New Defense Strategy is Misguided

In a recent speech at the Pentagon, President Obama announced his plans to make significant changes to the size and strategies of U.S. military forces. Under the new strategy, Army and Marine Corps forces will be reduced and our military presence in Europe will be scaled back.

It's no secret that these decisions are driven by our massive debt -- not strategic considerations. The Pentagon has been instructed to cut defense spending by $480 billion over 10 years, and an additional $500 billion in cuts will go into effect if Congress and the White House do not reach agreement on sensible spending cuts to other areas of the budget.

In announcing the cutbacks, President Obama insisted that "our military will be leaner, but the world must know the United States is going to maintain our military superiority with armed forces that are agile, flexible and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats."

Military leaders, both past and present, aren't so sure. Writing in the Washington Post, retired Army major general and former commandant of the U.S. Army War College Robert H. Scales asserts that the president's plan "forgets the lessons of history" and ensures that "we will enter the next war again tragically short of the precious resource that we have neglected for six administrations: our soldiers and Marines."

Scales and other military leaders are giving voice to a dangerous reality: These changes will make America weaker, not stronger. We are cutting defense spending and the size of our armed forces because the Obama administration is overspending in other areas, not because we have a military that is too large or overfunded.

Moreover, the reductions in the size of our ground forces will force the United States to continue its overreliance on the Reserve and the National Guard -- two forces that have been deployed continuously because our regular forces are simply too small to meet all the missions they have been asked to undertake.

With the long-term threat posed by China, the President is correct to place more focus on the Pacific. However, Iran's recent provocative words and actions regarding the Strait of Hormuz are just one example of the need to maintain global capabilities.

We still live in a very dangerous world that won't be safer with fewer American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. As Major General Scales starkly points out, "We cannot pick our enemies; our enemies will pick us." To protect our nation, America's armed forces must have adequate resources.