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| Dimensions: 5.5'' x 8.5'' |
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| 156 pages |
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AEI Press
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| Publication Date: February 2007 |
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| Paperback |
| ISBN: 0-8447-4249-X; 978-0-8447-4249-6 |
| Price: $ 20.00 |
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View the editor's introduction as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file.
Most Americans believe that our military has been strengthened in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks; unfortunately, that is not the case. The core strength of American military forces has continued to erode. Of Men and Materiel: The Crisis in Military Resources explores a problem that has been building quietly for years: The military has been expending without expanding or even replacing what has been spent.
Today, our forces are stretched painfully thin by the grinding pace of operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere around the world. We have spent billions of dollars on the operational costs of these wars, but very little has been available to replenish the military's equipment or increase the size of the Army and the Marine Corps. The result has been a "hollow buildup."
The closer one looks at this problem, the greater the strains and potential problems appear: Contributing authors Frederick W. Kagan, Loren Thompson, Robert Work, and Francis G. Hoffman examine the state of each branch of the military, underscoring a range of shortfalls in force strength, structure, and equipment.
A simple truth emerges from each of these essays: a military that has less will do less. This is a dangerous situation for a nation with expansive foreign policy goals and global security commitments. The American military may well be the finest fighting force in history, but it cannot escape the fact that numbers matter. This is not the first time the United States has been confronted by sizeable gaps between its strategic ends and its military means, but the stakes in this battle have never been higher.
Gary J. Schmitt is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and director of AEI's Program on Advanced Strategic Studies.
Thomas Donnelly is a resident fellow in defense and security policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute and a contributing editor to Armed Forces Journal.
Table of Contents
Introduction by Gary J. Schmitt and Thomas Donnelly
Chapter 1: "Numbers Matter" by Gary J. Schmitt and Thomas Donnelly
-"More Difficult Than Expected"
-"Help Was on the Way"--or Not
-The Long War
-The 5 Percent Solution
Chapter 2: "Protracted Wars and the Army's Future" by Frederick W. Kagan
-Assumptions
-The Length of Future Conflicts
-Technology
-Indigenous Forces
-Numbers Matter
-Conclusion
Chapter 3: "Age and Indifference Erode U.S. Air Power" by Loren Thompson
-Quadrennial Review Neglects Air Power
-Management Mistakes Erode Space Power
-Threat Assessments Sow Uncertainty
-Diverse Threats Drive Demanding Requirements
-Aerospace Superiority
-Information Dominance
-Global Awareness
-Global Mobility
-Global Strike
-A Handful of Programs Will Determine the Fate of Air Power
-Aerospace Superiority
-Information Dominance
-Global Awareness
-Global Mobility
-Global Strike
-Preserving U.S. Air Power Will Require More Money
Chapter 4: "Numbers and Capabilities: Building a Navy for the Twenty-First Century" by Robert O. Work
-Losing Its Lead?
-Coming to Terms with a 300-Ship Navy
-But Is It Affordable?
-Building an Affordable--and Effective--Twenty-First Century Battle Fleet
-A Strategy of the Second Move
-Aircraft Carriers
-Submarines
-Small Surface Combatants and Mine-Warfare Vessels
-Large Surface Combatants
-The Expeditionary Warfare Fleet
-An Affordable, Transformed Fleet
Chapter 5: "The Marine Corps: A Hybrid Force for a Hybrid World" by Francis G. Hoffman
-Quo Vadis?
-A Forcible-Entry Marine Corps
-A Small-Wars Marine Corps
-The Future: A Hybrid Marine Corps
-Conclusion
