Page 27 - Force Structure News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> well, our new role would be confined to behind the scenes capabilities, which sf code word for intelligence and systems integration. november country is better than putting a lot of different stuff together and weaving together a force structure from component pieces. i think you'll see the united states play the role of a kind of wizard of oz behind the curtain, if you will, without a lot of public exposure, but playing a vital systems teation le. help av in a coordinate and also we're a key part of nato. we're part of the backbone of nato. so we'll be engaged there just in terms of planni...

As a first step last year we began reforming the department's approach to military acquisit n acquisition, curtailing or canceling about 20 troubled or excess program, programs that have pursued to completion would cost more than $300 billion. additional program savings have been recommended in the budget we submitted this year. however, it is clear to me that additional major changes are needed, consistent with the reform agenda laid out by the president. i believe that sustaining the current force structure and making needed investments in modernization will require annual real growth of 2% ...

Programs that are no longer needed. all of this spending is approved by congress. the political will to cut it, to challenge the lobbyists is very tough. every secretary in the last 50 years has talked about this. none of them have made it happen. >> secretary gates says these savings are needed to prevent an erosion of u.s. combat power. what does he mean about that? >> to maintain the current force structure, the number of troops and the type of equipment they have, it constantly requires increased pay and increased capabilities. hence, that means you have to have a larger budget every year....

Officials explain what they are trying to do, explain how dramatically taking our force structure as you mentioned down to pre-world war ii levels in a threat environment that henry kissinger testified in front much armed services committee saying it's the most complex threat environment since the end of world war ii. and we're now at pre-world war ii army levels. we're going to have obama administration officials come and try to explain hey this is why we're cutting the dod budget dramatically even more than the irs and epa and try to make that case. i don't think they can do it. so we're goi...

Tools in order to safeguard security interests. decreasing a defense budget right now is not the way to be doing it. we don't even have a natural security or military strategy that has been done in the last three to four years. therefore, we don't have a baseline by which we can even determine what our true force structure should be and how we should be exercising it. >> i think most of us would look at the overall picture of the defense budget and say there's got to be waste, fraud, duplication. what is it strategic value of making cuts and if we make some, where should they be made and where...