With the end of the “Cold War” America’s armed forces are too large andexpensive to maintain while in an era of peace. The roles of the military has changed,and the United States has come to the conclusion that military might no longer meanshaving the larger force. Politicians have initiated the closure of bases, the reducedproduction by defense contractors, the decrease in military and civilian personnel.
Theactions taken to reduce the military has left dwindling numbers, and this must be changedto ensure that the U.S. military continues to be a mighty super power. The idea of a smaller military was not even considered during the “Cold War”, buttoday the treat to America is at a all-time low.
This has sparked politicians to restructurethe forces and reduce the spending needed to maintain those forces. These reductions arebased on the budget spending what is not cost effective to the U.S. and the public.
Thecost cutting needs to be done, without too large of an effect on the employed personnel,whether military or civilian (O’Rourke, 2). Though the reductions in the forces stillneeds to be made, careful monitoring of the amounts of The reductions in personnel have gone past the recommended limit set Congress,and have created a greater need for personnel. If a conflict were to happen to day, theU.S.
could only send four heavy divisions, compared to the seven sent during the GulfWar. This greatly decreases America’s ability to thwart an attack from several differentcountries at one time. This idea of sustaining several conflicts at one time has been amajor Because the U.S.
is the last great superpower, it is a very large target, and wheninvolvement is needed to aid others the forces are diminished the ability to be an effectivedeterrent. Analysts have seen an increased demand for the continued policing actions thatCongress has also cut spending on defense technology, which has caused defensecontractors to make cutbacks in employees. 1.3 million jobs have been cut since theemployment peak of 1987.
This has caused increased inflation, and has hurt the economyof United States. Reconstruction of the spending on the technology needs to equallydispersed through the market to even out jobs for all defense companies.
