Army, Marines could be Cut by 150,000 troops

[bobbyw24]

By CHARLES HOSKINSON | 9/26/11 10:49 AM EDT

http://marcusfalcon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/sacrifice-military-sacrifice-army-marines-soldier-demotivational-posters-1302625690.jpg

Automatic cuts to defense spending could leave the Pentagon with its lowest share of the federal budget since before World War II, shrinking the Army and Marine Corps by some 150,000 troops and leaving fewer warships and combat aircraft to project U.S. power around the world, according to an analysis prepared for House Armed Services Committee Republicans.

The analysis, distributed Friday as part of panel Chairman Buck McKeon’s efforts to lobby against deeper defense cuts by the debt-reduction supercommittee, paints a dire picture of a “hollow force” unable to meet national security needs and forced to return to a draft to fill its ranks.

“No mission goes unscathed,” a committee staffer said.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/64414.html#ixzz1Z4Ql3OWT

[Kelly.]

itll be back filled by higher paying, less accountable civilian counterparts. :(

[Danke]

I can understand cutting the marines, but the Army Too?!?!

[Feeding the Abscess]

If this actually were to happen, it'd be one of the only things for which I'd praise the Obama administration.

There. I've mined a lump of coal from a mountain of fecal matter.

[oyarde]

If this actually were to happen, it'd be one of the only things for which I'd praise the Obama administration.

There. I've mined a lump of coal from a mountain of fecal matter. I dunno , I think there is one more . With the steps taken to continue the economy in its present condition, they have made illegal immigration not much of a factor without even trying ..

[bobbyw24]

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. . . . We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people." ~ Dwight David Eisenhower, "The Chance for Peace," speech given to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Apr. 16, 1953

The military is the nation's largest and most firmly entrenched entitlement program, one that takes half of every tax dollar. Even if "national security" is considered our number one priority (a dubious choice when the real unemployment rate is over 16%), estimates are that the military budget could be cut in half or more and we would still have the most powerful military machine in the world. Our enemies (if any) are now "terrorists," not countries; and what is needed to contain them (if anything) is local policing, not global warfare. Much of our military hardware is just good for "shock and awe," not needed for any "real and present danger."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-brown/the-military-as-a-jobs-pr_b_880542.html

[oyarde]

So , that would be a move from 750,000 total to 600,000 ? Correct me if I am wrong , but if we were out of Afghan & Iraq , that seems feasible ?

[flightlesskiwi]

So , that would be a move from 750,000 total to 600,000 ? Correct me if I am wrong , but if we were out of Afghan & Iraq , that seems feasible ?

Absolutely, imo. But I do not expect that to happen.

[oyarde]

Absolutely, imo. But I do not expect that to happen.I think so too , but ....

[moostraks]

and the response will then be:Cut military spending? We'll have to draft you then. So says Republican congressman.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?317396-Cut-military-spending-We-ll-have-to-draft-you-then.-So-says-Republican-congressman.

The war machine is too profitable for tptb for them to let silly things like lack of funding stop them.

[Pericles]

Or cancel 150 F-35s at $100 mil each.

[oyarde]

Or cancel 150 F-35s at $100 mil each. Yes , and start over on procurement , huge savings potential ...

[flightlesskiwi]

Yes , and start over on procurement , huge savings potential ...


Or cancel 150 F-35s at $100 mil each.

here is the major flaw in your arguments: ya'll are making suggestions that save money and make sense.

the DoD will have none of that, mundanes!!

[oyarde]

here is the major flaw in your arguments: ya'll are making suggestions that save money and make sense.

the DoD will have none of that, mundanes!! Yeah , but I will never give up .

[Pericles]

here is the major flaw in your arguments: ya'll are making suggestions that save money and make sense.

the DoD will have none of that, mundanes!!

A few months ago, the Navy sunk a ship that had been in service for less than 20 years as part of a weapons test.

[oyarde]

A few months ago, the Navy sunk a ship that had been in service for less than 20 years as part of a weapons test. I wish I did not even know about that , all I can do is wonder about the cost / value , scrap value etc ...

[phill4paul]

I wish I did not even know about that , all I can do is wonder about the cost / value , scrap value etc ...

Pakistan, Bangledesh and India would be happy to provide an estimate for our business. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_breaking

[TonySutton]

So , that would be a move from 750,000 total to 600,000 ? Correct me if I am wrong , but if we were out of Afghan & Iraq , that seems feasible ?

They must also except that we will not be the policemen of the world. Otherwise they need 750k for adequate reserves to rotate units in and out of theater. With an all volunteer military, people would leave the services in droves if they had to spend years at a time overseas policing other countries and dieing for no good reason.