April 17, 2023:
The American 2024 defense budget is $842 billion. This is less than one percent more than the 2023 budget, adjusting for inflation. Military manpower will be somewhat smaller because more overweight and otherwise unqualified (drug use and criminal records) men are continually reducing the recruitable men. Unpopular political practices in the military and declining retirement benefits have also made recruiting difficult and that has had a serious impact on the army and navy. The air force is retiring hundreds of older aircraft so fewer more expensive new aircraft can be purchased. That reduces the need for manpower and reduces spending on personnel. The military is preparing for possible conflicts with China and renewed aggression from Russia. Air force strength is currently 328,000 active duty and 179,000 reserve personnel.
Army strength is currently 452,000, below the goal of 464,000. A few years ago, the army was seeking to increase personnel to 500,00 but now that goal is seen as impractical. Including the National Guard and reserves, the total army strength is 951,800, which is short of the desired 980,000. Reserve military (part-time) personnel include a lot of veterans but there are fewer veterans willing or able (because of physical or other requirements) men and women available. The army has concentrated on keeping its combat units up to strength and that means the shortages are larger in support units. This makes it more difficult to send units overseas and support them.
Spending for new equipment remains the same and this is essential to replace older equipment that has to be retired because of age and obsolescence. The new equipment is more expensive and effective and has slowed the rate of acquisition. The army was given several billion dollars to replace the equipment sent to Ukraine and that was beneficial because the replacements include upgrades and new features. The army will require even more money to complete the replacement of older weapons and equipment and that is taking longer than expected.
The navy is able to build new ships as it retires older ones but the number of retiring ships will increase and the navy will need more money to replace them. Another problem is the lack of shipyards capable of building or upgrading ships. The United States is no longer a major builder of commercial shipping and that means there are no commercial builders available to help out. China, in contrast, is the largest builder of commercial ships in the world, has no problems building new warships and can do that faster than the Americans, though the Chinese too have problems manning their warships. If there is war with China, the U.S. will be at a disadvantage because of shipbuilding problems. The navy also has recruiting and retention problems and this contributes to the problems of expanding the fleet plus building support ships to sustain fighting in the eastern Pacific. Current navy strength is 400,000, including 100,000 reserves.
The marines have fewer problems because they always have an easier time recruiting and are currently reorganizing for a war in the Pacific. This requires fewer troops but more new equipment, ships and aircraft. Current marine strength is 177,000 active and 33,000 reserve personnel.
SOCOM (Special Operations Command) has fewer problems recruiting and equipping its much smaller number of troops (53,000 active and reserves).
The Department of Defense has about 700,000 civilians who perform a wide array of non-combat functions. During wartime the military hires large numbers of contractor personnel who are not needed during peacetime and are often military veterans earning more than active duty troops.
