We're Going to Run Out of Soldiers

The Defense Department has concluded it can no longer afford to satisfy current demands for military forces from overseas commanders. As a result, it is considering cutting back on forward-stationed forces and deployments, said Deputy Defense Secretary Robert O. Work.

  NDIA

I thought that’s why we have drones.

The military is now facing a new set of crises, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine, operations in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State, and an Ebola outbreak in West Africa. In addition, it needs to have enough forces training at home to ensure they can "respond to the environment," Work said.

Well that’s ominous.

And home environment should be serviceable by the National Guard, shouldn’t it?

"We are trying to find the right mix" between forward-deployed and U.S.-based forces that would be training for an unforeseen contingency.

Invasion or domestic protests?

The plan is to change from a demand model — where commanders get whatever they ask for — to a supply-based approach.

Somehow I don’t think they actually believe they will have to do that after all is said and done. But it sounds great to me. War in Syria? Sorry, we can’t provide the personnel. We’re all out of soldiers.

Although the Pentagon has the world's largest military budget, projected to exceed $500 billion a year even under sequestration, Work said the problem is that the Defense Department is saddled with unwanted programs and military personnel costs.

Stop sending drones to every corner of the Middle East, and particularly to civilian targets. That will save a bundle.

The Pentagon is seeking to cut about $70 billion a year by retiring aging equipment, closing facilities and changing military benefits, but Congress has said "no" to every single proposal.

[...]

"When we submitted the budget last year ... one of the assumptions was that the number of commitments would either level off or come down.

Well, then, you haven’t been paying attention.

The title of this article is:  Pentagon Warns It Can't Continue to Police the World