WASHINGTON, DC— The Heritage Foundation's 2024 Index of U.S. Military Strength was released recently under editor and retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. Dakota Wood, which found that the U.S. Military is "weak." In short, it has been underfunded, is suffering a recruiting crisis, our naval fleet and Air Force are spread too thinly, and the military is logistically drained overall due to supplying Ukraine's ongoing war against Russia.
According to the Heritage Report, the index's introduction indicates that the U.S. military received the "weak" rating for the second consecutive year "relative to the force needed to defend national interests on a global stage against actual challenges in the world as it is rather than as we wish it were."
The report chillingly describes our Army as "marginal," our Navy as "weak," and the Air Force as "very weak." The report stated, "As currently postured, the U.S. military is at significant risk of not being able to defend America’s vital national interests." While the U.S. Marine Corps. is listed as "strong," the report noted, "The Corps is already at 73 percent of the battalions and related air and logistical capabilities it should have. It needs to grow."
Troublingly, in the face of saber-rattling from both Russia and China the U.S. nuclear deterrent is rated as "marginal," with the index citing "the fragility of 'just in time' replacement programs" as the reliability of our delivery systems and warheads are placed at greater risk due to the increasing age of our arsenal. The newly minted U.S. Space Force shared the "marginal" ranking owing primarily to insufficient satellite constellations to appropriately project force into orbital space. The reported noted, "The USSF’s current visible capacity is not sufficient to support, fight, or weather a war with a peer competitor."
The report from Heritage places the blame on a failure of policy. "This is the inevitable result of years of sustained use, underfunding, poorly defined priorities, wildly shifting security policies, exceedingly poor discipline in program execution, and a profound lack of seriousness across the national security establishment even as threats to U.S. interests have surged."
In addition, the report under Lt. Col Wood highlighted, "In 2023, this has been compounded by the cost of U.S. support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s assault, which is further exacerbated by the limited ability of allies in Europe to shoulder a greater share of the support burden. The war has laid bare the limited inventories of equipment, munitions, and supplies of all supporting countries as well as the limitations of the industrial base that will be required to replenish them."
As noted by the Daily Caller News Foundation, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development Elbridge Colby told a Heritage Foundation panel Wednesday, "If we now get super real, this is not just about recognizing the threat. We have to reevaluate like a business that’s about to go bankrupt."
According to the Heritage Report, the index's introduction indicates that the U.S. military received the "weak" rating for the second consecutive year "relative to the force needed to defend national interests on a global stage against actual challenges in the world as it is rather than as we wish it were."
The report chillingly describes our Army as "marginal," our Navy as "weak," and the Air Force as "very weak." The report stated, "As currently postured, the U.S. military is at significant risk of not being able to defend America’s vital national interests." While the U.S. Marine Corps. is listed as "strong," the report noted, "The Corps is already at 73 percent of the battalions and related air and logistical capabilities it should have. It needs to grow."
Troublingly, in the face of saber-rattling from both Russia and China the U.S. nuclear deterrent is rated as "marginal," with the index citing "the fragility of 'just in time' replacement programs" as the reliability of our delivery systems and warheads are placed at greater risk due to the increasing age of our arsenal. The newly minted U.S. Space Force shared the "marginal" ranking owing primarily to insufficient satellite constellations to appropriately project force into orbital space. The reported noted, "The USSF’s current visible capacity is not sufficient to support, fight, or weather a war with a peer competitor."
The report from Heritage places the blame on a failure of policy. "This is the inevitable result of years of sustained use, underfunding, poorly defined priorities, wildly shifting security policies, exceedingly poor discipline in program execution, and a profound lack of seriousness across the national security establishment even as threats to U.S. interests have surged."
In addition, the report under Lt. Col Wood highlighted, "In 2023, this has been compounded by the cost of U.S. support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s assault, which is further exacerbated by the limited ability of allies in Europe to shoulder a greater share of the support burden. The war has laid bare the limited inventories of equipment, munitions, and supplies of all supporting countries as well as the limitations of the industrial base that will be required to replenish them."
As noted by the Daily Caller News Foundation, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development Elbridge Colby told a Heritage Foundation panel Wednesday, "If we now get super real, this is not just about recognizing the threat. We have to reevaluate like a business that’s about to go bankrupt."
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Comments
2024-01-26T15:40-0600 | Comment by: Michael
Is this really shocking to anyone reading this , it's what happens after decades of being the world police!
2024-01-26T16:00-0600 | Comment by: Rick
Face it, under this administration, our entire country has been weakened and degraded. This has, most certainly, been by design and not accident.
2024-01-29T13:06-0600 | Comment by: Laurence
The anti-White-male propaganda being fed to recruits is responsible for the bad morale of the armed forces. Competent White males are the backbone of the armed forces, yet all they get is hostility. Go on the internet and research EOAC STUDENT GUIDE - POWER AND PRIVILEGE for an example of malicious anti-White propaganda. Why should any competent White male join, if that is the hostility they face?
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