Marines cheer on a fellow Marine during a relay as part of the "Super Squadron" competition at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., Jan. 13, 2017. The Marines are assigned to Marine Air Control Squadron 1. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. George Melendez
Washington Times: Manpower shortage threatens Trump’s hopes to rebuild military
Manpower, not money, may prove a bigger challenge to President Trump’s hopes to rebuild what he calls a “hollowed-out” U.S. military.
While much of the debate over how the administration will pay for its ambitious defense buildup, an equally large question mark looms over whether Mr. Trump and Defense Secretary James Mattis can find enough willing and able recruits to meet the demands for soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.
On the campaign trail, Mr. Trump called for a restoration of force levels across the services to numbers before a series of “sequestration” cuts to defense spending, including a 540,000-member Army, backed by a 350-ship Navy and an Air Force of 1,200 fighter aircraft.
The increases to the Navy and Air Force would likely result in a small uptick of 100,000 sailors and airmen combined, compared with the force levels sought in the Army and Marine Corps, Mark Cancian, senior international security adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Washington Times.
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WNU Editor: The U.S. military is a volunteer force .... and serving in the military is a career choice that many Americans are more and more deciding to not make. To build up its manpower will take time .... and of course money .... something that is in short supply in the U.S. today.
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