U.S. military shortages

Since WW II it has been U.S. policy to maintain a military capable of fighting two wars at the same time. While we fought in Korea and fought the war in Vietnam we also had forces prepared to defend Western Europe from Soviet aggression. Since the end of major U.S. combat involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan the question is whether the weakened military with its tired equipment and weapons has recovered sufficiently to return to that two-front policy.

According to testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, the shortages have left the military with only three of the Army's 58 Brigade Combat Teams ready to fight; 53 percent of Navy's aircraft can't fly; the Air Force is 723 fighter pilots short; and the Marines need 3,000 more troops. Meanwhile, there is a major obstacle for Congress to remove before they can correct these shortages. The Budget Control Act of 2011 set automatic budget reductions to continue every year until 2021.

Restoring the military's preparedness has been a bipartisan goal stated by politicians ever since the actual cuts started in 2013. During the election of 2016 President Trump claimed he would rebuild the military, and he still says this will happen. Trump is quoted a week earlier at Central Command saying, "You've been lacking a little equipment. We're going to load it up. You're going to get a lot of equipment," Trump told the troops. I don't understand how this will be accomplished because he also claims he will reduce taxes at the same time.

Anyone who has watched the news recently has seen North Korea testing ballistic missiles with the intent of developing intercontinental missiles. China has built and is operating an aircraft carrier, and it is part of their defense of the islands they built in the South China Sea. Threats to remove the Chinese from those islands are stupid. Meanwhile, the civil war in Syria is the albatross hanging around the United Nation's neck.

The turmoil in the world will not be ended by simple answers which do not address possible consequences. Telling the world the U.S. will take some action we are not equipped to do places the nation at risk.

Jack Dragoni attended Boston College and served in the U.S. Army in Berlin and Vietnam. He lives in Chaffee, Missouri.