Monthly Archives: December 2009

40 years of debt?

Posted on by Eric Palmer

So what does the U.S. need to effectively defend itself?

It depends if the U.S. wants to get back to following the Constitution when going to war. For example; the Iraq invasion of 2003 should have had the President ask for a declaration of war. And yes there are times when that isn’t practical.

Some of the policy the United States signs off on is just rock-bottom wrong. And while I wouldn’t agree with my Internet friend at 40 years in the Desert on an 85 percent cut on the military budget, he has some very valid points.

How safe can the United States be if since 9-11 it is spending itself way beyond the poor house? That, with very little gain in any real defense of the nation. This includes no Osama’s head on a stick.

What does the United States need to spend its defense budget on? First; a healthy Army National Guard. This is real national defense at its core level. Add to this home air sovereignty missions and a good portion of airlift can be performed by the Air National Guard.

The United States needs some nuclear weapons. A small amount will do. That is; a smaller number of nuclear ICBMs; a smaller number of submarine launched nukes; no nuclear mission for long range bombers. This saves a lot of money all while keeping enough deterrent.

Next the United States needs a strong Coast Guard and a very strong U.S. Naval Reserve that has a good number of frigates, corvettes, auxiliaries and even 2 squadrons worth of AIP subs. This last one is especially important because it frees up the big expensive nuke subs for tasks only they can do.

Yes the U.S. needs a very strong Navy but with a much smaller Marine Corps. Not a tiny USMC but not something that ends up doing missions the Army can do. Marines are to do their specific skill-sets. The active duty U.S. Navy will need good nuclear submarines, carriers, destroyers and much of what you see today. No it does not need to burn up limited funds on stupidity like the Zumwalt, CCX or LCS.

The U.S. Army plan for expeditionary brigades has a lot of merit. All airborne and airmobile units need to be based stateside. Along with this, most U.S. Army presence in Europe should come home.

So what about the United States Air Force? With the Air Guard and Reserve and active duty  in blended units, the U.S. needs about 20 fighter GROUPS containing 2 squadrons at 20 different ASA locations that do ASA and AEF. Pulling all of the USAF out of Europe would free up a lot of manpower and money. Keep as much of the long range bomber fleet going as possible. It will be needed desperately if ever there is trouble. As for the rest of the USAF, it is in grave trouble. I will be surprised if the USAF ever comes out of it’s mismanagement malaise. A shame considering the USAF has some excellent people.

With all of this, the DOD has to spend more money on research and development or we will fall behind to a point where we will never be able to recover. There is enough risk present today in a lapse of R&D funding to indicate that we are falling behind.

The United States is in serious federal budget trouble. Along with this, a total pull out from Afghanistan and Iraq will help the U.S. military get back to concentrating on preparation against real threats. Where there is a future war where the President can ask Congress for a declaration of war, a full draft has to be part of that. If the declaration of war is that important to the defense of the United States, every able person has to take part. As the sign says; “America is not at war. The U.S. military is at war. America is at the mall”.

I don’t believe in isolationism. I also don’t believe in no-gain moronic expeditionary warfare that bleeds our budget. There can be a good balance here somewhere. Maybe someday we will be lucky enough to reach that point.

Finally, if cutting the military is important, so is cutting federal programs that eat up funds we don’t have. Cash-for-clunkers, bailouts for the chosen ones that can buy the political graft, huge amounts of foreign aid and other programs that, if one follows the intent of the Constitution, have no business breathing air. One has the right to pursue happiness, not have it provided for them. It is the United STATES of America, not the United FEDERAL GOVERNMENT of America. America is at grave risk of failing. If this happens, it will make the break-up of of Yugoslavia look like a picnic.

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Canadian Defence colors of money

Posted on by Eric Palmer

Some in Canada don’t seem to know the difference between an increase in defence spending and a cut. The real answer is different colors of money; procurement, sustainment, etc.

With announced “adjustments”, the Canadian Forces  budget this year will show a reduction in sustainment money spending of 5 to 7 percent depending on the service. Yet, overall Defence spending is increasing.

The Canadian military is looking for savings of more than $190 million by March to help pay for the Harper government’s defence strategy.

The navy will cut training for its reserve forces in January and reduce infrastructure maintenance and repairs, while the air force will scale back on non-operational training, cut some of its flying time, as well as limit non-essential repairs, according to information provided by the Defence Department.

Recently, the army revealed its plan to cut, including trimming some training and reducing the number of reserve soldiers employed full time.

The big driver is that the Canadian federal deficit has climbed to more than $55B this year. With all this, Defence is better off than many other government departments.

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