The future is not bright for the U.S. military. Yesterday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta gave America a glimpse of the half-trillion dollars in defense spending cuts requested by the Obama Administration and detailed how the U.S. military’s capabilities would be affected in practical terms. The result is a slashed and burned military that woefully lacks the forces it needs to meet America’s security challenges on a global scale. On the ground, in the sea, and in the air, American forces will shrink drastically — the Army will shrink by 72,000 …
President Obama visited the Pentagon on Thursday to outline his plan for gutting our nation’s military. Obama’s vision makes America more vulnerable to foreign threats and leaves our armed forces less able to provide for the common defense. As we’ve previously illustrated, Obama has proposed significant reductions to the Pentagon’s budget. This week’s chart shows how sharply defense spending has dropped as a percentage of the total federal budget — currently well below its historical average despite ongoing operations overseas. The chart also debunks the myth that our Founding Fathers …
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe. At 50, the Chinook remains the Army’s workhorse – Michael Hoffman, Army Times Graves eyes upper rungs of conservative ladder – Daniel Malloy, The Atlantic Journal-Constitution Lawmakers: Revamp disaster recovery system – Deborah Barfield Berry, Clarion Ledger A major victory, but the battle rages on – Peter Brookes, New York Post The green-jobs fallacy – Ed Feulner, St. Paul Pioneer Press Obamanomics: Hollow out defense, fatten up cronies – James …
The Heritage Foundation would like to wish a Happy Birthday to the United States Army. Two hundred and thirty-six years after its founding, the United States Army is truly a global presence, boasting men and women who serve their country with distinction and valor spanning every corner of the globe. Today, we honor their service and give thanks for their sacrifices both at home and abroad in the defense of our freedom. Many of the defining moments of American history are shared by the army. They endured the long winter …
Yesterday, an Army General penned an op-ed about why the Army needs a new combat vehicle. Most Americans would be shocked to learn that many soldiers serving in the U.S. Army today are riding around in vehicles built in the 1980s based on technology from the 1970s. While the rest of us are used to a fast-paced, information-accessible real-time culture of i-Phones, Blue Ray, portable video games, tablets to read books, and GPS in our cars, Army soldiers are stuck in the era of Atari. “The State of the U.S. …
It seems every time you pick up a newspaper, the headline proclaims another military program cancelled. First, it was the F-22. Then it was missile defense. The list goes on and on. The reason given seems always the same too…“We don’t need that.” This mantra gets repeated so often, one suspects one of two truisms must be at the root of it. Perhaps, everyone in the Pentagon before Obama showed up was an idiot and didn’t know what was really needed—or, all these cuts are a budget driven exercise, gutting …
The AP reports today that “a request for new troops from the U.S. commander in Afghanistan may have to be revised now that there is growing uncertainty inside the Obama administration over whether to escalate the American commitment to the eight-year war.” General Stanley McChrystal is set to deliver his troop request, believed to be upwards of 40,000 additional troops, by the end of the week. It is now up to President Obama to decide if he will keep his promise to the American people when he committed to winning …
