This Is No Time to Cut The U.S. Army By General Raymond T. Odierno
http://www.wsj.com/articles/this-is-no-time-to-cut-the-u-s-army-1439506616
Gen. Odierno, the U.S. Army chief of staff, is retiring Aug. 14.
We need a force of 490,000 as global dangers rise. It’s at 450,000 and heading down.
Today, the Army is engaged in Iraq, Afghanistan and Jordan; in Kosovo, the Korean Peninsula and across the African continent. We have rotational forces in Europe, Kuwait and the Pacific. And our missions are both wide-ranging and essential. The missions include humanitarian assistance, training and advising forces in combat, and reassuring allies with a dedicated U.S. military presence.
As the velocity of world-wide instability rises, the demand for the U.S. Army escalates around the globe, with American soldiers responding where others either won’t or can’t. The threats they face are more complex and diverse than at any other point in recent memory. The nation’s enemies are determined, and they increasingly have the capability to threaten regional and world order, as well as America’s physical security and economic stability.
The unpredictable strategic landscape is marked by Russian aggression, China’s military modernization, North Korea’s belligerence and the rise of anarchy, extremism and terrorism, led by Islamic State, in North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. All this while the U.S. military also maintains an advise-and-assist mission in Afghanistan, supplies global disaster relief, and protects against continued threats to the homeland.
These burdens on the military, coupled with persistent budget pressures, have brought the country to an important inflection point. Decisions made in Washington today regarding defense must be based on the world as it is, not the world as we wish it to be.
Throughout American history, the Army, in concert with the other services, has been a powerful deterrent and the nation’s ultimate insurance policy. Unfortunately, at the conclusion of every major conflict the Army has taken disproportionate cuts in personnel and resources that undercut deterrence and ultimately cost American lives in subsequent conflicts.
American soldiers suffered enormously from lack of preparation at Kasserine Pass in Tunisia in 1943, the Army’s first major encounter with German troops in World War II. At the outset of the Korean War, an ably led but poorly trained and ill-equipped battalion known as Task Force Smith was virtually annihilated. Those episodes serve as poignant examples of the results of myopic decisions that ignore the stark lessons of history. Both times, American soldiers suffered. We need the entirety of our military forces, including the Army, to have the capability and capacity to deal with a wide range of threats on two or three continents simultaneously.
The current environment demands a modern and ready, globally engaged land force. To achieve this, in my view, the optimum size of the active-duty Army is 490,000 troops. But the fiscal gridlock surrounding the Budget Control Act of 2013, also known as sequestration, has already forced us to reduce Army forces to 450,000. If sequestration continues, we will be forced to reduce even further. At that point, the Army will be unable to fulfill its mission.
History has shown that we cannot predict the future with any reasonable degree of accuracy, but we can affirm with absolute certainty that America’s Army will be called upon time and time again. When it is, the American people will not want to hear that we lack capacity, that our equipment is behind the times, and that our soldiers are not properly trained or ready to fight.
If that happens, we—as an Army and as a nation—will have failed the men and women who courageously volunteered to raise their right hand to defend the Constitution and stand up for their countrymen, protecting the freedoms and liberties.
As I retire on Friday, having served almost four decades in the Army, I have never been prouder to wear this uniform and represent the amazing men and women who every day are willing to protect this great nation. From Vietnam to the Cold War, from Iraq to Afghanistan, and in contingencies around the world, our soldiers have accomplished every task, met every challenge, and defended our nation whenever and wherever asked. We owe it to them to provide the right equipment and the best training; and we owe it to the American people to have an Army that is sized, equipped and prepared to meet the uncertain security challenges that lie ahead.
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