and his actions are a 180 degree departure from his predecessor.
You may fall on the complete opposite side of the political spectrum for other issues but it is hard to not love what President Trump is doing for our Armed Services. Particularly if you serve in the military, have a family member or friend who serves, if your work relies on a healthy military, if you live or work in a military town, or if you just flat out respect the men and women in our Armed Services, the actions of this administration are great for the military.
Trump has called for significant growth of the Army and Marines and moderate expansion of the Air Force and Navy.
"The growth would have the most significant short-term effects on the Army, which shrunk under President Barack Obama from 540,000 soldiers in 2013 to 470,465 at the end of November — the smallest number since before World War II. Obama wanted to shrink the Army even more to 450,000 soldiers by fall 2018, but Congress stopped that with a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act that directed the Army to grow to 476,000 this year." according to the Washington Post.
So Trump intervened and is on his way to undoing Obama's attempt to cut the Army by 20% and reversing his reductions in other services as well. It is just most pronounced for the Army. I love it. It is personally affecting the careers of many good people that I know who are currently serving.
If you weren't convinced that the military personnel cuts should be reversed, consider also that on top of Obama's 20% cuts, the entire Armed Services experienced a 19% reduction under Clinton, a 13% reduction under Bush I (drawdown after Gulf War was a big part of this), and a paltry 1.2% increase under Bush II. Have the threats decreased? Those who serve are having to do so much more with less and deploy more frequently to multiple combat zones. The men and women who serve deserve these wins under Trump and so does the grateful Nation that they defend.
Another win for the military is almost doubling of their most recent annual pay raises under Obama from 1.3% to 2.1% which is still modest in comparison to the Bush years where the pay raise for military averaged over 4% per year. It is likely that Trump will jump his too once the economy is jump started. The economy is already showing some initial signs of the growth that will allow this.
Another big win for the military is Trump's Defense Secretary Jim Mattis ordering a review of all the administrative and training requirements that prevent trigger pullers and pilots alike from focusing on warfighting. Anyone who serves will tell you that less mandatory training that has nothing to do with their warfighting requirements would be an amazing improvement from their current burdens.
Then there is the reversal of Obama's 2016 controversial transgender in the military social experiment distraction.
Add that with each passing week, we see Trump put another retired General in a key role in his staff to include making retire GO Kelly his Chief of Staff this past week. Obama summarily dismissed a record number of GOs from active service for not agreeing with his plans. It seems Trump instead is surrounding himself with GOs to provide input and influence on his decisions.
The bottom line is that even if you disagree with Trump on other issues, it is hard to not see his love for those who serve and his actions to help strengthen the military. This retired Army vet thanks God that the great men and women who serve are starting to get a few more wins and clearly have a CinC who respects them and is giving them the support to fight and win America's wars.
You may fall on the complete opposite side of the political spectrum for other issues but it is hard to not love what President Trump is doing for our Armed Services. Particularly if you serve in the military, have a family member or friend who serves, if your work relies on a healthy military, if you live or work in a military town, or if you just flat out respect the men and women in our Armed Services, the actions of this administration are great for the military.
Trump has called for significant growth of the Army and Marines and moderate expansion of the Air Force and Navy.
"The growth would have the most significant short-term effects on the Army, which shrunk under President Barack Obama from 540,000 soldiers in 2013 to 470,465 at the end of November — the smallest number since before World War II. Obama wanted to shrink the Army even more to 450,000 soldiers by fall 2018, but Congress stopped that with a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act that directed the Army to grow to 476,000 this year." according to the Washington Post.
So Trump intervened and is on his way to undoing Obama's attempt to cut the Army by 20% and reversing his reductions in other services as well. It is just most pronounced for the Army. I love it. It is personally affecting the careers of many good people that I know who are currently serving.
If you weren't convinced that the military personnel cuts should be reversed, consider also that on top of Obama's 20% cuts, the entire Armed Services experienced a 19% reduction under Clinton, a 13% reduction under Bush I (drawdown after Gulf War was a big part of this), and a paltry 1.2% increase under Bush II. Have the threats decreased? Those who serve are having to do so much more with less and deploy more frequently to multiple combat zones. The men and women who serve deserve these wins under Trump and so does the grateful Nation that they defend.
Another win for the military is almost doubling of their most recent annual pay raises under Obama from 1.3% to 2.1% which is still modest in comparison to the Bush years where the pay raise for military averaged over 4% per year. It is likely that Trump will jump his too once the economy is jump started. The economy is already showing some initial signs of the growth that will allow this.
Another big win for the military is Trump's Defense Secretary Jim Mattis ordering a review of all the administrative and training requirements that prevent trigger pullers and pilots alike from focusing on warfighting. Anyone who serves will tell you that less mandatory training that has nothing to do with their warfighting requirements would be an amazing improvement from their current burdens.
Then there is the reversal of Obama's 2016 controversial transgender in the military social experiment distraction.
Add that with each passing week, we see Trump put another retired General in a key role in his staff to include making retire GO Kelly his Chief of Staff this past week. Obama summarily dismissed a record number of GOs from active service for not agreeing with his plans. It seems Trump instead is surrounding himself with GOs to provide input and influence on his decisions.
The bottom line is that even if you disagree with Trump on other issues, it is hard to not see his love for those who serve and his actions to help strengthen the military. This retired Army vet thanks God that the great men and women who serve are starting to get a few more wins and clearly have a CinC who respects them and is giving them the support to fight and win America's wars.
