US War Machine Downsizing?

mrspoonsi writes "BBC Reports: 'Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has unveiled plans to shrink the U.S. Army to its smallest size since before World War Two. Outlining his budget plan, the Pentagon chief proposed trimming the active-duty Army to between 440,000 and 450,000 personnel — from 520,000 currently. The U.S. currently spends more on defense than the combined total of the next 12 countries, as ranked by defense spending.'"

Comments

Drone Occupation

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Of Planet Earth is near completion.

The rest can be sub-contracted.

Re:Drone Occupation

[FlyHelicopters]

The drone pilots at Nellis (Las Vegas) end up with PTSD like field soldiers do.

While true, that is only because the screening program for that job weeds out abnormal people. Normal people simply don't want to kill other people, either in person or via remote control.

However, such people do exist... Once the military figures out that they can get socially maladjusted people to fly the drones, they'll have no problems, because such people couldn't care less about killing "ragheads" or whoever the "bad guy of the week" happens to be.

Re:Drone Occupation

[Immerman]

Actually I've heard the PTSD can be even worse - the human brain is apparently not that well suited to killing people 8-to-5 and then going home to the wife and kids who can't relate at all.

On the other hand fully autonomous killing machines are currently being field-tested, and especially when there are no friendlies on the ground I fully such things to be deployed in a big way within a decade or two. And then we'll see just how ugly and expansionist the US war machine can really be.

Fully autonomous programmer-drones on the other hand I don't expect to see any time soon.

Re:Drone Occupation

[Anonymous Coward]

...while we have a drone blow up a car carrying a US Citizen because he's a suspected terrorist sympathizer ...

There isn't much real doubt about Anwar al-Awlaki .

Leaving aside this US citizen's extrajudicial execution (which his family repeatedly attempted to have the federal courts address before he was killed), I am presuming you felt his teenage son was worthy of the killing that was administered to him too?

"Let's start killing people without trial, who haven't even killed anyone themselves. And then let's not get worked up when we kill US citizen minors, either," said no one reasonable.

Re:Time to end the military industrial complex

[ShanghaiBill]

I hope this news means we have finally heeded his warning and are moving towards dismantling the military industrial complex.

No. That is not what is happening. Almost all the proposed reductions are to fighting troops. Almost no cuts are to the bloated defense bureaucracy that make up the core of the MIC's revolving door. Hagel wants to reduce the muscle while protecting the belly fat. He is going about it all wrong anyway. Rather than trimming a little here, and a little there, it would be much better to completely eliminate a few big misguided programs. Killing the trillion dollar F-35 boondoggle would be a great place to start.

Re:Time to end the military industrial complex

[TWX]

Did you mean JSF, not JSOC?

The A-10 is on the chopping block, as is the U2. What I don't get about the elimination of those is that one has proven itself extremely cost-effective in close-quarters ground support (as in using bullets, rather than relying on rockets and bombs) and extremely durable when taking fire (flying back with a wing missing) and the other has been extremely effective for quick-turnaround intelligence.

Both programs are effective in the kind of engagements that we've found ourselves in during the last couple of decades and both are paid for. It's maintenance only, as opposed to development.