U.S. Forces Will Need Years to Recover From Recent Wars
The U.S. military will need several years to reset and rebuild its military following the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the deputy secretary of defense. Robert O. Work told the Tuesday morning audience at West 2015, being held in San Diego, February 10-12, that the original plans for a two- to three-year reset will not work because of continuing global conflicts and commitments.
“This past year has shown us we cannot be ready for just one thing,” Work said, reflecting on the many changes and crises that have emerged. “We’re doing a running reset—building the airplane while it’s flying.”
It will take the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps until the year 2020 to get back to full spectrum combat readiness, even if the federal government abandons sequestration limits now. The Air Force will not be able to attain its full readiness until 2023, he stated.
Conceding that readiness remains at troubling levels, he nonetheless stated that forward deployed forces are “locked, cocked and ready to go.” It is the surge force, which Work described as “the Sunday punch,” that is not as ready as it has been in the past. And, the Defense Department cannot solve the problem just by dumping money on it, he declared.
