Jim Mattis begins to build Donald Trump's bigger, deadlier military

[nitpicker]

http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/mattis-pentagon-budget

Jim Mattis begins to build Donald Trump's bigger, deadlier military

By: Andrew deGrandpre, February 1, 2017

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has directed Pentagon budget planners to lay the groundwork for an ambitious rebuilding effort, one that will, in the near term, address President Trump's desire to bring more military force to bear on the Islamic State while also growing the United States' capacity to oppose "high-end competitors" such as Russia and China.

Mattis issued the directive Tuesday, distributing a memo that maps out in broad terms a number of objectives, including actions meant to address what military leaders see as immediate readiness shortfalls, and to add an unspecified number of military personnel and support structure in the months and years to come. The overarching priority, according to Mattis' memo, is to "build a larger, more capable and more lethal joint force," and that will come by way of a new national defense strategy, the memo says.
(snip)

After Trump's election, in a move anticipating his desire to rethink military spending at large, Congress approved a defense spending plan only through the winter. Mattis' effort will focus on infusing cash where it's needed to speed the Islamic State campaign, and on enabling the military to keep up — or even step up — its presence in other parts of the world where the U.S. has pressing strategic interests. That's likely to include regions such as Eastern Europe, the South China Sea and several unstable pockets throughout Africa.

By May, the Pentagon will have its 2018 budget request complete. There, Mattis wants to focus on buying weapons whose stocks have been depleted, addressing acquisition programs that are behind schedule, growing overall military force structure and fixing important facilities that need upgrades or have fallen into disrepair.
(snip)

Mattis' broader defense strategy overhaul will target years 2019 through 2023, the memo says. This effort calls for a new force size and enhancing the U.S. military's "lethality" — not only against its peers in Russia and China but against a "broad spectrum of threats," a reference that's likely to include the less sophisticated terror groups.
(snip)

[BlueCaliDem]

1. Hm. Build a bigger military. Could this mean the draft will be announced soon? eom

[Deb]

2. I believe trump has put a hiring freeze on civilian workers

who's work supports the goals of our military. So which is the bullshit? They can't even get their teamwork right.