US State Department, WASHINGTON: Today's U.S. military forces are much different — and more capable — than they were just five years ago, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says.
In remarks to a Senate Appropriations subcommittee May 17, Rumsfeld said that in 2001 when he began serving a second stint as secretary of defense (a position he also held in 1975-1977 in the administration of President Gerald R. Ford), he found that the U.S. military, “though smaller, was arranged and operated” much as it had 25 years ago. Furthermore, he said, U.S. forces were positioned abroad much as they had been throughout the 50 years of the Cold War.
During the past five years, however, Rumsfeld has headed a transformational effort, and the secretary highlighted several changes that have improved current U.S. military capabilities:
– The Army is transforming from a structure of 48 brigades, none of which had stand-alone capability, to a force of 70 active and Reserve modular Brigade Combat Teams. “These more agile, lethal and more autonomous units can deploy and fight quickly with enough of their own firepower, armor, logistics and administrative assets to protect and sustain themselves over time,” Rumsfeld said. This is leading to a significant increase in readily available combat power, he added.
– The U.S. military had just 132 unmanned aerial vehicles of all types and sizes in 2001; it now has more than 3,000.
– The Army had fewer than 500 heavily armored Humvees before September 11, 2001; it now has more than 12,000.
– A few years ago, 75 percent of U.S. Navy ships were not deployable at any given time because of long maintenance and training cycles. Now 50 percent more ships are at sea than before.
– The Navy previously could deploy only three aircraft carrier strike groups at once, adding two more within 30 days. Today it can deploy six, and add another within 90 days.
– Special operations forces largely were limited to augmenting conventional operations and training foreign militaries in the past. Now there is a separate Special Operations Command with 6,000 more troops and a budget that has nearly doubled.
These changes all have come about, Rumsfeld said, while the U.S. military has been engaged actively in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, and while deploying around the world to meet the asymmetric threat posed by terrorism.
IMMIGRATION, INTELLIGENCE, IRAQ
In presenting the administration's request for a Defense Department budget of $423.2 billion for the fiscal year that begins October 1 (fiscal 2007), Rumsfeld addressed a number of other important issues.
The president's proposal to increase temporarily the supporting role the National Guard plays in securing U.S. borders will not involve military forces apprehending or detaining illegal immigrants. Instead, National Guard units may provide mobile communications, transportation, logistics training and construction, said Rumsfeld. And the number of forces involved will be less than 2 percent of the Guard's total, he said.
He also told the subcommittee that everything being done to upgrade and adjust the intelligence capabilities within the Defense Department “has been coordinated with the other agencies of the government — the director of national intelligence, the CIA, the State Department, the FBI, and down the line,” Rumsfeld said.
Developments in Iraq make the need for congressional passage of the emergency supplemental budget request urgent, Rumsfeld added, saying the Defense Department needs those funds to be available by the end of May. The administration
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