The wealth inequality in America
underlies our domestic economic degradation and also decreases the United
States ability to lead on a global scale. Social cohesion and internal
stability are the true foundation blocks of national security. Eighty percent of
America’s wealth belong to the top two percent. If reform could be made in this
area, many cuts would not need to be made and prosperity would grow enormously
in America. Instead, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is proposing a list of
broad spending reductions of 50 billion dollars to our United States military.
Over the next ten years one trillion dollars will have been cut from the
defense fund. With these new cuts, the question has arisen; whether or not we
could handle simultaneous wars like we had in Iraq and Afghanistan. A preview
of the 2015 budget reduces the size of the Army to its smallest size since
1940.
The proposed cuts would reduce the
number of troops in the Army from its current 522,000 to 440,000 soldiers. The
Navy’s fleet would fall to 255 in 2020 compared to its current 306, while the Air
Force would reduce flying hours by 15% and curtail or cancel major exercises.
The Air Force under these cuts would also cut 25,000 airmen and eliminate 550
aircraft. The Marines would be reduced to 174,000, which is said to be the
smallest number that could effectively go to war and conduct ongoing
operations. The reductions are forcing the military to cut back in areas that
leave a good portion of the troops inadequately trained, and unready to respond
in crisis. Thankfully, American forces still far exceed military operations in
other areas of the world. Every time a war ends, such as WW1, WW11, and the
Cold War, the military shrinks hoping that the peace time will last. The
supposed end of the war in Afghanistan is coming upon us, thus pressure is
being applied to Afghan president Hamid Karzai to ease its dependence on
American soldiers and be prepared to fight with his own armed forces.
The proposed cuts are greater than the normal
shrinkage to be expected after a long war. These cut into the very pocket books
of our veterans. Hagel says reform to
military compensation cannot be avoided. Currently, an Army private with two years’
experience earns an average of 40,400 annually, included in that figure is
housing and food allowances. An Army captain with six years’ of service receives
98,800 annually on average. The military, their spouses, and their children are
also covered under Tricare for all their healthcare expenses. There are presently
1.2 million children covered under Tricare. Eighty-three percent of those who
serve less than two decades do not get retirement benefits, but those who do
serve twenty years get a pension of half their base pay. The question: should
those who enlist at eighteen and retire at thirty-eight be eligible to receive forty
years’ worth of pension funds? The reform would not allow veterans to receive their
pension until they reach age sixty-two. This would result in an average loss or
savings, depending on how it perceived, of 72,000 dollars over a lifetime. This
may seem reasonable to some, but to those who risk their lives and face
unspeakable physical and mental wounds, these changes can be very unsettling.
The hope and the plan is to not effect current military members with these
changes, but to implement them with the future generation of soldiers. The goal
and the challenge is to make the programs both affordable and sustainable,
while still attracting and appealing to those volunteering to risk their lives
for our security.
