U.S. Military Power

The commission’s report even criticized relative to the threat environment (current and the NDS for not making a stronger case for a larger projected) and evolutions in operating conditions, military that would be capable of meeting the chal- the advancement of technologies, and aspects of lenges posed by four named competitors—China, U. [...] Secretary The Biden Administration released a National Aspin recognized that “the dramatic changes that Defense Strategy in 20225 (replacing the Trump [had] occurred in the world as a result of the end Administration’s 2018 NDS) in conjunction with of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet its overarching National Security Strategy (NSS).6 Union” had “fundamentally altered America’s se- Th. [...] military power will be needed, the competence of the enemy, the political Obviously, this is not the totality of service ca- will to sustain operations in the face of mounting pabilities, and it certainly is not everything needed deaths and destruction, and the absolute amount for war. [...] topline in FY 2018, and sustained increases in FY In fact, this is how the Army thinks about meet- 2019 and FY 2020 helped to stop the bleeding and ing operational demands and is at the heart of the enabled the services to plan and implement readi- long-running debate within the total Army about ness recovery e!orts. [...] This Index draws from a wealth of cials, senior DOD o"cials, and even Members of public testimony from senior government o"cials, Congress to warn of the dangers of recreating the from the work of recognized experts in the defense “hollow force” of the 1970s when units existed on and national security analytic community, and from paper but were sta!ed at reduced levels, minimal- historical instanc.