less than a week for some crucial categories. The quantity of weapons we are providing Ukraine is marginal compared with necessary weapons that we have not stocked. As Mackenzie Eaglen of the American Enterprise Institute has argued, “Over the past nine fiscal years, budget after budget has traded away combat power, truncated needed weapons early, and permanently closed production lines.”  

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WNU Editor: You have to wonder where is all that defense money going?

Is The U.S. Military Woke?

Pride Month is currently celebrated each year in the month of June. (U.S. Air Force photo illustration by Staff Sgt. Andrea Posey)  

Lawrence J. Korb and Stephen J. Cimbala, Military.com: Is the American Military Too 'Woke'? 

A theme that keeps dominating certain corners of media commentary is the idea that the U.S. armed forces have become “woke.” 

In today's vocabulary, this implies that the American military has been overtaken by ideological imperatives that push a far-left political agenda. 

 Allegedly, U.S. enlisted personnel and officers are being subjected to compulsory exercises in groupthink that devalue the American historical experience, spread contempt for traditional American values and diminish the appeal of military service in favor of other alternatives.  

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WNU Editor: I always joke that this is not your grandfather's Army. So you tell me .... is the US military woke? I know the Pentagon's top general is saying no .... Top general fires back at ‘offensive’ criticism of military being ‘woke’ (Politico).

Confidence in U.S. Military Lowest in Over Two Decades

Gallup: Confidence in U.S. Military Lowest in Over Two Decades 

* Public confidence in the U.S. military continues to decline 

* Drops seen across party groups, but Republicans remain most confident 

* Independents least likely to express confidence this year 

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans are now less likely to express “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the U.S. military, with a noticeable decline that has persisted for the past five years. 

The latest numbers are from a June 1-22 Gallup poll that also captured record lows in public confidence in several public institutions.  

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WNU Editor: And the trajectory indicates that confidence is going to go lower.

Family Forced To Pay To Ship Body Of Marine Killed In Afghanistan To Her Final Resting Spot At Arlington National Cemetery

Sgt. Nicole Gee was one of the 13 Americans killed during the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Her family, not the Pentagon, paid to move her to her final resting place. (Misty Fuoco)  

FOX News: Family forced to pay to ship body of Marine killed after Pentagon policy change: 'Egregious injustice'  

Nonprofit stepped in to pay $60,000 to move Sgt Nicole Gee's remains to Arlington National Cemetery 

A Republican lawmaker is sounding the alarm after being notified that one of the 13 Gold Star families from the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was forced to pay to move the body of their loved one. 

Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., who is an Army veteran, told Fox News Digital that during a meeting with the families of the "Fallen 13" last week, he was "enraged to learn that the Department of Defense had placed a heavy financial burden" on the family of Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, who were forced to find funding in the thousands to move her body to its final resting place after her 2021 death in Afghanistan. 

The Gee family secured the funding, which came to "a staggering $60,000," to move their loved one's body after a nonprofit organization stepped in to cover the cost, Mills said.  

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WNU Editor: Sgt. Nicole Gee deserves to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Her family should not have been the ones who had to pay to make this happen.

U.S. Think Tanks Say The U.S. Is Not Ready To Fight A Major War

155 mm artillery shells are packed for shipping at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Feb. 16, 2023. Photo by Brendan McDermid/REUTERS  

Financial Times: Munitions put into focus as stockpiles dwindle 

War in Ukraine, a fragile industrial base and slow procurement hamper supply. Just as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has awoken western defence officials to the reality of hot war, so has it also exposed the need to recalibrate weapons procurement priorities — to ensure that their militaries are prepared for combat. 

War games have identified munitions — everything from bombs to bullets — as an area of risk that needs urgent attention. They found, for example, that the US could use some munitions, such as anti-ship missiles, faster than they are produced. And there could be scenarios where it does not have enough of some missiles to sustain a war — for instance, in the Indo-Pacific region. 

Experts have also identified a disconnect between the US and European defence industrial bases, when instead they could be complementing and bolstering each other in times of need.  

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Update: West not prepared for conflict with China – FT (RT)  

WNU Editor: I find it astounding that even after a year and a half of high intensity warfare in Ukraine, the West has still not ramped out their production of war material and ammo. If a major war does break out. There is no question in my mind that for the West to avert a major defeat, they will be forced to use nuclear weapons.

U.S. Female Military Recruits Are Being Forced To Shower With Transitioning Men

FOX News: Female recruit considered resigning after being forced to shower with trans women with full male genitalia  

The 18-year-old recruit's options included resigning to avoid the 'extremely uncomfortable situation'. 

EXCLUSIVE – An 18-year-old military recruit forced to shower with biological males as part of the Biden administration's transgender policies is complaining about being placed in an "extremely uncomfortable position." 

The report was first raised at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday. The girl is afraid to speak out of fear it will harm her career, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) told Fox News Digital in an interview. Her options were slim and included resigning from her early-career position. 

It was believed raising the matter in a complaint could have harmful impacts on the new recruit's military career.  

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Update: Shaving Ryan's Privates: Female Military Recruits Forced To Shower With, Sleep Between, Transitioning Men (Zero Hedge).  

WNU Editor: Showering with men who are transitioning coupled with racial quotas (link here), it is not a surprise to me that the US military is having a recruitment problem.

Top US Air Force General Says US, NATO Weapons Stockpiles Are At "Dangerously Low" Levels

Breaking Defense: US, NATO weapons stockpile ‘dangerously low’: USAF General 

“So we don’t have nearly what we had at the heart of the Cold War. Now you add that we’re giving a lot of munitions away to the Ukrainians — which I think is exactly what we need to do — but now we’re getting dangerously low and sometimes, in some cases even too low that we don’t have enough,” said Gen. James Hecker. 

WASHINGTON — Amid a high tempo of arms transfers to Ukraine, the stockpile of US weapons and those of allies are getting “dangerously low,” the commander of US Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) said today. And worse, he warned, no “short term” fixes are on the horizon. 

Speaking on a panel with the air chiefs of the United Kingdom and Sweden during the Chief of the Air Staff’s Global Air & Space Chiefs’ Conference in London, USAFE Commander Gen. James Hecker, who also leads US air forces in Africa, urged fellow North Atlantic Treaty Organization members to take a hard look at the status of their weapon stockpiles.  

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Update: US, NATO Weapons Stockpile At "Dangerously Low" Levels: Top Air Force General (Zero Hedge/Epoch Times)  

WNU Editor: The U.S. is definitely not ready to fight a major war.

Biden Approves Mobilization Of 3,000 Reserves To Eastern Europe

Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division and the 18th Airborne Corps file onto an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft in February 2022 at Fort Bragg, N.C., now Fort Liberty. The soldiers deployed to Europe following the Pentagon’s announcement of additional forces moving from the United States in support of NATO allies. (U.S. Army) 

FOX News: Biden authorizes military to use up to 3,000 reserve troops to augment US forces in Europe  

The Pentagon has increased troop presence in Europe amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine 

President Biden on Thursday authorized the Pentagon to tap up to 3,000 reservists for deployment to Europe to augment U.S. troops there in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve. 

Biden’s order authorizes the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security to send active duty units and individual members who are assigned to a unit of the Selected Reserve or any member of the Individual Ready Reserve. 

Units deployed are not to exceed more than 3,000 total members at one time, of whom not more than 450 may be members of the Individual Ready Reserve, the order said.  

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WNU Editor: Here is an easy prediction. Expect more deployments of reserves to Europe. Many more deployments. 

 Biden Approves Mobilization Of 3,000 Reserves To Eastern Europe

Biden Approves Mobilization of Reserves to Support Eucom -- US Department of Defense  

Biden authorizes military to order up reservists for active duty in Europe -- UPI  

Reservists Set to Deploy for Europe NATO Mission Following New Biden Order -- Military.com  

Biden says 3,000 Reserve troops can be sent to Europe to support NATO, Ukraine -- Stars and Stripes

U.S. President Biden Admits That The U.S. Is Running Low On Artillery Ammunition Rounds

 

Daily Mail: Republicans tear into Biden for admitting the US is low on ammunition after agreeing to send controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine to improve THEIR supplies 

* 'We're low on it,' Biden said about US ammunition during an interview 

* Last week the the administration decided to send Kiev cluster bombs, and insisted they are essential to Ukraine's defenses 

GOP leaders are criticizing President Biden for admitting that the United States is low on its own ammunition stockpile as the administration continues to send more lethal aid, including cluster bombs, to arm Ukraine against Russia. 

'This is a war relating to munitions. And they're running out of that ammunition, and we're low on it,' Biden said during an interview with CNN Friday during which he defended his turnaround decision to provide deadly cluster munitions to Ukraine. 

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told DailyMail.com that Biden rightly acknowledged his administration has not adequately prepared the U.S. for major conflict. 

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 U.S. President Biden Admits That The U.S. Is Running Low On Artillery Ammunition Rounds  

Biden lets slip during interview US low on artillery ammunition rounds as it tries to aid Ukraine, sparking backlash: 'We're low on it' -- NYPost  

Biden said he decided to send Ukraine controversial cluster bombs because Kyiv is 'running out of ammunition' -- Insider 

Biden Announces US Is 'Low' On 155mm Ammunition In Slip Up On National TV -- IBTimes  

US ammunition running 'perilously low' from Biden's efforts to arm Ukraine, military strategist warns -- FOX News

Is America's War Machine Broken?

A Lockheed Martin plant in Camden, Arkansas, February 2023. Kevin Lamarque / Reuters 

Foreign Affairs: How America Broke Its War Machine  

Privatization and the Hollowing Out of the U.S. Defense Industry 

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the United States pledged its “unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty.” This support has materialized in over $75 billion in security assistance to date, with the United States committed to aiding Ukraine until the fighting stops. As U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in announcing a new installment of weapons to Ukraine: “The United States and our allies and partners will stand united with Ukraine, for as long as it takes.” 

These unlimited commitments to furnishing Ukraine with weapons to counter Russian aggression have invoked parallels to World War II. Weeks after the fighting began, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman argued that the United States and its allies are “serving as the ‘arsenal of democracy,’ giving the defenders of freedom the material means to keep fighting” in Ukraine. Journalist Elliot Ackerman then wrote that the workers building missiles for Ukraine’s defense “are a key component of America’s arsenal of democracy.” President Joe Biden has also embraced the “arsenal of democracy” analogy. When he visited a Lockheed Martin plant in Troy, Alabama, in May last year, Biden told the audience that the United States “built the weapons and the equipment that helped defend freedom and sovereignty in Europe years ago” and is doing so again today. 

But this lofty rhetoric does not match the reality on the ground. Shortages in production, inadequate labor pools, and interruptions in supply chains have hamstrung the United States’ ability to deliver weapons to Ukraine and enhance the country’s defense capabilities more broadly. These problems have much to do with the history of the U.S. defense industry since World War II. Creeping privatization during the Cold War, along with diminished federal investment and oversight of defense contracting since the 1960s, helped bring about the inefficiency, waste, and lack of prioritization that are complicating U.S. assistance to Ukraine today.  

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WNU Editor: The above article is one of many in the past year detailing how inadequate America's industrial base has become when it comes to supplying the basics for the US military and to supplying the armaments that Ukraine needs.

The U.S. Military Is Dependent On Only One Source For 'Black Powder', And That Factory Blew Up Two Years Ago

The mill is being rebuilt after an explosion in June 2021 shut down production 

Wall Street Journal: The U.S. Military Relies on One Louisiana Factory. It Blew Up.  

Decades of consolidation has left the Pentagon vulnerable to mishaps—including when the sole maker of a crucial type of gunpowder went offline 

MINDEN, La.—Nearly two years ago, an errant spark inside a mill caused an explosion so big it destroyed all the building’s equipment and blew a corrugated fiberglass wall 100 feet. 

It also shut down the sole domestic source of an explosive the Department of Defense relies on to produce bullets, mortar shells, artillery rounds and Tomahawk missiles. 

The ramshackle facility makes the original form of gunpowder, known today as black powder, a highly combustible material with hundreds of military applications. The product, for which there is no substitute, is used in small quantities in munitions to ignite more powerful explosives. 

No one was hurt in the June 2021 blast. But the factory remains offline, unable to deliver its single vital component to either commercial or Pentagon customers. 

Military suppliers consolidated at the Cold War’s end, under pressure to reduce defense costs and streamline the nation’s industrial base. Over the past three decades, the number of fixed wing aircraft suppliers in the U.S. has declined from eight to three. During the same period, major surface ship producers fell from eight to two, and today, only three American companies supply over 90% of the Pentagon’s missile stockpile. 

Lower-tier defense firms are often the sole maker of vital parts—such as black powder—and a single crisis can bring production to a standstill.  

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WNU Editor: Another indication that the U.S. is definitely not ready to engage in a major war.

Pentagon Says 77 Percent of Military-Age Americans Are Too Fat Or Too Mentally Ill For Service

US Army  

PJ Media: Pentagon Study: 77 Percent of Military-Age Americans Too Fat, Mentally Ill for Service 

According to a recent Pentagon study, the state of America’s youth is not conducive to military service. 

Via American Military News:  

A Pentagon study revealed that 77 percent of young Americans do not qualify for military service without a waiver due to being overweight, drug use, or mental or physical problems.

“When considering youth disqualified for one reason alone, the most prevalent disqualification rates are overweight (11 percent), drug and alcohol abuse (8 percent), and medical/physical health (7 percent),” the Pentagon’s 2020 Qualified Military Available Study of Americans between the ages of 17 and 24 read.

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Update: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs and more to join military, Pentagon study finds (American Military News).  

WNU Editor: To be fair. This has been a problem for a long time. Here is a study from 2013 saying basically the same thing .... Pentagon Says More Than Half Of The US Military Is Overweight (Business Insider).

Pentagon Issues New Transgender Policies for Military Personnel

Legal Insurrection: Pentagon Burdens Warfighting Commanders with New Transgender Policies for Military Personnel 

New policies expand transgender procedures to the service academies, allow gender transitions while on-duty, and mandate group shower facility use by both biological sexes if certain administrative requirements are met. Oh, and military commanders are responsible to “not accommodate biases against transgender individuals” 

As RealClear Defense recently reported, on December 20, 2022 the Department of Defense issued an update to DOD Instruction 1300.28, entitled “In-Service Transition for Transgender Service Members,” which “expanded woke transgender mandates in significant ways.”

The article compares the original instruction, issued in the waning days of the Obama administration in October 2016, to the current expansion, with the aide of a study and summary compiled by the Center for Military Readiness (CMR).

Significantly, the CMR study and summary explain the significance of the changes, which fall into six major areas, and which were issued “without public debate”:

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WNU Editor: When you use diversity and cultural factors to prioritize who the military hires (and promotes) the impact on any military will always be the same. Military competence and combat readiness will decline.

How The US Military Spends $800B Per Year (Video)

 

WNU Editor: This video explains why some programs are expensive.

US Army Ramps Up Artillery Production (Update)

Ukrainian servicemen fire a 2S7 Pion self-propelled gun toward Russian positions, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, on a frontline near Bakhmut in Donetsk region, Ukraine January 24, 2023. REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak  

Defense News: With demand high in Ukraine, US Army ramps up artillery production 

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is rapidly moving to expand its domestic production capacity of 155mm artillery shells, according to the Army’s acquisition chief, as Ukraine uses thousands daily fending off Russia. 

U.S. defense officials said last year Ukrainians expended roughly 3,000 rounds a day, while a Pentagon fact sheet issued this week said the U.S. government has already sent over 1 million 155mm rounds to the country. 

Prior to the war in Ukraine, the U.S. could build about 14,400 155mm artillery shells a month. But as Ukrainian forces burn through the ammunition for howitzers sent to the country, the U.S. is hoping to ramp up production to roughly 90,000 shells a month, according to a New York Times report this week.  

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WNU Editor: Ramping up production to roughly 90,000 shells a month is small when compared to Russia expending 20,000 artillery shells per day.

 US Army Ramps Up Artillery Production (Update)

Ukraine is burning through artillery shells. Now the US is increasing production by 500% -- Business Insider  

Pentagon Will Increase Artillery Production Sixfold for Ukraine -- NYTimes  

New York Times: Pentagon to increase artillery production by 500% for Ukraine -- Kyiv Independent

US Navy Secretary Carlos del Toro Says U.S. Will Not Be Able To Arm Ukraine In 6 Months

Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Carlos Del Toro, via Flickr/US Navy  

Daily Mail: Navy Secretary Carlos del Toro is 'concerned' that within the next six months the US Navy won’t be able to arm both itself AND Ukraine – urging contractors to boost production to meet the demand 

* Navy Secretary Carlos del Toro admitted there are 'concerns' about America's weapons supply as the US continues to arm Ukraine 

* He said that if the conflict in Ukraine continues for the next six month it will 'stress the supply chain' 

* Del Toro urged military contractors to increase production 

* Adm. Daryl Caudle also accused military contractors of using the pandemic as an excuse not to supply weapons on time 

Navy Secretary Carlos del Toro admitted that there are 'concerns' about America's weapons cache as the government continues to arm Ukraine. 

The Secretary was asked at a Surface Navy Association Conference on Wednesday whether he agreed with an admiral's statement that 'The Navy might get to the point where it has to make the decision whether it needs to arm itself or arm Ukraine.' 

He was very careful not to comment on the possibility of a choice between which country to arm, according to Defense One, but noted that 'if the conflict does go on for another six months, for another year, it certainly continues to stress the supply chain in ways that are challenging.'  

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WNU Editor: I am sure the US will be find a way to increase arms production in the coming months. But they better hurry up. 

US Navy Secretary Carlos del Toro Says U.S. Will Not Be Able To Arm Ukraine In 6 Months  

'Decision To Arm Ourselves Or Arm Ukraine': Navy Secretary Admits Crisis In US Defense Stockpiles -- Defense One  

Navy secretary says US can’t maintain support for Ukraine if weapons makers don’t ramp up production -- FOX News 

US may not maintain military support for Ukraine, Navy secretary says -- Jerusalem Post 

'Decision To Arm Ourselves Or Arm Ukraine': Navy Secretary Admits Crisis In US Defense Stockpiles -- Zero Hedge

101st Airborne Still Deployed in Romania Near The Ukraine Border Simulating War With Russia

 

Antiwar.com: 101st Airborne Still Deployed in Romania Simulating War With Russia 

Members of the division told CBS in October that they were prepared to enter Ukraine if given the order 

About 4,000 members of the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division are still deployed in Romania as part of a military buildup in Eastern Europe that President Biden ordered last year, as the Pentagon is still deciding whether to maintain current troop levels. 

The New York Times reported Tuesday that some 101st soldiers are stationed at a base near the Romanian city of Constanta on the Black Sea while others are further north, just a few miles from the Ukrainian border, and are simulating fighting Russia in Ukraine.  

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Update: US Deploys 101st Airborne Division ‘Very Close’ To Russia; US Troops Build Trenches, Stage Helicopter Attacks & Fire Artillery (EurAsian Times)  

WNU Editor: This is a deterrence deployment.