Renewed Military Might

Mr. Graham has a seat on The Committee on Armed Services. From there, he has jurisdiction over all areas of national defense including the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force. The Subcommittees include Personnel (Chairman), Airland, Emerging Threats and Capabilities, and Strategic Forces.

It is estimated the United States (US) owns or rents more than 700 military bases in more than 130 countries plus approximately 6,000 bases here at home. These US numbers are conservative because the actual numbers do not include the unknowns in Iraq, Afghanistan and secret installations around the world. Estimates prior to ‘9-11’, place more than a quarter of a million military personnel in 153 countries. That number rises to more than 350,000 with the Iraq War. The US is treaty-bound to defend some 60 nations on 5 continents with the US Navy and US Air Force being roughly half their 1990 size and with an Army of a little over a half million men and women. The world consists of 190 nations and we have a presence in at least 153 of them. We have a military that is stretched too far, with too few full-time troops.

We must strengthen our military forces. We must close many of our military installations across the world. Why do we close US bases and open new international bases? Some of the countries of the world have to become their own defenders. Bring the 30,000 permanent troops home from the North/South Korea border. It would be hard to vote to protect South Korea when North Korea has the ability to call up a million-man army.

During President Eisenhower’s administration, in peacetime, the US military had roughly 3,000,000 men in arms; down from the 12,000,000 men of 1945. Today, we number 1.4 million members in the armed services, 200,000 of which are women. Today, we depend too heavily on National Guard and Reserves. We must strengthen our full-time voluntary military numbers to fight the War on Terror and defend us against national threats.

We must create a military of the size and with the capability of unequivocally ending any national threat. The errors of Iraq, where the military brass asked for 400,000 troops and was sent less than half, cannot happen again.

Today’s US Navy has dominance over the world’s oceans and sea-lanes. Today’s US Air Force has dominance over the world’s airspace. Today’s US Army and Marine Corps has dominance and superiority in mobility and firepower on the battlefield, and the US Coast Guard controls our International Waters. Today’s US military technology and our nuclear arsenal makes us the world’s only remaining superpower. With this said, I would still support returning the Army divisions, the Air Force fighter wings, the US Coast Guard and the Navy fleet to the size and power of the Ronald Reagan Era. We must maintain our superiority, but we must also bring our over-stretched military home to US soil.

The United States must bring many of our troops home, close unnecessary bases, strengthen any of our weaknesses, rebuild or replace aging equipment and be prepared for any threat to our national security. The US does not need to be the aggressor any more by going around the world and finding conflicts to enter. The US must be the Power that no one will engage.