Here We Go Again

Back to the late 1930s that is. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced that the new Defense Department budget anticipates trimming the Army to the same size as it was in 1940. For those of you who may not remember, that was a year before Pearl Harbor and America's entry into WWII. The Army at that time was a shell. The few new recruits were drilling with broomsticks because there were not enough rifles to go around. They trained with cars instead of tanks. After the war started, it took a year to ramp up and get men trained. Even then they were not equipped in most cases with equipment that was even close to the quality of that employed by the Germans and Japanese and they were not nearly as well trained. The result were several battles lost in North Africa and the Pacific because of troops that were not battle-hardened and trying to use obsolete or obsolescent gear. We seem determined to go back to those days. 

The budget also proposes to permanently ground the A-10 Warthog, which is the only true ground attack aircraft in the Air Force's inventory. The Air Force has never liked the plane because it's ugly. (See blog 2/26/13). Fortunately for the ground pounders it is also supremely effective and was the point at the end of the spear in Gulf War I, II and now Afghanistan when things really go in the dumper on the ground. No matter. Apparently the new Army won't need close air support because it will be too small to be sent anywhere. The IRS will probably pick them up at a surplus sale to use for tax collections. 

The there's the Navy. Hagel said the fleet will be kept at 11 carriers, which is good, but still undersized for what is being asked of the Navy around the world. The Navy will fall short of the 306 ships it needs to meet current responsibilities and will experience a shortage of cruisers and destroyers, as well as attack subs, all of which are critical to the battle fleets. Compared to the Army, though, the Navy is skating. This time. 

In the meantime, aircraft and other equipment is wearing out and there are no projects in the pipeline to replace current inventory in a timely manner. Simultaneously, the Chinese are ramping up and to a lesser extent, so are the Russians. China is trying to make the South and East China Seas its private ponds and the CNO reported on recent exercises by the Chinese that were clearly designed to do this. This includes potentially taking island currently under Japanese control. The Japanese can be fanatical when aroused, so it would not seem to be in our or anyone's interest to let things devolve to that point, but it appears that official Washington slumbers on. Don't be surprised to wake up some morning and find a mess on our hands in that part of the world. 

I don't understand why this country never learns in the military field. There are a large number of supremely bad actors in today's world and the day after is way too late to realize that fact and try to play catch up. We won't have the luxury of a year the next time. 

www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/24/hagel-proposed-budget-will-reportedly-shrink-army-to-pre-wwii-numbers/