U.S. Army Facing A Breaking Point
Posted by Matt Bennett, Vice President for Public Affairs Wed, 25 Jan 2006 20:05:00 GMT
Today the Associated Press reports on a new study for the Pentagon finding that “the Army has become a ‘thin green line’ that could snap unless relief comes soon.” The new report was written by Dr. Andrew Krepinevich, a retired Army officer who is among the nation’s leading experts on the defense planning and military affairs.
This report echoes many of the findings that Third Way made in a study that we issued in May, Boots on the Ground: Increasing the Size of the Army to Meet the Missions of the 21st Century. There we found that the Army was stretched to the breaking point by Iraq, Afghanistan and other deployments. We found that unless something was done, the Army faces four serious consequences: it might soon be unable to meet future threats; it can’t rotate and train its troops; it is facing huge recruitment and retention problems; and its reliance on Guard and Reserve forces is hurting local communities.