By Bob Steiner
MSNBC.com reported yesterday that Robert Gates, The U.S. Defense Secretary has announced that the active U.S. Army will be increased in strength by 22,000 soldiers. An increase in personnel is something that the Secretary has been considering for some time according to Politico.com. Senator Joseph Lieberman (Independent-Connecticut) a noted defense expert, had even suggested an increase of 30,000 troops. While this increase is supposed to be temporary, additional funding from Congress will not be requested, The Secretary indicated that the cost of this expansion will come out of the Pentagon’s present budget. Where have I heard this before?
It is interesting to note that if additional funds are not obtained, the expansion costs will be funded by cutting back on equipment procurement. I would ask, where else could the money be coming from? As one who experienced the drastic “Jimmy Carter” cutbacks to the military budget first hand ,while on active duty, I am rather skeptical about ideas to curtail the availability of necessary “tools of war” to our fighting men. Ours is not the best Army in the world because it is the biggest. It is the best Army because it is the best-equipped. I would hate to think that at some military action in the near future even one soldier might die because of a lack of body armor or other equipment.
I must applaud the fact that our President seems finally to be recognizing the “real world”. As we have many overseas commitments and many”tepid” allies who seem to give us only limited support during times of international crisis, an increase in active Army strength is indeed warranted. I just don’t think first-class fighting men should be expected to do their jobs with limited or obsolete equipment. If Mr. Obama wants to be the “world policeman,” he should be willing to give his troops what they need. This would be a true “stimulus”! Let’s see Congress spend some money on something we really need!
According to ABC News (KOAT, Channel 7) it was announced this afternoon, that while production of the Air Force‘s new YF22 fighter would be curtailed, see here, the 44 aircraft designated for Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico will still be deployed there.
