Obese and Weak: Are Young Americans Failing the Special Operations Community?

Facing a concerning shortage in special operations personnel, the U.S. military grapples with the reality that, despite the high costs and rigorous standards of training, fewer young Americans are stepping up to join the elite ranks, possibly due to growing societal comfort and diminishing physical and mental aptitude.

Disaster Relief Missions Straining Already Hurting Military Readiness

The U.S. military has been taxed with fighting wars for 16 years in multiple countries and with the previous presidential administration cutting back on troop levels, modernization of the service’s equipment, the Defense Department’s readiness is in “dire straits” across the board according to some reports just released. The report from the Heritage Foundation, the […]

Military transgender ban: Is serving in the military a right or a privilege?

This morning, President Trump tweeted out that he was reversing President Obama’s decision to allow transgender troops to serve openly. In my opinion, this is the correct decision. Let us concede from the outset that this may not even happen. The president released this information through Twitter, saying that “after consultation with my generals…” However, […]

President Trump promises to ‘make our military strong again’

One of the most immediate changes made following the recent inauguration and transfer of power was the White House website. Modifications were made and the website started being transformed to reflect the new Trump administration’s goals and campaign promises. One change in particular was the promise to make our military strong again. The new message promises increased military readiness, budget changes to rebuild […]

Has the American military fallen behind?

The military itself, as well as many think-tank scholars, tends to focus on one or more of four major dimensions of military capacity. One is force structure, or the raw numbers of tanks, ships, divisions and so on that make up our armed forces. The second is modernization, or the level of technical sophistication. The […]

Congress is Endangering Military Readiness

House Armed Services Committee chairman Mac Thornberry recently complained about readiness weaknesses across the U.S. military. But he and his colleagues can release additional defense funds to alleviate some of these shortcomings—if they look within. Rep. Thornberry’s litany of grumbles includes the Marine Corps’ inability to meet training requirements, less than one-third of Army units […]