Fewer special ops, more tech: Formal force structure cements a trimmer Army

Fewer special ops, more tech: Formal force structure cements a trimmer Army
Fewer special ops, more tech: Formal force structure cements a trimmer Army

“We are transforming our force structure, we are transforming our weapons systems through our modernization programs and what we’ve done, through the force structure changes, is make room for some new formations,” said Army Secretary Christine Wormuth.

2020 Budget: One Half Step Towards A Great Power Strategy

2020 Budget: One Half Step Towards A Great Power Strategy
2020 Budget: One Half Step Towards A Great Power Strategy

The Trump defense budget takes significant steps to move from a focus on regional conflicts and counter-insurgency to a focus on great power conflicts. But the Army, Navy Air Force and Marines clearly are struggling with this balance.

SecAF Wilson Takes Charge, Calls For 24% Boost In Squadrons

SecAF Wilson Takes Charge, Calls For 24% Boost In Squadrons
SecAF Wilson Takes Charge, Calls For 24% Boost In Squadrons

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson laid down what will probably be the signature marker of her term as head of the Air Force, calling today at the Air Force Association conference for 74 new operational squadrons, including five more bomber squadrons, seven more special operations squadrons, 14 more tanker squadrons, seven more fighter squadrons, and 22 more Command and Control Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance squadrons. But, she noted of the larger Air Force she says the nation needs: “It’s not just larger; the way we fight will be different.” Dave Deptula, head of AFA’s Mitchell Institute, analyzes Wilson’s commitment. Read on! The Editor.

Trump’s Promised Big Boost To DoD Evaporates In 2018 Budget

Trump’s Promised Big Boost To DoD Evaporates In 2018 Budget
Trump’s Promised Big Boost To DoD Evaporates In 2018 Budget

Campaign promises of a larger, more ready and fully modernized military have slammed into budget realities as the Trump administration’s fiscal 2018 budget for the Pentagon shows only modest growth above what the Obama administration had projected. Funding at those levels will support a 305-ship Navy, not the 350 ships that candidate Trump proposed back in…

Trump Proffers Pentagon Specifics: $60B More To Boost Troops, Ships

Trump Proffers Pentagon Specifics: $60B More To Boost Troops, Ships
Trump Proffers Pentagon Specifics: $60B More To Boost Troops, Ships

When Donald Trump discussed his defense program in Philadelphia on Wednesday, the bluster and lunacy of the primary season were gone and he offered a scripted position paper that reflected (mostly) mainstream Republican ideas. There is still lots one might disagree with, but the discipline of the teleprompter meant that he read a staff-prepared paper that put…

Army Mulls Train & Advise Brigades: Gen. Milley

Army Mulls Train & Advise Brigades: Gen. Milley
Army Mulls Train & Advise Brigades: Gen. Milley

WASHINGTON: After 15 years of ad hoc solutions, the Army may build specialized battalions and brigades to train and advise foreign forces, the service’s chief of staff says. Gen. Mark Milley made clear that advisor units are just a proposal under study, a study that only started “a couple of months ago.” But even studying the…

Fear, Changing Threats Drive SCMR, OpPlans Rewrite; Cut Readiness Dough, Analysts Say

Fear, Changing Threats Drive SCMR, OpPlans Rewrite; Cut Readiness Dough, Analysts Say
Fear, Changing Threats Drive SCMR, OpPlans Rewrite; Cut Readiness Dough, Analysts Say

WASHINGTON: Turmoil, fear and a certain resolute grimness marked this week at the Pentagon and Capitol Hill. The military scrambled to cope with a range of new threats as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and the Pentagon leadership begin to grapple with the grim future posed by the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration. Put it all…

Army Cuts 10 Combat Brigades — Or 11, Or 13 — And That’s Just The Beginning

Army Cuts 10 Combat Brigades — Or 11, Or 13 — And That’s Just The Beginning
Army Cuts 10 Combat Brigades — Or 11, Or 13 — And That’s Just The Beginning

PENTAGON: The Army’s widely publicized decision to cut 10 brigade combat teams from bases in eight states is just part of the story of the incredible shrinking armed services. To start with, it’s not actually 10 brigades: It’s 11, the 10 announced this afternoon and a player to be named later. Or, if you count…

Hagel’s Budget: Where’s The Beef In Reform Efforts, Weapons Buys?

In a town full of hot air, speeches are a dime a dozen. But money still talks. So let’s compare the new Secretary of Defense’s policy agenda to his first proposed budget. While Leon Panetta, his predecessor, mostly built this budget, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel owns it now and has already spent a considerable amount…

The 10 Years’ War: Army Plans For Sequestration Cuts Through 2022

FORT LAUDERDALE: As automatic cuts to the 2013 budget look increasingly unavoidable, with the deadline for a Congressional deal only a week away, Army leaders are preparing fallback positions to defend the service from a full decade of sequester cuts. That includes new guidance on cutting modernization and planning for potential cuts to personnel and…

Air Force Cuts Mean Service Is ‘Slowly Going Out of Business’

A year has passed since Congress passed and President Obama signed into law the Budget Control Act-the legislation mandating sequestration. Funding cuts that once seemed politically remote now loom large for leaders increasingly anxious about the impact $1.2 trillion in automatic budget reductions will have upon their respective districts and states. An estimated two million…

Trust Us On Air Guard Cuts, Air Force Tells Congress

CAPITOL HILL: “Trust us.” That’s the last thing an irate Congress is ready to hear from the Air Force right now, but it’s the essence of what a three-star general told legislators today in a hearing on the administration’s hugely unpopular proposal to cut the Air National Guard. A Senate-proposed commission on the size and…

Congress: Don’t Let Army Botch GCV, The Bradley Replacement

The Army’s senior leadership is determined to spend money on a new Ground Combat Vehicle (CV) to replace the aging Bradley Armored Fighting Vehicle. On the one hand, the admission that tracked mobile armored firepower is critical to survival and success in future combat is gratifying. On the other hand, the determination to focus on…

What a Difference Two Wars Make: No Battles Between Army, Guard And Reserve

WASHINGTON: As the Army has been handed its largest manpower cuts since the end of the first Persian Gulf War and its acquisition accounts are being squeezed dry trying to find room for programs like Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles in its base budget, the atmosphere among the active, Guard and Reserve components is – surprisingly…