America’s Military Is in Much Worse Shape Than You’d Think

America’s military is dangerously weak and unprepared today, and it’s not getting better. At least that’s what top military leaders told Congress recently. Unfortunately, the testimony of these top generals and admirals did not get the attention it deserved.

For the last 15 years, the United States military has not prepared for conflict with a near peer competitor like Russia or China. General Mark Milley, chief of staff of the Army, shared his worries with Congress, explaining that the Army would be able to handle a serious conflict but “not at a level that is appropriate for what the American people would expect to defend them.”

In other words, because soldiers are not adequately prepared, the U.S. Army would either be late to arrive to a conflict (due to more time for training) or they would send soldiers into harm’s way unprepared.

These are not issues isolated to the Army. The Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Robert Neller, when commenting on the ability to meet requirements in a major conflict, said the Marine Corps “would be able to do that but probably not within a timeframe that current plans call for [them] to arrive to participate in that conflict.”

“providing national security costs money. And you get what you pay for.”

No. $500B should buy us something, shouldn’t it? What does it get us? What should it get us?

“What do you think the spending limit should be on providing you and the other 315 million people in the U.S.safety and security?”

What do you think the spending limit should be? I think that $500B should be more than enough to do what the Constitution says the military should do. How much more than that is enough? You have no idea. You just want more, don’t you?

“People that are interested...actually DO know where it all goes.”

No they don’t. Rather, they won’t even admit to what they do know.

I’m a vet. I have seen it first hand. You can’t wave the flag and pretend that your bureaucracy is protecting America and then waste what the DoD wastes.

The DoD, as a bloated organization, believes in it’s own budget before it believes in America. Just like every other bureaucracy.

“What does it get us”

Cost of a brand new M1A2 Abrahams tank - $6.2 million. The cost of taking an m1A1 and converting it to the latest specs is about half that price.

Cost of an F/A18 Super Hornet - $29 million

Cost of an F-22 Raptor - $361 million

Cost of an USMC LAV 25 - $900 thousand

Cost of laser guided bombs dropped from USAF and USN/USMC aircraft - $26K per bomb

It gets us a lot. The above is just an example that doesn’t even scratch the surface of the material costs that go into running a modern military capable of defending the country and defeating any and all outside threats.

“What do you think the spending limit should be? I think that $500B should be more than enough to do what the Constitution says the military should do.”

Way to completely duck out of giving an answer. You don’t know because you don’t have any clue what it takes to run the military...you just think we spend too much.

We’re only 4% of the U.S. GDP in any given year including money for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Meanwhile spending on unfunded liabilities...also known as welfare is 16% and climbing.

I wish you were as pissed off about that as you are the virtual drop in the bucket we spend on national defense.

“You just want more, don’t you?”

I want us to have enough to get us back to the point where we can fight and win two separate conflicts at once. The strategy of the U.S. until 2010 when Obama slashed our budget to the point that the service chiefs had to admit we couldn’t support a two war strategy anymore.

I want us to have enough forces that we don’t continually send the same soldiers on rotation after rotation to the point it wrecks their family or because they’ve had no chance to recover from their last deployment before going on their next one...they take their own life.

I want DoD to have enough money so that we don’t have veterans setting themselves on fire outside the VA because they are so despondent over lack of care for their injuries they feel they have no other course of action left.

I want enough for the DoD that we stop being the laughing stock of countries like Iran, China and Russia.

No one fears us anymore.

That needs to change.

“I’m a vet. I have seen it first hand.”

I’m a SFC currently serving. When were you in?

“You can’t wave the flag and pretend that your bureaucracy is protecting America and then waste what the DoD wastes.”

If you really are a vet that had more than a minute in the military...you wouldn’t be talking like this.

“The DoD, as a bloated organization, believes in it’s own budget before it believes in America. Just like every other bureaucracy.’”

100% bullshit. DoD isn’t perfect. No organization this big ever is whether it’s a government agency or a private corporation. But you’re way off the mark in these broad sweeping general condemnations of the entire DoD that you are making.

DoD procurement is a cesspool of fraud and generals becoming defense contractor board members and senior executives. That’s why an F22 costs 361M, for instance.

The DoD brass does NOT have Americas best interest in mind - take the F35 boondoggle. $1T aircraft program.

“Way to completely duck out of giving an answer.”

BS. I gave you a figure $500B. It’s more than enough under any rational assessment of threats. You dodged, my friend. How much is enough? A Trillion a year, Two Trillion? You don’t know - you just want “enough”. A bureaucracy NEVER has “enough”.

How much will it take to keep a vet from committing suicide? No amount of money can prevent that when you have a lack of leadership.

The problem with any failing bureaucracy (The dod is a failing bureaucracy) is not necessarily money, its leadership. No senior military official has resigned over budgets, rules of engagement, or even Benghazi when they had an opportunity to save american lives (at the sacrifice of their careers, to be sure) they all chose their careers. That bugs me a lot. this is the same mentality that pervades the DoD leadership.

You talk about “4% of GDP” like it’s a pittance. You do know that actual productive work is involved in paying for all this (and yes, the rest of the budget - entitlements, welfare and everything else).

You should have a little reverence for the poor bastard trying to eek out a living in the working class before you start talking about “only 4% of GDP”.

The DoD is a basket case as an organization. The rot is at the top, to be sure. I’m not sure that too many above the rank of O5 in todays military can lead the DoD where it needs to go at this point. Just my opinion.

$500B should be more than enough. That it’s not is reflective of leadership, not lack of money. That’s why poor sob’s get sent on multiple tours before they have time to get their feet on the ground on the home front.

That’s why we have a plethora of Admirals but a dearth of ships, for instance. Leadership.

We are the “laughing stock” as you put it, not because of a lack of budget, but because our commander in chief is an idiot, and he has “transformed” the military into a basket case of lack of capability.

I’ve been out 25 years. The corruption and leadership failures have only gotten worse in the military since then.

Money cant fix bad leadership and ethical failures of the top brass.

Start there, then figure out budget priorities. We desperately need a military that is far less bureaucratic and focused on capability, not social experimentation and “green” initiatives.

“If you really are a vet that had more than a minute in the military...you wouldn’t be talking like this.”

Listen to yourself. is your lack of skepticism reasonable? I think not.

” But you’re way off the mark in these broad sweeping general condemnations of the entire DoD that you are making.”

I don’t think I am. The leadership is broken, priorities are out-of-whack because of that.

Give a worthy military leader authority to prioritize and $500B and see what they can do with it. If they need more, then America might be more receptive. Spare us the “you get what you pay for” BS. We’re talking about real money here. Someone has to pay. That is something folks who do not have to pay for it absolutely do not understand. They should.

“Listen to yourself. is your lack of skepticism reasonable? I think not.”

Oh it’s very reasonable and very justified. Given the amount of fakes and people who claim that they are prior service just to try and give themselves street cred when they bash the DoD.

My skepticism is very warranted.

“BS. I gave you a figure $500B”

Wrong. You said the DoD budget was $800 billion and I was the one who told you it was $534 billion.

I was very detailed in what I thought would be enough.

Quit projecting.

I get it...you are anti-military anti-defense and coming on threads like this is how you get your enjoyment in life.

It won’t matter how many facts I throw at you...you’ve got your anti military talking points down and you’re not gonna budge from them...and you’ll project and move goalposts as much as you have to.

You aren’t the first one here to have ever tried that.

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