10/4/18
The U.S. military lacks the troops, ships and planes to counter a growing range of security threats and the great power challenges posed by Russia and China, according to the annual defense strength index from the Heritage Foundation. "As currently postured, the U.S. military is only marginally able to meet the demands of defending America's vital national interests" despite the buildup and increased defense budgets under the Trump administration, said the Heritage 2019 Index of U.S. Military Strength. "It's still too small," retired Marine Lt. Col. Dakota Wood, who edited the nearly 500-page index, said of the entire U.S. defense structure. The Army's active-duty strength of about 480,000 is over-deployed and over-committed; the Navy's 284 ships is far short of the projected need of 355: and the Air Force is flying too many aging aircraft that cost too much to maintain, assuming that it had enough maintainers to do the job, the Index said. "The U.S. does not have the right force to meet a two major regional contingency (two-MRC) requirement and is not ready to carry out its duties effectively," the 2017 Index stated. "Consequently, as we have seen during the past few years, the U.S. risks seeing its interests increasingly challenged and the world order it has led since World War II undone."
An encouraging sign in the latest report from Heritage, which is seen as being close to the Trump administration, is the improved readiness of the Army's brigade combat teams, but the Index also warned that those gains will diminish without increased funding in future defense budgets. The Index characterized the Army's readiness as having improved from "weak" to "strong," and Wood credited the upgrade to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and his focus on readiness since taking office. "Although the FY2018 and FY2019 defense budgets reflect positive growth for defense, military strength remains far below where it needs to be," it continued. Mattis and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford have argued for continuing growth in the defense budget of 2 to 3 percent per year above inflation, Harrison said, but his own expectation is that defense budgets will remain flat over the next five years. "A flat budget means that we're going to have to downsize the force and defense modernization programs. That's the reality," he said. "The services have got their targets to grow the force structure" and buy new equipment, "but I don't understand how you're going to pay for it in a flat budget." Mattis might want defense budget growth above inflation, but Harrison said, "Is he going to get [the White House Office of Management and Budget] to agree to that? Is he going to get Congress to agree to that?"
