Increasing the size of the military
December 28, 2006| By Nathaniel Ward
President Bush has instructed his new secretary of defense, Robert Gates, to devise a way to expand the size of ground forces in the Army and the Marines. This is a prudent course of action, Heritage defense expert Mackenzie Eaglen writes. “The U.S. needs to have sufficient forces in order to maintain a trained and ready military and conduct operations around the world.”
Recent actions by the Department of Defense and Congress, Eaglen notes, have temporarily increased the size of the armed forces. The armed forces saw an increase since 2004 of 30,000 soldiers and 7,000 Marines. “Under the President’s direction, the Army and Marine Corps will now seek a permanent increase in personnel, solidifying the recent temporary authorizations and increasing personnel levels further.”
She also reminds Congress and the White House that the Reserves and National Guard need to be expanded as well. To meet its personnel needs overseas, the military has been using these forces more often and, without an expansion, may be forced to lift its restrictions on the frequency of deployments. “Expanding the endstrength of the active and Reserve components is not only good policy but also more cost effective than solely increasing the active component.”
But our leaders should be careful in how it implements these increases over the next several years, she explains. “Funding for additional soldiers and Marines should not come at the expense of other critical defense needs, such as weapons systems and platforms, health care, bonuses, and equipment modernization. Rather, Congress should pay for additional personnel with a higher fiscal year 2007 defense budget.”
Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation.
