Why we need a more modern and ready military, not a larger one

[rangerrebew]

Why we need a more modern and ready military, not a larger one

Michael E. O’Hanlon and James N. Miller
Friday, October 4, 2019


After the Marine Corps takeover in Washington’s policy corridors a couple of years ago, it is now the Army’s turn. Long gone are retired generals John Kelly and Jim Mattis from their lofty perches in the Trump administration. And as of September 30, a third prominent Marine general, the George Marshall-like Joseph Dunford, has stepped down as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation’s top military job.

Now, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chairman Mark Milley run the Department of Defense. As recently as this summer, they held comparable jobs within the Army, with primary responsibility for recruiting, training, and equipping that military service. With their promotions, their portfolios now extend to the entire defense community — with its three million employees, deployments around the world, and ongoing conflicts in roughly a half-dozen hot spots. Not only must they now raise armies and maintain navies, they must also provide the president their best advice on the use of force and management of national security crises.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2019/10/04/why-we-need-a-more-modern-and-ready-military-not-a-larger-one/

[rangerrebew]

We need both.  An old axiom of wars is: given about equal weaponry, the side with the most warriors will win.  We know China and Russia are building more modern militaries, too, so we need even better weapons than they have and we need more people to use them.