On November 16, President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced their intention to increase U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force training in Australia. The expanded U.S. military presence is meant to enhance allied interoperability and reassure friends and allies in the region worried over an increasingly assertive China. The new joint initiative lends credence to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s promise last month that Washington would maintain or even expand its military commitment to Asia. Whether the United States is able to deliver on those promises in …
A number of military and veterans groups are expressing concern over a letter that Senator John McCain (R–AZ) has sent to members of the congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction suggesting they adopt earlier proposals from a March report of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for scaling back military health care benefits and increasing fees. These groups are right to be concerned, but Senator McCain’s underlying views about the growing costs of the military health care system cannot be ignored. The costs are growing too quickly. The CBO proposals …
Today, we at The Heritage Foundation are proud to honor Veterans Day by pausing to remember the men and women in uniform who serve this country. They are some of the finest this nation has to offer. Among those who have served throughout the years, the recipients of the Medal of Honor (MOH) deserve our utmost respect and admiration. They wear this august award for those who did not come home. They never refer to themselves as “winners” but see themselves as caretakers of the Medal of Honor for all …
The echo chamber of Washington is hard at work. The consensus is growing that the U.S. military will need to aim for a slimmer but still perfectly effective military, thanks to the budget and capability cuts of the past three years. However, given the magnitude of ongoing defense budget cuts, a hollowing force simply does not translate into a “meaner” military. For the past half-century and more, America has taken a leadership role in the world. This has manifest vital national interests all around the globe. As a result, the …
In his straightforward and scathing piece for today’s New York Post, Heritage senior fellow Peter Brookes discussed the devastating impact a sequestration of the defense budget would have on America’s military. If the congressional “super committee” cannot find $1.5 trillion in budget savings over the next 10 years by November 23, the law would trigger automatic spending “sequestration” cuts of $1.2 trillion—of which roughly half a trillion or more would be from the defense budget. This spells major trouble for U.S. national security. Since President Obama has been in office, …
Last week, a federal judge approved a settlement agreement that will help ensure that religious freedom is respected at the Houston National Cemetery and other national cemeteries around the country. Several veterans groups, represented by the Texas-based Liberty Institute, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) agreed to a consent decree that requires the VA to acknowledge the religious freedom rights of veterans’ groups and families and allow the inclusion of religious language and prayers in military burials. The rifle salute, the solemn playing of Taps, and the presentation …
When it comes to the Pentagon’s acquisition process, the devil is in the details. Some details, however, can have deadly consequences for men and women in uniform. Loren Thompson offers a sobering analysis of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s (JSF) costs over its 50-year operational lifetime and how the Pentagon itself distorted the picture by making the F-35 seem more expensive than it actually is. The JSF is designed to replace the aging fleet at a time when more than half of the Navy’s deployed aircraft are not fit for …
This is a guest post by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) for our special blog series on 9/11. Like every American, I will never forget where I was on the morning of September 11, 2001. As a Member of Congress from Indiana, that day my duties took me to Capitol Hill and to sights and sounds I will never forget. I witnessed the U.S. Capitol literally hemorrhaging with people running in every direction. I heard the deafening sounds of sirens all around and thunderous booms of military aircraft going supersonic at …
Please join us today at 3 PM ET for a live chat on Homeland Security 4.0. We will be joined by Dr. James J. Carafano and he will be taking your questions about the current state of the military, where it needs to be, and the future. If you would like to be reminded about the event, please leave your name in the form below. Online Chat with Jim Carafano
The debate over whether the U.S. should have intervened in Libya and how things will ultimately turn out in the troubled country will linger for some time. The issue of who will control the country is far from resolved. For the U.S. military, however, there are lessons that are already becoming abundantly clear: If the U.S. and its NATO allies want to sustain a capacity to apply military power around the world, amphibious forces are essential. In a May 2010 speech, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates questioned whether it would ever …
