I mean no offense to those good people out there who wear the uniform — but I do not think the US would do very well in a war. Not a big one. Not a small one. We are not what we used to be. But Lord knows the money does slosh around, and I guess that’s really the main point these days, right?
An annual report is published that states whether the Services can meet their obligations to fight wars.
The over 20 years I was Active Duty that requirement was to be able to fight two simultaneous wars in two separate geographical locations and even with the terrible leadership of Carter and Clinton we met that requirement. About 15 or 20 years ago (IIRC) the requirement was lowered to fighting just one war.
Last year, for the first time in 50 years, the US Military was graded as incapable of performing the mission, reduced as it is. The exception was the US Marine Corps. They passed.
Before Obama it was mainly the Flag Officers who were culpable for doing damage, but at least we could meet the basic requirements. Nowadays the leadership has messed with the real war fighters at the lower levels and now the entire Military is infested with mentally ill people who have no intentions of fighting anything but American citizens, if/when the time comes.