Happy 236th Birthday to the U.S. Army
The Heritage Foundation would like to wish a Happy Birthday to the United States Army. Two hundred and thirty-six years after its founding, the United States Army is truly a global presence, boasting...
View ArticleU.S. Navy: Can’t Keep This Pace without Resources
According to two top officials, the Navy is operating at an “unsustainable” pace for its current force structure. At a House Armed Services Committee hearing recently, Vice Admirals William Burke and...
View ArticleRomney Joins Calls to Reverse Obama’s Defense Cuts
Tomorrow starts the 11th year that U.S. military forces will be fighting in Afghanistan. Even though President Obama twice “surged” U.S. troops on the ground there since taking office, he has been busy...
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A Shrinking Navy
The United States is a maritime nation. The military is the nation’s guarantor of freedom of the seas and protector of global sea lines of communication. The military ensures the safe transit of...
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Oldest Air Force in History Asked to Do More than Ever Before
We’ve all heard the statistics that many of the U.S. Air Force’s young pilots fly the same planes their fathers and grandfathers flew in Vietnam. They were once cutting edge but now are old, worn out,...
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The NYT: Talk Softly and Ditch that Anachronistic, Unproven, Cold War-Era Stick
The Pentagon’s major strategy known as the Quadrennial Defense Review was released this week. It immediately drew praise from the New York Times’ editorial titled “The Defense Budget” for cutting...
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Aging Air Force Tankers: Flying in the Face of Danger
This week, the U.S. Air Force presented its revised request for proposals for the new KC-X tanker aircraft. Industry now has 60 days to submit bids, and the contract for the new tankers should be...
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S.O.S.: Americans Foresee U.S. Military Decline Ahead
A recent Gallup poll shows that Americans see the U.S. as the world’s top military power now but doubt whether this will be true in 20 years. Only about a third of Americans believe the U.S. will...
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Coast Guard Deserves More Than a Thank You
On Wednesday, President Obama praised America’s servicemembers for their remarkable response to the crisis in Haiti. He included the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard in an...
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Nuclear Posturing
In NRO’s symposium today, Clifford May notes that Iran’s leaders will view the Nuclear Posture Review “as one more sign of a weakening America,” and Jamie Fly argues that our self-imposed nuclear...
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Defense in the Driver’s Seat
This weekend, the secretary of defense called for additional spending cuts to keep the defense budget flat for the future. But flat budgets aren’t always smart budgets—or even an effective way to cut...
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Nobody Asked Me, But … Provide Smooth Sailing for the U.S. Navy
America’s Navy sails alone. It’s impossible to compare the U.S. Fleet to the rest of the world’s navies, because the United States has a singular role and mission. We need a better navy than anyone...
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Will Congress Pull the Plug on C-17’s Life Support?
Having canceled nearly 50 major programs in last year’s defense budget, the secretary of defense is making another run at finishing off the C-17 and Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine. Congress...
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Gates Going
In the coming months, lots of people will be cranking up their computers and burning up the airwaves with commentary on the just-announced departure of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates sometime in...
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Arm Our Children to Succeed and Arm the Military to Prevail
As a nation, we shouldn’t have to choose between defense and education. Yet, in a recent ABC News This Week roundtable, the President’s top political advisor, David Axelrod, criticized cuts to the...
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Happy 235th Birthday, U.S. Navy
Today, the 235th birthday of the U.S. Navy, Heritage thanks all of America’s sailors and their families, retirees, and veterans. On October 13, 1775, Congress enacted legislation providing for the...
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Memo to the Next Congress: Americans Want to Cut Government, Not Defense
Ask the average American about the strength of our nation’s defense, and the answer may surprise you. According to a poll earlier this year, Americans are now more likely to believe the U.S. national...
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Once a Marine: 235 Years of Warrior Service
They are called Leathernecks, Devil Dogs, Gyrenes, Jarheads, and more. The 235-year legacy forged in tradition and sacrifice inspires every warrior who has earned the right to be a United States...
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U.S. Military Direct Orders: Do More with Less
Politicians looking for places to save money after an era of spending binges are now set to solve their self-made problem on the back of the U.S. military. Responding to this pressure, Secretary of...
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Dragon Week: U.S. Air Capabilities at Risk
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates just returned from a visit to China after the recent restoration of military ties between the two countries. While he was there, China’s military leaders unveiled a...
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Preserving the Peace: Modernize Now, Save Later
Supporting America’s armed forces in times of war and peace is a fundamental obligation of government as part of its responsibility to provide for the common defense and protect the nation. A decade...
View ArticleMilitary Already Being Cut, But Obama Makes It Official
President Obama on Wednesday announced $400 billion in defense cuts between now and 2023. But in reality, defense budgets have already been cut, are being cut now, and will be cut even further in the...
View Article‘Blizzard’ of Words, but Panetta’s Actions Will Determine National Security
At his confirmation hearing today, Defense Secretary nominee Leon Panetta argued that the Cold War of the 20th century had been replaced by a “blizzard” of threats in the 21st. Remarking that “for our...
View ArticleStanding at the Precipice: U.S. Military Readiness Set to Go Off a Cliff
Hoping to reverse the trend of “enormous [defense] cuts” ahead, House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee chairman J. Randy Forbes (R–VA) held a hearing on the state of the military. Testifying...
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Secretaries of State, Defense Acknowledge Entitlement Spending Crisis
During a joint press event today in Washington, the Secretaries of Defense and State agreed that politicians must tackle the elephant in the room to reduce America’s crushing debt: mandatory spending...
View ArticleRussia Debuts Stealth Fighter—with Implications for the U.S.
The chief of Russia’s air force announced this week that the PAK FA, Russia’s fifth-generation stealth fighter, will enter service in 2015. This would be close to the time when two U.S. F-35 Joint...
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The Return of the Zumwalt Guided-Missile Destroyers
Artist rendering of the Zumwalt class destroyer The U.S. Navy has approved contracts to finish building the hulls of the second and third ships of the Zumwalt class of guided-missile destroyers being...
View ArticleA Leaner, but Not Meaner, Military
The echo chamber of Washington is hard at work. The consensus is growing that the U.S. military will need to aim for a slimmer but still perfectly effective military, thanks to the budget and...
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Speaker of the House Draws a Bright Red Line: No More Defense Cuts
The U.S. military has already contributed more to debt and deficit reduction than any other federal agency. Speaker of the House John Boehner (R–OH), recently sent a clear message to the congressional...
View ArticleObama’s New Defense Strategy: Less of the Same
The President traveled across the river to the Pentagon today to preview a new defense strategy to chase down falling defense budgets. Obama was quick to declare that the “tide of war” is receding for...
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