U.S. Armed Forces
A week or so ago, we celebrated Veteran’s Day to honor those that have served in the armed forces of our country. Many of the churches honored the veterans and it was a deserved recognition. Our military force is the best in the world. It is composed of our own youth who are well trained and they are loyal and brave.
When I lived in Saudi Arabia, I was shocked at the lack of discipline in the army. The newspaper had an article about a man and they stated that he had been fired from the army for non-attendance. We had three Saudis working in our dyeing department who did not show up for work after a weekend and we were told they had joined the army. They came back in a couple of weeks and wanted their old jobs back. I told them we had heard that they had joined the army. They said that they did but they had quit.
I was in the nation of Bahrain and went to eat at a Fuddruckers restaurant. As I left, I saw a soldier standing on the sidewalk with his rifle. I asked him if he spoke English and he did. We talked for a few minutes and I told him he did not look like a citizen of Bahrain. He said he was from the Philippines. I asked why he was in the army in Bahrain. He said that there were no citizens of Bahrain in their army, all of them were hired from outside the country.
I had to visit the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, one time to get some blank pages added to my passport. On the outside of the walls of the Consulate there were two Saudi jeeps with a machine gun mounted over the back seat. There were three Saudi soldiers in the jeep and they were riding around the streets outside of the Consulate. Inside of the Consulate walls were lined with American soldiers with rifles and jeeps protecting the Consulate. I mentioned this to one of my friends in Jeddah and he told me that the funny thing is that the three Saudis riding outside in the jeep with the machine gun only had one bullet in the jeep and they were not allowed to fire it unless someone had shot at them.
In the United States it was one of the responsibilities of original Congress to build and maintain the army, the marines and the navy. The President is the ultimate commander of all of the military of the United States. These three military forces were actually established in 1775 prior to the establishment of Congress. The Air Force was added at a later date after flying became a normal activity. The army is the fighting force that defends the country and at times occupies land areas necessary to the country’s protection. The navy is a fighting force of the seas and the marines are a fighting force that is mobile by use of the navy vessels and quickly responds to any military action needed. The air force is the military force that provides quick transportation to the army and marines and also does bombings and fighting against other air vehicles at times of war.
The United States Army is the larger of the military forces. During World War II, after our country was attacked at Pearl Harbor, our army spiked to over eight million men. There were four million men in the other branches at that time. The men were released after WWII ended and the army came back down to just under 600,000.
The Korean War brought it back up to over a million men. It stayed at a high level until after the Vietnam War and then it started drifting downward. Republican Presidents Reagan and G. H. W. Bush held the level of the army above 700,000 but during the administration of President Clinton the level of the army was reduced to about 480,000 by the year 2000. President G W Bush only increased it slightly during the Iraq Crisis but President Obama has gotten it back down under the 480,000 level. It was the plan of President Obama to reduce the size of the army to under 450,000.
The smallest of our military forces is the United States Marine Corps. It presently has 182,000 active members. In 2008, when Obama was elected, there were just over 200,000. Since 1946 the Marines have supplied the protection to the Embassies and Foreign Service locations around the world. It also operates the helicopter transportation units especially for the President. Marine One and Marine Two carry the President when he leaves the White House to travel to Air Force One or visit Camp David or one of the local retreats. Where a fighting force is needed, the Marines are on instant readiness.
The Navy had 3,319,000 in personnel at the end of World War II in 1945. By 2008, when President Obama came into office, it was down to 338,000. At the end of President Obama’s two terms the personnel will number under 325,000. The reduction has been due to the reduction in budget funds available to this branch of the service. Our major naval fighting force today is the aircraft carrier and we have ten powered by atomic energy generators which converts energy to electricity and the ship is driven by electric motors. The electricity that is generated in each aircraft carrier is equal to the power used by a city of 100,000 population. The Navy has six fleets of ships that are operational today and their responsibility circles the globe. The Navy has the capability to fire rockets from their ships with bombs in their head that can hit within 50 feet of just about any location in the world.
In 1968, the Air Force had around 880,000 personnel and the sharp decline in personnel began. Up until that time, if you wished to attack a specific location by air, it required an air plane to pass over the location and release a bomb that you hoped would hit the location. Today, with more effective air planes, satellite locations, computer controlled rockets and even drones, less personnel is needed to run the Air Force. When President Obama came into office there were about 375,000 personnel in the Air Force. Today the count is about 307,000.
We are depending on more and more unmanned weapons. Many of our war planes are very old and need to be replaced. We have 450 ICBMs ( Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles) and 63 military guidance satellites and an annual budget of $161 billion.
President Obama has forced retirement on too many of our experienced military leaders. President- elect Trump has promised to review the entire military establishment and see that we remain the best in the world. He has also promised that our veterans will be cared for and provided good health care for the remainder of their lives. Many of them are homeless because of service related mental problems which need care as much as physical illnesses need care.