We recognize that there are other results of the war in Iraq that have
great consequence for our nation. One consequence has been the stress
and uncertainty imposed on our military--the most professional and
proficient military in history. The United States will need its
military to protect U.S. security regardless of what happens in Iraq.
We therefore considered how to limit the adverse consequences of the
strain imposed on our military by the Iraq war.
U.S. military forces, especially our ground forces, have been
stretched nearly to the breaking point by the repeated deployments in
Iraq, with attendant casualties (almost 3,000 dead and more than
21,000 wounded), greater difficulty in recruiting, and accelerated
wear on equipment.
Additionally, the defense budget as a whole is in danger of disarray,
as supplemental funding winds down and reset costs become clear. It
will be a major challenge to meet ongoing requirements for other
current and future security threats that need to be accommodated
together with spending for operations and maintenance, reset,
personnel, and benefits for active duty and retired personnel.
Restoring the capability of our military forces should be a high
priority for the United States at this time.
The U.S. military has a long tradition of strong partnership between
the civilian leadership of the Department of Defense and the uniformed
services. Both have long benefited from a relationship in which the
civilian leadership exercises control with the advantage of fully
candid professional advice, and the military serves loyally with the
understanding that its advice has been heard and valued. That
tradition has frayed, and civil-military relations need to be
repaired.
RECOMMENDATION 46: The new Secretary of Defense should make every
effort to build healthy civil-military relations, by creating an
environment in which the senior military feel free to offer
independent advice not only to the civilian leadership in the Pentagon
but also to the President and the National Security Council, as
envisioned in the Goldwater-Nichols legislation.
RECOMMENDATION 47: As redeployment proceeds, the Pentagon leadership
should emphasize training and education programs for the forces that
have returned to the continental United States in order to "reset" the
force and restore the U.S. military to a high level of readiness for
global contingencies.
RECOMMENDATION 48: As equipment returns to the United States, Congress
should appropriate sufficient funds to restore the equipment to full
functionality over the next five years.
RECOMMENDATION 49: The administration, in full consultation with the
relevant committees of Congress, should assess the full future
budgetary impact of the war in Iraq and its potential impact on the
future readiness of the force, the ability to recruit and retain
high-quality personnel, needed investments in procurement and in research
and development, and the budgets of other U.S. government agencies
involved in the stability and reconstruction effort.