Thank you. I read all of it.
Today, Pentagon leaders seem united in their support for the volunteer model on military grounds, and economic studies continue to inform policies related to the AVF in the United States.6 Nevertheless, questions about the sustainability of the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, together with concerns over the social composition of the armed forces, have sparked renewed debate.
The ability of the US to sustain an all volunteer force during a protracted conflict is untested. My prediction has been that recruiting will become much more difficult in the third year of a war. We are there. Let's see how it goes.
In Europe, economic arguments have been much less important to the national debates than they were in the United States, though budgetary considerations generally have been important drivers. Furthermore, the military reasons often have more to do with the availability of volunteers for foreign missions and less to do with their suitability for high-technology warfare—
The other 25 NATO members aren't concerned about the economics because they spend so little on defense...A substantial increase, even a doubling of their budgets would amount to a small sum in relation to our defense budget which is already higher than the other 25 combined. A double by all the others combined would still not equal our defense outlay. Other NATO countries rely on our spending for their own defense. The Pentagon spends $2 billion a year on advertising. That is more than many NATO countries total defense budget.
More generally, the U.S. experience appears to validate the arguments made in favor of all-volunteer forces on the basis of economic efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Total defense spending in 1973, the year the draft ended, was approx. $70 billion. And we had a much larger armed force.
The FY 2005 defense budget is $430 billion. Supplemental spending bills will push that over $500 billion.
Active duty military totaled 2,252,000 in 1973. That is close to double those in uniform today (1 million more).
The all volunteer force is expensive beyond belief...I laugh everytime somebody says it saves money. Put another one million men in uniform, get the Navy back to 600 ships, and increase USAF Aircraft totals by the 35% they were cut, and we will find out the true cost of the all volunteer force. |
