Amid hopes that the 2024 US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would lead to an uptick in troop strength, just the opposite has occurred, as military brass fear what messages a shrunken force will send to America’s enemies.
Not since before World War II has the US fielded such a small military force, and not since World War II has the US military been spread so thin around the world.
Personnel slashes to the US Army have been the deepest. The national defense budget must be satisfied with a force of just 445,000 active-duty soldiers, down more than 40,000 (8.4%) in three years.
Meanwhile, the Marine Corps is set to shed 8,900 active-duty service members from fiscal 2021, a 4.9% reduction, while the Air Force is prepared for a loss of 13,475 airmen, a 4% drop. Finally, the Navy is scheduled to have 10,000 fewer sailors, down 2.9%.
All told, the total number of active-duty soldiers in the armed forces will decrease to 1,284,500 in fiscal 2024. That’s a decline of almost 64,000 troops in the last three years and the smallest total for America’s military since 1940. For perspective, America’s top perceived ‘adversaries’, Russia and China, have 1.15 million and 2.35 million active duty troops, respectively.
Such a precipitous drop in troop strength presents major challenges for any country, but especially for one with serious imperial ambitions. The problem with recruitment does not seem to be caused by a lack of funds. The defense policy bill passed last month provides a jaw-dropping $886 billion for defense programs, which includes a 5.2 percent boost in salaries for service members, the largest increase in 20 years.
Despite the promise of more money, the recruiting prospects for the immediate future looks bleak to the point that lawmakers and military leaders have floated the idea of allowing illegal immigrants, which are often purported to have terrorist and gang members among their ranks, to serve as a stopgap solution to the problem.
“Do you know what the recruiting numbers are at the Army, Navy and the Air Force,” asked Democratic Senator Dick Durbin last month. “They can't find enough people to join our military forces. And there are those who are undocumented who want the chance to serve and risk their lives for this country. Should we give them a chance? I think we should.”
“The problem lies within American society, or rather, the lack thereof,” writes Brian Berletic, a geopolitical analyst and former US Marine. “It suffers from a general unraveling of family values, work ethic, and social cohesion. Additionally, there is a collapse of America's education system, including vocational education, which creates a shortage of qualified candidates for economic and military activities.”
Many see this administration for what it is. Corrupt and demonic interested only in furthering the agenda and not interested in protection of American values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Those that normally would sign up for service see themselves as fodder and not a valuable asset. The intelligent individual will not place themselves in a position to be used not even for more money. They see how the veterans are treated after service. Let us go one step further. Imagine if you will a desire to control a population that has a culture of unity and the agenda wants to destroy that unity. Do you use individuals of that same culture or do you bring in outsiders that are not loyal to that culture? Import military aged males that have no allegiance to the culture that they wish to destroy and when sufficiently indoctrinated use them as an internal force for control.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Washington warned future generations about foreign entanglements. Going back to Korea (1950) useless wars, millions of casualties, financial dislocations, family and societal upheaval, etc. The abuse of the military for seven decades has finally broken it and the results, catastrophic.
ReplyDeleteI can envision POTUS starting up a lottery type draft..."The first number 666".
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