Defense Cuts?

 

 

"Yes, our military needs to go on a diet, but we should not starve it to death..."

Yesterday, our newly minted Secretary of Defense proposed some defense cuts which would start in 2015. The cuts were to make our military "smaller and smarter", and better able to meet today's threats. Hagel was right on half of his statement - it will be smaller. How much smaller? The smallest since most of us have been alive. The smallest in 74 years.

Do I think there is waste in the Pentagon? You betcha! However, part of Hagel's plan was to put these new cuts on the backs of the troops, both serving and retired. I can tell you right now, that will be a non-starter in the House. There are still some black eyes when the sequester cuts were replaced by cuts in some retiree COLA amounts.

So let us look at what might make sense in this still dangerous world:

• We still have too many bases, especially overseas. The cost of maintaining these bases is enormous. We do not need bases in Japan, Italy or Germany. World War II has been over for decades now.
• The new ships being built for the Navy are the right fit for today. They are smarter, tougher, stealthier, and have a much smaller crew. Some are built for littoral (close to shore) warfare, and others to complement our blue water Navy.
• Although expensive to maintain battle groups, they are a bargain compared to maintaining numerous overseas bases. A carrier task force is almost impenetrable (with the help of the AEGIS weapon system), and can project American power anyplace in the world in a matter of days.
• With all the talk about low tech EMP nukes that could cripple our country, we NEED the anti-missile system that many of our AEGIS ships have. If one of these EMP nukes gets through and goes off over our country, it is lights out (literally).
• Speed up the delivery of the F-35 Lightning II fighter/bomber, and then speed up the sunset of most older jets.
• Cap the "black programs", or get ready to shine more of a light on them. Many think these programs are only a "sink hole" for billions of unaccountable dollars.
• Do yearly audits of Defense Department spending that stick. Having this major department flunk audits year after year is simply unacceptable.

We can do this, only if we do it smart. With all the bloating and waste in the Federal Government, this is a prime (but not the only) target. Every time we let our guard down, we end up with a 12/7/41 or 9/11 problem. Let us not repeat our past mistakes.