In a sobering assessment of America's military, a new report finds the nation's armed forces ready and able to handle "a single major regional conflict" but "ill-equipped" to handle two such campaigns.
The
Heritage Foundation's 2016 Index of U.S. Military Strength gives mixed grades to each of the armed services, finding the Army "weak" – a downgrade from last year's "marginal" rating – because of a "drop in capacity," and the other units all "marginal."
For example, the report finds, the Navy is "just able to meet operational requirements," the Air Force is suffering from "degradation in capability and readiness" and the Marine Corps is hampered by aging equipment and "troubled replacement programs."
"Overall, the Index concludes that the current U.S. military force is capable of meeting the demands of a single major regional conflict while also attending to various presence and engagement activities but that it would be very hard-pressed to do more and certainly would be ill-equipped to handle two nearly simultaneous major regional contingencies," the summary states.
The Daily Caller notes the standard for readiness has traditionally been deployment in two arenas, although the Department of Defense modified that standard in 2014, counting a win in one major theater – and the ability to fend off an attacker in another – as readiness.
The annual Index also gave Russia, Afghanistan and Pakistan-based terrorism and China "high-threats" grades.
"As a whole, the global operating environment currently rates a score of 'favorable,' meaning that the United States should be able to project military power anywhere in the world as necessary to defend its interests without substantial opposition or high levels of risk," the report asserts.
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