If the president wants more money let him take it from the politicians retirement funds.He has no problem taking money from social security!!!To save money,let him stop wasting money on foreign soils.
I have seen several major USAF installations closed due to BRAC. To witness what it does to the local economy is very hard as it displaces so many who have supported the military both on base and off. The process is very painful. I find it hard to believe there are still facilities that are candidates within the States. It is time to look overseas and start closing these facilities. The politicians’ boost of how much money has been saved since BRAC began, I ask where is this saved money. The defense budget has not gone down; the cost of closing the bases is more each year due to the massive environmental issues. I don’t see the return on investment in closing these installations. Before another stateside facility is closed, I feel that a full investigation and disclosure is necessary to show the true cost and savings as it has been so publicly announced to the tax payer. We have fewer facilities today than ever before and our forces are also at lower levels (both civil servants and military alike). The numbers of aircraft and ships afloat are fewer. Bottom line, our military is currently doing more with less (example: how many troops pulled multiple [non-volunteer] tours in Viet Nam (yes we spent 13 months per tour then) and now many are pulling multiple tours in the wars today?) If there is really a need to cut, start at the top. Looking at the numbers of service members in 1945 and the number of General Officers in uniform at that time. Advance forward to 1953, then again in 1970, then in 1990 and lastly today. How many General Officers are on the payroll today? I think you would find there are more Generals on duty today than any time in history based on the numbers of men/women in uniform. I also think you would find there are more 4 Star’s today than ever before too! Someone needs to ask why! Was WWII smaller than what is ongoing today two fronts, (Europe/Pacific vs Iraq/Afghanistan ). The military is unbalanced and those who make the difficult decisions have yet to handle this hot potato. If cuts are needed, they should look into the right places (overseas) and at the top ranks.
