The American military is on the brink. Not only are U.S. military leaders facing monumental budget challenges backed by minimal strategic guidance, they face shrinking forces armed with aging equipment that often fails to meet basic readiness standards.
Despite challenges our military faces today, Congress and the president unwisely cut roughly $450 billion from national defense in the Budget Control Act. This short-sighted bill has also set into motion the disastrous possibility of $600 billion more in defense cuts. Such indiscriminate cuts would likely inflict irreparable harm not just to capabilities and institutions, but more importantly to our men and women in uniform.
Our leaders ought to drop the defense budget ax until we can truly grasp the consequences.