Lo stato delle forze armate americane
Nel giorno atteso per il discorso sullo Stato dell'Unione del presidente Obama, Defense One pubblica un completo rapporto sullo stato della difesa e delle forze armate USA.
Inside the military services that have to be ready to carry out the U.S. response to any conflict, planners are moving forward with some of their own changes so that they don’t have to wait for uncertainty. In 2015, there will be new chiefs of the Army and Navy. Until then, the Army is expected to win its request to scrap the downsizing plan it wanted one year ago, thanks to the high demand for rapidly deployable troops to the world's hotspots. The Army also will proceed with a complete overhaul of its helicopters. The Air Force is pressing on with the F-35, with no alternatives at this point, while calling for more drone pilots. That service also will continue to mend after repeated scandals in its nuclear force and sexual assault issues. The Navy spent the winter finally scrapping its ship of the future, the littoral combat ship, or LCS, and rebranding it as an up-gunned frigate, while the service explores how to keep top personnel in the modern age. The Marines continue to be that "middleweight" amphibious force its leaders prefer, but the president and Corps leaders keep sending them deep into landlocked countries as tip-of-the-spear reaction counterterrorism forces. The new commandant is expected to lay out his plans within weeks.
Nobody wants more certainty about their futures more than the men and women in uniform. Congress and the president may finally move them beyond the sequestration era, easing fears in pocketbooks and at PXs. But the world certainly won't be tipping its hand anytime soon. That means it's up to the new stable of decision makers – from likely next Defense Secretary Ash Carter to McCain and the new Joint Chiefs to come – to figure out how the state of defense can remain one that is prepared for anything, anytime, anywhere. Because if past is prologue, that’s how often U.S. soldiers, sailors, airman and marines must be ready to fight in the new era.
