Inconvenient Facts About Defense Readiness, Capacity, and Budget
By Thomas Spoehr
March 15, 2017
With a new administration in town, former and current defense leaders are speaking more openly and fully about the challenges facing our armed forces. Yet, despite their testimony—and an ever-increasing cascade of facts pointing to a precipitous decline in military capacity and capability over the last seven years—many in Washington doggedly insist the deterioration in military readiness is: a. imaginary, b. overstated, or c. too sensitive to even discuss openly.
However, as John Adams observed, “Facts are stubborn things.” and in the case of the military, there is a growing inconvenient body of evidence pointing inexorably to the conclusion that America’s military is too small, unready, and under-equipped for the challenges associated with being a global power. Military personnel—from the junior officers in tactical units to the most senior service chiefs of staff—now routinely describe a military overtaxed by frequent deployments, crippling personnel shortages, outdated equipment and shortages of critical spare parts and munitions.
http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2017/03/15/inconvenient_facts_about_defense_readiness_capacity_and_budget_110972.html
