Sith_Mauler posted:

---

http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/26/budgeting-for-a-new-military-vision/?hpt=hp_t3

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta unveiled details of a budget plan that slices half a trillion dollars in spending increases over the next 10 years and serves as blueprint for the administration's vision of how America's military needs to change.

The savings would begin in October, the start of fiscal year 2013.

Panetta, speaking Thursday at the Pentagon, said he will request a total budget that is $33 billion smaller than the current one. All told, his plan meets Congress's mandate to reduce Pentagon spending by $487 billion in the next 10 years.

To accomplish that, Panetta said, a new strategy was developed for the military force of the future, one that will allow the Pentagon "to fashion the agile and flexible military force we need for the future." For example, he said, the Army will save money by pulling two of its four brigades out of permanent bases in Europe to bases in the United States.

The portion of the outline that may trigger the most opposition is a plan aimed at troops' salaries and retired troops' health benefits. Panetta promised full pay raises for fiscal 2013 and 2014, but he said, "We will achieve some cost savings by providing more limited pay raises beginning in 2015."

As for health care, he plans no changes for active duty troops and their families, but "we decided that to help control the growth of health care costs, we are recommending increases in health care fees, co-pays and deductibles for retirees." Panetta said.

---

regulator_cracka posted:

---

So feed the defense contractors and starve the soldiers and veterans. Business as usual at taxpayer expense. I bet not one republican has a problem with this.

---

Sith_Mauler posted:

---

regulator_cracka posted:

---

So feed the defense contractors and starve the soldiers and veterans. Business as usual at taxpayer expense. I bet not one republican has a problem with this.

---

blame it on the military-industrial complex.

they need the Soviets to justify the military spending, the wall fell along with the soviet union, and they needed a new "war".

So here comes 9/11 and the war on terror, how convenient that a new un-winnable war just happens to fall in their lap.

---

Ptilk posted:

---

The title of this thread is totally factually incorrect.

The plan also includes a lot of other cuts starting next fiscal year, including cutting the number of troops in the US military by almost 100K over the next few years and withdrawing half our permanent combat troops from Europe. Just as a start.

They are also seriously discussing (though I doubt it will ever happen) eliminating the Marine Corps entirely. Makes a great deal of sense....which is why it will never happen.

---

Jennifer_the_Great posted:

---

I wish they could break it down so that veterans based on age or physical condition received cheaper healthcare than younger ones that are still able to work for a living.

---

Ptilk posted:

---

The mission of the Marine Corps is to be a rapid response force delivered by sea. That is how they are trained and equipped. I am not claiming that Marines are not effective fighters or damn good at their jobs....they are, it's just their mission is redundant and not even possible these days.

Everything they currently do could be covered by the US Army, and at a huge cost savings. Not only in the cost of keeping the Marines trained and equipped, but also in Navy ships required to transport them and their associated manpower and equipment needs.

---

aon_mixed posted:

---

Ptilk posted:

---

The mission of the Marine Corps is to be a rapid response force delivered by sea. That is how they are trained and equipped. I am not claiming that Marines are not effective fighters or damn good at their jobs....they are, it's just their mission is redundant and not even possible these days.

Everything they currently do could be covered by the US Army, and at a huge cost savings. Not only in the cost of keeping the Marines trained and equipped, but also in Navy ships required to transport them and their associated manpower and equipment needs.

---

not so, the USMC tasking is to be the king of the littorals: brown waters of the world.

---

Jennifer_the_Great posted:

---

I wish they could break it down so that veterans based on age or physical condition received cheaper healthcare than younger ones that are still able to work for a living.

---