It will be interesting to see how this actually plays out. What's the bottom-line impact to the Federal budget? How will those savings be used? What sort of land force, to act in what sort of capacity, will be left? Air and naval power are extraordinarily important, but a lot of missions require boots on the ground. What sort of cuts in weapons programs are we talking about, and which ones, and in whose districts?
And, of course, how will the GOP react? That one I can answer: mass hysteria. #ddtb
Reshared post from +Breaking News
Obama to unveil a new 'realistic' vision for US military, including cuts to ground forces
Washington, D.C., USAWed Jan 4, 3:52 p.m. EST: +Reuters reports that President +Barack Obama will join top Pentagon commanders tomorrow to unveil a new "more realistic" vision for the military, including cuts to ground force numbers as a result of budget strains.
+Reuters via +CNBC – http://www.cnbc.com/id/45875134/Obama_to_help_unveil_realistic_military_plan
Embedded Link
Obama to help unveil "realistic" military plan
For a long time, military experts have been recommending a transformation of the US military away from the traditional brigade structure that’s designed for large scale battles last really seen in WWII. Modern warfare is about small unit strikes backed up with air support, remote vehicles, artillery and electronic warfare.
The large scale army structure is ideal for wars of occupancy (see Iraq, Afganistan, etc.), but is incredibly hampered in actually achieving specific objectives. Almost all of the recent military vistories that can be touted (Osama, the Somali pirates, etc.) can be pinned on the actions oof small, elite units.
The days of colonialism are supposedly behind us, and the US is also not supposed to be conquoring new territory. With those assumptions, it makes sense to start transforming the military into a more responsive quick-response force.
@Arty – Yup, yup, yup. For all the talk of transformation, the US Army is still stuck in a WWII / Soviets Invade W Europe style setup. There’s a lot that could be done there to make things more efficient = less expensive.